Peach Podcast
Two guys and an occasional guest breaking open topics on: Purpose, Energy, Attitude, Commitment and Health through shared experiences.
Peach Podcast
EP024: Pedaling with the Pros! A Gran Fondo Adventure!
Ever wondered what it takes to ride alongside a pro like Neilson Powless or what it's like to face unexpected weather on race day? Join us as we recount our exhilarating journey at the Powless Gran Fondo cycling event in Auburn, celebrating the phenomenal achievements of the Powless family. From Neilson's remarkable career in the Tour de France to Shayna's legacy and journey as a competitive cycling champion, this episode is a testament to their inspiring athletic heritage. We also touch on the vibrant cycling community that comes alive at events like these, where the spirit of camaraderie thrives amid the thrill and challenges of the ride.
As we wrap up, we reflect on the power of cycling to not only challenge us physically but also to create bonds and build community. From post-ride recovery tips to heartening stories of personal triumph, we highlight how cycling extends beyond the bike to foster meaningful interactions and self-discovery. Whether it's reconnecting at a high school reunion or supporting fellow riders through unexpected flat tires, these experiences underscore the deeper connections and life lessons that come with embracing the cycling culture. We invite you to engage with our podcast community, share your feedback, and help us continue crafting content that inspires purpose, energy, and health.
Hey, hey, hey, welcome to the Peach Podcast. Just a couple of dudes and an occasional guest breaking open topics from everyday life on purpose, energy, attitude, commitment and health. So, if you're ready, listen in as we live to learn from our losses, gain from our gratitude and laugh as we level up. To learn from our losses, gain from our gratitude and laugh as we level up.
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Speaker 2:So, daryl, that was a huge, long introduction, so let me just move on in man and since we spent the weekend together, brother, let's forget about getting caught up, man, let's just let's talk about what did we do this weekend, Daryl.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, doug Palos, gran Fondo. The Palos family is a Sacramento family. I didn't know them from Adam until we got into cycling a few years ago, and Nielsen is actually 20 years old. He's a pro, one of the top American pros. When I mean top, he's probably top two or three, right, I mean he's up there, right? He? Uh? He's part of EF education. Um.
Speaker 3:2020 was his first year um as a professional with EF and made the Tour de France. He's been on five Tour de France's um this year alone. In the last two months he's won two individual one. The champion one was a one day in Italy and he just won the Japan cup for the second time two weeks ago. Wow, and his sister, uh, shana, who's 30, um been on multiple different teams big. They both grew up in mountain biking and she was the 2013. Um, uh, I think as a junior she was a U S national mountain biking championship and still does a lot.
Speaker 3:But also, you read the story and the family is just awesome. The mother, jen, was a marathon runner in Barcelona in the Olympics and uh, so every year he um, you know he does. He rides professionally in Europe and all over the place around the world. He does come back to Sacramento. If you know the EF jersey which we see, it's this awesome bright pink, purple color and I mean I'm telling you, you see that coming down the bike trail from a long way away and you know it Fondo cycling event and a race in Auburn. Yeah, and when we heard about it, um, and first of all, they did a great job on the marketing of this through Facebook. They've had a page for about six months. You can follow him, you can follow Nielsen, his family, his sister, and uh, it was super cool, so we participated in that.
Speaker 3:Yeah family, his sister, and it was super cool, so we participated in that.
Speaker 2:We've been looking forward to it for a while now. So pretty cool event. It was a cool event and in a minute there I'm going to ask you about a Gran Fondo. What is a Gran Fondo? Because I've heard it. I've been cycling for years right, maybe 40 years or something like that but not on a really professional level. I just do it for leisure and entertainment and adventure and exploration and I do some big rides as well, as you do nowadays, and it's all fun. And I've always heard Gran Fondo and I never, in all these years, I've never done a Gran Fondo. I've done multiple century rides, lots of other, just go out and day explore rides on my own, just riding with the fellas or group, a lot of those rides, but I never did a grand fondo and I kept hearing about them. But before we get into what is a grand fondo, because you're the technical, you're the strategic thinking dude and I want you to break it down for people who don't know what a grand fondo is.
Speaker 2:By the way, both of his parents were athletes. I think both of his parents were ultimately, throughout some point in their lives, were triathletes. Ultimately, throughout some point in their lives, were triathletes, or at least biathletes. There's video clips of Nelson and his sister Shana doing little events as little kids. Man, it's a trip just watching them that they grew up in this environment and it makes sense that they do it as adults now, because you could see in the videos that they were passionate about it. It's something their parents just kind of in the videos that they were passionate about it. It's something their parents just kind of raised them around and they were part of and, man, they took off like a duck to water. It's just awesome. But do you know how Nielsen got his name? Did you notice how Nielsen's name is spelt? N-e-i-l-s-o-n.
Speaker 3:I do, and I misspell it every time. I type it on my computer or my phone. So I'd love to hear the story. I do not know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was listening to a video with his parents being interviewed and man talk about some salt of the earth kind of people and just down to earth kind of people. They just came, at least on the video. They came across that way. You know, had a home in the Auburn area or something like that, lived in a beautiful wooded area, or at least that's where they were being interviewed. I think that's their home now. I believe if I heard the story right, I could be wrong, but if I am, please somebody text me or text in here and correct me. But his dad's name is Neil.
Speaker 2:And so he's Neil's son, Neilson Palace. Oh nice, Good one, Doug.
Speaker 3:Good one. We'll be fact-checking you later on that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, please do.
Speaker 3:That's a good story. That's a good story.
Speaker 2:So with that said, so with that little trivia, Darrell, what is a Gran Fondo?
Speaker 3:That's a very good question, because we signed up for it and we've been so excited and watching and I watch a Facebook post every week and then, all of a sudden, about a week ago, like what is it? And a Gran Fondo is a long distance cycling event. It originated in Italy and translates to big ride. Gran Fondos are semi-competitive mass participation events that are open to all cyclists of all abilities. They're both for recreational riders like us and also world-class riders that are sharing the same course, which is really cool and we learned about them and everything else they do also are on a variety of different terrains.
Speaker 3:So in this, there was two distances for the road races and there was two distances for gravel races, and gravel races are a combination of where you're on the road but then you get off the road and you actually do in the dirt and, oh man, those people, those people do some climbing and some other things. So it's a good combo. So, uh, the event was actually four different uh lengths. They had participation for the male and the female categories and, uh, I think it was about Thursday and I've been pretty excited about it. Eric text text us and said you do know, this is a race.
Speaker 2:And I, you know what, I remember getting that text and going, because every time we go to an event, that's it's just a, it's a joke, we have an inside joke, we have that this is joke, we have that this is not a race, this is not a race, this is not a race. And then we get this text that this is a race. So I was cracking up going, but you know what? Because we keep saying we have said it's not a race for the last few years, it really didn't sink in that this is a race, agreed, this is a race, you know. And uh, so usually when we show up to an event we get, we get our bib, you know our little bit that we put on our bike with the number on it and all that stuff. But what was different about these uh little bib numbers, daryl? What did they have on them that other don't?
Speaker 3:have. Uh, they had tracking. They had tracking little uh uh, rf tracking chips on there and, uh, very similar. And, doug, you've done more run races than I have. But we lined up. There was a list of rules for the race about things you can and cannot do and you'll get disqualified, Right. And you lined up at a starting line and you crossed the starting line at the exact time, just like in a running race, and it timed you. The chip timed when you started. It also timed you for some special things King of the Mountain, when we're up on some big mountain climbs and it timed you at the end. So it timed every minute, every second. You were out, there was a race and the top three finishers in each of the categories actually at the end ceremony got prizes, awards and everything else by Nielsen and his sister.
Speaker 2:I love that vibe. It was cool because typically when we show up to all the century rides, we've done uh over the years. You know we, everybody, kind of starts. When they start there's no okay start. You know you get a general time to start if you're doing the 100 mile or the metric century or half half century or whatever. You know everyone just kind of meandering around and jumping on their bikes whenever and they go and they finish whenever and it's there's no timing on it, just go, have a good time. There's all there's.
Speaker 2:There's at least on a on a ride of this caliber, of this nature that we did uh on saturday, it uh there's that we would have normally at least hit four rest stops, you know, supported with sandwiches and cookies and bananas and apples and waters and all this stuff. But this ride was different. It had one water stop and it had one I don't even know if I want to call it a food stop, but it had three bags of chips and some M&Ms. I was happy and I was grateful, for sure, and I was thankful that I had brought some fuel for myself because I needed it. But because we've been riding so longer, I think my body was ready for that. I appreciate it. I never felt like I needed more. It felt awesome.
Speaker 2:But at the beginning was cool too, because we're all in this cage or these rails, these barriers. It's like when you start a half marathon or any kind of running event, everybody starts at the same time the energy, because everybody's packed in there, and just the energy and the conversations you're having, because you're sitting in there five to 10 minutes waiting for them to say start, but they're going through announcements, and so you get to meet people like right next to you, like oh, where'd you come from? I think there was somebody who came down from Seattle or something that day or a day before something like that, to do this event, and at least on my left or right and then there was another guy and his wife, raul, from Sacramento, that had come up and it was cool, man. It was just so cool to have that vibe of that kind of community around you and people just chatting and talking about where they're from and what they're excited about or nervous about.
Speaker 2:Some first timers, some some, and obviously in the crowd you're also in the same crowd as these pro riders and you. You can just spot them from a mile away because they don't have an ounce of body fat on them. They got the top line of the gear their bikes that you can probably lift with your pinky and all that other stuff. So it was an awesome, an awesome vibe at the starting line, for sure.
Speaker 3:And they had a great real hype man, the announcer, who was there the entire time and he was talking from. We actually started at 830. Officially he started talking and giving people instructions about eight o'clock We'll talk about the weather in a second, but he was cool. We're in that starting line and, of course, nielsen and Shana and the parents were up at the front. They got introduced, as well as a number of different professional writers that were in the thing. And then all of a sudden he says okay, we'll have the national anthem, which is cool, and a lady sang the national anthem and we're all geared up. It's raining a little. We got our helmets and he says please remove your hats. And you know, 250 people take off their helmets and put them on their heart.
Speaker 2:It was pretty cool in what you see on TV, in what they call a Peloton right, and so in the beginning they had it very structured and very carefully thought out that they had a vehicle in front of everyone, or even Nielsen and the pros, that they had to stay behind. For, gosh, maybe the first 15, 20, 30 minutes that you had to keep a certain it was a warmup pace, but it was so cool being in this Peloton, getting the draft and feeling that energy of like man, I'm riding with the pros right now. You know, obviously they're just warming up and stuff, so I had no thought that I was going to be hanging with them the rest of the day, but it was nice to see him for the first 30, 45 minutes of the day in the warm-up it was cool.
Speaker 3:The start was super cool, it was awesome. And, uh, I was kind of you, kind of you know, the first, you know 10 minutes. All of a sudden you got that feeling right. It's like we got this, we got this.
Speaker 3:And, of course, eric, who is a massive, massive fan of uh um, I was probably about 30, 40, uh feet, maybe maybe a little bit more, 50 feet behind the pros in the front, cause we're in this pretty tight Peloton and Eric goes by me smiling. I knew exactly Eric was going to try and get up there and ride next to him at the beginning and he did and he, he rode next to him. He said with the all the ones and just got to see it. But also, this was also about the Nielsen and the palace family kind of coming back to where they grew up and thanking people and everything else, and they were the most gracious people. Eric, he actually the Peloton you could see him because he's got that bright pink jersey actually backed out into the front, into the Peloton and was talking to people on the way for about the first. You know, like you said, 15 to 30 minutes in them. It was great, it was great. So let's jump into the actual ride. But the weather.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, you know what, darrell? I'm going to just be transparent here. Man, when I heard it was going to rain, I said I'm not doing this right, I'm too old and all this. And my sister, your wife, called me up and she goes. I heard you're not doing the right. I thought you were the buffalo.
Speaker 1:I said I am the buffalo man, I'm the wise Buffalo.
Speaker 2:I don't ride in the cold rain man. I said if I get stuck in the rain then I'm the Buffalo, I'm going to go through it, nothing's going to stop me. But you know, I ended up, you know, just realigning getting there and making it happen. And so I did get there. The weather man it was trippy Darrell. It was like we had been told it was going to rain. The day of the forecast showed that and then, like literally the day before, it said it wasn't going to rain.
Speaker 2:And then I'm driving up there and it was raining on the way up there and it was almost like they waved a magic wand and the starting time came and I don't even think it rained at the starting. We had sprinkles and drizzles along the way, but very limited. The roads were definitely wet and so I think we got more wet from being too close from somebody their back tire. I think you got too wet from that and just the roads, but not from the rain. It ended up being a very awesome day to ride. It was man, but it was cold because up in Auburn it's a little higher in elevation. Man, it was cold because up in Auburn it's a little higher in elevation man, it was cold, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So the weather was a big factor, especially, I think one, I think one. It was a race right. So we always spend some time the night before I got to bed I was a little bit more due, diligent and getting all my stuff out. And then we didn't know, you know, do I wear? You know, do I wear a rain jacket? How much clothing do I wear? Do I take it off? So the weather kind of did that.
Speaker 3:We actually got there to the event, got ready, got our bibs, put everything on with the chips and everything else, and then we had about 45 minutes and we actually went and sat in the car because it was raining and uh, and, and you know, I told Eric I was like I'm not quite sure this is great conditioning for the ride. We're sitting there, eric's got the seat warmer on right, it's like 75 degrees and it's raining. I said Eric, you know we're going to be on the call for the next six hours. He's like, yeah, let's get out Right. So we got out and kind of acclimatized, but it was cool.
Speaker 3:But no joke, this was no joke ride, right to say legit in Voltago. But about the people we met and what it was like out there. But this was 68 miles. We took off from Auburn, kind of snaked our way up Highway 80 on some frontage roads, out through Meta Vista and kind of got to a frontage road, crossed the freeway up to Colfax and then you get to Colfax and then you go to Iowa Hill and we'll talk about the rest of the ride. But 68 miles, 7,500 feet of climbing and the thing and I know we always look at the map and but we literally climbed Doug for the first like 37 miles.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh man, like the first three hours it was just climbing. I'm like what the what is going on here people?
Speaker 3:But uh, it was. It was super fun and it was different, and so let's talk a little bit about that. But, Eric, Eric commented, I commented, you did a lot of the other people. There's nothing better than the community we meet, right, and we met so many people over the last three to four years doing it. But the people we meet are so cool, right. So tell me a little bit about that. What was your view? And then I'll talk about mine. But it was new. It was new as a kind of a combination between pros and kind of the local cyclists from the area and everything else, so a little bit different of a community that we've had, but nothing like hanging out with people that are like-minded.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's definitely a different crowd because I think most people, unlike us, know what a Gran Fondo is. They probably looked it up when they registered, not like us. We're just like oh, gran Fondo, let's go, we get to ride our bikes right, sign up, sign up and then find out the day before what it is. So, yeah, I didn't see a lot of absolutely brand new beginner riders, which you'll see at Century Rides, because those are way more leisure, way more relaxed and they have a lot more support. But the community that was there was awesome, very friendly, very open. I met Raul and his wife. I don't know their last name, but we're friends on Strava now. It was cool talking with them. They were up from Sacramento and then on the ride itself I met this guy named Mike. He said, oh, he pulls up next to me. I'm climbing this hill and I'm huffing and puffing and he pulls up next to me and he said, oh, team Peach, you're the second or third guy I've seen with that jersey. I said, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're the second or third guy I've seen with that jersey. I said, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, he goes. Yeah, I was riding with some guy. He's like six, seven or something like that, on a big old bike and we were coming up Iowa Hill but I had to pause and stuff and he kept going and I'm like, oh really, how was the hill? And he goes. Well, you know, I recently I have AFib and he recently had a surgery and all this stuff. And man, I was impressed with this guy, mike. He's from Eldorado Hills, he's been riding forever. He used to compete, not seriously compete, but for himself. He got into races and did a bunch of stuff. And what impressed me about Mike's story was that we were probably two-thirds of the way through the ride and so I know he had done a massive amount of climbing by then. And I'm just sitting there and he's telling me this whole journey of going through AFib, finding out when he had it, going through the process, going through the surgery and the whole time, you know, maintaining his passion and his love for fitness and cycling. You know, using a bike, a stationary bike, in his garage and on his bike and being monitored closely by his doctor and all that stuff. But you know, all in all, in a nutshell, you know, just talking with him and hearing his story, I'm like man, this dude, you know, gives me such great. He inspired me Because I know a lot of people would hear they're having problems with their heart, right, I don't even know technically what it is in detail, but I know it's a heart situation.
Speaker 2:You got going on and you got to get it checked out and sometimes it requires surgery. The fact that he was out there and doing stuff and didn't, you know, run away from the problem, he leaned into it, did what he could because his passion meant more to him than being scared and and uh and being afraid. I know, I know he. He had to slow down a lot. He had to adjust and adapt and he did. And I'm like man, I love hearing this in real life, I talk about it, I coach people on that.
Speaker 2:But to see somebody who actually went through it with a serious manner, you know you don't want to play around with the heart. And he's out there busting this 68-mile ride, 7,500 feet of climbing, and so when we're climbing these hills he had to stay in zone two. So when we were climbing I was able to keep up with him and sometimes even get ahead of him. But, darrell, I'll tell you, man, when we got to the flats or the downhills. I never saw Mike again, like he was gone, like man. This dude has been riding for a long time and he was just. He had that pro look about him. But it was cool meeting Mike and Mike I don't know if you're going to listen to this man I know you saw our team name and I know you know we have a podcast. So if you're out there, brother, man, my heart, my love's out to you. Brother, keep riding, Keep spinning them gears.
Speaker 3:It's really amazing. We're around a couple hundred people I forget what the number was, I think it ended up to be about 250 of just really fit, healthy people with a passion for this Interesting Doug. When we're at our other races, at the beginning of the races people are getting a coffee, maybe they're grabbing a bagel. People were warming up in the rain. Doug. Up in the rain, doug. They were warming up in the rain. I was like, oh, I got a long time to warm up, I don't need to be warm enough. And they were getting ready. But it's great. The starting line on the road Remember I mentioned there was two of the four events were gravel right, so there were some gravel bikes, which gravel bikes are basically a road bike with slightly modified so you could have bigger tires.
Speaker 3:They got some different gearing, but if you saw them quickly go by you might think they're a regular road bike, but they actually can do road and go off road. So, um, so I, you know, we went up Iowa Hill, which is, which is a beast of a Hill that we went up with them and got to talk to a lot of them and talk to them. It had been really raining a couple of days before, so some of them were a little bit apprehensive to see kind of what the conditions were and everything else. The volunteers, the support, everything else. The volunteers at some of our rides they're like you know, come on over, they've got all this. You know these cookies and everything. I went to the first water stop and all it was was a water stop and nobody even got off their bike. You just come and you have your uh, you kind of turn the faucet, you get the water. They had some hydration next to it and literally they are shooing you away Like get out of the way. Right, you need to keep writing, right?
Speaker 3:You know this was no social event whatsoever, um event whatsoever, and it's super cool and we always love that. Let me tell you the story about Steve. Steve rode with us this year. Steve's from Elk Grove.
Speaker 3:Eric and I were up, very similar to you, we've done multiple different training rides up for Death Ride. We've done about four or five of them. Eric and I did one this year and we're staying at a little hotel, outdoor kind of camping spot, called Desolation Hotel, and we were literally putting our bikes into the cabin and Eric saw Steve come with his bike, um, you know, to a different cabin Apparently. They talked a little bit and I wasn't even there and Eric said to me hey, I saw, uh, another cyclist up here. Uh, there's another training ride tomorrow.
Speaker 3:I saw this guy, uh, his name is Steve, maybe we'll see him out on the road. I said, cool, that's cool. And he says, yeah, he, he had that. He had that deer in the headlight. Look, um, you know, uh, and uh, it's his first death ride. And I said, oh, yeah, eric, I remember we had that. We had that same, look last year. He's like I know, I know. So the next day we're actually training out there and we're on our way back one of the Hills and he was, and we kept looking. Oh, can we see, steve, I'd never even met the guy, right.
Speaker 3:And Eric's like, oh, I'll recognize him. And he saw him. He's like hey, steve, cool. Then we saw him at death ride, met him. He's from Elk Grove, we've been Strava friends since then and I commented on one of his Strava posts with all of us and said Steve, kill a ride, join us at the Palos Gran Fondo. He's like cool.
Speaker 3:So, literally somebody that we literally just passed by at a cabin up in the middle of Tahoe that we kind of connected with and everything else, came out and rode with us. It was super cool and it was great meeting Steve and Steve was very similar. Steve, I'd never ridden with him, just got to know him a little bit. And it was great meeting Steve. And, um, you know, uh, steve was very similar. Um, steve, I'd never ridden with them, right, I just got to know him a little bit. And, um, you know, like you said, we're we're racing, so you're not like waiting for him. And I ended up catching up.
Speaker 3:We rode up some Hills and he was, he seemed pretty good on the Hills and we talked a lot, got to know each other a little bit. Man, on the flats and downhill he had some power. Oh man, steve had some power. So it was. It was super cool and so, um, you know, uh, it was great. I know that you had to kind of bag out, uh, because you had your high school reunion, which I'd love to hear a little bit about, but, um, I just want to let you know the end of the ride. They had a nice celebration at moon rock, moon, uh, moon raker, or I'm not quite sure.
Speaker 2:I think it is Moonraker Brewery, yeah.
Speaker 3:Moonraker Brewery in there and they gave out awards and they actually had the podium for the first, second and third place for each of the different races and Nielsen and his sister gave awards and they had some bears. You know those wood cuttings where you've got the chainsaw that does the sculpting.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Sculpted out bears, little bears, because that black bear brown bear was the name of the horses.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the name of all the routes. Yeah, it was the bear.
Speaker 3:And got it. It was super cool. But the celebration was super cool vibe and everything else. But I know you literally came kind of like, took a deep breath and had to pack up because you had your high score union. So love to know how that went.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, crossed the finish line through my bike on the back of the car, on the rack, and as I'm getting all that done, you pull up and I'm like, oh man, how are you doing? And you know we'll talk about what Eric went through as well after this. But you know what was interesting, daryl is driving home. I felt wonderful because A I wasn't tired after the ride. I mean, I had definitely felt like I'd done a workout for sure, but I wasn't wiped out and I was grateful for that, because I was headed to a 40-year high school reunion. I had about an hour and 10, 15-minute drive home to get cleaned up and showered up and then drive about 35 minutes to the reunion. So I knew I was going to. I let the reunion people know I was going to be late, but it was all good.
Speaker 2:I went there, I was full of energy and you know what was crazy, daryl? Because I didn't get to go to the after party thing. I didn't get to eat, I didn't prepare properly for what I might run into, so I didn't have any food or any extra fueling in the car when I drove home. So I stopped at uh, in the town of cool, I stopped at, um, holidays, holidays, yeah. So I've stopped there. I was going to stop at the bakery but they were closed. So I went to holidays, grabbed a bag of nuts and stuff and then drove home and, uh, showered up, went to the reunion. Man, I just felt alive and great. And as soon as I walked in, they're like it was, man, what a wonderful time, man, just being re. And you know, when you go to high school reunions, I think everyone's kind of like me. Um, in this sense that man, do I go, do I want to go? You know, and if you were like me in high school, you might've offended some people or got in trouble with some people and stuff. So I'm thinking, man, what's it going to be like? But I tell you, man, it was so awesome. If you got a high school reunion to go to, I would encourage people who are listening go, because I walked in the room and it was just, it was magical and it was wonderful.
Speaker 2:First thing I did I said, hey, guys, I just got back from an event. I got to eat because I hadn't eaten yet still. So I sat down and tore up some tri-tip and some scalloped potatoes and some green beans. And then I went over to the bar, grabbed a beer and started hanging out with the fellas from the football team and some of the girls that I used to know from back then as well, and it was just lots of laughter and fun. It was a really great time, man, a great time.
Speaker 2:And the cool thing is you know a lot of these people. They follow, they follow me on social media and even the podcast, and it's cool, man, they're you know to hear some of them say, oh my gosh, I'm watching you and you're inspiring us and I've, hey, I've done the route you did around Tahoe. We followed your Strava thing and we've done that route. And you know, thanks for what you're doing and keep inspiring people and blah, blah, blah. It was cool to know that you're. You know you have, even if it's a little impact, you're having an impact, and so that was fun, man, that was a lot of fun. So what did it look like? In addition to what you said already, what did it look like? What did I miss, other than the awards?
Speaker 3:And was there food? What did you have to get a burger? Oh yeah, it was cool. Um, it was, uh, it's actually uh, moonraker. It's their brewery, but it's actually their headquarters. It's like, um, it's like, as you know, remember, it's a big warehouse back there they also have their little place there.
Speaker 3:So it was, it was, it was all outdoors. Um, they, they did not feed us. They had two food trucks and they they gave us those coupons, oh yeah. And so basically they gave us a voucher at the food truck, so they had one that was more tri-tip and burgers and the other was Mexican, and everybody grabbed their stuff and you just sat outside in these open tables and they had some heaters out there.
Speaker 3:Doug, I know we said the rain wasn't there, but it was cold. It was very cold. We were out in up and down these forest hills at about it's probably between, you know, 40 to 55 degrees for four, four and a half, five hours. Yeah, so when people got back under that tent and everything else, there were some heaters and everybody just kind of let their hair down. There was a couple of outdoor fireplaces there, that a nice, really nice podium set up with the palace ground Fondo in the background.
Speaker 3:They had the awards. The same guy that did the announcing did the announcing and you know it wasn't like he was just announcing the winners. He knew something about a lot of the writers that won, right, wow, yeah, and so he talked to them and they came up and you know you're getting, you know you're literally getting you know these awards from. You know Nielsen Palace, who's one of the top American writers, and it was just very cool, very cool family type thing and everybody. The cool part was the women's. I think it was the Brown Bear Right. Shana, as you know, is a professional writer. She does a lot of different uh types of writing, different disciplines now, but she's also got a bit of a team. I think they're called DNA I believe is what the team name is and they had a similar and there was quite a few. There was, I think, uh eight to 10 different uh women and a couple of men from this team and uh, she actually came in second and her protege that she's training came in first oh, it was really cool.
Speaker 3:That's awesome man so they got to get up there together and they were kind of joking about who should be on the podium first and second and it was just.
Speaker 3:It was such a cool vibe and it was a great way to uh, and it was the first one. It was the inaugural Palos Gran Fondo. I've already seen some posts today. People are looking. Hopefully this continues to grow. I know, doug, you know you and David have participated. I think his name is Levi. There was a pro up in Santa Rosa that over the years his event kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. So I'm super. Hey, we were there at the first one, right? Yeah?
Speaker 2:That's a cool thing, man. I can see that getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Uh, for sure, Uh, may, they may want to. Well, with his writing schedule being a pro and all but, um, you know, it'd be nice to get it in the time of year where it's a little warmer and and and no chance of rain, because I think a lot more people would have come out after it. And you know what, Daryl, We've ridden in that area twice this year and the two times we rode were the only days of the year. It was going to freaking rain and it was just like what the? Maybe we jinxed it, I don't know, man, but we're coming back, we're coming back next year. And, yeah, huge thanks and gratitude to the Palace family, Nelson and Shana. Man, you guys keep rocking it. You inspire all of us and we are totally rooting for you back home, man. Totally. You may not know, or maybe you do know, but we are rooting for you and cheering for you every step of the way. So keep going, man. It's awesome.
Speaker 3:God bless you guys, yeah yeah, hey, a couple things on our list of things. Let's talk about the observations of the pros, right?
Speaker 3:Yes, that's a whole nother level man, that's a whole nother level and loved. We kind of went out and I was like, ooh, I knew there was a couple of pros and I passed them. You know Now, when I say I passed them, we're in Peloton with a car that was stopping people from going their fastest. And there was these three girls from three ladies from the DNA team and they had their. They had the white jackets, little rain jackets in the morning, and they're just having a casual conversation like you would at a Starbucks, just chatting through things, and I passed them up and I was like I got this, I got this Right.
Speaker 3:And I remember those same three women were having that same conversation, like they were going by a Starbucks when I was going up the hill and they kept talking and they just passed me like I was standing still, you know, and, um, but a couple of the observations. Um, they definitely take some time to warm up. Um, the thing that surprised me more than anything and Eric said it, I said it and we were talking about it it, um, when we're going up a hill or we're pressing hard, right, I'm breathing, I'm breathing you know very labored, labored.
Speaker 3:When I'm with other people out there that are like you or us, you know, I mean not when we're just on the flats, you can hear them, the pros and even some of the gravel bike riders. I don't know who is a pro and who wasn't, but some of these people, they had the same tempo and that same thing the entire time, no matter if they were going uphill, down a Hill.
Speaker 3:um, they're, they're breathing in there. Uh, you know, I'm sure it was difficult, more difficult going up the Hills, right, but their conditioning was very different.
Speaker 2:Very, that was one of my, my, my big things. I observed, yes, and the same thing for me. Most of the day I was kind of the lone wolf. I was not with the Peloton and I wasn't with the people in the backpack, I was kind of just stuck in the middle most of the day. But every once in a while a pro type of rider or a very seasoned rider would come by me at a nice pace and good cadence and just roll on by. And it was always, like I said, the first three hours was climbing, so a lot of people were rolling on by me while I was climbing and I could hear when I was by myself. For a lot of the time I heard my labored breathing. I felt good, I felt strong. I didn't feel like I was out of breath, but I could tell I was definitely working. And these people were just coming by me and I noticed that all of a sudden I'm like man, they're not breathing Like. I'm breathing Like what's going on. And it was a trip.
Speaker 2:And there was this one girl who was coming by and she was on a um, on a gravel bike. It was a bad-ass gravel bike too. But not only did she come up by me but she had like a pack on her bike and then she had a backpack full of stuff and she just, you know, nice and easy, just cruising on by me, like the slow pace wins the race kind of a speed. You know, just passing me right on by and I'm like damn man, I got to. I think I had a switch in my brain saying, okay, a, she looks very fit and she's probably a pro cyclist and B, she's on a gravel bike. So I'm going to say it's the gravel bike and maybe my next bike is going to be a gravel bike, daryl. So if you're listening to this and you'd have some good gravel bike recommendations, please send it, please text it into the show and give me some good gravel bike recommendations so I can look like a pro and not breathe as hard.
Speaker 3:I was going up the hill and I just done there's that one really really tight switch back on Iowa Hill and I remember it because you're kind of toward the end of the main hard climb, even though the overall climb is multiple, multiple miles there.
Speaker 3:But overall and I saw this, I saw this person I said, oh, I'm going to try and catch up with them, and I did and I it took every last little bit to catch up to them and we got a little bit to a flat part and I was riding with them and he looked over at my bike and he noticed, probably, that I was tall and he said, haley, is that a custom bike? And I said, yes, yes, it it is. And I told him a few little things about it and he said, yeah, it looks nice. And and I said, well, I should say something back about his bike, right, because I could tell he was a pro, and I said something. I said, oh, that's that, he was a gravel rider too, but he looked pretty, pretty fit, right, and I said something to him. I said I said, oh, um, what kind of tires do you run on those?
Speaker 3:right, I know nothing right, yeah yeah, and he literally, for the next five minutes, explained every dimension and gear, lever and shifting and pressure rate and he said he runs 39.5 in the front and 41 in the back. And I just blanked out. I don't know what he said to me.
Speaker 3:You're like, I'm trying to breathe, brother, I'm trying to breathe, man. I just wanted to say nice bike, right, but they were all really really cool and um, I know we won't go into it too too much, but, um, since we were all spread out, right, eric embraced the race and it was up in the front and uh, and as we all know, eric likes to go fast downhills and there is a first part to get down to the bottom of the bridge in the river before you start your major climb. That's pretty sketchy and, uh, eric bombed it. In fact I think he was like, I think, number I'm not quite sure it was number one for the whole day, but I think number one for a while for the descent. So he was ahead a lot of them and he was cranking. But we tease Eric a lot about shortcuts because he had to cut a few things. Eric had three flat tires, yes, in one day.
Speaker 3:One cold ass day. Cold ass day. And, by the way, doug, it's so cold sometimes, I mean like it's hard to shift, sometimes you can't even use your thumbs, and Eric had to literally change his tire three different times and I do not know if I would be able to do it and I finally caught up to him. I think you caught up to him after the first flat.
Speaker 2:I caught him on his first flat, on his first flat. And you know what, daryl, I'm just going to make a comment there, right, just because his first flat. And you know what, daryl, I'm just going to make a comment there, right, just for myself, man, because I'm competitive a little bit right. I stopped to help Eric fix his flat and I had totally blanked out and forgot that I had a timing chip on my bib, on my bike, and I'm like man, if I would have remembered that I would have said good luck, eric. And Eric, that doesn't mean I don't love you, brother, if you're listening, man, you know I'm there for you, man, but we racing, man, we racing.
Speaker 3:So I saw him changing his second one and I was just so excited to see him. I was like Eric and he's like looking at me, he's like this is my second one and he's trying to put his thumbs, trying to pop it back on. And thank goodness, I was with Steve Steve at the time and Steve actually had a small little electric um air pump and Montana. It was small and I think we need, I think we're an investment.
Speaker 2:You know we had talked about the electric air pumps. What did you think of it, man? How was it?
Speaker 3:Eric loved it especially, um in. Uh, steve told me later that one time he had a slow leak and he was about 20 miles and he used that to kind of get his get himself all the way home. Right, oh nice, rather than the cartridges. So he actually gave it to eric and then eric was cool, he's like go, just go. And uh, we found out he had his third flat tire, he's out of tubes, he has no more tubes. Yeah, um and uh, we talked to him. We didn't know. I mean, we're in the middle of nowhere, we're riding, we're trying to get no, we were at the finish line, daryl.
Speaker 2:There, we were at the finish line, daryl. There we were at the finish line. Just call it like it is.
Speaker 3:Okay, I know we were at the finish line and uh and um, long story short, eric finished. And Eric, in the old days I, I'm sure, wouldn't have had that great of an attitude about it, but he was crushing it. But in his mind he walked almost a mile. Yes, a mile. And you know what? Walking in biking shoes ain't no joke, right? That's just not not good. So we did that a great uh, another writer actually gave him one of his, the writer's tubes. When they went by, he was able to get home and everything else. So, um, we can't use the word shortcut anymore. Um, easy, e, uh, he trained, he brought it home. I literally do not think he was going to get sagged or anything or take an Uber. He was going to walk. He probably would have walked. He probably would have still been walking home right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he'd still be out there right now, almost almost maybe a mile from the finish line by now. But but yeah, that's a big shout out to you, man. You got through some major obstacles that day. I know you were frustrated as hell, man, I know you. I remember when you got I waited for him a little extra longer at the second rest stop because I wanted to make sure he got there after I helped him fix his first flat tire.
Speaker 2:I remember when he got there I said, eric, get some pickle juice. He kind of looked at me and just like, yeah, whatever, he was a little, you know you can tell he was very frustrated with what was going on. But you know he pumped up and I thought he was going to be good and I took off and it was all good. That's when I met Mike with the AFib dude, so it was. And then I found out I'm like where's Eric? Man, where's Eric, because he's a good writer and I thought for sure he was going to catch me. But no, go, I didn't see him for a while and then texted and I saw a text later on. He was texting to the whole team that he had got a flat and he was literally walking, walking and Dave commented on the text. He goes, take a shortcut E. So we laughed about that.
Speaker 3:But no more shortcut E, no more shortcut. Nope, nope, no more comments. It was a really cool event. It was a really cool day, I do think, an awesome congrats, and it was kind of. I mentioned it to Josephine, my wife, earlier in the week. You had a little comment. You're like yeah, I'm going, I'm signed up for this high school reunion. I don't even know if I want to go. I think a lot of people feel like that and I'm like Doug, you're the most social outgoing guy I know, probably in my whole life. Of course you're going to this thing, but I do think people have that little apprehension. You know what I mean. So I'm so glad that you had a great time and I'm so glad you went. So that's really cool to hear.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, thank you for that, daryl. You know it's funny. It's funny because people always say, well, you are very social and outgoing. But you know, if you really really knew me, you would know that I am actually more comfortable being intro, introvert. You know, I love reading, I love being alone, I love nature, um, I love being with my thoughts, I love journaling. Um, man, though that that's my really peaceful happy place. Can I do social things, as you said? Yeah, you've seen me in action, man, I can. I love people too, and so thank God I have that. So I guess you know I don't take either or label. I guess I'm a extrovert, introvert or introvert, extrovert, extrovert.
Speaker 2:So, but yeah, it was, it was a really, really great time and I really enjoyed reconnecting with some old friends and, and actually, you know cause, I'm back out in this area again and we're going to I'm going to make a habit of it of, you know, doing some lunch dates. And uh, there was another guy, daryl, who came up to me and uh, he said Doug, and he kind of came later than I did and uh, I saw him and gave me a big hug and we talked for a while and he was telling me his story and he goes yeah, I just celebrated nine years of sobriety. Wow me his story. And he goes yeah, I just celebrated nine years of sobriety. And, man, darrell, it felt so good to just look, you know cause? Cause we're all nervous about being at a reunion and and being and sometimes you can be nervous of being, you know, labeled or like, oh, you got a problem here or whatever just in general, forget about even the reunion. So I was just so proud of this guy Um, you know and again, it's an anonymous program, so I'm not going to mention any names of sharing that with me that I couldn't wait to just listen to everything he had to tell me, you know, so that he felt heard and seen and loved in that moment. And then to say, man, I am so proud of you. And gave him a big old hug and just said in his ear again, I'm so proud of you, man, you keep doing what you're doing and it's just beautiful.
Speaker 2:We're going to get together, we're going to have some breakfasts and some lunches and dinners and stuff. Let's hang out and it's just cool, man, it's just the whole team peach and what we are all about and encompassing. It's just like you talked about Steve man. Here you are meeting a guy on a ride by up, know training for death ride and next thing you know you're riding together and becoming friends, making more, you know closer friendships and being intentional about that stuff. And I'm excited, daryl, about where Team Peach and this podcast is going to lead. Maybe not, you know, it takes time to build community and I don't know that we were really trying to, but I think it's really. I think that's our focus. I think that's who we are and what we're about is encouraging, inspiring and motivating people and building, and that builds community. So I'm excited about that, brother, I'm excited. But so, darrell, after the ride, what's your routine the next day, man? What do you do? How do you recover? What did you do when you got home?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, it actually was even before I got home. Uh, I stopped by the clubhouse on the way home before you got home. I did, and I went into the steam room because I I mean, I got home and I was still cold and I sat in the steam room for 15, 20 minutes. Eric went home and I know you guys just cut some wood up at your dad's house. He knocked out a good fire at his place. We got warm, yeah. But, doug, I got to admit right, we might go do some serious stuff.
Speaker 3:I was absolutely exhausted last night and today. You know the cold and everything else. And so today I did make it up to the gym. I did some extremely lightweights, um, I did a little abs, and the only reason I walked up there was to go do the steam room again. And I came back and I sat on the couch and Ava came and snuggled next to me and she took a nap and we I did not get up for two or three hours. I haven't done that for so long. So you know Sunday fun days, man that sometimes that means rest and I enjoyed it beyond belief. And, uh, how was your Sunday?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the night of man, like I said earlier, I was surprised at how much energy and how good I felt the night of. So I had a great time at the high school reunion, never felt tired, felt energetic, focused, clear, and probably because of just the excitement of reconnecting that emotionally I was just on a high. Then I came home and I didn't feel really wiped out until I kind of laid down and then I'm like, oh wow, I'm really tired. So fortunately I passed right out and we had to set the clocks back. Wiped out until I kind of laid down and then I'm like, oh wow, I'm really tired. So I you know, fortunately I passed right out and we had to set the clocks back. I totally forgot about it.
Speaker 2:Thank God my phone and my watch does it automatically, and every Sunday I plan to go to church. I usually go to the 7.30 am mass and I planned to do that and so I got up at some. I don't know why I've been getting up at 4 am. I got up at 4 am this morning. I'm like I guess I'm going to the 4.30 am Because once in a while I'll go to the 10 am with my dad and then we'll go to breakfast together, but I went to the 7.30 am mass and I have loving it, dude. So here's how I recover right Sunday I don't work out, I don't exercise, I do, and I have one meal.
Speaker 2:I go to church. After church I go to a breakfast place and I treat myself to a minimum of two breakfasts, like today I had eggs Benedict and a side of a pancake order and some coffee. And I just sit there and I take my time and I fill up, and I fill up and I just enjoy that meal and celebrate all the hard work I've done all week. And it feels so good man. And what that does is it keeps me from wanting to eat like that the rest of the week. For me anyways, it's like, hey, I'm gonna get it. It's not like I'm depriving myself or restricting myself. I'm gonna eat that crap. So I don't feel deprived or restricted, I have something to look forward to.
Speaker 2:And then, after I have breakfast, then I'm done. I don't eat for another 24 hours. So I fast for 24 hours, and the reason I do that it's not for weight loss or to maintain my weight or anything like that. It's because after 17 hours of fasting your body kicks into what's called autophagy, and that's when your cells there's no more food for them to digest, for your body to digest it's digested by then. So your cells start going to work and start looking for fat. So it starts. You teach your body how to use fat for fuel and it also what's even more important, the biggest reason I do it is because if it sees any disease, like cancer or things that don't belong in your body, your cells go to work the way they're supposed to and say, hey, what's this, let's get this out of here. What's this, let's get this out of here.
Speaker 2:And one of the reasons that we live in a country that obesity is like a pandemic now is because we live in a culture where a society where most people, or a lot of people, are constantly feeding themselves, even healthy stuff, there's just this constant barrage of I'm going to eat, I'm going to eat, I'm going to eat. And I think the biggest reason is I think people don't know how to be alone or bored or not doing something. So, man, when you put something in your mouth to eat, it distracts whatever emotional feeling you're feeling. So we get in this habit of eating. I know I did anyways. There's some disciplined people out there that can get past that.
Speaker 2:I think you're one of those people who you set a routine and you stick to it and you're all cool with it. People who you know you set a routine and you stick to it and you're all cool with it. But so I do it for the autophagy reasons, to really get my cells and I call Sunday my reset day. You know, it's not my cheat, I don't call it a cheat day. I'm resetting my body on a biochemical level, biocellular level, so that my cells are saying, hey, let's go to work and I feel great. All week, man, I feel great. And then I eat. You know I eat very intentional the rest of the week. It doesn't mean I eat perfect nutritionally, but I do eat intentionally and it's all good man. So that's what my Sunday looks like in recovering, especially after a big ride like this. I really enjoyed that breakfast, man. It was awesome.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you posted on facebook and a lot of people were commenting. And I'm with michael. I'm like dude, where's the side of bacon? That was the only thing that was missing. Yeah, people, people were like what about this and what about this? And they're giving you suggestions for your next sunday meal. But it was. It looked uh, it looked good, but, uh, we were tired. We had a great weekend with community health, cold weather, um, I think we're about ready to wrap this up, but from our text this morning. I'm closing with Eric's comment on the text oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 3:Eric. After we realized how tired we were. He says quote we were fucking buffaloes yesterday and mountain goats and black bears today. I'm going to be a sloth, unquote, unquote. So Eric is enjoying being a sloth today, and well, well deserved.
Speaker 2:Sunday fun days equals rest.
Speaker 1:I think we're all slothing, we're all slothing.
Speaker 3:Oh man, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, it's awesome, it's awesome, that's it.
Speaker 2:What a great episode there. I always love recapping when we have big, new, new things that we try out together, and so thanks for showing up on a Sunday with me, brother, it's awesome. I'm just going to go ahead and close out, but before I do remember, follow us. If you enjoyed what you heard here or on other episodes, please share that episode or this episode. And, man, we'd love to hear from you. We get comments from other listeners. We'd love to hear from even more of what we're doing well, what we can improve on, or a topic you're interested in that has something to do with purpose, energy, attitude, commitment and health or shit. I'll throw it out there. If you got a whole nother topic, man, just throw it at us, man, we will definitely consider it and get somebody to interview on it or we'll talk on it ourselves. So, but until then, god bless you. Peace out, peace out, peace out, we're out.