Almond Freikers Arrive At Gila Cliff Dwellings !

Another week has come and gone and the end of school is just one more week away. I'll be taking the Freikometer down the week of Jun 8th (not sure when yet) but that shouldn't stop anyone from walking or riding should it? We have a special recognition ceremony on the playground during morning assembly on June 8 at 8:30am. Award bags will be handed out to all of the Freikers on June 8th and at 1:45pm on June 9th the top 60 walkers and riders will be invited to a special assembly in the multi to pick out an award of their choice (flashing tail light *or* cyclometer *or* $5 JambaJuice card).

Stats for Week 11 !

With only 1 week left to go in the school year, the Almond Freikers are still going strong!

• Almond remains the #1 Freiker school in the nation!
• The kid recorded 506 round trips for week 11.
• The now have accumulated a total of 5,122 round trips to school.
• That equals a total of 7,700 miles by bike or by foot.
• This has prevented 2.6 tons of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere
• It has saved this nation 366 gallons of gasoline.
• The kids have burned a total of 385,000 kcals - that's a pretty healthy metabolism!
  

Almond Freikers Arrive At Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument !

The have traveled all the way across the US to Lebec, ME - the eastern-most city in the US. The have traveled down the east coast, through Baltimore, Washington DC, Savannah, GE and finally to Key West, FL. From there they headed west and spent last weekend in New Orleans. This week, the traveled all the way across Texas (and that's a big state) to arrive in New Mexico at the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. What an awesome sight to behold!

Volcanic Cave Formations

The first discovery of the Gila Cliff Dwellings was by Henry B. Ailman, an emigrant to New Mexico who was residing in Silver City at the time. In the summer of 1878, Ailman found himself, along with a bunch of friends, on a jury list. To avoid serving, they organized a prospecting trip to the Gila River where the site was discovered. Throughout the following years, many visitors would study the dwellings. In the next couple of years, the site became more accessible. In the 1890s the Hill brothers had created a resort at the nearby Gila Hot Springs. The Hill brothers would take guests on tours to the nearby cliff dwellings. In June 1906, Rep. John F. Lacey of Iowa and chairman of the House Public Lands Committee introduced a bill for the regulation of prehistoric sites. The Act for the Preservation of Antiquities, also known as the Antiquities Act, the president was authorized to set aside land that contained prehistoric and historic ruins by executive order.

These reservations were called national monuments and were to be managed by the Interior, Agriculture, and War departments, depending on which agency had controlled a particular site before it was withdrawn. In December 1906, Gila Forest Supervisor R. C. McClure reported to the chief forester in Washington, D.C. that the Gila Cliff Dwellings warranted preservation by the national government to avoid further removal of artifacts by hunters and other prospectors.

Dwellings inside the caves

A couple of mummified bodies had been found at the Gila Cliff Dwellings location. Most were lost to private collectors. In 1912, a burial ground was found and the mummy was named “Zeke”. The body was described as an infant. This discovery gained national attention and increased visitations to the monument. This lead to additional improvements in the next couple of years. This was the only mummy to reach the Smithsonian from the site.

Administration of the monument was transferred from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the National Park System on August 10, 1933, by Executive Order 6166. President John F. Kennedy signed Proclamation No. 3467 that added approximately 375 acres containing an additional archaeological site, known as the TJ site, as well as additional wilderness. In the spring of 1975, the National Park Service and the United States Forest Service signed a cooperative agreement whereby the Gila National Forest is responsible for administration of the monument.

No More Baskin-Robbins Awards :(

The ice cream awards ended last week so there is nothing new to report here. I'm sure most folks have their fair share of coupons stashed somewhere as we do. Remember to thank our sponsor the next time you are in Baskin-Robbins!

Spot Pizza Award Winners So Far !

We have 1 more week to go and 42 Almond Freikers have already earned a free large Spot Pizza! Way to go kids - you guys are awesome...

Bicycle Training 101 !

Ok, so I've been busy helping everyone else with their cycling and I haven't gotten to do very much of it myself. So this last week I started my training regiment again - don't ask me what I'm training for, I have no idea. But I call it 'training' anyway :) In my training, there are 4 kids of rides I concentrate on:

1. Base Miles - often referred to as a Long Slow Day. The object is to ride about 40-50 miles without getting your heartrate above 130 bpm for any extended period of time. This kind of ride builds up the circulatory system in the area doing the work (the legs) and burns fat. As long as your HR is well below LT (Lactic Acid Threshold) you are burning calories out of stored fat. The rides are usually brisk but pretty easy.
2. Power Rides - This is all about building up the muscles in your legs and training your legs to be powerful through all 360 degrees of a pedal stroke. Remember that you feet are clipped to the pedals so you can push down, pull back, lift up and push forward but you have to do all of that as smoothly as you can. Find a slight uphill somewhere that is 3-5 miles in length. Concentrate on maintaining a cadence of 50-60 rpm with your pedaling. Get your bike in the biggest gears you can and go as hard as you can for the 3-5 miles. Repeat this 2-3 times allowing your legs to rest (spin lightly) on the downhill back to the starting point.
3. Hill Climbing Intervals - This is all about getting your heart rate up as high as you can just as you crest the top of a hill and then allowing your body to rest (spin lightly) on the downhill section. As soon as your HR is back under control, you go back up the hill. My max HR is around 195 bpm and I have a course that I do that includes 6 hill climbs in and around Los Altos Hills (La Paloma, Elena & Black Mountain up to Altamont, Tepa, West Loyola, Magdalena and then some road that goes up by the LAH Country Club. I usually do my hill climbs at around 170-180 bpm until the top of the hill is in sight and then I get out of the saddle and sprint until I go cross eyed. Hopefully, by the time I can't go anymore, I'm at the top of the hill :) Here is a my geek plot from my hill interval ride last Wednesday: Los Altos Hills Interval Course.
4. Peloton Rides - This is as close to the conditions you would find in a bicycle race as you can get. You need a large group of cyclists (this is usually not hard to find around here) callend the peloton and some nerve. You will combine power, intervals, hill climbs and sprinting into one ride that can be 30-80 miles long. Longer rides give you more endurance. You will reach speeds of 35-45 mph except you will be surrounded on all sides with people who are only a foot away! Yikes! I hope they know what they are doing...

One other thing... bicycle racing is all about power to weight. Most good bike racers are 5'7" and weigh 145 lbs - sickening! Bike races are always won and lost in the hills. You can spend $5,000 on a bike to have it be 1.5 lbs lighter than the $2,000 version or you can focus on riding Base Mile for a while, watch your diet and lose 10 lbs pretty quickly. It much cheaper to burn the weight off than it is to buy it off.

Freiker Rolls To Foothill College !

I want to thank everyone that joined us on the Freiker Rolls To Redwood Grove. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for a ride - you can't ask for anything better. Unfortunately, we really didn't ever make it to Redwood Grove since we stopped for lunch in Shoop Park, the kids got to playing in the creek and then the ice cream urge took over :) This was the first ride that is building up over the next 2 weeks to a trip to Hidden Villa on Moody - I hope that everyone is up for that one - it should be a lot of fun:

• June 7th @ 1:00pm - Freiker Rolls to Foothill College: Foothill College is a nearby junior college nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. But how many of you have actually been there? We'll take a lap around the campus and head back through downtown Los Altos for some refreshments. Approx 8 miles with a few gradual climbs.
  
• June 14th @ 1:00pm - Freiker Rolls to Hidden Villa: Tucked back in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Hidden Villa is a great place for a kid to spend some time interacting with nature, taking a walk and learning about environmental conservation. Fun for the whole family! I'll need a couple of adult volunteers on this one to help escort the group along Moody Rd. Approx 12 miles with a few gradual climbs.

Freiker Night for LASD !

As you all know, there has been lots of interest from other schools about the Freiker program but there is also very little understanding about what it is and how it works. Can you imagine that? Now you know what the pioneers must have felt like... :)

Anyway, Egan has a grant for a Freikometer and Santa Rita has just been offered a grant for a Freikometer - now they just need to come find out what that all means to them. Anyone of the Almond parents that wants to come and share their perspective on Freiker are welcome. You folks probably have a lot more credibility and expertise about this program than most people on the planet. I'll be giving an overview of the program and walking through the Almond program for this year, the costs, where the efforts go and the logistics of setting it up.

Ok, that's enough for tonight. I got one more of these I'm going to do and then I'm signing off for the summer.... maybe :)
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Every Ride Counts !
Jon