Thursday, September 25, 2008

2008 Day 6 -- Pismo Beach to Solvang (Hot, Hot, Hot)

Well, Bush's speech last night preempted Dwight's radio interview this morning. They wanted to talk about that instead. Could you believe it! :-) They rode 70 miles today averaging 16mph. They climbed about 2500ft. They started their ride with cinnamon rolls in Pismo. They had to ride an extra 6 miles to get it but it was worth it. It was very hot today. The temperatures reached 105 degrees inland. As they rode inland they had incredible smells like parsley, strawberries, celery, cilantro and jalapenos. They drafted again today (pace line) and it saved them lots of energy. People continue to ask about Also Touch. Dwight did get interviewed by a local paper tonight (Santa Ynez Valley News). It should be on syvnews.com next Tuesday.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Day 5 -- San Simeon to Pismo Beach (Eating Their Way Down the Coast)


Today they rode 64.7 miles and averaged 14mph. They burned 4500 calories and consumed 4500+. The day started off very foggy in San Simeon until they reached Morro Bay. It fogged up again shortly after then the sun finally broke out at San Luis Obispo. Pismo Beach was pretty foggy. There were a few climbs but not many. One of our riders, Mike Curry (see picture), learned how to ride the pace line and enjoyed going faster. They stopped at the hot springs in Avila Beach and it was incredibly soothing to the sore legs. Dwight had an opportunity to hand out lots of Christiana bookmarks as people and cyclists asked about the Also Touch Team. In fact, Dwight is being interviewed by a Santa Cruz radio station tomorrow morning to share Christiana's story. Anyway, the team ate a lot today! Their menu consisted of an egg burrito breakfast. They stopped at Lillie's in Cambria for coffee cake and coffee. Lunch in Morro Bay was peanut butter, honey and chocolate sandwiches! In San Louis Obispo they had crepes (one healthy and one filed with choc bananas and strawberries). They stopped at a place called Belgium Fritas and had Jamaican jerk fries, regular fries and garlic and parsley fries. They stopped at a local bike shop and had homemade tamales chips/salsa. At camp they had Chinese chicken salad then proceeded top go to a restaurant in Pismo that supposedly had the best clam chowder. Somehow Dwight managed to also find a place that sold Jamaican chocolate rum cake. This is why Dwight gained 1 pound after the ride last year! By the way, check out this link for a team picture with the Marin County fire fighters. http://www.iaff.org/Comm/SpotLight/08stories/092408MarinArthritis.htm

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Day 4 -- Big Sur to San Simeon -- How Majestic

They are half way done! Four days down and four to go! Today they biked 64 miles and climbed 4900 ft. Lots of rolling hills. The ride started with an immediate 2 mile climb out of Big Sur. They stopped at a cafe and looked at the spectacular views along the coast. Lots of rolling hills until mile 40 when they had a 3.7 mile climb then 2.5 mile downhill. At mile 50 they came across hundreds of sea lions. Today, they stopped to take in the sights a lot. Thank God they didn't lose anyone! Sounds like the exhaustion is starting to kick in though. Please, keep them in your prayers.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Day 3 -- Monterey to Big Sur (Where's Billy?)


Today, the group expanded from 10 people to 40! It seems like riders are hearing about the touring that Team Also Touch is doing and are deciding to join them. Three minutes into the ride, Billy (see picture), one of our team members took a wrong turn. How did the 40 riders lose him? Who knows but several of the top riders went back and found him after 45 minutes. Wheww! A fellow rider who lives in Monterey then took the team on a tour of Monterey and Carmel (including 17 mile drive). They saw bunches of sea lions and stopped at a coffee shop called Il Fornaio for chai and coffee. They stopped at Pebble Beach and were allowed to take pictures on hole #18. It was a beautiful day. The touring added ten miles to the normal course so they rode a total of 52 miles rather than 42 miles. As they got closer to Big Sur, they stopped at Big Sur River Inn and soaked their feet in the cold river. They even got to hear some opera from a fellow rider named Annie. Team Also Touch is still going strong!


Sunday, September 21, 2008

Day 2 -- Santa Cruz to Monterey


Today we all wore our custom made Also Touch bike jerseys. A picture will be posted at the end of the ride but we sure did look good. The jerseys are blue, Christiana's favorite color. We have the Also Touch logo on the front, her picture on one sleeve and Sponge Bob on the other sleeve and sponsor logos on the back. We took beautiful pictures together as a team. We got all kinds of comments about the jerseys and, of course, it was a great lead in to Christiana's story. Several people have already told us that they want to join our team next year. Another beautiful day! We biked 54 miles. It was an easy day but we have to get ready for tomorrow as we head on up to Big Sur.

Day 1 --- San Francisco to Santa Cruz





The adventure has begun. At 8:15 this morning, we started our ride across the Golden Gate Bridge and down the coast. There are ten people on our Team Also Touch riding in memory of Christiana. One our our riders, Mark, works for the Marin County Fire Department and he arranged a nice surprise for us. Three engines, including the fire chief, met us at the end of the bridge and greeted us with sirens and lights. We were able to take a picture of our team with the fire fighters. That picture will be posted when we get back. Are target to Santa Cruz today was 87 miles. We took a few detours and rode 93 miles and climbed 4700 feet. We averaged 14.6 mph. The ride was beautiful! Some of us treated ourselves to massages at the end of the day.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

One Day to Go

Well, we only have one more day to go before the ride down the coast! Alot has happened since I blogged last.

We rode the Tour de Tahoe (72 miles around the lake). It was a gorgeous day and I was joined by the men from the Bible Study group (Dave, Gus, Virendra and Jim) as well as good friend of mine, Mike Curry. We had a blast (and I'll post a couple of pictures to show it).

We also had a fundraising dinner/auction/dance for Team Also Touch, the team that is riding in memory of Christiana. We have 10 members on the team, 7 newbies for the year. We will post pictures so you can see all of our faces.

Well, I should turn in and get some rest before our first ride tomorrow from SF to Santa Cruz.... a mere 85 miles :-)

Talk to you soon,
Dwight

Friday, August 29, 2008

3 Weeks and Counting!

Wow, I just realized we have only 3 weeks left before we take off on our bikes down the coast. I have been travelling quite a bit up to Seattle, so I have not been getting as much cycling as I wanted, BUT I will be ready.

I'm going out this weekend with Jerry and doing a 44 miler tomorrow in Half Moon Bay.

I'm excited because we know have 10 (!) members on our Team Also Touch! Oooooeeee!

Talk to you all soon,
Dwight

Follow this link ... Dwight Powery to submit any donations! Thank you!!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Riding the CCC again in Memory of Christiana

Hi... Here I am again getting ready to ride the CCC down the coast in memory of Christiana.  This year Evelyn will not be riding with us (she is studying in Granada, Spain for the summer), but we have signed up a couple of our friends to join us.   I am excited about doing this again in the memory of Christiana and in sponsorship of the Arthritis Foundation.  I will miss Evelyn, Mel (Dr. Balboni) and Joyce (Dr. Hsu) along the ride the coast.

Keep checking for updates on my training, etc.

To donate click on the following link: Dwight Powery