GMR 10/23/11

So this was a special event, Jed19 on GMR for the first time. Wow, what, 2 years trying to talk Lucas (Jed19) up and finally ha ha! As so many others, kept away by the forum myth that GMR was the unthinkable. But today he found out just how nice this ride can be! Yes, a good ride, takes some effort but no, you don't need those 20tooth chain rings and 34 cogs.

My standing plan taking up GMR news is to stop after a couple of miles to stretch the legs. Then again at 4 miles. Not because you really need it but a newb finds these stops a pleasant treat to the legs. I must say Lucas made the ride look somewhat easy. Yes, sweat, some huffing and puffing but he did very well. As he said, the ride is the toughest climb he's done but he made it. He can't fool me, he had some extra gas in the tank. I know this because on the last stretch, he lifted the pace and really worked hard. Nice hard effort on the last stretch, that means something!

We did the early start, 7 am which made it very nice! Not hot and not cold but much appreciated by Gina who had a much more wonderful day on GMR compared to the last 2 weeks and hot 11 am start times. She worked too but made it with a smile!

On the way up, a rider flying by said, "Mr. Beanz". He told me his real name but didn't seem to get a forum name from him. We had a short brief chat then he blasted off up the mountain. Maybe he was just being forum name shy. Either way, I won't post his name but his pic came out great (orange jersey).

At the end of the ride Genaro rolls up. We saw sooo many riders on the road that I wasn't sure if it was him or not. Took me a few seconds but yeah, that's Genaro. Nice tough ride for the guy, Fontana to Baldy Rd (via Euclid, the hard way), Baldy Village then back down and across.

Well, just a beautiful day on GMR. We beat the heat, I guess that has something to do with it! Congrats to Lucas (Jed19) on a job very well done!

Gina picked the song.