Random thoughts from the saddle

I completed Base training on Sunday. Some numbers and observations.


I got in 97 hours, turning 1,820.28 miles (124 off-road). I consistently averaged more than 200 miles a week during the eight weeks. This is very close to the Base I laid down when I had my best season in 2006.


I improved my limiters and enhanced my aerobic system.


I regressed in completing chores around the house.


I dodged rain, roadkill and vehicles.


I ran into rain, waves of gnats, and once, a wayward dragonfly that wouldn't get out of my jersey.


I lost weight, from 142.4 pounds to 135.2.


I gained knowledge on what a difference proper bike fit makes. More on this later.


I saw my Functional Threshold Power go from 201 to 228 watts.


And I saw a boy on a bike crossing a busy street nearly get creamed by a car; about a mile away, a mockingbird cheated a similar mechanized death when returning to her nest in a tree in a median. Within five minutes, I witnessed the razor-thin difference between just another day and end of days.


I missed Hillary's big announcement. I was out riding.


I barely hung on to wheels on some group rides, an engine in the red, but ultimately getting saved by a well-timed red light.


I lost wheels and began that terrible drift backward, bleeding sweat like a blown engine spewing oil and realizing I'm not fast enough.


In summary, I'm in better shape to build my high-end fitness than I was a year ago. It's in these next eight weeks where I will enhance Vo2Max, anaerobic fitness and continue improving muscular endurance. And that spells race shape. How good? I'll let you know.

Riding for a purpose

Sometimes you come across opportunities you can’t pass. That occurred to me last month, when I was approached about helping a group of cyclists prepare for a charity ride to raise awareness about breast cancer.


The Ride to Empower, organized by the Breast Cancer Network of Strength, will take place Oct. 23-26 in Solvang, Calif. If that town sounds familiar, it’s where Lance Armstrong and his Discovery Channel teammates trained in the winter. This is hardcore, mountainous cycling territory.


I won’t lie. The chance to ride 100 miles in Northern California, Wine Country, intrigues me. As does helping cyclists prepare for the demands of that and shorter routes throughout such beautiful countryside. But the main attraction is doing something to help breast cancer survivors and their families.


My mom, Cassie Yobbi, was a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed in the early ‘80s, had a mastectomy and ultimately beat cancer. It wasn’t easy, however, on her and the family. It terrified us at first but drew us closer. What cancer couldn’t do heart disease did in 2006 at age 78.


She instilled many things in me -- respect all living things, treat others as you would like to be treated and stand up for what you believe in. She was physically and mentally tough and a sage giver of advice to friends and family. Though only a cassette-tooth over 5-foot, she never backed down, fearing no one or no thing. That’s why cancer never stood a chance against her. It’s that toughness every breast cancer patient needs to draw upon or build. Families, too.


Cancer has touched just about everyone. Take it from my mom: Don’t fear it. Stand up to it. Securing pledges and getting on your bike to celebrate life and remember loved ones is a tremendous first step. Go to www.networkofstrength.org/ride to get more information and register. If you can’t ride in the event but would like to make a pledge, go to http://ride.y-me.org/site/TR?px=2286413&pg=personal&fr_id=1319


The pledges fund YourShoes, outreach programs, breast health awareness workshops, wigs and prostheses banks for women with limited resources, and advocacy on breast cancer related policies.


Remember, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You can make a difference.