Last ride of the year. Jose and I decided it was a good idea to use our day off to ride at 7 a.m. in the morning of December 31st. I have to say that it was pretty cold, and I didn't bring any leg warmers. Anyway, we started at 92 and Canada (much like yesterday's ride). But today was Jenny's maiden voyage. Yes, I've named my fixed-gear bike Jenny. Temperature according to the CRV's in-dash said 41 degrees fahrenheit but based on my wind-chill estimate plus relative frozen roadside puddle observations, I think it's safe to say that we started at about around 30 degrees for the ride. The temperature dramatically improved thirty minutes into Canada road and we were greeted by more cyclists towards the end of our ride. The fixed gear topped out at about 27 miles per hour downhill and my legs didn't feel so bad uphill. I am thoroughly convinced that this bike will be one of my favorites from now on. Happy new year to all.

Second to the last ride of the year for me. Gabe was with me on the ride, sleeping no less :-)

saturday was a good day for a ride with some old friends and some teammates from other years. good ride and even better company, portola valley california.

Flipping the stem of the trek made a world of difference this week during the weekly lunch rides. I didn't realize how different the position would feel after I completed the procedure last Tuesday. The bike felt completely different to ride. I felt as if it was a smaller bicycle, just from the lower hand position. I also felt as if my legs were a little more bent during the crank revolutions. I raised the seat about a quarter of an inch today before lunch and felt better with my legs. I think I will keep this new position throughout the winter riding season and see if I feel like riding like this in my next century.

I'm boycotting safeway.

I decided to do my errands today by bicycle after I got home from work. Went to the Wamu to do my deposits, Trader Joe's for some salad, and safeway for some hot sauce. Two out of three places let me in with my bicycle. Can you guess which one didn't? I talked to the manager and he wouldn't even let me grab the hot sauce after I explained how I just came out of two perfectly good establishments, one much like his safeway, and they didn't even bat an eyelash at my bicycle being inside their premises. After asking the manager for a written policy, they couldn't produce one and informed me of how it was "just a policy". I am convinced that the south san francisco safeway is biased against bicycles. I am not setting foot in the south city safeway ever again.

typical look outside of my cube at work. all these bikes are used on our lunchtime ride. good vibes...

my coworker's masi. i'm sure Tim (The Masiguy) will appreciate this...

a sad time in southern california, not just for cyclists but for everyone there. my thoughts and prayers are with everyone there.

i'm posting this picture i thought was amusing. i never thought of the bicycle crowd i frequently encounter as the "people in spandex", even though the concept of me wearing spandex has been a topic once in a while at work, just tossed around for a few jokes, ha ha hee hee. rode the trainer the other day and i made a decision today, i'm going to run whenever i feel like riding the trainer indoors. so there, i'm splitting my time between riding and running. but i still love riding...

JOKE FOR THE DAY
Mr. Kamaka lived alone on the East side of Oahu, in a place known to all as Kahalu'u.
He wanted to dig his taro patch, but it was very hard work because he was elderly and the ground was too hard.

His only son, Kimo, who used to help him, was in Halawa prison.
The old man wrote a letter to Kimo and explained his predicament...

Dear Kimo,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my taro patch this year.
I'm just getting too old to be digging up this hard soil.
I know if you were here you would be happy to dig the patch for me and it wouldn't be a problem.
Love, Dad

A few days later he received a letter from his son...

Dear Dad, No dig up the dirt in the taro patch. That's where I buried the bodies. Love, Kimo

At 4 A.M. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and an army of men dug up the entire area without finding any bodies.
They apologized to the old man and left.

Later that same week Mr. Kamaka received another letter from Kimo...

Dear Dad,
You can go ahead and plant your taro now.
That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Take care of the taro.
Love you, Kimo

i'm on the web! at about 7 minutes 20 seconds into the video and a few seconds of screenshot anyway :-)

oh my gosh! that's all i have to say about stage 1! Robbie McEwen just came out of nowhere. he looked like he was out of it kilometers back, shaking his wrist looking like he wasn't going to even jump to the front where the sprinters were going to battle it out! Robbie is my idol.

today i set my alarm to watch the live feed of stage 1 of this year's tour de france. i watched the prologue last night and it was good to see David Zabriske, Levi, & big George. if you're reading that last sentence you can tell i favor an American win in the tour but it was amazing to see Cancellara blow everyone away in the time trial. i get inspired when i watch the top riders do their jobs. 126 miles of relatively flat stage 1. go team Discovery!

today i rode old la honda road for the third time in my life. i rode it with two of my old teammates from team in training, Kanani Chun and Barbara Gibb. we all started cycling at 92 & canada, working our way south through canada. we all went through mountain home road, took a right on portola and viola, old la honda road. the game plan was to climb at an easy pace since Kanani still hadn't climbed old la honda. i started my timer at the bridge, the start of the climb and timed our ascent at 39 minutes! i was very proud of the girls for doing such a great time up the very well known peninsula climb. we all plan on doing the hill repeats on wednesday and will probably do more climbs together. i will post less default pictures next time.

wine drinking at home with my favorite twins in the world. jibe pinot noir, columbia crest merlot & jacob's creek shiraz.

it has been three weeks since the big ride. this is the first writing i have begun to do about it. by big ride, i mean the Lake Tahoe Century, better known as America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride. there have been so many great experiences leading up to and during this first century ride of mine. i can't forget to mention the great turn-around of my training starting with riding a strong 80-mile ride three weeks before the Tahoe ride. also, my favorite twins in the world flew down to visit which helped me relax a bit before the big event. i was very tense and worried about climbing hills in excess of 2000 feet, not to mention cycling 100 miles while climbing at elevation (South Lake Tahoe is approximately 6000 feet above sea level). i did the entire ride in five hours and forty-five minutes. i could not have done it without the help of my teammates and coach, they were a tremendous help throughout the training season. i have to mention the support given to me by my wife and son, the two people i was most happy to see at the finish-line. the climbing on the ride was not as bad as i had played-out in my head: the climb to Emerald Bay, climbing back from Truckee, Dollar Hill, the rollers at the end, & finally the climb to Spooner Junction. what i remember most from climbing this route was that i shifted early and made sure that i took my time and relaxed myself. thinking about riding and training gives a longing for early Saturday mornings again, listening to our team Manager Courtney and head Coach Kevin blaring off instructions to the entire Silicon Valley Team in Training Chapter. i have to say that i miss being with the team, riding with them has had a great impact on me.

i thought this was very very cool

alpine road to canada road team ride! that's me in the front directing our paceline team, yeah baby! i bonked hard on this ride but it was a good learning experience and was the first time i rode with the rest of the guys in my paceline team

it's me snitches!!!

last saturday was a 30-mile buddy ride at gilroy with a steady hill that i really didn't feel like climbing. my legs weren't as fresh as i thought they would be. i tried to get a good breakfast in my stomach the morning before the ride but my teammates, Rob and Mike, were walking away from me on the hill. i ended up pacing up with these two ladies: Lauren & Shelley. Shelley's bike bag was left open and she lost her innertubes as well as her co2 cartridges :-( . but these two were great company and my mentor (Alexia!) said it the best when she said, "Now that's a smart man - why chase a couple of fast guys when you can have the company of a couple of nice girls? : )." Thanks ladies, you guys rock...plus keeping the 24mph pace! ;-)

the boys hook Lance up!

Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Team in Training, my paceline team 2007 (left to right): Mike, Todd, Vince, Tony, Coach Matt, Mike, Rob, & Paul. 35-miler today and the weather was perfect. i did not bonk! hahahahaha...

2007 tour of california

the majority of asians in Daly City, CA

my visit to new york for a weekend in 2007 with the old crew Joe, Midge, me, & Mike...

You Are An ESFP

The Performer You are a natural performer and happiest when you're entertaining others. A great friend, you are generous, fun-loving and optimistic. You love to laugh - and you like almost all people equally. You accept life as it is, and you do your best to make each day fantastic. You would make a good actor, designer, or counselor.

What's Your Personality Type?

when this commercial came out, i fell in love with it because whenever i saw it, i wanted to ride...thanks to youtube now i have my own copy of this piece of art from nike...it still works everytime i watch it...ok, talk to you guys later i gotta get my Trek out of my car so i can ride!

i modified my "ride to work" because i couldn't get a good shot in my car when it was so dark so i have a "ride at work" video to post a-la-masiguy...

sawyer camp trail...ground was wet and we only did 12 miles...Jim had a good push on his mountain bike at the top of the hill now that he has road tires on it...a couple of more outings on asphalt and i think Matt and I will eventually push him over the edge to join the dark side...felt better climbing the mini hill today...crazy Matt tried to sprint on a low gear up to the pay phone--p'shaw! you got spanked hommie! hahahahahaha...it looks as if i still need to burn off the holiday eating spree...teehee...oh, and Jim didn't hurl today (then again, he didn't hurl on the last one either)...

stop driving sign...picture i took last year on my birthday...i've been wanting to post this and i finally found it on my phone...caught the stopsign on the way back from lunch from one of my old haunts--Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe in emeryville, ca...