Solo Saturday 50

Solo 50 at 17.1

Few pics for now   

Solo Saturday Falcon Ridge

 30 miles with 2,000+ ft of gain. Hard time getting started today. Stayed in bed a little too long, got taken advantage of but managed to roll out of bed about an hour later. 

I just wanted to put in some miles but my bike keeps taking me up the hills. Oh well, was a brisk pace for me too just getting on the bike! 

Exploring a new trail, lots of horses up there. Nice but I worry about spooking them. Maybe I'll just stay off that trail. Falcon Ridge bird preserve and a new to me trail, Ferguson Mtwy.

Euro Cafe to top of Wheeler and above, then to Falcon Ridge/Ferguson Mtwy above San Dimas Park, to Bonita, back, then up Mills a couple of times just to get in the mileage.

 54 miles/ 2600 ft of gain with Tony Castro and Sandra. Sandra rode from Pasadena to meet us in Claremont then we rode to Fontucky. Sierra and the 15 fwy. Amazing, Sandra is 62 years old, only riding for 2 years and kicking butt! 👍 Sandra did 76 miles today!

Sandra had sent me a message asking if I was available to ride on Monday morn. Um OK, I was lazy the week before and willing to make up a few miles. Getting close to my goal of 5,000 miles and I think I will make it now. I was a bit worried not being on the bike a week though I should be rested. I was not sure of how I would feel, good or bad. I survived ha ha ha! Well I planned 30, maybe 40 if I felt really good. Ended up doing more than 50.

It was kind of hard to get started as if the legs needed to be warmed up really well. I tried to hold the pace down a bit at the start with the stiff legs. Tony would take off and do little sprints ahead. I just kept MY pace and let him do his thing. Sandra stayed by me so that worked for the two of us.

I did take them across a course I used to ride a lot when I lived in the eastern section of Upland. So from Baseline and Mills, we headed east to Benson, across to Campus then down. I had never done this part before but see plenty of cyclists heading that way so why not give it a try. Plenty of turns so Sandra doesn't get bored. She says she gets bored on straights. OK, ha ha ha! But we mixed it up pretty good. Headed down to 19th, by the Target center. I don't like the traffic there but it's just a short bit and with 3 of us, figure we were more noticeable, and safer. Traffic was actually pretty good with us.

So we went across 19th just for a short bit then up Sapphire. To Lemon then east to Hermosa. Up to Banyan then across to the 15 fwy. Sandra really like the course. It is somewhat uphill heading the direction though it does not feel like it, looks flat. But Sandra was suffering a little bit here, I think. Tony looking good but Sandra had 17 more miles than we did at this point seeing she started in Pasadena.

So we ride up along the 15 fwy heading to Sierra and the 15. At one point, Tony says he will see us at the top. He stopped at the beginning of the canyon stretch, Coyote Cyn/Lytle Creek Rd. I thought he was just being nice waiting for us. So we ride up to Sierra where the gas stations are. The old one is going under construction so it is totally closed. I look down Sierra and see the gas stations just 10 yards away, maybe. Then I look back up Sierra and see a ton of cars coming, fast and close, no shoulder. Oh heck no! Sandra needed water but I said Sorry! We ain't going that way, too dangerous. I thought about it a bit and hey, we're going back downhill through the canyon, Sandra can hold on a bit and we can stop at the baseball field about a mile or two away. No problem worked out for the best I am sure, no risk.

Sad thing though. First time I rode up that way, from Ontario to SanBernardino Devore area, it was a one lane road all the way. Even Baseline was a one lane road back in 1994. Huge difference but the upper section, still rode it to Cleghorn op Old Cajon Rd till 2010 maybe. But sadly, this Coyote Cyn, above Duncan Cyn is getting developed now. What a bummer. Beautiful area going down the tubes just like the section below and near Glen Helen Park. Sad to see it go so glad we got on it one more time.

So we head back, trying some new sections, like the roundabout area. Back to Day Creek. We were planning to head down to Victoria Gardens at Sandra's request. But she changed her mind figuring we would have to climb back up to Banyan for the return to avoid traffic. Tony had done the TD Foothills back when so he said banyan went all the way to Carnelian. I didn't think so, some kind of a break there. So once at Hermosa, I talked Sandra into climbing up to Wilson, nice road too!

We were heading west when Tony took the front and looked pretty strong. I jumped on his wheel and it seemed we dropped Sandra. Dang it, I don't want to drop anybody but I could use a draft rest right now. Then Sandra caught up, nice! Then we both sat on Tony's wheel for a bit. Then later on Wilson, we ended up pulling away from Tony. I figure he was just clowning around. But we get back to Baseline and San Antonio to a park to refill before Sandra heads back to Pasadena. There Tony gets off his bike and lays down to stretch his back. I guess he was feeling it and I didn't remember but he had only ridden 20 miles or so in the last month or more.

I asked if he wanted to ride with me heading back with Sandra some, just for a few miles. Nope! I think he had had it and was feeling the lack of mileage. So he turned off at Mills with 40 miles. There, Sandra had 57 miles and still 17 more back to her start. Well heck, I am game, feeling pretty good with the week off, legs warm by now after 40 miles ha ha ha!

So I headed back with Sandra then turned down Walnut. She took off looking strong climbing Pinnacle Peak hill. I went down to Bonita, across and back to Mills and Baseline to my start with 54 miles. Felt really good!

Sandra ended up with 74 miles, and close to 4k of climbing, wow! Nice ride and last I saw of her that day, she was still looking good!

So A pretty good ride and workout for all of us. Great riding!

East on Lemon, rather peaceful street.

Sandra and Tony agree, nice street

Up Coyote Cyn he flies like the wind. Later he tells us he was stopping at the top of each section

hoping we would say it was enough. But Sandra kept it going ha ha ha!

Up along the 15 fwy, getting windy now!

Say bye to this section, construction going on. About to ruin the peacefulness of this area.

Solo 33 Running Across Tour de Foothills

 33 with 1,324 ft of gain. Solo ride along the foothills and ended up crossing the TDF along Bonita. I ran across a few people I know as I rode back and forth for a bit to see what was going on. 

Used my recorders some to get some footage of the riders. Not sure if I will make a video or not.

Ran across Nadine for a little chat.

                                                                       Nadine

A little group at a stop light.

Tony, Sandra, and some Solo Around the Foothills (Video Friday)

 41 miles around the local foothills. Getting in some miles prepping Sandra for her century on Sat. So we took it easy and just did some miles and rode to Upland COF to pick up some stuff for her ride. Tony rode with us for 20 but had financial business meetings to attend so he cut it short. Then Sandra said 30 was good not wanting to waste too much energy so she cut out at 30. I had some daylight so I went down the road looking for 35 but ended up going up Mills a couple of times for some added mileage to make 40, actually 41.

The video on youtube

This lady is 74 years old and still riding, nice!

Solo Night Ride with Fog Setting In

 20 miles tonight with 1100+ ft of gain. Dark at 6:30 but that is cool, I actually prefer riding in the darkness. But it was dark today ha ha ha! I found a light valued at $100 the other day. Some poor soul lost it. I posted on my Strava but nobody claimed or mentioned the light so it's mine now. Wow, really worked well. I had thought about investing since I ride so much at night but it just came to me ha ha ha! I am a bit different, I will tether the sucker to make sure I don't lose it. Those rubber straps suck and scare me. So I'll tether it till I get a mount adapter that I can use with my aluminum bar mounts.

But a great ride tonight, actually felt like I could ride all night and thought about not going home ha ha ha! Been getting that feeling a lot lately. Maybe it's that I've increased my mileage this year and feeling it, feeling good!

Of course the little bitches who thought they would outride me this year were fine all year long but now seeing they ain't, they go private on Stava ha ha ha! I was almost 500 behind at one time then now within 100, time to hide bitches cause Mr. Beanz is coming for ya ha ha ha! Heck, within 100 miles but 40,000 more feet of gain over my competitors, hey, who did better this year? ;-)

But anyway, feeling so good and strong lately. And comfortable on the bike most of all!  

                                             Dark at 6:30 ? Hate it but love it for cycling!

Getting foggy at the end of the ride.

HA! New filler installed at Kun's Park, my rest stop! :-)

This bike is such a slacker ha ha ha!

210 fwy, jammed and stopped. Same with Baseline. Wow, forget that, stayed off Baseling eastbound today. 

Nice Solo SART Ride

 Easy Solo FITTY miles today, 16.2 average speed. Just looking for some base mileage. Lucky me, found a bike head light laying on the ground. First a $20 on Sunday and now a light ha ha ha, my lucky week. Started late seeing it was very foggy this morning at home and not wanting to drive till it cleared up some.

Night Ride and Intervals with Sandra

 24 miles with 1,429 ft of gain.

Awesome ride today with Sandra. She says she wants to get stronger so we did some climbing but at the top, had her do some intervals up Via Dicha which is a 7% grade. Half way up to a mailbox, once climbing and 3 more climbs going all out. Wow, awesome workout. I thought she would be tired after the intervals but she said it woke her up and she was feeling stronger. Heck, think I got more tired than she did ha ha ha! Different kind of ride.  Helping Sandra work out then cruising back to recover. Then a good climb to the top of Mills so Sandra could see CHWP and meet La LLorona ha ha ha!

Sandra did great and caught 4 PR's on the climbs. She asked me to help her get stronger as she was tired of all the clowns around her who say they are going to help her but seem to do nothing but race her to show their machisnmo side. So she was pretty happy at the end of the ride having someone actually help and guide her.

She did surprise me on one of the intervals up the 7% as she stood up and dropped me like a bad habit! 

Video (no music)

Solo Night Ride Going EZ

Figured my legs would be tired from the weekend so I went easy. 20 miles with 1.200 ft of gain. Nice evening, a bit chilly in some spots and foggy in others but nice overall. 

4,339 miles so far this year so I think I should be able to get my goal of 5,000 for the year. Wasn't my goal when the year started. I was just riding then about 2 months ago, I saw that a 5K month was in sight.

501 miles in October was good! 18,000 ft of gain is good too.

4,339 miles and 160,000 ft of gain for the year, I'll take it! ;-)

                                                                         Break time

I am so used to wearing my mask, I hate to ride at night without it. 

Saturday Ride Video SART

 Lots of friends and riding back with Rona and Dixie. Almost solo 60.

A couple of images from the R&D tandem.

POS Homeless Caused Gina to crash

 35 miles at 16.1 average speed. POS homeless guy stealing wire from construction site rode his bike out from behind a blind area, blocked by pallets (?). He rode out on his bike, I veered left to the opposite shoulder but Gina tried to go left then realized  he was towing a pit bull on a long leash so she ends up T-boning the guy. 

Damaged shifter, broken housings and cable, and lots of bruises on Gina. Big bruise on the leg. But luckily the guy somewhat cushioned her fall so she barely hit the pavement with her elbow. 

But the bike would not shift so she had to to the final 9 miles single speed style. I'm impressed, more later!

So the day started out great. Gina was feeling good and we were rolling. We saw 3 guys at the Circle K who we somewhat knew for a local club. We turned around at that point, they had taken off but stopped about 1/4 mile down the road for something. We rolled by and waved so the whole time, I though they would catch and pass us. I kept a decent pace since Gina was feeling good. Then we saw them a bit behind us at the Honda Center horseshoe turn. They were about 1 minute behind but never passed us. So we ended up stopping at Edna Park to refill. They rode by as we were getting ready to roll again.

Saw them about 100 yards ahead then they stopped at a ramp. Now there were 2 so I figured they pulled off there so that one of the riders could exit the trail. Then about 3 miles later, I see them coming up as I turned to snap a pic of Gina. They go by and pull ahead about 40 yards. 

Again, they start playing the game. Looing back, being able to tell they were pushing their hardest trying to gap us. No biggie! Last time, they faded and we passed them before the coast ha ha ha! But the biggest game player wasn't with them. I know who it is from the last encounter. So we just keep our pace, I've been in the front the entire time just setting a pace for Gina. So we just watch them go all out for a while into the wind.

THEN!!!! Going the opposite way is the biggest player of them all ha ha ha! The 2 guys slow down so that Playuh can turn around to join them. So we roll by as they slow and connect. We just keep our pace heading into the wind toward the coast. The locals know how windy it gets here and we are doing about 17.

But the 3 guys pass us looking like they are trying pretty hard. They are doing 18 from what I see on Strava. They are rotating and we are not far behind so I study them. The guy in the red seems the strongest but the Playuh tries really really hard when he goes to the front, like last time. I know he does well but he is going to fade after than kind of an effort, I know it. The other guy seems to be a bit weaker, he pulls for a bit just barely being able to keep the pace so he pulls off sooner than the others. 

So we are only a few seconds behind, maybe 30 yards. They keep looking back and I've been in the front the entire time, maybe 20 miles by this point so I know Jose should be fresh. I did a solo 60 the day before and Jose didn't ride. So I pointed him to the front. Could still see the other guys looking as if they were making a run for it ha ha ha! All 3 still looking back. I am not sure if the Playuh thinks that Gina is not worthy of keeping up, mabye because she's a chick, I dunno!

So screw it, "Jose, close the gap!". So we easily pull up and hop on the back. Jose tends to stay back so the pics don't seem to look as cool as they would had he closed the gap at an even space like the others. But oh well, he's always doing something different ha ha ha!

So we hop on the back with 5 miles to go, from Moon Park by the 405. The guys still seem to be trying really hard and monitoring our whereabouts, on their wheels ha ha ha! The 3 of them still rotating and still looking about the same as earlier. I can see that they are trying even harder as each one takes their turn at the front. I think they are still trying to drop us, or Gina, not sure. But they are doing a good pace into the wind, 18 according to Stava as an average over 3 miles or so.

Then we hit the wooden bridge near the coast, 2 miles left IIRC. They seem to still be trying to drop us so I ask Gina how she feels and if I go to the front, would she be able to go with me. I would have to go around the group on the left, meaning passing 4 guys to get there. She says she will just hang at the back but I tell her that only if she can do it, will I go. Otherwise, I will just hang back with her.

She says she can do it and feeling good. Great! So I get ready to roll around the group holding 17-18 depending on who is at the front. But somehow the guy in red takes the front again, the stronger guy so I tell Gina I'm going to hold back for now as the stronger guy went to the front out of turn and he usually lifts the pace more than the others.OK!

So he goes to the front but quickly fades sooner than I expected. So I tell Gina I'm going for it now, make sure you stick with the group. OK!

So I go around to the front, I sit up as I roll up and let the guys get on, actually making sure the get on so they can't call me a scumbag like I do with those the cheeseballs who take a wheel then sprint around. I don't do that so I MAKE SURE they can catch on and even keep a lower pace for 30 seconds or so allowing them to catch their breath.

So the last 1 1/2 mile, we're all together and I feel good rolling easy at 19. Strava segement says 19 mph but then the last section, darn Gina still on it so I lift the pace even more up to a 19.5 average for the final near 1/2 mile segment. Gina still on it! 

But we get to the coast and as I am rolling under PCH, the others had just turned off onto PCH at the ramp. Jose is on my wheel and Gina is there. I ask if she was there the entire time, YUP!

But the Playuh fell back and couldn't hold the pace ha ha ha! The one guy who seems to be the biggest player was the guy who fell back ha ha ha! So much for dropping Gina.

The one guy that did drop Gina, was the homeless guy. What freaking ass hat! 

Rolling under the 405 tunnel, I was very careful knowing riders and peds come from the side, a blind corner at the end of the tunnel. We start to head up that little climb and I usually slow a bit here so Gina can catch her breath so luckily, we were not going too fast.

But from behind a stack of materials, this fucking idiot crosses the trail, from the dirt construction site without looking. Blindly rolling across the trail with a long leash holding a pit bull. WTF! I shout out and veer sharp right trying not to hit the guy. Luckily there weren't any riders heading the opposite way or I would have had to hit the guy straight on.  Maybe it would have been better than I hit him so I could have thrown an elbow to his jaw.

Gina tries to stop and tries to veer right to go behind him then realizes he has a dog on a leash and can't go that way so she ends up slowing some but T boning the guy. He falls back but doesn't hit the ground so he ended up cushioning her fall I think. But she is stuck everywhere with cross bars, pedals, chainrings, saddles, she's got a ton of bruises now, dark black and blue bruises 4 days later.

I get my adrenaline up and the way I heard Gina yell and cry out, I thought she might be seriously hurt so I jump off my bike running back to see if she is ok, still crying out feeling the pain of hitting some hard parts. I'm looking at her on the ground over her bike and I'm shouting at the guy, "YOU BETTER FUCKING HOPE SHE ISN'T SERIOUSLY HURT!!!". 

He's looking at me saying he's sorry. I hate people, well fucking idiots to say they are sorry because that doesn't do anything to help her injuries. He says he is sorry a few times. I said yeah, you're a sorry fucking idiot who doesn't pay attention to what he's doing. Then he says what do you want me to say other than sorry. I want you to fucking pay attention so you don't hurt anybody else and have some common sense crossing a path from behind a blind object. I realize Gina is not seriously hurt at this point other than the painful contact points and not hitting the pavement, a big break!

So the guy says sorry again so I ask, "are you going to pay for damages to the bike, is your sorry going to come up with $100 for a new saddle?". The saddle was torn and I have a replacement but today, this cause a big scrape on the back corner so I just gave the guy shit over it hoping he pulls his head out of his ass. He says he has no money to pay for damages so I tell him, "that is exactly why your sorry doesn't mean shit!". So then he starts saying that I think I am above him because he has no money, plays the poor innocent homeless guy bull shit. "Dude, you're fucking below me because you're stealing wife from this construction site, you're a fucking low life and below me as I would never steal anything! Yeah, you're a fucking low life!".

I told him I should call the cops hoping they would take away his dog without a license, and arrest his ass for stealing shit from the construction site. Then he tries the why do you want to take it out on my dog crap, saying he is just an innocent dog. Yeah, he is innocent and sadly has to be lead around buy a dumb shit like you. He tries to argue about crap but I told him to leave before I bash in his fucking head with a rock.  Yeah, I get fired up when some ass hole hurts my wife!

Gina the next day telling her Mom the story on the phone, "I though Fred was going to kill the guy!"  It's a good thing she only suffered minor injuries, bruises and cuts from what I say there or I might have ended up in jail for beating the fuck out of some homeless skin head looking mother fucker!

Gina is good 4 days later. Sore, bruised and cut. She has about 15 different bruises from her ankles up to her elbows. Luckily nothing above that other than a sore neck. 

The bike, bent shifter, I was able to straighten the lever so the thumb shifter returns again. Sprayed WD40 and shifting good again. It wouldn't shift to a higher gear on the trail after the crash. Then the insulation connector parts (the little plastic cup where entering the shifter) are both broken. The insulation torn on the rear shifter cable. The front shifter I thought was OK on the trail, saw a split in it when we got home. Gina didn't shift the front as we rolled back in a cruise. But when I got home, but it on the trainer to test it. When I shifted the front, the insulation exploded and split open.  Well DAMN! Fucking homeless guy!

Just when the day was going so well!