OK, I’m physically and mentally exhausted.
Why? On the physical part because I co-lead the 45-mile ride on Saturday that went up to San Gabriel Mountain, of which about 15 miles of incline and climb.
While for the mentally part, one of our riders went down at the down hill and he was airlifted to the county hospital trauma center. The good news is he’s in stable condition now.
It was the beginning of the record breaking heat weekend. We started at Stan’s Bike Store in Monrovia, it was around 66’F. By the time we get to climb the mountain, the temperature went up to the 90s! We were toasted under the no shade mountain road.
There were many cyclists out there during the weekend, most of them belong to different cycling clubs or training groups. We were also joined by some motorcyclists who speed up the hill and left us plenty of polluted gas.
After catching our breathes on top of the mountain, we took off for the 10-mile down hill. While Eric and I were in the front, Fiona and Richard followed behind. We came across fire truck and ambulance right before we hit the bottom of the hill, something must have gone wrong.
We waited and waited, still no sign of Fiona and Richard. We started to hope that the ambulance was not for them. Eric’s phone rang and it was Fiona calling, “Richard went down.” We learn that he fell on his forehead but didn’t get more details. Richard was later airlifted to county hospital near downtown. We transported his bike back to Stan’s and waited for the police to contact his family. We’re still trying to find out how and why did he fell.
I went to the hospital in the evening hoping to see him. However, due to several hospital procedures I wasn’t able to do so. I left him a note with best wishes and pray for his speedy recovery. We were glad to learn that he’s in stable condition now. Richard did 11th AIDS Rides. He’s totally an inspiration to all.
Oh yea, while I was waiting at the emergency room, there was a lady accompanying her son to visit his girlfriend. According to her, the 15-year-old girl was hit by car while riding with her dad in the neighborhood. She was airlifted from Chino. I believed she’s doing OK with some broken bones.
That’s right, there’s always a risk when we ride on the road. I hope we all will ride safe, drive safe on the road, for the safety of our own and those we love.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Bicycle Diaries the 3rd - Chilly Chilly Pain Pain
Another lack-of-training weekend.
Three airlines went bankrupt this past week, I supposed I should be lucky "just" had to experience the delays and not having to find out flights were canceled in the last minutes. I flew with US Airways, on the way back to LA I had to transfer in Las Vegas. For an unknown reason, flight was delayed for an hour. So, I finally got home around 2.15am and went to bed at 3am (which is 6am eastern time!!!). I was really tired for the next two days and didn't train as hard.
I went to spinning class on Friday (instead of riding my bike) and kind of injured my back on the weight lifting machine (ouch!). I thought it would be a great excuse not to train on Saturday and I really did try hard. I slept till 9am. Not sure why, I told myself the ride is only 2 months away, I should train more or I will get more pain later. As a result, I rode by myself, started from my apartment and headed east to Arcadia/Monrovia/Duarte and did some climbs up Altadena and New York Dr. Under the cloudy sky and chilly wind, I did 43 miles in 3 hours.
I'm planning to do a century ride (mostly likely my ONLY century ride for this season before ALC 7 in June) on this coming Friday and will be co-leading a ride up to the San Gabriel Mountain (the one I did with fellow TRLs a few weeks ago). If you're up for these challenge, let me know.
By the way, I'm still in the process of uploading pictures from my DC trip. So if you haven't seen them, or if you would like to see what's new in the albums, CLICK HERE.
Last but not least, thanks for those who support my ride and hope the rest of you will be donating too (as you received your tax return/credit from uncle Sam). I've ordered special T-shirt for club 100 members (ie. those who donated $100 or more). Please help spread the words.
Have a nice day.
Three airlines went bankrupt this past week, I supposed I should be lucky "just" had to experience the delays and not having to find out flights were canceled in the last minutes. I flew with US Airways, on the way back to LA I had to transfer in Las Vegas. For an unknown reason, flight was delayed for an hour. So, I finally got home around 2.15am and went to bed at 3am (which is 6am eastern time!!!). I was really tired for the next two days and didn't train as hard.
I went to spinning class on Friday (instead of riding my bike) and kind of injured my back on the weight lifting machine (ouch!). I thought it would be a great excuse not to train on Saturday and I really did try hard. I slept till 9am. Not sure why, I told myself the ride is only 2 months away, I should train more or I will get more pain later. As a result, I rode by myself, started from my apartment and headed east to Arcadia/Monrovia/Duarte and did some climbs up Altadena and New York Dr. Under the cloudy sky and chilly wind, I did 43 miles in 3 hours.
I'm planning to do a century ride (mostly likely my ONLY century ride for this season before ALC 7 in June) on this coming Friday and will be co-leading a ride up to the San Gabriel Mountain (the one I did with fellow TRLs a few weeks ago). If you're up for these challenge, let me know.
By the way, I'm still in the process of uploading pictures from my DC trip. So if you haven't seen them, or if you would like to see what's new in the albums, CLICK HERE.
Last but not least, thanks for those who support my ride and hope the rest of you will be donating too (as you received your tax return/credit from uncle Sam). I've ordered special T-shirt for club 100 members (ie. those who donated $100 or more). Please help spread the words.
Have a nice day.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Bicycle Diaries the 3rd - Cherry Blossom @ the Potomac River
Greeting from the Potomac River! Cheering for the National Cherry Blossom Festival!
The weekend with no training rides. Not that I was lazy, I’m out of town attending the Association of Healthcare Journalists national conference in DC. I’ll extend my trip till Wednesday so I can do some sightseeing in the capital.
The conference ended on Sunday afternoon, so I’ve to check out the hotel and moved to a hostel (Hostelling International, pretty good). I usually choose a hostel when I travel alone, not just save cost (about $25-$35 a night, 4-8 people per room) but also get to know travelers from around the world.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C. commemorating the March 27, 1912, gift to the city of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo. Mayor Ozaki donated the trees in an effort to enhance the growing friendship between the United States and Japan and also celebrate the continued close relationship between the two peoples.
The first festival was held in 1935, sponsored by civic groups in the nation's capital. Suspended during World War II because of hostilities between the United States and the Empire of Japan, the festival resumed in 1947 with the support of the Washington, DC Board of Trade and the DC Commissioners. In 1948, the cherry blossom princess and U.S. Cherry Blossom Queen program were started by the National Conference of State Societies.
This year the festival begins on the 29th with an opening ceremony at the National Buildings Museum. According to the organizer, about 8000 people went to the family fun day and ceremony.
After checking in at the hostel, I walked to the National Mall, which is about six blocks south, then headed west to the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. I walked for about four hours under the chilly spring weather in DC (luck you in the sunny southern California).
Pictures taken from today’s visit can be viewed at CLICK HERE. Hope you enjoy seeing them and don’t forget to sponsor me, have your friends and family sponsor me. The ride is just two months away!!!
The weekend with no training rides. Not that I was lazy, I’m out of town attending the Association of Healthcare Journalists national conference in DC. I’ll extend my trip till Wednesday so I can do some sightseeing in the capital.
The conference ended on Sunday afternoon, so I’ve to check out the hotel and moved to a hostel (Hostelling International, pretty good). I usually choose a hostel when I travel alone, not just save cost (about $25-$35 a night, 4-8 people per room) but also get to know travelers from around the world.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C. commemorating the March 27, 1912, gift to the city of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo. Mayor Ozaki donated the trees in an effort to enhance the growing friendship between the United States and Japan and also celebrate the continued close relationship between the two peoples.
The first festival was held in 1935, sponsored by civic groups in the nation's capital. Suspended during World War II because of hostilities between the United States and the Empire of Japan, the festival resumed in 1947 with the support of the Washington, DC Board of Trade and the DC Commissioners. In 1948, the cherry blossom princess and U.S. Cherry Blossom Queen program were started by the National Conference of State Societies.
This year the festival begins on the 29th with an opening ceremony at the National Buildings Museum. According to the organizer, about 8000 people went to the family fun day and ceremony.
After checking in at the hostel, I walked to the National Mall, which is about six blocks south, then headed west to the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. I walked for about four hours under the chilly spring weather in DC (luck you in the sunny southern California).
Pictures taken from today’s visit can be viewed at CLICK HERE. Hope you enjoy seeing them and don’t forget to sponsor me, have your friends and family sponsor me. The ride is just two months away!!!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Bicycle Diaries the 3rd - Century Easter Weekend, the Reservoirs and the State Prison
It was hot, it was long, lots of climbing, lots of fun. It was another milestone for the season, 114 miles for this weekend.
On Friday, the TRLs from the Rose Bowl group, Pedro, Eric, Fiona and I met at Stan’s Bike shop in Monrovia. We would like to try out something different, something more challenging, and something with spectacular view. So Fiona suggested we go up San Gabriel Canyon Road and come down Glendora Mountain Road, and we did.
These are roads that go into Angeles National Forest, you cannot imagine how nice the view is without actually seeing it yourself (well you’re lucky; I took some pictures to share with you). However, in order to enjoy the spectacular view, we had to do A LOT of climbing, the highest point happens to be 3406 feet above sea level.
We passed by the Morris and San Gabriel reservoirs on the way up. I’ve never seen such a nice view before. Maybe things do look better when you’re paying extra hard work, just like food tastes a lot better when you’re hungry. It was so peaceful, it was so nice to be closed to the natural, and it was so good to stay away from the busy life with cars and works. Believe it or not, there’s a state prison in the forest! We ran into some inmates, I supposed they’re not the hardcore criminals.
We stopped at Camp Williams Café for breakfast after about 20 miles of riding. This was the only spot to fill up our water bottles. In fact, a lot of cyclists stopped there for the same reason. The food was ok but we don’t have many choices. At this point, the café is only opened Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but will open daily after Memorial Day weekend.
The hardest part of the ride was the last 6 plus miles up to the top of East Fork Road before it gets to Glendora Mt. Road. It reminded me of the Mulholland Challenge that I did 2 years ago, a steady 7 miles climb at mile 80. After reaching the top, we stopped for few minutes to catch our breath and then enjoy the 10-mile downhill. We got back to Stan’s about 1.30pm.
Saturday was our regular training ride from the Rose Bowl. We had 20 people showed up for this flat to hilly ride. We did it last month, the day my car tire gets flat. The challenge of this ride came in the second part when we had to climb up New York Drive, Altadena Drive and the final one mile, the killer, Lake Avenue.
Due to the speed of different riders, everyone was kind of spread out after the first stop at Goldstein’s. While Pedro and Eric stayed in the front with the fast riders, Fiona and I were at the back. We also had Doreen, a 14th time riders plus TRL to join us. She’s great and helped the new riders a lot. I thought I was good at sweeping but she’s 10 times better.
When the heat kicked in, some riders decided to go to the short cut and finished the ride. Doreen and I end up being the last 2 riders at the back. We rode the last 10 miles together.
Since I will be out of town this coming week and miss the weekend training, so I decided to ride by myself on Sunday morning, to get over the century mark, and I did. I rode from home to the Rose Bowl plus a loop at the Linda Vista neighborhood, total about 21 miles.
As for the fundraising part, it’s going pretty slow. Is it because of the economy? Or just because I didn’t train hard enough to get your support? C’mon, every dollar counts, regardless it’s $10 or $100, it will help someone. So while you’re enjoying the pictures I took from the training rides, I hope you would consider sponsoring me as well. Also please spread the words and get more people to support this great cause.
Have a wonderful week ahead.
On Friday, the TRLs from the Rose Bowl group, Pedro, Eric, Fiona and I met at Stan’s Bike shop in Monrovia. We would like to try out something different, something more challenging, and something with spectacular view. So Fiona suggested we go up San Gabriel Canyon Road and come down Glendora Mountain Road, and we did.
These are roads that go into Angeles National Forest, you cannot imagine how nice the view is without actually seeing it yourself (well you’re lucky; I took some pictures to share with you). However, in order to enjoy the spectacular view, we had to do A LOT of climbing, the highest point happens to be 3406 feet above sea level.
We passed by the Morris and San Gabriel reservoirs on the way up. I’ve never seen such a nice view before. Maybe things do look better when you’re paying extra hard work, just like food tastes a lot better when you’re hungry. It was so peaceful, it was so nice to be closed to the natural, and it was so good to stay away from the busy life with cars and works. Believe it or not, there’s a state prison in the forest! We ran into some inmates, I supposed they’re not the hardcore criminals.
We stopped at Camp Williams Café for breakfast after about 20 miles of riding. This was the only spot to fill up our water bottles. In fact, a lot of cyclists stopped there for the same reason. The food was ok but we don’t have many choices. At this point, the café is only opened Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but will open daily after Memorial Day weekend.
The hardest part of the ride was the last 6 plus miles up to the top of East Fork Road before it gets to Glendora Mt. Road. It reminded me of the Mulholland Challenge that I did 2 years ago, a steady 7 miles climb at mile 80. After reaching the top, we stopped for few minutes to catch our breath and then enjoy the 10-mile downhill. We got back to Stan’s about 1.30pm.
Saturday was our regular training ride from the Rose Bowl. We had 20 people showed up for this flat to hilly ride. We did it last month, the day my car tire gets flat. The challenge of this ride came in the second part when we had to climb up New York Drive, Altadena Drive and the final one mile, the killer, Lake Avenue.
Due to the speed of different riders, everyone was kind of spread out after the first stop at Goldstein’s. While Pedro and Eric stayed in the front with the fast riders, Fiona and I were at the back. We also had Doreen, a 14th time riders plus TRL to join us. She’s great and helped the new riders a lot. I thought I was good at sweeping but she’s 10 times better.
When the heat kicked in, some riders decided to go to the short cut and finished the ride. Doreen and I end up being the last 2 riders at the back. We rode the last 10 miles together.
Since I will be out of town this coming week and miss the weekend training, so I decided to ride by myself on Sunday morning, to get over the century mark, and I did. I rode from home to the Rose Bowl plus a loop at the Linda Vista neighborhood, total about 21 miles.
As for the fundraising part, it’s going pretty slow. Is it because of the economy? Or just because I didn’t train hard enough to get your support? C’mon, every dollar counts, regardless it’s $10 or $100, it will help someone. So while you’re enjoying the pictures I took from the training rides, I hope you would consider sponsoring me as well. Also please spread the words and get more people to support this great cause.
Have a wonderful week ahead.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Bicycle Diaries the 3rd - Bike to Train, Sunshire to Rain
Another record for this season, 75 miles ride from Irvine to Solana Beach.
The sky was dark and the alarm went off at the most undesired time. At 5 a.m. to be exact. While most people were still in bed enjoying their beauty sleep, or maybe having wonderful dreams, I had to get up and get ready for a training ride.
The Saturday morning fun ride was organized by Team OC. In fact I first did this ride back in 2006 when I was training for ALC 5. They organize this ride twice a year. I forgot why I didn’t join them last year.
I arrived at the Irvine train station shortly after seven. Some early birds already left to catch their fun. I met with Suzann, Khoa and George, picked up the route slips, pre-ordered our pizzas, did some stretching and hit the road around 7.30 a.m.
It was a little cold but not too cold. That was when I realized I forgot to bring my gloves. Great! They were still in my laundry bag. We didn’t wear gloves just because they looked great, they helped protect the nerves on the palms. Of course it won’t kill if you didn’t wear them, but you’ll get those sexy tan lines like I do.
We made a few stops along the coast, Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, and at the beach near Oceanside. We had to detour and bike a few miles on the 5 freeway last time and we were lucky not to have to repeat that. Instead we went through Camp Pendleton Marine Co Base.
I felt great for the first 40 miles because we got tailwind for most part of it. However I started feeling tired and the legs just quit working with my mind. I started to fall apart from our group. It was ok, I always follow the “ride on your own pace” rule. I tried to concentrate, or should I say I tried not to pay too much attention on each stroke that I made, tried to forget the pain on my legs and hip. I keep telling myself, one mile at a time. That’s what helped me get through the last 10 miles.
We got to the pizza place across the street from the Solana Beach train station around 2p.m. It was crowded as usual. The pizza that we pre-ordered were ready, we just need to wait in line for 10-15minutes to pay! I am not a big pizza fan, yet the BBQ chicken pizza was so delicious.
Team OC rented a truck to ship our bikes back to Irvine, there’s only limited space on the train for bikes, and it definitely won’t fit all 53 bikes at once. After pizza and beers (for most of the riders, not me) we took the 3.33pm train heading to Irvine. The five tiring-hard working-sweating hours on the bike only takes an hour on the train. However, I have to admit those five hours were worth it.
I drove to my friend Catherine’s house in San Dimas after the ride. The clear sky turned into dark while I traveled north on the freeways. It rained by the time I got there. It was so refreshing. There were delicious food and snacks, plus wines and cheesecake. Of course everyone loves karaoke! It was nice to have a friends gathering after a day-long ride.
I got home before midnight and fell asleep in less than 30 minutes. I need more trainings so I will no be suffering during the June’s event.
The sky was dark and the alarm went off at the most undesired time. At 5 a.m. to be exact. While most people were still in bed enjoying their beauty sleep, or maybe having wonderful dreams, I had to get up and get ready for a training ride.
The Saturday morning fun ride was organized by Team OC. In fact I first did this ride back in 2006 when I was training for ALC 5. They organize this ride twice a year. I forgot why I didn’t join them last year.
I arrived at the Irvine train station shortly after seven. Some early birds already left to catch their fun. I met with Suzann, Khoa and George, picked up the route slips, pre-ordered our pizzas, did some stretching and hit the road around 7.30 a.m.
It was a little cold but not too cold. That was when I realized I forgot to bring my gloves. Great! They were still in my laundry bag. We didn’t wear gloves just because they looked great, they helped protect the nerves on the palms. Of course it won’t kill if you didn’t wear them, but you’ll get those sexy tan lines like I do.
We made a few stops along the coast, Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, and at the beach near Oceanside. We had to detour and bike a few miles on the 5 freeway last time and we were lucky not to have to repeat that. Instead we went through Camp Pendleton Marine Co Base.
I felt great for the first 40 miles because we got tailwind for most part of it. However I started feeling tired and the legs just quit working with my mind. I started to fall apart from our group. It was ok, I always follow the “ride on your own pace” rule. I tried to concentrate, or should I say I tried not to pay too much attention on each stroke that I made, tried to forget the pain on my legs and hip. I keep telling myself, one mile at a time. That’s what helped me get through the last 10 miles.
We got to the pizza place across the street from the Solana Beach train station around 2p.m. It was crowded as usual. The pizza that we pre-ordered were ready, we just need to wait in line for 10-15minutes to pay! I am not a big pizza fan, yet the BBQ chicken pizza was so delicious.
Team OC rented a truck to ship our bikes back to Irvine, there’s only limited space on the train for bikes, and it definitely won’t fit all 53 bikes at once. After pizza and beers (for most of the riders, not me) we took the 3.33pm train heading to Irvine. The five tiring-hard working-sweating hours on the bike only takes an hour on the train. However, I have to admit those five hours were worth it.
I drove to my friend Catherine’s house in San Dimas after the ride. The clear sky turned into dark while I traveled north on the freeways. It rained by the time I got there. It was so refreshing. There were delicious food and snacks, plus wines and cheesecake. Of course everyone loves karaoke! It was nice to have a friends gathering after a day-long ride.
I got home before midnight and fell asleep in less than 30 minutes. I need more trainings so I will no be suffering during the June’s event.
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