NO Bikes, CARS!

So I was supposed to ride today but got lazy. Instead I washed our cars, went to a car show and took a few pics there.

I'm starting a 4 day 10 hour work shift schedule starting Monday and we go in at 4 am! :-O But only to 2:30 then off all day. 4 days then off Fridays! 3 day weekends every week!

So I have to get up at 2:30 to get ready for work on Monday morning. Figure I may not sleep well so I am just cruising it this weekend hoping to survive Monday! :-P

                                                                            Gina's car

Cool Cruise Classic Car Show in La Verne

Best truck at the car show ha ha!

What's Wrong With The World Today ???

I'll tell ya, wind both directions North and South DAMMIT! :-P

Well had to do a quickie today, Mom's birthday. I ended up doing 30 solo at 16.0 average. I invited Mike this morning but he misunderstood my text, damn foreigners! :-P My text said " I am leaving at 9 am, doing the SGRT, 42 miles if you want to go."

He replied meet at your place, yes. I waited in the garage for him, 9:20, nothing. Hmm, I usually wait a bit but that is getting a little long so I text and ask if he is on his way. He asked if I was there already? Huh, you are supposed to meet me at my place, I'm waiting for you!

Damn, I thought you meant Sunday! :-O

So anyway, I ended up leaving at about 9:50 after all the delayed responses etc.

So I hit the trail, not bad but man it seems windy both ways. A bit chilly but I skipped on the windbreaker today hoping the sun would heat me up. A little sun but not too much, maybe I should have taken the jacket but oh well. Not too bad!

I did take it a bit easy on the way out knowing I have to stair step my way back up to the start. Thought I'd have a huge tailwind pushing me back up the stairs, WRONG!

I did see LewisAClark again. Should have stopped on the way out for a pic but figured maybe on the return. Got back to my truck, packed up then took off only to see him down Arrow about a 1/4 mile. Darn, just missed each other once again.

Not that I like to see people suffer but, OK yeah I do he he he! He was heading West and  it seemed he had his head down as if the wind was fighting him. That was cool cause that let me know it was windy and not just my fat out of shape body ha ha! :-P

So anyway, not a bad ride overall though I had planned another 10. :-/

The stair steps I mention, like 6 or 7 miles of stairs on the final leg of the return. Really zaps the energy but hey, builds character too, I hope!

Trying to take a selfie hoping to NOT get blown over! :-P 

Pardon my French, but you can tell I'm getting to that point where I don't even give a F#@K if my bike matches or not ha ha! Speckled cork tape on one side and flat black on the other. I replace things as they are need and as long as the drive train is OK, I'm good! :-P

Oh man! This crap wasn't there 2 weeks ago! I see the homeless are moving in! Almost as if they placed that big bag of trash there as a barrier to claim THEIR HOME! :-/

Lots of trash already and tents on the right section of the trail.

A Little Friday Photography (Hope TO Get Out Tomorrow Morning)

Not much going on here. Career just took a turn for the better, I can say that. Big increase in pay, better title ha ha! More bike stuff, more camera stuff, and maybe more hookers if Gina continues to spend her days at the hospital.

Actually her son is doing much better. Moving his legs some now, talking, eating, but can see at times, seems off and on. Doesn't have much of a memory and still trying to figure out why he is in the hospital. Well, a heart attack, massive stroke after neglecting to take care of himself knowing he has health problems, dialysis, failed kidneys, failing heart. Continue with the bad habits, what else is ther to expect. Finally after 3 straight months in the hospital he has been sent to a convalescent hospital. Who knows, maybe some day he may walk again, not sure at this point.

Anyway, I have lots of extra time on my hands now. Starting Monday, I will have plenty of extra time. No overtime, no weekends, just more money ha ha! I can live with that!

So anyway, a little Friday photography. Couple from today and one of Gina I had been wanting to edit taken a couple weeks ago.

Flower of a weed I found in the back yard. Seems it's pretty fresh. No ugly bugs on it yet. Darn rain, just cleaned the back not long ago, stayed nice for a while then the rain came and the weeds came up in like, no time! Washed away all my Weed B Gone stuff! But was a purty little flower!

Rollie Polli on the wall. Cool little bug!

 Not often I catch Gina with a big cheesy smile! The fact her rollie pollies are hard is just a bonus! I enjoy 'em! :-P

                         

Hmmm! Could this be true? All Male viewers?

I often look at my blog stats to check the view stats. But rarely check my youtube stats. But today I clicked on analytics and saw this. The stats say I have all male viewers and no female viewers.

That actually surprised me. I thought maybe one or two female viewers as there are some legit ride videos there.

My blog I figure one or two female viewers but surprised at the youtube stats.

My blog I figure mostly male as I notice the stats triple if I post a few boobie pics ha ha!

But YT surprised me! :-P

A shot from the analytics page.

One from my blog!

Strange to think Ivan Drago and Richard Virenque might be viewing my blog! :-P

Ivan taking a short workout break to view my blog.

Richard: Mr. Beanz blog is #1 !!!

Well,. for cycling blogs with indecent images anyway! :-P

Midweek Leg Stretcher, Night Rain

10 miles/ 669 ft gain. I need to start stretching my legs during the week too. Makes the weekend rides that much better. So knowing it would rain I took my MTB to Thompson Trail figuring that would be the safest place to get in a short 10 mile warm up.

Fun ride, started light but what the heck happened to daylight savings time? I didn't take lights figuring I had more than enough time, NOT! :-P Got dark about 7 and with the rain, I could not see poop ha ha! I will tell ya, when it is dark and wet out there, there is not a soul around compared to daytime on a nice day.

Started raining pretty good there for a while so I did get a little saturated. A little mud, a little dirt, a little pavement. Heading back from the parking lots to the Indian Hill parking lot (free parking) it was so dark and with the rain, I could not see anything ha ha! I was going to say nothing but I was scolded so many times as a child for using double negatives. SO I try to avoid them though the rest of my writing is crap  ha ha!

Did see a pack of deer on the dirt section of the trail near the Mills lot. Maybe 6 or 7 of them traveling in a group. They stopped to munch on some bushes so I stopped and shot a little video footage of them. I'll see how it comes out later. I was talking as they were eating. They'd look over every now and then but didn't seem scared at all. I guess they figure there are like 7 of them and 1 of me so if they had to, they could all gang up on me and kick the crap out of me ha ha!

Anyway, riding in the rain is nice, exhilarating I guess if you know you don't have too far to go! Night riding, crisp cool fresh air, nice!


Mad a movie 'bout it! :-P Finally getting familiar with the new video editor so it doesn't take as long to make a movie. First couple there were a pain in the butt! :-P

PowerDirector16 video editor.





                                       Still light out but the rain is starting to get harder.

WTH! DLST ???

A little gentle up and down with some rain. :-P

Just re posting this video. I forget how strong Gina can be.  44 miles at 17.2 average speed, not bad! :

That and I like the song! :-P

DARN! No Rain!

30 miles on the Santa Ana River Trail. Very late start, about noon. I was actually hoping for rain today. Took my GoPro hoping to capture something different on video, a little  rain but it didn't happen.  Mike and I were supposed to ride the SGRT on Saturday. I kept telling him the big chance of rain but he said his cell report said it would not rain till 1 pm. Cool, I am all for it! But morning came and he sent a text saying it was raining, uh yeeeah! So he canceled then I got lazy and figured I didn't want to go alone on that trail, especially in the rain. Seems there are quite a few more obstacles there to worry about than SART so I passed on the solo ride. Figuring if I slipped in the water I might drown or something. :-P

But today I didn't know Mike was going to ride. Turns out he didn't want to ride Saturday because he had just cleaned his bike ha ha! So today I figured I'd do SART hoping for rain. But didn't happen. Matter of fact, turned out to be a really nice day!

Ran into Mike near Edna park so we ended up riding together. I wanted 30 miles but the point where I started after the closed section was only about 10 from the coast. So we did the windy part, turned around at the coast, headed back to Moon Park (605 fwy) then headed back to the coast one more time.

But then stupid me forgot to start my Garmin when we left the coast not realizing it till we hit Moon Park again. Dang it! Now no matter what I do, it won't show 30 and I was not willing to do the windy section a third time ha ha! It was super windy today. At times I looked down and was doing 13 MPH! :O

And when I failed to start my Garmin, I missed the fastest section with the tailwind so my average sucked  at 15.2 ha ha!

But anyway, it was a good workout. Happened to see Bad Bob heading the opposite direction. Umm Tony and his buddy Thai but I don't think they recognized us. Maybe we were going to fast into the wind! :-P


                                                    Turned out to be a really nice day!

Mike heading back. My ride was almost over and I was pretty happy with that ha ha!

I felt so violated. Checking my GoPro when some lady behind me was checking me out. I felt violated but in a way kind of happy to know I still have it ha ha! ;-) :-P

Skinny Mike, lost 45 pounds. Riding strong!

San Gabriel River Trail Video Finally Ha ha!

Finally got around to making the video. I used the same music as I already had it loaded from the last one. This is the second and actually first ride video I have created with the new editor (having gotten a new computer) so I have been somewhat avoiding it ha ha! Windows Movie Maker was a breeze compared to this one.  PowerDirector16 which is similar in a few ways but more complicated in others. Like having to set the HD with every video. I had no idea of that the first time around so the video was not HD (720) This one is after noticing I did something wrong with the first, hey live and let learn. So many little tricks to this editor but I think I'm getting it!

Actually pleased with the result but really need to get more footage. Being unfamiliar with SGRT, I need to figure out where the good sections are for recording, smooth, steady, not tricky tunnels for example! :-P

Anyway, we ran across a small group of peeps on the trail this day. turns out a gal named Jodi and a couple of dudes. Jodi and I are connected on Strava now. So she'll see the video once I link it on her ride, should be cool. Yes, I got the view from behind and like the other female riders in our group, and that I know, I asked her permission to make the video knowing it was a hiney shot. Kind of hard not to get the shot as it's just a part of cycling. But she was very cool and said she didn't mind knowing it's part of the sport.

So Jodi had complete a 42 mile ride two weeks earlier which was her longest to day. Then on Sunday, she and her two buds did a 71 miler on the San Gabe Trail. Wow, way to go! I know I was dying on the 60 miler so doing 71 was great! Congrats Jodi! :-)

So her is the video and a still image of Jodi from the video. Sadly I did not get the front. I panned my hand held back at one time but only got the dude who was in front of their group at that time.

60 Miles on San Gabe!

I took Mike to the trail today to test it out. He liked it. Said a bit rough in some spots but other than that, not bad at all and VERY VERY few homeless people. No loose dogs, drunks wandering in the lanes, etc.

I thought about 40 miles as I did 30 last week but Mike said we ought to do the 60 from Arrow to Seal Beach. I haven't been on the bike much but what the hey! So we went for it just trying to hold a steady pace. Ain't that the way you get back into shape? Do a little more than you think you can do?

I will admit, on the way back, my legs were frying on the little steps in the trail leading up to the finish. My Gosh my legs were toasty. But once we hit the end of the trail, we had 59.2 miles. DAMMIT! OK, let's not be wussies and head back down for .4 of a mile then head back so we can call it an even 60.

16.1 according to Garmin, 15.0 according to Strava. Strava sucks ha ha! :-P

Breezy but nice. I don't think the wind heading to the coast was as bad today but heading back was a bit more than last week. No wind situation ha ha! But we managed. Mike has been riding plenty and lost plenty of weight too so he was looking good. I have to say half way back I started taking his wheel as much as I could. Felt comfy but knowing those little steps back up the trail were going to hurt, I might as well conserve while I can.

Mike says it's a different kind of trail from SART. Though the numbers don't show a big difference, one sure feels it on the return.

Did see LewisAClark this time for sure! Twice! He saw me and acknowledged me this time. If hadn't been so worried about my legs frying, I would have turned back for a brief chat but I was a bit worried about going the distance ha ha!

Pics for now, a video at a later time or date.

Mike's bike. Thing is light and the new CF wheel are light too! Yeah, I'll let him take the front ha ha!

Still from the video.

I did ask Gina if she wanted to ride but she says she will wait another month. Mmmkay! Her son is still in the hospital but not in any danger of dying right now so I figured maybe even though she spends lots of time at the hospital. So she spent Saturday with me then left to stay at the hospital over night with her son but she was kind enough to take a few pictures for me so I could remember what she looked like! :-P

River's End Cafe Is No More :-/

With permission, I stole these images from Jimbo. The River's End Cafe is gone, no more, poof! :-/

Though I don't frequent the San Gabe River Trail, I am sad to see it go. The few times we did the trail from Encanto Park to Seal Beach, I looked forward to stopping there. Haven't eaten there either but it was somewhat of a landmark to me. I am sure plenty of cyclists will miss it too as it was a hot spot for cyclists.

I must say by the time I get there, it's a landmark spot where I can use the restroom ha ha! Fortunately Jimbo says the restroom is still available as it is on the outside section of the joint. Phew, close call!

But still sad to see it no longer exists. I see from comments below his images, maybe new owners taking over? We'll see! Hopefully it's open again by the time I make the entire trail trip again. Be nice as I have plans to ride this trail for a while.

Thanks Jimbo for the images and info! ;-)

Let me know if you have any more details you want posted Jimbo! ;-)

Images courtesy of Jimbo:

Cyclists are Fighters I Tell Ya!

Can't believe it, another cyclist ready to go down with Cancer. A real fighter! I will say we did not interact over the last several years but when it comes down to it, I was happy to have known the guy. Not going to say we were besties but the fact this guy fought cancer and kicked its ass most of the time is really impressive and a noble deal.

We first communicated on a cycling forum years ago. He sent a PM stating he had cancer and a hamstring removed. Saying some day he would like to try GMR after viewing my reports, pics and videos. Most guys in this position, heck let me say I know perfectly healthy riders that are too big uh wussies to even try with limited health issues, like hang nails. That's coming from another cycling forum ha ha! You know who you are wimp!

So this dude with no hamstring talks about GMR and actually does it after battling cancer. Wow! Like I said, not besties but when someone has the courage to do this, conquer mountains after dealing with health issues like this, it's nothing but admirable, noble, and downright BADASS!!!

Hard to believe we have lost a few friends now to cancer. Robert (Mad_One on the forums) who rode with us for a couple of years. Still can't believe he is gone at 40 years old. Then Old man Gentleman Boyd. One of the kindest, smoothest, most gentle men I have ever met. Throat cancer. I can say both these guys battled cancer then returned to cycling till they were once again confronted.

Another of our buddies actually facing cancer right now. Had a rough time but like the others, has also fought cancer and not let it keep them down fighting to do what they love, cycle!

But the latest case I mention has seemed to have come to the end of his battle. Giving up treatments after the news of a no win situation. I have to admire this. He is going to give up the ugly chemo so that he can enjoy his remaining time with his family.

Wow, that is tough but I think I would do the same thing. Enjoy it while you can. After having 2 stepsons who are constantly in the hospital fighting for their lives, I think there comes a point where one has to give up the drugs and treatments that keep them unconscious so that one can enjoy what remains of their lives with loved ones.

The good thing is, that the guys I know who go down, at least I can say that I got to ride with them, knew them, and even have cycling things of which to remember them. Pictures, videos, jerseys, maybe even bike parts. But either way, there is something there to always remind us of who and what they are!

FIGHTERS!!!

All I can say is these guys are Bad ASS!!! Take a licking, get back up and keep ticking....the pedals!

My hat goes off to anybody who has taken the beating and gotten back up! I hope I can do the same and will do the same if it happens to me. I have some pretty good examples in my cycling world that will remind me that it can be done. Cancer patients, cancer survivors, heart patients, heart meds, quite a few guys with life threatening situations.

I just think it so sad that this has to happen but in another way, it shows me that it's possible. Coming from a family that tells me I can no do some things, like ride 100 miles at 40, like walk across the mall at 50 because I'm too old, I am proud to say I can and I know others who CAN no matter their situation and it reminds me to pay no mind to those nay say'ers who whine at every little obstacle we encounter.

You can't do it! It can't be done! All I have to say is Bullshit! I know guys who have done it and guys who are doing it! I'm also a cyclist and a fighter! ;-)