Open Your Eyes (Levi's Gran Fondo 2014)

At the starting line -- Levi's Gran Fondo

After coming back from Chicago last week, Mark and I made our way up north to Santa Rosa, California to ride in Levi's Gran Fondo, which is one of the largest charity bike rides in America, numbering at 6500+ people strong.  Mark rode the "Gran" route which is 100+ miles, and I rode the "Piccolo" route which is only 34 miles long.  The race is full of cycling luminaries, such as Levi Leipheimer, as well as Hollywood types, like Patrick Dempsey.  Even former San Francisco Giant, Barry Bonds rode this year.

Last year, I managed to ride the "Medio" bike race, which is 60 miles long and featured some epic hill climbs such as Coleman road.  This is made even more impressive given that I had not trained hardly at all, but was powered by only anger (regarding work related issues).  This year, I was feeling more sad and drained, than angry, and since my hamstrings were still a little sore from my Reformer Pilates class in Chicago, I decided to take it easy by going on the 34 mile ride.

I am by no means a bicycling enthusiast. The only time you will ever see my on my bicycle is for our annual Gran Fondo ride. Also, as mentioned earlier, I was feeling sad and drained from my trip to Chicago, so I was not looking forward to going on this trip. But I was really glad that I did. 

At Willi's Wine Bar - Delicious Goat Cheese Fritters with Lavender Honey 

During the bike ride itself, I had a nice conversation with some cyclists at the rest stop. I must have stood out a little. I was wearing my old-school white sneakers and cotton t-shirt amongst all the clip-on shoes and neon cycling jerseys. At the same time, I was bragging to all my fellow "Piccolo" riders that going up the more advanced Coleman Rd, as I had the previous year, was not all that bad.  After the race was over, a couple of the cyclists recognized me and said hello. 

In general, there was a feeling of kindness and love among the cyclists and all the event volunteers. When the whole group slowed down at the sight of a crawling baby, it nearly brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me that humankind is generally kind. 

There were also some pretty impressive musical acts at the festival sponsored by the race. During the "100 days" headlining act, I danced with a couple of pink-haired, tattooed girls at the front of the 0stage while all the tired cyclists looked on.  Noone joined us, even though the music was really great, and even after the singer implored the crowed to dance. Maybe everyone was too tired, or feeling too self-conscious.

I found out that the two gals were bonafide rock artists. They were part of the previous performing group, "Vela Girls", which I had missed. We conversed and they gave me a free record and t-shirt. Now I can add "rock groupie" to the list of things I have been. It goes to show, if you open yourself up opportunities and open your eyes, it can lead to interesting encounters.

Mark showcases his viticulture skills at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Guerneville

For dinner, we headed to Willi's Wine Bar, which was rated as one of the top restaurants in Santa Rosa by TripAdvisor. Touted as a tapas bar, Willi's Wine Bar features some of the most creative dishes I have ever tasted. You could tell the chef had a genuine interest in Chinese food. Many of the dishes really captured the flavors of authentic Chinese food. The Scallop dumplings with Sherry vinegar butter were sublime, as were the Pork belly crepes with Hoisin sauce.

The following day, we visited the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, which we had never visited before in all our years in the Bay Area. It is really beautiful, and featured an Old Hollywood style pool, down to the plush lounge chairs and private changing rooms. The pool is open to all visitors for a fee. I'll be sure to visit next time, it looked extremely glamorous.

Matching Gran Fondo t-shirts at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery 

The moral of this blog post is that life is full of wonder and people are generally good. Even when some days are sad and disappointing, keep your eyes open and life can really sparkle. 

Tried Reformer Pilates for the first time

I love traveling by myself because I get to try new things I wouldn't necessarily try at home. When I am at home, I'm too cheap to try new things. Travelling tends to free up my wallet some.

Flex Pilates Studio in Chicago

I've been travelling to Chicago a lot recently to deal with family issues, and I have been having a great time discovering workouts that are popular there.  Unlike Mountain View, the Gold Coast area in Chicago has Cross-fit gyms, Yoga studios and Pilates studio on every corner.  The classes are more expensive but there are a greater variety on offer. Many of these studios require logging in and paying for a spot before even stepping foot inside. This seems like a rather high barrier for trying a new class, but somehow this scheme works in Chicago.

One of my favorite studios in Chicago, which I first discovered in June, is Indigo Studio (http://theindigostudio.com). They offer a lot of dance classes with creative names like "Boot Camp Ballerina", and "Thrill from Brazil".  You can read my Yelp review of Indigo Studio here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/indigo-studio-chicago-2.

This week, I decided to branch out and tried Reformer Pilates for the first time. For those of you who are not familiar with Pilates, it's an exercise that emphasizes toning the "core" or abdominal, back and hip muscles. It's popular with dancers, and Hollywood actresses because it purports to give you long, lean muscles. There are two major types of Pilates, (1) Mat Pilates - performed on a yoga mat on the floor, and (2) Pilates requiring Intimidating Equipment that look like torture devices.  One of the most popular types of equipment used is the Reformer, which looks like a Medieval rack. 

I used to do Mat Pilates because it was offered free at my company.  Mat Pilates is also offered at a lot of gyms like 24 Hour Fitness. Even if you have to pay for a Mat Pilates class, it is usually fairly affordable starting for as low as $12-$20 for a class. Reformer Pilates, on the other hand, starts at $40 per session for small group classes  and as much as $75 for a private session.  Class prices are more expensive to adjust for the smaller class sizes and to recoup the cost of the $2000+ equipment. I think the expensive price is why I never bothered to try Reformer Pilates.

I decided that since I was travelling, I would try Reformer Pilates, even though it would lighten up my wallet.  Flex Pilates in Chicago (http://www.flexpilateschicago.com) has rave reviews on Yelp with reviewers reporting that the workouts were very intense and made them sore. Anyways, I tried it, and every muscle in my body was trembling. Not only did my core become sore, but also my back, my butt, my hamstrings, and my arms. I loved it. I think that Reformer Pilates can be a better all over workout than Mat Pilates because your body rests on a frictionless platform and thus you have to work harder to stabilize your body. In addition, whereas in Mat Pilates, you rely on your body weight to create resistance, Reformer Pilates relies on body weight AND springs, so you get more resistance.  

The internet has opposing opinions on whether a beginner should start with Reformer Pilates or Mat Pilates.  Pilates is one of those exercises where if you are not performing it correctly, it won't be as hard, nor give you the same benefits. For example, one of the core principles of Pilates is to suck your belly in and to keep the small of your back imprinting down at all times. This is more challenging because it forces you to engage the deeper Transverse Abdominus muscles rather than the superficial Rectus Abdomens muscles, or "6-pack" muscles.  This encourages a leaner, less bulky look. So, If you do a crunch without using the correct form, I.e. Without sucking your belly in, you would bulk up instead of lean out. I think it might be easier as a beginner to learn correct form on the Reformer than with Mat Pilates due to the greater resistance offered. The greater resistance allows you to better feel the correct muscle engagement.  Also the smaller group sizes or Reformer classes translates into more one on one time with an instructor, which would help the beginner.

All in all, I'm not sure I would shell out $40 on a regular basis to do Reformer Pilates.  I suppose if I were a billionaire, or if I made my living off of my appearance, my opinion might change.  However, I really enjoyed it, and if I ever come across discounted Reformer Pilates on Groupon or whatever, I would definitely jump on the opportunity.