Tour de Palm Springs

Yep on the street, 9am, that will give you enough time to get up at your normal time, go back to bed, and still have time to meet us.

See ya in the AM. I know you can say no to new dirt.

 

Fun!

The first part last? That must have been fun. I looked but never saw you. I rode with Cliff and Mondo and our ride time was 6 hours and 3 minutes. Next year I'm going to train for it and do it in 6 hours flat! :bang:

 

This is a perfect example of why we need jerseys!!!

We did see a PATH jersey out there, but we got caught up in conversation and I forgot to say hello, as we went by.

 

Path Jersey

Mondo was wearing a Path jersey. I had a Stone Reination IPA jersey and Cliff has one of the Tour of Palm Springs jersey.

I did see a few groups that looked like teams but the one thet stuck was the Griffith Park Dope Pushers. I need a Team Disfunctional.

 

I too had a great day. This was my first century and I think I finally “get” road biking. Man … that was fun. I never imagined I would say that about a road ride. I had only one flat, everything else went well for me. I with I saw some you out there.

 

A good long road ride can be almost as satisfying as a mtb ride. It has different appeals and things that make it exciting. For me, getting the bike up to 20mph (or more) in a paceline and just hammering it out for miles is pretty cool. When the bike and you are in total sync it feels like the bike has a motor!

 

Nice write up Mike. I had a blast out there. Mike and I got off to a nice pace and warmed up the legs. I appreciated Mike holding me back in the beginning, I would have shot my wad too early if I went at the pace I would have set. We stopped briefly at the first SAG so I could try to get the HRM on my new Garmin Edge 305 HR+ to get a reading. No luck so we blew out of there.

Pulling 35 MPH on the hill leaving the SAG was a blast. I pulled my first group somewhere along that stretch. Once on Dillon there were many rolling hills. It was great to be out there on the open road, spinning out a nice grade at about 14MPH with music playing (singing out loud no less) and taking in the beautiful desert scenery. I met Jessy while complaining about hitting the wrong button on my shuffle and loosing Aqualung by Jethro Tull.

The weather was perfect yesterday. Sunny all day, light winds, little wispy clouds. What a day.

After reaching the top of the last major hill on Dillon I stated out a nice little pace up the hill, going about 14-16MPH. I guess several people started falling in line. When we started the downhill I was pulling 35PHM again just banging it out. I knew there were a few people behind my, including Mike who I kept making sure was with me, but I didn't know how many people. After several miles of pulling this group a guy pulls around me and I'm thinking cool someone else is going to pull. I had to get back on my horse to get back on the guys wheel and ended up pulling right past him again on accident. Unfortunately I was back out in front again. When the group finally pulled past me then I realized how many people were behind me. What a cool experience. It was really fun being out there just going at it. Feeling the push of the group just keeping you going.

Luckily I made a major conscious effort to stay on my nutrition through out the day and starting early in the day. I followed my Hammer fueling recommendations to a tee. I started with a swig gel every 30 minutes or so for the first 2 hours, then added swigs of high strength Perpetum after the first 2 hours. I went through about 1.75 large bottles of Perpetum, and probably 6oz of my 10 oz canteen. I refilled my water bottle with Gatorade at the SAGs and had a banana and 3 fig newtons at the 50 mile mark. Other than that the Hammer stuff kept me going. No I am not sponsored by Hammer even though I was wearing a Hammer jersey.

Looking forward to doing the Solvang Century in March.

 

My First Century

Some of my friends came and visted me the night before, so I didn't fall asleep 'till 1:30, and I woke up at 5:30 to make sure all my gear was in order, get a good breakfast (instant oatmeal and water) and go to the bathroom (I really didn't want last nights meal to haunt me)

My car is way to small to fit a bike into w/o taking some of it apart, so my friend drove me and I drove my car seperatly and parked my car nearby.

The first 25 minutes was a huge traffic jam of bikes, which was a good thing, it gave me some time to warm my legs up w/o killing myself early on in the ride and ending up w/ cramps later on.

Cruised by the first SAG, but stopped at the 2nd for a 1:00 bathroom run. Between SAG 2 & 3 some guy cruised by me pissed at his IPOD for loosing a Jethro Tull song he was jammin to. About an hour later I was ended up behind him in a fast paceline which eventualy picked up a group of riders big enough to create a small army. We hauled ass for a long time and gained a lot of ground.

At SAG 3 (50 miles) I stopped to refill my first empty bottle w/ gatorade and grabbed a ham & turkey sandwich. I had eaten 2 gels and was happy to grab a bite to eat. I started talking to the guy who was mad about his IPOD about how many people he had behind him. Apparantly he had no idea that he was pulling so many people. It also turns out he was from Pasadena, which is where my business is. He introduced himself as Brian, and his friend was Mike. The three of us talked for a few minutes and then took off.

Between SAG 3 & 4 was pretty uneventful. A lady crashed pretty bad in the paceline, but somehow, nobody else went down with her. Brian and some others stopped to see if she was ok, and I flipped around to see what was happening. She got back up, so Brian and I took off to see if we could catch Mike. Brian eventualy dropped me, but I caught them while they were waiting at a red light. We cruised into SAG4 (somewhere around the 70 mile mark) and I refilled both of my gatorade bottles and ate another gel. The three of us took off once again, and did a really small climb before a fun downhill run. I eventualy ended up behind a guy who was hauling ass, and we had a pretty fast paceline going for a long while. He eventualy peeled off, and another guy, who was even faster, took the front. I was hellbent on keeping up, and I did, but a little while before the last SAG, he lost me. I cruised by the last SAG (around 90 miles, I think?) and prayed that the small little hills would get longer and steeper (they always give me a chance to catch some of the riders who blow legs sprinting on the flats) The hills stayed very mellow, and the bike traffic got heavier as all the other riders (from the 25 and 50 mile rides) began to merge.

I was never able to find another paceline, and ended up with a total time of 6:17:40. I don't have a computer, so I don't know what my ride time or my average speed was, but I was happy w/ the time being as it was my first century.

I met some great people (including Mike & Brian, who told me about this site) and can't wait for next year. I am hoping to train and do next year in 5:30 or less.

Next up is Death Valley Century, March 3rd. Anyone else signed up for that?

 

Sorry I missed you guys

I started on Dillon Rd. approx 2 miles past the SAG stop at 8:45. If everyone started on time, that is where I would have been if I had ridden my normal pace. I finished back at that same spot in 6:30 flat but that was one the SS. People were flying past me on the downhills. Funny that you wore the Ruination jersey because that's the one I wore also. You would not have missed me if we had past each other. I also took a friggin wrong turn and went about 4 miles out of my way. That sucks but the map said Grapefruit and the sign said Indio Blvd.
I saw MtMaven and PainFreak out near Thermal somewhere. I also witnessed a horrible crash. It's the first time I have seen something like that on a road ride except on TV. I was swallowed up by a pack of about 50 riders and it was all I could do to just hang and not be a hazard myself. All of sudden the front of the group just blew up. Bikes and bodies were all over the road. Being the humanitarian that I am, I immediately started checking all the bikes for damage and running around pulling them off the road so they didn't hit by cars.

 

That crash sounds bad. I hope none of bikes were too badly damaged. And you were also on a single speed. Cool!

I guess I’ll chime in with my ride report since this was my first century and, like Chopper, I did it on my single speed.

I have a road bike with gears and all, but I choose to do the ride on my single speed mountain bike. It helps that I started with a fairly lightweight rigid 29er. The wheels on a 29er are just slightly wide 700cc wheels so I threw on a pair of Conti Ultra Gatorskins 700X28, geared way up to 44X15, lowered with my riding position with a flipped stem and flat bar and used two pairs of grips and bar ends for three hand positions. Other than the tires and the 15 tooth cog, I had the other stuff in my garage and it only took me 20 minutes to set it up.

I have done very little road biking. My biggest concern on ride day had little to do with the ride itself. I was more apprehensive about getting “in” with the roadies. I thought I might get shunned with a goofy bike, hairy legs and no experience with road etiquette. As a mountain biker I always envisioned roadies with this attitude that you had to fit into their roadie mold (I did wear lycra). BTW … this isn’t a rip, just keep reading.

I started midway in the huge crowd. After a mile or so I pushed to get further towards the front to find groups or teams that I could hook into. Once I finally did, I didn’t sense any (misperceived) roadie geeknees. Everyone was cool. It did take me a few minutes to figure out some of the hand signals. They let me in their lines and pull up front occasionally.

The group I was with all pulled into the first SAG. I decided to keep going. The next section was all downhill and I knew they would eventually catch up, and if I was lucky, I could hitch on for a ride. It’s odd, but every time I found myself alone on a downhill, I could coast past riders who were peddling (not in a group). It makes no sense to me.

Eventually a freight train of riders came along and I successfully fell into line. I was thrilled to hold on for miles of high speed rolling. Man that was fun! I did have to fight hard on some of the downhills to stay with them, spinning the crank at some ridiculous rate. I might not have done everything right, but everyone was super cool (or just didn’t say anything).

We did hit a downhill where I couldn’t hang on any longer and I found myself alone pushing wind for several miles. Alone I could only maintain about 20-22 mph. The next freight train that came along happened to be the original group I was with. I hooked in and again set sail. Wicked fun!

Then I flatted. No biggie, as soon as I was back on the road along came another huge group. I sat in their pocket until they all peeled off into the SAG at Travel Center. I think this was about the halfway point. I felt fresh and still had a water bottle left, so I just kept going.

Since I never stopped (except to fix a flat) and hooked in with so many fast groups, I ended up finishing in 5 hours 15 min. It seemed like a good time. I think my bike setup was perfect. I was comfortable and had no fatigue.

I used the day to try different nutrition. I don’t do well with a full gut, so at 5:30 AM I ate only a Cliff bar and coffee. On the bike I usually use Cytomax and Hammer Gel. I decided to give Hammer’s Sustained Energy a try. I mixed up two water bottles with 2.5 scoops of Sustained and 4 ounces of gel. I also consumed a gel flask. I guess this worked ok but it did upset my stomach, just a little.

 

Hey there Jessy, it's Brian. Good riding with you man. Stay tuned to this site for road and mountain rides. There are several of us who ride in the Angeles very frequently. I will most likely be doing some rides again in late Feb or March. The next few weekends are kind of screwed up with the motorcycle classes.

Yeah that crash was pretty jacked. I saw her slam her head on the pavement. Her helmet saved her ass. I went back to make sure everything was ok and I think she was still in shock. I had been playing leap frog with her and the guy she was riding with since mid-way down Dillon. The dude was with her and was taking care of her. I saw them again at the SAG stop by the park. He said she was doing pretty well and that she was stubborn as a rock.

I am new to the whole paceline thing and really hope I was not the cause of her accident. I was directly behind the leader when he abruptly pulled up, waved his hand to the side, and yelled something. I pulled up and began moving to the side thinking there was debris or a turn coming up. All of a sudden I hear commotion behind me and see her going down when I looked over my shoulder.

I spoke to the guy she was riding with at the SAG and profusely apologized, but he said it wasn't my fault and that she didn't react fast enough or something like that. So I'm trying not to feel bad.

 

Nah, that crash wasn't your fault at all, unless there was something I missed, haha.

 

MTBMaven

That crash was minor compared to the one I was talking about. The gal that you saw go down was weaving in and out of riders, and passing on the right without even calling out to the rider she was passing. Common sense would have saved her. The crash I was talking about was about 30 minutes later and appeared to be all experienced riders. Someone just clipped a tire and then all hell broke loose.
I saw you and Pain come by right after we got all the bikes out of the road.

 

Yeah, she definetly had never ridden a paceline before.

Was anyone seriously hurt in the mayhem you saw?

 

Oh was that the one that Mike yelled out "hey you guys can't sleep there!" That was rad. These guys looked like a yard sale out there and Mike pouring salt on their wounds.

 

She was a decent rider, but very inexperienced. She was trying very hard to do the right thing, but the way she cut in and out was an accident waiting to happen. I saw her go down as she was right in front of me and I believe Chopper was right nxt to me. The guy directly in front of me didn't even try to evade the accident he just went right to his brakes and I almost ate it, but I did manage somehow to work my way around him, close call. Got the adrenalin flowing on that one. I seen how she went down and she was immediately saying she was alright. I looked at her eyes and she said "how embarassing" I knew then she was alright and I thought we were all going so I took off, sorry Jesse.

See what did I tell you Mark? You were going to be wicked fast out there. Sorry we didn't hook up, but we would have slowed you way down (or at least I would have) I finished at 6:30 and Brian waited for me, so you may have got bored riding at that pace. I did keep in eye out for you and there were at least a dizen fixed/ss'ers out there. Very tough riding. Sounds like you have the roadies figured out to, the snobby ones are usually the ones not good enough to go pro so they try to make everyone else feel bad like they do. These big rides don't attract the hardcore roadies groups usually unless they are training or something and then they are almost out in front by themselves and to cool to hang out after the ride, less they be caught hanging with the common folk, so they almost always take off.


Next century...Solvang!

 

Don't apologize, I just wasn't sure who stopped and who didn't, so I went back and when I saw that Brian was there, I figured I would wait up.

 

Missed them all!

I never saw a crash. I did see one guy sitting along the side of the road with his knee bandaged but he was being helped. To bad we missed you. I could have used a beer! Are you doing the VQ?

 

Haha, out of all the 40,000 pictures that were taken, there isn't a single one of me. Nice.

 

Forgot to look, what's the picture web site again?