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So I had my 2nd leading training ride this past Saturday. We had 14 riders in the group and everyone finished the 40-mile Tour de San Gabriel Valley ride happily. Yea, I didn’t loose a single rider this time! (What an accomplishment…ha ha)
Having 13 people joining me for this Saturday ride was a little surprised to me. With the “not-so-good” experience from the week before, I certainly had the pressure of leading such a big group. Luckily 3 TRLs, Kathie, Brian and Corry were in the group, it made my job easier.
We stopped at the Goldstein’s Bagels in Arcadia and the San Gabriel Mission. We also passed by the Huntington Library. If you happened to run into a group of riders in South Pasadena, San Marino, Temple City, San Gabriel, Pasadena, Duarte, Monrovia, Irwindale, Arcadia, that probably was us. Next time don’t forget to wave or say “Go Riders.”
On Sunday, I co-lead with Virginia, Kathie and Brian. We started from Griffith Park and went to Sunland, Pacoima before climbing the famous La Tuna Canyon. The “fun” part of the day was, I stopped to help a rider, Chuck, fixed his flat tire. By the time we were ready to hit the road, I realized my then-was-parked bike had a flat too! I have not had a flat since last March, so I guess I could not complaint about it. It was a great lesson and practice.
As we were behind the group, Chuck and I decided not to do the La Tuna Canyon part. Instead we went back to the parking lot on an “easy” way. End up with about 35-mile. I’m happy with these back-to-back leading riders, not just enjoying the wonderful outdoor, but also spending time with those riders whom will be joining me in the ride in June.
I’m sure I will be leading more rides in the coming weeks. Stay tune for more. 
I know it was all about Oscar this weekend, but my spotlight was on my first leading training ride. It turns out to be great, except we lost one rider from the very beginning of the ride.
It was kind of cold during Saturday morning. We had 4 riders showed up for the ride, plus my co-lead training ride leader Virginia. I modified the 25-mile ride from a previous ride, from the Rose Bowl to Acadia, and back to the starting point via Sierra Madre and Orange Grove.
I know it was hard to believe that in such a small group, one rider got separated from the group, but it did happened. I rode on the same route for many times, however didn’t realize that there were two parts of Grand Ave. along Arroyo Blvd. She made a left turn on the first one instead of the second one which would lead us to South Pasadena. Luckily she did the ALC ride last year and knew what to do when she was lost and finished the ride by herself.
It was not the perfect leading ride, but I’m glad the riders liked the route. I hope to lead more rides in the next few months and hopefully no more riders will get separated from the group.
Long weekend, short ride!
It was Chinese New Year and President’s Day long weekend. I did a 46-mile ride on Saturday, pretty much the same route that I did the week before, from Griffith Park to Montrose via our lovely La Tuna Canyon road. We started late (after 9a.m.) so it was kind of hot when we began the 5-mile climb. I did well in this ride, and had a chance sharing some of my experiences with the newbies.
Sunday I welcomed the Year of Boar by volunteering at the Buddhist temple in Rosemead, hundreds of people stopped by for new year pray and wishing the year of Boar brings health and prosperity to all. Dragon celebrated the Chinese New Year with a day off from the road.
I’ve been certified as a Training Ride Leader (TRL) this season, after co-leading with some veteran TRLs for several times, I’ve decided to lead my own ride. The ride will be on this Saturday (February 24th). We’ll meet at the Pasadena Aquatics Center, just south of the Rose Bowl at 8a.m. and ride out at 8.30a.m. It’s a 25-mile ride that I named Tour de San Gabriel Valley. The ride is designed from beginner riders, from the Rose Bowl we’ll travel east to Arcadia and stop at Goldstein’s Bagels, before heading back to Pasadena via Sierra Madre. So if you’re interested in riding and want to experience group ride, come join us, no one left behind. For more information feel free to contact me.
First century ride in 2007!
This past weekend, I joined some 7000+ riders of different shapes and sizes and colors and ages from all over the places at the 9th Tour de Palm Springs. To date, more than $1 million has been donated to local charities in the Coachella Valley, such as cadets, Lions Club, Rotary Club, Boy and Girl Scouts, to help support their community events.
With encouragement (or peer pressure?) from my buddies, I decided to put myself into the challenge by signing up for the century ride (which turn out to be 102 miles). I was a little nervous because I have not done any century ride since October. Although I’ve been training and riding, but the most I’ve done in the recent weeks was about 50 miles.
Saturday morning turn out to be a picture perfect day. Leaving downtown Palm Springs with such a huge group of riders. I started feeling not so well during the first 20 miles. I seriously doubted if I could finish the ride. My ego was ready, but my body (and butt) was not. Stopping at the first SAG stop helped a lot, by getting some rest and food, I started to feel better.
Thirty miles flew by, then 50, 65 and 80. The route was actually very doable; I’ve done some tougher century ride. Yet I felt so tired and the legs weren’t moving as fast as I wanted them to be. I’m glad I rode with my buddy Aaron, who kept pushing me to the limit, if not because of him, I would have quit long time ago.
Riding through the windmill and desert was a totally new and fun experience. We could actually hear the sound of the giant fan when it moved. Unfortunately the picture when I passed through the windmill didn’t turn out perfect.
It took us almost seven hours to finish the ride. We were exhausted and tired. Luckily we’ve Andy and Tim (former ALC riders) from Palm Springs who hosted a BBQ dinner for all the ALC riders. The food was great and the hot tub was even better. Also want to thank my friend Dennis who hosted me for two nights, saved me some hotel expenses.
If I had any complain, it would be those riders who used i-pod and cell phone while riding, this not only put themselves in danger, but other riders around as well. We saw several unpleasant incidents.
It was bagel weekend!
The 45-mile ride start from Griffith Park on Saturday was great, we climbed two big hills, the first one was La Tuna Canyon in Sunland all the way to Montrose; the second one was Lida in Pasadena.
After a brief lunch stop at Goldstein’s Bagel in Montrose, we headed to Pasadena area. Due to some confusion on the route slip, I was all by myself and lost in somewhere around Burbank/Glendale. Luckily memory from previous training rides helped bring me back to the route that we were supposed to be, and make it back to Griffith Park in one piece, except with a 4 extra miles that make my ride close to a half-century mark.
Sunday’s ride started at the aquatic center near the Rose Bowl. It was my first ride as a training ride leader (TRL), together with Virginia, Katie and Brian from the Different Spokes group. We had about 20 riders show up, some are newbie, which reminded me of myself a year ago.
I started training for ALC 5 in February 2006, learning all the very basic skills. A year later, not only that I’ve ridden more than 3400 miles, but I’m training for ALC 6 and has become a TRL. One of the reasons that I wanted to be part of the TRL team is to help other new riders like I was helped before, prepare them for the big event in June, and most importantly get to know more people.
This ride stopped at the Goldstein’s Bagel in Arcadia, so for the first time in my life, I had back-to-back bagel brunch! (Should I charge them for advertising fee?) Due to the fact that I had to be at the next appointment by 1pm, I had to rush back to the Rose Bowl and wasn’t able to spend more time with the newbie, or I should call them the new friends that I met. Hopefully in the near future we’ll meet again in other training rides and will share my experiences with everyone who is so excited about this wonderful ride.
New TRL on the road...
Veteran TRL leading the pack...
flying on the beautiful Huntington Drive...
Hurry up, I smell bagels...
Wait for me, don't eat all the bagels...
I have both hands for the bagels...
If you were driving, better watch out for those hungry riders...
Happy faces after bagel break...
She's the one who planned on this bagel ride. Go Virginia!
(Photos courtesy of Brian Frobisher who followed us, and make us feel like superstars that were chased by paparazzi…j/k)
