Sunday, August 16, 2015

Weekend SART 8/15 & 8/16

OK where do I start?  First on Saturday at the trail head we ran into Ron. He was done with his ride and it was about 100 degrees. He said. "you look good, I gotta give you a hug!' then he gave me a big sweaty hug ha ha! Hey man, I haven't even started to sweat, that;'s not fair! :-P It was cool though as we had a chance to chat and found out Dixie is doing great and ready to return to riding hopefully this coming weekend.

So we started out on the trail and thankfully decided to only do the 45 to Yorba Park rather than the 50 I wanted to do. First we headed inland to Yorba and starting late like we do (10:30 am) by the time we hit the park it was hot and I could already feel the fatigue in my shoulders. The tandem takes a little more energy compared to the single as far as counterbalancing imo. At times I find myself countering unexpected moves when Gina moves around on the back, part of riding a tandem. Not to mention, Gina really suffers in the heat so I was expecting her to fade somewhat early. I had actually planned to ride singles but figured since the forecast called for heat, we'd take the tandem since that is what we have been practicing lately.

We pulled the first 25 miles or so then let Jose take a pull for a mile or two. It was still hot and the stiff headwind wasn't helping any. We hit the coast with about 33 miles in our legs. Then Joaquin showed up and wanted to ride back with us. He does a 20 miler from Edna Park to the beach and back so I figured he was fresher and would want to hold a good pace on the return. He did! We headed back and we pulled on the tandem for the first 7 miles. Then he came around to the front and took the pull. I was actually feeling wiped out at this point but we gave it all we had to keep the pace. Finally he pulled off the front for his last mile or so to Edna and we took the front again. Hey we had pushed hit hard on the way back, might as well keep up the pace to see what happens on Strava. Joaquin pulled off at the park as we continued on. Not bad, we had a 22.5 MPH average on my favorite segment "Northbound bridge to bridge" A total of 45 miles at 17.3 MPH average.

I know Gina was wiped out after the ride and so was I. While loading the tandem I actually had to sit down and take a break ha ha! On the way home I rolled up the windows and cranked up the AC. This might have been a first, I never use the AC after a ride. The high on my Garmin said 109 degrees and average of 98 on the ride.

So Sunday was a bit cooler, high of 107 and average of 96. Gina was not feeling the love for the heat so she said she would sit out this ride. Not a big deal as we have been doing midweek miles too. Plus it would give me a chance to ride my single with the guys. Well Jose and I started off together then later ran into Mike along the trail. We took turns pulling which was great. I ended up with an 18.2 average for the 35 miles and even though it was still hot, I felt so much better than the day before. My legs were a bit fatigued from the day before but having help at the front made for a good ride. After the ride I felt like I still had enough in me for a dance or two ha ha!

Along the way we rolled up on another rider near Warner. I had seen him ahead much earlier and he was doing a pretty good pace on his own so it took us a while to catch him but once we did, he hopped on the back for a break. After a few minutes he took the front for a pull. Wow, I was happy cause most guys sit on the back and never offer help but his guy did. He stopped at the same beach stop we use so I got a chance to thank him for his help and let him introduce himself on video ha ha! His name is Tino! Seemed like a cool guy. He left on his own before we did, we weren't in any rush ha ha!

On the return we rotated at the front. Held a decent pace on the return. At one point Mike took the front and held a 25.2 average on that Strava segment ear the 405. OK I was feeling OK considering the ride the day before but Mike didn't ride Saturday so his legs were fresher. This would be the point where my legs wanted to say "OK ENOUGH!" but just then I saw him look back. Whew I knew it wouldn't be long now before he pulled off the front.  A few seconds later he did and boy was I happy. It hurt but hey, another Stava PR for the 1/2 mile segment at 25.2. Overall a hot weekend but most enjoyable!


                         



Joaquin on Saturday. Helped Gina and I maintain a 22.5 average on Strava
                                                   North bridge to bridge 7.3 miles.


                             Sunday Mike held an average of 25.2 on this Strava segment.
                                                      Gisler Bridge to 405, 1/2 mile stretch.




                             Tino, helped us out on the way to the coast against a massive headwind!




I can appreciate a nice pony tail! :-P


                                                     Beach cruiser vs roadie race! :-P



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