Banning’s Bikes in Fullerton is holding a basic skills clinic for women August 11 - 12 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. both days. The two day workshop will cover bicycle riding skills, cornering, pacelines and drills as well as road side repairs, nutrition and training. Bring your (mountain or road)bike and riding gear, if you plan to participate in the riding skills portion of the clinic. Participants will be able to test ride women specific bikes and check out the latest cycling apparel from brands such as Felt, Look, Speedplay, Castelli, Sidi, Canari, Motorable and Northwave.
Banning’s Bikes is located at 205 N. Harbor Blvd. Fullerton, 92832, 714-525-2200

- LAILA D.

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If you’re less than satisfied with your body, personal trainer James Coury says he can help through his new program available through his training business, James Fitness. The “10 Week Body Transformation Challenge” promises to help you lose fat, tone up and teach you about good nutrition.

Program offering’s include: fitness tests and measurements, workouts with Coury, individualized meal plans, nutritional coaching, a 10-week supply of nutritional supplements, 10 ab toning sessions, 24-hour e-mail and phone support, food scale, measuring cups and foam roller.

Program start date is Aug. 13. Cost is $1,200 per person. A $5,000 cash prize will be awarded to the person with the best results. Deadline to enroll is Aug. 12 by 5 p.m. Leave your name and number at 949-232-2007 if you want to sign up.
–Jessica

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The Newport Beach Breakers end their season this Wednesday, July 25 at the Newport Beach Country Club. Tickets are sold out but hunting for one or two on craigslist or ebay might be a successful alternative and well worth the effort, considering the lineup. Maria Sharapova, the world’s No. 2 female tennis player, will head the Breakers against John McEnroe and the New York Sportimes. 

Just in case you’re not familiar with the World TeamTennis (WTT) game format, it goes a little something like this: Each match will consist of five sets, with one set each of men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles. The first team to reach five games wins each set. Each team consists of two men, two women and a coach.

The Breakers are co-owned by WTT founder Billie Jean King. Profits from the game go to Hoag Hospital. Hope to see you there!

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Apparently some people thought I died on the mountain since I didn’t blog after the first day. My cell phone lost reception when a storm rolled in and I couldn’t call in any more blogs for the rest of the week. Sorry.

Team Mt. Whitney returned on Friday, June 8. We’re all healthy and alive. I’m happy to say that I bagged Whitney. This was my second attempt to summit.

SqueezeOC staffer Jessica fell a mile short of the peak. A combination of altitude sickness, prescription medicine and threatening storm clouds helped make the decision to turn around simple.

I already miss the Sierras. Getting away from the distractions of cell phones, the Internet and TV re-energized me and returned me to the simple life. Every day I filtered my own water, cooked my own meals, breathed clean air, hiked to picture-perfect postcard-like scenery and ended every night staring into the dancing flames of the campfire.

No driving. No TV. No Myspace. No e-mail. No cell phone. Life is good. Life is real damn good.

My fishing excursion wasn’t exactly ideal. The hike, which was supposed to be a 5-mile walk in the park, turned into a 5.5-mile climb gaining 3,000 feet of elevation to Meysan Lakes. Here is a photo of the mountain I climbed to get to the lake.

Six hours later, I eventually reached the lake, which is surrounded by a beautiful meadow and enclosed by sheer granite walls that had a light dusting of snow.

I fished for a few hours and caught a beautiful golden trout. It’s gonna make good lunch.

Not knowing how well trout holds in a backpack, I raced down the trail to cook my fish before it went bad. I end up turning my ankle and sprained it.

The fish was good. It wasn’t worth the eight hours of hiking or the sprained ankle, but I felt very “Survivorman” cooking a meal that I just caught.

To read about how Jessica and I trained and prepared for our Mt. Whitney adventure, click here.

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Check out the video here…here’s the conclusion to their workout.

Check out part one of the video here.

Check out part two of the video here.

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Check out the video here…this is 30 hours into their routine.

The two will be working out in half hour shifts each until today at 6:00 p.m.

Check out the video from yesterday here.

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SqueezeOC staffers Brian and Jessica have been training diligently for the climb to the summit of Mt. Whitney—the highest peak in the continental United States. When Brian arrived at base camp yesterday to let me know that he planned on blogging (meaning he would call and dictate his posts to me.), reception seemed great , except that he said he had to balance on a tree branch to get it. If you know Brian, then you probably don’t doubt that it’s true.

He wrote the following last night and dictated it to me this morning as he hiked to a river that a ranger told him was 5 miles from base camp. He set off at 6 a.m. and at 9:30 when he called he was tired, almost out of water, lugging two fishing poles and a backpack, and wondering whether the ranger (who said he was sure of the directions even though he hadn’t been up there himself in 30 years) was right. But Brian was dedicated to catching some salmon for lunch, so he was persevering.

Here’s his post dated Sunday, June 3.

“After a drive through the dessert where the temperatures reached almost 100 degrees, I’ve arrived at Mt. Whitney base camp. I’m covered in sweat. The campground is in the shadow of Whitney and temperatures here are in the 60s. We’re expecting overnight lows in the 30s by Wednesday.

My hands and arms are already covered in bug guts. When I opened my car door, mosquitoes attacked every inch of exposed skin on my body. The pesky varmints even punched through my shirt. I probably look like I have measles. Still, I’d rather be here covered in bug guts and bites than buried in press releases at work.

I’m expecting the rest of the 5- member Mt. Whitney team (including Jessica and Orange County Register staffer Shawn Price and Paul Bersebach) Monday afternoon. I decided to get to camp a day early for some peace and quiet before sharing the next 100 hours with the team.

Our campsite, number 43, is one of best in Whitney Portal. Lone Pine Creek is 20 feet from the tent. Towering pines shade the site and our closest neighbor is more than 50 feet away. The only downside: The creek’s roar is apocalyptically loud. In my tent, as I set up my sleeping bag, I felt like I was in a lion’s stomach.

After I set up camp, I went on a trail run so my body could acclimate to the 8,000 foot elevation at base camp. Two miles into the run I felt the effects of the altitude. I felt dizzy, my eyeballs felt like they were popping out of their sockets and my lungs felt like they had shrunk to the size of walnuts. I took a 5 minute break and felt a little better. Since I ran out of water, I didn’t want to push my limits anymore. I went back to camp and took it easy.

It’s 6 p.m. now, I plan on hitting the hay in a couple of hours so I can fish in the morning. Hopefully, next time I can tell you about my big catch.”

To read about how Brian and Jessica trained and prepared for their Mt. Whitney adventure, click here.

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Check out the video here. We’ll keep you updated on Aaron and Jaiya’s progress throughout their 36 hour workout.

The two will be working out in half hour shifts each until tomorrow at 6:00 pm. If you want to see it for yourself, cruise over to MacArthur and Main in Irvine!

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Finally! This week in the mail Jessica and I got our permits to climb Mt. Whitney this summer. We’ll be trekking up the mountain Wednesday-Friday June 6-8. Hopefully we’ll make our summit attempt on Thursday June 7.

If you’re going to be on the mountain at the same time, send me an e-mail at bquines@squeezeoc.com. Maybe we can make the trek together or share food and have a powdered mashed potato and Top Ramen feast.

After our descent on Friday June 8, we’re planning on having a mega-feast at base camp - possibly some Sloppy Joe’s, hot dogs AND a big fat juicy steak. I’m sure there’ll be some carrot sticks or tortillas for the vegetarians.

To get tips from Jessica and I on climbing Mt. Whitney click here.

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I was sure I’d put on rather than lost weight in time for the Fit Challenge re-measuring. I was quite surprised this morning to find out I lost 4 pounds and a combined 6.75 inches from all over my body. I decreased by body-fat percentage by 2.3 percent.

Personal trainer Elaine Reeves Gjonovich’s fitness goal for me was that I lose 1 pound and .7 percent body fat. Not much to ask for, but I still wondered if I’d do it.

My main reason for concern was that while I did do the three-day Detox Soup diet at the beginning of the program, I didn’t continue with the Body Fat Loss Diet that was also an option. Instead, I tried to reduce my sugar/carb intake and fatty, fried foods, while increasing the protein in my diet and exercising a lot more than I had been. But I didn’t feel like I was on a diet — didn’t feel deprived at all. I could definitely feel my muscles hardening — especially in my legs. Still, I felt like I was eating more and eating things I enjoyed, so I wondered if the scale would show a positive difference.

Goes to show you, it doesn’t always take extreme measures to make a dent on the waistline.

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