Mark B
Zen MBB Master
The great thing about riding with a cycling club is the friendships you make. I realize that not everybody has access to the kind of club that welcomes all comers and I know I'm blessed in that regard. When my son and I joined up almost ten years ago, I was riding a recumbent and he a mountain bike with road slicks. They still welcomed us. Sure, we had to prove we could hang and sure, there were those that didn't approve, but the leadership in the club made us feel welcome and we have loved being a part of the club. Almost immediately, I sought to get involved with leadership in order to give something back. It's not always been fun, it's not always been rewarding, but knowing that I have done my best to carry forth the kind of attitude and nurturing environment as I was welcomed into has been reward enough. Over the years, I have welcomed and encouranged many newbies into the club and this weekend, I was privileged to ride with some of the guys I helped break into the club that have continued while I was in my cycling hiatus. I went with them thinking I had progressed enough to ride at their level again and re-establish our riding comraderie. I wasn't disappointed.
Life got in the way of commuting last weekend, so I really was looking to beat myself up pretty well this weekend. I had a notion to do a century, but the weather was supposed to be hot, so I decided instead to ride with old friends. The route they had in mind took us on a pretty steady uphill grind on Reche Canyon Road from Loma Linda south to Moreno Valley. The culmination is a short but steep climb over the pass and dropping down into the city. My riding partner (Don) and I hung right with the group all the way up the less serious climbing. As we neared the more severe climb, Don chickened out and turned back. I stayed on and fell back from the leaders as we did the serious climb. I was not the last to the top and I had the leaders in eye-shot all the way, so I felt pretty good.. We dropped down into Moreno Valley and as the slope leveled out some, one newer rider that I did not know rode up alongside me, huffing and puffing and asking me all about the Silvio. He was amazed at how I was coasting so effortlessly as he worked hard to catch up and yet, I pulled away, without turning a pedal! He began what was a curious wonder about a bike like none he'd ever seen before. We continued on south through Moreno Valley into rural Riverside County. We eventualy began making east and as we were heading toward a planned stop at a gas station for water and a rest break, I got a flat. It was my first ever flat on the front end and I must say the bike was ultra controllable even with the flat. I stopped, flipped it over and saw the offending goathead still protruding from the tire. This prompted an idea, one I had never actually tried myself. I pulled the goathead, then pulled enough of the bead off the wheel to get the tube out and patched it on the spot. Not pulling the wheel sped the process up greatly, so I was back on the road quickly. We made our refreshment stop, then continued west up some more hills. By this time, I was solidly staying in front of three riders, more or less in the middle of the pack. We continued west, then turned north toward the city of Riverside. We climbed up into the Woodcrest area of Riverside, then descended down into Riverside proper. I hit a high speed of 49 MPH during this descent before chickening out and applying the binders. We got back to Redlands as a group and I felt pretty good despite the faster pace and all the climbing.
Today (Sunday) was our regular breakfast ride. I was thinking about how this ride had grown from a rag-tag group of newbies and out of shape old timers into a core group of strong riders that represent the club well. Most of these riders have grown to be able to ride with just about anybody and yet, choose this ride as their staple. It's a good thing and I'm proud to be part of it.
I love our bike club and would like for you to check out our new and improved web site. The new web master is one of our Sunday morning core group of riders and he has done a fantastic job of revamping our old website. Stop in and check it out. http://www.rwbtc.org
Mark
Life got in the way of commuting last weekend, so I really was looking to beat myself up pretty well this weekend. I had a notion to do a century, but the weather was supposed to be hot, so I decided instead to ride with old friends. The route they had in mind took us on a pretty steady uphill grind on Reche Canyon Road from Loma Linda south to Moreno Valley. The culmination is a short but steep climb over the pass and dropping down into the city. My riding partner (Don) and I hung right with the group all the way up the less serious climbing. As we neared the more severe climb, Don chickened out and turned back. I stayed on and fell back from the leaders as we did the serious climb. I was not the last to the top and I had the leaders in eye-shot all the way, so I felt pretty good.. We dropped down into Moreno Valley and as the slope leveled out some, one newer rider that I did not know rode up alongside me, huffing and puffing and asking me all about the Silvio. He was amazed at how I was coasting so effortlessly as he worked hard to catch up and yet, I pulled away, without turning a pedal! He began what was a curious wonder about a bike like none he'd ever seen before. We continued on south through Moreno Valley into rural Riverside County. We eventualy began making east and as we were heading toward a planned stop at a gas station for water and a rest break, I got a flat. It was my first ever flat on the front end and I must say the bike was ultra controllable even with the flat. I stopped, flipped it over and saw the offending goathead still protruding from the tire. This prompted an idea, one I had never actually tried myself. I pulled the goathead, then pulled enough of the bead off the wheel to get the tube out and patched it on the spot. Not pulling the wheel sped the process up greatly, so I was back on the road quickly. We made our refreshment stop, then continued west up some more hills. By this time, I was solidly staying in front of three riders, more or less in the middle of the pack. We continued west, then turned north toward the city of Riverside. We climbed up into the Woodcrest area of Riverside, then descended down into Riverside proper. I hit a high speed of 49 MPH during this descent before chickening out and applying the binders. We got back to Redlands as a group and I felt pretty good despite the faster pace and all the climbing.
Today (Sunday) was our regular breakfast ride. I was thinking about how this ride had grown from a rag-tag group of newbies and out of shape old timers into a core group of strong riders that represent the club well. Most of these riders have grown to be able to ride with just about anybody and yet, choose this ride as their staple. It's a good thing and I'm proud to be part of it.
I love our bike club and would like for you to check out our new and improved web site. The new web master is one of our Sunday morning core group of riders and he has done a fantastic job of revamping our old website. Stop in and check it out. http://www.rwbtc.org
Mark
