jsigone

my Lezyne pump broke on Palomar Mt today....not my flat but a buddies....

ahultin

Lezyne pumps have a 2 yr warranty and they are pretty easy to work with

jsigone

thanks for the heads up I take some pics tomorrow and send an email

Love the pump, never had a problem until today. Ironic that my buddy waited for the next guy...who had the same pump but worked for him and was able to continue tackling south grade. Bad place to have stupid mechanicals and broken "fix it tools"

JimF22003

Just a guy here, but in case you're wondering, I love this thread

Beachgrad05

Today we had our third weekend training ride. I led the more experienced group this week. We had about 25 riders today to start with 16 riding with me and the others with Lisa and the other ride leader.

I was working hard today as my HR data shows. Was in zone 4 more than any other zone. Got 79 pts in the red on the Strava suffer score!

https://https://www.strava.com/activities/91478958

https://https://connect.garmin.com/activity/395803847

I won't be riding with team the next two weeks due to seminars I'm attending as part of my job search. I will have to step up my training during week to ensure I'm getting my saddle time in.

Beachgrad05

Recovery ride today with a teammate

https://www.strava.com/activities/91736290

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/396503605

Beachgrad05

Sorry for the lack of pictures that I typically have to accompany ride reports. We have so many new riders with the team that my focus during rides has been on leading the ride and making sure everyone is doing ok. I even forgot to bring my camera along this past weekend. Had my phone and did take a few snapshots with it at one of our regroups at the restroom building where Quail Hill trail and Shady Canyon trail meet up.

Beachgrad05

As some of you are aware I have been unemployed since the beginning of the year. Job market is tough in the area I live in for what I have a degree in. I have applied to alternative jobs trying to think outside the box and use my education to no avail (so far). So the past few weeks have been a struggle with wanting to go for a bike ride let alone to train. Binge watching Breaking Bad has seemed more attractive.

So on the 29th of Oct I needed to go to the bank to deposit some cash I had been given for helping out at the shop so I decided to ride my bike there and at least get a short ride in.

https://www.strava.com/activities/92065663

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/397272329

So the next day I am feeling good about getting a training ride in...I get geared up...arm warmers, leg warmers etc (was a tad chilly)...got on the bike and realized quickly my HR was not registering. I tried moving the strap around but couldn't get it to read. So figured battery may have finally died (HR strap was purchased Nov 2011 so it could be that time). Went back to house and went inside to put new battery in (I keep a stock of this type of battery as my seat post taillight and power meter use this battery). Replaced battery but still could not get it to read my HR. My whole plan of riding for training and doing my intervals using HR was shot. Yes, I could have gone out anyway but dang it...I like my geeky data. So I chose not to ride. Here is my SHORT ride.

https://www.strava.com/activities/93628264

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/400888035

NOTE: HR was not reading due to conductivity issue. I had never had that before....so I got some Bah Bump HR monitor cream to put on the electrodes for future to prevent issues going forward.

Saturday is the teams training ride but this past weekend I had two employment seeking related things to do. Took an exam for a job in Orange County and then raced to Culver City to attend a seminar for rest of day. So no ride Saturday with the team. They did Portola Pkwy and repeats.

So this week I found some motivation and rode to The Unlikely Cyclist shop on Wednesday. Beautiful day out. I wasn't "pushing" myself considering the woeful amount of riding I've done in the past couple weeks. Did 47 flat miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/93628302

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/400888023

Earlier this week a teammate asked if I want to ride together from my house on Thursday (yesterday)...YES as then I will ride regardless of motivation as having company provides some of that extra incentive. Think the 47 miles the day before combined with not riding played a role in not being able to ride as hard as I might normally yesterday. There was a bit of a headwind we fought going north on SGRT but it wasn't blasting us exactly. Still managed some Strava achievements so am good with that. We had a nice ride and then went and had some lunch post ride at a local sports bar (no beer).

https://www.strava.com/activities/93789604

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/401229062

No ride tomorrow with team for me as have a job search related seminar again to attend. I may get out in the morning for a quick spin on SGRT before I have to head to Culver City.

Beachgrad05

Today did my 60 minute interval training ride today with one of my teammates. My teammate is a faster rider and that is a good thing for me. She is one of our ride leaders too and riding with her where we are working hard will make me stronger and faster not to mention make me a more capable ride leader.

https://www.strava.com/activities/94771198

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/403563622

Beachgrad05

Wednesday at the shop Lisa hosted a "training with heart rate" presentation by a coach. Very informative and helpful.

Thursday 11/14 the team was invited to a free spin class at Full Cycle in Costa Mesa (https://www.fullpsycle.com). I have only taken 1 other spin class in my life and that was eons ago. My experience then was skewed due to being ONLY person in class...so was ME and INSTRUCTOR. It was brutal and I never did another class after. So this class was free to the team and guests of team. A couple ladies brought their awesome husbands. I don't own shoes for spin class but they will rent shoes with Look cleats for $2. You can also use SPD shoes. I did the rental. I do NOT recommend going to eat at Super Mex and having a couple beers less than 1.5 hours before spin class. Cleats were not positioned optimally so I had difficulty standing as felt was on my toes not on the ball of foot. It was really a cool workout with data on a screen up front you can see so you can track your power and heart rate compared to others in class. For the competitive folks that is pretty cool. They can sync up to ANT+ HR straps. I want to try again with different pre-class caloric intake and cleats and bike that are a bit more set up for ME.

Today it was decided to do a "flat recovery" ride where minimal climbing would be involved and keep the pace more mellow. https://www.strava.com/activities/95477502

Took some photos today:

Beautiful FALL day...see? We DO have a FALL ... there are LEAVES on the ground.


Long line of cycling ladies:


Re-Group after CLIMBING Irvine Blvd to Alton Pkwy....there was good natured "whining" happening on that climb LOL


Cruising on Alton Pkwy


Regroup just before descent into Back Bay

Beachgrad05

This past Tue 11/19 I did field heart rate test per Carmichael Training method that was described in the training with heart rate seminar I attended at shop. My teammate Jaemie did it with me. We warmed up to a point I figured would give us the best stretch of trail for 8 min ALL OUT.

Warm up: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/406495351

I set up a workout on my Garmin to time the 8 minutes and capture the average HR. Just goes to show that everyone is different physiologically as my HR was way different than my pal. We are close in age (I'm older by 2 years). My avg HR during test was 150. My friends' avg was 181. My heart would explode at that rate!

Here is my test data: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/406495347

After initial test, we rode back toward our start point to "recover" before doing second test.
https://connect.garmin.com/activity/406495339

Neither of us felt like doing the test a second time so we flipped a virtual coin and best 2 out of 3 was "not doing 2nd test". So we headed south to Seal Beach rivers end and then headed back north to finish ride at our initial start point.

Rest of ride: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/406495331

Rest of week was cold/rainy so no riding for me.

Saturday 11/23 was teams training ride together. Planned route included several hills in Orange County. It was a challenging route for sure especially if you believe ridewithgps as far as elevation gain which was 2977 ft in 38 miles. The weather forecast was also a factor as we weren't certain whether it would be raining or not. We had 17 ladies brave the cold (for us) weather to conquer the climbing.

Saturday morning was CLEAR and brisk. I eschewed my team kit to wear my one long sleeve jersey. I wore my black wind vest, leg warmers, long finger gloves, Gore wind stopper cap and my new Fizik winter booties. Several new ladies on team didn't recognize me as was not in my typical attire. The cap was removed about 1/3 into ride at our first re-group at Quail Hill restroom after climbing over Shady Canyon.

The team has not climbed the backside of Newport Coast Drive in a long time and was on the menu Saturday. We regrouped just past San Joaquin and then continued up NCD to the top and over to descend the front side toward PCH. I wish I had brought my camera as the view was SPECTACULAR of the ocean to the point it was almost distracting from the task of descending at speed. I love to descend but not everyone does. We quickly regrouped on PCH and headed back north.

We turned off PCH onto Poppy which is aptly named IMO as once you turn off PCH there is a popper that is a tad steep. Not sure of grade exactly but it can be a surprise to those who don't know the road. We go this way to get off PCH thru Corona Del Mar. We meet back up with PCH and continue north toward Back Bay Area. We regrouped last time after turning off PCH on Bayside Drive and then continued on thru the Back Bay in reverse of typical routes we do. This meant we also had to deal with the popper at end of Back Bay road up to Eastbluff. That hill is the nemesis of a few ladies.

I was was tired from leading for most of ride so I was bringing up the tail on the last bit up Irvine back to shop.

here is my ride data: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/407896977

Beachgrad05

Sat 11/30:
We hit PCH for a relatively flat ride but with a bit more mileage than we had been doing. We got passed by a group of men in matching black/red kits (Team Tempo?) and I heard them commenting about us related to our positioning...Not sure why as we were in the area where cars are parked on PCH Southbound in HB heading toward Main St and the Pier. We were SINGLE FILE and as far to right as practical due to door zone issues. Yes, they had to take the lane to go past us and we were a large group hence a long line of us was there to pass. That is just the way it is. I didn't hear this comment but Lisa did...she said they commented that we must be riding to the mall. She called after them: "Don't make me throw a tampon at you!" LOL Hahahaha.

https://www.strava.com/activities/97944210

I led until we got turned off of PCH onto Bayside to get thru Corona Del Mar. I'm not as fast on hills and we had some rollers coming up after CDM into Laguna to our turn around point at the Stop n Go next to Shell Station. It makes for a nice spot to stop as the Shell has a restroom we can use and the stop and go you can get water, gatorade or a coke.

Those who have followed posts of team rides might notice in the photos that only a portion of the riders are wearing the blue/celeste shop/team kits. That is because we have many new faces on the team. We have ordered new kits (black/celeste) that should be arrive in early January. CAN'T WAIT.

The team behind me on PCH as we head south toward Newport Beach (and here due to bike lane width we did double up to get us grouped closer together):


Stopped at light on PCH and the lady who is pumping her fist with the big smile really met a challenge by riding on PCH. Riding in traffic is especially difficult for her for reasons I won't go into but she has a GOOD reason to be scared. But she is working really hard to overcome and I am so proud of her:


Here we are stopped at the viewpoint on Ocean and Poppy in Corona Del Mar. No...the truck didn't hit the bike that is laid on its' side. They were parked there when we got there.


POSTCARD VIEW here:


Tue 12/3
I rode on San Gabriel River Trail (SGRT) by my house with the intention of doing interval workout. My "interval buddy" Jaemie was unable to ride with me due to stuff she had going on and so I was solo. I warmed up and hit the trail and shortly after getting on SGRT I started the interval workout on my Garmin to track my warm up and the interval/recovery periods. The workout consists of a 9 minute warmup in Zone 2 which for me is set at (128 to 140 bpm) and some days my HR is just stubborn and effort to get there is feels harder than it should feel. (*may discuss with doc as I take HBP med Amlodipine 5mg). So I warmed up essentially for 13 minutes and started my first interval of 5 min at Zone 4 (151 to 163 bpm) and I just didn't feel good. So I shut the workout off. It was windy a bit and my legs just felt sluggish. Maybe needed more warmup? Not sure. Maybe needed my workout buddy....

https://www.strava.com/activities/98520394

Gloomy picture at Rivers End:


Thursday 12/5:

As I plan on riding quite a bit in December and leg warmers and knee warmers only go up to about mid thigh...I decided I would like some thermal tights to wear over my shorts/bibs to keep the tush and other areas above mid thigh a bit more comfortable. I would be really cold after my rides because of that and figure why be cold if I can prevent it? So yesterday I rode to The Unlikely Cyclist to see Lisa and discuss thermal tight options. Of course I hung out for a few hours chatting and laughing with Lisa and Michele (Lisa's "wrench wench").

Didn't think I was riding all that SLOW yesterday but I guess since I have ridden this route so much and have had some really good days while on the bike riding it...I got ZERO trophies yesterday.

https://www.strava.com/activities/98838809

Ready to leave my house (the house behind me is for sale BTW):


Michele was even wearing the same jersey as I wore yesterday...So we had to have Lisa take a photo: TWINS!!


"river" had quite a bit of water in it just past the bridge:


Heading south toward the the pier in Huntington Beach:


Heading back north and can see Palos Verdes Peninsula, Port of LA/LB and Downtown LB off in the distance:

jsigone

looks like you have a good group to ride with, keep it up

Beachgrad05

I do. The ladies that come out to ride with the shop are wonderful and I'm proud to be a part of it. It is fun leading rides with them tho I miss out sometimes on the funny conversations happening behind me since I'm out front. But I get to laugh it up post ride when we kick back at shop.

If all the ladies that signed up came out for a ride we'd have nearly 40 ladies. A few ladies have decided this isn't for them (training for the century) but they are still welcome to come out and ride when they would like...they just need to be prepared for longer rides with some climbing as we get closer and closer to February.

The core group that trained for La Bella Preme (which was cancelled) was about 20 strong if everyone came out for a ride.

One of early training rides for La Bella Preme last Feb?:


At top of Portola with most but not all a couple were still climbing:


Prior to kit arrival on my birthday there are some in this pic not in other and vice versa:


This pic is one of my favorites as it is close to everyone and most of us are in our team kits. Funny that the shop owner (Lisa/Vntgdrms) was not in hers as hers was in the laundry.


First time up GMR for all but a few ladies (Lisa and Yen had been to Shack previously and I had been to the shack and village previously)...everyone else this was their first time and of course they rode up w/o stopping to rest at all (serious props):


Lisa (Vntgdrms) hosted a the Rapha Women's 100K ride in July...this is the team pre-ride:


At the Starbucks on PCH at shopping center (Crystal Cove?) before you get to Newport Coast Drive coming north from Laguna:


Typical post-ride hangout for some food and laughter:


I love how we ride w/o ego or competition tho we do ride hard and sometimes fast. We are a no-drop group so how fast depends on various factors. Nobody is ever left behind or is made to feel inferior / less than.

JimF22003

rdtompki

Palm Springs will never be the same following the ride. Looks like a fantastic group.

Beachgrad05

Sunday Dec 8Team did a 55 mile ride yesterday and it was cold from what I heard. I didn't ride as had plans with husband for Sunday morning (breakfast at local sports bar which only has breakfast during football season so it is something we don't miss if we can help it). I'm not sorry I didn't ride as it was a long ride thanks to a blowout due to a cut tire not far from shop. Lisa rode back to shop to get new tire for that rider. Then later another rider had two flats. So it was a long ride time wise out on road in rather chilly temps. Think many ladies will be purchasing some cold weather gear after yesterday.

Monday Dec 9

I got out for a ride today and plan was just a quick one to rivers end since I had an appt in afternoon.

https://https://www.strava.com/activities/99459258#


Wore my new beanie I got at the shop the other day when I ordered my thermal tights, leg warmers, base layer, arm warmers, wind vest, winter shoe booties and long finger gloves. Was not freezing out but was windy and that wind was cold. I was comfortable but not hot.

I felt pretty good on my warmup to the trail after leaving my house. Got on SGRT at Del Amo and headed south toward rivers end. Immediately started pedaling harder to get warmer before getting to Carson which is next street down from Del Amo. I had set a goal on Strava previously to go from Carson to PCH in under 18 min and came super close once (Sept 28 I did it in 18 min 12 seconds) so I wanted to give meeting that goal a try.

My personal leaderboard for this segment:


I did it and really obliterated my goal. Yes that tail wind was helpful but it was not gusting and I was working. I was pushing as HR was 152 bpm avg and 190 watts average over segment. My stats:


My Garmin shows stats from my house to rivers end total:


My bike at rivers end:


Windy:
https://vine.co/v/hQwnhZddarb

TrojanHorse

Son of a *** and by a full freaking minute too!

I need to get riding again, this can't stand!

Sacre Bleu!

Got to get up early though or wait for a Santa Ana.

Congratulations btw, well done.

Pamestique 

Beachgrad... I finally was able to wear my Unlikely Cyclist jersey on a ride... I find it alittle heavy for normal rides but with this cold weather it was perfect. A friend and I did the Upper SART Sunday. Starting temp was 42 degrees and it never got past 50... so I wore the jersey but unfortunately it was covered with a jacket the whole time! I like cool weather but am struggling to get out in this cold weather.

On the way to work (around 6:45a) I saw a hardy group of fit cyclist rumbling down the new Tustin Ranch Rd extension... my car temp. gage said 38 degrees... I got cold (despite the heat blasted full on int he car) just thinking about riding in this cold weather. Of course I think my friend and I have that group beat... we planned a MTB ride Saturday but rain was predicted so decided to ride down and around Back Bay on pavement... we did, in pouring rain. Everything I wore was soaked through but we had a blast, like little kids doing something we shouldn't.

Anyway, keep up the riding and good luck on the job search. Alot of my friends are and have gone through the same thing. Several made total career changes and are happier for it. Just keep searching and looking outside the "cube"...

iTrek

Beachgrad, Deb said she saw you ladies out today. I think on Santiago Canyon, as she rode it both ways today since I had to work.

Beachgrad05

Does she have a long ponytail? I saw someone going the harder way (Toward Lake Forest) as we were on our way back to Jamboree and that person seemed to recognize me or my jersey. She should come ride with us!

iTrek

Yes, that was her. She recognized you from the GMR ride with Beanz we did a year or so ago. That TH put together.

Beachgrad05

Say hello for me!

iTrek

Beach grad, I did. She thought it was cool seeing y'all out there. She recognized you and Lisa.

Beachgrad05

Wed Dec 11

I met up with a friend on SGRT. We were to meet at Westminster and SGRT at a certain time and I wanted a bit more mileage so I left early and headed north first to get added mileage. Than I turned to head south to meet up with her. Turns out she was able to meet early but I didn't get the message as I left my house early to get more miles in....so she headed north to meet me as I came south. We ended up meeting at the bridge where Coyote Creek and SGRT meet up. We then continued on south to rivers end. We headed back north to where I would exit trail to go home and she would turn back south to head back to CSULB. At the first underpass at El Dorado Park I got a puncture on my rear tire and so we had to stop and change the tube. My tire had about 3060 miles on it and I was anticipating changing it very soon.

https://www.strava.com/activities/99788859