Eyemage, Minor and I all did well on the climb but it was the descent that made it tough today. Somewhere along the tops steep section Eyemage lost his Garmin. Near the bottom Eyemage headed back up asking if I had seen his Garmin. About 5 seconds later I feel my bike fishtail. I thought it was just part of mountain biking but a second time tells me something is wrong. Sure enough, a flat tire.
Eyemage is in a hurry to work so Minor volunteers to climb back up as the Garmin search party. Lucky for Eyemage, Minor finds it but I'm still left to fix a flat. I get the tube swapped then try to inflate the tire but it ain't happening. So I try to locate the hole on the punctured tube and that ain't happening either. Couldn't get enough air in the tube to find the hole. Darn! Instead of fighting wit the tire, I just started walking figuring I'd rather get down than fight and end up walking anyway. My second flat while riding off road since 2006 and this one was a doozy! Did give me a chance to check out some deer on the way down.
I ended up walking down 1600 feet, 6.3 miles in 2:10 as if the climb to Potato Mountain wasn't enough ha ha!
Eyemage did contribute some footage for the video. Minor just posed!
Decide to throw in a little mountain bike today. One loop maybe two depending on the heat. first loop was clockwise and hot. Lots of friendly people on the trail today. Finished the first loop then turned around to do it counterclockwise. Near the top I ran into a couple of fellows I saw on the way down, Carlos and Rob. Rob is new to CHWP and doing pretty well figuring it's a tough climb. It was hot and the direct sunlight made it feel that much hotter. I was sweating like a dog on the steep sections.
When I saw them they were under the shade taking a break. Perfect opportunity for a break myself so I stopped to chat. I probably would have gotten to the top of the climb then turn back but since they were doing the entire loop, figured I'd ride with them for a little footage.
chatting in the shade I prepared to snap a pic of the two just when a couple of gals walked by. Had my recorder on but aimed up high. As I prepared to take a pic, I heard a commotion. Not sure exactly what happened but it sounded exciting. Maybe the gals posed by the guys for a split second but I missed it.
At the end of the loop, we did run into the gals in the parking lot. I asked them if they were wanted by the FBI so that I'd know not to pass on any pic posting but according to them, they are the FBI ha ha!
Cool ride today. Late night, yesterday parties, one of those days you wake up and wonder if you really want to ride. If we stay home, we''l be bored so get up and let's go ha ha! Glad we did cause it turned out to be a fun ride. I had to ride the Beans Mobile since the Lemond is toast but a little change is always good.
We started a bit late so I told Gina, let's do something different, well limit our stops to very short stops. First 35 miles, only 2 stops, a minute and a half and we're off. We had planned to head down PCH for a few more miles but ran into Bad Bob. What the heck, I can't go on a ride without a some kind of fun chat. We did cut the beach visit short, maybe 20 minutes.
At the start of the ride we ran into Ed, Val and Rodell from River Velo. as they past Gina and I, my chance to gt some footage so off I went. Gina caught up a bit later. On the return, we ran across a gal and her father. Pretty funny stuff, the gal was so happy to get a high five as we rode by. She let out a shout and I missed it all so we slowed allowing her to crank her way back up for another high five. Funny to see someone get so excited over a high five ha ha!
Then we ran across Abec doing a long 75 miler today. We had our 42 but figured we'd go past the Leaky Fountain and add some more. As we neared the HC park, another rider shouted "Beanz". Didn't look familiar and by the lost look on my face, a short explanation of seeing my blog. What the heck, let's go back and talk to the guy.
Turns out he saw me at the coast telling stories so he picked up on my handle and looked me up. I guess he liked the blog cause he linked it to his web site. He has his own site where he posts pictures of SART. I tried to get his address from the site but I couldn't seem to get it right. So I searched for Santa Ana River Trail blogs and his name came up, just like he said "HaroldoLand". Pretty cool guy, and doing 50 plus miles, good ride!
Ride cut short today, darn broken frame. Started out a nice ride with Gina and Aimee. Heading back to the coast we ran into Mark and Cindy at Edna Park. Cool, nice little train to the coast. Except that a mile or two down the road my frame popped at the chainstay.
So we stop and say good bye as Gina and I head back. Before we do, Eric Anderson rolls up on an upright. What the heck ha ha! I saw him earlier, looks like EircAnderson, sounds like an EricAnderson but is it EricAnderson? Yes it was! We chat for a bit when I see Genaro go flying by a second time. Caught me by surprise so I didn't get an footage of the speedster.
Heading back I figure I can roll slowly back on the bike. Every little pedal stroke separated the frame. So I scooted back like a skateboard and walked up every short incline. At Enda Park, only two miles away, I was worried about the frame collapsing and breaking my face. So Gina suggested that I call El Monarcha who once said, "if you are ever around here and need anything, I live a couple blocks off the trail, give me a call". Gina could have rode back for my truck but I was worried she'd get lost even after offers from Eric and his GPS service. Believe me, Gina will get lost ha ha! So she rode back on the trail while El Monarcha gave me ride to my truck. Yeah, Gina would have gotten lost!
------on the broken frame
I don't think this would have happened if he hadn't talked me into climbing last night and the ski lifts a few weeks back!
Another toasted frame. Did some climbing last night, today, on the uphill of an underpass into the wind, POP! I thought I broke a spoke. Gina heard the pop from behind so we both thought I broke a spoke. Checked , looked fine. Checked BB area of frame, fine. Get back on and the wheel is going side to side. Remove wheel, check for broken axle, nope. Further inspection of the frame reveals a broken chainstay.
Well, goes to show that my wheel building skills are pretty good seeing that my frames pop before way before my spokes ha ha!
First popped frame happened after 3 years and 13,000 miles. This second frame, 3 years and 14,600. I set a personal best on this one.
First frame was aluminum, second a mix of carbon and aluminum. Broken stay on this frame is again on the aluminum section.
Herb, Alyce, Gina, and the most prepared man on GMR, Hillbasher. Little different today. Started about 5:00 pm today. Figured we'd be down by the time it got dark but nothing ever goes as planned ha ha. Getting to the shack I thought we had it made. Not sure what happened but nightfall fell! I'd need a bracket to mount lights on Gina's over sized handlebars but didn't have one. So I put the red tail light on her bike and tried to keep her close behind to follow me. The other three had lights so it wasn't all that bad, we made it.
The climb was nice! Not hot and not cold. The descent was nice although HB thought it was bit chilly. But he was prepared with his 32 layers ha ha! I know Gina really liked the cooler weather. Someone just asked the other day if Gina's dislike being on the recorder, said she looked like she'd flip me the finger. That's pretty normal of her climbing face but today was different. She was all smiles. Must be the cooler temps.
Another nice ride 50 miler on the trail. Started with El Monarch to the coast. There we ran into Mark and Gale and a few other riders. Soon after Jeff and Angie on a 62 miler pull up on their tandem. A short visit with Lucas (Jed19) then we all head back together trying to keep up with Jeff and Angie on their tandem.
Gina surprised me holding the tandem wheel at 24 mph. I was sweating trying to keep pace with them. Once Jeff and Angie maxed out at 37 mph, there was no holding their wheel. But they were nice enough to slow up down the road for a regroup. The rider that really shocked the heck out of me was Gale. She's been out of town and not many miles on her bike lately. But on the way back, she kept her distance and backed off the wheel. I'm thinking maybe out of safety and not being familiar with riding in a line at those speeds. Hanging only a couple of seconds back, I was shocked that she is that strong with not so many recent miles in her legs and only on the bike for a year. I dunno Mark, you better watch out once she gets a few miles in them legs ha ha!
So it's our anniversary! Should we ride, yes, no, maybe? We end up watching the Vuelta at 7 am and after it's over, yeah, we gotta ride! Another late start, 11 am but who's counting? We run into ABEC on the trail so he turns around to do our ride with us. Something is different and he's smiling plenty today. Oh I see, he has a new bike. New to him that is, sweet deal. Full carbon Felt. Some info in the video about the bike. As we near the coast,"I tell him go for it!" and yeah, that bike moves!
Earlier in the ride we are approaching Tustin Ave when we hear, "is that the Beanzes I see up there?". Hey, it's my good buddy Mark from Competitive Edge in Rancho. His group is rolling so I tell Gina I'll be back in a bit, I need some Mark footage. Mark is a cool dude, a real mechanic. I met him back in 97(?) and since have followed him as a customer. I rarely visit the shops anymore since I do my own work but if I need something, I go to Mark. I might not like the shop personally but if Mark works there, I'm going in ha ha! I tell ya, I had several wheels built by several builders and shops over the years but Mark is the only guy that built a wheel that lasted over 2,000 miles on my bikes. I'm talking high end race shops with well recommended builders, Mark is the best! Plus, when I started building my own, Mark hooked me up with the technical advice, he's a great guy!
When we hit the coast, we run into Tammy and Alan who join us for the ride back. I'm not sure what it is about Alan but he has this thing about flashing a belly or a nipple at the camera. He won't be satisfied till his nipple makes youtube so this time, I didn't edit it out ha ha! Other silly stuff, Gina flatted so I did my Al Pacino/Tony Montana impersonation, it sucks but hey, you never know when one will get discovered on you tube haha!
At the end of the ride, we ran into a small group of fixie riders. I stopped to checkout their bikes. Cool bike but they didn't have much to say. But they did ask to borrow my pump ha ha!
