43 Sore Throat Miles

43 miles with Jose today (17.4 average). Sore throat on Thursday, not bad on Friday then sucked again Sat morning. But I have been scrubbing floors the hard way the last couple of weeks. Hands and knees, bucket, scrub the grout, scrub again then seal the grout. About 6 days total. Some dude wanted $450 just to scrub 3 rooms. I did 5 rooms for $45 buying my own supplies. That was sealing as well and the scrub dude only scrubs the floors, forget that!

But my knees really took a beating over the first 4 days. I think it was actually more fatiguing than riding the bike ha ha! But $450?! :-O

So not having a chance to ride last week, and a sore throat, I went for it. Glad I did, had a decent ride though I suffered a bit. I wore my bones jersey hoping that the others would see how hard my heart was working, the congestion in my chest then take it easy on me, but no! I'm actually thinking Jose tried to punish me with a faster start.

At the coast we ran into Joaquin and Rheo (SP?). Super fast guy. Had a good chat, some pics then headed back all together. I figured I'd get punished ha ha! But Joaquin lead the way holding about 20 which was OK for me but once we started hitting the little underpasses, the repetition got to me and I had to slow. I waved Jose and Joaquin on but they insisted on waiting for me. Not bad guys I guess. Joaquin asked if I was sick as we were riding. He asked a question and I had no voice to answer. So It think once I fell back, they had mercy on me ha ha!

That dude Rheo, he hung with us for about 3 miles or so, then turned on the afterburners! He said he rolls about 27 at times and that is too much for me, and the others I think ha ha! So he just pulled away and rolled off into the sunset.

20 hours work. This is the tile floor I scrubbed the grout, the tile, then sealed the grout. Hands and knees, bucket and a brush. 

You can see the difference before and after the grout scrub. Baking soda, 50/50 mix white vinegar and water. Huge difference. Scrubbed every line of grout, then went back and scrubbed the grout and tile with dawn dish soap. Plenty of work but saved big bucks, $450 to scrub the floor alone. That did not include the grout seal.

Wowzer Wind!

43.5 miles with Jose today, 16.6 average speed which is real good I am going to say after facing some huge winds today. So the forecast said 5 mph winds but uhh I don't think so! Jose and I headed from Anaheim to Yorba Park in some big winds after Kraemer. While we were warming up, some dude passed us, cycling tats on legs, looked really fit. I don't know how far he was into his ride but he was looking pretty strong when he rolled by. I pulled the first 5 miles to warm up then right as Jose got in front, the wind kicked in!

A mile after that, we caught the dude that had rolled by earlier. Didn't look so strong at that point ha ha! Wind does that to people. But it was blowing so Jose sat on his wheel for a bit then rolled around after he got a little rest. Getting close to Yorba Park is that little bump in the road. Jose slowed way down and I almost had no choice to go around so I did. We had been doing 12.8 or so. I got up front and figured there is only a short distance to the park restroom where we turn around. I pushed really hard and held 14 for a bit. But then I felt my heart swell up to the size of a basketball ha ha! I never felt that before so I backed off. Got to the park and boy was I breathing hard. But the heart felt good at this point, more the lungs. The tat dude waved and thanked us for the pull  then continued on toward Green River (not sure where he was headed or started).

But that was cool because most people are just jerk faces, this guy was cool! So we rolled back to the beach to about Lincoln with a tailwind. When I spoke with Mark at the coast, he said he thought we have hit 30 MPH with the tailwind. I explained, many times I could but I never do. I actually conserve energy when I get the chance. Yes, we could have done 30 but I figured the wind would change somewhere as it usually does.

I remember a guy flying by me around Kraemer heading to the coast couple years back.  Later saw him at the coast. There he was asking me, "DID YOU SEE ME FLY AROUND YOU AT 30 MPH?!".  He was pretty stoked about it so I played along. He ended up leaving a few minutes before me on the return, like 15 minutes. But as I approached Warner, he was standing on the side of the road looking like he was going to cry. I am really really sure that I saw tears in his eyes! I was pushing hard, maybe holding 13 or 14 and I was sure tempted to stop and tell him, "I SEE YOU NOW!!!".  ;-)

 Well anyway, today we got to hang out with a few friends at the coast. Herb and Alyce, Mark and Jouquin. Checked out Herb's new bike.  From across the way, it looked orange. I walked toward it and it was purple, two steps to the right then it was green. Took a pic then it was blue and green, I dunno, but it's a trick paint job!

                                                                     Old Fart jersey

Jose looked pretty strong today

A frisbee tournament at the coast today, teams from all over the US

Herb and the new bike

Friends

For the people of other states, yes, SoCal Winter ha ha!

I was happy as I could raise my average speed up by .1 after Jose turned off, doing the last couple of miles solo with wind.

Yeah, that is me!

Team Fat Bastard (Me and Jose)

46 miles at 17.3 average speed. Started out with the two of us but after 23 miles, we ran into Joaquin who helped us out through the windy section since he was fresh. That helped ha ha!

Ran into Mark along the way. I can usually get out a little earlier if Gina doesn't ride ha ha, so we actually met Mark at the start of his ride today. He played the LONER today having been a little, not feeling so good last couple of days. Poor guy, I bet the wind had to be brutal for him today. But hey, it builds character!

But today imo was much better than last Saturday. Last week I was pushing hard toward Yorba Park doing 14.5. Today my average on the first stretch, same one as last week was 16 point something so much better!

Jose and I did the first 23 together. I think I pulled for the first 5 miles. That allows me to warm up at my pace, which I like. Then Jose did about 5 miles then we started to switch after every mile. Jose doesn't keep track of each mile too well so every mile, I give him a shout. If I feel a little devilish, I'll let him pull a little more, another .1 or so, maybe 2 ha ha! Hey, that is the price you pay when you have a short attention span ha ha! Today I didn't as he said he had too many tamales over Christmas ha ha!

Worked well and we had a 17.0 when we reached Edna Park (after 23 miles/ north to Yorba then double back, our usual). That was when we ran into Joaquin. He likes to do short mileage but at a good pace. Today he said he would pull us to the beach. Hey, I won't argue! He did at about 17-18. I don't think he could have gone any faster with the headwind today but it really helped us!

But dang it, if I ain't the only guy out there without aero wheels! Jose's back is all decked out now so I was worried about the aero benefits hoping these guys wouldn't drop me. Luckily, when we hit the short climb heading South after Moon Park (405?), Joaquin picked the pace up the short steep climb and Jose fell back. I thought maybe he made a bad shift but he said he was tired and just pooped out on the steep ramp. I was good with that. Usually that means one will not have a problem keeping up if the other guy is getting tired ha ha! We had planned to stay together so if the pace slowed, it would be for Jose. Phew! I escaped that one today ha ha!

Overall a good day on the bike. I felt good and my quad cramped on the last 1/2 mile. Well if I had done 45, I would have been good ha ha! But like they say about "IF". If my grandma had balls, she would be my grandpa ha ha!

I did do this little silly no doping sign ha ha! I get these crazy ideas sometimes ha ha!

            Sorry Aimee, you were my test subject this day ha ha! This is at the shack on GMR!                              FTR, I still think Lance is the best! I just like to kid sometimes but Lance still rules!

Jose and his revamped Red Machine!

Mark at the coast, crazy clouds!

Post ride meal, cucumbers and apple. Need to get back on it!

Mark captured us arriving at the coast

Flexing my FAT arm ha ha!

Well Gosh Darn the Wind

43.5 solo miles. And just when I thought it could not be any worse than last week, it was. Not a big wind but I swear, I pushed hard to the coast against a big headwind. Shorter time than usual at the coast so I thought I would get a tailwind back but nope! Felt exactly the same as heading to the coast. Oh well, my average sucked, 15.8 but hey, I got in some exercise and some day, some day,  I just might get a day without constant wind. Maybe if that Greta Dumberg can help us out here and change the wind ha ha! :-P

So anyway, pretty much gave it my all but being a Grump Old Bastard, I sucked ha ha! Did run into Mark at the coast. Snapped a couple pics, wished each other a Happy New Year then he was off to the pier area.



                                           With the wind today, the jersey fit the bill ha ha!

I'm not one of those, " do my gloves match my shoelaces and handlebar tap?" types. I just get on my bike and ride ha ha!

This smile was before I realized I was going to have a headwind on the return as well. :-(

I took the first pic then Mark asked me to retake the pic as he did not want the buds hanging from his helmet in the pic. OK, so you know I got to have some fun with it and enlarged the buds ha ha! His ears are not really that big inside ha ha!

OK, couple of real pics.

FINALLY! 40 Miles on SART

40 miles today at 16.1 MPH average. Wow, tough ride but I went for it. Hadn't been on the bike in over 5 weeks so I was worried about the 40. But hey, let's do it!

Solo ride so I felt every little headwind, breeze, and gust ha ha! At the start it looked pretty chilly but the sun was out so I figured it would be good. Saw quite a few riders with jackets and tights but I went as is. Not too bad!

But the headwind was a bigger factor for me today. I didn't think I would do real good as far as average having time off but I figured I could complete the 40. I did and to my surprise, I felt pretty good as far as breathing. I had a sore throat last week, a head cold for a day but then it cleared up nicely. Now poor Gina, she's been pretty sick the last week. She had to work today too. :-(

My breathing good, slower speeds but I actually passed a few riders so again, hey that's good! I started to figure more than just me were feeling the breeze, or cold, whatever it was.

On the return, I left a few seconds after a small group. They pulled away pretty fast but then I caught back up at Moon Park so I figure they felt the chill too. But as soon as I hit that little climb, my quads started pulling, or cramping. Oh ouch! They were taking turns back and forth cramping. At one point my leg just went straight out for about 30 seconds.

BUT! I wondered what would happen if I just kept pedaling and trying to ignore the cramps. I was actually surprised that I could. Kept a decent pace and ended up with a 16.1. I'm good with that, if it had been 16.0 I would have been happy after feeling the head wind by Imperial.

I did use the cream my daughter gave me for Christmas, DZNuts, good stuff imo! She also bought me a few t shirts, a nut sack that hangs on the back of the bike ha ha! It's actually a light, 3 modes, flashing too so I guess it would work at night. Pretty cool thing but I think my daughter got a kick out of it. Her hubby David also rides so they know the cool stuff. Anyway, happy with the cream. It actually stayed together better than the Paceline chamois cream I have been using. Hmm!

After 30 miles, my ball sack was still clean ha ha!

Just some Christmas pics. 

The view from my daughter's house in Ridgecrest.

A couple of pics from the front yard of the crescent moon. Happened to get a plane flying by at about 6 seconds shutter speed. :-P