Sunday, July 27, 2025

Mostly Solo 45 (10 with Bad Bob)

44.9 miles at 16.2 average speed today. Mostly solo but ran into Bad Bob at Edna Park. He was working on a 45 miler and asked if I didn't mind his tagging along on my ride to the coast. Sure, so he turned around and headed back to HB with me. Always good to see Bad Bob.  I think he is one of the original OG's from Orange County racing. But seems getting older, the both of us, many of our friends have vanished or even gone. Still think of the Legend Greg now and then, as well as Boyd. Really cool guys taken too soon, as they say.

Good catching up on things with Bad Bob. Good listener and good opinions on matters. Many which seem similar to my answers for things. One that we have the same and seems to solve many issues is, "FUCK THOSE GUYS!!!" ha ha ha! Always works for me. He's a little older than I and I think we have the old school thought process seeing modern civilization as a bunch of wussies. Well, my thoughts anyway and I may be wrong but seems he thinks much the same.  Good times and chatting.

He left before I did so I headed back a few minutes after he did. Not really much going on other than that, just trying to get in my ride as well. 








Family day at the beach today. Seems there were a few BIG families today.





Got home a little later than usual seeing I traveled to SART rather than SGRT. So Gina and I went to Millie's for dinner. Sha had the Talapia and I had the chorizo breakfast tacos, as if I don't eat them at home ha ha ha!

But feeling great and doing well keeping the waistline in control, I opted for a banana split today and Gina had a chocolate chocolate sundae. Actually we planned our usual, sharing an individual cherry pie but the waiter Gorge said they were out of little pies.  So Gina talked me into a BS and I didn't argue much ha ha ha!













Friday, July 25, 2025

Evening Ride with Sandra (video)

 25 miles and about 1200 ft gain with Sandra along the Donut Man Ride.  She was looking pretty strong today. She says she hates climbing and has been trying for 6 years but isn't getting any better. I think she has improved plenty since we rode together a year or two ago. Time goes so fast that I forget how long it has been ha ha ha!

One thing that makes it hard for me is that she switches up the course every time we ride. I think I'm going one way and feeling good then she suggests a different direction once I'm beyond the point or turn. I can't hear her from a distance with cars and wind in my ears especially while descending at 24 or so. Next thing I know, she's turning or something that throws me off. But we talked about it and I suggested a little notice before hand so that I know what to do or go if she is changing the course. Like the couple of cul de sac streets that she went up to climb.  One with a 13.6 percent grade. Though I wonder if she makes these suggestions and changes to surprise me causing me to slow down ha ha ha!

But either way, it seems I get a pretty good workout riding with Sandra which is good.

Did meet a couple of nice people at the Dount Man. We rode up and they started asking questions about cycling and we started a pretty good chat about eating right and stuff like that.  Lady a bit older, think she was with her son, but very nice. Told us about the cop that told her she had to ride on the street and not the sidewalk.  The guy much younger and seemed to be into exercise started chatting about everything about nutrition.  Interesting.

Did get a little darker this time towards the end of the ride. Getting darker earlier and we did finish about 8:15 pm. But a good ride and Sandra looking strong. One dude on a YT video left a comment saying  Sandra was a beast ha ha ha! I told her and she denied it but I will say that with all the women that rode with us in the group couple years ago, I think she is one of the better climbers now. I met some strong female riders on those group rides but most of them complained if they knew there was a climb on the ride. Sandra looks for climbs and is doing well. I bet if she rode with those riders again, she would be surprised with Bad self ha ha ha!


Freaking Ozzie had to die! I was going to use an Ozzie song for the video but before I could, I got an email saying they muted my past video with an Ozzie song due to copyrights. Never had a problem with Ozzie songs on YT but now I do. Darn! So I used American Woman by The Guess Who but copyright issues as well so not viewable in Russia. I can deal with that ha ha ha!







The 13.6 grade Sandra used to torture me. Not having climbing gears, I had to stand which is unusual for me. 53/39 -13/26 gearing so this was steep. I used these gears and bike climbing up to Big Bear  5 times over the years but I don't think it had this steep of a grade along the way. But I survived.






Couple random characters cause you never know who might know them.




                                                                      Heart rate zones




Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Don't Drunk And Ride !!!

 Solo 24 miles today.  Wore my Drunk Bastard jersey today ha ha ha! Call me superstitious but I never wear this jersey on the actual road. On the bike trail yes, but road, no! Nice somewhat easy ride but the wind never cooperates.

Don't worry, the crash is staged ha ha ha! Just looking for a different pose, all I could think of today. Not many people on the trail at all so made it easy to do some posing. And of course, one cans see for a good distance at this point so no danger to anyone. But the homeless dude slowly approaching from afar probably thought I was a nut. 

No Athletes or Animals were hurt during this scene, especially not my bike ha ha ha! Another good old 2 egg breakfast with Ceecee homemade fresh salsa from last night's Tostada Night. Funny story, I was cleaning my GPS unit with glass cleaner yesterday. Put my head close to it so that I could see if there were any streaks on the face. I got this strong smell of cilantro when I did and thought to myself, wow that is strange that the glass cleaner smells like cilantro. Turns out Cecee had just started cutting the goods to make fresh salsa. Got me good on that one, took me a minute to figure it out ha ha ha!









My 2 eggs and some chorizo mixed in the mix. Griller type chorizo sausage that Gina thought might be a good idea but I prefer the original as it mixes better. This stuff is like having chunks and bits of sausage mixed in the egg.



Btw, the JBL buds are awesome! Half the price of the Samsung buds I have (2 pair) and the JBL make a better connection. No losing signal while riding. And if I speak on the phone, the other person can actually hear me unlike the sucky Samsung buds. AND.....JBL has a headphone app that provides an equalizer so the JBL buds sound better while riding and EQ controls. Work great at the mall too, no loss of connection while chilling.



My cilantro smelling Bryton ha ha ha!



You know you hit Sizzler VIP status when the servers tell you that any time you want a bowl for desert, soup or a salad, no problem. 😁 Today I felt like something different so I ordered the trio with shrimp and ribs, and steak But it doesn't come with soup. The cashier Christian said he knows I like my soup so he gave me a bowl even though it isn't included with the meal. Good knowing people in high places. 😉 Ain't nobody sweeter than my Honey. Always a good time laughing and spending time with her.









Sunday, July 20, 2025

Feeling Freaking Great Sunday

 Solo 20 miles from Pico to City of Hope (west side of dam and 605). Average of 14.4 wanting to do an easy pace after a longer ride on Sunday. Seems to be my pattern nowadays, long day then recovery ride. But today was an awesome day, feel freaking great! Not sure why, was it the ice-cream last night? Was it the wonderful evening with my Honey? Was it just a great day?

A bit windy on the way up but boy I felt good, did I say that already? Legs were stiff for about a mile then I loosened up nicely. Kept my easy pace trying to relax on the way up thinking it was too easy and figuring I'd suffer on the return, the way down which is usually tougher than the way up on this trail. But nope, turned around and cruised back as well though a bit windy. Heart rate was steady and fine feeling freaking great, did I say that already? Ha ha ha!

Nothing eventful, just a great ride! Not to mention, the new JBL buds worked great today. Much better than the Samsung Galaxy buds that cost me twice the price of the JBL.  Having a nice pair of headphones from Sony that sound awesome, another pair of JBL lower end that don't sound just quite as good as the Sony but much better connection while playing on my laptop. Auto connect to the LT and my cell simultaneously so that's awesome. I really liked the setup of the JBL so I went out and bought a better model of JBL to match the Sony and so now, they sound great and great connections. I keep the Sony because I bought them ha ha ha! They sound good though but at times, not too often, they lose connection with the laptop and when it does, it really annoys me even if for 2 or 3 seconds. The JBL don't lose it at all either set of headphones. They sound great!

So having a beotch of a time with the Samsung buds, I'm fed up so I tried the more inexpensive JBL buds. On  yesterday's ride, I did lose connection two or three times lowering my head to the handlebars as I wiped my tires for debris.  As long as I did not lower my head that low, they were fine. But today, I used them and they were awesome, didn't lost the connection not once and I was closer to powerlines and in the area than affects the Samsung most times. So I was really happy today.

Yesterday I had trouble updating the firmware on the cell and a bit frustrated. But after the ride, I clicked on the app and the buds updated nicely, sweet! Then I god home and tried connecting them to my laptop which went well and easy today, Not sure why it was so tough yesterday. I guess the buds wanted to make sure I was going to keep them before they decided to play nice ha ha ha! So all is sweet with the JBL buds now!

BTW, the JBL Race 2 buds I got have a run time of 48 hours. On yesterday's ride, 20 miles in arriving at the coast, I still had 85% power left. With the Samsung, I usually have about 30% and have to charge them before heading back. Love it!

 After the ride, Gina and I made a trip to my hometown for a visit to a favorite restaurant of ours. Good food and for being a Mexican restaurant, they have the best ever fries anywhere! Not sure why the fries are so good but they are ha ha ha!


                                                     City of Hope in the background.


My usual breakfast before a ride.. Couple of eggs and a couple of turkey sausage. Before a 45 miler, same meal and nothing more on the ride. Maybe a bottle of Liquid IV if the temps are 90 or more. If it's cooler, too much stuff in my system will just make me feel sick.  Not sure why people need so much stuff on rides. 



Best French fries ever! Gina had a torta Milanesa with fries and I a couple enchiladas.  I did help her with the fries though he he he!

What I thought was funny was that we ran into a neighbor of the past. Known him for almost 40 years. Haven't seen them in 3 years now. He and his wife were sitting at a table when we walked into the restaurant.  He didn't recognize me at first but as they were leaving,  he said to me," gee you're getting taller.  You walked into the door and I just saw this big tall guy!". 😆😄😆

OK  been 6'1 for 42 years but in all fairness,  when I played in a volleyball league, the other teams swore I was 6'4. 😁

But good to know I'm still growing at 62 years old ha ha ha!




Saturday, July 19, 2025

Solo SGRT 41 (video)

 Solo ride, 41.5 miles at 16.1 average speed. Not much happening today but I did see Danny from Strava go by, fast guy. Other than that, just another boring Mr. Beanz ride ha ha ha! Did plan to ride with Sandra and Tony on Thursday but some confusion so I just said, forget it, stayed home to fix a leaky faucet in the restroom. Hmmm, fixed 3 drips and a a toilet tank in the last month, think I got them all now. Seems they all come at the sane time and boy, they seem to be more work than riding ha ha ha! Easy but more effort tracking down parts etc.

Today was windy on the way but feeling good so nothing stressful. Did visit Main street at the pier for a bit. Having a fish fry so not much room. There for a few minutes then headed back to the usual spot for a few minutes. Testing out a new set of JBL earbuds, around $60 on sale. I have 2 sets of Samsung buds around $110 each but they suck on bike rides. Every time I turn my head, one ear cuts out so fed up, trying a cheaper set. Not to mention, the JBL headphones I have for my laptop connect easily and don't cut out at all. I do have a set of Sony as well, more expensive but the JBL still work better. Not so much in sound but connectivity. So I'll try the buds on the bike. Good connectivity to my cell that I use for music.  They do cut out slightly if I lower my head really low, just testing. But I never really have my head that close to my gps unit ha ha ha! The big plus is that JBL has an app so I can set up equalizer settings as well as a few presets. Nice, the Samsung have only a couple generic settings, not an equalizer. JBL has the equalizer as well as sport modes so I have a better selection of sounds. AND half way through my 40 mile ride, the power was still reading 80 percent vs the 30 or so of the Samsung. So no recharging on rides from now on, love it!

Not much happening so I did throw in an image of some cranky looking chick with a bikini top. Nothing special but I know some of my audience loves boobs ha ha ha! This is for you!

As well as a cool looking chick on a bike with aerobars. Looks much friendlier and more active than the bikini chick. She's on a bike so she must be cool. Actually smiling while I was holding the gopro so that's cool!

Nothing special in the video other than a couple of passes with other cyclists.

Edit: Ah, did encounter one dude on an MTB that was rolling pretty good. As I was leaving the coast, I realized the nozzle on my water bottle was tweaked and squirted on me as I took a drink. I pulled over on a ramp, unlike too many stupid cyclists that stop ON THE TRAIL. I corrected the nozzle then got ready to roll as he was passing. So I waited as he passed safely, unlike the too many stupid cyclists who would TAKE OFF IN FRONT OF ANOTHER RIDER APPROACHING! 

He rolled by and nodded at me so I acknowledged him as well. He rolled by then I took off and rolling pretty good but not pushing too hard, he was pulling away. Wow, good pace and I was impressed as he was on an MTB. About 8 miles down the trail, he finally faded enough that I would pass, not racing attitude macho stuff. He fell back a bit then like another 6 miles, he was still withing sight. Maybe 100 yards back and by this time, I was rolling pretty good so I was impressed that he was still around. Passing a park, I saw a group getting on and thought they would catch me. So for my own workout, I picked it up trying to stay away from the group. Then I passed another couple of fit looking guys that I thought might not like it that I was passing. They kept their pace though and so I kept pushing thinking the group from the park of about 10 riders would eventually catch me. I was trying to keep my pace or maybe even raise it a bit so I started working hard. Looked back a couple miles later to see how close the group was but they were gone. Hmm, only one rider back there so I sat up to get a good look and it was the dude on the MRB. Wow, I was really impressed at this point. He had passed all the others as well and still in sight. 

I was about 2 miles from the end of my ride, the Pico Rivera Golf course parking lot where I thought if he pulled up, I would compliment him on his ride. But he vanished at that point. Pulled off the trail I'm guessing. On an MTB but he was rolling pretty good. On the return I was doing anywhere from 17.5 to 18 mph so he had to be pushing pretty good to keep the pace on an MTB.



The youtube video






Picked it up the last few miles










Mmmm, this is good!


I ate well all week, rode today, so I'm cheating tonight ha ha ha!


Classic Gina, she freaking laughs at everything. Love this gal!


Dinner with Gina and Cecee at Mongolian BBQ again.




Last night's pre ride meal, the usual , small 6 oz steak and about a cup of potatoes at Sizzluh. Perfect size meal for my needs.