Mark B
Zen MBB Master
A friend of mine that I used to do double centuries with told me about a route he had found. He told me it was 135-140 miles and I reckoned I was about ready for such a feat, so yesterday (Sat. 4/5) was the day. We met at the regular starting place as usual. Our club president toyed with the idea of tagging along, but I knew during a mid-week conversation that she really didn't want to go. I was running a little late to the show, but as I pulled into the parking lot, was greeted by not one, but two other recumbents! :shock: I guess word has gotten around that our club accepts guys on weird bikes, or something! One fellow was on a Greenspeed trike and the other on a custom Tour Easy clone a local fame builder had designed and built. It's custom ti and carbon fiber and I had the good fortune to test ride it before the owner took possesion. Anyway, after the meet and greet Russ and I took off with a larger group that was headed toward Lake Matthews. I hung with the TE clone guy, who, while an older gentleman, rode pretty fair until we got to the climbing. I rocketed ahead of the group as we started up the climb into Grand Terrace, but quickly got reeled in by a handful of our group 4 guys.
Once at the top, the faster guys and girls kept going, but I waited for the TE clone. Pretty much everybody, including Russ, had rolled, but I stayed back for the new (to our group) rider to keep him company. He advised me that he knew his way and to go ahead, but I stayed with him anyway. We rolled on and the group continued to get smaller and smaller. He had run out of steam and slowed more and more as we rode.. Another friend that had started late caught up to us and we rode for awhile. Eventually, I begged forgiveness and peeled off. Dan and I rode hard and all but had the group reeled in when they made a potty stop at a park (where I knew we would catch them). From there, we continued on through Riverside to one group's destinatin, Citrus Park. We stayed too long there before progressing on to Lake Matthews, where Russ and I split off. We were way behind schedule and knew we were pressed for time, so we went a little harder than Russ wanted. He had admonished me earlier in the week that this was not to be a hammer ride (what, me?) but instead, a casual paced ride. Well, that was pretty much out the window, so Russ was content to let me pull most of the way.
I kept the pace civil most of the time as I didn't really know where we were going and what not, but when I knew we had a long, straight stretch, I let my hair down and cruised. One such straight was a nice road with almost a full road lane width for a shoulder. I'm not sure how long it was, but Russ advised it was long and forever, so I set sail at about 23-24 mph with Russ in my slipstream... It was easy-peasy, could have done it all day! The route we were on wasn't always like that, though. There was a fair amount of climbing. Some of it was severe rollers through wine and citrus country, others were just long, drawn out climbs. As always, the Silvio made me look good.... I'm not going to lie; it is all about the bike!
We got back into Moreno Valley with about 130 miles on the day and I was about done. I was to the point I could not drink water any more, or it made me nauseous. I was forcing it down and fighting off the nausea as my experience told me this would pass. For me, it usually happens about 150 miles into a ride, so I just figured I had this to deal with the rest of the way. We continued on and as we dropped down off Redlands Boulevard, the sun was setting. We raced back down San Timoteo Canyon, trying to beat dark when all of a sudden, it hit.... Second wind. I don't know exactly when, can't pinpoint the exact moment, but we passed another rider and from then on, I felt great. I know I could do a double pretty easy. We rolled in to the ride start at7:30... Too dark to legally ride, so I called in a ride home. I ended the day with just over 148 miles on the computer, my longest ride yet on the Silvio. I was pretty beat, but still managed to lead my breakfast ride again today. Got another 28 miles on the odometer.
On a positive note, one of our dear breakfast club members that just had a mastectomy joined us for breakfast. Prayers are answered, she's doing well, just staring down the barrel of chemo.
Mark
Once at the top, the faster guys and girls kept going, but I waited for the TE clone. Pretty much everybody, including Russ, had rolled, but I stayed back for the new (to our group) rider to keep him company. He advised me that he knew his way and to go ahead, but I stayed with him anyway. We rolled on and the group continued to get smaller and smaller. He had run out of steam and slowed more and more as we rode.. Another friend that had started late caught up to us and we rode for awhile. Eventually, I begged forgiveness and peeled off. Dan and I rode hard and all but had the group reeled in when they made a potty stop at a park (where I knew we would catch them). From there, we continued on through Riverside to one group's destinatin, Citrus Park. We stayed too long there before progressing on to Lake Matthews, where Russ and I split off. We were way behind schedule and knew we were pressed for time, so we went a little harder than Russ wanted. He had admonished me earlier in the week that this was not to be a hammer ride (what, me?) but instead, a casual paced ride. Well, that was pretty much out the window, so Russ was content to let me pull most of the way.
I kept the pace civil most of the time as I didn't really know where we were going and what not, but when I knew we had a long, straight stretch, I let my hair down and cruised. One such straight was a nice road with almost a full road lane width for a shoulder. I'm not sure how long it was, but Russ advised it was long and forever, so I set sail at about 23-24 mph with Russ in my slipstream... It was easy-peasy, could have done it all day! The route we were on wasn't always like that, though. There was a fair amount of climbing. Some of it was severe rollers through wine and citrus country, others were just long, drawn out climbs. As always, the Silvio made me look good.... I'm not going to lie; it is all about the bike!
We got back into Moreno Valley with about 130 miles on the day and I was about done. I was to the point I could not drink water any more, or it made me nauseous. I was forcing it down and fighting off the nausea as my experience told me this would pass. For me, it usually happens about 150 miles into a ride, so I just figured I had this to deal with the rest of the way. We continued on and as we dropped down off Redlands Boulevard, the sun was setting. We raced back down San Timoteo Canyon, trying to beat dark when all of a sudden, it hit.... Second wind. I don't know exactly when, can't pinpoint the exact moment, but we passed another rider and from then on, I felt great. I know I could do a double pretty easy. We rolled in to the ride start at7:30... Too dark to legally ride, so I called in a ride home. I ended the day with just over 148 miles on the computer, my longest ride yet on the Silvio. I was pretty beat, but still managed to lead my breakfast ride again today. Got another 28 miles on the odometer.
On a positive note, one of our dear breakfast club members that just had a mastectomy joined us for breakfast. Prayers are answered, she's doing well, just staring down the barrel of chemo.
Mark
