SGRT 71 Miles

1. Nice ride today with a few members, HerbM, Mark AJ, Hansolo and friends Mike, Ivan, Glen and Aimee. The first section was a nice warm up as the group held the pace down for a bit. Once we hit the bottom of the the damn dam they lifted the pace 22-24 mph. Actually pretty nice. We hung with the group for a while so I took my turn in the rotation. But once we hit 4 corners, I thought it best to back off, let the fast guys go. Pretty sure Aimee could have hung on and I felt I could but the only problem would be riding back. 71 miles is no joke and pretty painful if you blow yourself out at the start so I chose to do my own pace.
   
   HerbM, Aimee and I did a pretty good ride to Seal Beach (from Encanto Park) but once we got close to the coast we ran into the Long Beach organized ride. Some decent riders (meaning behavior) but my gosh there are a ton of dangerous riders. At one point we had to nearly stop as the wannabe's were flying off the bridge from the side into our path with no regard as to "right of way". For 6 miles it was sheer horror ha ha! Again, lots of good slow riders but too many without a clue. We slowed our pace to about 10 mph trying to get around rider after rider when it was clear. HerbM stopped to have a few words for one of the organizers at the PCH turn.
   
   But even so, I felt so much better on today's ride than I did last month. Even with the 10 mph pace, we still averaged 17.2 for the 71 mile ride. Not sure what MarkAJ and the fast group did but they rode strong!
   
   Oh, and thanks to the other riders for offering food. I accepted a P&J sandwich from Glen, Herb offered and Aimee hooked me up with a power waffle treat. Aimee and I showed up a bit early so that I could install her new tire. Somewhere in the mix I managed to hide my 2 P&J's behind my gear. 5 minutes into the ride I remember. Too late now, so thanks guys! Gina got up extra early today to make me breakfast and the sandwiches. So unless I can get down a couple of baked P&J's (in truck for hours), Gina might have a few words for me. So if you don't hear from me for a few day send help!

   
   Also caught a glimpse of LewisAClark. Never expected to see him on the SGRT
   
   
   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

Another solo ride with my tender hammy. Not so bad, I didn't push too hard but saved it for a few segments on Strava. Not bad, I set 4 segment PR's this weekend. Not too many riders out. I did see Gem and George fly by along with a few other River Velo Boyz. Tony at the coast but other than that, I didn't see many riders. So Tony pretty much got a solo video with the exception of a couple fly by's.

This Strava thing is pretty cool! I pushed myself on a segment today, bridge to bridge 7.4 miles. Averaged 21.7 mph and placed #211 out of 884 posted times. Not bad, about 25%. If I can get rid of this extra 35 lbs, it'll be even that much better. Well, my posted Strava times look much better on SART than they do on GMR ha ha ha ha!

Welp, I pulled my hammy on Wednesday night so today (Sat) I'm hoping I can ride the bike. Started out a little tender but felt OK. I tried a good push on a section of the trail but the leg was not happy. On the way to the coast I gave a good fort up a couple of the little inclines but the leg felt like a stretched rubber band. I was worried but after the ride, the sucker actual felt pretty good. I managed a 38 miler with some easy sections thrown in.

I did roll down to the pier to see what was happening. Some bongo dudes with some flipping tricks were pretty cool. But I left quickly wanting to avoid the crowd on the return so I rolled back to the usual rest spot. Then came a gang of friends. Cool, some good chat and a few ride partners for the return. Alex2, Tammy& Allen, sister Gloria, Mark and Pete. Nice tailwind so the return was a blast!

Some dude rolled up to the rest stop on pink trimmed bike that was pretty cool. A Shogun Ninja bicycle. I've never heard of the brand but it was a pretty cool looking bike, nothing cheap, nice components too. Dude was Thomas, kind of a camera shy type dude ha ha!

Video works now. ;-)

GMR/Peacock Saddle

OK, so like this blog thing is a new set up so I'm testing this thing out, hope it posts the same. ;-)

Today was a day I figured I might try the village. Not sure but as mentioned before, I'm just trying to get back into some kind of riding form. So Aimee volunteered to ride with me. Hmm, I think she's enjoys "chicking "me on the bike. We meet at the dirt lot at 8 am, not too hot, warm but a nice day. As we are suiting up GMR and hubby Mr. Bill ride by. They're hitting the village too. I figure I "might " catch them on the way, boy was I wrong.  I did see Mr. Bill at the Newman's Point talking with Matt but by the time I reached the shack, GMR was long gone.

Just as we were starting our ride, Matt rolled up so we rode together for a while. He was nice and hung back with me while that darn Aimee just rode away.....AGAIN!    Aimee is a good climber so I figured she might catch GMR. Well I;m not sure what GMR had for breakfast but she was gone and Aimee never caught her either. Man, I got 'chicked" twice today ha ha!

Matt rode with me for a while so we had a chance to talk. Guy is cool and always has something nice to say.                                                                        Nice to know that other people think the same way when it comes to riding. He's been up there for 15 years so it was nice to hear his GMR input. Then we go into the "every ride is not a race" subject. I'm cool with that, always a good topic . But then he dropped me ha ha! Just all fun IMO.

So Aimee waits at the shack for me, I'm guessing about 15 minutes.. Yeah, she took  it easy just in case we head to the village. I ask if she's OK to hit the village, she says she's fine but will turn around whenever I decide. OK, it's warm, my legs are toasty so Peacock Saddle sounds fine to me for now. She agrees so we head off. At the saddle we watch a few riders go by, FLYING BY! I'm not sure what got into the GMR riders but these day, seems every single one of them is a monster climber, they are whizzing by!

Speaking of "whizzers", JMX rides up and stops for a chat. So we do the bike chat for a bit checking out his new ride, sweet machine! I tell Aimee about his monster rides and such then we head back down the mountain. I think JMX was going easy today, only 7 or 8 thousand feet of climbing ha ha ha!

So now we are ready to head back but my Garmin battery gives me the low signal! Stupid thing, says 98-99 % every time I see it so I run it without charging it just to test the reading. I started at 63% and the thing dies after 16 climbing miles. OK, I got it figured out now, like a gas tank. Full takes for ever but once you hit half mark,  the juice pretty much evaporates ha ha!

 I have to add, when Amiee and I were stopped to rest on a wall, several riders rolled by asking if we were ok. She said everybody was so nice up here. Yes they are so I asked her if she noticed a difference in rider attitude on GMR vs other places. She said, "oh yeah." 

2 lesson learned today.  1) Charge Garmin before GMR rides. Lesson 2) Even when Aimee says she's feeling a little slower while feeling the heat,, she's still going to kick my arse on the climb ha ha!

Pics- Aimee dropping me hard! Matt in the LiveStrong jersey having mercy on me. JMX with the red trim and sweet Specialized.

2 MTB Loops at Claremont

Today I did 2 loops just trying to get back into shape. No racing, no trying to keep up with the racers, just "making it". Nice day and lots of friendly people. Wow there are some good MTB riders out there! I myself baby the downhill after a rain as the ground is filled with ruts. One dude passed me like I was standing still. Right before the section where I crashed about 5 years ago. Flipped at 30 mph destroying my helmet. I ain't doing that again. Some of these guys are good and they can have it ha ha! I was thinking maybe he is on Strava trying to take a segment. All I know is that I have never and will never be able to descend in the dirt like that!

But it was a nice ride today. Like I said lots of friendly people out and I must say "Summer is Near"!

10 miles with 1,775 feet of gain.

Hahahahaha! A poster in the bike forums looked at the ride profile (lower green image) and named this the "Dolly Parton" course!

Claremont Hills MTB

A little bit of MTB today at Claremont Hills. So much nicer in the afternoon avoiding the morning and midday crowd. I was actually able to ride without having to dodge walkers. The ground was pretty torn up by the rain, lots of ruts but it's all good. I did one loop at a good effort and boy am I getting old. OK, maybe not, more like fat. I did OK but my times are way of of what they were when I was 30 lbs lighter. I'm digging this Strava thing, motivating me to pick up the pace a bit while reminding me what a difference the weight makes.

I do have to thank a couple of forum members that remind me every time I am behind them on a segment, it's all friendly competition ha ha!

I tried but this riding in the dirt is tough!

SART 04/15/12

Well Gina was in no spirit to ride but she urged me to go ahead and ride without her. So I sent Aimee a message and asked if she would like to ride even though Gina would not be there. Yeah, I know Aimee is an animal on the bike and anything I can dish out she'll be right there smiling, and she was. Matter of fact, after a long 21.5 mile pull to the coast I let her take the lead, mistake. She picked it up and dropped me. She thought a third rider that had latched on was The Beanz. Oh well, I just cruised in the last 1/2 in alone. I tried to hop on a wheel but my legs said,"not right now right now" Ha ha!

At the coast the third rider from Cycling Connection introduces himself as Leonard. Cool dude, friendly guy! We rest a bit then head back to Yorba. Different start area since Gina was not with us today. I take the pull back to Edna then invite Aimee to the front. Mistake! She's doing well and makes it look so easy. Every time we hit an underpass incline she stands then accelerates. Darn it Aimee, would you sit down please! Ha ha! She makes it looks so easy, I hate that! But it's motivating ha ha! Good thing she did some running yesterday or she probably could have easily dropped my old fat arse!

Leonard dropped off at The Honda Center while we continued on down the road. Riding with Gina we usually stop more often, but today we rode straight through both ways. I'm not used to that anymore and I could swear I heard myself whimper a couple of times.

Oh by the way, sorry to the forum member I almost ran into on the wooden bridge. I'm pretty sure it was "Siran". I was looking back talking to Aimee as we approached the bridge. I swear I didn't see you till I heard someone shout "Beanz!". Hm, every time I make a stupid mistake on the bike, it involves a forum member ha ha! I need to watch myself! Sorry Dude!