Short good climb today. First climb was 3.4 miles with 1,536 feet of elevation gain. After descending i decided to head up the trail for a mile or so, extra credit. Gives me 1,942 feet in 8.9 miles. no lollygaggin', only lost 8 minutes the entire time.
I almost lost it while climbing a steep section. Looks so simple in the video but trying to hold a line on a 22 percent dirt grade is tough.
Did run into a dude heading up while I was heading down. He waved to the recorder then joked a bit about royalties. I like the echoing voices ha ha! One other dude on the way up passing me. He's lucky I was on a recovery ride ha ha!
Near the start, I ran into a couple of ladies asking about the strange thing on my head. I explained then asked them to wave!
A windy day on SART. Forecast said 20 mph winds. Tough in some sections but nothing too tough. Gina and I rode alone today so we were just cruising along. I did fight the wind then let Gina set the pace on the way back to the coast just to let her conserve energy while doing her pace. As we got near Imperial I heard a voice, happened to be Ron of Ron and Dixie. Ron riding with a group of guys in a small pace line. They went by so I figured I'd ride along for a little footage then drop back for Gina. Pretty sure they didn't know I was back there. Later we did see Ron 2 more times, alone. He must have been doing like a hundred miles or sumthin'.
On the way back from the coast to the Leaky Fountain, the wind really kicked up for the remainder of the ride. That was the point I had to slow down a bit for Gina. So the last 4 miles was a real good workout for her ha ha!
At the coast we ran into Ray (a frequent flier on SART) and 72 y/o in line skate racer Steve. Steve coming off his 72 mile skate last weekend celebrating his 72 nd birthday, DANG! Also getting ready for a big race in NY and planning to win his age group once again!
Windy but beautiful day. Not too many riders out but still a good ride.
Nice MTB ride on the trail. One loop clockwise then counter clock wise for the climb section. Lots of people out today, guessing plenty had the day off. Lots of friendly people. Funny how easily children are amused when a bike rolls by.
Each direction is about 900 feet within a couple of miles, nice climbs if you've never tried this trail. Now that I have the Garmin, I can see why some sections are so tough. Watching the grade go up, 8%, 9% up to 16% on some sections explains plenty ha ha!
8.5 miles with 1,841 feet of gain. Funny thing about climbing, I really don't notice the dirt that gathers on my water bottles. Last thing on my mind while climbing is how cold my water is or how clean my bottles are, just give me some water! I did wash the bottles right before the ride ha ha!
Started off the ride with Aimee, Herb & Alyce on the tandem, and Gina. Supposed to rain tomorrow so we figured we'd do 50 instead of the usual 42. As soon as we left we run into JTCastillo at the HC park. I figured he catch us on the road so there was no need to take pics at that point. Sure enough he and his bud rolled by giving me a chance to capture them in action.
So they turn out at Yorba Pak and we continue on to Gypsum where we run into crazy Alex2. Crashed last week and against his family's wishes, he rides today. Now that's a cyclist ha ha! We ride with him for a while toward the coast, then he rolls on as we stop for water.
So running into Mark and Gail for a bit, they turn off and wait for friends. So back to the 5 of us, we roll into the wind. Just when I think everyone is tired, Herb and Alyce take the front and push the pace. Wow, they're rolling and killing all of us ha ha! Finally we it the coast and have a few laughs.
There we run into Marcello and his buddies. I'd hate to be one of this guy's new ride buddies. Seems they get initiated with an 85 miler ha ha, no thanks! We talk for bit then they head back. We leave a little bit later to enjoy the tailwind return. But upon return to my truck, we see El Monarcha run up for a visit. Poor guy had to work, no riding but he got in a good 4 mile run. Always fun on the trail.
Well Gina was sick so I rode alone about 2:45. Ran into 3 other riders that seemed to turn back at the 4 mile point. Pretty much alone to the shack, did see one guy coming down. Started out nice and warm with some sunshine but how quickly that changes in the shadows of the mountain. The descent was chilly and I need to quit listening to Gina..."oh it's warm outside, you won't need your leg cover" hahahaha!
On the slow side but I did feel pretty good on the climb considering yesterday's flat 50 miler almost killed me.;-)
Met some new people on SART today, from New York, San Diego and a couple of locals. Derick, Ferdinand, Yvette and Romella (hope I got the correct spelling). Gina and I were just starting out at the Leaky Fountain when a rider rolls by and shouts "Beanz". I look over and see a set of huge quads on an orange bike. Nope, don't think I know the guy but he and the small group of riders roll by. Later we run into them on the return as they are pulled over on the side of the road. So we stop to chat and meet. Nice people with a couple trying SART for the first time. I think they were out for a nice little cruise seeing as Derick looked really fit and I figured his huge quads could really push his bike at a pretty good clip if he liked, but the group was at cruising speed today. So I did my thing and snapped a few pics of the riders.
Gina and I did a 50 miler while trying to limit our stops. We had only 10 minutes of rest time up until I ran into a few riders. Met up with Jose, back on the bike after crashing on GMR 6 weeks ago. Good to see him back. Now Bad Bob of the Haircut Crew, with a helmet? See if you can spot him in the video ha ha! Wow, seemed like minimal stop time but turns out it was a little more than I thought. That darn Gina talks too much ha ha!
Last day of the year and last ride so what better than a GMR ride with Herb and Alyce. Actually it was Alyce's idea, she's killing us with the GMR rides ha ha! Not many riders at all up there. A few but not many. Lovin' the Garmin. Now I can see why my legs burn on certain sections of the road he he!
We did the shack then a little more. Gals didn't seem too happy once we past the fork so we traveled a bit then headed back. Ran into fast Jason claiming to be out of shape, yeah sure! Spoke for a short bit hen turned to head back once Herb told me the gals headed back.
After the ride we hit the chicken and ribs place. Ended up sitting by a few loud potty mouth teen young adult types. Finally they leave but what do they do, hang around my truck. I really hate people leaning on my truck and having the bikes in the back makes me nervous. So Herb and I joke about what we'd do if they tried something. He says we can go out an rough them up a bit ha ha! Not soon after Herb says one dude keeps looking into my truck, WHAT THE HEY!!!!
I keep my eyes on the guy and sure enough he reaches into the back of my truck and pull something out. Before Gina even knows what is going on I'm out the door and heading towards the 5 or 6 guys. I approach the guys and ask WTF are you guys doing reaching into my truck. They say they aren't but I said I saw this dude here pull something out then one guy say she was puling his drink out of the back of my truck. OK, now WTF! Why are you putting your drink in my truck?
I'm thinking they're going to get smart but they just kind of hang there heads and smile in embarrassment. Cool, save me some trouble but as I look back, Herb is right behind me ready to throw down with the young guys. I thought Herb was kidding about roughing them up but he was more than willing ha ha! Gina says as soon as I ran out, Herb was right behind me. Dude's got my back and honestly, I think we could have taken all 6. If I could have taken out 2, I think Herb could have taken out the other 4 ha ha! Either way, I told the dude, "Look, I wouldn't mess with your SH!T, so don't mess with mine!". So they moved a few paces from my truck and believe me, my eyeball was on them. Don't make me send Herb out after you again!
