We got our first glimpse of what is yet to come in October. Today was our first 80 miler that started in Solana Beach at 5:30am (which meant getting up at 4:30am). The objective was to take the train up to Anaheim and somehow find our way back home using nothing but intuition, luck, and a few Garmin GPS devices.
The energy was high as we waited for the train to arrive to take us to our destination. As we stood and chatted with each other, I was reminded of why we were doing this. I had an opportunity to chat a little with the two gentlemen (Dale and Fred) that ride the handcycles. Fred and Dale were featured in the short video posted in last week’s Blog post. You could tell by the gleam in their eyes that they were both eager to get started and told me that it would take them about 7+ hours to ride down to Solana Beach.
The train finally arrived and everyone jumped on board. On the ride we all had a chance to talk some more and get to know each other a little better. I think we all appreciated the calm before the storm as everyone geared up for long ride in the saddle. You don’t always get a chance to talk to everyone other than quick little side bars about this or that. Most of the time I am sucking wind and hanging on to the leaders and they pull the bicycle train along.
The ride started out with the group 2 leaders Kevin, Pat, and Mike organizing a search and find of the bike path that would take us to the coast. After a couple minutes, we finally found our way and were on the bike path heading southwest along the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The pace was pretty mellow since the bike path was narrow and there were other cyclists, joggers, and walkers. Once we hit the coast, it was time to refuel at the SAG station, then off again in search of our route home.
We headed down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), passing sites such as Newport Beach, Newport Bay, Corona Del Mar, and Laguna Beach. The terrain was littered with rolling hills with plenty of fast descents and climbs. The views were breathtaking but I was only able to catch glimpses here and there. The ride leaders did a great job keeping Group 2 together and kept the pace steady.
Once we turned the corner onto the PCH, it was hammer time again. The pace was blistering right off the bat and I almost didn’t catch the Group 2A split. It took everything I had just to hang on, which I did until the last stretch through Encinitas. My legs were cooked by then and they were twitching from cramps up the last climb into Solana Beach.
Kristine Entwistle and the SAG support crew were already standing by with much needed food and drink. It was pure heaven. After rehashing the ride and changing into fresh clothes, it was time to head home. Today we were able to put down an 80 mile ride which was no easy feat. Come October, we will have 7 straight days of 80+ miles. By then, we will reach our goal of raising 1 million dollars. Please help us reach this goal.
Help me support CAF by clicking on the link below.
http://mdc2008.kintera.org/northup4CAF
The energy was high as we waited for the train to arrive to take us to our destination. As we stood and chatted with each other, I was reminded of why we were doing this. I had an opportunity to chat a little with the two gentlemen (Dale and Fred) that ride the handcycles. Fred and Dale were featured in the short video posted in last week’s Blog post. You could tell by the gleam in their eyes that they were both eager to get started and told me that it would take them about 7+ hours to ride down to Solana Beach.
The train finally arrived and everyone jumped on board. On the ride we all had a chance to talk some more and get to know each other a little better. I think we all appreciated the calm before the storm as everyone geared up for long ride in the saddle. You don’t always get a chance to talk to everyone other than quick little side bars about this or that. Most of the time I am sucking wind and hanging on to the leaders and they pull the bicycle train along.
During the train ride I had a chance to talk to several people I hadn’t met before including Jim and Colleen. Both are extremely nice people and were excited about today’s ride. I also bumped into Mike and Lisa Jennings, two of the Group 1 leaders. I walked into their train car just as someone (name hidden to protect the innocent) was starting a joke. It went something like this:
A gorilla and his buddies are sitting around the zoo bored one day when one gorilla says to the other, "Wouldn't it be funny if I snuck up behind the "King of the jungle" and slipped him the old
sausage?"
So the gorilla sneaks up behind the lion, grabs him by the hips, and starts thrusting as hard as he can. Then he pulls out and runs away.
The lion, however, doesn't think it's so funny. He lets out a mighty roar and takes off after the gorilla. Now, the gorilla can't run very fast and the lion is catching up with him, so he ducks into the guard station, knocks the guard out cold, puts on his clothes, picks up a newspaper, sits down and holds the paper up pretending to read it.
Just then, the lion comes busting through the door, sees the gorilla behind the desk, but thinks it’s the guard.
"HEY, YOU!" he says, "DID YOU JUST SEE A BIG GORILLA COME RUNNING THROUGH HERE?"
The gorilla says. "Um - do you mean the one that just screwed the lion in the ass?"
The lion sits up with a start and says: "Holy Crap! You mean it's in the newspapers already?"
It was a good joke!
A little farther into the train car, I spotted Carl who told me that Scott lost his ticket in the bathroom downstairs. We joked around that the train conductor would toss him into the cargo hold downstairs. Luckily, Scott found his ticket and could resume the trip to Anaheim in style (in a seat instead of the cargo hold).
A little farther into the train car, I spotted Carl who told me that Scott lost his ticket in the bathroom downstairs. We joked around that the train conductor would toss him into the cargo hold downstairs. Luckily, Scott found his ticket and could resume the trip to Anaheim in style (in a seat instead of the cargo hold).
I remembered to bring my camera again and started snapping shots on the ride up. Unfortunately, the batteries were low and ran out soon thereafter. Luckily, Jeffrey Essakow brought his camera and let me use it during the ride. I was able to get several shots and videos. Once I get them from Jeffrey, I’ll post them to this Blog.
Once we got to Anaheim, unloaded the bikes (thanks to Dan from Wheels on Wheels), and geared up, Scott Kaplan made an announcement about the XX1090 Radio Contest and brought out the Immunity Pump to give to the person with the highest score on a test that was given to the contestants on the train ride up. The winner was Carl, who now has to decorate the bike pump and bring it back for next week’s recipient. Knowing Carl’s dry sense of humor, it should be memorable.
The ride started out with the group 2 leaders Kevin, Pat, and Mike organizing a search and find of the bike path that would take us to the coast. After a couple minutes, we finally found our way and were on the bike path heading southwest along the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The pace was pretty mellow since the bike path was narrow and there were other cyclists, joggers, and walkers. Once we hit the coast, it was time to refuel at the SAG station, then off again in search of our route home.
We headed down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), passing sites such as Newport Beach, Newport Bay, Corona Del Mar, and Laguna Beach. The terrain was littered with rolling hills with plenty of fast descents and climbs. The views were breathtaking but I was only able to catch glimpses here and there. The ride leaders did a great job keeping Group 2 together and kept the pace steady.
The group got split up a little bit rolling down through Capistrano Beach. After checking in with Pat, I decided to go catch up to the Group 2A riders. Kevin, Scott, Mike, and a few others followed. We hammered down Capistrano Beach and just saw the Group 2A riders head into the housing area of San Clemente. After a few dizzying turns, we found Group 2A and a little later, the rest of the field caught up as well.
After about a hundred stop signs and turns, we found ourselves heading down through San Onofre State Beach and into Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base – HUA!. Now, there is nothing more exciting that not knowing if your bike ride will cross paths with a tank. Luckily, the tanks weren’t running and we passed through Camp Pendleton without too much difficulty. Deeanna unfortunately was stung by a bee in the back twice. Shortly after that I got hit in the chest by a bee and decided to zip up my jersey rather than risk one playing tag with my skin.
The pace definitely picked up a lot through Camp Pendleton and we soon found ourselves in Oceanside Harbor – familiar territory. We held a cautionary pace through Oceanside due to traffic. It didn’t stop Jeff from almost becoming a trunk ornament though. Luckily, his brakes worked and he was able to avoid an unpleasant situation. We then proceeded down through Carlsbad and then on to Pacific Highway again – hammer time.
Once we turned the corner onto the PCH, it was hammer time again. The pace was blistering right off the bat and I almost didn’t catch the Group 2A split. It took everything I had just to hang on, which I did until the last stretch through Encinitas. My legs were cooked by then and they were twitching from cramps up the last climb into Solana Beach.
Kristine Entwistle and the SAG support crew were already standing by with much needed food and drink. It was pure heaven. After rehashing the ride and changing into fresh clothes, it was time to head home. Today we were able to put down an 80 mile ride which was no easy feat. Come October, we will have 7 straight days of 80+ miles. By then, we will reach our goal of raising 1 million dollars. Please help us reach this goal.
Help me support CAF by clicking on the link below.
http://mdc2008.kintera.org/northup4CAF
Thank you.
