Sunday SART

OK WHO IS IT???? Last couple of rides some dude has gone by in the opposite direction. He shouted "BEANZ!!!". Lat week I thought it might have been Ray from GMR but Gina says no. Today a dude shouted again, Gina says it was the same dude as last week. Seems today he might have been riding with his wife or just around some lady. But Gina says same dude. OK fess up! :-P

I have a thread here similar to that of my SART Journal thread I had long ago in another forum.

You can fess up here! :-P

http://squarewheelscycling.com/index.php?/topic/30443-mr-beanz-ride-journal-2016/

50 miler (16.8 average) on the trail with Gina and Aimee. Gina had another great day on the bike! Could be those little Power Bar thingies that she started eating on the ride last week ha ha! I had a bag of those Livestrong bracelets that Mark gave me (Mark's Bike Shop) to pass out. I gave Aimee and Jose a couple then I placed a few others on the fence right at the entrance of the trail. We rode down to Gypsum then noticed on the return that the 6 I placed on the fence were gone (I still have one more bag). So either some people still honor the Livestrong org or the homeless dudes are smoking them in a pipe under some bridge somewhere ha ha!

Well ya know, I'm really growing to be very unfond of the homeless out there. Couple weeks back some dude ran up to us from the side of the trail and acted like he was going to grab our pedals or something. didn't really scare me but I thought it was stupid and really wouldn't have a problem slapping the crap out of him had he forced me off the road or whatever. Today we stopped at the Honda Center park restroom. Some dude walking out saw me and said,go home! Go ride in Anaheim Hills!". OK first off, I don't live in Anaheim Hills and second off, he really stunk up the restroom with BO (body odor). So after he told me to go home, I said, "dude, you really freaking stunk up the place with your BO!". He muttered something under his breath but he just kept walking. I guess I don't get it. Everybody on facebook posts about how sweet and giving the homeless people are. Yeah, they are giving alright, giving me a headache ha ha!

So anyway we hit Gypsum then doubled back to Yorba Park to refill our water bottles.  As soon as we left a tandem and couple other riders hopped on their bikes and jumped our wheels. I was doing a pretty good pace and thinking they might swing around but it seemed they were happy to just sit on the back and enjoy the draft. I took a few pics and caught the dude waning from the tandem. Once we stopped at Edna Park they shouted thanks for the ride! Then the lady said, darn, we were hoping we could draft you all the way ha ha!". Pretty cool when the peeps are friendly, I hate those stuffy dudes that suck wheel then don't say thanks! They're worse than the homeless to me ha ha!

Anyway we ran into Frank, Greg, Bad Bob and their friend Charlie at the coast. Wow, that Bad Bob dude is very photogenic. He's like a Ken doll with whiskers ha ha! So I snapped a few pics then headed back seeing Aimee was hoping for an early return.

Gin and I stopped for lunch at Burger Town USA next to Guasti Park (Rancho). Always a good burger, the best imo of all them little burger joints. I like it there as they let you sub the fries with a salad when you buy the combo. Great produce too! Nice thick tomatoes and the lettuce very fresh. I had mentioned this place to Ron when we rode GMR. Charbroiled burgers are still the best there so I posted a pic of them burger and salad too ha ha! A bit out of the way on the drive home but worth it. 10 fwy Archibald exit. Just North of the 10 fwy in the little shopping center. Across the street from Arco gas station.

Oh yeah! At the beach stop some dude rides up with a nice looking bike. Carrera with some nice goodies on it. I took a couple of pics. Ended up running into the dude again on the return. Had a little chat so I told him he looked familiar. He said his name was Billy. Ah so I said Billy blah blah blah? He said yeah and looked at me kind of strange wondering how I knew him. I told him I had seen his name on Strava and a couple other sites and just took a stab at it. Turns out it was the dude ha ha! He used to ride and be an official with Cycling Connection.

                                             A tandem and couple other guys on the train!

The tandem was a Trek and the jerseys said Star Trek ha ha!

Uh oh, the dude at the end got dropped somewhere along the way.

Still the Legend!

Ken or Bad Bob?

I tell you, this dude should have been a model. 

Their friend Charlie

Aimee, hiding the crumbs in her teeth ha ha!

Happy Gina

Fabulous Frank

Billy fancy set up. Look at them chain rings!

Burger time!

Friday Eve MTB

Well I did get in another MTB ride this evening. 13.2 miles with 2,037 ft of gain. Brings my total up to 7,065 ft of gain this week in 55 miles! ;-)

Did 2 loops again on Claremont Hills Wilderness Park again. This time the opposite direction/ CCW. Can't ride on Saturday but Sunday will bring another 1,000 ft gain for the week. :-)

GMR Wednesday

I should have a video later.

Feeling that I should take advantage of the day off I planned to do GMR to the village or Cow Canyon Saddle depending on how much water I had left at the end of the climb.Well I wake up this morning lay in bed and wonder if I really feel like doing GMR ha ha! I talk myself out of being a lazy bastard to so I get up and eat oatmeal for breakfast. But I'm loafing around. I had planned on 8 am but my lazy butt didn't make it out there till about 11 am ha ha!

OK so I am here! Well I will do the shack and if I feel good maybe I'll do a shack repeat. I really wanted a good workout so maybe the saddle if I could talk myself into it ha ha! I did go prepared with 3 bottles so deep inside I knew what I had to do.

But as I was unloading my bike Ron rolls by. He looks at me as he is rolling by and nods. I thought he would keep going but then he does the double take, the ol "oh hey that's Mr. Beanz!" look ha ha! So he stops but I really didn't think he would ride along with me knowing hes' a fast climber. He says his plan is to ride up an hour then head back down. Well I usually ride up to the gate 3 times from the dirt lot to get a warm up as I'm a slow starter. But since Ron was there, we just headed up, no warm up. I actually didn't feel that bad though, other than having to go pee ha ha!

We cruised up and chatted most of the way so it made the climb go by a little faster. I really wasn't sure what Ron would do once we got to the shack but by then I knew I could do CC Saddle or the village. Ron said it was fun riding up together so he said he'd continue along if I didn't mind. Nah, we were having fun! Ron planned to head down Baldy Rd once we got there. I wan't exactly sure as it depended on my water. Though Ron did say I could have his water so I didn't have to descend down to the village. But to my surprise once I hit the saddle, I still had a full bottle. That was enough to get me back. We chatted a bit then took a few pics before we split.

Ron headed down and I over to the rocks for a pic and a mix of Gatorade into my remaining bottle. Then I headed back alone. My plan was to just ride on through without stopping as it was mostly downhill with a few climbs. But once I hit the steep little climb I started to feel a cramp in my calf. OUCH! I tried to back off a bit but it wouldn't go away. But I wanted to go nonstop! I got close to the top of the short steep climb but the cramp came back. DARNIT! I have about 30 yard to the top and it keeps knotting up. Screw it! I;m not stopping so I clip my left leg out and do a single leg workout to the top. Who would have thought I could do a one legged stroke to the top ha ha? I didn't but somehow I made it and the cramp went away.

My goal was to get 5000 ft but since I didn't descend down to the village, I was 50 feet short when I got back to the gate. DARNIT AGAIN! I was tired at this point but I want that 5000 ha ha! So after the gate I turned around and headed back up. I need 50 but I took it to 70 cause you never know what Garmin or Strava will do with your numbers.

Well it was a cool ride with good company. Thanks Ron for the motivation cause I probably would have wussed on the 5000 ft had you not been there ha ha!



                                      An image of Ron racing a motorcycle up GMR. :-P

Still burning rubber cresting the high point.

                                             From the lens of Mr. Ron. The art of selfies!

                                                        Short break at the shack

Ron before descending down to Baldy Rd

Ya know, those big guy jerseys are not me! :-P

Kind of more like a maternity top ha ha!

OK I' not stopping so "the ol one hand reach back, pull out the camera case, remove it from the case and take a selfie while climbing this little hill somebody put on the descent with one hand trick!

60 Miles on SART

60 miles 16.4 average on single bikes. I don't know what Gina ate for breakfast today but she made the 60 miler look really easy. She smiled the whole way. Heck we even passed a few guys that were happy to stick on the back and she was still smiling ha ha! She even dropped a dude on the little climb before Green River! :-O

Started the ride with Jose and Gina. Mike was a bit late due to traffic on the freeways. Man it sucks right now with the work going on on the 91. So we met on the trail shortly after we left Green River (our turnaround point). At the coast we ran into Alex, Tammy, Dr. Sarah and a few others. Had a little chat then left rather quickly compared to usual. A late start and heavy traffic set us behind. Figured we better leave before it got dark on us. Even the drive home sucked ha ha!

                            Won't see this often, Gina riding somebody off her wheel on a climb ha ha!

Stretching at Green River

Jose

Photo bomber!

I think she was feeling really really good!

Jose was breathing hard and she was still smiling ha ha!

Mike did a nice pull near the coast.

Dr. Sarah, Alex, Tammy, and Gina

On the way back, passing and picking up guys and she is still smiling!

Thursday Eve MTB

14.3 miles (2139 ft of gain) Ha! First time I did the double loop, Gamin gave me 2,000+ ft of gain. Last time it only gave me 1,75 or so. This time I threw in an extra quarter loop to get the 2,000. Seemed a bit tougher than last time. I'd say that had to to with the soft ground. Every now and then I would hit a soft patch and oh my! The tires would just stick to the ground, felt like twice as much work. But I was just doing it trying to get back into shape.

Funny though, most riders say that MTB'er don't try to compete like the roadies on the trail. Heck if they don't. On the last ride this one dude went blowing by me. As he rolled by I shouted, "great job!". He seemed kind of stunned by my comment. Kind of like, "what? somebody said something nice?" ha ha! This time I saw some dude coming up from behind me near the start of the climb. Heck, I'm doing 2 loops so I;m keeping my pace and not racing anyone.

So he passes me and I say hi. He says, "you're doing good!". Thanks! He rolls by and I can tell he is giving it everything he's got. I'm still holding my pace but he keeps looking back at me like we're racing. I even thought about trying to pass him once I warmed up but heck no. The ground is soft and this is only my first loop.

So after he passes me he is standing, bopping side to side doing everything he can to stay ahead. Finally near the top I'm warmed up and I gain ground on him. Next thing I know I'm catching  up and what does he do? He pulls over to answer his cell ha ha ha ha ha!

I didn't hear a ring and I know I don't get reception up there.  That's the oldest roadie trick in the book ha ha!:-P

So anyway I go down then head back up for my second loop. After I finish my second loop I notice I still don't have 2000 ft of gain so I head up a third time. Whew, got it after about 1/2 of the way up so I head back down. When I'm in good shape I can do 3 loops. This time I felt it was possible knowing the soft ground was taking its toll.

I sure was glad the sound started going down so I didn't have to think about completing the 3rd loop ha ha!

One thing I did do was adjust the air pressure in my fork. I had it too high set to mfg'ers spec of 190 psi per rider weight. Seems I could never get good control so I lowered it after watching some instructional videos. Wow what a difference. I set it to 120 psi and it felt much much better. I even broke the down hill PR's on this ride.





I finally put on the front tire I had laying around for about a year so the tires finally match, Well they will once I get it a bit dirtier ha ha!

Mark The Man (Mark's Bike Shop)

So how many of you guys get a hug from your local bike shop owner? Well I have a bud who owns Mark's Bike shop on the corner of Carnelian and Baseline (next to Brandon's/Smart & Final). I've known Mark for maybe 20 years now. Best mechanic ever! Great people he and his wife! How is this for going beyond the call of duty? Gina and I like Powerbar wafers for our bike rides. They are like cookies yum! So we have not been able to find them anywhere. We have looked everywhere and even online and there are not available. I don'e know exactly why but we saw them at Mark's shop so we bought the box he had there (10 or so that were left). I asked if he could get a hold of more but I figured that they were discontinued or something cause they are not available ANYWHERE! So tonight I told Gina we should stop in to see if by chance maybe he had a few. Plus it gives us a chance to say hi. So we go in and he asks what I need. I told him we were looking for another product figuring the Powerbars were gone. He says to us, well I put aside a couple of Powerbar waffle boxes for ya!". You've got to be kidding me! :-O I don't know where he got them from, Mexico? China? His backyard? We don't care! Just wrap them up to go he he he! :-P Anyway, this is the kind of person. business man, good friend, and Christian dude that he is. Great guy and great wife. She's a lot of fun too. Sometimes we just stop in to talk about cycling and have a few laughs ha ha! Not long ago I needed some parts for my bike that were no longer available. I mentioned it to him and a week later Voila! He had them and gave me a call! This guy has a way of pulling parts out of the sky when they can not be found even on the internet! :-O Excellent mechanic. He is the only dude I have trusted with my bikes in the last 20 years. I do all my own stuff cause I don't trust any of the other guys but when I am stumped, this guy is the only one who can do it better than me! :-) There is a reason I have followed this dude for 20 years. I sure am glad he has his own shop now. He deserves to be The Man! :-)

Mark's Bike Shop

Mark, Wife Lori, his mechanic and some short chick on the right. :-P

Pulled out a couple of boxes from thin air. And a couple other little goodies.

Claremont Hills MTB

Did the exact same ride I did last time but the numbers were different. 2 loops on the trail for 12.7 miles this time but it seems the Garmin jacked me of a few feet somewhere along the way. Last time I had 2070 ft but this time only 1873 ft. those bass-turds ha ha! Oh well it was the same ride!

Funny thing was that when I started it was warm. Garmin was reading 91. When I got home to plug int the max said 95. Not sure if that was correct but it sure felt warm when I started the ride. Average of 85. I sure felt the variances of temps along the course. Heading down through the shaded area I was almost freezing. Temps show low of 64 and I'd guess that's where it was.

I can see that the women on the trail are getting ready for summer. Lots of tank tops and yoga pants. I was kind of sorry I didn't take a recorder. I'm a sucker for big bouncing butts in yoga pants ha ha! I'm starting to think there is more eye candy for the viewers out there than at the beach. :-P

Anyway this was the same ride as last time.

A Few Random SART Clips

Again, I started posting a Mr. Beanz bike journal here. Signup if you would like to leave rude comments like most forum members do ha ha! Kidding but many viewers don't have profiles to post on my blog so if you would like to leave or post pics and material that would fit in with my stuff, feel free!  It's a more easy going place than most other forums and not heavily moderated by those self appointed holy mods that think they are gods ha ha!


A few clips of the guys we know on the trail. Some might look a little slow but remember they are riding into a pretty stiff headwind. It's been pretty windy around here lately! Jose R. of River Velo and his buddy. Then Frank (NotSoFast on the net). Bong and Greg with Jose R. and a few more River Velo guys.

Plus a short video with Dan The Man and Frank at the beach stop.

A little bit o Magic Man from Heart.



Dan The Man

Jose R and his buddy up front.

Bong pulling a group

Jose R again, different day.

Greg (in green) at the back of this group. I think he's gone RiverVelo now! :-P