CAF QMDC week 10

Great Friends! How is everyone feeling today? After last weeks ride. I feel like I can take on the world. OK maybe not Pyrenees just yet but I feel refreshed ready to ride this week. But before Sunday, I was in bit of a pickle. My chain broke the day before so I needed to make sure I got a new one before the day was over. I purchased a new chain from Performance Bicycle to find out they just ran out of the chain removing tool. To make a long story short, all night I was scrambling for help to fit my chain. But really all I needed to do was ask a fellow rider for help. Group 2 ride leader, John Welch was so kind to help out the rookie cyclist by taking a link off and installing the chain for me. THANKS JOHN W!
This week was not only productive on the saddle, but also off it. Some of the radio group made it a point to get together in this week's ride to get to know each other better and discuss everyones fundraising. Radio group riders Keith, Chris, Brian, Dave, Danielle, Jesse, Todd and myself rode out in group 3 to brainstorm ideas on helping each other out on raising funds. Everyone had great idea and the rest of the Radio group will also plan on getting together outside the Sunday ride to iron out the details.

The ride this week was to Bonsall, via Escondido. The usual ride through Del Dios Highway is always a good challenge to warm up the legs. But the worse way to cool them off is to fix a flat, on the front tire no less. I took advantage of the situation by trying to change the flat faster than I ever had before. After 6-7 minutes I was ready to go, Thanks for the CO2 help Brian M. I owe you one. After the first SAG Escondido, we rode north toward Old Hwy 395 to Bonsall. I have lived in San Diego since 1993 and have never really explored the small sleepy town in the outskirts of the city. Nice homes, orchards and horse fields surround the country side. 20 miles later we reached the second SAG stop of the day. Where we wished Tina, our SAG angel a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She would rather feed a bunch of smelly bike riders than sleep in and enjoy her day. Thanks Tina, we don't quite say it enough.

With the home stretch ahead of us. Keith, Brian, Dave and myself decided to ride in a group to hammer out the bike lane off the 76, so everyone could help attack the brutal headwind. Everyone stuck together even when I slowed the rest of the group down a bit. We averaged 19-21 mph till we reached Via De la Valle. This week marked a new milestone since I have never ridden over 60miles before. I felt good and could possibly go even further if i had to. The training has been helping me significantly improve myself week in and week out. I look forward to riding to Ramona this weekend.

CAF QMDC week 9

Week 9 is our first ride away from the normal starting point of Solana Beach. With the coast behind us, heading east only means one thing, HILLS!. About 3800' of climbing was in store for us today while only covering 48 miles. What made this ride even more challenging is that we were riding in over 90 degree Fahrenheit for more than half of the ride. I started this week's ride with group 2 to try and challenge myself and see how I handled riding with this group on mountain routes. But it only took me about 20 miles into the ride to realize that the group's pace is faster than what I expected. I had to drop back to try an pace myself to avoid burning out. Group 3 passed us several miles back due to a flat but we caught up to them and I decided; if I wanted to be able to drive back home today I need to pace myself better. I decided to ride with group 3 for the remainder of the ride.

I have never experienced riding like this before, as much as I dreaded it, I knew this would only make me a better hill climber. Passing Sycuan Casino and Alpine was awesome. I have only been this far east in my car. Riding your bike instead of driving is definitely a great experience. As you can see from my pictures of this weeks ride. I was not able to take my hand off the handlebars until I reached the SAG stop on top of Japatul Rd. The SAG could not have come at a better time. I have never ridden my bike and reached out to find empty bottles. After several PBJ sandwiches, fruits and gels we were ready to finish the ride.

Riding with this group also gave me a chance to ride with group one leader Pat Jack. Soaking in as much training and cycling knowledge from the pro's is what these rides are all about. After a few more hills and two badly cramping quads, we made our way back down the mountain through Jamul and the starting line. I am impressed with all the riders that rode out this week. Whether you were in group one or group four, the hill has no favorites and treats everyone the same. Great ride!

Scensty & the Dough Boy Raise Money for CAF

I never thought that I would ever be the person who sold home fragrances and baked goods. But as you can see from the link on my FB and blog page there’s one there that tells you I have officially become that person. Being involved with QMDC this year has me reaching out to a lot of my friends and family to ask for help and to spread the word about CAF. In doing so, I contacted an old co-worker Mary Ann. Mary Ann is one of those people who are doing 10 different things on top of raising 2 boys of her own. One of the things that she is doing is selling Scentsy Products. For those who don’t know what these are or who didn’t take the time to click on the link yet, its fragrance products for your home like candles, but without the flame of a wick.

In talking to Mary Ann about what I was doing, she offered to do a Scentsy Party and donate a portion of the profits to CAF. So my wife and I decided to do a party at our house. So we spread the word, blasted FB with invitations sent out emails and called our friends and family. For my very first fundraiser, I would say it was a success. With the small group at the party we talked to them about CAF and what we’re doing to raise money and awareness all over some wine, cheese, dip and scent testers. And for those friends who weren’t able to make it, we kept spreading the word at family gatherings and over the phone. We have raised $150 so far just on these sales alone. And since Mary Ann is such a generous person, she offered to keep the link going until the challenge is over. So if you haven’t purchased anything yet here is the link https://perfectlyscented.scentsy.us
Please go to open parties and select CAF Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge Mark Estrada, then Buy from Party. Or just click the link to the right.

So some of these friends wanted to help out in more ways than just smelling good, they asked if there was more that they could do. Of course I said spreading the word was a good idea. My wife and her supervisor came up with a bake sale idea. A lot of my friends are constantly baking so getting them to help out was not the hard part. At my house we made cookies and brownies while a couple of my friends made dozens of cupcakes, cookies and blondies. Now my wife’s office is a lot bigger than mine. We decided to do the bake sale there since we would have a larger captive audience. My wife posted profiles of CAF athletes on the walls where the baked goods were being sold. This fundraiser was definitely another hit helping us raise another $165 for CAF. And my wife’s office was so enthusiastic about it, that they plan on doing a bake a couple more. Hey I’m up for being the Pillsbury Dough Boy as long as it’s for a good cause.

CAF QMDC week 8

Sorry for the delay everyone. Here's what I've been doing on the last 3 weeks of riding. Week 8 was a recovery week, which normally consists of a short and flat course. I wanted to take advantage of meeting more CAF riders so I wanted to stay with group 3. This group is great since you are still able to ride but also able to talk to other riders and hear all their interesting stories. Our weekly rides have several challenged athletes on attendance.

This ride was also special since I was able to meet CAF athlete and past acquaintance Travis Hicks. My good friend Julia introduced me to Travis during my wedding shower back in 2006. But not until I started my CAF journey did I find out he is not only a challenged athlete but currently working for CAF too. He wanted to ride with the group but had some technical issues and was unable to ride. The course had us ride through scenic Fairbanks Ranch, Rancho Santa Fe and Leucadia. Finishing the ride down the PCH. A very simple ride meant to recovery our body through our first of many real physical test on climbing. But looking at the schedule next week, I will be savoring these recovery rides even more.

Scripps Ranch Old Pros 2010

Happy Independence day everyone. How did you celebrate our countries independence? For me it was being around family, friends and free beer in that order of course. There is not a better way to start your 4th than a 10k race. For the last three years in a row I have ran this fun and short course. But this year was special since it was my first race as a family. With my wife Cristal and daughter Winter always at the finish line cheering me on at all my previous races, this year I was even more excited that they got to be a part of it. My wife trained 8 weeks for this race and I was proud of her since she made it to the finish line with a smile in her face. Pushing my daughter during an actual race was fun as well. Thank goodness she was in a great mood and had no tantrums while on the course. We were also joined by my fellow marathon runner Rey, my wife's marathon saviour Emily and the Hunsickers, Craig and Melissa. Rey had been through several races already, but this was Emily's first and I think it's just the beginning for her.


It was my first time running with the Craig and Melissa and I believe they would be glad to do it again. Its always nice running into old friends at events like this, sharing stories and knowing that they caught the running bug. (Hi, Darleen and Joe, hope to see you again.) By the way, great job on finishing strong everyone.

I heard several QMDC riders came out for the 50 mile bike ride, way to go team CAF! As a matter a fact I saw another guy with a CAF shirt in the race. Go CAF! But the day could not end without, you guessed it, beer. Nothing like washing down a dry palate with a ice cold refreshing brewsky. What made it even tastier was the fact it was free. Light beer never tasted so good, yum. Thanks for the advise Peter B. I didn't stick around for the another round since the day just started for me. The rest of our day was spent at La Jolla Shores with friends at the beach and of course fireworks. I hoped you all had as much fun, if not more this Fourth of July weekend. I can't wait for next year.

CAF QMDC week 7

With our Country's birthday just around the corner. Week 7 brought our group ride on Saturday July 3rd. Some familiar faces were out this week not surprising since most have a three day weekend. Nevertheless, 6 QMDC radio contestants made it out including myself. I was looking forward to this weeks ride. Not only because I get to test myself physically with 3800' of climbing. But I also get to ride with group 3 this week. It was a pleasure to meet and ride with other QMDC riders and radio contestants. Group leaders, this week were Mike and Mike. But with both being very helpful and knowledgeable, it was still hard to tell them apart. I was able to ride with fellow contestant Danielle W. I last rode with Danielle in week one but haven't rode since Ive been riding with group 2. Being a smaller group than two, it was easier to meet and remember the people in the group. From Chin who rode QMDC last year, to a mother and son team Kelly and Brenan. It was a great change of pace and made the ride less painful since I was with good company. The ride was a monster with a climb of over 1000' and at places and the 7% grade of Scripps Poway Parkway. Riding this area often (because I live just minutes away) paid off. The trick is not to look up too long, breath deep and try to move your body often.

Once at the top, we were greeted by our angels on the road at the sag stop. I needed more electrolytes since the sun was starting beat down. The way down is always fun. Too bad it only takes a few seconds on what you worked for minutes earlier, but it's not all the time you can go 45 miles per hour on a bike. The ride back was pretty basic and not much trouble. What surprised me was the marine layer never burned off near the coast. While hammering through San Dieguido road, were were also met by some west to east headwinds. With riders Kelly and Jack pulling most of the group, Brennan and myself decided to help out by pulling the group till we got to Carmel Valley. Once we got to El Camino Real and turned around, we lost almost half of the group we were pulling so hard. We were now left with six in the group and all of us decided to just stick together and finish it. The route back took us away from the busy streets of Via de la Valle since the San Diego County Fair was still in town. Once we got back to the cars, the rest of the group were just minutes behind us. I am glad I changed groups this week, because I had the chance to meet and ride with amazing people.

CAF QMDC week 6

Here we are at week six and the rides are getting tougher. Week six on paper looked very easy. Flat coastal route that took us from our weekly starting point of Fletcher Cove in Solano Beach to Las Pulgas Road. Some what familiar with the route, I was expecting a little challenge until I decided to help a fellow QMDC radio contestant rider Jesse M. About 3 miles into the ride, his newly purchased bottle holders located behind his seat decided to malfunction. Luckily it stayed on his bike dangling for dear life and no one riding behind had to swerve and even worse, crash. I was riding right next to him so I decided to pull over to try and help fix the holders, but with no luck since he lost some necessary bolts on the way. With group 2 leader, Adam Beck with us on the side of the road. I was left with a very hard decision. Should I leave Jesse and have him fend to himself or ride with Adam back to reach group 2? With much deliberating and group 3 whizzing by, I decided to stay with Jesse and hope to catch up to group 3 later. But Adam admitted he will need my help trying to get back with group 2. I had to follow Adam's lead and help him catch up with the rest of the group. For the next 9 miles, Adam and myself "hammered" away to trying to catch up with group 2. Catching up to group 3 was a great site, but we weren't out of the woods yet. My legs were screaming, but Adam was there to motivate me every step. By the time we got to Carlsbad, seeing group 2 at a stop light couldn't have come at a better time. It was a great feeling of relief catching up to the group. Riding through Oceanside gave me a much needed breather since were rode through neighborhoods that had several stop signs and crosswalks which slowed the group down. We were back at it after entering Camp Pendeleton. I would like to thank the Marines for letting us use their roads since not all traffic is allowed through the military installation. In 7 miles we reached our sag stop. We took in some much needed nutrients and liquids. Minutes feel like mere seconds while were at the sag stops.

But I was ready to finish the ride. Until my chain came off again and this time I was at the back of the pack. Luckily a QMDC alumni noticed I was in trouble. Good thing it only took several seconds to get back on the saddle and was able to catch up to the group for the second time today. He intentionally slowed down for me till I was able to catch up to him and the rest of the group. While riding through Oceanside, there he was a sight for sore eyes.

My buddy Brian B. who was left by group 1. I had to take a quick second and say "hi" and welcomed him in group 2. I commend him for riding with the elite group 1 week in and week out. But today, he said he hit that proverbial wall that all endurance athletes feel once and a while. At least he had enough energy to muster a smile. For the rest of the ride, I was riding on near fumes. Then out of no where I heard Adam's voice shout, "Mark, I want you to pass 4 riders on your way up the final hill after San Elijo Lagoon." I didn't think I had anything left, but was surprised I made it up the hill passing 5 riders instead. Granted two came back and caught up to me when I reached the top, but that was besides the point. Right when I think I have nothing left, I was able to conjure up enough to get me through the task. I learned a lot from the group riders today. Things I can use not only on the weekly rides, but for riding any situation.