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A Tale of Two Worlds |
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Written by Dave Barr
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Monday, 07 April 2008 |
A Tale of Two Worlds
 | | The new solution to maintaining my training schedule while traveling |
I cringed when I found out in early March that my company was sending me for two weeks straight travel. First, to South America for two installations - then back home for two days - and then off to California for another week of work. C’mon…don’t they realize that for “obsessive-compulsives” like us, March is the time we really need to bump-up the riding volume? How am I supposed to compete in those early races with a two week hiatus now? Oh… right…. installing instruments and training people on them is my job. Oh well…
First week: Bogotá, Colombia and Lima, Peru.
I wake up Monday morning in Bogotá to see Hugo Chavez on the TV in the breakfast room threatening war against Colombia. Great!!…as if the Bogotá kidnappings and muggings I had been warned about weren’t enough, now 10,000 Venezuelan troops are being rushed to the Colombian border (note: Venezuela was upset with Colombia for killing some top-level FARC guys one mile across the Ecuadorian border.).
Anyway, while I got no cycling done in Bogotá, I had some very interesting times, including a one hour cab ride each day from the (relatively safe) North end of Bogotá to the mostly industrial South end where the factory for my work was located. Driving through these (non-tourist) parts of Bogotá was a real eye opener. The traffic and pollution and horn honking were unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Three lanes means four cars can fit…right? Virtually every car was scratched and dented (and the back seat of my cab had no seatbelt – very encouraging!).
In the central and south part of the city armed guards and military guys were walking around everywhere. You think we have security concerns? Hah!
And then there were the bicycles. These very poor people ride bikes or scooters amongst some of the most dangerous traffic I have ever seen. They wear these bright yellow vests and ride in a “hunched-shoulders” position that cries out “please don’t kill me today!!” The driver said that hundreds of cyclists are maimed or killed in the city of Bogotá every year. Pedestrians suffer a similar fate.
He also told me that because the violence (from drug-lords, rebel factions, etc) has pushed people in from the countryside, Bogotá has grown from a city of ~1 million to ~8.5 million in only 25 years! After seeing all of this I felt incredibly lucky to “live-where-I-live…have-what-I-have”, etc. (and a bit pathetic that my biggest concern for the week was missing some training time.) Lima, Peru had much the same situation for cyclists as Bogotá (and I think the pollution was even a bit worse).
Second week: Santa Barbara, CA
What a contrast! The incredible wealth of SB is obvious from the moment you arrive (Oceanside mansions and villas everywhere). The weather was incredible; 70 degrees F and sunny for all seven days of my trip. In addition, I had some training time in the mornings and did the first rides on my new Ritchey Break-Away bike (actually a very nice cyclocross bike that comes apart and fits in with the standard luggage). After a casual spin through the Hope Ranch area, I asked the guy at Pro-Velo Cycle if he knew of good climb in SB. He replied “Gibraltar road’s a pretty stout climb”. I thought what-the-heck I’ll head over there. Stout climb? indeed! It was 3200 vertical ft in 8.3 miles with sections having 11-14% grade. My heart rate was pegged at 170 bpm for the whole 56 minute ordeal! (at times I was only going 5 mph!) Afterwards, I found out from some locals that Lance used to train on Gibraltar and said it was similar to Alpe Duez. And by the way (Big Al), thanks for convincing me to go with the compact cranks for the Ritchey travel bike. I needed every bit of the 34x25 to haul my 180 lb carcass up that thing.
Sunday morning I did a group ride locals call the “Santa Barbara Worlds”; an aggressively paced ride (basically like a race) that many of the local cat 1-3 racers show up for (about 30 of them on Sunday). Definitely a quick pace for this time in my training calendar, but I managed to do a few pulls and then sit-in. (though I totally missed the move for the massive field sprint at the end)
I concluded the CA trip with a nice 60 mile spin through the Solvang wine country (including a very nice tasting at the Zaca Mountain winery). Even work travel has its moments.
Dave
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; "The new solution to maintaining my training schedule while traveling")
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