Easy Strugglin' Tour & Stiil, Loco Legend

 Solo 34.5 miles. Looking for an easy ride but boy, started thinking I should have just stayed in bed. Felt cold and windy and a couple fast guys zipping by me didn't help. But ran into 1 at the water stop, he said it was windy so I felt better. 😁 I should have done only 20 and thought about it on the bike but, might as well stick to the plan.  Nice skies though 👌

It's funny because looking at my bike nowadays, it really looks old fashion compared to those I see but I often recall Jack from the Santa Ana Bike Trail (SART). We met him when he was 65 and kicking butt on an old beater looking bike. Actually a nice bike but he didn't clean it or polish it up saying he didn't want to look fast ha ha ha!. But he was one of the fastest riders I had ever met. Now I find myself being in the same boat. Not fast but feeling an old bike is just as good as a new bike if it runs well. Heck, I actually like the way this old Canni feels vs my carbon Madone. I can easily fix up the Madone but I really haven't missed it but will if I need to do so. The rubber on the shifter is ripped so I would have to buy a complete set of shifters on ebay to repair it properly. No big rush though ha ha ha! I do look at my bike and think it looks like and oldie when comparing it to others bug when I'm riding it, doesn't make a darn difference to me. I can keep up with my friends so what's the big deal? Maybe someday if I get a new style everything bike, I might notice the difference but hmmm! I never really noticed a difference in my Cannondale and the Madone even though they are 17 years apart, iirc.

I guess I have to say, it's all about the engine and I've actually been feeling really strong lately. Other than a ride here and there where I feel like I should take it easy but it's all part of the program.

MOF, now that I'm on this issue of oldies, ha ha ha! Reminds me of the other day when I was our riding with TC. We arrived at an intersection with an old lady that crossed the road, rather slowly with a walker. I was waiting for the green at the corner when the lady  looked over at me, saw my jersey then said, "Old Fart, you're an Old Fart, how old are you?". OK now, she didn't look much older than me in my opinion. If so, couldn't be more than a year. Maybe it was the helmet that she didn't think I  was an Old Fart. So I said,"63." I will be in May but didn't feel like saying 62 and 11 months so I just used 63.

She said oh, then started to walk off so I shouted, "how old are you? ". She looked at me and started to walk off. "Hey, hey, how old are you?". She just said, " I gotta go!. Ha ha ha, I don't think she was any older than me and probably didn't want to answer. Well, that's good if she underestimated my age. I'm getting up there but damn, I feel good! 

Not that the Local Legend means all that much but I'm surprised I still have the title for these 2 segments seeing how many riders are out there.  Over 6200 riders all time and 600 plus in the last 90 days if I recall correctly. 

The thing is they are of good distance.  One is 17 miles and the other 34 miles. I guess I ride more than I thought. 😄

My tacos yesterday at lunch. The dude who runs the bidness told me as I walked up that I started a trend. Actually it would be Gina.  She's the one who was craving the flour chips over the last couple of years,  maybe more.  But she's the reason I asked about them the day after she asked if I thought they might do it. 

So I did a review on Yelp and Google on their taco joint.  Actually a couple now after they have done good things for us. So the guy told me that we started a trend.  After my review with pics,  people started asking if they were still making the flour tortilla chips.  Of course he told them as long as they were willing to wait a bit for them to prepare them. 

                        Who knows   maybe they'll name them after her, Gina Flour Chips. 😆😄😆

                                                         My S&M tacos, (Shrimp and meat).

Though I tried to go easy, seems I did according to my HR zones. I was never really tired as far as HR or cardio. More like my leg muscles didn't want to cooperate. Sign of old age I guess ha ha ha! Actually, I think it is about recovery. Had a couple of good rides this week with TC and a couple days after that solo so I think it was time for an easy ride. Like I said, I should have just settled for 20 knowing how the legs were barking once I started riding. But my mind set can be most of the time, if I can do it on a bad day, I can do it on a good day. Not to mention that many times, this type of a day can be the best workout. 

Wassup Homies Tour

  Solo 35 miles but took a little longer break than I wanted. Ran into a couple of Homies at the nature center asking questions and chatting about bikes and gear. Cool dudes. 😎 Felt good today but breezy. Beautiful day 🙂

Actually, the Homies were cool and did know some about bikes and curious about other bike equipment and features. There was one dude there chatting with them when I pulled into the park. They were fascinated by his high tech all the bells and whistles off road bike, MTB I guess you would say. He had so much in drop, fancy rear shocks, dropper seat, this and that, impressive stuff that was jaw dropping for the Homies. They were on cruiser type bikes which is cool and talking about where and how they ride. One dude was talking about not being able to ride well but he was pretty honest about riding not so well. But the dude with the super full suspension was a crack up showing off his high end equipment. 

At one point he mentioned being able to roll over anything and being able to descend super fast with his set up. Being able to climb walls with his super small single chainring up front and a huge pancake sized cog in the back. So I asked him if he had ever done Sunset Ridge up to Baldy, pretty cool trail. He said no, he only rode on the bike path. OK, what! But he did say he could roll over anything ha ha ha, I do that on the trail as well with my roadie. I dunno, I still find it funny when people have all the top level stuff to ride on a flat paved trail. Must have been a forum poster ha ha ha!

Beautiful skies today. 20% chance or rain early in the morning dying down to 0 for most of the day. Expected 40% around midnight if the forecast doesn't change within the next 5 minutes as it often does.

The faire at the SF Dam rec area. Plenty of traffic.  At one point, I had to cross over the the other section of the trail at the ticket booth, toll booth, whatever they call it. I signaled to cross over the 2 lanes and some dude held way back so I had a huge space to crossover. Really cool drivers many times.

Brings to mind our experience yesterday riding on the road with TC. I don't know why and how other riders have so many problems as I have stated many times that when I'm riding, I get nothing but respect from drivers. TC saw it yesterday when we were riding.

A big semi with a big trailer pulled up behind us as we were approaching Arrow highway where the lanes get kind of funky merging into one straight lane and the other a right turn only. The truck pulled up behind us as we were in the bike lane and he had the entire lane to pass us but it was a little tricky as I mentioned so he just stayed behind us for about an 1/8 of a mile when he could have tried to overtake us. Thankfully he didn't then as we stopped at the intersection red light, we move all the way to the left of the second lane so he could go wide but he didn't. He chose to wait for the green light letting us advance to safety and on our way before he took off. Wow! I'm happy about it but like I said, not sure why others have so many problems. TC and I even started a conversation on the topic after the event praising the driver and other experiences we've had where drivers show some respect and safety concern. I'm happy about it I will say!

I did forget to mention Thursday after the ride.  Evelyn from Sizzler brought us some empanadas from a little sandwich shop deli place she works in the mornings. Some good stuff, we should be going in Sunday morning to try it out. She says she'll set us up with a sampler type plate so we can try the cold and hot sandwiches as well as a few other things. 😋

Today Sunday was nice. Found out our friend Evelyn from "The Siz", as she calls it, also works at a little sandwich 🥪 shop in Monrovia inviting us to stop by to try it out. Cool little business district with lots of eating places. Gina and I ordered a ribeye sandwich to share (half shown in pic), and a couple empanadas , cheese 🧀 and beef. Then Evelyn hooked us up with some chicken wings, plain and spicy, fries, and cream cheese jalapeño poppers that Gina had mentioned she didn't like, only if real cheese. So Evelyn suggested we try them and Gina likes them after all. 😄 Really good food for a little place. Saw a couple big party platter sandwiches heading out the door. Looked good. We'll be back to try the cold sandwiches too. 😋 Went to Monrovia but also one in El Monte. The green stuff is chopped marinated jalapeño and carrots that went well with the food.

Pardon the food in her teeth! 😋

And of course, Sunday no ride gave me an opportunity to cut my hair once again. Overdue it seems, getting too wavy and hard to control. At least at 63 in May, I still have hair ha ha ha!

I'm not one to look in the mirror much but on Saturday, when I was getting my bike ready, I saw my legs in the mirror and was surprised that they looked as defined as they did. A few times when Gina and I walk around the mall while getting coffee in the evening, she has mentioned while on escalators or stairs how much she can see the cuts in my calves. Having a chance to ride more lately, I have been starting to notice it more. But actually the best thing is feeling great while riding my bike. It seems like every time I get on now, I feel really good. I guess that is the reward of eating better and exercising more. Feeling great!

Thursday Morning Foothills w/TC (video)

 Nice Thursday morning ride with TC. Video later. Along the Foothills Claremont/San Dimas area. Mostly a conversational pace just burning 🔥 some calories with a couple short good efforts up a hill. No big hills as TC had to keep a schedule today. But a good enjoyable ride. 👍

TC has had a busy start of the year and some out of town vacations so we went kind of easy. Other than a couple good pushes on a hill or two. But either way, always good exercise, better than sitting on a couch with a remote in hand. Usually TC wants to throw in the San Dimas Cyn climb but today he was pressed for time. I rode a couple of days ago and TC invited me to ride yesterday but I requested to wait till Thursday giving me a day to rest between rides. Old age I guess, not really, more like being smart. Not wearing oneself out or getting so tired that one can avoid injuries by not pushing too hard. Because in reality, I'm just out for exercise. So it was cool that he was willing to wait even though he would be pressed for time.

                                                 Break time at Horse Thief Canyon Park

Couple images from TC's cell video on Strava

Raspberry fig bars, no no! 🤣 Boy, I like those fig bars, Nature's Oven brand but the raspberry don't like me. I guess because the berry has all those little itty bitty seeds all over, when I eat the raspberry flavor, I get something stuck in my throat. This is about the third time it has happened. Not with the blueberry or the apple though which is a good thing, I can still eat those flavors. But this raspberry, it's like getting pepper stuck in your throat. I start choking then gagging and end up trying to gag myself to get it out. Lots of water, swallowing gummy lifesavers, whatever I can do to get it out. But darn, even after I'm back on the bike and rolling, I still get the feeling of gagging and puking. No more raspberry for me.

Tuesday Tour & More PRs on Strava

 36 miles 16.0 average speed. Just went out for some exercise today. Got to a segment that I know so figured I'd give it a go besting my best effort about a month ago. Shoes are feeling very natural , I likey! 😁 Ended up with 3 PRs. Short section 24.4 average speed. Ended up in my weight class #1 out of 39 for the year. #19 out of 903 all time. Not bad for an old fat guy. 😁

Ran into a gal named Vicky at the nature center during break.  I had seen her before mistaking her for someone else several months ago.  She remembered.  Only cycling a few months building up so I offered a little nutritional advice and pedaling technique that she can think about as she develops into longer miles.  She was thankful saying nobody had ever mentioned those things to her.  Always funny when a new rider thinks you're smart. 😄

Trying out this new base layer from Wally World.  Brand called George.  Seems the price of their house brand is going up. $16 but seems well constructed and maybe a bit thicker than the other brands I have.  Which I guess is a good thing if it's a little cooler.  Pretty much got it not finding the color in your size in other brands at local stores. 

The new shoes, feeling pretty natural now. Second ride I think. I know I wait way too long to replace shoes but now I'm wondering why I waited so long ha ha ha!

Got this for now by about 2 mph.

# 1 out of 39 for the year so far. 

#19 out of 903 all time on Strava. Not bad figuring I never even tried till about a month ago. Probably could have done better back in 2012 when I joined Strava. Heck, even better in 2005 before there was a Strava when I was in shape. 😋

Started out at an easy ride but worked up into a pretty good workout according to the heart rate. ❤️ musta been the Oatmeal. 😁

Everything Went Wrong B4 The Ride Tour

 Rode yesterday then noticed my rear tire was soft. So repaired it, got up this morning,  had breakfast,  packed bike,  then truck was totally dead, wouldn't start., unpacked thinking I wouldn't ride. Removed battery,  Auto Zone swap, returned home replacing battery,  drove back to auto Zone testing the system,  good!👍 Returned home,  thought about it,  got dressed again,  packed up again,  then did a ride.  I guess finishing around dinner is better than no ride at all. Call me superstitious but this is why I don't like change.  Everything was good and smooth.  Got new bike shoes, went smooth then BANG BANG,  something or somebody shoots me down.  😄 I was good with the old beat up shoes doing just fine ha ha ha!

91 degrees today but it didn't feel hot to me while riding. The wind was strange today, thought it was just me being tired after working on my truck. But glad to find out that some of my strava buddies actually turned back half way through their rides or shortened them due to the wind. Make me feel better ha ha ha!

                  Looks like the lizard is trying to mount my bike. Musta been a cyclist in a past life. 😄

The "Renaissance" Pleasure Faire at the Santa Fe Dam Rec area. Of course I spelled it incorrectly so I had to look it up ha ha ha! I don't think I'll ever get that word right.

Of course, dinner with my Honey at Sizzler.  The orange chicken was really good today. I actually ate it, so tender, sweet, and hot. With some crushed red chili pepper pods, yum!

Never get tired of this silly girl.