Strike Three

I've been trying to ride on of my permanent routes. I tried last August- it was too hot, I tried in April, too windy.
So I tried again last weekend.
I made it to Riverside just fine. got A payday, and then went down to Corona, and had a pre-package latte. I then road back up to Rancho.
And there the tail starts...
The next leg was to Azusa. The wind wasn't that bad, but going under the 57 Freeway, I had another blowout, which was aggravating. Thankfully, I was only a mile away from Incycle in San dimas.
I made to to the control in Azusa ok, and was soon pedaling back east. Things went well until I got hit by a car turning left in LaVerne.
While I didn't lose consciousness, the rest was a blur, between the spectators(which were nice enough to call the police and fire) and the Fire department, which insisted i was only bruised and sprained.
I called Tom and Mary Lou, who came and took me to San Antonio hospital. Their RX; a radial head fracture, with a splint that goes from the base of my fingers to my shoulder(maybe why I took so long to post). no bike for a couple of months
So, who know where my Journey will take me next? Maybe that Super Randonnuse medal isn't meant for me. I'm still trying to figure that out.
FHS,
Jana

Is your hero a zero?

One of my hobbies is writing creative fiction. Recently,I started doing some research with an eye toward describing the early years of my hometown,, Cape Girardeau, MO.
Cape Girardeau was founded in 1793 By Louis Lorimer. And you would think he would be Hero, right? Except when you get investigating and found that before was in Missouri, he was lived in Ohio and was known as Pierre Loramie. Ol' Pierre did a number of unamerican things about 10 year before he came to Cape, like kidnap Daniel Boone(There was a war on), had a Couple of unpleasant encounters with another legendary American, George Rogers Clark, and probably was friendly with some folks that would become big "foes" of America in the War of 1812: Tecumseh and his brother, The Prophet.
But at the same time, his Nephew. George Drouillard, was a big help of Mr. Clark's brother's big trip with Mr. Lewis.
So what to do? I'm big believer in the power of dreams. And heros. But at times, we sometimes place blinders on our dreams, or don't want to see our hero besmirched. History is written by the victors, as witnessed by the Cape floodwall murals - No Tecumesh - He apparently walked from Metropolis, IL to Cape on crutches - or George Drouillard- You would think that they would merit a panel.
and related to present - You may have noticed that I've blogged previously on the most people think that most cyclist are racers - Well there's more than that to the two wheel world - Although I think I've finally got my friends at church used to me showing up on my Rouibaix on Sunday mornings. And yes, not all of us are going to march in lockstep to the polling place in a month and vote for John McCain and proposition 8. or the versa.

Which is why I like it there - wider nets catch more fish.
So, remember that not everybody has the same dreams or ideas or history as you. who knows, maybe they'll fit you better than yours . :)
FHS,
Jana

Shirt, shoes, problems?

Inland Express 60 miles

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This is a diffcult one for me to write.
When I fell on my last post, not only did I give a good case of road rash, but I but a good size blister on my thumb that popped. So I spent the lat two weeks getting healed up.
And I really wanted to do a brevet today. But the forecast was for strong winds and I didn't do a another suffer fest. So when Laura Armstrong offered me her ticket for the Riverside Bicycle Clubs Inland Express, I decided to do that.
Of course, the winds didn't show up. Maybe next weekend.
I drove down to Riverside. and since I was still debating between the 100 and the 50, I got there early. I decided to do the 50, which left some extra time to explore. I found a neat statute of Juan Bautista DeAnza and turned around when I got to the 60 freeway.
we started out the 50 mile ride with a little prayer. I got dropped by club mates almost immediately. I guess I got spoiled by the time I spent in Pennsylvania. We would have 30 folks show to do a 50 miler every Saturday, and we would stay together and regrouo, even though we varied in pace from 18 to 13 mph.
Anyway back to the ride! once I decided that I wasn't going to do the "racer" game (how does one "win" a century anyway?), I decided to start taking pictures! more fun!
This song exemplifies my approach to riding (Yes, I like Hillbilly music)
The route was a wander through the city of Riverside. Things went fine until I went over the line, so to speak into Grand Terrace. We were supposed to make several turns before we go to Barton Road, So when I got Barton , I turned left, oops!
once I realized I had made a wrong turn, I started heading north, since I knew the next section was on the northern section of the Santa Ana river trail. I didn't make to the river trail., but i did get back on track.
I pedaled down the river trail , got passed by some folks on ATV's, and stopped to take a picture of an egret without falling! Unfortunately, the bird flew away.
I got off the river trail ,and found that someone had rearranged all the route arrows. I climbed up through the Mt. Roubioux neighborhood, and headed back to the start:
So maybe I need to do this:

since it is 5 o'clock.
somewhere.
FHS ,
Jana

The ace in the Hole

Barrio to the Beach 200K

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Whew!
It looks there's some snafu with the Brevet I did in Moorpark, so In order to keep my foot in the r-12 race(that's one brevet a month for 12 months). I rode my new route, Barrio to the Beach.(my ace in the hole)
The route starts out in the usual meeting place, it's a Grind Coffee shop. I started on my way and decided to take a picture of the Epicenter, which is the Stadium for Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Class A affiliate of the California, err... Anaheim, err.... Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It was too dark.
So I headed south on Millken/Hamner, I was actually in danger of making a control too early! That's one of the odd things about randonneuring that I like - you can be penalized for riding too fast!
so I took a picture of the Australian walking sign. That did the trick.
I then missed the turn for the Santa Ana river trail. I found on was down by Angels stadium, where I decided to get creative with Halo on the Big "A". it actually lights when the Angels win.
The closer I got to the beach, the more marine layer(Fog/low hanging clouds) I ran into. That's why I didn't take a picture of the ocean - it was too thick.
I stopped and had lunch in Newport Beach at a Circle. I did not run into my two most excellent friends, Bill and Ted. I think they were at the one in San Dimas.....
In keeping with the baseball theme, I had some hot dogs.
Coming , I took some more pics of the Stadium. Sorry Hockey Fans, no pics of the Honda center.
I was going to take another pic of an egret at he end of the river trail, when I developed a case of tanglefoot. No damage other than skinned knee and bruised ego. I I stopped at Green River and washed up.
I made to the next control OK, but shortly after wards, I sliced my tire, I managed to get it fixed by booting it with a dollar bill, and was debating calling it off and going home to get a spare tire, at which point my boot blew. I was about three miles from home.
Then I remember I was across the street from the JensonUSA warehouse. I wasn't sure if they could help me, but it was worth a shot, as the nearest bike shops, Bumstead's in Ontario and Roy's in Upland were about the same distance as home.
I was treated like a Queen by Jenson. They got me new tire, two tubes, and changed the tire for me. I did have to give them some money.(good thing I had my MasterCard!)
One of the reasons I started so early was to avoid the Late afternoon wind, Needless to sign, another of my plans went awry. I made up Euclid and across Arrow, knowing I still had time (the minimum speed for brevets is a 9.5 mph rolling average ).
by this time I felt more like this song (lyrics may not be family friendly)
I made to the next control, an AM/PM in Claremont with about an hour to spare. I filled up with Gatorade and was climbing up to Base Line Road(er, 16th Street. it's Upland) determined to take advantage of the fact that it was downhill and the wind was at my back.
And my luck turned I did not hit a Red light until I got to Milliken Avenue! (That's the first time I've done that and about 8 miles.) I know had about an hour and twenty minutes.
Well maybe my lucK was better, I had cut a coupon for Baja Fresh to get supper. Turns out I lost it somewhere. but it was only a dollar.
So keep on keeping on. I need to rest my bones.
FHS,
Jana
ps. I got credit for Moorpark! one more perm and i'll be eligible for the r-2000.

lets's do a 180

oneightywest century

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I will confess, I almost didn't do this century. I had done a brevet last week, and got in over an hour and half late Friday night.
But I woke up early and drove on down to Norwalk. This was a sparsely attended century, about 100 folks.
The one eighty comes from the sponsor - oneightywest a christian charity dedicated to help young folks turn their life around.
So we started out at a christian bookstore
I hung with the main group for first five miles, until it was obvious to me that people were riding in an unsafe manner. So I hung back at the first rest stop and talked with Henry and Allen.
The next part was on the San Gabriel river trail. This is lesser cousin to the Santa Ana trail. There are usually a couple of bikejackings here a year - I could see why - several places it would be easy to lie in wait. Other than it was OK.
Henry, Allen, Cindy, Debbie and Barry, and a bunch of other cycling connection folks caught when we got off the San Gabriel Trail. we rode together through Santa Fe Spring and La Habra. Coming through Brea, I missed a light, and wound in a racing training ride. I also missed the turn for the 100 and my buddies(did I mention they need to do a better job with cue sheets and route markings?). I figured out my mistake in Fullerton and doubled back.
We rode by the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, but i forgot to take a picture(it's not much) My favorite thing is that they have house he grew up in on the grounds - It reminds me of the house my mother grew up. We had to climb a few hills here.
Then we got on the Santa Ana River trail. This should have been easy, but we had a 16 mph headwind for 25 miles. I took it easy, and stopped to take pictures of Angels Stadium and the Honda Center.
By the tim I got to the 405 free way I was pooped. Fortunately, there was rest stop right there. I pulled off and Fred and Slyvia and Tom and Mary Lou showed up. Look at the flag behind Fred to get an idea of the wind. I cut up with them for a while and got back to Huntington Beach, aka Surf city.


We were on Pacific Coast highway, and the wind coming from the side much better!. I stopped to some pics of the oil fields and of the Navy Depot in seal Beach (hey , my nephew is the navy and you could say he's found of SEALS.
We were back on the San Gabriel Trial for the remainder of the ride. I ran in to the gang at teh apres- ride feast.
This another feature of the oneeighty west ,The end is a mile away form the start. So I rode back to my car.
Great day , great ride

An expensive brevet

Since, I 'm trying to get my R-2000 medal in addition to an R-12, I've been doing some different perms in addition to my own.
I decided to do the Moorpark to Mugu and Malibu perm. I had a little problem getting the card, but then...
I was watching the news on Friday, or should I was going to watch the news on friday, when word came in of the Metrolink train accident in Chatsworth. You know it's bad when the anchor advises that if you're squeamish, you might want to change channels (yes, looking at a blood smeared locomotive will do that you...
The organizer advised me to get an early start. I put down 6am. when I rolled by the accident site at 5am, there were still helicopters and floodlights everywhere.
I got to the start point and found that shopping center had signs posted "Car will be towed". There was a high school and park next door, but their gates were blocked. and I couldn't find any place to park on the streets, so I decided to risk it (although I did park in front of vacant store). I went inside of Vons, got a Red Bull, and started the ride. Of course, when I went by the park, it was open. go figure!
I rode through Moorpark, crossed the railroad tracks, and began climbing up Grimes Canyon. Grimes is on The Tour of California, and is used to get back to the right valley after doing Balcom Canyon. The climb is not bad, in that I didn't have to use my granny gear. I thought I would see "Fabain" or "Levi" scrawled on the road, but, alas, It was not to be.
when I got to the top, there was a large sign advising semitrailers to turn around. which was strange, since there were two semi coming up behind me. The descent is a lot steeper and very corkscrewy. I held off the semis until the road straightened out.
I then stopped at the first Control. This was what is called and informational control, as you are supposed to observe something and write it down. In this case, it was the name of a church. I was going to be real nifty, and take a photo, but discovered that my camera had fallen out of my bag! so imagine pedal among orange groves interrupted occasionally by oil field for the next 30 miles. I did pass through Santa Paula.
I stopped at the second Control, a Starbucks in Ventura, and got something to drink. It was about another 15 miles down the coast to Port Hueneme and the Seabee base. Here I was supposed to find out the name of the theater by the gate. I rode by the main gate , and didn't see anything that looked a marquee. I thought it was another gate, so I pressed on. no luck!. I doubled back and asked. I then got two different answers! So finally I asked some one to point it out. It was cleverly disguised as an office building. Maybe I should have brought my nephew, who's in the Navy Special Warfare Command along ("Give me the correct answer or Patrick will beat you up!" )
It was back to smooth sailing to Point mugu and down PCH. I noticed that they had part of PCH blocked off. I rode in the blocked off portions, since they had nice signs saying Bike one lane ,and cars the other lane. Turns out they were having the Malibu Triathlon that day. I got there after the race had occurred, but before the had cleaned up the course.
I had lunch in Malibu, and started back up the coast. part of the reason for the early start was to avoid the heavy afternoon winds. no luck, and I had 25 miles of pretty good rollers. The only upside was that I got to see the Pepperdine wave of flags for 9/11
after about 2 hours, I finally got off PCH and had the wind the at my back. I had another informational control at Cal State - Channel Island. I was supposed to write down what on the sign at the Southwest side of the entrance. I remember being glad that 4PM, as if I been there when I planned too, I could not have used the sun to figure which was the Southwest side.
most of the rest of the ride was on the same route as the La Wheelmen's Grand Tour and Cruisin the Conejo. At 6:00, I rolled back into the shopping and relieved to see my car was still there! I also found a park across the street that was not gated.
I was going to Baja Fresh for dinner, but decided on a local Chinese place. The food was good, if too much (my fault, as usual) and fortune cookie said "three month from now will be an auspicious date for you"
so, what will happen on December 13? stay tuned!

Whenver you need pictures, forget your camera

I had to drop my car off to get some work done, so I didn't get as much miles before the club ride.I did ride by the grape in Fontana, and there were harvesting , but no camera:o
Unfortunately, riding back by Victoria Gardens, they was a Kitten in the middle of the road. It apparently had been run over and it spine was broken:(. I was debating what to do, as there was a rider who was going to do one of my perm routes and was waiting for me to sign him out. The cat got me upset ,even though I didn't think there was much I could do for it....
anyway, on to more happier things.
I circled back, and found a motorist had also spotted the cat and was taking it to the shelter. I got the Randonneur out on the ride, and took off with Bruce,
And I didn't get dropped that bad on the first hill:) I could catch them at a light
I took my shortcut and found bruce chatting with Brandy from Team Estrogen. She was doing hill repeats. I still had cat on the Brain (guys didn't seem to be much in to emotions, other than arrgh! I can't drop the fat lady!)
we all rode back together. I decided that I need to get my mind off of the cat, and had some cheesecake.
I still needed some extra mile so I doubled back on baseline. Big mistake, as wound fighting the wind and the heat. did I mention my apt's a/c is out for the third time this month?:

Is Faster Faster?

I did basically the same ride as last Saturday. I started out by going out to Sierra and Summit in Fontana before heading back to the coffee shop. I then did the medium ride (basically go up to Padua and Mt Baldy and then turn around) I was feeling fairly frisky, and I noticed that the faster rider didn't catch us until Eitwanda and Baseline.
So I was surprised when I got back and found my time was slower than last week :( granted I did slow down to see if a couple of people with flats and steered some folks back on the right course. But I think the real reason was that last week my computer decided not to give any reading going up Benson. I had put on new tape and moved the position of the display, which seemed to solve the problem with interference.
Well you can't have everything.

Do a Brevet, get a medal!

San celemente Brevet

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Well today I did brevet. Actually this is a special one. Today is the 10th anniversary of Randonneurs USA and if you did a brevet today, you were eligible for a medal.
The only thing was that It was in San Diego . I had to get started at 4AM. I did get there a little early, so I found some place to have breakfast. I then moseyed over to the parking lot and got everything ready. You could tell it was a special day since there were about 20 riders,usually there's about 7.
We did the warm-up lap around Fiesta Island, before taking off. I was soon at the rear as we climbed up through UCSD and down the grade at Torrey Pines. I ran into some of the faster riders waiting to make everyone was still on the road. This one of thing I really like about brevets, is that everyone watches out for everybody, unlike the usual "Saturday Morning World Championships".
Anyway, back to the positive! I chatted with them until I missed a light in Carlsbad. I took advantage of my loneliness to snap a photo.
At Oceanside, you have an option. You can either ride the shoulder of Interstate 5 through Camp Pendleton, or ride through Camp Pendleton if you show the guard an ID . I usually like riding through the base, although I do wonder about the "Tank Crossing" signs and the one directing Ambulances to the various live fire ranges.
It takes about 7 miles to get through the base. You then spend most of the rest of time on old abandoned highway 101. Nothing Like a 6 lane wide bike path! it's also part of San Onofre State Beach(and you get to go by San Onofre Nuclear Reactor). I stopped at the Control in San Clemente, which was next to Carl's Jr(Hardee's to folks back east) I got my card stamped had lunch, and headed back out.
Then the fun began. going through Oceanside, the traffic was bumper to bumper with no bike lane. The bike lane picked up in Carlsbad, but people were double parking on it to get to the beach. This lead to it swarming with Police cars and Tow trucks. I was think I need to re-fuel before Torry Pines (did I mention I had a Hammer Gel flask spill all over my bag, so I only had instead my normal two?) I passed by a 7-eleven in Encinatas, and had a Gatorade. I stopped before Torrey Pines to take a picture ( you can only see the first half). it's about 7% for a mile. I made it up with no problems and was soon on the bike path that takes you to Mission Bay Drive. I got on Mission Bay drive and found myself in the middle of a police pursuit. What a day!
I stopped to take a picture of Mission Bay. Things got better, as Mike (our RBA, Regional Brevet Administrator) had a medal waiting for me. I had registered early enough That he could pre-ordered mine. He also had some pizza and sodas. we talked about If would be willing to be an RBA for the Inland Empire (the name of the area I live in) I'm going to have to think on that.
I was going to by the outlet mall at Lake Elsinore, but decided that I had enough excitement for one day.

a more popularie bike ride

In case you're wondering, a populaire is like a brevet, but only less so. They're usually only 100Km in length.
We had have been talking about doing ,and since most folks want to go into the mountains, I design a route that went into the mountains , specifically Lytle Creek Road. The n=only problem was where to afterwards. We decided to go through Rialto to Riverside before returning.
since I was starting from home, and didn't want to do the climb to Lytle Creek on a hot day., i went down up neely's corner before heading down. on the sceond from the bottom photo, the ridge in the background is the San Andreas fault. The ride through Rialto wasn't as bad as I had thought, but traffic and safety wise. Bloomington was a lot more bumpy, but manageable.
Once I crossed the Santa Ana into the City of Riverside, I started looking for a place to have a Control. Bruce had suggested the park (where the locomotive is), but I was looking for people to Restock. I soon found a shopping center with a CVS and a Starbucks - problem solved. I stopped and had a Gatorade Tiger. Mr woods must have some strange tastes, as I didn't care for the flavor and he apparently selected them.
enough with the negative!
I saw a neat hotel on the way back! and a nice view of the bridge to Mt Rubidox. I was going along Mission Blvd and saw the mural on the vfw post.
I then tried a route around the construction on Etiwanda Ave before heading to coffee shop . it worked fine, and I got here just as the folks doing the short route had pulled in. I sat and socialized for a while before Heading to REI to get a tire and going home (where I had a Gatorade rain - much better!)