Quick update, I had a pretty lousy cold, "humboldt crud" as many would describe here in the area.  I took almost a week of and not quite at an appropriate time for training.  I was feeling quite well with my training for the Stagecoach and my weight and strength were working together as expected.  I could feel my endurance increasing substantially from my regimen of hill climb runs, spin class intense workouts and some extensive rides.  One single moment of overlook, a depletion of minerals and recovery, lack of sleep and you quickly find yourself susceptible to colds and flus.

Tomorrow I start a rapid attempt to recoup time lost, strength and endurance lost.  Work will be a challenge this next month, major projects, major workload and travel arrangements for end of April, mixed with cycling training.  This is a moment in time that reminds me that I am not a paid athlete, I am a dedicated avid cyclist with very lofty goals.  I am proud to do what I do with the limited training time, the family responsibilities, a job that can need me at any given hour and yet, I keep raising the bar.  One of my bosses said to me in a recent review that I have a "well balanced work-life", I am not sure that is true, I struggle to balance it all but I guess i's not all out of whack so that's pretty good.

My frame bag needs a bit of work, some velcro work should be done this week.  I need to make 2-3 other bags or devices one for the bar, saddle and maybe the top tube.  Toying with ideas from what I see on the market and some ideas of my own to carry a sleeping bag, bivvy, sleeping pad and nutrition.  All other items I need to carry are somewhat already covered.

Had a great time today taking photos for Humboldt Adventure Wear's web pages and catalog.  They have a great product and even better outlook on how the see themselves as a company, not overbearing, with a healthy approach to how their product is made and marketed.  Finished my day with a hot tub visit to Finnish Hot Tubs with Liz and Noah, we all needed it bad.  Good times!

Off to Point Arena tomorrow and finalize some end of month work and then maybe a ride in Ft. Bragg area.

FLASH POW

HOT TUBBIN

Ciao

Bike packing Frame Bag

Almost done with my frame bag, the fabric was a parachute fabric I found at a surplus store, in this whole attempt, possibly the worst choice since it seems to be shredding at edges. The straps are iron on retroreflective ribbon, I will add Velcro tomorrow. The zipper opens both ways and inside is a full size mesh pocket. I can fit my Leadville pillow my mom made me and still have room for quite a bit.

Below are some photos to show how it will sit in the frame but it still needs some tweaking.

Sewing has been fun, this took about 5 labor hours and cost under 40 dollars. I think I will play with this material a bit more then I'll get the good stuff, XPAK.

Well more on this soon!

Just a month away! SC 400

So I had a good training regime going and in one week I feel I've taken about 10 steps backwards. Now most every year this happens, a cold, work or even an injury is a set back. This year though, the mileage, type of race and terrain of the events I chose for 2022 leave little room for set backs.

On a lighter note, Noah is kicking ass in wrestling, Lucas is man of the match against number 7 rugby team in US, my sister is running races again, and getting on podiums, Andre will be home soon as well.

My frame bag is about 75% done, learning to use a sewing machine is not as hard as I expected but I can't say I got it all perfect. Some snags, jams, threading and procedural issues will make an interesting bag. Materials will be ok on the test bag but not great, as I chose some based on price and availability. Pictures soon enough!

Now some meds and tv time to sleep.

Hey is that an ILUV2MTB sticker???

Bikepacking gear

So I've done a lot of research, it appears that although you might see people rolling around with panniers or bags strapped to every piece of exposed tubing, this gear is very limited to a certain few companies. Well, let me elaborate, there are many pannier companies, many pannier bag companies, there are many small tool bags or fuel bags, but once you start looking for light, voluminous, frameless bags the choices get slim. Some companies like Carousel Design Works, Revelate and a few other small companies have cornered a marker. The bags they make have a following, they've tested their metal by supplying bag sets to people like Matt Lee of Tour Divide fame. The issues I've run into is with delivery time and to be honest pricing. These guys are generally small, in high demand and in the case of Revelate no longer creating custom solutions and are making solid products for Salsa and Fat Back bikes.

So I made the decision to make my own bags and will start posting pictures of some of my creations as I move forward. I will try a few versions for my bikes and a few different purpose bags like fuel, compression and frame bags. The best part is the first set of bags and all the tooling will cost me as much as ordering a custom bag.

More to come!!

Serge

How to lose weight safely!

A pound of body fat equates to approximately 3500 calories. So if you have a calorie deficit of 500 calories (meaning that you burn 500 calories more than you eat each day) you would lose approximately one pound per week:

500 x 7 = 3,500

It's easy to see that a calorie deficit of 1000 calories would mean that you'd lose approximately two pounds per week. And that's a good number to remember, because two pounds a week is commonly accepted as the maximum rate of weight loss that is healthy. Losing weight too quickly has other disadvantages.

So a basic rule is calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), or the calories you burn in your normal everyday without extra activities. Add to that how many calories you burn in your workouts, then for weight loss as a goal subtract those 500 calories. The number you get is what you will need to replenish yourself daily with a small deficit for weight loss. If you can create the 2lb per week deficit comfortably go for it just don't starve yourself!!

Just some thoughts

LEARN ABOUT CALORIES
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_pound.php

BMR CALCULATOR, EXERCISE AND FOOD TRACKING
http://www.livestrong.com/basal-metabolic-rate-calculation/

This could be the final 2012 calendar

Thanks to everyone that helped me raise money in 2011 now what's on the plan for 2012??

As of now, I have committed to the following events:

2/15/12 Clam Beach Run, great fun time COMPLETED

April 27th:  I will be at the inaugural Stagecoach 400, a self-supported 400 mile race from high mountains, to Anza Borrego desert to the ocean in Idlewild, Southern California. 

June 2nd:   next event is the Dirty Kanza 200, and my wonderful LIZ's Birthday, (I will kill myself to finish for her).  If registration goes well tonight, I will be in what is becoming the 200 mile premier gravel road endurance race in North America, starting in Emporia Kansas.  

July 30th:  I decided to shelf the Leadville Race Series this year to continue the trend towards more Multi-Day Bikepacking events.  I still wanted to visit Leadville so I think I will try and do the Colorado Trail Race Monday, July 30th, 2012 - 6am 

The CTR: 470 miles and 65,000' of elevation gain winding through the Colorado Rocky Mountains from Denver to Durango. Approximately 300+ miles of singletrack at elevations ranging from 5500' to a gasping-for-breath 13,200' 
I'm gonna love my Humboldt Adventurewear gear on this one!!!

October 5th:  The only other event I plan doing but have to see if it will be feasible with work and funding is the Allegheny Mountain Loop The Allegheny Mountains Loop is a 400 mile fat-tire bicycle route that begins and ends at Virginia Tech's War Memorial Chapel in Blacksburg, VA.  Lets see if it will happen?

Join the Team if you want to raise money with me for First Descents:  http://teamfd.firstdescents.org/2011/fd/MisadventureHerrera/

Thanks to everyone that helps me and First Descents out!!!  Click on the link for details about First Descents.  

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Supported by Humboldt AdventureWear
and of course Elisabet Valls

You know there a cool cycling events and then there are amazing cycling events.  A friend posted a cool top 10 bucket list and then I saw one on Montain Biking UK last month.  I just have to say this has to be the quintessential bike ride Global Bicycle Race.  I am amazed by this one, I encourage all of you to get a little excited about this one.  These guys are abolutely amazing to even try and tackle this, I could get tired talking about it while these guys ride it.

I know I am pushing myself, each day I add something to my list of things I want to do.  I know many people out there doing incredible things like Jeff Kerkove and Sonya looney of Team Topeak Ergon are always doing awesome things, they're riding the YAK Attack as I write this in high Himalayan mountain conditions

I am always amazed at what people will come up with to set their own personal bar higher.  The human machine is amazing, we rarely can accept just being sedentary.  We always want to be a little more, do a little more, reach a little higher.

I started knocking down a bucket list late in life but I still feel so young and feel I have lots of time to do a little more each and every day.  The bar is still quite low for me, much bigger things to come!!

The real heroes are some of those people doing what I am doing with MS, Cancer, Diabetes, Prosthetics and so many other barricades, some are survivors and some are coping with these barricades each day.  They just keep breaking through those barricades and achieving some incredible feats.  My friends Bionic Bob, Big Heart Bob, Sweet Gracie, Big Man Tuma to name a few, what heroes, what examples of fortitude.

This is why I support First Descents, in an effort to help other knock off their own bucket list.  Everyone deserves a chance to have a bucket list and chip away at it.

Go check out that Global Race or the Yak Attack and start your own list!!

Peace

Stagecoach final route

So it looks like the folks in Idylwild at The Hub Cyclery are done mapping the route for the first Stagecoach 400. I am not disappointed but I was hoping for a full 400 miles at least. Either way, 374 miles and twice as many feet of climbing as Leadville fully loaded with gear should prove to be a phenomenal route. The photos have been stunning, and epic.

I may load up with more than I need anyway as I am testing things out for later events this year. Given 5 days to complete this route we can do this easily I believe and hopefully much faster. The cues could be all the difference since a wrong turn anywhere can prove to be the difference between 374 miles and 400+ miles.

More details are on the Stagecoach Blog pages, enjoy the mapping:

FINAL ROUTE

Thanks Brendan, Siren Mary and The Hub Cyclery