Well it all started about 7:00am on Saturday as we got together in our usual meeting place for the CAF/MDC weekend roll out. Once again I was in group 3 as the conversation there is much better with some decent tempo in areas. The ride was going to be 104 miles from Solana Beach to Rancho Palos Verdes and the Terranea Resort. The ride was pretty standard for a while and we went through plenty of beach cities which was nice considering the temps were going to be well in the 90+ range all over southern California. While we were in Long Beach it was the worst, some folks said it was 99 degrees and others said their GPS read 105, it felt like 105.
I thought the pace up there was pretty decent considering we still had another 104 to do on Sunday so when we got to Palos Verdes we had an 11 mile hill to climb which I had never seen but since I had some unused energy and it was just 11 miles I decided to empty the tank and let it loose and crank up the hill. It was a really nice climb with lots of level areas where you could crank prior to the next climb. Once getting to the resort Gag was there waiting for me and we were heading to an Italian street festival in Hollywood after cleaning up at his place in Redondo Beach.
Well Sunday morning came and I was a bit tired from my FIRST CENTURY the day prior. But after some early morning stretching and a 3 scrambled eggs with toast and juice I was ready to tackle the day and another 104 miles. This day was going to be much different then Saturday. First off that 11 mile climb was now an 11 mile decent and a nice way to start the day. Plus the temps seemed a bit cooler, maybe lower 90's most of the day with not a cloud in sight.
After our 1st SAG stop in Huntington Beach we headed through Laguna and we had what looked to be a major 1 bike crash. Second year CAF/MDC rider Chintan Turakhia took an awful fall going over the bars and landing on the backside of his helmet as his body was putting all his weight on his head. Picture a WWE wrestler doing a pile driver to someone with feet in the air and head hitting pavement, that is just what it looked like. I was chatting it up with Kelly all the way in the back and he was next bike up maybe 5 feet away from us so we both saw the whole thing. They took him away in an ambulance with a neck brace and backboard, very scary stuff.
So Kelly had mentioned that she wanted to get in early to take her some who was riding in group 1 back up to college in the LA area so she asked for help and I said sure. So as it turned out no one else wanted to hammer so I pulled the last 65+ miles all by myself and she was riding in the rear enjoying the pull and staying out of the wind. She is a VERY strong rider and was with me as we were easily doing 21mph+ in some areas. We got in a full 31 minutes ahead of the rest of group 3 which rolled in together and Kelly was long gone by then, mission accomplished. And when we get to the finish in Solana Beach who do we see but Chintan sitting there smiling and laughing about the whole thing....wow who would have guessed it was just a sprained neck and no over night stay for him.
So what a great weekend, my first 2 century rides in the same weekend. An Italian Street Fair with Gag and some great food. Great conversation with some amazing people and some of the most beautiful coastline on the planet to look at all weekend. We are less then 3 weeks to the start of the Million Dollar Challenge and if this weekend is any indication of what to expect I am looking forward to an amazing time and can't wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment