First Few Rides around New Home

I was going to post this a few days ago, but didn't get a chance to finish it off - here we go...

I shall carry on from where I left off from last time. I went to a LBS to get my bike checked out and fitted. The owner is an old Russian guy and is quite a character, amazingly straightforward, critical yet funny. He said that I put the bike together nicely and that I have mechanic potentials (lol that was a shocker). And complimented the bike, especially at the price I got it for :) He then fitted me on the bike. He made the bike very aero and taught me some techniques, including having elbows at 90 degree angles. Apparently I have a nice seat with a curve on my back unlike many other cyclists. There were rides leaving the shop on Saturdays and I asked if I could join. He said sure, if the weather is good and so we were to meet and ride on Saturday morning.

When I got back from the store, I took the bike for a spin around where I live. I was anxious because it's so so hilly around here. I went down the huge hill where I live and felt that I was going to tip over. In general the bike feels better than my old one. Especially when I stand up to pedal - it is so smooth and seems to move with me unlike my old one which felt very jerky (this might be due to the bike fit too). I finished the spin and was going back home when I missed my turn and was now at a 3 way stop sign. I was waiting for cars to go so that I could make a U-turn. But every one of the cars told me to go first. This is in stark contrast to Australia (lots of roundabouts instead of stop signs), where they never waited for me even if it was my turn to go and I have heard of many stories about drivers running cyclists off the road. Anyway, so off I went back towards the hill where I live. I think the gradient is over 13% ahhhh. I was shifting down and realized that there were no more gears left....gotta get used to the compact crankset!

On Friday, I decided to go for a ride around the area. I'm not supposed to do hills (says my coach), yet it's hard to map a flat ride without hills given it's the bay area. So I ended up going on Canada rd (quite flat), then climbed King's Mountain rd (that seemed like a never ending climb with an average gradient of 9%) and descended on Skyline blvd (a good but bumpy descent). The view was so beautiful around here - all dark green and lush and lively unlike the LA area. On my way back to the carpark, I was at a busy intersection. I signaled to turn left and behold, cars slowed down for me to pass. Once again, such a move would go unnoticed by Aussi drivers.

On Saturday, I was pretty excited to be riding with other people. I drove to the carpark behind the bike shop to meet up with the Russian dude and the others. I waited for a while, but no one showed up. So I found another ride. It's a ride with a bike shop in Pleasanton. Pretty far drive but I wanted to ride with others. That was a 30 miles ride including some climbs. There were only three of us on the ride including the ride leader. The other guy is quite fat but has lots of leg muscles. His ego seemed rather damaged when I could climb faster than him...I don't see how he would think he could be faster than me on the mountains with all his mass. I was still thinking about what happened with the Russian man, because knowing him (after an hour), I knew that he would not not show up. So after the ride, I went over to the shop to say hello. Apparently he was waiting for me inside his shop.....while I was waiting for him inside my car....and since I 'didn't show up', he didn't go ride. Anyways, I hanged out in the shop for a while, talked to a couple of other cyclists who were also hanging around. They told me some nice rides around the area and some clubs to join. The Russian dude then told me to contact his friend who is a cycling coach - he has coached Olympians and world champions.

On Sunday, I was supposed to do a long ride. But I was lazy and actually my legs were sore. So I just did the Bicycle Sunday ride on Canada rd (where the road is closed to traffic). I did 2 laps, admired the beauty of Crystal Springs and felt rather bored. Was going to do a 3rd lap, but sustained a bird poop...ewwww...so I cut the ride short. Upon return to the car and investigation in the mirror, there was nothing on me. It may have just been a wet leaf, less ewwww, but still eww.

I NEED to lose weight. In the holidays I was at 61 kg, gained around 1.5 kg while at home. During the last couple of weeks, there were no food temptations, currently at 58.5 kg. I need to get down to 56 kg by the end of March. It’s going to be easy I think. There are many areas where subcutaneous fat needs to be lost, for instance, tummy (0.5 kg), arms (0.2 kg), legs (0.5 kg), everywhere else (1 kg) and visceral fat too (1 kg). Right now I have 20% body fat or 11.8 kg of fat. If I lose 3 kg of fat, then I would be at 15.7% body fat. But by that time, I would likely have more muscles, so the actual body fat percentage would be lower.

Which reminds me, I was watching the following...



Andy Schleck is already so skinny and had to lose 1-2 kg for the tour?! It looked like he could possibly faint with each step. This video was great to gain a perceptive into the pro life....I want to train full time, work with the best people etc...one can daydream :) And 'I have Frank in the race, when there is a crash I always look to see if he is there....I don't care so much about myself, because I feel safe'...that is so sweet.

Leaving Home, Finding Apartment and Moving

After almost 7 weeks at home, I was sad to leave. I have said a few times before that sometimes I feel lonely when I'm by myself, I realize now that it's homesickness, because that 'loneliness' is not helped by talking to friends or doing exciting things, only by talking with or being with family does it help. I think my little sister has it figured out, she will go to uni in Perth and will most likely stay in Perth afterwards. 

Everyone went to the airport to send me off. Air NZ introduced a restriction of 23 kg for checked in luggage, which is rather annoying considering mine weighed 25 kg. So I put some things into my carry on luggage. During this, my dad kept on saying how bad the service is to the attendant. Idk what he can achieve by doing this (other than venting his anger) because 1. the weight restriction is placed by the airline and not by the attendant 2. talking badly to service people can have repercussions. The said repercussion indeed happened...For this airline, I could choose my seat for the flight from Perth to Auckland online, but not the Auckland to SF flight. I asked the attendant if I could choose my seat for the second leg. She said, yes, we will get to that. Soon, she printed out the boarding passes and asked whether aisle seat was ok, I said yes (that's what I wanted), although I thought it was strange that she didn't ask me to choose the seat myself. After I boarded the flight heading for SF, I discovered that she had put me next to the toilets, with people squeezed next to me, even though it was a half full flight! I thought it was ridiculous yet unsurprising, and indeed funny that people do such things. I asked the flight attendant if I could switch seats. I ended up sitting away from the toilets, on the aisle with spare seats next to me. And that was a pretty good flight as far as flying goes. Oh yes, I decided to try the low fat meals. I'm glad I did because they are the type of food that I normally eat, without all the fat/oil/salt. The quality of the food is good. If memory serves me right, one of the meals was a piece of chicken breast with beans, asparagus and baked sweet potatoes, cf to normal meal selection of either beef gravy or pasta. I think the special meals on the economy class, ie low fat, for diabetics etc are the same as these that are served on premium economy and perhaps even business classes. During the flight, I saw several movies, don't remember them much but I really enjoyed Horton hears a Who, funny and sweet. 

After the 32 hours of flying plus layover, I waited for 2 hours in line for customs, then I caught a taxi to get my car from the storage facility and to grab a few essentials from the storage unit. Walking into the storage unit was sad because I could clearly remember when my mum and little sister helped me to move everything in there weeks ago. I could also clearly remember thinking that I would be sad to come back here without them. Anyway, I quickly left the place and drove to my hotel, contacted a few apartments, then took the much needed rest. I looked at over 8 places. There was one which I always go back to because of their wooden floor. And what do you know, I'm living in it now :) The move was exhausting. There were so many things in the storage unit and they were so heavy. Carrying the boxes I thought I might faint. But as soon as I got everything into my apartment, suddenly I was no longer tired, perhaps it was a mental thing. Initially, I was going to get furniture from Ikea, but I thought perhaps I could get better quality pieces that would last longer and also look better. So I went to other furniture stores. I walked into one store and immediately saw a white leather sofa/chair. It looked great, simple yet classic. I just couldn’t stop looking at it nor get over it. It’s very expensive (supposedly a famous design), yet I knew that I had to get it. It's like how I knew that I have to live in this apartment (but without the guilt of spending so much money). I ordered several other things from them including a bedroom set and a bookcase. They will all arrive next week. 

I'm now sitting on a cushion on the ground, with my laptop on a makeshift table listening to music and admiring my new bike :) It arrived today in several pieces. I placed them together in about half an hour. Not sure how well they are put together. I will get it checked out tomorrow at a LBS and also to get it fitted for me.

Cycling and Other Matters

So, I should talk a bit about cycling in Perth. There are as I had mentioned previously, many cyclists here. And thus, more good cyclists which is unfortunate for the ego, but fortunate for motivation. This seems to be especially true in the club that I ride in.

Their rides are typically divided into 6 levels, with people joining a level based on their ability. For the first ride, I joined level 1 (level 0 is full of crazy fast people) thinking that I will do fine. Not so. I was fine to keep up with them for the first 30 min, but soon, I just don't have the power anymore. So I got swiped up by the level 2 group. I can side track and say that I do get up very early at 5.15 am and ride 10 miles (fast pace) to meet with the club, but I don't think they are much of an excuse. For later rides, I joined level 2, that was a much better pace for me but still I need to avoid the back otherwise I risk getting dropped. Rides with the club are seriously mind bogglingly humbling, and there I was thinking that I was some cycling hot shot.

So I decided to follow my training program as set out by my coach more closely the past week. I saw a significant improvement on a ride that I did last Thursday. And was eager to test it out in the club setting.

Today, there was a level 1.5 group which I happily joined. The first hour was fine and feels cruisy, then suddenly I was out of power and saw a gap opening fast. The president of the club rode next to me and without a word gave me a push (as he has done many times whenever I am in the same group as him). It's SO embarrassing. When I started out with this club, there was a really nice guy who started pushing me up a hill. I told him that I don't need him to push me. But now, I realize that I can't say no, otherwise I would just get dropped. After the ride, a female cyclist told me that they were all jealous because I got pushed by him.....I guess it's because he is the president of the club and is surprisingly good looking. I appreciate him helping me, but at the same time, it feels so belittling and just.....just sad. I need to be better. It's a matter of honor and pride.....life and death lol.

Another matter, a few weeks ago, while I was sleeping at night, there was a sudden jolt of pain in my stomach and I was feeling feverish and overall in such a bad state that I thought about waking up my mum to go to the hospital, but then decided I should be ok and tried to sleep through it. Anyways, I woke up the next morning without any pain and told my mum about what happened. She immediately said that I need to get a bf to care for me......just another occasion for her to bring it up. What she doesn't know is that while I think it's fine to have a bf and see him a few times a week, at this point, I don't want to give up my freedom to live together with someone. This point of view may change later, but for the near future, I am focusing on my work and of course on cycling :).

This reminds me of something else, dad had given a speech to us girls (my little sister and I, twin sister was luckily away) in the family about how he feels that we disrespect him. He went on to say that he guarantees that no man, in this world, would ever be better to us than he is to us. I nearly burst out laughing when I heard this but suppressed it and sat through 2 hours of similar bs (he even tried to sabbotage my relationship with my siblings and with my mum, I won't go into details here). Mum and twin sister were both surprised that I was able to sit through all of this, well, it's either because I could control myself better and/or I just don't give a shit about him anymore. Yet, I am sad because I know that it must be sad for him to feel this way, however, respect and for that matter, love, are built and earned through action and not through words.

爱江山更爱美人

Used to sing to this and love Brigitte Lin

Home and Job

I have been home for a little over a week now. It's good to be with family and to have plenty, and I mean plenty of time to do cycling. Whether I get enough in is another matter, because it is SUPER hot here. In fact, I normally leave home by 6.30 to 7 am to beat the heat and by 9 am, the heat is often too much to handle. Cycling is huge here. I am amazed at the number of cyclists and the amount of pro looking people here (by this I mean their cycling specific muscles). I joined a club that offers rides everyday of the week. However, to reach there I have to cycle 10 miles on the bike path with tons of obscure signs and turns. I went to scout out how to get there with my little brother, who has grown so much this past year that he is already taller than me (and has lost a lot of weight). Thus I thought that he would be faster than last year, not so. We left home at 8 am and I calculated conservatively that we would be home by 10 am, at a pace of 10 mph. However, we were home at 11.30 by which time both parents have gone out looking for us. My brother later went on to have breathing problems (from exhaustion) and didn't want to go cycling again, not that he particularly wanted to do so in the first place. In fact, all my siblings (maybe not my littlest brother) avoid anything to do with exercise. My mum thinks that my cycling is ridiculous and my dad's idea of fun is relaxing in front of the TV. So strange that my family is so different from me. Back on track, many of the cyclists in the club are very fast. I will give an update later on cycling in Perth as I have ridden more myself and more with the club.

I wanted to talk a bit about my future job and the search for it. Initially I wanted to go to Germany, because people are more straightforward there and because I wanted to do cycling in Europe. However, after I learnt that the pay check is on average 50 % that of in the US, I decided not to go. After this, there was a period where I was confused about where to live. Then it popped in my head that I could go to Denver, CO because of the great cycling there. Yet, that ended at the same time as I found out just how dry it is over there. Not keen on having dry skin and bloody nose and premature aging. Then for a couple of days I had a strong inclination of becoming a lecturer in Perth because you can earn 100 k a year and work schedule is of course light, such that I would have lots of time to pursue cycling. However, life would be boring without any intellectual challenges and I don't particularly want to live in Australia. Later I settled on SF. The weather, the people and the cycling culture all seem to be a great fit for me. There was one job that I really wanted. Yet, the job spec says that they are looking for a person with 5-10 years of industry experience. I still applied and surprisingly I got an email asking for scheduling a phone interview. The phone interview went well. I liked how the company gives its researchers plenty of freedom, and they liked me too. So off I went for an onsite interview. I can wholeheartedly say that I enjoyed the interview. I wasn't nervous and was eager to learn more about the company, its research and its people. Everything I learnt I liked. I waited for the job offer - this did not come easy. This is because I am a foreign national and of course there are others competing for the position. Thankfully, I got the job. I think I have been very lucky in my job search. I know of two ChE PhDs (both US citizens) in bio research whom were jobless for 9 months. I have to say that the pay is pretty good too :) Now I have a bigger budget in buying my new bike.

When everything was falling into place towards December (finishing my thesis, finishing my papers, and landing the job), I felt that a higher power, perhaps God may not let me to stay happy for long and take everything away from me. This is strange, because when my research didn't work, when I broke my back, and when I wasn't happy I never thought that I was unfortunate or that they were anyone else's problems but my own.

An Era Has Thus Ended

Yay!! I finished my thesis and defended last Friday. I think my talk went pretty well. When I arrived 5 min before my talk, my advisor and labmates were already there. Knowing how last minute I am, he has already set up the projector for me. But what he doesn't know was that I am always prepared. I have tested the projector and practiced the talk. I was not a bit nervous, it was after all, my fourth talk. My talk lasted 29.5 min, perhaps the shortest thesis defense ever. After some questions from the general public, I was in the room with my advisor and other thesis committee members. They asked a few questions. There was one question where they wanted to know the actual number, for which I did not have. But I didn't want to have to do that experiment, so I provided a guesstimate, to which they laughed knowing what I was trying to avoid. Thankfully, no extra experiments were needed. But I quote from my thesis section 'future directions and recommendations' '...as with all scientific endeavors, the more we learn about a system, the more question arises....'(as you can see, I got pretty bored from all the writing). Anyway, no changes were required to be done to my thesis either (even though I took 1 week to write it)! I have sent my thesis for proofreading and later to get it bound. Also submitted two papers - finally.

Last Saturday, I went for the much anticipated final Montrose ride. I was to finish riding with the medium paced group without getting dropped. The night before, I didn't sleep well because my little sister snored more than usual. In the morning, I didn't hear my alarm through the ear buds. Thankfully, I got up. Mum said she heard the alarm but since it was nothing important (it's only cycling), she didn't wake me......I hurried and thought that I would be able to make it. I arrived at my usual waiting spot at 8.17 (they passed at 8.20 the last couple of times). But when 8.25 came and went, I had the dreadful suspicion that I probably missed the ride. I rode with another cyclist further up Huntington. After a bit, I saw 2 cyclists waiting by the side and asked if they were waiting for the medium paced group. They were waiting for the fast paced group, the medium one passed 10 min ago :(. I was so disappointed for not having a chance to finish that ride. I talked to these guys a bit, and they said that the fast paced ride is much faster and are generally more experienced cyclists, Cat 3 or above.... I thought oh well, let's see how long I can keep up with the fast group for. A few guys who broke away from the group rode by and we joined them. Soon the group caught up, actually, it engulfed us. There were so many people! The pace was indeed fast. But the ride was smooth and I was pretty confident. At one point, I nearly got dropped but stayed on. Then came the Encanto Park area where I got dropped last time from the medium paced ride. I made a mental note to NOT get dropped there again. However, I just could not keep up. After I got dropped I realized just how fast they were going. Within a few minutes, they were out of sight. Luckily I remembered the route. Soon I caught up with another guy who got dropped. He was quite upset and complained about how the group was faster than usual. I was pretty happy with my accomplishment. I look forward to coming back one day to finish the ride and to perhaps lead it :)

This week has been more tiring than when I was writing up my thesis. I had to finish everything up in the lab, teach and pass on things to others, pack up and sign off, clean up my apartment, sell furniture, send things to the airport (since my car is not big enough)....yet my car was still stuffed full. We drove over from LA to SF this morning, and left everything at a public storage. My mum and sister helped me so much with tidying up the apartment and packing up everything. I am already sad having to come back with my lonesome to unpack things from the storage.

Cycling Update 12/2/12

This morning I went for the Montrose ride, same route as last week with the goal of completing the ride with the group and not getting dropped. It has been raining the past few days, so I wore my new Rapha wind jacket. It's super light and is supposed to be waterproof for around 45 min. Thankfully it didn't rain. However, after riding for a few minutes, I realized that the jacket may keep water out, but it also traps water in. All the sweat had no where to go. So yep, I was steaming after about 30 min into the ride. So I opened the zip and was riding with the jacket flapping away - like a pro. Except pros only open their vest or jacket during climbs, because there is too much resistance otherwise. I spotted another girl cycling, she was very random and dangerous, which probably lead to someone complimenting me for riding in a straight line. One would think that it's common sense. I have to say that I wasn't feeling as good as last week, maybe because I haven't been working out the past week. In total just 40 min on rollers and a weight lifting session....so sad. Anyway, at around Encanto park section, the guys sped off like last time. Last time, I was able to keep up, but this time, I was exhausted and a gap opened. I rode about 30 m behind the group for 2 miles. It was a great workout but a lost cause. The wind resistance created by my jacket flapping around didn't help either. I should have put in a bit more effort in closing the gap when it first opened.

As time passed, the gap widened, and I had a hard time keeping track where the group was. All would have been fine if I know the route, but I don't remember directions unless I have to and there are many turns in this ride so yep. At one point, there was a car behind me and I wanted to keep to the right as much as possible since I was by myself, but I was going fast and before I know it, I rode into the uneven section (again). This time it was worse, my bike tilted by maybe 20 degrees with screeching metal on concrete sound, thankfully I saved myself. Idk why I always do this, I need to be careful. Then as I was speeding away, I checked to see if the group turned right at an intersection, and sure enough they did, so I did my sad crazy ass wide turn and doubled back. By which time, I couldn't see any cyclists anymore. After a bit, I caught up with this guy perhaps 100 m in front of me and I followed him. Then came an intersection, if memory serves me right I should turn right, but he went straight head, so I followed...wrong choice. I doubled back again. Then I rode on Foothill for what seemed like forever, I knew I had to turn right just not sure where. Then behold, I saw a vague outline of a cyclist in front of me, and saw that he turned right ahead, so I followed. It was indeed the correct route. I was so happy that I saw him. At least I will finish the ride, all is not lost! He was very easy to talk to and must have been around 60 yo. He used to be a pro cyclist and raced with Greg Lemond!

At the stop, we rode over to my coach and he asked me about a few things. Then the triathlon coach I met last week came over (he must have waited a long time) and we rode back together. I told him how I got dropped etc, he said it was his fault and apologized cos he was leading. Lol it's obviously not his fault that I couldn't keep up. I have one more chance left to see if I could finish a ride with this group.

Which leads me onto other things. I handed in my thesis yesterday, took a total of 1 week to write everything up. So efficient. There is nothing like a deadline to make me work. I'm pretty sure that if I had 1 month to write the thesis, the quality would have been the same. If say I had finished my thesis a day in advance, I would have felt that I needed better time management because the less time I have, the more efficient I am. So happy to be finishing up soon! Counting down the days.