Day 3 - MCCBikeRide (Bakersfield to Tehachapi)

Well after a great night stay at Casa Malamma, we headed out bright and early at around 6:15 AM. I was joined by longtime MCC supporter/volunteer Kevin Malamma and he helped me pick the best route to Tehachapi. The weather was absolutely perfect. The sun was out but it was cool, which was nice considering I had about 5,000 feet of climbing on the day. I saw quite a bit of the Kern River, as water has been the theme of California this year. It is one of the most deadliest rivers around. I saw some frogs, hills and oil drills. It's hard to tell, but my first panoramic photo was taken on Panorama Dr. ( I couldn't resist). Way off in the distance are oil drills as Panorama overlooks the city of Oildale. I saw the Tehachapi Loop and you can read the monuments in my pictures below. It's a remarkable engineering accomplishment for the rail system. I even saw pro cyclists Cory Lockwood who happens to be a Tehachapi local. His weekly rides and climbing put my miles to shame lol. (I had to look him up too 😄)

Overall a great day! My body is feeling great and I haven't been cramping. I'm the right amount of tired and I expect to sleep well tonight. Tomorrow is a shorter day as I work my way over to Palmdale. Thank you for reading and if you'd like to donate to the cause that I'm riding for, you can visit the link below:

https://donate.mcc.org/registry/carlos-cardenas-guatemala-livelihoods

Day 2 - MCCBikeRide (Delano to Bakersfield)

The biggest surprise of the day was rain. It was nice to have the cooler weather, since, as of last week, we were expecting everything to be in the 90's. I guess that's what I get for jokingly praying for rain yesterday. Today was a short ride of 39 miles (feels strange to categorize 39 miles as short).  I tried to push myself to go fast since the weather was cooler and the distance was shorter. i was able to average 20 mph, despite the rain, getting lost and taking a couple photo breaks. Nothing too exciting today, just a lot of wide open rode and different fruit crops. I can't get over how perfectly placed each of these trees are. The roads out here are in really good shape. It's a weird experience to ride in complete silence for miles, but it was very peaceful. I hardly saw any cars. We'll probably do something fun with the kids this afternoon. Thank you for reading.

To donate, visit: https://donate.mcc.org/registry/carlos-cardenas-guatemala-livelihoods

Day 1 - MCCBikeRide (Fresno to Delano)

What a great day to complete my first 100 mile bike ride. I was fortunate enough to have Jerry Linscheid join me for the first day He works for Mennonite Insurance and has been a long time supporter of the MCC and he's really an all around great guy. Both of our bikes ran well, although I did get 1 flat in the first 20 miles in Sanger. They  must have heard a Reedley local was with me ;), After a quick tube change we were back on the road. We road through Jerry's home town of Reedley and  home of  the MCC West Coast Office in downtown. We had a wonderful group of people to welcome us and give us some much needed refreshments. We were also met by the local newspaper, The Reedley Exponent. It was a long day but fortunately all the mile were flat. The ride was very peaceful as we rode through a number of nut and fruit crops. The picture below shows how cuties are seedless. The net keeps the bees from pollinating with them.We saw a bunch of cows, bulls and very protective small dogs that love to chase bikes.  It was nice to ride on some open roads and not have to battle cars in traffic. The most random thing I saw was a Camel!!! Photos to follow. Tomorrow will be a lighter day as I ride in to Bakersfield. Donations can still be made on the link below.

https://donate.mcc.org/registry/carlos-cardenas-guatemala-livelihoods

1 Week To Go

Well it's been a several weeks since my last post, but things are going well. I've been averaging just under 200 mile/week and commuting twice a week from Ontario to Santa Ana round-trip and I've lost 20 lbs.

My wife has been amazing! My commute days typically involve me leaving the house around 5:00 AM and getting home around 8:30 PM. While my sacrifice involves training and riding my bike, my wife and kids have been missing me a lot and they have sacrificed their time with me for this cause. Their support has been crucial to making this bike ride possible.

I have a few photos to share below from some of my bike rides over the past few weeks. I've seen my share of beautiful sunrises and sunsets and road kill :P. I was able to go mountain biking with my boys and I also set up one of my bikes to tag along with my two youngest kids. I road up to Mount Baldy Village one afternoon. Recently I got to see the pro cyclists in Stage 5 of the Tour of California. It was a great day and I even got to see the basketball legend Bill Walton on a bicycle as a spectator at the event. Apparently he's a cycling fan. You can see in the photo how tall he is with his custom sized bike.

Lastly, I'll be making posts for each day of my ride. Donations can still be made up to my last day of riding. To date, between my donation page and the MCC Upland Auction, I've been able to raise $7,400. Thank you everyone for your support and encouraging words.

https://donate.mcc.org/registry/carlos-cardenas-guatemala-livelihoods

My Best Day Training Yet!!!

Today I did something I've never done before in one day. I rode to work and back from my home in Ontario (Approx. 80 miles). I felt surprisingly good and I had a buddy from my cycling group join me on both rides. Yesterday I rode to work and back from Corona (Approx 44 miles), so two days back to back is a real accomplishment for me. Hopefully I can keep this momentum going. I've been so inspired this week from all the money I've been able to raise, I nearly broke down in to tears. It's overwhelming to see a dream become a reality and see how many people are so quick to support an effort that brings life and joy into this world. Below are the details from my two rides today.

Misc Training Photos

Here are a few photos from my recent Bike Rides as I train and try to get as much seat time as possible. The most are from the Santa Ana River Trail and the last one is in Chino Hills on Chino Hills Parkway.

Planning the Route

Planning my route is proving to be a real challenge. The most difficult leg of my ride will be figuring out the best way to get from Palmdale to Upland. As of right now, it's looking like I'm going to try and do it all in one day. Trying to get through the Cajon Pass will possibly require a quick ride on I-15 from the 138 to Cleghorn Road. I am hoping to find ways to make this as safe as possible, and the goal would be to ride through early enough to avoid extra congestion. The other option would be to go South on the 2 from Palmdale and travel through Pasadena on my way to Upland. The problem with the second option is that there is an extra 2,000 feet of climbing and depending on my conditioning and weight I may not have what it takes to get that done in one day. On a bright note, it's looking like a may have a couple people interesting in riding with me for the last day. I'm pretty sure I will be exhausted by this point, so having the extra company may be exactly what I need to finish this ride.

Some of my goals for training will be to ride at least one 100 mile bike ride. I also want to have a couple weeks where I ride to work for all 5 days in the week. The biggest key for me is to try and ride as much a possible and build up a tolerance for sitting on my bike. In regards to my weight, I'm looking to lose about 20+ pounds. One way of accomplishing that will be through The Daniel Plan. This will be the 4th year that my wife and I have done the Daniel Plan during the lent season and it has been a wonderful experience of learning how to eat and what to eat. It has a very balanced approach and it has literally changed our lives. We haven't always stuck to the plan as well as we would like, but at least we now know what it takes to have a healthier lifestyle.

Thank you for following me on this journey. Please don't hesitate to pass on any advice or knowledge you may have that would help improve my route. I've currently raised $525 and my goal is to at least raise $1,500. To donate you can go to https://donate.mcc.org/registry/carlos-cardenas-guatemala-livelihoods. All the money donated goes directly to the MCC.