Great weekend!

The weekend started out great on Friday riding with Alex after he got off work. We rode up towards the Lytle Creek area and back. The ride was roughly 26 miles. I have never been up that way so it was new and interesting.

Saturday was a great day. I spent most of the day out and about. It's been awhile since I've just gone out and had fun with great company like that. This day was the best day of my weekend.

This morning I got up around 6 after getting back to my place about 2 am. I went and did the mountain loop with Don that we've been doing. We talked about Tucson in November and he's going to participate with Alex and I. That will be fun! We have a new best time for the ride and it's 2:45. I'm feeling much stronger on the hills. I went up the front side of GMR with no difficulty about 2 gears higher than I normally would have been.

I got back after riding, started to get some homework done and pretty much passed out. I didn't realize how tired I actually was until I had to focus on school work. This week is the last week of the term so I finished up the current assignments and will start on my final paper tomorrow. I'll be glad to have that turned in Saturday night.

And now another weekend has come and gone and work arrives once again.

Saturday brought another 80 mile ride down to Solana Beach. The weather stayed very nice the whole way down the coast. The sun came out as were riding out the front gate of Camp Pendleton. Don actually joined us and I invited a new acquaintance, Daniel who I met through Mike. He races for the Claremont Colleges.

I think climbing hills is getting easier since Don and I have been riding our Sunday morning mountain route. I like not suffering so much (my legs were made for sprinting and TT efforts, not climbing). In fact I've found some good kicks up climbs. Weird feeling just being able to get out of the saddle and pick up the pace...

We arrived in Solana in 4:30 which makes me feel really good about finishing Tucson in under 4 hours. The ride down the coast is pretty undulating and Tucson is pan flat.

I went out for a ride today and flatted not only on my front tire but the rear as well. It was probably on the thinner parts of the tire after the issue riding through Oceanside on Saturday. Some guy was driving oddly slow on single lane local road. I didn't want to pass him on the right because there was a parking lot entrance up ahead he could pull into. I started to try and pass on the left because his driving was making me uncomfortable and a car came on that side of the road as I poked my nose out. By that time I was going faster than the car and it was like the guy in the car just let off the gas and coasted as I was trying to brake. I locked up both front and rear wheels and went sliding forward towards him...nothing I could do. When I was literally 1/2" off his bumper he decided to pull into some restaurant parking lot. I looked at him as he drove through the lot and he was 100% oblivious to anything and everything. I wish people driving would be predictable. I'm glad I had near professional bike handling skills in the moment. Oh well, part of cycling I suppose. =) Thankfully I'm always trying to keep an eye out.

Alex, Daniel, and I took the train back to the cars in Anaheim and Don drove back with Victoria and the kids since they drove down to play at the beach. Don was nice and offered to take our bikes back with him so we didn't have to fuss with them on the train. When I went around to tell Victoria thanks both the kids started yelling hi to me. They are such happy little kids when someone comes around. It was cute and I thought how rewarding having kids must be when those simple moments come around.

This weekend brought some cooler temps here. It was only in the low 90s which was far more comfortable than they 100s we've had previously.

Saturday I went out running a little bit with a friend from work and then came home and relaxed. I haven't been running at all lately and won't be doing any multisport events until I'm done with school. Time is a limiting factor with running and cycling.

This morning I went out riding with Don on our now typical 40 mile GMR-GRR-Baldy loop. We finished in 2:46 and we knew we were faster than any previous trip. We didn't need our cycling computers to tell us that...our bodies told us. I felt really good physically and my heart rate stayed abnormally low overall. Not super low, just lower than normal.

I'm about to start some homework and am finishing up watching today's final stage of the Tour de France. For the first time, I'm actually saddened that the last 3 weeks is coming to a close. I suppose it's largely because Lance will no longer be road racing after today. He has brought a lot of media attention to cycling and has really made it fun to watch. I'm sure it will be enjoyable next year without him but it certainly won't be the same. Where did 3 weeks go? It seems like it just started.

Another warm day today. I found some local listings of a few fish places I wanted to go visit but at 102 degress, I don't have any interest in even getting the mail let alone driving from place to place.

I did get out this morning to ride. I took the TT bike out and rode to Claremont and back. It was a good 20 mile ride. I did it in about an hour and would have likely ridden faster if it wasn't for the weather. At 6:30 this morning it was 82 degrees. 82 normally isn't bad but when the sun is just beating on you that early it feels so much worse. The only thing to note about the ride was my front flat at 30 mph along this nicely fresh-paved section of flat road. It was no nice flat either...this was a gusher and quickly was out of the aerobars and getting control of the bike to stop quickly.

Well, the heat has finally arrived for the first time this year in Southern California. Yesterday it was 100 and I went out for a 35 mile ride. I brought 3 bottles with me and refilled 2 of the 3 on the way home. I think a full bottle of water weighs around 3 lbs. which means I consumed 15 lbs. of water in total and it still wasn't enough. I left the apartment marking my weight just for that reason. I weighed 186 lbs. out the door and even after drinking 5 bottles of water, I weighed 181 before I hit the shower. It wasn't a bad ride though, just very warm.

Today it went up to 104 here. It's 9:30 pm now and the temperature is only down to 92. Last night I don't think the temp. went below 80 all night so I'm sure the same will remain the case tonight. So away the A/C cranks.

I have finally finished planting the fish aquarium. Now I just need the plants to take and start growing. The fish certainly seem to enjoy all of the real plants instead of the fake ones.

In the tank

Whew! This morning's ride up GMR across the ridge and down from Mt. Baldy was a real pain. I didn't recover adequately from yesterday's 80 mile ride down the coast.

Yesterday, I hit every little climb very hard and with all the punishment I could force into the geography. I didn't eat as much as I should have along the way and tanked around 75 miles in. I sucked up the last 5 miles and just finished.

Today I should have called Don and said I wasn't going to go but the specialty endurance powders we use aren't cheap to mix up multiple bottles only to toss them down the sink drain. I didn't think it would have been as bad as what it ended up. I knew I would pay for yesterday but just not as much as I did.

Of course, Don was happy that for the first time in 3 years he wasn't riding behind me but laughed and said it was an empty cheap feeling since I was not up to par physically. Oh well he can have it. =)

I'm glad I had plums here because I ate 4 or 5 of them once I was home and cooled off.
















Finally done!!! All downhill from here.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday weekend. It was mild here and perfect weather in the mornings to be riding up in the mountains.

The race event that was scheduled for this weekend was canceled so I went riding with Don up Glendora Mountain Road and then across the backside of the mountains to Mt. Baldy village. It was a good 2 hour 56 minute 40 mile ride. The pace was pretty casual and scenic as always. The road was closed to all motor traffic because of the fire hazard with fireworks and such so it was perfect for cycling. This picture is a view off the side of Glendora Ridge Road. One of many nice views Sunday morning.

Two weeks ago I went out riding on Sunday after having done my brick on Saturday. Don an I took a ride up GMR and went across Glendora Ridge Road to Mt. Baldy Village. It was a 39 mile ride altogether with about half of it climbing through the San Gabriel mountains. The back side of the mountains was so pretty and quiet. We casually went up GMR as to not burn ourselves out for the remaining 13 miles of climbing. We got to the top of GMR in 58 minutes doing a casual pace. We were actually trying not to do it in under an hour. Oh well. lol We managed to keep our descending speed down Mt. Baldy road at 46 mph. The goal was under 50 which takes some work to do.

Last weekend I wanted to get out and do my brick workout Saturday morning and knew I would naturally be up before 7 so I didn't set my alarm. I found out last weekend that if I don't set my alarm, regardless of how early I get up that I will not go ride. Sunday I set my alarm and go figure, I did my brick workout.

Lots of stuff this weekend

Firstly, let me say once again Happy Father's Day dad!

Friday I went for a 33 mile ride after work. I didn't ride all week because last weekend I got some awful fly bites on my right leg and chose to try and keep them out of the sun until they stopped itching. When I went riding Friday it felt like I had been off the bike for a month. It's strange sometimes how alien things become when suddenly you don't do it according to your normal frequency or routine.

Saturday I went out to Bonelli for a brick workout. I rode 3 laps (21 miles total) and went for a 2 mile run. I felt better transitioning to the run this time although my overall run time was identical. Since I felt comfortable this time though I think I could have pushed the pace a bit higher. I'll have to remember to do that next weekend if I feel good.

This morning I got up after 4 hours of sleep and met Don out in Claremont. We decided last night since the weather is cool and sunny that we would ride out to GMR, go up it and head across to Glendora Ridge Road where we'd take it to Mt. Baldy village and head down to the cars. We both felt surprisingly good. It was a 39 mile ride with about 4500 feet of elevation gain and a very fast descent. We kept our descent under 50 mph...to 46.

A few hours later I headed over to Don's to help work on the race truck. Today I was in charge of getting some of the body plate tabs measured, plasma cut, and prepped. Each body panel requires it's own custom tabs. Ok well every two panels since panels are symmetrical from one side to the other.

Pics of El Toro

I went down to El Toro...well what formerly was called MCAS El Toro and roamed around a little while. One of the civilians left a road block gate open to I drove through it and it gave me access to the bottom part of the base. This meant I got to see what became of where I used to work.

As I thought, my old building was demolished and a food donation program building was built in it's place. Most of the buildings on the old base have been demolished. Only a few remain. The roads are largely neglected except for the few that are used by a couple of the companies that have set up shop there. Most of the base is fenced off and inaccessible.

Photo album...

Sunday I went riding up GMR with Don. I made it up in 46:07. I didn't think I'd make it up that quickly but it just means I'm closer to breaking my previous best of 45 minutes. =) We got to the top and took a break and the flies were out biting and drawing blood. So we got the heck out of there and came back down. Later in the day I went over for about 4 hours and helped work on the race truck a bit. It was fun and I learned a few new things.

I tried to get up at 5 this morning to run my 4 miles since it was going to be hot later in the day but didn't succeed. I ended up just coming home after work and finishing up homework instead. I will try again tomorrow morning. Perhaps I can get in a run in the morning before work and go ride after.

On a fish note, the fry are growing daily and becoming increasingly active in the temporary tank. They may be large enough to put in the community tank in about a month or so. Once they are big enough I'll take some pics.