Sunday’s ride found us out along the coast again. And what a beautiful day it was. This is why we live where we do and pay the high cost of living. It was a picture-perfect day for the 82 mile ride up to San Clemente and back.There was a pretty good turn out today for the ride. Some people that couldn’t make it last week during the Kitchen Creek ride for various reasons were able to make it for today’s ride. It was good to have them back. This resulted in pretty much all of the groups being pretty big. I decided to ride at my level again and stick with Group 2. I’ve suffered enough at the hand of Group 1 and wish them the best, but from here on out, it’s Group 2 for me. At least until I get overconfident again and try Group 1 J.
We started the morning out with another immunity challenge. As I started wracking my brain for the answers to Scott and BR trivia, I realized we were in luck. Today was a different challenge that required the contestants to guess the amount of total calories of Power Gels that were crammed into a large jar. We were allowed to see how many calories were in each packet, but we had to guess the number of packets in the jar and then figure out the total calories the jar contained.
Even though math is my forte, at 6:45am in the morning I find that my brain can only absorb data and not process data. I guessed that there were 150 packets in the jar, then proceeded to do the math and multiplied 150 packets x 110 calories. I came up with 6,500 calories and handed it in to Scott, the QMDC group leader and substitute for Jim during this week’s challenge. I felt that I had a pretty good shot at winning the challenge. After all, I am great with math.
On the way over to the morning announcements I realized my folly. I quickly double checked the math in my head and realized that I had made a huge mistake. I forgot to add on the one at the end. Instead of 6,500 it was 16,500. When Scott announced the winner, he said that there were a total of 155 packets in the jar and that the total calories were 17,505. I had missed it by 1,005 calories or 5 packets. Oh well, better luck next time. Maybe the next challenge will be another track stand.
Congratulations to Kevin Heil who won the immunity challenge this week. Well done. This is Kevin’s second round of having control of the idol. He added on the top hat during his last weekly reign as Immunity Pump winner and I have no doubt next week we will see something just as good. Since I had the pump last week, I had 
the opportunity to add my touch to it which was in the form of a cape with the Scott & BR logo on the back along with the QMDC and CAF logos. I must say that it turned out better than I had expected and this Immunity Pump has taken on a life of its own.Immediately after the announcements, we soon headed out in our respective groups and rolled north up the coast for a change. Typically, we head south and then east on our rides, but this week we went north and it was an odd, but great feeling. North is where San Francisco is, the starting point for our 600 mile, 7 day event in October. Everyone could feel that this was a turning point in our training and after last week’s Kitchen Creek ride, we were all looking forward to riding along the coast on relatively flat terrain.
Since we were such a large group, they decided to give us three QMDC group leaders (Pat, Kevin, and Lisa) during this ride. At first it was just Pat, and I think they soon realized that it would be pretty tough for one leader to keep the lot of us all in line. I am sure he would have done a remarkable job, but seemed releived to get the extra help. The group leaders kept us all in line and pretty much on track the entire ride. With the exception of a few of us missing a light and getting split up at the beginning, we all pretty much stayed together as a group the entire way.
I have to hand it to all of the QMDC Group Leaders, they work their tails off and often have to back track and pick up the stragglers to make sure everyone stays together and gets back safe. They not only lead by example of fitness, but also lead by patience and integrity. Thanks again to all of the QMDC Group Leaders for keeping us all safe and getting us back home at the end of the ride.
The scenery along the coast was spectacular and at times I wanted to stop and watch the surfers ride the waves in. The air was cool with a slight breeze and made for a great day of riding. When we got almost to the half way point, we all decided to turn around early and bypass riding through a residential neighborhood with lots of stop signs. We rode through this section during the Southern trip from Anaheim a few weeks ago and you don’t really get much out of it other than stopping, and starting, then stopping again, the starting again through about a dozen or so stop signs.
On the way back, I decided to try and ride ahead to the restroom at the San Onofre State Beach. I told Kevin what I was doing and that I would hook up with the group at the SAG stop. Well, I misjudged the distance to the restroom because after a while of being out in front all alone and expending all of my energy, the group rolled up next to me. Oh well. Better luck next time. Luckily, a few others had to stop too.
We soon found ourselves back at Camp Pendleton and fighting a head wind. I don’t know how I wound up out front, but it was a struggle to keep up the pulling. It felt good though and I soon got into a good rhythm. Dee joined me at one point, as did Andrew. Once we got to Oceanside, it was pretty much cruise control the rest of the way. I drifted to the back and cruised home with Debbie. We were able to chat a little about her upcoming auction and I told her that I would post it on my blog when she has the information ready.
At the end of the ride I dug my chocolate milk (good tip Carl) out of Mike Jennings’ cooler and chugged it down. It went real good with Mike Henderson’s chocolate chip cookies and CAF-decorated cookies. Mmmmm. I had to take off pretty quick since my wife is consulting on a project and usually works weekends. I realize that I have not thanked my wife, Britt, on my Blog for being so supportive of my goal to raise awareness for CAF, QMDC, and challenged athletes everywhere.
I love you, Britt.
On the way back, I decided to try and ride ahead to the restroom at the San Onofre State Beach. I told Kevin what I was doing and that I would hook up with the group at the SAG stop. Well, I misjudged the distance to the restroom because after a while of being out in front all alone and expending all of my energy, the group rolled up next to me. Oh well. Better luck next time. Luckily, a few others had to stop too.
We soon found ourselves back at Camp Pendleton and fighting a head wind. I don’t know how I wound up out front, but it was a struggle to keep up the pulling. It felt good though and I soon got into a good rhythm. Dee joined me at one point, as did Andrew. Once we got to Oceanside, it was pretty much cruise control the rest of the way. I drifted to the back and cruised home with Debbie. We were able to chat a little about her upcoming auction and I told her that I would post it on my blog when she has the information ready.
At the end of the ride I dug my chocolate milk (good tip Carl) out of Mike Jennings’ cooler and chugged it down. It went real good with Mike Henderson’s chocolate chip cookies and CAF-decorated cookies. Mmmmm. I had to take off pretty quick since my wife is consulting on a project and usually works weekends. I realize that I have not thanked my wife, Britt, on my Blog for being so supportive of my goal to raise awareness for CAF, QMDC, and challenged athletes everywhere.I love you, Britt.
