Didn't get much sleep last night.  During the race we will most likely post progress updates more frequently on twitter than here, so use this link to stay informed:

Team Capybara

The moon was nearly full last night; here's a picture of it with the bikes in their racks in front of Tom C's house shortly before we hit the road:

There's one short month left until Team Capybara's third Furnace Creek 508, the second as a two-person relay entry.  The graphics for the team car are done:

My legs are ready too.  I weigh 15 pounds less than last year.  If I can get my nutrition right, we should be able to finish several hours faster than we did last year, assuming similar weather conditions.

The strength-training exercises assigned by my coach lately have been improving my speed, but I was overdue for a long endurance ride.  I set off at 9:00am from home for the coast, via Old La Honda road and Route 84.  Gray skies and quiet roads.  I passed one cyclist on Route 84 who immediately jumped on my wheel.  I pulled for a few minutes, then flicked my right elbow, moved left, and slowed slightly.  Ignoring the signal that it was his turn to work, he slowed as well.   I resumed my pace and he fell off the back.

I turned left at San Gregorio onto Stage Road, one of my favorite cycling spots.  After a couple of moderate climbs and some nice views of the Pacific Ocean, I descended into Pescadero and stopped at the bakery for some water.  I thought about getting one of their delicious bearclaws but decided eating a load of fast carbs so early in the ride probably wasn't a great idea.   One more small climb on Bean Hollow Road got me out to the Pacific Coast Highway.

The ride down to Santa Cruz was uneventful.  A moderate (and unusual) headwind slowed down the trip somewhat.  A couple of fully-laden bike tourists were grinding south to Los Angeles.  I stopped in Davenport and enjoyed a BLT sandwich.   Except for a couple of road closures, there wasn't any evidence of the forest fires that continue to burn in the area.  The fog and dampness probably helped to suppress any residual flames.

From Santa Cruz I climbed the gradual ascent to Scott's Valley where I stopped for water.  Then, more climbing.  Rather a lot of climbing- up Mountain Charlie Road.  Summit Road.  Skyline.  A couple of hours later I took the right turn on Route 9 and descended back down towards home.  Back on Foothill, I traded pulls with a couple of other riders for eight miles, dropping one, and getting dropped by the other.  

123 miles in eight hours and five minutes of on-bike time; 8 hours and fifty-five minutes total.

I just uploaded some pictures from our Furnace Creek 508 race on flickr:  slideshow

This arrived at the house today, with the following note attached:

Congratulations on the 508!
Here are some calories for you.
Francesca

I love my wife...