Mark B
Zen MBB Master
John set the standard high, so in trying to live up to his challenge, here goes the first ride report of the year.
For years, there has been an informal ride to the Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA. My son and I first did this ride many years ago. In all, I think I rode it four times. It's a great way to start the year off right, but takes a little self discipline to refrain from staying up to see in the new year, drinking too much, etc. The other issue is the weather. While it rarely rains for the Rose Parade, it is generally cold. You have to plan for the early morning cold and the likely later day higher temps.
I hadn't personally done this ride for five years. When I first mentioned my intention to do the ride, my son, who is nineteen in three days, decided he was going to go, too. He hasn't been riding much, but has been doing long rides since he was 9.... Strong kid and pretty fit. I was a little skeptical about his ability to do the ride and well. Then, to add to my skepticism, he elected to go out for the night to a party. I wasn't very hopeful of him joining.
The night before the ride... New Years Eve... A friend of mine, whom I have written about before, perhaps un-named in other posts, gave me a call. He's a bit of a partier and I was under the understanding he was going to a party in Palm Springs for New Years. He got burned on it and he decided he wanted to start the year off right, so I invited him along. He's struggling to get back into rding condition, but this ride is usually pretty relaxed and easy, so I figured it would be no problem for him. He accepted the challenge with one caveat; he needed some adjustments made to his bike. He pledged to bring a couple beers over if I would hook him up with a tune-up and I obliged. We got the bike tuned up and shifting good... We nailed down our final plans, then parted ways until the morning of the ride.
Our plan was to be on the road by 5:30 AM for the ride to Upland, where the ride was to start at 6:40. I set my alarm for 4:00 to be up plenty early. The problem is, I set my alarm for 4:00 PM. Fortunately, I was restless and checking my watch every couple hours. I snapped out of bed when I checked my watch to see it was 4:45! I bailed out of bed, got my stuff ready, then woke my son up. A cup of coffee and a call to my friend, Steve, to make sure he was conscious and we were on our way down the road.
We arrived at the ride start in Upland in good time, I thought. People were still milling around, didn't seem to be in a great big hurry. It was cold as heck by our standards. Mid 40's and I was in an underlayer, arm/legwarmers, jacket, glove liners and toe warmers. We hustled to get ready and one of the riders announced they were rolling in "a couple minutes" if anybody wanted to tag along. We were almost ready to roll when the big group headed out the driveway.
I should back up to say that this ride is mostly comprised of members from three seperate clubs; Redlands, Riverside, and Cycling Connection out of Rancho Cucamonga. The main ride leaders, it seemed, were from Cycling Connection and they were dead serious about their couple of minute heads up. We were a little miffed that these hotdogs took off and left so many behind. There were several that arrived after we did and were in no way shape or form ready to roll. Regardless, we took off, me pulling, heading off in search of reeling in the lead pack.
I was hot to trot, being off the bike a couple weeks. I took off like a banshee, my son in tow. We're rollling along at 20-22 mph and all is good to me... We're closing in on the rabbits out front and I'm singularly focused on the task of catching up. Keep in mind that sonny is 6'8" and does a fair job of blocking rear view mirror.... I'm pounding along, him in tow for quite a spell before I decide to check on Steve. Sure enough, he's well back with another rider in tow.. They catch up at a stop light, the other group closer, but obvious our companions are not up to the task of catching up. I wasn't worried, as I knew we would catch up to them at Citrus College in Azusa, where we would pick up the slower group for the remainder of the trip. The problem was, I hadn't done the ride in five years and wasn't real sure where the turn was. The guy that was tagging along with Sonny, Steve and I expressed concerns about getting lost should we drop him, so I promised we would not leave him behind. When we came to the corner where I thought we should turn, I went ahead and turned. I was correct, but a moment of indecision left us wondering for a minute. We connected with the main group and all the slower riders that were starting at Citrus College. We posed for a picture,then headed off down the road for Pasadena. The lead group, who we tagged along with, pretended at first to be concerned with keeping the group together, so we kept it down, for awhile. It didn't last long. Pretty soon, we were blasting down the road at 22-23 mph and the lead group whittled down to about 10. I got tired of being pinned in, so I peeled off and took a turn pulling at 25-26 mph for quite awhile.
I have to admit... I was sucked in by listening to all the talk in the background about the Cruzbike and about how the bike really rolled out. For once, there wasn't much directly said to me, but more chatter in the background, which really meant more to me than compliments to my face. Usually, people talk crap behind your back, but when you overhear them giving you props behind your back; well, that means a whole bunch more. So, I worked pretty hard to live up to what they had been saying.
To be honest; my turn out front pulling full tilt boogie for way too long took it's toll. I should have known better. I was riding with some hot dogs and there was a macho contest in full bloom... I got caught up in it, as did my son. I realized shortly after I relinquished my pull that the couple weeks off the bike and crappy holiday diet had left me short of fitness and hangonability. I backed off to catch my breath a little and once I felt as though I had sufficiently recovered, I tried to close the gap. I was gaining when we hit a hill and I had nothing to give, so I sufficed to cruise. I wasn't alone, as another couple riders had done the exact same thing.
It was all pretty inconsequential, as we were pretty close to the regrouping area at the Jack in the Box restaurant. Many of the riders didn't know where it was, but I knew, so I directed them in to the place. The potty stop was much needed by several. Also, the need to shed outer layers was upon us.
From there, we proceeded down to the viewing area at the end of the parade route. We were well ahead of the parade, so we kicked back and visited with some of the riders and people watched. We had no intentions of watching all the parade, but wanted to watch some of it. We got to see the flyover of the stealth bomber; what an amazing sight. Forget it's a war machine, but the sizze and shape of the thing are just incredible! The sound as it passed over were pretty awe-inspiring, as well. The excitement built as the parade started. We saw a few floats, a few bands and even a celebrity sighting. This far down the route, most of the celebs have bailed off, but country music star Marty Stuart was still on board and still singing! We hung out for about half an hour of the parade, mostly we just people-watched. We got on the bikes and headed back.
I say we headed back, but mostly, we were wanting to get our grub on. We were headed in the general direction we needed to go to get back.... But we were hunting for the food stop, which we found. I treated my fellow riders to a bite to eat, then we got under way for the ride start location in earnst. I was reluctant to tell the two I was a little shaky on my directions back. The street changes names and winds around a little. I knew there was a crazy left hand turn we had to make and when we came to it, I instinctly knew it was the turn, but I directed us straight through it. I knew right away I had messed up, so I turned us around and got us back on track. There was another moment of self-doubt along the way, but I listened to my instincts this time and did it just right.
We didn't set a blistering pace going back. Steve was shot and I think my son was approaching the shot stage. He rode strong, though, I was proud of the way he hung on with the big boys and was still riding strong at the end. We stopped once and while waiting for Steve, stripped out of more warm clothes. By now, the temp was comfortably in the 70's. After we got home, my son ate, sat in the jacuzzi for awhile and crashed out. I knew he was close to being spent at this stage.
In the end,it was a great way to start the new year off right! We got in 57 miles of riding, saw a little of a great parade, saw a celebrity and enjoyed the fellowship of the road.
Mark
For years, there has been an informal ride to the Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA. My son and I first did this ride many years ago. In all, I think I rode it four times. It's a great way to start the year off right, but takes a little self discipline to refrain from staying up to see in the new year, drinking too much, etc. The other issue is the weather. While it rarely rains for the Rose Parade, it is generally cold. You have to plan for the early morning cold and the likely later day higher temps.
I hadn't personally done this ride for five years. When I first mentioned my intention to do the ride, my son, who is nineteen in three days, decided he was going to go, too. He hasn't been riding much, but has been doing long rides since he was 9.... Strong kid and pretty fit. I was a little skeptical about his ability to do the ride and well. Then, to add to my skepticism, he elected to go out for the night to a party. I wasn't very hopeful of him joining.
The night before the ride... New Years Eve... A friend of mine, whom I have written about before, perhaps un-named in other posts, gave me a call. He's a bit of a partier and I was under the understanding he was going to a party in Palm Springs for New Years. He got burned on it and he decided he wanted to start the year off right, so I invited him along. He's struggling to get back into rding condition, but this ride is usually pretty relaxed and easy, so I figured it would be no problem for him. He accepted the challenge with one caveat; he needed some adjustments made to his bike. He pledged to bring a couple beers over if I would hook him up with a tune-up and I obliged. We got the bike tuned up and shifting good... We nailed down our final plans, then parted ways until the morning of the ride.
Our plan was to be on the road by 5:30 AM for the ride to Upland, where the ride was to start at 6:40. I set my alarm for 4:00 to be up plenty early. The problem is, I set my alarm for 4:00 PM. Fortunately, I was restless and checking my watch every couple hours. I snapped out of bed when I checked my watch to see it was 4:45! I bailed out of bed, got my stuff ready, then woke my son up. A cup of coffee and a call to my friend, Steve, to make sure he was conscious and we were on our way down the road.
We arrived at the ride start in Upland in good time, I thought. People were still milling around, didn't seem to be in a great big hurry. It was cold as heck by our standards. Mid 40's and I was in an underlayer, arm/legwarmers, jacket, glove liners and toe warmers. We hustled to get ready and one of the riders announced they were rolling in "a couple minutes" if anybody wanted to tag along. We were almost ready to roll when the big group headed out the driveway.
I should back up to say that this ride is mostly comprised of members from three seperate clubs; Redlands, Riverside, and Cycling Connection out of Rancho Cucamonga. The main ride leaders, it seemed, were from Cycling Connection and they were dead serious about their couple of minute heads up. We were a little miffed that these hotdogs took off and left so many behind. There were several that arrived after we did and were in no way shape or form ready to roll. Regardless, we took off, me pulling, heading off in search of reeling in the lead pack.
I was hot to trot, being off the bike a couple weeks. I took off like a banshee, my son in tow. We're rollling along at 20-22 mph and all is good to me... We're closing in on the rabbits out front and I'm singularly focused on the task of catching up. Keep in mind that sonny is 6'8" and does a fair job of blocking rear view mirror.... I'm pounding along, him in tow for quite a spell before I decide to check on Steve. Sure enough, he's well back with another rider in tow.. They catch up at a stop light, the other group closer, but obvious our companions are not up to the task of catching up. I wasn't worried, as I knew we would catch up to them at Citrus College in Azusa, where we would pick up the slower group for the remainder of the trip. The problem was, I hadn't done the ride in five years and wasn't real sure where the turn was. The guy that was tagging along with Sonny, Steve and I expressed concerns about getting lost should we drop him, so I promised we would not leave him behind. When we came to the corner where I thought we should turn, I went ahead and turned. I was correct, but a moment of indecision left us wondering for a minute. We connected with the main group and all the slower riders that were starting at Citrus College. We posed for a picture,then headed off down the road for Pasadena. The lead group, who we tagged along with, pretended at first to be concerned with keeping the group together, so we kept it down, for awhile. It didn't last long. Pretty soon, we were blasting down the road at 22-23 mph and the lead group whittled down to about 10. I got tired of being pinned in, so I peeled off and took a turn pulling at 25-26 mph for quite awhile.
I have to admit... I was sucked in by listening to all the talk in the background about the Cruzbike and about how the bike really rolled out. For once, there wasn't much directly said to me, but more chatter in the background, which really meant more to me than compliments to my face. Usually, people talk crap behind your back, but when you overhear them giving you props behind your back; well, that means a whole bunch more. So, I worked pretty hard to live up to what they had been saying.
To be honest; my turn out front pulling full tilt boogie for way too long took it's toll. I should have known better. I was riding with some hot dogs and there was a macho contest in full bloom... I got caught up in it, as did my son. I realized shortly after I relinquished my pull that the couple weeks off the bike and crappy holiday diet had left me short of fitness and hangonability. I backed off to catch my breath a little and once I felt as though I had sufficiently recovered, I tried to close the gap. I was gaining when we hit a hill and I had nothing to give, so I sufficed to cruise. I wasn't alone, as another couple riders had done the exact same thing.
It was all pretty inconsequential, as we were pretty close to the regrouping area at the Jack in the Box restaurant. Many of the riders didn't know where it was, but I knew, so I directed them in to the place. The potty stop was much needed by several. Also, the need to shed outer layers was upon us.
From there, we proceeded down to the viewing area at the end of the parade route. We were well ahead of the parade, so we kicked back and visited with some of the riders and people watched. We had no intentions of watching all the parade, but wanted to watch some of it. We got to see the flyover of the stealth bomber; what an amazing sight. Forget it's a war machine, but the sizze and shape of the thing are just incredible! The sound as it passed over were pretty awe-inspiring, as well. The excitement built as the parade started. We saw a few floats, a few bands and even a celebrity sighting. This far down the route, most of the celebs have bailed off, but country music star Marty Stuart was still on board and still singing! We hung out for about half an hour of the parade, mostly we just people-watched. We got on the bikes and headed back.
I say we headed back, but mostly, we were wanting to get our grub on. We were headed in the general direction we needed to go to get back.... But we were hunting for the food stop, which we found. I treated my fellow riders to a bite to eat, then we got under way for the ride start location in earnst. I was reluctant to tell the two I was a little shaky on my directions back. The street changes names and winds around a little. I knew there was a crazy left hand turn we had to make and when we came to it, I instinctly knew it was the turn, but I directed us straight through it. I knew right away I had messed up, so I turned us around and got us back on track. There was another moment of self-doubt along the way, but I listened to my instincts this time and did it just right.
We didn't set a blistering pace going back. Steve was shot and I think my son was approaching the shot stage. He rode strong, though, I was proud of the way he hung on with the big boys and was still riding strong at the end. We stopped once and while waiting for Steve, stripped out of more warm clothes. By now, the temp was comfortably in the 70's. After we got home, my son ate, sat in the jacuzzi for awhile and crashed out. I knew he was close to being spent at this stage.
In the end,it was a great way to start the new year off right! We got in 57 miles of riding, saw a little of a great parade, saw a celebrity and enjoyed the fellowship of the road.
Mark
I try to do the right thing and can't catch a break. Yesterday was beautiful!
