Bike Riding in Hollister Hills

What would turn out to be my final "training ride" was a gorgeous stroll into the Hollister Hills with my favorite gal.

We squeezed my bike into Gia's car along with a huge ice chest and our bags. When we arrived in our hometown of Hollister to sunny skies off we went with Gia borrowing her brother Steve's girlfriends bike. She was a trooper on her first ride in awhile on the much heavier mountain bike. The ride amounted to 15 miles including a few small hills and a loop out on Southside Road and Airline Hwy. We peddled up to my family's house as if we'd rode straight from San Francisco to the surprise of some.

Along the way we reminisced about times long past, when all the subdivisions didn't exist. We even rode by cousin Joe and Gae's house, but they weren't home. When riding in Hollister, and especially out near Cienega, I'm always reminded of how beautiful it is and proud to come from such a place.

Sanchez Family Reunion Shines With Color

On Sunday, May 27th the descendants of Mariano and Ceferina Sanchez reunited after nearly 30 years for a traditional family reunion at San Benito Historical Park.

In attendance were representatives from the Sanchez, Warren, Porteur, Hagins and Miguel Families. Unfortunately none of the Cronins (Auntie Judy's family) were able to attend. Each family was designated a color and the sea of red dominated with 43 brightly colored Warrens.

The eldest family member was Auntie Teresa Sanchez (89) with Papa Wes only 8 months behind. The multi-shaded purple Sanchez' were also represented by our late cousin Tom's widow, Jennifer and their children Oceanna and River and her husband John and his son.

The Porteurs, in green, were second in mass and represented well on the softball diamond where mostly Warren's took on the other families. Baron took a moment to properly pronounce the family name, "Pour-tour" before announcing his families 3 generations.

The Miguels looked sharp with Aunt Carmen dressed in shades of orange. Other Miguels were sporty in Giants colors led by Uncle Joe, who had the most poignant moment when he raised his fist proclaiming, "I'm finally a Sanchez." This was apparently in reference to his families status as an equal in the celebration as he was brought up by his Aunt and Uncle following the death of his mother when he was 3.

Looking cool in blue were the Hagins clan smartly led by matriarch Auntie Marian, who proudly announced Mike's fiancee Marilee along with the others. Following her third phase of chemo she was looking good and spoke from the heart when she said, "your parents would be so proud of you all."

Bonny spoke for the Warren's in naming the red mob, which took some time. I'd like to think this was appreciated by a confused 3rd and 4th generation of cousins.

All-in-all, 17 of 31 living cousins were present including Mark, Baron, Renon and Janine; Ken, Peggy, Bonny, Susy, Sean, Cefe, Maria, Kevin, Anita and Rick; Pat and Mike; Joe Jr.

Stay tuned for the next reunion where plans are already underway (see Anita), when we hope to gather even more of the family.

What Makes You Tick?

You've read my posts about AIDS/LifeCycle, biking over 7 sisters/hills, Rayna's pregnancy, Mom's death, Pinger, Nana's cookies, Spain, Josefa's birthday party, The Rev. Rick Warren, American Idol and many other topics.

Now is the chance for you to submit your own thoughts, stories, poems, and photos for me to post here. Be creative, be funny, be serious, be creative but just let me know what makes you tick!

What is Pinger!

My dear ol' friend Jesse (Butch) Green works for Pinger, which is a startup company in Silicon Valley and he put me up to using the service. Many of you will be familiar with my group message to AIDS/LifeCycle supporters or to Warren family messages. The service is really easy to use and essentially allows you to leave voice messages which you pick up on your cell phone or from your email. For many of you the easiest thing will be to listen right on your computer by clicking play. Check it out, I think you'll like it.

For more information go to:
http://www.pinger.com

Please let me know, if for any reason, you would like to be removed from my Pinger contacts.

Final Training Ride of Season: 102 miles

Sunday marked the final major ride of a long start-stop-start again training season. It began with a few small rides at the end of last year, then when my bike was stolen I had a few months off around the beginning of the year. After I purchased my new and improved carbon Felt I was back at it beginning in February. Most of my riding were organized ALC training rides including great biking about San Francisco and through Marin County and nearly always included a pass through gorgeous Golden Gate Park and Presidio National Park. Although fun to meet and be outdoors it can be time consuming and tiring. From preperation the night before including bike maintenence, clothing (laundry) and eating properly to getting up early to post-ride stretching and re-fueling your body.

As The Ride gets closer we tend to do rides of 60-100 miles in March, April and May often on consecutive days. One long weekend I did 140 miles over 3 rides. I skipped several of the longest weekend rides due to my schedule at SFJAZZ where I work many weekends including up until midnight. I was able to lead several rides including one in the Hollister Hills, and the most recent Ben Armstrong Category 2 series to West Marin this last Sunday. This ride is notorious for the Marshall Wall, which is a major climb leaving the Cheese Factory which ends at Hwy 1 near quaint Point Reyes Station. This ride is more difficult then anything one can expect on The Ride itself but adding to it on this particular day were heavy headwinds just as you are climbing and descending the most gruesome part. It was otherwise a gorgeous day, and the views breathtaking. I felt like I was flying with the huge black birds above the slight fog while looking down on the rolling hills and ocean ahead, it nearly brought tears to my eyes. My new riding buddy, Jennifer, wanted me to take her picture at nearly every turn but that may have been an excuse to rest. Never-the-less she promises to send a rare photo of me high above the world. Later we ate BBQ oysters near Tomales Bay before the official lunch stop. Throughout the day I also managed to take in a chai latte, bagel w/cream cheese, chicken salad, a sugar cookie and an ice cream bar - the benefits of being on a bike from 7am-6pm. At lunch I laughed hard when one crazy character proclaimed he was going to blog how proud he was to "WALK Marshall Wall" which he did faster than those trying to ride up it in the wind.

Anyway, as the training season has wound down I feel I'm ready once again and know what to expect. The Ride doesn't get easier but knowing what's ahead is quite the relief and God-willing I plan to ride EFI (every friggin' inch) for the third consecutive year.

Thanks again for all the support, both financially and morally. Listen for voice messages from me during the ride which may appear in your cell phone or via email and feel free to reply to them with messages of support.

COUNTDOWN!

Seven Days on The Ride

AIDS/LifeCycle 6, June 3-9, 2007:

Day 1: SF-Santa Cruz, rise 4:30am head to Cow Palace, mostly along Hwy 1 (perhaps most scenic of all days)

Day 2: SC to King City, artichokes in Castroville (closest to Hollister), strawberry fields, lunch in Salinas, longest day (105 mi)

Day 3: KC-Paso Robles, Quadbuster (the biggest climb), skinny dipping at mile 70-ish

Day 4: Paso Robles-Santa Maria, Evil Twins, rolling hills through "Sideways" wine country

Day 5: Santa Maria-Lompoc, shortest day (42 mi), red dress day, my 42nd bday, talent show night

Day 6: Lompoc-Ventura Beach, candlelight vigil, final emotional night in camp

Day 7: VB - Brentwood (via Malibu, I traditionally dress in beachwear), 2 Schroeters always at finish line, also expecting Gia and Anita + TBA.

Seven Sisters!

On Friday I was pleased to be able to take the day off before working an evening concert. I used it wisely, to tackle what would be the hardest training ride of the season, Seven Sisters, a notorious ride up Mount Tamalpais which I did last year. Known for its brutal switch backs and grueling ascent, and that's before you even get to the Seven Sisters (7 consecutive hills). They can be difficult and wonderful, sometimes at the same time.

Here's what I got to thinking as I ascended each of them:

1 (Peggy), pretty easy-going, not especially difficult to comprehend I was honest and open to it, which helped.

2 (Bonny), got to talking on it and before you knew it time had passed. One would be wise to listen carefully to this sister.

3 (Susy), challenging at times but you ought to be smart on it. You could learn alot on this one.

4 (Cefe), lot's more talking and plenty of laughing, I think the bike was even jiggling a bit.

5 (Maria), notorious hill, full of personality and fun all at the same time...could also be an emotional climb.

6 (Josefa), I felt I had "called" upon this one many times over. The tallest of the hills.

7 (Anita), after quite a gap this hill was not too difficult to compehend. I felt quite comfortable with this final one.

[Dear Actual 7 Sisters: I welcome your comments or remarks on 5 brothers-below]

Susy and Steve Return from Espana!

Steve and I have just returned from our fabulous trip to Spain and since I am less jet-lagged than yesterday, I wanted to let you know some highlights. I want to thank Anita for taking us to the airport on April 25th and picking us up on May 7th. We loved Salamanca, with its beautiful golden stone old buildings everywhere and giant plazas to wander through. We stayed at a convent that was transformed into a very nice hotel. The highlight was renting a car and finding Mancera de Abajo, Nana and Nano's tiny sleepy village, behind Peneranda Brocomonte, itself a small town. We have photos of meeting the cousins, the famous plaza, where Nana flirted with Nano (or many of us would not be here today!) and the river where she washed the family laundry. We were invited to eat a meal in a cousin's home, and I got tears, they cook just like Nana did! They handed us a bag with two boxes of cookies which only later I opened to discover they were montecados (AKA Nana's cookies, bollos, chokers). The heavy rain matched my tears as we drove away, and I felt compelled to call Auntie Marian, who cried to. It felt like the rain was Nana and Mom approving of our adventure.

Love,
Vicenta

Warriors Win Series!

I thought I'd never see it again after being a Warrior fan as far back as can remember. Last night the Warriors, an 8 seed, beat Dallas, a 1 seed. The Mavericks were defending Western Conference Champions and owner of the best record in the league with 67 wins. By comparison the Warriors won 42 after overcoming many injuries plus a big mid-season trade and a hot streak toward the end. Golden State hadn't been in the playoffs since 1994 (13 years ago) and hadn't won a single playoff game since 1991. I was there.

As an employee of Franklin Mieuli & Associates, I had first hand access to the team since Franklin was an owner for over 30 years. I came to San Francisco in January 1989 for a theatre internship and quickly learned I'd need a real job. Six months later I answered an ad in the Chronicle for an "Office Assistant" for a job at The Media Bldg., which sounded good. I knew who Franklin was from my younger years as a sports fan and through my brother Kenny. I worked for FM&A and Hi-Speed Tape for 10 years eventually becoming Office Manager, doing sales and running the sports broadcast operations. One of our biggest clients were the Warriors and I booked all their road radio engineering services as well as local engineers for the visiting teams who came to Oakland.

As a result of this close connection I had access to a press pass, parties and often some great seats. I used to take my brothers, friends and even dates. In those early years we were pretty good, winning 50 games one of those seasons. Franklin sold his final interest in the team around then. Soon we became the butt of the league and were notorious for bad trades and injuries. We couldn't win many to save our lives. I worked for Mieuli's full time until 1999 and later became a consultant, as well as returning twice to help with some transitions.

Today, Franklin still attends games in his familiar courtside seat and I watch from home (sometimes on DVR). As you can imagine, I couldn't be more pleased.

Bring on the next series. Go Warriors! Do Believe!