Wheels and News: Bicycle Diaries II

Earth Day - what have I done to save the world? How about spending 4356 miles on the bike instead of driving? Kudos Riders!

Alright, it was another back-to-back hard-core training weekend, climbing some butt-kicking hills along the coast and the valley, and I’m VERY tired.

Saturday 4/21 was ALC 6’s “Day on the Ride,” which was intended to let all riders, especially the newbies know what a typical day in June will look and feel like – with rest stops, roadies crews, sweep vehicles and some road signage.

The registration started at 6am, followed by some important notes and announcements, stretching session. More than 400 riders roll out at 7.30am attempting for their 80 or 40 miles challenge. I rode with my buddy Suzann, and met Khoa from OC, who is another member of our very own “Team Misfit.”

We climbed a few big hills around the South Bay-PV areas, the neighborhood that I had so much memories of, the area where I spent most of my training rides last year. We stopped for lunch at the park in San Pedro, across the street from the Korean Friendship Bell. The way back wasn’t any easier, there were some rolling hills waiting for us. I finished the ride in 5 hours 40 minutes, with an average speed of 13.9 mph, better my time from last year’s 12.5 mph.

There was a after-ride-victory-party waiting for us at the end of the ride. The pizzas, salads, burritos and cakes tasted SO good. Thanks to all the sponsors!

Sunday was our monthly consolidated training, we had like 50-60 riders for previous months training, but only 12 showed up this time. Maybe most of them were still recovering from DOTR.

The 50-mile ride may not sound very distance-challenge but there were 3 big hills, the famous La Tuna Canyon, an all-new-to-me 0.7 mile Harvard street in Burbank and they ‘baby-hill’ in Griffith Park. We had lunch at the farmer’s market in Montrose.

Total mileage of the week: 130 miles.

I’ll be turning 31 next Saturday and what is a better way to spend this special day on a special ride? I’ll participate in the Santa Monica-Santa Barbara Ride for the 2nd year in a row, this is a double century ride, where we will spend a night in Santa Barbara and ride back on Sunday. What do I want for my birthday? How about your donation?