Today was a "Crack up"! We'll get to that in a bit. First, Gina and I were riding near the Honda Center when a rider from below shouted "Beanz!". Face didn't look familiar so we had to catch up. He was cruising in order for us to catch up. Turns out to be "Rumpled" of the forums. We chat for a bit on the bike then he heads off as we turn into Edna Park for stretch. A bit later Bad Bob catches us then escorts us to the coast for some added mileage. Later we see Rumpled at the coast where we stop so we had a chance for a little more conversatin' and the interview.
As we're kicking it at the coast with Herb and Alyce, Michelle the in line skater rides up with her group. She lets me know that she watched the video that I made a few months back and has a laugh about somethings I said about wedgie free underwear. She laughed thinking that I might have made the comments thinking that others wouldn't hear them. Gina assured her that I'm well aware of the comments I make on video so there are no surprises ha ha! It's entertainment! We discuss some skating then she's off with her group.
SO then we're chatting with Alyce when the thong dude rolls up on his in line skates ha ha! Saw him about 3 weeks ago and today he is "BACK". We have a quick peek and some laughs as he rolls out. Then a lady on vacation from New Mexico rolls up on her bike only to get us all "CRACKING UP"! She's funny and has us all rolling. After a minute or two she realizes it's being recorded and asks if she's going on YouTube. Yup, sure is and that only make it more of a "CRACK UP" as she turns beat red!
Of course I did mention that I withhold material if requested. Wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble. She said it was fine to post it and thought it was funny, so here it is ha ha!
I did miss quite a few pics today so not much to show in that department.
Well today was a surprise. We had been talking about increasing mileage and it happened today. We had plans to ride the usual 42 with ABEC but we ran into Tammy and Alan at the start. Tammy was looking for longer mileage while preparing for an event that required more saddle time. We joined them in the ride and turned our 42 into 60. We weren't planning on it but we hit up the end of the trail to GreenRiver.
Felt pretty good too! Nice day, not too hot on the trail and we got a few good looks at some hot Ford trucks at Featherly Park. Lots of 56 Fords, nice! at the coast we ran into Alex2 on another century. Dude rides once a week and every ride is a century. I believe he said he has 18 this year, wow! Well the 60 was a surprise today and my legs feel stiff but it's all good!
Wow, what a ride! Hillbasher talked me into riding up to Thunder Mountain from the Baldy Ski lift lots. First section wasn't bad at all but once we reached the upper sections it was tough. The loose rocks and steep road made for a difficult climb. It took some major energy trying to stay upright and keeping traction. Few tough sections but manageable. But once we reached Thunder Mountain, it was not happening on the bike. I was stopped in my tracks several times. After 6 attempts to start I called it a real live wall. I had heard others call some climbs a wall but this IS a wall for sure. We ended up walking the thing because there was no riding it ha ha! I believe we were at about 8400 feet elevation.
Once at the top, it was great. One direction we could see Cajon Pass. The other direction was a great view of GMR/GRR from the top. Wow, nice scenery! Nice little visit at the ski lifts but the bugs! These suckers have no mercy, they fly directly into your mouth if you open it for more than 2 seconds. Some of the mean little suckers bit HB so hard they drew blood.
It was our first time on the descent and knowing there were plenty of loose rocks, we babied it. On the way down we ran into Joe and Tony. Couple of cool guys that seemed interested in our trip. We ended up talking for a while as the two know plenty about the local mountains and surrounding areas. Not to mention they are cyclists themselves. It was a nice chat with the guys!
By the time we reached the bottom, our arms were TIRED! It's tough trying to hold back on a steep unknown descent but it's better than eating it ha ha!
Elevation Gain: 2,470 ft in 4.9 miles Min Elevation: 6,206 ft Max Elevation: 8,573 ft 4.5 average.......Hey, it was scary coming down!
Nice cool ride n SART with Gina, Aimee, and Jose. Ran into Bob and Greg of The Haircut Crew, Tim on his Landshark, Tom & Sue. Had a little chat with the people then left after a brief stay. Tim has a great story, 300 lbs 4 months ago, down 45 lbs.
On the way back I spotted Siran on the side of the road. I had the chance to stop for a meet. Cool guy! Anybody that says they enjoy my videos is cool in my book ha ha! But really, nice guy and we talked bikes so it was all good!
Cool ride today, not cool, warm but cool as in COOL! You know what I mean ha ha! We met at Minor's house as he conveniently lives near the bottom of the hill. Good thing because there were tons of cars in the parking lots and lining the streets. With tons of cars come tons of people and they were out today. most in friendly form. Lots of smiles and waves. But once we take the turn of to Potato, traffic is very light. You might see one or two other people, that's it.
We headed clockwise on the hill since Hillbasher had never been up this trail. It starts out climbing and just climbs and climbs. Then we headed up to Potato Mountain. We skipped the last steep mile. First time up, why torture the guy. That made it cool for me too, trying to get my butt back into some kind of shape.
Nice ride, all social attitude. Hillbasher did much better than I expected. I know he climbs GMR no problem but I expected him to have a little harder time in the dirt. Well, I should bring this one up for laughs. We hit a very steep section usually accompanied by loose rocks. This section comes late in the ride and gets you when you want it the least. I started up the steep section and somehow made it through without losing it. Just as I pass the section I hear a loud word, starts with an "F", four letters and it ain't "Fred" ha ha! Oh good, he lost it. That gives me a chance to take a break for some pics and sufferfest video.
Right around that point we ran into another rider, Eddie from Sunrise Ford. He joins us for a while but heads all the way up to Potato. We hung at the bottom for a bit, that was our plan, then headed down as Eddie continued up. It was a nice ride and I was seriously surprised at how friendly the wimmins were today. Summer must be right around the corner! You single guys REALLY need to start riding MTB. I heard Hillbasher say he'd like to do it again. Cool ride with Hillbasher, Minor, and Eyemage. Except that Eyemage had to head back early for work.
On the drive home, I saw a HUGE skateboard. First time for everything ha ha! (in the video) FTR, I used this song again after a year. I never really paid attention to it till I used it last year in a video. Now I listen to it all the time ha ha!
Found out my neighbor likes cycling. Not as involved as most of us yet. More into riding to the gym type of rider. Big dude, about 6'3 and 250 (?). He had asked about our cycling after seeing us unloading the bikes. So he asked to go sometime towards Baldy. Not so sure he realized what he had gotten himself into and I tried to explain. So we make a date for a ride and off we go!
The plan was 8 miles to the shack on GMR (2200 ft gain). After the first mile he looked as if he was about to call it a day. I used some of the Mr. Beanz sugar coating of the ride. Relax, the first 2 is the toughest. He fell for it! Just kidding. IMO, it is the toughest. I tried to calm him down and slow down his pace and effort. Relax dude, we aren't racing! Our goal is to make the climb but if you can't, I have no problem heading down. But when we get back down, you'll immediately get the "I could have done more" feelings. That one gets 'em every time.
Well he was able to think it over and relax. I'm really expecting him to call it quits after 2 miles but he preses on. The more he rides, the more relaxed he looks. at 4 miles, I'm thinking there's a chance he's going all the way. Well, the talking to himself sort of suggested he was determined. "You can do this! You can do this!" he repeats to himself. Well at 6 miles, he's not looking real good but he continues to press on. 7 miles, he's not smiling anymore.
But the last stretch to the shack, he's raising his arm in victory. Just as I'm prepared to stop, he say she's going a little more! We roll up to the rock wall above the shack and the dude is all smiles. He did it! Holy smokes, on an MTB with knobbies! Cool Beanz! It's always nice to be part of encouraging a rider or new rider to do a little more than he thought possible. Not only did he conquer GMR, but he's got plans to return! HIllbasher showed up a bit late after a night of work, but he too was up on the mountain after a long 62 miler up to Cajon Pass on Wednesday.
When we first made the date to ride up GMR, he said to me,"I may not be at your level of riding, but I ain't no SISSY!" I guess he ain't ha ha!
Somebody mentioned the hum of knobbies. So I posted this vid of the hum on the descent. Clip was too short to include in the orginal video.
Started out as a cool ride. I had never been up to Cajon Pass on bicycle from Upland (Mountain and Foothill). Talked Hillbasher into going up with me as he's always wanted to do the same. He's pretty familiar with the area since he and his son go up there to do some train watching. We're heading up with an open plan, if it gets tough, then we'd turn back early. I was in no hurry, just wanting to ride and HB had a swollen ankle.
We get to Devore Rd. and the both of us are feeling pretty good. Devore is a tough climb but we go for it! Nice and cool but this one miler is going to make you sweat, and we did. So we head over to Cleghorn up the pass and all is fine. We take a break to do some train watching. HB knows some interesting stuff about the train world. Heck, I just listen and look at the pretty rocks ha ha!
While we're up there, it's starts getting windy so we head down into a big headwind. Downhill and we're pedaling our butts off to get "down". Well the road is pretty rough and my tire wasn't the best. I didn't realize it was getting chewed up big time on the ride. It may have been worn before but I really didn't notice. That's strange that I missed something like that as I'm usually pretty aware of the condition of my equipment.
So we it Kenwood which is a (BLANK) of a climb, 13% according to HB's Garmin. It's only about a half mile but it's a real kicker after 35 miles and 3,000 ft of climbing. I actually felt pretty good on the short steep climb but when we got to the top, I felt a thumping in the road. I look down and it's not the road. I'm thinking I have a slow leak so I check the tire and nope, still hard. So I spin the wheel and notice it's catching on something. My brakes maybe? HB looks over and say it's hitting the frame. Dang! I had a big bubble on my tire. Wow, my tire is really worn! So I let out about half the air and try to make it as far back as possible. I have this fast descent on Devore Rd. and I know I'm not making it. Just as I mention it to HB my tire blows. I was actually pretty happy now that I knew I didn't have to risk it on the downhill. Gina works about 10 miles from the area so I was in luck.
I couldn't go any further so HB headed on back while I waited for Gina. HB ended up with 62 miles while I racked up 39. I was lucky, up in the hills I was able to get some cell reception. While I was on the phone with Gina, it cut out a few times but she got the message or I'd still be sitting there ha ha! An hour and a half wait, heck, I cleaned between my cogs with a little stick to waste some time! Funny, we checked out the llamas last time Gina and I were up there. So it was easy to find me when I said, "I'm by the llamas" ha ha!
Strangest thing. Plenty of riders on the road. Plus several cop cars. Looked almost as if there was some sort of organized ride going on, in the middle of the week? At one point, we saw a police motorcycle pulling a female cyclist at about 25-30 mph. I bet if I did that, I'd get a ticket!
Graph taken fom HB's data. Name white out to protect the innocent!
Link to new SART Thread at it's new home in SoCalBikeForums.com SART Thread
Nice breezy ride on the trail with Gina and El Monarcha. Headwinds were a bit stiff but El Monarcha asked to take the front heading to the coast. Be my guest ha ha! He took a few pulls which made it nice. Wow, the coast was very nice considering there was a 10% chance of rain.
Once there we ran into Tony, Lucas (Jed19)and Brian. Brian is a pretty creative guy. Got his big Big Guy bike equipped with all sorts of comfort gadgets. The thing is a single speed and weighs a ton. He asked me if I wanted to take a test spin. I don't usually ride another rider's bike but I had to ride this thing. Wow, such an upright position. It feels huge. Riding down the path I could see who had bald spots and who didn't ha ha! Pretty smooth ride too!
Brian also has a pretty nice Harley forum that I visited a while back just to check it out. Nice setup! During the visit , he brought up the idea of a Mr. Beanz Bike forum. Said he had been thinking about it for a while after visiting the SART threads and blog. He'd do all the technical stuff while I just had to post my stuff. Sounds cool but then I'd have to upgrade recorders and things and the posting my turn more into work than fun. Who knows, maybe someday down the road as his idea is a standing offer. But the blog is good for now, fighting with trolls and deleting spam just might not be my idea of fun Ha ha! Although my name in bright lights would be nice.
So after a visit we headed back. Brian rode with us for a bit but the gear on his bike was a little too light for our roadies so he waved us on with a see ya! Gina took the front most of the way back. Funny, when I do 19 or 20 on the return, she scolds me for going too fast. She was in the front doing 19-21 most of the 12 mile return while I had to work to keep up. Sandbagger!
Couple pics of Brian posing, his Big Guy bike and Lucas.
