3alarmer 

...I started out as a physics major at U of Md before I figured out I was way too stupid.

BillyD

Meanie.

BillyD

I can predict who all will be there.

All our "engineers" and more.

Heathpack 

Awesome ride today, 75 miles/8000 ft climbing. Like taking candy from a baby.

The route headed south out of Redlands and the beginning was not exactly beautiful. Nice 2 mile, 5ish% climb in Redlands Blvd after a 20 min warm-up, good little wake-up for the legs. Then on to Jack Rabbit Trail, which I had been told was 40% dirt, 60% bad pavement. Its basically a 3.5ish mile, 5ish% climb on a really bad road with a little sand thrown on top. No biggie and way better to be climbing something like that than descending, not a road you want to go fast on. Then a little spin on hwy 60 for a few miles, yep up the entrance ramp, onto the hwy with tractor trailers whizzing by at 70 mph. Then we took the first exit into the uninspiring truckstop town of Beaumont, where we stopped briefly to refill water and then headed on to the Oak Glen climb.

This one was a bit of a bear, 5.5 miles at 7%, lots of double digit stuff on this one. But no vistas, no views, not even an identifiable summit. All kinds of false summits, and optical illusions making you sure you should be descending, yet your legs and Garmin would confirm you were still climbing. Eventually we went through some apple orchards, which were mildly pretty, nothing worth taking a picture of. But basically this one was just a slog. UNTIL that descent that I posted about previously, which turned out to be 6.5 miles at -6%. Sweet. Twelve minutes at 30 mph, I don't get much of that in my cycling life.

Next was another water stop and then a short ride out to Hwy 38, this one just a 2-lane road up into the national forest. The is an 11 mile climb at 5%, it starts in a huge wide valley, which looks kind of flat but you're actually climbing at 5% pretty steadily.



As you get deeper into this valley, things start to look a little more majestic.



After this bit of road, you go around a hairpin turn and keep climbing into pine tree and rock slide territory. Beautiful stuff, but all the scenery was off to the left and we were climbing up the right side of the road of course. No pics and tried to stop once on the way down, but the view was no good and the descent was too much fun to be stopping like that, apologies.

Anyway, kept climbing until we got to the town of Angelus Oaks, pop. 190, where we stopped at the restaurant and got corn bread with butter and honey. The best cycling snack ever. Or at least it seemed so at the time.



Then a totally swell 16 mile, 5% descent. I mean after all, how often do I get to spend 30 min at 30 mph?

Totally perfect day temp-wise, maxed out maybe in the low 80s. But mostly in the 60s and 70s. A bit of fog/mist early in the day, but I'll take anything over relentless SoCal sun and 90 degree temps. (Which is what I'm in store for next weekend. Yikes.)

Really great ride, just felt strong throughout. Haha, though, it was kind of daunting to think, while we sat eating our corn bread, that on the actual Breathless Agony ride we would have still had 4000 more ft of climbing to go.

Herbie53

How many pages before day job as a rocket scientist or engineering degrees are cited? I say 4.

WhyFi

4? I think that you're severely overestimating. Tomorrow at the latest.

Velo Vol 

Are there real oak trees there?

Velo Vol 

RIP, Tom Stormcrowe.

rpenmanparker 

Indeed.

WhyFi

Aww man, that sucks. RIP, indeed.

Heathpack 

Yes, a great many.

BillyD

You're too kind.

BillyD

Yes.

rpenmanparker 

I thought it was just common sense. You mean you can go to school for that kind of thing?

rjones28 

#slowlearner

rjones28 

Good stuff @Heathpack.

LAJ

Very nice, @Heathpack!

rjones28 

mzeffex 

I rode my bicycle quickly in circles again today. Well, actually it was a circle with some squares, but yeah...

I was determined to not DNF after Denver, that really pissed me off. And I did so.

I was feeling good about ten minutes into the 45 minute race, then a rider right in front of me went down and I had to nearly stop to not pile up. Fortunately that worked out, but it opened up a gap between me and the main group that didn't have to slow down. For a lap or so I was sitting between the main group and a group of 4 behind me that wasn't catching me, so I chose to drop back in hopes that we'd be able to work together and get back in. We had five riders, four different schools. I didn't sense the motivation in our group to catch the group except from one other, but we essentially matched the pace of the group for the next 35 minutes, and didn't get caught until the last lap when they really ramped up the pace. I was happy about that, considering the lap was half a mile and we were able to keep that strong a group together. At the end of the race I dialed it up to 400 watts and finished first of our group with a decent sprint. Considering how strong we rode, I've never been so happy with a middle-bottom finish. It was a good experience, it's tough to push yourself for 35 minutes off the back.

mzeffex 

Also, I think I prefer this aluminum TCR to my S-Works.

Pirkaus

Aluminum is real
It is I saw it in the periodic table once.

Trsnrtr

Time to catch up:

Tom Stormcrow: miss ya buddy.
HP: you humble old guys like me.
Mzeffex: hang in there, Dude. One day, it will all come together perfectly.
Descending: Ive got the perfect descending physique - short, compact and heavy. Aero and mass all in one.

Trsnrtr

I've been wanting a retro bike and if this was a 53 or 54, I'd be all over it:

Vitus 979 Cilo Red Complete Bike Never Assembled Shimano 600 Super RARE | eBay

rjones28 

Doug28450

Nope...I'm not going there. I'm not going to post in that train wreck.