I arrived at Encanto Park just after 8:00 a.m. this morning and there was a large group getting ready to roll. I knew that it had to be vertical bob and his climbing friends headed for Crystal Lake and a quick scan of the group confirmed it. I said "hello" to Big John, vb and Cleave before they rolled.
Cleave who looked strange in red...I've only seen him in the Lightning Velo pink and blue! ;)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/417024116_618f6e439f.jpg
Just after the Crystal Lake group rolled, the Baldy boys (George, Phil, Josh and Ian) started appearing for their 8:30 a.m. roll time.
Alexander checking out the sweet Cervelo Soloist SL that his daddy was trying out as Ian looks on.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/176/417024306_34c48a32db.jpg
George w/Alexander and Phil
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/417024835_1b5250c409.jpg
"Sorry I was late, I was stuck behind 75 Harley's!"...nice excuse Phil. ;)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/132/417024982_ed9033b3ab.jpg
So...my plan was to take the kids to pick up some water from the grocery store and then drop it off at the base of GMR for the boys. We decided to pick up some cookies too...just in case anyone needed a sugar rush. :p We got to the gate at the base of GMR and I realized that it was really hot! After stashing the bottles and handing some cookies off to some Velo Sport riders, I decided that before we headed to the museum, that we would head up 39 to East Fork and leave some water either at the fork or somewhere along GRR. When I got there, Phil and Josh were there with Mr. Beanz...who I neglected to get a picture of...darn it!!! They said that George had already started down GMR, and there I was with 5 gallons of water...so the kids starting asking every cyclist that hopped the GMR gate if they wanted any water or cookies...it was so cute. :) There was a group (Chuck Bramwell's Saturday Century group) riding up GMR that had come from Anaheim Hills so we decided to hang out for awhile and see if anyone needed anything. Eventually George made his way back up and was surprised to see us waiting there. :)
Avery checking out the view!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/417025058_0ca35b9ac9.jpg
By now the little SAGgers and I were hungry, so we headed to the village for lunch at the lodge. When we got there we see Jason! He joined us for lunch and as we were eating George arrived, stayed for a split second :p and then headed down Baldy Rd. As we were leaving, Phil and Josh arrived...
Voltaire...this one's for you...lol!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/132/417025642_f4c2fcd189.jpg
Mr. Beanz
03-10-07, 08:00 PM
I was out there doing my own thing on GMR to the village. Turned out to be a bit warmer than I had thought. I was rationing my water. At the GMR/GRR gate, I ran into Extort and Lombardi. A couple of minutes later, Brandy rolls up in her truck with some water. Thanx for the refill B! I might not be here if it weren't for you!:D
I rode for a bit with Lombardi towards the village untill he put down the pedal. Lombardi is a nice friendly guy, great guy! Well I thought so till he shmoked me!:D..Then ran into Jason and rode with him for a while. Had a nice short break at the lodge with Jason and Ian, then headed back. Thought I saw what might have been George, but he was going too fast to get a good look. Now that I see the pic, yup, that was him!:D
Wasn't part of the officila ride but nice to see guys I know up there. And again, thanx for the water Brandy. You're a life saver!:D
Mr. Beanz
03-10-07, 08:02 PM
You're too much Phil!:D Thank goodness you didn't get a pic of me Brandy. I don't look as cool as those guys!
Jason
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/157/417025831_8ec83070c3.jpg
So...leaving Baldy Village, my new plan was to drive down Baldy Rd. then straight back to Encanto and let the kids play at the park for a bit. About 1/3 of the way down, I see George coming up, and he doesn't look great, so I turn around, pass him and pull out at one of the turnouts to make sure that he's okay. As he passes us tells me that he's suffering and that his legs were spent...understandably so since he was 67 miles and 9700 ft into the ride. I leapfrogged him a few times and then went ahead to the village where he stopped for a few minutes to recover.
George making his way into the village...
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/161/417027106_5d2c6867d2.jpg
Brandy
03-10-07, 08:28 PM
I arrived at Encanto Park and Ian was already there. The kids played at the park and after a while the Crystal Lake crew rolls in followed by Phil and Josh...then George.
Thanx for the refill B! I might not be here if it weren't for you!:D
D
You're welcome, I was happy to be able to help out. I saw you leaving the village as I was arriving!
Cleave
03-10-07, 09:46 PM
Hi Brandy,
More photographic proof that I have the skinniest arms of any fully grown male in the US. Thanks. :rolleyes:
It was a nice surprise to see you this morning and I'm glad you got some shots of our group before we rolled because it seems that there wasn't much picture-taking on our ride. I left my camera in the car since I had a third waterbottle in my jersey. (And no, that's not a euphemism for anything. :) )
vertical bob
03-10-07, 09:53 PM
I arrived at Encanto Park just after 8:00 a.m. this morning and there was a large group getting ready to roll. I knew that it had to be vertical bob and his climbing friends headed for Crystal Lake and a quick scan of the group confirmed it. I said "hello" to Big John, vb and Cleave before they rolled.
Cleave who looked strange in red...I've only seen him in the Lightning Velo pink and blue! ;)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/417024116_618f6e439f.jpg
Just after the Crystal Lake group rolled, the Baldy boys (George, Phil, Josh and Ian) started appearing for their 8:30 a.m. roll time.
Alexander checking out the sweet Cervelo Soloist SL that his daddy was trying out as Ian looks on.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/176/417024306_34c48a32db.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/417024660_ae0c8d0565.jpg Hi Brandy, thanks for the cool pic. I loved the ones of the sag kids. The future of cycling in this country.
1265 Lombardi
03-10-07, 09:55 PM
You're welcome, I was happy to be able to help out. I saw you leaving the village as I was arriving!
You were a life saver Brandy! I am sure taking sag duty with your kids wasnt easy, but I was glad you were out there with us!
Brandy
03-10-07, 09:59 PM
Hi Brandy, thanks for the cool pic. I loved the ones of the sag kids. The future of cycling in this country.
Thanks Bob...I just put those SAG kids to bed and Gavin (the almost 9 year old) asked when we could do it again. :)
Brandy
03-10-07, 10:01 PM
You were a life saver Brandy! I am sure taking sag duty with your kids wasnt easy, but I was glad you were out there with us!
They were actually all great...they loved getting out and asking all of the cyclists (or "cyclers" as Marcellus kept calling them...lol) if they needed anything as they hopped the gate. They were very well behaved given the circumstances. :)
1265 Lombardi
03-10-07, 10:20 PM
It was tough mofo of a day, but if I did what George did today I would be in a comatose state. Unreal! Glad to have suffered with you guys today. Phil you were fantastic to ride with! MR.Beanz it was great to meet and chat with you. It was good riding with you too,although brief. Sorry I had to leave in a hurry! I wanted to finish climbing up to skilift and back, before Phil and George got to the village. I didnt want to get stranded without them, I wasnt quite sure of the return direction. I was feeling half dead when I got back home, but real food in the stomach and power nap did wonders.:)
1265 Lombardi
03-10-07, 10:23 PM
They were actually all great...they loved getting out and asking all of the cyclists (or "cyclers" as Marcellus kept calling them...lol) if they needed anything as they hopped the gate. They were very well behaved given the circumstances. :)
Yes they were. It was nice to see them enjoying the day with their mom.:)
shakeNbake
03-10-07, 10:34 PM
The happy SAG kids!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/187/417026762_797eb2dea9.jpg
Coolest pic ever!:D
Extort
03-10-07, 11:26 PM
It was said best in another thread, so I will just post the quote:
Any ride is doable without sag - look at the people doing those 1200k rides (randiniers (sp)). That said more people can do a ride knowing if there is trouble or they can not quite make it, that there is someone to help them for the rest of the day/ride. Also, being able to have some support back there is great when you get tired late in a ride.
SAG needed? No, SAG Preferable - YES
Thanks for the support Brandy, all the kids were great and looked to be having tons of fun. George is amazing to ride with, and I look forward to following the advice of my signature line, only this time stay with him until the top of the first climb... :o
my58vw
03-11-07, 01:49 AM
Nice Pictures Brandy
herbm
03-11-07, 07:38 AM
Great Pix...
But george...no helmet??
merider1
03-11-07, 07:53 AM
Looks like a gorgeous day out there in Glendora/Duarte. I heard about the ride (brutal), but I'm sure you boys loved it. I want to read about Crystal Lake too. Good job, guys!
And great pics, Brandy. Man, do you have the cutest little munchkins! :D
Vireo - SHAME ON YOU! WHERE WAS YOUR HELMET! :eek:
roadfix
03-11-07, 09:49 AM
Nice reporting and photos, Brandy! :)
jsigone
03-11-07, 11:04 AM
grat pics and SAG members!!!!!
jschen
03-11-07, 01:44 PM
I was glad I was able to join the group for a small part of their ride yesterday. :) I left my parents' place around 8:30 to climb Baldy Rd to the ski lift for the first time since September. It's been way too long. A little ways in, the first "steep" section approached, and I immediately knew that my climbing has suffered from having not been on the bike nearly enough and in particular having done way too few big climbs. Oh well, whatever... I would make it to the ski lift today (Saturday) no matter what happened. Settled into a slightly reduced pace and went at it.
Hit my first time checkpoint (intersection with the road headed to Upland) in 24 minutes, right on my typical schedule. But my flat ground speed has been improving, and in a relative sense, that first segment is the flattest. I expected to slip behind PR pace once the road got steeper. Once I passed the tunnels, I started struggling as I climbed through the Hogsback. My heart and lungs were fine, but my legs were struggling to cope with the double digit grades. Took off my leg warmers just before the brief downhill and continued on into the village. Got to the intersection with Glendora Ridge Rd in 71 minutes, 6 minutes behind PR, and just about where I would hope to be given the circumstances.
So based on the time to the village, I would project a 128 minute climb. But since the steeper section was in front of me, not behind me, and since I was in relatively bad shape on the steeper sections, I projected something in the 130's. Then the winds started picking up, with some big headwinds on the way to Icehouse Canyon. Oh boy... make that 140's. And put the leg warmers back on so that my knees wouldn't complain about the wind. Reached Icehouse Canyon in 90 minutes, giving me renewed hope of a climb in the 130's today.
The switchbacks were interesting in such strong wind. In the direction from odd numbered to even numbered turns (as I count them, with 8 switchback turns in all) it was brutal. But then it let up in the other direction, though it was really demoralizing to watch inanimate objects get blown uphill at triple my speed :eek: while I was in no shape to give chase. Yup, the leaves won an uncontested race this time. And the final uphill stretch was painful, with fierce winds and steep grades conspiring to almost make me turn around. But I gutted it out and got up in 134 minutes. Yup, as I expected, I felt pretty good about my ability to just keep going, but my speed definitely is down from late 2006. I attribute no more than 6 minutes to wind, meaning I'm at least 12 minutes (10%) slower than PR pace and about 20 minutes (15%) slower than the pace I think I could have done in late 2006 based on my pace on Palomar on century rides.
I definitely was rusty on the descent, too. I was starting to grab at my brakes on that first brutally steep section as my speed approached 40 MPH. I let off the brakes since I knew I still had plenty of room and hit 52 MPH before deciding I would wimp out. Then a driver of a BMW 335i pulled over to wave me through as I hit the minor incline headed into the switchbacks at 48 MPH. It didn't take long for me to decide that due to lack of practice, I had no confidence in my feel on the brakes and my cornering confidence to lead him down the switchbacks, so I let him through and descended at a more modest pace than usual. Got down to the village and took a short break and ate a Clif bar.
Then headed east on GRR to meet the gang. First met Ian, but having never met him, didn't recognize him. He recognized me, though, and told me the others were coming. Saw Josh and decided to turn around. Chatted with him a bit, and as Mr. Beanz came along, Josh went off toward the ski lift and Mr. Beanz and I rode a bit before he blew me away. Chatted with Ian and Mr. Beanz a while before they decided to head back. Brandy pulled up with a bunch of cute kids, so they kept me company as I waited for George and Phil. I saw George briefly and ogled the Cervelo SLC SL for a while before he headed down Baldy. Brandy, the kids, and I ate a bit, and then chatted with Josh (who had made in successfully to the lifts) and Phil for a while before I decided to call it a day and head back down.
Hit a draft-assisted 54 MPH on the way down, just outside the village. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep up with the car since in the brief incline right after that, though I managed to keep my speed above 20 MPH, that paled in comparison to the 50+ MPH the car was maintaining. Not my highest ever speed, but my highest ever outside of that really steep section at the top of Baldy. Kept looking for George, but didn't see him. Finally saw him a bit after I passed the tunnels. Waved good bye as we passed by.
Fun day out there, but I really need to get back in better climbing shape.
jschen
03-11-07, 02:01 PM
By the way, Brandy, thanks for giving me the chance to spew a bit about PGS. And sorry I couldn't ride with you all today. Believe me, I would have rathered ride with you all than be at work.
Brandy
03-11-07, 02:06 PM
By the way, Brandy, thanks for giving me the chance to spew a bit about PGS. And sorry I couldn't ride with you all today. Believe me, I would have rathered ride with you all than be at work.
Of course, my friend. It was nice spending some time with you and you can tell me more on Wednesday! :)
jschen
03-11-07, 02:17 PM
More photographic proof that I have the skinniest arms of any fully grown male in the US. Thanks. :rolleyes:
Umm... you must have overlooked my picture. :o
VanceMac
03-11-07, 04:21 PM
More photographic proof that I have the skinniest arms of any fully grown male in the US. Thanks. :rolleyes:
Umm... you must have overlooked my picture. :o
Let's form a "Rasmussen" club! :D
jschen
03-11-07, 06:00 PM
Of course, my friend. It was nice spending some time with you and you can tell me more on Wednesday! :)
Be careful what you offer. You may get an earful about all my cluelessness regarding girls.
Brandy
03-11-07, 09:32 PM
Vireo - SHAME ON YOU! WHERE WAS YOUR HELMET! :eek:
George has no internet access right now, but he wanted me to reply to this ME...lol.
"Well ME, you see, my iPod headphones get tangled in my helmet strap. You know, the thing that I listen to at max volume with both of my earbuds in, of course."
Edited to add...I gave him the lecture about the helmet yesterday.
merider1
03-11-07, 09:38 PM
George has no internet access right now, but he wanted me to reply to this ME...lol.
"Well ME, you see, my iPod headphones get tangled in my helmet strap. You know, the thing that I listen to at max volume with both of my earbuds in, of course."
Edited to add...I gave him the lecture about the helmet yesterday.
I only wish that were funny if both habits weren't so incredibly dangerous. But okay, it's his head. Good for you to give him the lecture, Brandy! Him being a Dad and all...:)
Cleave
03-11-07, 09:58 PM
Let's form a "Rasmussen" club! :D
Hey VanceMac,
I'd join a Rasmussen club if my body were thin! :eek: I just have skinny arms.:o
VanceMac
03-11-07, 10:08 PM
Hey VanceMac,
I'd join a Rasmussen club if my body were thin! :eek: I just have skinny arms.:o
That's okay, you get an honorary membership since you climb like him. :)
wanderingwheel
03-11-07, 10:38 PM
Brandy, thanks for the unexpected water at GRR and for pointing Jon in the right direction on his way to Baldy Village. His car was gone by the time I got back so I assume he eventually finished the ride.
Brandy
03-11-07, 10:39 PM
Brandy, thanks for the unexpected water at GRR and for pointing Jon in the right direction on his way to Baldy Village. His car was gone by the time I got back so I assume he eventually finished the ride.
Wait...I talked to you? Which one were you? BF members are supposed to announce themselves!!! :p
Oh...and you're welcome. The kids loved helping out. :)
wanderingwheel
03-11-07, 10:49 PM
Wait...I talked to you? Which one were you? BF members are supposed to announce themselves!!! :p
Oh...and you're welcome. The kids loved helping out. :)
I'm the little Sean. I also met you at Butterfield, and said hi to a few other forum members at Baldy Village while waiting for my riding partner.
Brandy
03-11-07, 10:52 PM
I'm the little Sean. I also met you at Butterfield, and said hi to a few other forum members at Baldy Village while waiting for my riding partner.
I didn't realize that you were on BF! You should have told me...not that I would have done anything differently...well, maybe I would have hugged you since you're a BF member and all. I certainly would have forced you to eat cookies too. ;) :D
WhiteCarbonDude
03-13-07, 05:32 PM
Brandy, thanks for the unexpected water at GRR and for pointing Jon in the right direction on his way to Baldy Village. His car was gone by the time I got back so I assume he eventually finished the ride.
Thanks for looking out for me Sean, I made it home to Anaheim at 3:20 with 112 miles, remember I left from home. I pulled that Colmbian guy all the way back to Anaheim Hills, he didn't have a route slip and his friend was way back with the group. I was great to finally ride with you and now you are leaving, oh well hopefully I'll see you at Breathless.
Jon
Extort
03-13-07, 05:47 PM
I'm the little Sean. I also met you at Butterfield, and said hi to a few other forum members at Baldy Village while waiting for my riding partner.
Sean, was it you that Jason, Josh and I spoke to outside the Baldy Lodge?
Glad to have met you, and I hope that you keep us updated on your location so that when traveling we can have a cool riding partner.
wanderingwheel
03-13-07, 08:15 PM
Sean, was it you that Jason, Josh and I spoke to outside the Baldy Lodge?
Glad to have met you, and I hope that you keep us updated on your location so that when traveling we can have a cool riding partner.
Yep, sorry I had to run away as soon as started talking.
Dubbayoo
03-14-07, 12:53 PM
great pics, handsome set of bambinos you have there. Thanks for sharing.