Ladies & Gents Thurs Ride

Video later on......25 miles Upland to Covina and back. Good size group of about 30 riders.                Got a couple of my friends out there. Milton (Eyemage) the Strava stalker and Tony. Tony and I have been riding together since way back when before we really knew about roadbikes. Back in 1994 we used to ride hybrids and mountain bikes on the trail. Discovering road bikes then even hitting up GMR back in 1996. GMR was way different back then before Lance. We could ride to Baldy Village via GMR and see maybe 2 or 3 other cyclists.

 Well the legs are tired so I backed off some. Of course the group says a beginner flat easy ride as you will hear the gal in the video mention, but it gets fast and some of the riders are pretty competitive.  Of course I speak of the women ha ha! If they can drop you, they will ha ha! I have mentioned before, I have never seen so many strong female riders in once place before other than a race. But it is a fun ride if you have some kind of fitness and skill. Can't say it is a beginner ride as there is some handling skills required out on the road due to potholes, cracks, curbs, bike lane variations etc.

Heck, I do tend to sit at the back on the fast sections to stay out of trouble. I can't count the times I am the very last rider sitting 20 yards back watching everyone keeping myself safe. I do tend to work harder after we turn around in Covina. It's a gradual climb back to Upland. That is where I get my workout so I increase my effort there. Most start suffering there so I don't end up at the tail end here ha ha! On the way out it is somewhat of a descent and doing 25 on the way out is not too hard to do. But I don't see the sense since we will all regroup anyway. I avoid the high speeds in a group when I can.  I either move to the front for footage of the faster riders, or I drop to the back and keep an eye on the group while avoiding trouble.

It has seemed pretty safe though over the last several rides but this time, I was actually startled scared by a rider, or two. Tony and I were heading east on Bonita. 2 riders behind us maybe 20 yards back. Tony and I riding side by side in the bike lane comfortably as the bike lane and shoulder are pretty wide at this point.

So approaching a signal intersection, the light switches to yellow then red. Seemed fairly quick so we did do somewhat of a quick stop but nothing that would cause any loss of control. Just a fast smooth stop actually. But the riders behind us for some reason did not stop. Not sure if they were not paying attention or just lacking skills.  We made the quick stop as the light changed to red not wanting to take a chance. Just then, one gal goes blowing by me, BUZZING ME on my left side. The other rider, a guy passed Tony on his left at a pretty good rate of speed. WTF!!!! Not sure if Tony got buzzed but I sure did!

As the gal passed, she shouted, "Sorry guys, I couldn't stop!" as she blew the red light. Really? We made the stop being ahead 20 yards but they couldn't?  OK, I stay back and watch the other riders to stay safe but someone behind you almost taking you out? Either they weren't paying attention or they are seriously lacking handling skills. Wow really? 20 yards back, if you aren't paying attention to the riders in front of you, you should at least be paying attention to the lights at the intersection. These are the reasons I have avoided cycling groups for so long. You get plenty of good handlers but always that one that lacks the skill or just plain doesn't pay attention. I enjoy the ride but after that, has actually made me think twice about getting hurt because of the actions of others.

But anyway, it was a good ride again other than that! Oh, a cop stopped by when we regrouped in a parking lot, the usual stop. As you can see in the video and pics, a near empty lot at a little strip mall. I guess someone working there called the cops and complained that a group of cyclists have been blocking the parking lot. Really? I've been on what, 6 rides and have only seen one car exit the lot while we were there. Erik spoke with the guy so I don't know every detail that was said, but Erik then tells us that the cop said people on the road were calling in saying that we were going to fast.

Wow ha ha! First time I have been involved in a group accused of going too fast up a 2% grade road for 3 miles ha ha! I don't know, seems you get in trouble when you take pics of your group in a little empty strip mall, riding high end bikes many of them, not like we're a group of homeless gathering in a business center. But if we were to start a protest and loot the businesses there, the cops would probably just stand by and watch ha ha!

So anyway, a good ride, interesting at times. Fun at times but I'm still watching my arse for those people who aren't paying attention and/or lacking skill.

Now this reminds me of a rider that asked if he could ride with Gina and I years back. Guy used to race and reading all the bull shit on the cycling forum, racers are highly trained bike handlers, OK ha ha! I guess I have read too much bullshit on the forum over the years. Anyway, this dude asks to ride with Gina and I on the road heading up to Fontana from Upland. Lemon, Wilson, Duncan Canyon roads. We get to an intersection, I tell the guy we're going left and even signal. Gina sees it, I would think he got the message with a verbal and visual. So we start to turn the he goes straight and takes Gina down in the middle of the intersection, in front of a cop sitting at the stop waiting his turn.

He takes her down but both are OK. She ended up falling on top of him and his bike so she was good.  I didn't care about him ha ha! The cop shouts out on the loud speaker, "ARE YOU GUYS OK?".  Yeah! But anyway, racer or not, got to watch the short attention span handling skill lacking types. I enjoy the rides, get a good ride and workout but this made me rethink the group rides. But I guess we run into all types along the way. I just know who to avoid ha ha!

The cool thing is that I get to ride with old friends. People I also met on cycling forums. Too bad the forum gods are such morons. Let's see, I'm out here riding with bike forum members, making vids and taking pics while the a holes who are posting on the forums are at home in their bedrooms riding a trainer ha ha! I'm such a hated guy on the forums for calling out the bullshitters but yet, I ride with the real rider forum members.  Hmm! Again, look at the SART thread in the SoCal section. Couple of guys talking about a ride here and there but not one pic, video, or even touch of entertainment. Seems the idea of entertainment in that thread is, "I rode my bike and saw a homeless guy!". OK, one sentence entertainment ha ha while I'm out here riding with the forum members who don't even care to post there any longer because the moron forum gods have made it such a boring place. ;-)                                                                   

Tony C, pretty in pink!

Long Hot Ride 66.6

Long hot 66.6 miles at 17.8 average speed with Erik and a few good riders. Of course Strava ripped me off .1 on my average speed but I go by Garmin. I invited Mike and Jimbo figuring if things weren't "together", we could organize our own thing. But we didn't need to because today was a good ride with good strong riders. This gal Denise is a monster on the bike! She's been doing solo 70 milers and logged over 1,000 miles in May. After an injury bike crash, some health problems, and trying to quit smoking, she's been riding mega miles and it shows. A few times she'd take the front and kick it up to 23 MPH. That was after we had done about 55 miles so at that point, I was hoping to hang on ha ha! I do say hot as the temp on my Garmin topped out at 100.4 degrees.

Either way, we all pitched in making it pretty well organized as far as good help. Mike was looking strong so at the end, I was dying trying to keep his wheel the last 1/2 mile or so. It was hot, my Garmin topped out at 100.4 degrees. I guess I am not acclimated yet because once we hit Anaheim on the return, all of us felt the heat. I ate something at Seal Beach and plenty of fluids but once back at the Artic station, we all decided to stop and go inside for an AC break. I was so hot that I decided to eat my ClifBar thinking I might need the energy for the final 8 miles or so. I was so hot and tired that I was eating it while crumbs were falling out of my mouth and sticking to my lips but I didn't care ha ha! That's when you know you're tired, you sit at a table with people and don't care what you look like ha ha!

Erik kept saying that he figured I would do extra mileage once we got back to hit 70. Meh! I was so hot at the end that I didn't care. But I had done some extra miles as warm us seeing we didn't start at the park with the group. Mike, Jimbo and I parked down the way worried about the parking situation at the park so we used it as a nice slow little warm up before hitting the park not knowing how the group would start. I was actually shocked that there were only 7 of us total. Kind of nice making it easier to keep together.

At the end, I was toasted. Felt really hot to where it is hard to breath. Some of that may be the mask around my chin acting like and air dam blocking my intake. I even felt like it was choking me a bit. Well not choking but feeling like I had a hand around my throat ready to strangle me ha ha!

It did take me a bit to recover once we were back at the parking lot. I was overheated and had to slouch over my bike for a bit to catch my breath. Though part of it might have been trying to stay on Mike's wheel the last section. I might have overdone myself but that is OK because that is how you get back into shape. So you feel hot, choked, overheated and ready to throw up but it's worth it ha ha!

I still had to dismount my go pros, bag them all up and rack my bike. This is always the worst part when it is hot and you're tired. I start sweating more doing that than riding ha ha!

So I think Jimbo stayed around a little longer than he wanted to making sure I didn't fall down under my truck and go into a seizure ha ha! Sure felt like it so I waited a bit to collect my marbles before packing.  So I think once Jimbo knew I was good, he took off! That's cool! I have friends like Milton that if you have a flat up in the forest, or crash and separate your shoulder, they'll toss you a slime patch and say later dude! Ha ha ha! So it's always good to have another rider verify your sanity before parting ways!


                                                              The video





                                                     An Erik version of an Eric pic

                                                                               Susan

Denise in Pink. She's gotten very strong. I think Erik was crying because we didn't get ice cream in Seal Beach.

Seal Beach, some munchies

Mike, actually bought me a cookie!

Jimbo

Tandem with Gina

35 miles at 16.0 windy ride. Well it was nice to ride the tandem again after 1 1/2 years. Gina doesn't like to ride the tandem when she hasn't been riding saying she knows it is torture on me having to carry her on the bike. She's right ha ha! if she hasn't been riding, it's murder! Heck, even though she has been riding some lately and doing pretty well, she is still lacking on the uphills. So the shortest little climbs on the trail are rough. I push extra hard to get us up the inclines making my hammies feel like they are going to jump out of the skin ha ha! But all went well, no cramps or anything, just some serious stress on a couple sections. Mainly the little inclines around the 405 (is that right? 405, never can get it right!) On the way to the coast it was windy so the tandem ride being a little tough was expected but Gina did very well.

We ran into Rheo, Rio, Rhio, I've seen his name spelled on his bike and it's not just a plain simple thing and I'm not quite sure which is right. Caught a clip of him on the video for a little chat. Really fast guy! I've had him pass me on the trail and ask if I wanted to draft him, he'd pull me to the beach. Heck no! If I draft that guy for a mile, I'd be toast and probably have to walk my bike back ha ha! I haven't seen too many guys keep up with him. I don't even try, I have to make sure I conserve energy for the return ha ha!

Then some lady Ann, asked if I'd watch her bike while she used the facilities. OK, came out and said thanks as Gina noticed they were both wearing the same model of Terry shorts. Gina just got a new pair of shorts from the REI website. $90 and pretty cool. The chamois seems a little different and lighter than before but only time will tell how it lasts. Been wearing Terry since 2005 and loves them. Well constructed thicker material so no but crack show. High rise so no plumber's crack show either. Nice shorts and always a comfy chamois but like I said, this one seemed a bit lighter so hoping Terry didn't cut corners. Thought last few times she paid about $110 per pair, well worth it for a lady's pair of shorts. But that was at a bike shop that specializes in women's clothes. Which is The Unlikely Cyclist. Oh, btw, the new shorts have a pocket on each side, kind of a mesh pouch thing that Gina really likes. She has this thing about pockets ha ha!

But anyway, in the video, I mention to Ann about The Unlikely Cyclist, the woman's bike shop. The gal that runs it is a woman of size so she has seen the needs of real women with real sizes.  I'm guessing she has the bean pole sizes too, I didn't look or care, but I was impressed with her selection and stock of large sizes in bike shorts. Gina and I would visit 10 bike shops from Rancho, to Monrovia and could not find one pair of Terry shorts. Wait a second, maybe we did find one in a small size now that I think about it. So when I heard about The Unlikely Cyclist, I called to make sure they had Terry in an XL before making the trip from Upland to Costa Mesa. Yes, XL, Gina does have some junk in the trunk but I like it! :-P So we made the trip and sure enough, they had several pair of Terry and even another, I don't remember the brand but they worked for Gina. Kickers, or knee length, not good with style names, all I know is they were a little longer ha ha. Gina walked out with nothing but shorts, stocked up and spent a little over $400. Lasting her quite some time so it was worth it to have good shorts! The lady that runs the shop is named Lisa I believe. She actually did a GMR ride with us back when the forums weren't such a bunch of pricks ha ha! We had some good people back then before the a holes moved in with their holier than thou attitudes ha ha! But anyway, if any of the good size, real size women need bike duds, check it out!

But anyway, I think it was my third time entering the ARTIC facility. Not sure why I keep saying ARCTIC in the video ha ha! But anyway, entering from the South side, puts you right by the restrooms. Plenty of room in there, nothing like I was expecting. I was expecting wall to wall people in business suits. Maybe I've watched too many movies ha ha! But a nice restroom and a water fountain inside. Gina said she thought she saw a yogurt stand. There used to be restaurants in there I heard someone say. But maybe the virus closed them down, guess we'll find out later on.

But anyway, cool parking place. I was a little confused when I first entered the lot as there are little gates there. So I was like,"wait, what? you gotta pay to park here!?". Usually you get let in but to get out, you have to pay. So I was confused with the gates but it's cool. The gates go down but at the exit gate, you pull up to the gate and it opens one vehicle at a time. Cool, I was worried about having to pay $20 for parking. I also heard that on event days (Honda Center) , they post guards at the gates and if you are there to cycle, they will allow you to park. But if there for a sporting event, they will turn you away, that is cool!

OG71 told me about this parking lot so when you hear me say "Original Ganstah", I am referring to OG71 which was actually used as Old Guy71. But hey, growing up in the hood, OG to me means Original Gangstah ha ha!

By the way, I had been using WTB bike saddles on my bikes and did well with them. But I bought a Charge Spoon saddle off of ebay after hearing several people on cycling forums talk about them. Hard to believe a $25 saddle could feel good to me so I bought one as an experiment and slapped it on my Madone. OK then! I likey!

So I ordered another one today (Monday) from ebay. Price went up to $29 but hey, still a good price. Estimated delivery date on Friday the 12th. Super fast delivery on ebay and this bike store called Trailthis........WOW, they have 4 packs of  Paceline Chamois butter for $44, or a 3 pack for $34. Comes out to somewhere around $11 per tube vs the $18 at local shops and most internet stores. This is the best I have found. And fast guaranteed shipping. Again, if they are a day late with an item having the fast free guaranteed shipping date, ebay gives you a $5 voucher for next purchase.

So hey man, I ordered another Charge Spoon saddle for the tandem. Feeling OK on the WTB saddles but now having been on a Spoon, I like it and replacing the tandem saddle. The Spoon just fits me like a glove. Perfect great fit in my case. I did the 62 miler to San Clemente on it and felt really good so I'm getting another, should be here by Friday.

Not saying you should go out and buy one because we are all different but this one has a nice shape that fits me well! Less than $30, Sheesh! I really like Terry saddles but the ti Fly I liked is $175 now. Wow! But this Spoon saddle is one that gave me the same feeling when I sat on the Fly but I can buy 5 or 6 Spoon saddles for that price ha ha!

Video chat, no music.

Like it HDR style. Looks like Gina's wearing a gas mask ha ha!

Aluminum Thumb Screw Collection ha ha!

So got in another shipment today. Got the red screws, 3 for $5.69 on ebay from a store called rainbowimaging. Fast and free shipping. Supposed to be here by June 11th and got here on the 6th. Wow, I ordered 3 days ago and they are here! :-O

  The link   Rainbowimaging   One of the stores I use for screws and little stuff.

So I ordered these as they are the 3 screws, 1 long and 2 short needing more short screws in my collection. I ordered 2 of the red and 2 of the black.  That equals 2 long black, 4 short. 2 long red and 4 short in red. I have plenty of long black and blue now. Just needed a few more short.

Some of the packs include the 3 long and a wrench (blue) for $9.99. Well worth it.

I had thought about ordering the fish skeleton alum wrench as well but noticed that the wrench head is shaped like a clover which means it would only fit the cheap azz go pro plastic screws, and some similar alum available on ebay. But I like this style more so I kept it all the same.

The fish wrench/bottle opener was $10 on another ebay store. These guys rainbow imaging sent it to me with my last order free of charge, wow! I had no idea but I appreciate the gesture. Hey, maybe they liked the feedback I was posting on their store reviews! ;-)

So now I got me some good ol strong connecting go pro screws! And a fish wrench/bottle opener.

And red screws to match the tandem!

The screw collection with about 4 missing that are connected to something or other at this moment.

I just may be the envy of the trail tomorrow sporting that red thumb screw on the handlebar go pro mount. :-P

25 Miles Ladies And Gents Ride

25 mile ride average 15 point something. I forgot to turn on my Garmin at the start. Keep doing that after showing much concern to my recorders heading out so again, shorted myself a few miles on my Strava ha ha!

So it was a nice ride tonight. Mostly gals and the group seems to change every week. Milton joined in again so there was a little entertainment on the ride ha ha! Just a nice ride through the city, nothing real exciting happening other the being on our bikes and a nice ride.

A raw footage video. Easier video creation not having to worry about music copyrights on youtube.

Milton

Ricky

Nadine

Helen, Sandra, and Susan. Sandra was hiding from the video because she chose cycling over Bible study and didn't want to be seen by the officials. I'm guessing God doesn't see you when you are on your bike ha ha!

Denise riding strong. At the front of the group pulling for most of the ride.

Me and my cheap safety glasses. Heck, over 200 for my Oakleys, no way would I pay the same for clear glasses. I'll just stick with these things for night rides.

A pic from Erik's cell cam. Of the dudes!

Action Camera Mounts and Accessories (Go Pro mounts suck!!!)

Wish someone had told me about this stuff years ago! But they didn't so I am telling anyone who will listen ha ha! Yeah, Go Pro overpriced cheap plastic junk mounts. Get rid of that stuff and buy some inexpensive aluminum parts on ebay.

Again, ebay has guaranteed delivery dates, usually 5 days away and if it's late, you get a $5 voucher for your next purchase. I got a couple of mounts for $6 which means I paid 2 after free shipping.

Smatree, good stuff, wrench fits most but not the Chinese thumb screws.

Forevercam wrench fits all alum screws but can't find alone. Had to buy in a set with mount. $12 or so with wrench and screw, not bad.

Maximal Power, SUCKS! They claim the wrench fits all go pro screws. DIDN'T EVEN FIT THEIR OWN BRAND, WHAAAT! I bought 2 wrenches as they are available separately but didn't work with their brand or GO PRO as they claimed. The screws are good but no fit wrench! I did grind down the inside of one at the tabs so it works but I can't figure out if it is mismatched or just lousy machining as the seemed to have a high point on the tab. Either way, I can make them work but shouldn't be that way.

The hb mounts, crazy, 2 for $6 ???? I paid $59 for one K Edge 8 years ago. Also available, all sorts of little thingies. I bought a little mounting section in black just to mix and match to see if it worked.

Ebay, super service and delivery BUT LOOK FOR THE LITTLE LOGO "free fast shipping". The ebay stores earn that title so they must work to keep it.

I also ordered a part without the logo just to see what would happen. It arrived 22 days before the estimated delivery date. Look at the reviews to see if anyone says fast shipping.

I hate Amazon! They told me that if I order over $25 that I got free 5-8 day shipping. So I increased my order then when I received my confirm, it said delivery date was a month away. I should have canceled but didn't realize the ebay stores had the part I was looking for. All I got from Amazon were offers to pay more money to increase the delivery date. What a rip off! No more Amazon for me! I'm all about ebay.

A great store on ebay is TRAILTHIS. Chamois butter 8 oz tubes for $42, 3 for $33. Kind of hit and miss as sometimes they are sold out. But $10 each? Heck, the local shops and net sales sell them for $18 each. I turned on one of my cycling buddies and he was excited saying the best he could do was $14 at his favorite net stop. Lots of cool stuff there.

So anyway, here is some of the stuff I picked up on ebay. Pretty much the platsic go pro crap I have is tucked away in the lower drawer of my go pro stuff storage box. I tried the alum wrenches with the plastic go pro screws, only showed me how lousy the go pro plastic junk really is!

Kind of long but I got a lot of crap ha ha!

Why did I make the video? I see there are not many reviews on this stuff and seen too many ass hats building up the crappy ass go pro mounts that break and allow your recorder to tumble at 30 mph on mountain descents.

Bunch of guys getting paid for dishonest reviews so they can make money bullshitting people! I do it out of honesty and for the good of the consumers. Don't care to get paid for my videos, cycling, reviews or whatever, just passing on honest info so people can save money and enjoy good toys.

Those guys I watch giving bad info, suggesting crap that doesn't work so the mfg'ers pay them piss me off and make me want to punch them in the face ha ha!

Ride Video Corona to San Clemente