Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Bicycle Diaries II - Season Finale
Final countdown! Are you ready? This is the final weekend before AIDS/LifeCycle 6!
I did a 24 miles ride with Team Long Beach on Saturday, from the Marina to a park in Huntington Beach. I rode with Team LB last year when I first began my training for ALC 5. It was glad to meet some old faces and new faces.
The park was so cool, it has a restaurant there called Alice. There were ducks and geese at the park and there were people fishing by the lake.
Later I met Aaron to pick up the sleeping pad that I’m going to use. Aaron will not join us for ALC 6, instead he’s doing an AIDS ride in Hawaii in August, that would be fun too.
I had the last ride from the Rose Bowl on Sunday, season finale for all of us. Surprisingly we had 22 riders showed up for this 25/36 miles ride. As usual we stopped at the Goldstein’s Bagels in Arcadia for coffee and bagel break, everyone was more relaxing and had chance to exchange ideas and information for ALC 6.
I’ll be shipping my bike to San Francisco this coming Tuesday. Before that, I hope to do two more rides, on Monday and Tuesday, just to keep the legs warm and hit 5000 miles on my bike odometer before ALC 6. Yes, I’ve ridden 4977 miles so far since I bought Dragon on January 28 2006.
A few housekeeping notes for everyone:
Message of Support: you can send me message of support during ALC 6 (6/3-6/9) by visiting www.aidslifecycle.org, on the main page, go to “send a message of support.” My participant number is 3107. I will be able to check messages once I get into camp site, however this is the “read-only” service, so I will not be able to reply right the way.
Gabcast: this is the new feature on our homepage this year. I’ve recorded the first episode today. Simply go to my homepage www.aidslifecycle.org/3107 and scroll down to the blue gabcast box and click on the “episode #” make sure your speaker is on. During the 7 days on the road, I will try to record messages from either public phone or cell phone (if the battery still alive) to share with you stories from the ride, kind of like “reporting live from xxx.”
Closing ceremony: everyone is invited to the closing ceremony on June 9th, Saturday at 4pm. We’ll be at the Wadsworth Theater Grounds, Lot #7 – Department of Veteran Affairs, 11301 Wilshire Blvd., Brentwood. Spectator parking in Lots #6 & #2, $7 per vehicle. Please let me know if you’re coming, would be hard to find each other in the crowd of 3000+ people.
Thanks again for staying tune with Bicycle Diaries Season II. Will there be a Season III?
Faaaabulous ALC nails!
When you get ALC nails, you will be THIS strong. TRL Brian from Team LB.
TRL Mitch giving safety speech before the ride
Breakfast @ Alice at the Park
Muffins and Coffee... we're good to go all the way to SF
The Marina in Long Beach
Ducks at the park
The Three Tenors
Yes, they can sing and like to get attention
Feeding the ducks are welcomed!
Dragon resting at the park
Final ride from the Rose Bowl, everyone gets an ALC goodies bag
Ready to roll
Our favarite bagels place, the women summit
... and the men summit
... and the bagel lovers
Final hill in Sierra Madre
Sally from the Y joined the group
I did a 24 miles ride with Team Long Beach on Saturday, from the Marina to a park in Huntington Beach. I rode with Team LB last year when I first began my training for ALC 5. It was glad to meet some old faces and new faces.
The park was so cool, it has a restaurant there called Alice. There were ducks and geese at the park and there were people fishing by the lake.
Later I met Aaron to pick up the sleeping pad that I’m going to use. Aaron will not join us for ALC 6, instead he’s doing an AIDS ride in Hawaii in August, that would be fun too.
I had the last ride from the Rose Bowl on Sunday, season finale for all of us. Surprisingly we had 22 riders showed up for this 25/36 miles ride. As usual we stopped at the Goldstein’s Bagels in Arcadia for coffee and bagel break, everyone was more relaxing and had chance to exchange ideas and information for ALC 6.
I’ll be shipping my bike to San Francisco this coming Tuesday. Before that, I hope to do two more rides, on Monday and Tuesday, just to keep the legs warm and hit 5000 miles on my bike odometer before ALC 6. Yes, I’ve ridden 4977 miles so far since I bought Dragon on January 28 2006.
A few housekeeping notes for everyone:
Message of Support: you can send me message of support during ALC 6 (6/3-6/9) by visiting www.aidslifecycle.org, on the main page, go to “send a message of support.” My participant number is 3107. I will be able to check messages once I get into camp site, however this is the “read-only” service, so I will not be able to reply right the way.
Gabcast: this is the new feature on our homepage this year. I’ve recorded the first episode today. Simply go to my homepage www.aidslifecycle.org/3107 and scroll down to the blue gabcast box and click on the “episode #” make sure your speaker is on. During the 7 days on the road, I will try to record messages from either public phone or cell phone (if the battery still alive) to share with you stories from the ride, kind of like “reporting live from xxx.”
Closing ceremony: everyone is invited to the closing ceremony on June 9th, Saturday at 4pm. We’ll be at the Wadsworth Theater Grounds, Lot #7 – Department of Veteran Affairs, 11301 Wilshire Blvd., Brentwood. Spectator parking in Lots #6 & #2, $7 per vehicle. Please let me know if you’re coming, would be hard to find each other in the crowd of 3000+ people.
Thanks again for staying tune with Bicycle Diaries Season II. Will there be a Season III?
Faaaabulous ALC nails!
When you get ALC nails, you will be THIS strong. TRL Brian from Team LB.
TRL Mitch giving safety speech before the ride
Breakfast @ Alice at the Park
Muffins and Coffee... we're good to go all the way to SF
The Marina in Long Beach
Ducks at the park
The Three Tenors
Yes, they can sing and like to get attention
Feeding the ducks are welcomed!
Dragon resting at the park
Final ride from the Rose Bowl, everyone gets an ALC goodies bag
Ready to roll
Our favarite bagels place, the women summit
... and the men summit
... and the bagel lovers
Final hill in Sierra Madre
Sally from the Y joined the group
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Bicycle Diaries II - Triple Hills & Fundraising
While the count-down clock is clicking, training and fundraising have been going well and intense. With two weeks left before the ALC, this past weekend was actually the last one for “hard” training, after that, we’re going to slow down.
On Saturday, most of the riders were doing the Mulholland Challenge organized by the Different Spokes. It was one of the most challenging century hilly ride in the San Fernando Valley. I did the ride last year but decided not to do it this year.
Instead, I leaded another ride from the Rose Bowl, to my surprised, 22 riders showed up for this half century hilly ride. We did Lida, La Tuna and Chevy Chase, three of the famous hills in LA. As usual, I was sweeping for the group, there were 8 of us, all of them are first time riders.
Before we started the ride, Brad had to fix a flat tire, but when we were ready to ride out, his rear tire didn’t look good and I wasn’t able to tell what went wrong. So he had to quit and sent the bike to the store. I felt bad for him.
Then Sonia’s chain dropped and got stuck in the front cassette on top of our first hill, Lida. Pedro and I stopped to help but it was beyond what our ability could do. So she walked her bike down the hill and back to the Rose Bowl, it was about 2 miles of walking!
She then drove to a close by bike store, had her bike fixed and came back! She met us at the lunch break point in Montrose. If I was her, I would have quit after the ‘not-my-day’ incidents, but that’s the kind of spirit we were looking for. Never give up.
We finished around 3.30pm and I stopped by Old Pasadena for the bike expo held in conjunction of the Pasadena Bike Week. It was another surprised to Pam from the ALC office at the expo. There were some freebies giveaway and raffles.
On Sunday I went to the temple to celebrate Buddha’s birthday. There was a “food fair” right after the ceremony and I had my first “public fundraising.” It was so nice to have the masters from the temple allowing me set up a little booth, together with a self made poster and my bike, Dragon. I raised a significant amount of money for ALC from this successful fundraising event.
Total mileage of the week: 72 miles
I sent Dragon to the bike shop for a tune-up before ALC. Next week I will be leading the last ride of the season, a 36-mile ride from the Rose Bowl to Duarte.
Nice weather, nice ride. New friends, old friends
Jeff helping Brad changing his flat tire
Pedro take a look at Sonia's stuck-chain
(l to r) Larry, Stuart, David looking good at one of the rolling hills
Lia joins us for the first hill
O-M-G, that's a 6 foot long sandwich, can feed at least 10 people
Charlie showing her happy face after getting to the top of La Tuna
Another happy faces, David
Another David, another faces
Regrouping and catching breaths on top of La Tuna
Kelly finishing her 3rd hill strong
Betsy could not be stronger after conquering Chevy Chase
Sonia come back strong after fixing her bike
Cool bike @ Bike Expo
Does that look comfortable to you?
Fundraising at the temple- Master Yin Hai & Master Hong Zheng
Mmmm... delicious vegietarian soup (they've the BEST food)
BOCA Sunday School students participate in Buddha's Birthday ceremony
On Saturday, most of the riders were doing the Mulholland Challenge organized by the Different Spokes. It was one of the most challenging century hilly ride in the San Fernando Valley. I did the ride last year but decided not to do it this year.
Instead, I leaded another ride from the Rose Bowl, to my surprised, 22 riders showed up for this half century hilly ride. We did Lida, La Tuna and Chevy Chase, three of the famous hills in LA. As usual, I was sweeping for the group, there were 8 of us, all of them are first time riders.
Before we started the ride, Brad had to fix a flat tire, but when we were ready to ride out, his rear tire didn’t look good and I wasn’t able to tell what went wrong. So he had to quit and sent the bike to the store. I felt bad for him.
Then Sonia’s chain dropped and got stuck in the front cassette on top of our first hill, Lida. Pedro and I stopped to help but it was beyond what our ability could do. So she walked her bike down the hill and back to the Rose Bowl, it was about 2 miles of walking!
She then drove to a close by bike store, had her bike fixed and came back! She met us at the lunch break point in Montrose. If I was her, I would have quit after the ‘not-my-day’ incidents, but that’s the kind of spirit we were looking for. Never give up.
We finished around 3.30pm and I stopped by Old Pasadena for the bike expo held in conjunction of the Pasadena Bike Week. It was another surprised to Pam from the ALC office at the expo. There were some freebies giveaway and raffles.
On Sunday I went to the temple to celebrate Buddha’s birthday. There was a “food fair” right after the ceremony and I had my first “public fundraising.” It was so nice to have the masters from the temple allowing me set up a little booth, together with a self made poster and my bike, Dragon. I raised a significant amount of money for ALC from this successful fundraising event.
Total mileage of the week: 72 miles
I sent Dragon to the bike shop for a tune-up before ALC. Next week I will be leading the last ride of the season, a 36-mile ride from the Rose Bowl to Duarte.
Nice weather, nice ride. New friends, old friends
Jeff helping Brad changing his flat tire
Pedro take a look at Sonia's stuck-chain
(l to r) Larry, Stuart, David looking good at one of the rolling hills
Lia joins us for the first hill
O-M-G, that's a 6 foot long sandwich, can feed at least 10 people
Charlie showing her happy face after getting to the top of La Tuna
Another happy faces, David
Another David, another faces
Regrouping and catching breaths on top of La Tuna
Kelly finishing her 3rd hill strong
Betsy could not be stronger after conquering Chevy Chase
Sonia come back strong after fixing her bike
Cool bike @ Bike Expo
Does that look comfortable to you?
Fundraising at the temple- Master Yin Hai & Master Hong Zheng
Mmmm... delicious vegietarian soup (they've the BEST food)
BOCA Sunday School students participate in Buddha's Birthday ceremony
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Bicycle Diaries II - Mothers' Day 077
Zero incident; 72 miles on Saturday; 77 miles on Sunday. And Happy Mothers’ Day.
With only 3 weekends left for training, I did “double seven” training rides on this past weekend. I rode with my buddy Suzann on Saturday starting from her house in Torrance and went all the way to the Palos Verde area and stopped for lunch at the Firsherman’s Village in Marina del Rey.
We biked around the hilly and beautiful Palos Verde neighborhood and climbed up Hawthorne Blvd. from the ocean side, finishing up the 2.5 miles steep hill climb that we skipped last week due to hot weather.
Although it was our own ride, but Palos Verde is very famous and bike-friendly, we ran into three ALC training groups along the way. We also met Pam and Evelyn who were doing their own ride at our first stop. The ride was great with lots of hill trainings.
On Sunday I leaded another ride with Brian, Virginia and Kathie helped lead a shorter version ride. The route from the Rose Bowl to Claremont was pretty much the same as the one we did couple weeks ago (the one that I got hit by car), except I added couple more hills so everyone gets more training not just distance wise but also on climbing hills.
There were 28 riders in the group. It was a pretty good turn out. Most importantly, it was some riders’ longest ride. A few riders travel from Diamond Bar and Claremont to join us. I guess it was worth the drive.
Just like other rides that I lead, I was the sweeping guy (caboosing). I had to go slower than my own pace just to make sure all riders get the support they needed. I didn’t have to work as hard, but at the same time, it took me longer to finish the ride. I always remind myself that it was my own choice to become a training ride leader and lead some rides, so I should be playing my role and not complaining. I’m glad I can be helpful to all, especially the newbies.
It’s easier for a teacher to teach smart kids, but it’s a lot more challenging to teach underachievement kids. However a teacher should be proud to see the students who made progress and finally graduating with a diploma in hand. With that said, I’m very proud of all the slower riders whom I had fun riding with. It will be my greatest gift to see them riding from SF to LA and make it home safe.
Total mileage of the week: 149 miles. Next Saturday I will be leading another hilly ride starting from the Rose Bowl.
passing golf-course around the PV
The patio was our little party place.
Cool poster in their restroom!
Time to go home for a nice Mothers' Day dinner.
With only 3 weekends left for training, I did “double seven” training rides on this past weekend. I rode with my buddy Suzann on Saturday starting from her house in Torrance and went all the way to the Palos Verde area and stopped for lunch at the Firsherman’s Village in Marina del Rey.
We biked around the hilly and beautiful Palos Verde neighborhood and climbed up Hawthorne Blvd. from the ocean side, finishing up the 2.5 miles steep hill climb that we skipped last week due to hot weather.
Although it was our own ride, but Palos Verde is very famous and bike-friendly, we ran into three ALC training groups along the way. We also met Pam and Evelyn who were doing their own ride at our first stop. The ride was great with lots of hill trainings.
On Sunday I leaded another ride with Brian, Virginia and Kathie helped lead a shorter version ride. The route from the Rose Bowl to Claremont was pretty much the same as the one we did couple weeks ago (the one that I got hit by car), except I added couple more hills so everyone gets more training not just distance wise but also on climbing hills.
There were 28 riders in the group. It was a pretty good turn out. Most importantly, it was some riders’ longest ride. A few riders travel from Diamond Bar and Claremont to join us. I guess it was worth the drive.
Just like other rides that I lead, I was the sweeping guy (caboosing). I had to go slower than my own pace just to make sure all riders get the support they needed. I didn’t have to work as hard, but at the same time, it took me longer to finish the ride. I always remind myself that it was my own choice to become a training ride leader and lead some rides, so I should be playing my role and not complaining. I’m glad I can be helpful to all, especially the newbies.
It’s easier for a teacher to teach smart kids, but it’s a lot more challenging to teach underachievement kids. However a teacher should be proud to see the students who made progress and finally graduating with a diploma in hand. With that said, I’m very proud of all the slower riders whom I had fun riding with. It will be my greatest gift to see them riding from SF to LA and make it home safe.
Total mileage of the week: 149 miles. Next Saturday I will be leading another hilly ride starting from the Rose Bowl.
passing golf-course around the PV
lunch stop @ Firsherman's Village in Marina del Rey
The lake wher Reggie hides, no I didn't see him, or else I would have got an exclusive story.
Another great turn out Sunday ride.
Betsy smiled after she conquered one of the hills.
Cam & Susan both making history for longest distance ride, ever.
Hungry riders speed up for lunch break in Claremont.
The patio was our little party place.
Cool poster in their restroom!
Time to go home for a nice Mothers' Day dinner.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Bicycle Diaries II - Sunny Hilly
It was a hot weekend and I end up having some “nice” tan lines!
With less than a month of training until ALC 6, I’ve to say trainings are getting harder and harder, not just longer distance, but also steeper hills. On Saturday day, I joined the Different Spokes group on a training ride from Duarte to Mt. Baldy. I’ve heard so much about this ride and was looking forward to conquer the hills, about 20 miles of climbing!
We planned to have brunch at the Village on Mt. Baldy. After nearly 5 miles of climbing, we learn that we had to change our plan because the road was closed for construction. The workers did not allow us to pass by. All we could do was to enjoy the gorgeous view from the top and the down hills. We end up heading to Claremont, had brunch at the Village over there. Not too bad, we did 47 miles. In the evening I went to fellow rider + TRL Pedro’s fundraising party.
On Sunday I drove to Santa Monica to do a ride they called “Full Pretzel Ride.” We headed to Palos Verdes and loop around PV Drives in all directions. It was hot, it was tough! Some of us end up skipping the last hill, a 2.5 miles climb up Hawthorne Blvd. from the ocean. Instead of the 75 full miles, we did 67 miles, which was not bad at all, because the weather was hot, in the upper 80s.
I had wonderful memories about riding on PV Drives, last year I did many training rides on these roads and had so much fun with the group. For those of you who are familiar with the area, you know those rolling hills do kiss ass!
Total mileage of the week: 130 miles.
This coming Sunday is Mothers’ Day, I will be leading a ride from the Rose Bowl to Claremont, 75 miles. Wishing all the mothers Happy Mothers’ Day!
Glendora Mt. Rd. is closed for traffic, so we had to lift over the gate
Yup, there's the road we climbed
Want a closer look?
Stopping for photos and catching my breath
Dragon rest by the curb
Here comes Brian
The tree got burned?
The gang... what were they doing?
Stucked there because road was closed for construction, NO BIKES!
Alright, just enjoy the views and down hill then
Sunny Sunday, over look at the south bay from top of PV Drive
Suzann climbing up the challenging hill
View of the south bay from different side of the PV Drive
Flying down the hill, chased by the motorcycle
This is better (TRL Brian)
How cute is that helmet decor!
With less than a month of training until ALC 6, I’ve to say trainings are getting harder and harder, not just longer distance, but also steeper hills. On Saturday day, I joined the Different Spokes group on a training ride from Duarte to Mt. Baldy. I’ve heard so much about this ride and was looking forward to conquer the hills, about 20 miles of climbing!
We planned to have brunch at the Village on Mt. Baldy. After nearly 5 miles of climbing, we learn that we had to change our plan because the road was closed for construction. The workers did not allow us to pass by. All we could do was to enjoy the gorgeous view from the top and the down hills. We end up heading to Claremont, had brunch at the Village over there. Not too bad, we did 47 miles. In the evening I went to fellow rider + TRL Pedro’s fundraising party.
On Sunday I drove to Santa Monica to do a ride they called “Full Pretzel Ride.” We headed to Palos Verdes and loop around PV Drives in all directions. It was hot, it was tough! Some of us end up skipping the last hill, a 2.5 miles climb up Hawthorne Blvd. from the ocean. Instead of the 75 full miles, we did 67 miles, which was not bad at all, because the weather was hot, in the upper 80s.
I had wonderful memories about riding on PV Drives, last year I did many training rides on these roads and had so much fun with the group. For those of you who are familiar with the area, you know those rolling hills do kiss ass!
Total mileage of the week: 130 miles.
This coming Sunday is Mothers’ Day, I will be leading a ride from the Rose Bowl to Claremont, 75 miles. Wishing all the mothers Happy Mothers’ Day!
Glendora Mt. Rd. is closed for traffic, so we had to lift over the gate
Yup, there's the road we climbed
Want a closer look?
Stopping for photos and catching my breath
Dragon rest by the curb
Here comes Brian
The tree got burned?
The gang... what were they doing?
Stucked there because road was closed for construction, NO BIKES!
Alright, just enjoy the views and down hill then
Sunny Sunday, over look at the south bay from top of PV Drive
Suzann climbing up the challenging hill
View of the south bay from different side of the PV Drive
Flying down the hill, chased by the motorcycle
This is better (TRL Brian)
How cute is that helmet decor!
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