Ride a bike, share your experience and love. When I go biking, I repeat a mantra of the day's sensations: bright sun, blue sky, warm breeze, blue jay's call, ice melting and so on. This helps me transcend the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the mind theaters behind and focus on nature instead. I still must abide by the rules of the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization. The world is breaking someone else's heart. ~Diane Ackerman
Picture Policy, Etc
Photograph Use Policy - If I photographed it and you would like to use it, go ahead, just give me credit if possible.
I joined about 100 riders (okay maybe 20ish) for Jessica’s Birthday Ride. We met up at Milliken and Baseline at 7 am and as we continued our way to SGVT we kept picking up rider after rider. Jessica is pretty popular and all kinds of people joined us for the celebration. Mamils, legit Pros and friends made our way down SGVT to Seal Beach for a beach century. Ryan, Jessica's husband would sprint up the road to capture pictures for us while I did my usual on bike snap shots. I had to cut the ride short and turned off at Ramona but the motley band of cyclist continued their way to the beach and back.
On Tuesday I decided to meet up with Los Lobos. I alway get nervous on this ride because these guys are fast. Tuesday was no different except add in temps of 97 to 100+ degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah, it was hot and I managed to hang on just before the crossing on SART tat ARTIC. On the way back I got dropped by the fasted of the group. Arnold, Javier and I traded pulls to make sure we got back in a respectable time.
The Los Lobos ride starts at 3 pm on Tuesday at Green River in Corona. It's a fast paced ride on SART to Newport Beach. Speeds can reach as high as 30+ mph. Los Lobos are are a friendly but very competitive group of riders. This ride is fast paced yet orderly and everyone takes a pull regardless. No sitting in!
Yesterday Stewart, Frank and I decided on a different route for our beach century. The typical route takes us from Euro Cafe to Diamond Bar. From Diamond Bar we headed to SART. Yesterday I headed east to meet Stew and Frank in Rancho Cucamonga at the corner of Baseline and Milliken. From there we headed south to Green River to pick up SART.
It was a good ride and there wasn't too much traffic on the roads leading to Green River. Milliken near the 60 freeway can get a little sketchy with people in cars (and semi-trucks) making their way to work. Heading east adds 20 miles to the ride but you completely bypass Brea Canyon. Brea Canyon can be a little scary due to the traffic that builds up through the canyon. Brea Canyon, in some sections, gets narrow and cars can pass by you pretty fast.
On SART there was a guy heading in the same direction as us so we got to talking as we made our way to Newport. I didn't get his name but he's done over 83 double centuries. His goal is to hit 100 doubles in his lifetime. I did one double century and it was tough, I can't imagine doing 100! While on PCH, I met a guy named Steve Flick who was wearing a GO FAST jersey. We traded off pulls until Stew, Frank and I made a left on Main St. in Seal Beach. Steve and his friend continued on PCH to SGVT.
In Seal Beach we took a short break before heading up SGVT and ultimately back home. On SGVT I passed some guy on a tri-bike. Several seconds later he sped past me and made some aggressive gesture and was mouthing off something to me. I had my earphones on so I didn't hear what he was saying. I kept my pace and within seconds he was behind me and soon after he was completed out of sight. We stopped at the Pico Rivera Golf course to refill our water bottles.
Once we got off SGVT at Ramona Blvd., we stopped at a McDonalds. There was some elder lady trying to use the bathroom but got stopped short because it was being cleaned. I could tell she REALLY needed to use the bathroom and felt sorry for her. The person cleaning the bathroom should have let the poor lady use the damn bathroom! If someone is noticeably distressed and needs a bathroom, just let them use it. Sucks!
After McDonalds we continued our ride back home. For me it was Pomona. For Frank and Stew, it was Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana respectively On Badillo Stew got two flats. Frank was pressed for time so he continued his trek home and I waited for Stew near San Dimas Ave. and Bonita. Once Stew rejoined me and we continued on Bonita but it was apparent Stew's front tire was slowly loosing air. He was out of tubes so we made it to my house where his wife ultimately picked him up.
Well it wasn't hot at 5:30 am when Stew and I left for the ride. We made our way to DB and then to dreaded Brea Canyon. Brea Canyon scares me because of the car traffic that comes through right at the time I usually make my way down the canyon. Today Stew and I got lucky. The 57 frwy was running smoothly so most cars used the 57 instead of Brea Canyon to get to Orange County. Once on SART, we kept a steady pace and made it to Newport in good time. At Seal Beach we took a very small break then headed back home via SGVT.
The temperature started heading up with each mile back to the foothills. Once on Badillo, Stew's Garmin recorded a temp around 93 degrees. Yeah, it's getting hot and by Bonita the temperature was approx. 100 degrees. We stopped at the Ace Hardware in San Dimas to get cold water and rest up before the last several miles home. Overall it was a great ride, just hot.
Last night Richard O sent me a text asking if I planned to ride this Sunday. I wasn't sure and asked him what his plans were. He mentioned GMR or "Los Perrones" beach ride. Los Perrones is the Sunday version of the Tuesday Los Lobos ride. Same route, its a beach and back from Green River in Corona to Newport. I knew I needed 60 miles so the Los Perrones ride would work for me except, on Saturday, I was pretty tired all day. I didn't know if I'd feel up for a very fast hustle to the beach. You see the guys that do both the Los Lobos and Los Perrones ride are brutal. They take no prisoners and it's a fast ride on SART all the way to Newport. Since it's on SART, there aren't stop signs or red lights to give you a break. You can't stop to catch your breath and the Lobos/Perrones keep the formation tight on the SART. Everyone takes a pull and everyone is riding fast. I am a sucker to punishment, so Los Perrones it is.
It's funny when you join an established ride with a lot of regulars. As the newbie you are kind of vulnerable. How fast are these guys? Are they going to play nice or try to drop you? On the flip side if you are part of the established group you think, who is this guy joining us. You check out the person's bike and make conclusions about how fit or "PRO" they look. It happens and I've been on both sides. This time I was the newbie.
At the start the guys were pretty nice. A few of them came up to me to say hello and joke about who's the slowest or how tired they are. I did the same, actually I did in this blog just above. I take note of the ones who say they aren't very fast. Yeah, I thought they were downplaying their athleticism and for the most part they were. This ride is one of the most orderly rides I've been on. Tight formations, high speeds and everyone takes a pull. SART isn't that wide so the group has to focus on order for their own safety. This group gets an "A+".
On Thursday Ricardo and I decided to ride from Euro Cafe to the beach and back. This was my first ride with Ricardo since he got back from his month long stay in Mexico. It was nice riding with him again as he is always up for adventures of the +100 mile sorts. Since he's been back, about 10 days, this is his fourth century. Ricardo is booking big miles to get himself up to speed. In Mexico he spent more leisure time than time on the bicycle. I can't blame him, I'd probably spend most of my time eating, eating and more eating.
We started from Euro Cafe at 6:30 am and headed down to SART. Once on PCH I was lucky enough to get yet another flat. Actually, two flat tires. I am so on a roll this week. We patched the flats and headed to our favorite rest stop, The Crema Cafe in Seal Beach. Crema has the best chorizo burrito, you know healthy food to fuel the body for the ride back home.
After leaving Crema we jumped on SGVT. We kept a pretty consistent pace and stopped at Pico Rivera Golf Course to grap gatorade and ice. It was about 11:30 am and the day's temps were warming up as we made our way on SGVT to Ramona Blvd. I am glad we stopped at the golf course. Sometimes we just continue on SGVT without stopping and by the time we hit San Dimas I am tired. Stopping at the golf course helped keep me feeling good on for the last several miles home.
Yesterday Demi, Otto, Warren, Mike and I met up at Euro Cafe and headed down to the beach. The weather was perfect for a beach century, cool in the morning and sunny by the time we were heading home. This was the first time in YEARS riding with Mike M so it was a real treat. He said he isn't riding much but I heard he is doing a lot of secret training these days. Mike rode strong and 100 miles ain't easy. I think he is secret training.
I joked around saying I am going steady with Warren. Warren is a diesel engine and kept such a great pace to and from the beach. He is such a steady even paced rider, it makes these long rides seem easy. No surges, just an even fast steady pace.
We saw a number of riders out today, Alvin and his crew, Chad, and Mike Y.
On the way back, Demi's rear cassette was making weird noises so we stopped at Local Bike Stand.
From left to right: Demi, Otto, Warren and Mike M.
Over the weekend I sent a text to Otto to see if he would be open for a beach century sometime this week. He came back with a solid "Yes" but wanted to try a different path to SART. I was open for anything so we decided on riding through Chino Hills to link up with SART at Green River.
I sent out a message on our Bicycle Friends Facebook page and Chad decided to join us on the trip. He asked if he should take the "TRI-BIKE". I quickly let him know that wouldn't be a good idea because of the gravel section through Chino Valley Park.
The plan included about 4 miles of gravel roads as we made our way through Chino Hills Park. That was quite an adventure. We took Lower Aliso Canyon gravel road/trail which was, according to Andrew, "Doable." LOL, it was doable but we definitely had to keep our eyes on the road ahead. The scene in the park was amazing. The mustard weeds and thistle were close to full bloom. Yellows, greens and purple carpeted the valley and hills.
Once we got through the park it was easy sailing on SART until strong headwinds slowed our progress. We stopped at Seal Beach for a bite to head before heading back home via SGVT.
