60mi at 21mph. Felt strong on 8-10min pulls and had enough juice to ,win’‘’ the final sprint. Road bikes are a lotta fun.
Made an attempt at the Trans San Gabriels route over the weekend. A couple friends and I had been training for a while, feeling strong and up to the task. Woke up at 2am Saturday morning for a 3am rollout. We made great time on our ‘transit miles’ hitting our target average speed without it feeling like much effort. Riding the dark and sleepy suburban streets was equal parts fun and eerie.
The first climb of the route started around mile 60 on pavement, then eventually turned to chunky gravel about halfway up, the biggest climb of the entire route. 22 miles and ~6k elevation, ending at the top of the Mt Baldy ski resort. We stopped at a general store/café part way up the climb for some pastries right around the time we climbed up above the marine layer/smog that was hanging over the city. A third of the way up, we ran into some friends who were doing a much shortened version of our ride and rode with them the rest of the way up the climb. Everyone was feeling good, having tackled the largest obstacle of the day.
A long road descent followed, allowing us to cover a pretty big distance in not a huge amount of time, and dropped us at the bottom of the next climb pretty well on schedule. Somewhere along the descent I zipped up my jersey, and promptly started getting bitten by a horsefly. Unpleasant, but didn’t really slow us down much. Rincon Redbox Rd (our next dirt sector/climb) has been officially closed for a couple of years due to fire damage, but is due to reopen in a couple of weeks (in time for the official LA Tourist Trans San Gabriels race), and was a welcome surprise. Well graded dirt and relatively mellow slopes made the 3300ft climb easy work. Coming over the top of it right at sunset was pretty goddamned magical.
A long, chunky gravel descent deposited us at the base of a relatively short climb up to Red Box Station, our approximate halfway marker. One of our friends had agreed to meet us up there with pizza, resupply of food, a change of clothes, and good vibes. Somewhere at the bottom of the climb, Jack’s bike started skipping gears/making an aggressive click every time he put any power down. We couldn’t quite figure out what was causing the issue trailside, and decided to limp it up the climb, eat some pizza, and then try to fix it. Having to go about half speed up the climb really messed with our rhythm and morale. By the time we reached our buddy Ryan with the pizza, we were feeling pretty down, despite having good legs the whole way. An hour or so of tinkering with the busted bike and we couldn’t figure out what was going on with it meant pushing on with a bike that sounded like it would explode at any moment. Pushing into the dark a man down wasn’t super appealing to me, given there was another hundred miles and 10k climbing and it was fast closing in on 11pm. The group decided to bag our attempt, pile the bikes into the car, and go sleep in our own beds.
We were all, unsurprisingly, disappointed in that outcome, but also relieved. We regathered yesterday afternoon to grill some burgers and dogs and drink beers. Spirits were pretty high.
edit: my hammerhead died somewhere on that last climb, so I lost a few miles and ~1000ft of elevation
The plan is to ride back up to where we stopped in a couple of weeks and finish out the route.
Oh yeah been waiting for this
I like all of your pics, but that first one with the tree shadow is really something!
you make me really want to figure out what camera to carry with me. maybe some time soon i’ll make a decision. i miss photo but i also miss having the time to deal with it
Don’t overthink it! The right camera is the one you have. Get a more comfortable strap, or a holster, but just throw a camera over your shoulder.
Weather was shit so tried to ride with My whoosh. My woosh was shit and I gave up after an hour as the rain had already stopped. Got out for a very simple ride minutes from my house. Screw not riding outside.
Going for a ride today and here are some of the first pictures.
First cross race of the season yesterday. It was very flat with a bunch of punchy little climbs. Got 17th of 47 in 4s on my single speed. I’m sore and getting moreso by the moment.
Today we’re riding a 53 mile organized ride and added 30 miles to and from the start from home.
Just got on the ferry.
Fuck yeah dude! That’s your best results since you moved here? Cornelia is good for your biking!
I’ve had a top 10 in 4s master’s, but not with this big a field.
what yellow jacket ride are you on?
Mile 68
End of the official ride. Ferry ride back to the mainland and then we have to decide how we will get home.
Starting to rain. We were thinking of maybe taking the scenic route, but instead we’re gonna take the more direct one.
nice poulsbo photo.
