Pro Cycling

I've decided to get into pro cycling. The reason why I'm doing cancer research is so that I could help people. Yet, I want to do something for myself too. And I really want to take the time out to get a taste of pro cycling. I don't want to be too old or on my death bed wishing that I could have done this - so why not do it now?! The plan is to graduate and work for 2 years and have some savings for a 4 years (or until my maximum potential is reached) career in pro cycling, after which time I'd go back into industry.

I'm very impulsive and there have been a lot of things that I really wanted to do for a short period of time but later on, changed my mind. However in this case, I've been entertaining the pro cycling idea for some weeks now, and the desire is getting stronger. I think what was really stopping me was that I don't know if I'd be physically suitable for this. Yet, my first bike ride was up GMR and I've ridden up Mt Baldy ski lifts. And there hasn't been a single person who hasn't been impressed with my cycling (although I generally take such compliments with a grain of salt). As well in running, which I've been doing on and off for 3 months now (due to injury) I got top 28% in my age group in my first half marathon. I think my ride up Big Tujunga with the club yesterday finally convinced me.

I had done this ride 4 months ago with the club and I remember it been quite tiring. There were 2 other girls who also went, one was faster than me and the other slower. This time when I went up, I was surprised that the climb was over so soon and I didn't feel that I had a good workout. The same 2 girls were now way behind me. They thought I've been training hard, nope, a long ride on the weekend and 2 runs during the week - definitely not enough training by anyones standard. So I think with proper training and dedication, I should be fit enough.

In terms of cycling skills, which I still greatly lack. I can now drumroll....drink from my water bottle while cycling. As well, I'm working on climbing out of the saddle to increase efficiency as well as to help with the saddle problem. I suck at climbing out of the saddle, after just a few strokes I could feel lactic acid build up. So I got a trainer at home. I plan to train on it for 30 min (especially working on climbing out of the saddle) on days when I'm not doing a long ride or runs.

On a very unrelated note, I received my first A+ in Caltech! My final course here - a pretty nice finish :)

Randomness

Yah, finally, and I mean FINALLY I finished all my course work. It's been a long time coming - 4 years. This term I took my last course, advanced biochem. There were only 3 students including myself and 2 professors which was rather interesting. I had no clue about all the biochem pathways and the professors expected that too. Yet they were surprised that I asked all the right questions and have looked through things before class! And just because I am in ChE, the professors assumed that I am smart.....ahh hmmm, not sure about that! Thankfully, I didn't prove them wrong, they said how good a job I've done (cf the others), but everyone would get good grades...I say wtf to the last part.

I have so much work to do, but I'm getting quite bored. I really like what I'm doing and it's possible implications in curing cancer, but I hate being stuck indoors. When I'm bored, I fantasize about what I'd rather be doing. I love cycling, I love the outdoors and I love travelling, what does this equal - why, a career in pro cycling of course!! That would be the life! But unfortunately, women pro cycling isn't very big, that's because they can never out compete men. On top of this, there is the bloody saddle problem. If there is a God, he is been quite unjust. Still, I think I'd go for it for at least 4 years to reach my full potential. And since cycling is purely physical, I'd need some mental stimulation too. So during my pro cycling career, I'd do lots of reading, mainly on human psychology. I'm fascinated by how complicated and contradictory the mind is. Like for me, due to circumstances when I was growing up, now I have trust issues. Whereas my sister is totally opposite, she easily gives trust away. In both situations, we have over compensated. The mind also seems contradictory. For instance, someone who has an alcoholic parent would subconsciously choose to be in a relationship with another alcoholic. It seems contradictory, but it's actually just them playing out childhood roles in order to overcome the trauma. In a sense, all the contradictory nature can be explained. I love trying to understand undoubtedly one of the most complicated phenomena in the world - the human mind. If I have a body double, I'd do exactly what I have proposed above - pursue a career in pro cycling while studying psychology. In fact, if I have less self control, I'd go and do it NOW! But since I am so bloody rational and all about the big picture, ie hoping that in my life I would contribute in changing human life for the better - so I'll stick with that. Sometimes I feel that I have such strong impulses which are kept at bay by my even stronger rationality.

On a side note, I just came back from a social with the club. I was talking with one of the club members. In the middle of the conversation, she said 'you are beautiful, your face.' I was shocked, she continued 'sorry but I have to say this...especially that smile of yours, every time I look at you, I'm taken by you...' While I just stood there feeling SO awkward and wishing the ground would swallow me up. I didn't know what to say other than 'thank you'. Yet to say thank you means that I agree with her which I don't. Oh and before you get all excited, she is a married women so there are clearly no motives :) Anyway, I'll try to forget about what she said or pretend it never happened so it won't be awkward the next time I see her.

On another side note, for my conference in Berlin, I'm going to do an oral presentation! I think I'll be the only one doing an oral in my track! They asked me for a biosketch and a photo to post on their website!! I'm stoked and so excited :D

Mission Impossible Accomplished

This morning I was supposed to join my club on a ride to Crystal Lake, but I didn't feel like riding with the club today (although I'm sure that if I'd gone, I'd have enjoyed it). So I slept in. Since I was on a lazy streak, I thought I may as well be on a greedy streak too. So I got out of bed and gobbled down half a bag of sour cream and onion chips. Needless to say soon after I got grossed out by the fat and the residue onion taste in my mouth. So I used trustworthy Listerine which killed the onion taste and burnt my mouth in the process.

Since I was loaded with carbs, I did the impossible today - I cycled 10 laps around Rose Bowl. I needed to get rid of the crap from my body, as well, I wanted to see how long I'd take to do 10 laps. Time 106min, or 17.5mph...I hope to join the peloton ride someday before I leave California. They do 10 laps in 60min, but I could use drafting which reduces energy expenditure by 30%. Hence my time would be 74min. If my calculation serves me correctly, this means that I could keep up with the pack for 2 laps before being dropped mercilessly.

On a side note, I didn't know there are legitimately funny Americans out there - this guy defies the stereotype. http://www.fatcyclist.com/2006/09/29/an-open-letter-to-assos/

On another side note, I just received a call from my mum's cell. I thought it was my mum calling, but it was my little brother (6 years old) on the phone, he decided to talk to me, found my number and dialed it - I'm smitten.

First 1/2 Marathon!

I did my first half marathon today! And in the process, I discovered the secret to running.

This morning I really didn't want to do the marathon. I was supposed to get up at 5am since the marathon started at 6.30am. Instead I slept in and was grumpy thinking wth I have gotten myself into. But of course, I have to do it since I promised myself I would. My training runs were normally 6.6 miles (or half the distance) in 1 hour 9 min and by the end I'd always be exhausted. So I thought that the best time I could possibly do today was 2 hours 20 min which is still crappy. As well, with 6 hours of sleep and my body feeling rather stiff and tired from cycling the previous day, I knew that I'd just suck more.

I rather unwillingly walked to PCC where the marathon starting point was held. It was so crowded. While waiting to start the marathon I talked with this nice lady and she taught me a breathing technique. Inhale 3 times in short bursts and exhale 3 times in short bursts. People always tell me to breath in deeply and slowly but it never worked for me. This new technique however worked wonders! Even by mile 9, I was still fresh and felt like I just started running. Thus I conclude that the secret to running is in the breathing. Pacing of course contributes too. I run with the nice lady cos her expected finish time was 2 hours 10min. If not for running with her, I'd have knowing myself, gone out strong with nothing left at the end. During the marathon, I didn't have to stop to walk (I stopped so many time on my training runs) and at the end, I sprinted to the finish with a time of 2 hours and 15 min. The announcer called out my name out of 4 other people who were also crossing the finish line and told me to smile for the camera which I found quite amusing.

All in all, a great first race. So lucky and glad that I chatted with that lady, if not for her I'd have not only died out there but also gotten a bad finish as well. After the race, I knew that I could have done better, shaving off 10 min shouldn't have been a problem! Next time! Goal (quite conservative) = 2 hours.

Amgen Tour

I went to see the Amgen Tour of California stage 7 this morning. We rode from Incycle, San Dimas via Mt Baldy road to Mt Baldy high school. I haven't done this route before but I knew that it'd be steeper than GMR. Driving there I was pretty nervous - I'm still not that comfortable riding a bike (but I'll typically get comfortable after a few seconds on the bike). There were tonnes of cyclists and they were all wearing jerseys with lots of logos and were mostly amateur teams. I thought crap, this is gonna be bad, they will be much faster than me. But going up Mt Baldy, I passed a few of these guys. Mt Baldy road is quite treacherous in that it doesn't look steep, but you can definitely feel it (apparently there are sections of 12% grade).

I tried to talk to some of the amateur team cyclists, but they were rather unresponsive, all they can do were stare from afar, wtf. I conclude from this that they were simply snobby. Note that this only applies to amateur team cyclists, they think they are on top of the world and are so good - BS, I'm faster than some of you, and don't be snobby with your carbon bike and thousands of dollar wheel sets while I can do better with my humble aluminum bike. I think this is where arrogant cyclists stereotype originated. I'm glad there are still nice and humble cyclists out there, I talked with some of them during the ride and while viewing the race at Mt Baldy (I also met up with some club members).

The Amgen race started at 12 noon at Ontario and arrived at Mt Baldy high school at 1pm (predicted time 12.30-12.45pm). There were tonnes of police cars and support crew etc. Then we saw the 15 men breakaway, I was busy taking photos but apparently Chris Horner was in there. I wonder where was Jens Voigt. Awhile later, the peloton came. They were fast! I'm surprised to see that they don't look that physically different from say some recreational fit cyclists. It's probably all in the training and the internals such as the hearts and the lungs.

At the end of the day, the snobby amateur team conclusion that I made earlier in the day did not disappoint. I had to cycle back down to Incycle but there were so many turns so I had to ride with the others back down (I opted to take my camera instead of my smartphone - so smart). I asked to join some of the amateur team cyclists for the ride down, they said sure. Some other cyclists asked to join too because they were not certain how to get back either. We descended very fast, I hit 40mph at some point. I definitely did not want to go so fast, but I need to be close to these guys. Anyway, I finally caught up with them. The cyclists who were not part of the team slowed down for me while the snobby team cyclists speed away. I was quite shocked but I should know by now that some people's words are just BS. I was very thankful for the guys who rode back with me and they were very impressed with my climbing especially given I've been cycling for a total of 8 months. I've also gotten many other compliments during the day like how I didn't even break a sweat while climbing (so not true!) and they always ask how long I've been cycling for. Anyway, still quite tired, tomorrow will be my first half marathon - I'm 100% sure that I'd suck.

Rascal Flatts - What Hurts The Most

Gotta love country music

Shinedown - Breaking Inside