Solo 35 & A 3-peat

 Solo 35 miles, 2,100 ft of elevation gain. Just a solo nice steady smooth easy safe cool beautiful ride along the foothills When I got yo SD Park area, I did the first stretch of Sycamore Cyn 3 times in order to get my 2k climbing. I saw 10.2 % max on that road. After 2 times I thought I'd have enough but after a stop at the park, figured I would do it one more time to be sure. Thought it would be safer than Glendora HS area while school is in session so playing it safe 👍 

Now that I think about it, I did the steep section 5 times.  3 for the ride and 2 more times posing for the pictures. 😄 Just the short steep part though,  off the radar.  I should have left it on for the stats. 

I forgot that I use a rear helmet light as well. After the ride in the restroom, I turned off both bike lights but as I was standing there, I could see a faint red flashing light on the wall. I had to stand there a bit trying to figure it out but never did. Till I got back to the truck and removed my helmet 😆😄😆

Of course,  Sizzler with my Honey.  I think we're Platinum Members. 😁

Uphill Into the Wind with No Shoes On Tour (windy video)

 Uphill Into the Wind pushing 9 mph but felt good.  Going for an easy ride but you know how the wind is. 🤣 Not many riders out here and only making a video to hear the wind and my whining. 😁 To make it easy,  I only did the nature center rather than the entire trail. Did Scramble myself a couple eggs 🥚 this morning,  couple turkey sausage links, and 1 corn tortilla.  Boy , I'm a good cook. I almost called off the ride to eat more eggs. 😄

On my way down,  I saw a gal looking pretty beat by the wind.  After I was back at the truck for a bit, she rode up into the parking lot.  I asked her if it was windy enough for her.  She said she felt like giving up heading into the wind.  I  know she couldn't have gone to the top of the trail that fast,  another 5 miles. But she did say she came from Long Beach.  That would be pretty rough in this wind 😬 

                                                                       Windy Youtube video

Of course,  Sizzler with my Honey after the ride.  🚲 

Solo 25 PR Medals for my Emerald Necklace 😁

 Solo 25 PR Medals for my Emerald Necklace (course name on Strava). 31 miles 15.6 average speed. Started out looking for an easy ride but feeling good, so I pushed it a little bit. Maybe the Lifesavers gummies are more aerodynamic than Clif Shot Bloks. I know they're a lot cheaper. 💰 🤑 💸 💲 Couple little munks admiring my old 1997 bike. 😁

Heck, I rarely push from the dam south because it's mostly downhill but today,  no headwind and feeling good so I pushed it. End of the ride segments about 8 miles. Averaged 22 mph . Heck, better than 20 years ago riding with a forum group. 👍

Some good old fashioned California scenery. 🤪

A big reason I pushed hard today was that a couple weeks back, when I latched on the back of a group ride, my intent was to get ride footage for video. I mean, some of the times I'm all I get ha ha ha! SO seeing the group taking off as I was approaching, I thought they might get a kick out of it. I did see a couple of things that scared me so I stayed back and to the side if you notice in the video but they were rolling!!! I didn't want to get in the way and not wanting to get hurt myself.

One gal latched on to the back and she looked very skilled and composed. I had let her go ahead of me after being behind me figuring I didn't want to get in her way or keep her from enjoying the tow as well. I figured I'd roll with the group for a while then drop off if it got too fast or hectic, remember I'm an old man now.

They didn't seem to mind the gal riding along and even let her move up in the line. I had thought about going around to get the riders' faces but every time I thought I had a chance, the group would lift the pace or they would gather on the left side or even the other lane. No way would I go then, too risky and too many to pass without them expecting me. So I just stayed back not having the right chance but that was cool.

But one dude dropped to the back and I let him in not wanting to interfere. But it seemed that his intentions were to drop me, ok. He started pulling the old "drop back on the descent and lift the pace on the uphill" sections of the trail. He would slow then accelerate in an attempt to drop me I was thinking. OK, whatever, I was just trying to get footage as I said. 

I was ok but then as seen in the video, he started swaying side to side and crossing the lane dangerously, drifting from the left to outside the white line and shoulder of the lane. At this point, I was F that! It ain't worth getting hurt over. I figure either the guy was struggling to keep up, hence the gaps, or he had lousy handling skills. Strong rider for sure but safety is number one. I figure he was trying to drop me, so whatever. At this point, I fell back having only about 1/2 a mile to the end of my ride and I had kept up for about 8 miles.

So today, feeling pretty good, I gave it a push to see what I could do. I rarely push on the downhill sections (-.2 descent type grade) not ever thinking much of downhill speeds to impress. But today, feeling good I figured I'd push to see how I could do solo on that section knowing that I could keep up with the group that day no problem if that dude hadn't started being wishy washy.

So I gave it a good effort and was surprised. Yes and no, figuring I know I could keep up no problem but happy with my results. I averaged 22.2 on that segment of miles while the group had averaged on the same segment. Just having a good time admiring the fact that even though some weenies feel the need to be elitists, it's cool to know I could better that segment riding solo vs their time 20.3 riding in a group of about 12 (?).  Heck, I was about 2 mph faster on my own ha ha ha!

I just might get one of those jerseys that says, "Don't underestimate an old man on a bike!". 😁

Another cool stat on Strava. I'm #94 out of 877 riders as far as my weight class. 

#457 out of 3102 riders in my age group. I guess I'm not that much of a slug yet ha ha ha!

This year, I have Tinker Juarez beat by 61 places ha ha ha! That would surprise me of course he was probably reading a book while riding.

 

Cool little bonuses. Still at age 62, 63 in May, I set PR's but still place pretty well for an old guy in my weight class. #36 out of 957 riders. Plenty of competition around here ha ha ha!

Funny thing about pushing hard, at the end of the ride, I found a few little chunks of gummies that ended up on my Bryton GPS screen ha ha ha! I guess trying to chew gummies and trying to go fast can be a little tricky.

BTW, it is good to be remembered. I look in on cycling forums from time to time to see who is talking sheot about me. Some good people still mention me in a not so bad way and others in a total back stabbing POS way. You know, the guy who pretends to be your buddy on Fb then talks trash about you on a forum. Surprised the dude wouldn't suspect that I might check in to identify the backstabbers. They know who they are.

But I did see a comment about me claiming I could outwork people half my age. Yeah, that is true, been doing it for years and years. Even in the hot sun manufacturing business, I can outwork most people of any age. Heck, I think I was 59 here and still kicking ass on the young guys who were scared to sweat a little and get dirty. My boss didn't give me $100 more than once for working my ass off when others were busy crying about the summer heat. Oh yeah, she would buy me boxes of Liquid IV as well for work and boxes to take home for riding my bike. Yeah, all while the young guys were inside crying it was to hot outside. So there!

Solo Pico Azusa Mtns 2 PRs (Lifesavers Gummies) Bonus Material - Optometrist Doctor Homes 😆

 Solo 36 miles today. Started at 80 degrees but I was freezing 🥶 So much that I was shivering when I took the pic so it came out blurry. 😄 Just getting in some miles but felt REALLY good today. Got a couple PRs, not sure how that happened. 😄 Digging my Nature's Bakery fig bars. Raspberry, Blueberry, and Apple Cinnamon. Trying to get some carbs on my ride, taste purty good and packed in 2s. 👍

                 Trips me out that I can hit 35 mph on the trail.  It's that Dam Climb descent. 🤣

I don't like getting out of bed. Even 9 am is too  early. 😄

Thought I would try something new after reading about gummies on the net, various forums. Many say that regular gummies are just as good and others say not because they lack potassium and electrolytes.  But heck, I use Liquid IV after the first hour of my ride. First water for an hour then electrolytes for the remainder. That's what I have found on the net as far as using them efficiently.

So cutting back on so much eating over the last year, I have found I feel lacking on some rides like I am missing something. Usual 45 mile ride at the most so nothing too drastic but I did feel empty on a couple of rides using harder effort. I tried the Clif Shotbloks but bejeepers, they get expensive. Even on EBay, about $52 per box of 18. I'd use one on each ride. Some rides I wouldn't feel anything different using the Bloks, maybe not needed on those rides being a little less effort. Some harder efforts I would say I felt good. Maybe a couple other rides with hard efforts, I felt not so good. Maybe I didn't have the Bloks, I don't remember.  But after going through 2 boxes, I'm thinking that it's getting expensive so I looked for an alternative. I am not a serious rider so I don't worry about keeping up with Lance on the climbs ha ha ha!

So seeing others speak of gummie bears, I gave it some thought but not a big fan of gummie bears. The other night at Wally World, I spotted these Lifesavers gummies, always like Lifesavers taste. So I bought a family bag for $4. Pretty good considering the net says $7 for the same item at Wally World. Cheaper to walk in I guess ha ha ha!

Today I tried the gummies and actually felt really good. One of my better averages on this ride heading up towards the mountains and plenty of wind on the dh always makes it a good workout. 

I ate one gummie at the start of the ride and one every 5 miles to take in some carbs and sugars. And the Liquid IV to cover the absence of the potassium and electrolytes which I would be drinking anyway. Just realized it covers the absence as I thought and mentioned. I packed 7 gummies, one for each 5 mile section of the ride, planning a 35 miler.

Ate my Nature's Bakery fig bars at break after about 23 miles (?). Continuing with my LS intake. Worked out really well and I felt great! Hoping I found a good combination, makes sense to me so I'll try it again since I found that I need carbs on rides not packing away the pasta dinners like I used to back in the day. Sucks getting old and having to watch what you eat ha ha ha!

But hey, $5 vs $52 ??? A little less sugar but the LS has 26 servings/26 rides vs the 18 servings/18 rides of the Clif Shot Bloks for a whole lot less money.

26 rides $5 vs 18 rides for $52 ???? It's a no brainer!!!

So I'm happy thinking I've got the right combo now. And for cheap!

This is really interesting. I was at the mall and saw this poster/billboard thing advertising Emenati Medical. I looked at the doctors on the lower section and recognized a guy there but his name was different and in a different field. I was shocked that he made the switch to medical and changed his name a bit. I recognized him right away even though he changed his name to C-Lo Homes. 😆😁😆

Solo 40 for February 300

 Another solo 40 from Pico Rivera to Seal Beach and back. Just getting in some miles to break 300 for the month. Not bad considering I didn't ride the last 5 days. Didn't feel like riding today either but last day of the month. 😄 Nice day but breezy.

I think it's a Bianchi 😄

Friday morning at Millie's for the $6.99 special. 😋I wanted so badly but didn't to use the joke on these 3 Asian ladies speaking their language at their table. I think it was Paul Rodriguez that said years ago, he was in an airport when some Chinese people were speaking Chinese. He walked up to them and said, "hey, you're in America now, speak Spanish!". 😁😄😁 Well, I did have to take care of some DMV stuff too so updated my voter registration information. I got confirmation that it went through so I guess I don't have to worry about ICE after all. 😄

🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪

Sunday Funday !!!😁Lazy Sunday with Gina. First a little breakfast at Tepeyac. Some good food. Eggs and enchiladas, good chips and salsas. Then some Wally World shopping then to the mall. I took Gina to the little shop where I bought her Charlie stuff a few weeks back to show her the stuff. Saw this little walking key wind up Charlie Brown character. I think it was a must for Gina so I bought it there on the spot, cash! 😄

I had the green chile cheese enchiladas with scrambled egg and Gina had the red with fried eggs. Then to Sizzler, busy but we got a reserved table thanks to the gals. Just a fun relaxing day. I can always ride tomorrow, Monday.