merider1

Here is my synopsis (report):

1. Great weather! Note to self: STOP over-dressing. Yes, I wore my jacket so UN-OCP tied around my waist today as I didn't need it!
2. Great to see: Ronjon, Jschen, DaveSANYYZ, Indolent58, Scvroadie, Grrlyrida (Vanessa), Karen (Pink Lady who was radiant in her pink today), Cassave (for a brief moment in time before he was disappeared in a cloud of smoke), Stan (ditto), LABaby (more on him in a moment) and Irene (amazingly strong rider and lovely woman) - I pray I didn't miss anyone. If so, my excuse is, I NEED to shower.
3. Also great to see the Adobo boys (Francis, Rick, Alan, David, etc.). They too disappeared in a cloud of smoke, but I got a few pics of them.
4. We took off at 7:30am, and rode directly to Latigo where I got my first flat (). Jshen changed it for me and was then stuck with me cursing and *****ing all the way up that climb. But I really blew it all out trying to go up that as fast as possible to catch the others, who did, in fact, wait .
5. LABaby crashed on the descent off of Westlake. Last I heard, he broke his shoulder and is scheduled for surgery tonight. For those of you who don't know him, his name is John and he is the sweetest man. I've ridden with him before and this was just a freak accident. I feel horrible for him!
6. Dave had our second flat of the day and then I had our third! Ugh...Jschen changed my second one too (and massaged my shoulders all day - I'm sure I'll get the bill in the mail next week ) and then we hammered in head wind to catch up with the rest of the group who did, in fact, wait again.
7. Great volunteers as always and great food (IMO) at the stops. I was starving by the last stop and ate again there (another sandwich after having had one at lunch too). But I needed it, as this was not a good riding-mojo day for me. The cycling gigolos were not "putting out" if you get my drift and I had lead leg. Thanks to Jschen, Dave, Lee and Irene for giving the strongest pulls of the day, with Karen right with them. The headwinds were fierce! On PCH back, I pushed through the desire to quit at mile 100. Glad I did!
8. Thanks guys for a wonderful day! And thanks Dan, Jason and Dave for having dinner with me after.

MacManDude

Wow, great sounding ride (except for the flats and crashes). It gives me something to plan for next year.

DaveSANYYZ

Great ride! It was nice riding with everyone.

For me it's my second time riding this route (first time was a few months ago in Grand Tour DM). I feel much better than last time and didn't fade! Yeah!

merider1

So, being a little blah yesterday, I didn't take as many pics as I would have liked to. But when I start to fatigue (which happened by mile 80 on this ride), I put the camera away for safety reasons and focus only on riding and what's in front of me. But here are some to enjoy:

The Adobo guys getting ready to leave in a plume of smoke (them boys are fast):


Francis with his usual smile at me:


The BF group about to take off (we were missing Scvroadie, Grrlyrida, LaBaby & Eileen, unfortunately):


The group again after a volunteer offered to take anther:


And we are off on PCH:


Stan already ahead:


Rare shot of Steve who, gasp, waited at the bottom of Latigo. But then he was gone in a plume of smoke:


The pretty pink lady


And again, with Dave:


My first flat and Jason changing it, that sweetie:

merider1

The carrot I chased up Latigo:













Rest stop 1:


Bored, so what better to do than take pics with the men:


And another:


DaveSANYYZ:

merider1

Indolent58 (Dan):




The Pink Hammer Girl


Flat #2:

merider1

Lunchstop:




Dave and Ronjon:


Irene and Scvroadie (Lee):

wolfpack 

Hey ME! Those are some nice pictures!! Looks like a fun ride.

jsigone

great report and pics!!!! Weather looked great too!! How was the wind up there? I had winds from all directions on yesturday's ride, but I rode late, Had to watch the foosball game at 10

merider1

Hi Lady, if you are ever out here, we'd love to have you along.

merider1

Jeff, the wind was pretty rough in a lot of the flat sections (gotta love that), but we had some strong pulls by those I mentioned. I was very grateful that I was in a pack yesterday!

jsigone

yah I'd imagine pack riding in that type of swirlling winds is less draining. I can'y imagine doing a windy century solo....

nesdog

Great job, everyone! Love the pix. I rode Hidden Valley reverse, via Newbury Park to Westlake, and looked for the BF crowd as I went through. I was probably a bit early though.

Sheldon

tprevost

Thank you M.E.!!! Another great report and awesome pics!

jschen

M.E. already put together an awesome ride report, so all I have to add are the following:

(1) I really enjoyed the hour when the others left M.E. and me alone to engage in some labored breathing.

(2) My seated climbing legs fatigued at mile 105. The rollers on the home stretch were a bit painful.

Awesome ride, awesome company.

tprevost

I also wanted to add wishes to LABaby for a quick recovery! Sorry to hear about your crash

Cassave

That was fun.

Very sorry to hear about the crash on Latigo. After a rain all the canyon roads can be
treacherous due to sand and rock washed down by the rain.

And stop getting those flats!

To those riding Lighthouse, see you next week.

BikeWNC

Great pics, looks like a nice ride. I'm a bit perplexed by all the leg warmers though. I thought you lived in SoCal? What's up with that?

voltman

They didn't shave that day.

scvroadie

Great ride,

Didn't hook up with the BF group until the lunch stop, had to help get LAbaby (John) to a care facility. I am waiting to hear from John, and I will post later a synposis of my ride and John's current condition.

M.E., just a couple of little corrections. It's Irene, not Eileen. The crash occurred on the downhill portion of 23 (westlake). Much more treacherous than the descent off of Latigo.

roadfix

Nice reporting and pics! Sorry I had to miss this ride this year.
Sorry to hear about LAbaby's crash. Hope he recovers quickly.

merider1

Sorry, Lee, I wrote that late last night.

ronjon10

Great to see everyone yesterday.

I'll add myself to the no mojo list. I probably shouldn't have done the weightlifting on Saturday, I ran out of power somewhere around hidden valley. I was fine spinning on flats, but had no legs for climbing after that. To top it off, coming into Zuma beach, I started to feel nauseous. I'm not sure if it was the exertion, or some lethal combination of food with the goos and sandwiches and cokes and heed and electrolyte pills and pretzels. It certainly wasn't my best day on the bike, but I was happy to get through it and I did set another personal daily mileage mark.

I'll add my thanks to everyone who pulled through the headwinds. It was all I could do to hang at the back of the group.

DaveSANYYZ

It was actually quite cold in the morning. Most of us took off our arm warmers before an early climb on Latigo. It was great during the climb, but on the descend I was shivering; so I put it back on until later on in the day.

merider1

I don't like to mention when others didn't feel well on a ride, but since you have, I'll just say that you sure held it together Ron for feeling so awful (I've had nauseau on rides before and that is the worst). You even had your sense of humor at the end as we pulled into the parking lot when you said (jokingly, of course), "I hate this ride. I'm never riding it again. I'm never riding with you people again. I'm never logging back onto Bike Forums again."

I see you changed your mind...