Preparing for AIDS/Lifecycle in 2023

I did the 545-mile AIDS ride in 2019, and it was a tough one for me.  I weighed a bit too much, and I was not properly trained, as I was investing too much time in work and packing up our house to sell and move to Berkeley.

I've determined to do things much differently this year.  Much of this story is on my fundraising page, so I will not repeat it here; I will give more detail on my training and the lead-up.

• I have been losing weight and have lost 35-40 pounds from my weight four years ago. Lately, with bike training, my weight is declining ever so slightly, but my body fat percentage is still dropping, so it's all in the right direction.
• While I do get out and ride regularly for 2-3 hours, I don't do it often enough or do the long rides. My solution to that was to sign up for century rides for consecutive weekends in April and March.  The events are:
• Tierra Bella in Gilroy, which was the very first organized ride I did in 2001.
• Chico Wildflower, a bit north of us in Chico, CA.  I did this ride in 2002 as I was getting my bike training going, so it will be fun to go back. 2002 was the year I did three centuries over three weekends and I still remember being in great shape at the end of that.
• Grizzly Peak Century which is in my backyard in the Berkeley/Oakland hills. It's known for great food.
• I Care Classic in Morgan Hill. This was another standard Los Gatos ride, partly because my accountant was a member of the Lions, which sponsored the ride. Their claim to fame is being the cookie ride, where there are homemade cookies at all the stops.
• Strawberry Fields Forever, which I always wanted to do but somehow skipped. It's out of Watsonville, known as the strawberry capitol of the world, and there is supposed to be great food and, of course, strawberries at every rest stop.  I'll see if it's true.

I'll add some commentary on each of these rides as I complete them, along with pictures so you get an idea of beautiful California. You'll also hear a bit about my fitness.