Late BD Gift / TC & Alyce on SART 43 video on YT

 SART with TC. 43 miles 16.0 average speed. Cool little plaque gift from TC for my BDay back in May. 😎 Conversation pace but ran into Alyce at the coast. She left 1.5 minutes ahead of us. Playing rabbit, tried to catch her on the 14 mile return but she was rolling! Teamed up with TC. TC sprinted ahead catching her but Alyce poured it on pulling away. I recovered then got close to Alyce after TC dropped back but then I popped and Alyce rolled away once again looking pretty strong. I think we all had our heart rates up. 🤣 Some video and images later.

This is my story and I'm sticking too it. Tony and I did the 43 starting out at a conversation pace from the train station to Yorba Park then back to Edna Park. After this, I was still conversatiin' (yeah I know, it's conversing,, but just to be cool) when Tony picked it up and took off. Surprised me a bit though I usually know he's going to lift the pace at this point of the ride. I think I was in mid sentence when he picked it up.

But we worked together well to the coast. I have to say TC's style can make it a little rough to recover at times. When I take the front,  I go smoothly without lifting the pace so my partner has a good chance to recover and take my wheel knowing that it's tough to fight the wind. When I go around, I can hear my tires on the pavement and know I'm going smooth. When TC takes the front, I hear his tires swooshing as if he's sprinting so I have to work hard to close the gap after having been in the front for a bit. After a few times, it starts getting rough but I think it's part of his plan to tire me out ha ha ha!

I figured he was swapping every mile but at times, I will hold the front when I see a rough swapping point coming up. Like if my mile is up on a short steep little ramp in the road, I will stay on the front to the top. But a couple times, TC would swing around me on the steep section then stand and sprint up the ramp. This would make it tough to take his wheel so once at the top, I'd have to work extra hard to close the gap if he opened one. Even if he didn't as I was able to lift and match his pace, it was still fatiguing. After a couple times, I knew what he was doing so I made sure I didn't not end up in the same sit0chee-ation.

We made it to the coast in the wind and I think we were both feeling the headwind at this point.  He says something in the video about holding 16.5. Doesn't sound like much but with the wind, it was a good effort. Funny though, I usually only ride SART on the weekends so I kept thinking it was Saturday and not Wednesday. So I was really shocked when Alyce rode up, I was really thinking it was Saturday as usually, there are not too many riders on the weekdays ha ha ha!

Alyce Sat with us for a bit and we had a good time and some laughs. What really impresses me is when I see a woman working so hard that she is sweating. I don't know what it is, maybe my competitive side but I think that is so cool! She was dripping mad so I took a couple of minutes to praise her and even get it on video ha ha ha! I believe the still image shows more than the actual video but she was dripping sweat.

Of course Alyce has lost 75, a whopping 75 pounds in the last couple of years to improve her health and fitness, amazing! So she has gotten really strong on the bike. She was on a 35 miler so she missed a section heading out to Yorba Park. I think this got me later on, you'll see ha ha ha! I was surprised that she was heading back the same time we were as when she was approaching the rest stop, it seemed as if she was continuing on down the coast trail tot he pier. But she said she was only going to the next rest stop as it has been drastically improved. Not being a weekly regular on this trail any longer, I did not know that but nice to know, next time!

As we were getting ready to roll, Alyce got up as well. Took me a bit to leave the stop as Alyce rolled out. TC and I did a warm back up pace leaving the coast. But 2 miles later approaching the first wooden bridge heading north, TC mentioned that she was 1 1/2 minutes ahead of us. Then he said he like to play this game, The Rabbit Game. Letting one rider go then the other two trying to catch him/her. Though Alyce probably did not know TC's plan, I know her well enough to know she was not going to let anyone catch her is she could help it ha ha ha! Yeah, I know Alyce!

So we were rolling pretty good and catching Alyce slowly. She did average 19.2 on the final 10 mile Strava segment heading back so she was rolling too. We were getting close and closing in when I was on the front. Then I heard TC go around, his tires where whooshing and I was like, NOOOOOOO! He ended up pushing hard and catching Alyce taking her wheel. I couldn't take his wheel at this point so I just watched him roll away trying to keep my pace hoping I would catch Alyce as well. 

But TC says when he caught Alyce, she noticed him then lifted the pace dropping him. So I tried to keep a good pace but had to recover at this point. TC dropped back so when I went by, I actually slowed a bit so he could catch on. He didn't so after realizing he wasn't going to take my wheel at this point, I rolled on trying to catch Alyce. She had pulled away pretty far but I was closing in again after having recovered. TC fell far back and out of sight so I kept on myself.

I closed the gap, maybe 50 yards and closing thinking, I GOT HER! But nope! She looked as if she was trying hard so I figured she was tired and I's surely catch her now. I'm guessing 2 miles left at this point and seemed I was closing in but all of a sudden, my legs were frying. I tried to keep t he pace because watching Alyce, I could see she slowed and looked tired. I got her, I got her, but I didn't ha ha ha!

All of a sudden, my legs felt fried and she seemed to have lifted the pace. Now if I had been tired and she tired, I could see that but she LIFTED the pace again ha ha ha! Last mile, all I could do was watch her float away. Darn Alyce! All I can think is that if we hadn't had that extra 10 miles on her, I probably could have still had enough juice to catch her. But I think the biggest thing was that TC took off and sprinted around to catch her. He had timed how long it took to catch her, something like 13.5 minutes.

But my thoughts and as I have mentioned many times, my style of riding together, we could have rolled up on Alyce, kept up and more than likely even lead her back. But TC was impatient I guess wanting to catch her sooner for some reason. Had we continued to ride together, no doubt we would have been stronger together like the peleton.  Keep consistent and eventually, the catch. Oh well, he caught her but didn't keep on. I ride with a plan for a reason but Alyce torched us this day ha ha ha!

I'm glad Alyce worked hard though. I noticed a while back on Strava that she had a really low HR on all her rides over a good period of time. I asked her about it after she mentioned being at a stand still. She said she was doing it as part of a plan. OK, but my thoughts are that if your plan is not working, one needs to change it a bit.  Her HR was average 110 and her high 135'ish. Heck, mine was 135 average and highs of 160. We are about the same age so I would think she could be a little higher if she was wanting results. I cruise a lot but if I were trying to get faster or improve, I'd be running up my HR at times and going low for recovery rides.

So it was cool to see that on this ride, she was pushing it and sweating up a storm. Heck, our high should be about 155 but all 3 of us on this ride had a max of 163 or 164. 3 different devices so that can't be a mistake. We all wen above and beyond for a bit ha ha ha! I think she was really happy with her workout today. 

                                                                              The video

Digging Alyce's sweat and hard efforts

Of course they start showing up when we're leaving.

These are pretty cool. Using them for my GoPro mounts now. I have others that work well but these are even better. Same system, DJ OSmos but this brand has really good stuff. I also have tripod  swivel balls and stuff for my camera. NIce!

But the Telesin brand works well and has a good solid connection but the tabs on the side are a little hard to press when connected. So trying to hassle with getting the proper grip reaching over the handlebars can be a little scary at times. But these have a more pronounced orange tab that allows for better grip while squeezing to release the recorder.

I bought the first one,, the single image below to try out. Worked great on the ride so I ordered the two piece set that are fixed. Good for connecting to the hb mount. The single piece image is about the same thing but is all aluminum vs the nylon of the others. So the alum folding tabs can be folded in to use with the 1/4 screw hole for attaching to a tripod. Which is what I use for my hand held shots, a small 5 inch tripod that fits in my jersey pocket while connected to the recorder. I can easily disconnect it with the system then connect to the hb's rather easily.

Thanks to Paul who had mentioned the Osmos system a while back. Pretty cool working with the GoPro once one has the adapter that replaces the original connector of the GoPro allowing use with  multiple systems.

So really happy to find this stuff on ebay, K&F concept store with a bunch of nice camera stuff.

I also did use these batteries for the first time on this ride. Well, actually one battery as it had no issues and lasted quite rightly. I think after the ride I still had 80%. 

I just wanted an inexpensive charger to charge my authentic GOPRO Enduro battery as it acts weird sometimes after it's charged. After reading that they heat up while charging and can't behave abnormally,  I decide to go with a charger. They say it's supposed to be better for the battery and the camera as it does not heat up. I found this charger on ebay for $20.  I really only wanted the charger but the 2 batteries were included. Heck, can't fight about that. I figured even if they sucked, I still got the charger and seeing a few others in the $30 + range, I figured I won't miss the batteries if they suck.

But I was surprised. The ORIGINAL battery supplied with mhy GoPro 10 would only last about 45 minutes. These aftermarket batteries claimed to last longer and some even compare themselves to the Enduro battery. I have one so we will fine out. So I charged to 100 percent then left it running in a room to see what the batteries would do. The first I stopped after 1 one and it had 45% left. I was surprised and happy. The second lasted 45 minutes before it overheated and cut off. It was in an enclosed room and I knew it was hot so I figured it would be like, well maybe like being out in the heat of the sun. But it worked and the way I record, I shoot for a minute or two then shut it off and place back into my pocket.

And actually, the Enduro battery had acted weird on the road when I kept it in the HB mount. Also read that could vibrate some misbehavior as well. So now I don't leave it on the bars too long. Usually in my jersey pocket now where I'm sure my body absorbs the shock. It has acted much better with no issues.

So the new battery was perfectly fine not being on the bars long and the heat did not affect it, again the way that I use it. So I was a bit impressed not having any issues with cheap aftermarket batteries. Actually free I guess only wanting the charger.

The charger worked well enough. I found that I have to reinsert or open and close the lid making sure it's closed really well to get it to register the charge properly. Had a couple false readings at first showing fully charged but placed in the recorder only to see it was at 65%. Now I know and hasn't happened again now that I verify a good charging connection. Some reviews said it did not charge to 100% but both batteries were fine and placed in the recorder to get an accurate reading and yeah, both were 100%. Getting lazy and not riding when I planned, the battery sat inside the recorder for a couple of days. The first full day, I checked and still 100. The next day, still 100. The third day, it was 98% but I'm guessing it lost one or two percent by turning it on to get the power reading. So all is good!

The Enduro battery charged well too and hasn't had any issues since I started with the charger. I had a charger for earlier models but figured why if they charged in the camera as well. Now I know and see that it is more than likely better for the GoPro.  Heck, don't want to ruin it though Gina often tries to talk me into buying a new one. Always tempting but why not get all I can out of my GP10 when I've only had it for a couple years now and working fine. 

Though the GP13 is about $20 less than the GP12. That was strange to me so I looked it up and they say yeah, it's a sales pitch trying to spread the word about their new attachment system. Of course that would be like the Osmos magnetic clamp thing. But heck, with the things I mentioned above, I still got it. OF course the adaptor is sweet. Gives me the aluminum tabs to connect with the GP screws and folded in, fits on a tripod as well. I'd rather spend a few dollars to get the attachment system that hundreds to get a new GP just to get the same thing.