neneboricua

So in a little less than two weeks, I'll be riding the Tour of Puerto Rico (www.vueltapr.com). I know a few other members were planning on riding it, too. Who else is doing the ride?

Maybe we could get together before the ride and meet up for a beer or something. I'm signed up for Group B - 18mph avg - and so far am riding alone so if others are as well, maybe we could all ride together. Much easier to do a ride like this as a group of 4 or 5 people that stick together and help each other out than riding the whole thing totally solo. Heheh. We'd be Team BF

A little about me:
31 y/o male
5'8", 142lbs
Riding strength - Primary: Climbing. Secondary: all-around.
Training in Seattle
Group B

neneboricua

echotraveler

how did it go neneboricua?

i rode with team "Tal + Cual" Ponte Fresco. i also singed for group B but my experienced friends told me to stay on group C if i wanted to enjoy the scenery and the company.

the first day i tried group B, but after the breakfast i stayed with group C...this is not a one day ride...so i paced myself, and it was worth it, getting to meet new people at a very nice pace (not slow at all, more like 18 average, group b was more on the 20 average, and group A ????average)

echotraveler

mrrab

I'd like to do this ride a year or two years from now.

2ndGen

It got by me this year. I had to for the 2nd time ever work this winter.
I have a house on the northern coast and a ton of family I would've loved to have visited.
Not to mention a private beach I would've loved to have waded in for a day.

I'm envious, but in a good way.

(my place is at the far end of that beach)

neneboricua

The Vuelta was awesome! I greatly recommend it to anyone who can train for it during the winter. I've got pictures and a ton of HD video, but I'm still on vacation and need my home PC to edit it down.

I rode Group B all three days. It was listed at 18mph average but it was really closer to 20, but not quite 20. I had been training for it since September, so I was ok with the pace. The group was noticeably smaller by the third day, though. To keep the average speed up on days 2 and 3 (which had more climbing), the pace on the flats was around 25+mph, including on the last day when we had crosswinds for most of the day. Weather was sunny and in the lower 80's during the hottest parts of the day. There were rest stops roughly every 20-30 miles. They were kept down to 10minutes, max. They were well-stocked with food, gatorade, fig newtons, etc... I brought my own food but rarely ate it. Brought two water bottles and never used the 2nd one because by the time I finished the first, we were at another rest stop.

My goal was to not crash or puncture, which I managed to do. Used new Conti GP4000s tires and tubes with slime - heavier but worth it. If you fall off the pace due to getting tired/flat/etc..., its pretty hard to catch back onto the pack if you're alone - they will NOT wait for you. You'd have to wait an hour for the C group to swallow you up.

Spent most of the time in the middle-front of the pack where the more experienced riders were. I was still able to enjoy the views and talk to a number of people on the ride. I've got some great footage of beautiful coastlines and climbs lined with tons of tropical trees. During all three days, there were spectators on the sides of the road cheering us on! Cars honked at us going the other way on the roads in short beeps to show support. On the first day, two riders in Group B actually got married at the lunch stop at the Conquistador hotel after climbing 750feet in less than a mile and a half! I heard he proposed to her at last year's Vuelta. I got all of it on video, too

I'll post pictures and video in this thread when I get it ready after my vacation. Would I do the Vuelta again? Absolutely! The problem for me is I live in Seattle... Putting in ~200 miles a week in December and January when it's 20-40 degrees, cloudy, windy, and rainy, is NOT easy. If the ride were during a better time of year, I would definitely do it again. Even if I still live in Seattle next year, I will seriously consider doing it again, it was that fun!

neneboricua

2ndGen

I have two syllables for you...

zeo_max

Dammit ! So Jealous ! I'm from Puerto Rico but currently stuck in the US to have a job. I have to stare at my bike every night, that I can't ride.

(Because Puerto Ricans are not adept at riding on weather below 40, hehe)

2ndGen

Well we can, but we do it cursing in our heads all the way.
(Me cago en la madre del diablo, hijo de la gran...)

neneboricua

LOL!! True. I would move back to PR if I could find a job in my field there. But I guess I'll have to be happy visiting family every now and then on vacation.

I find that I can deal with riding down to about 40. Below that, it takes serious gear and, above all, massive willpower, for me to go out and ride.

This year, I rode for two weeks in sub-freezing temps, with three more months with weather in the 40's and rainy. But honestly, the only way I'll typically ride in anything below 40 degrees is if I'm training for a specific event. There's something about hispanics and cold/ice that just doesn't mix... Now, when temps get into the 80's, 90's, and even 100's, I have no problems as long as I have fluids, whereas other people around me are straight up passing out after the first hour.

2ndGen

I don't mind the weather as much as I mind the roads and the salt and the potholes destroying my bike.
I'm conditioned to working outside in any weather from below zero to above 100,
but I'm not conditioned to beating up my baby...I'll get a beater bike for that.

zeo_max

Oh that is so true. My friends want to do all sorts of outdoorsy stuff now, saying that when it gets to 100F and humid they would melt if they went outside. That's natural habitat for me.

zeo_max

Well, I'm in Alabama, so when it snows (and it has this year, a lot), there is no salt, and no equipment to remove snow. So you just wait for the snow to melt, for weeks upon weeks.

neneboricua

Same thing up in Seattle. It rains a ton, but doesn't snow often, so the government doesn't prepare for snow much. This year, it snowed quite a bit. When it does snow here, everything shuts down until it rains again. You just can't win...

That's another reason for having a winter training/commuter bike. Picked up a barely used two year old aluminum Novara Divano with Tiagra from a college student who was looking to get a single speed (of course) for $400. It was already 23lbs stock and after putting full fenders/flaps and other stuff on it, it's probably close to 28lbs but at least the crappy roads won't tear up my good bike. And when I ride my good bike, it feels like I'm riding a rocket ship

echotraveler

NENEBORICUA!!! plz send me links to your videos when you edit and post them!!! im glad you felt good on group B, next year i will hang with them. see how i do.

I had 2 flats...on the first day, one on Piñones and one after the big climb camino nuevo (with conti4000s)...i noticed after eating "almuerzo", when we were going out....it sucked because i had to catch the group on the guayama stop, refill bottles and back on the bike! it was fun but a bit hectic.

GUYS come on!!! visit your island! ride your island!!!...i enjoy sunny weather ALLLL YEAR LONG!! but riding around the island was a big educative experience, now i really know were i'm standing! I live in OLD SAN JUAN!!!!! jelous?? you better be!


Las empanadillas de chapin en la parguera son tremendas!!!

2ndGen

You suck! (in a complimentary way!) Old San Juan...beautiful.




Arecibo Beach...that's where I have my place, but I'm in the states making money right now.

I'm going to get married down there in the Spring, either in a centuries
old Church in town or in my family's Church in Aibonito in the mountains.
My family are pure jibaros (that's hillbillies for you Americun folk reading! ).