Fifty Plus (50+) - A perfect ride

Today was one of the rare perfect days in the Southern California Winter. Quite often its literally freezing around here. :D I did a ride a couple weeks ago and took until noon for the temp to break 60 ! :( But not today. Today was perfect. The Santa ana wind had died down and it was 80 at 2 pm. Luckily my "permanent" bridge can be popped out on command :eek: Popped out tha 3 toother and told my secretary I'd be going to the dentist :rolleyes: !! Went straight home instead and jumped on the Medone ! PErfect day for my trail loop...10 out and 10 back...a couple of tiny climbs and not a single street to cross.18 mph give or take except on the wooden bridge :( . An excellent speed for me. Coming into mile 18, the day turned better yet. I saw a young strong looking rider about 500 yards ahead of me. Into the drops I went. 18, 19 and I am closing...he looks back and speeds up. cruising at 20 hurting a little but still closing and he keeps looking back !!! I am within 10 yards of him and about a mile to go before the end of the trail. I put the hammer down :eek: 22,23,24,25...26. hurting bad now...I glance back ...he's standing on the pedals trying to go with me...but he can't !! I gap him and open up about 200 yards...finish the trail and into my cul de sac. I pull into the garage and hit the stopwatch on my fancy smancy new HR monitor...average HR for the ride 151...Maximum 172!!! A quick calculation...lets see Iam 55 and 220-age..... :eek: I MUST BE DEAD !! I am well over my MAXIMUM Heart rate. NO my wife is there and she assures me I am not dead...stupid maybe but not dead yet...All in all a prefect ride !!

Okay Okay the 20 something WAS on a MB but still it was great fun !

Great story and thanks for sharing!

Apparently the Santa Ana blew up into Canada and shoved some really cold stuff down into the Carolinas. I only wish it was still 80 around here......

Nice when a ride goes right. The weather seems a bit warm for this time of year though. Get the rides out on a cooler day and see how you feel then. Heart rate always seem to go higher when the ride and you are perfect, but thats what you get for going to the dentist. Hope you went in and told the staff that you have a long course of treatment coming up so more rides can be got in.

My best ride this year was when I had a hospital appointment.

Sounds like fun! Nice write up.

Maybe someday again?

See:

lets see Iam 55 and 220-age (http://faculty.css.edu/tboone2/asep/Robergs2.pdf )

Great Story! and nice ride although 80 is a little warm for Nov.
Yesterday morning 5:30am temp was 37 and I rode my usual ride, not too bad. This morning it was 27, I did not ride. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be similar and I plan on an early morning 20 mile ride.

I have a friend down there who lives around Santa Ana and rides. When he lived here he commuted to work on his bike - 25 miles each way. Down there he does the bike path and they average (AVERAGE) 25+ mph. I hear there's a club ride each year from Santa Ana to San Diego and they average over 20 mph for the whole ride.

He's in his 70's.

I couldn't do this when I was racing and in the best shape of my life. And I'm a decade younger than that guy!

I'm also in SoCal, but I can't quite figure out which trail you were riding on. More info, please? No way I'd ever keep up with you, but it sounds like a great ride.

Bernie

I'm also in SoCal, but I can't quite figure out which trail you were riding on. More info, please? No way I'd ever keep up with you, but it sounds like a great ride.

Bernie

The "wooden bridge" was the give away. I suspect he's on the Santa Ana River Trail. It starts where Huntington Beach's Pacific Coast Highway meets with Newport Beach/Costa Mesa. That river trail is the main river used by the flood control for Orange County. So all the rain water from all the streets end up in the storm drain that leads to the Santa Ana River and then out to the Pacific Ocean.

The Army Corps of Engineers built that up because of the threat of a major flood and as a by product, built this fantastic asphalt trail so that walkers, riders, inline skaters, etc. can use it. No cars, no traffic lights. I can go from Huntington Beach to the Green River Golf course in Corona. For me that's a 73 mile round trip.

Many riders use it for training. Its basically flat with just risers because of the overpass on the streets crossing this river. Just recently I rode up to a rider wearing no helmet but just a bike cap and eating a banana. I rode up beside him and exchanged greetings. I asked him where's he from and he told me, "Manhattan Beach" which is in Los Angeles County. I asked him "how far you riding today?" and he said "oh about 200 miles". He turns out to be a professional rider from Italy riding for the Monex team. Another time I caught up to a rider who talked about running and he turns out to be a locally famous half miler from the middle 1960's. His coach was Arthur Lydiard, the same coach for Peter Snell.

Triathlon riders use it too and I see some riders on nice Cervelo P3 carbons going fast. The inline skaters are a trip. When they skate in groups, they're bent over with arms swaying from side to side and their wheels make a distinct noise. One time they caught up to me and all I heard was this high pitch sound. I looked back and saw about a dozen of them chasing me down.

If there's a bad part of this asphalt trail, its going thru the "hood". There are homeless groups that hang around near the Anaheim Angels stadium and the Arrowhead Pond, home of the Mighty Ducks. They live in those underpasses. The police will occassionally clear them out whenever something happens. But they come back after a while.

Great Story! and nice ride although 80 is a little warm for Nov.
Yesterday morning 5:30am temp was 37 and I rode my usual ride, not too bad. This morning it was 27, I did not ride. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be similar and I plan on an early morning 20 mile ride.

Day before yesterday it was 4 degrees F here. I rode the trainer. Looking like Sat or Sun may be in the mid forties for a high. If not too windy I will ride outside........YIPEE :D

High all week in the 30's, been putting an hour a day on the trainer, today 10:30 AM and it is 52, I am on the bike in minutes and have a great 20 mile ride. Even with the wind it was wonderful, I will ride if it is above 40 and the wind isn't unbearable. Western South Dakota the wind never blows unless you are alone or with somebody.
I envy anyone who gets to complain if the temp isn't above 60 degrees.

High all week in the 30's, been putting an hour a day on the trainer, today 10:30 AM and it is 52, I am on the bike in minutes and have a great 20 mile ride. Even with the wind it was wonderful, I will ride if it is above 40 and the wind isn't unbearable. Western South Dakota the wind never blows unless you are alone or with somebody.
I envy anyone who gets to complain if the temp isn't above 60 degrees.

I have been there. There are in fact other times when there is wind. Weekdays and weekends come to mind. :D

I had a perfect ride today, 25 miles around Mission Bay, with temperatures pushing 80 degrees from the Santa Ana and moderate to high winds. Paused on a bridge to snap the first pic. The second was along the beach. Just a gorgeous day!

The "wooden bridge" was the give away. I suspect he's on the Santa Ana River Trail. It starts where Huntington Beach's Pacific Coast Highway meets with Newport Beach/Costa Mesa. That river trail is the main river used by the flood control for Orange County. So all the rain water from all the streets end up in the storm drain that leads to the Santa Ana River and then out to the Pacific Ocean.

The Army Corps of Engineers built that up because of the threat of a major flood and as a by product, built this fantastic asphalt trail so that walkers, riders, inline skaters, etc. can use it. No cars, no traffic lights. I can go from Huntington Beach to the Green River Golf course in Corona. For me that's a 73 mile round trip.

Many riders use it for training. Its basically flat with just risers because of the overpass on the streets crossing this river. Just recently I rode up to a rider wearing no helmet but just a bike cap and eating a banana. I rode up beside him and exchanged greetings. I asked him where's he from and he told me, "Manhattan Beach" which is in Los Angeles County. I asked him "how far you riding today?" and he said "oh about 200 miles". He turns out to be a professional rider from Italy riding for the Monex team. Another time I caught up to a rider who talked about running and he turns out to be a locally famous half miler from the middle 1960's. His coach was Arthur Lydiard, the same coach for Peter Snell.

Triathlon riders use it too and I see some riders on nice Cervelo P3 carbons going fast. The inline skaters are a trip. When they skate in groups, they're bent over with arms swaying from side to side and their wheels make a distinct noise. One time they caught up to me and all I heard was this high pitch sound. I looked back and saw about a dozen of them chasing me down.

If there's a bad part of this asphalt trail, its going thru the "hood". There are homeless groups that hang around near the Anaheim Angels stadium and the Arrowhead Pond, home of the Mighty Ducks. They live in those underpasses. The police will occassionally clear them out whenever something happens. But they come back after a while.

I've ridden this trail many times and it's always enjoyable especially since you don't have to put up with highway traffic. We usually start at Green River, ride the trail to Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1), either go up to Huntington Beach or down to Newport, find a place to eat and then return....about 70 miles! Yeah, the "hood" can be kind of scary and what's with the sprinklers south of Imperial Hwy - they always seem to be on? Makes for a bit of a cooler ride in winter time (So. Calif. wind chill)!

I should probably tell his boss and his wife, but then I would have no one to ride with. And I would have no one to shield me from golf balls.

Day before yesterday it was 4 degrees F here. I rode the trainer. Looking like Sat or Sun may be in the mid forties for a high. If not too windy I will ride outside........YIPEE :D


Living in Southern California where we can ride all year, I can't imagine not being able to ride because of the temperature. Must be hard to get yourself up for a "nice 50 miler" indoors on the trainer.