Bastille Day Ride

It was a day to connect to people rather than miles as the heat and humidity drained the energy faster than I could down three bottles of fluids. And I was completely out before the end of the ride.

I saw TeJay Van Garderen fly by me up Glendora Mountain Road sporting his white jersey and red BMC shorts. Seriously, his real name was Michael and in Matt's humble opinion Michael was cranking up the road as if it was a flat stage. Needless to say the real TeJay was riding the flat ride for Stage 13 of the 99th Tour de France starting from Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and ending in Le Cap d'Agde along the Mediterranean coast of France.

A few folks were riding along the road. Not alot and not like the throng of a couple hundred riders on July 4th when the road was closed.

Ken zipped up to the shed. Happy to be on the bike. His tag line is: Work cramps my ride schedule. Yip. This whole needing money to eat and have shelter is overrated.

Greg. Awesome to see you back on the mountain. Greg's second ride up the road after a long hiatus. He beamed with joy as his goal is to get back to his former level of fitness. Goals.

Dan breezed up Baldy Road and down Glendora Ridge Road and met us at the shed. He started at 6 am. Which seemed so blissfully cool by the time I arrived at the shed.

John R. had the facts and figures on bicycle deaths from automobiles. 37 in Southern California for the year. As a bicycle commuter to work riding 40 miles of city street and bicycle trails he was empathic about cyclists knowing what is behind them all the time.

On a lighter note, he sure did talk up his upcoming event at the end of September the Everest Challenge. It is a USAC Competitive event, however there is a category of participant for "public" or "tourist" type cyclists. Hmm, interesting, an event without racing. I could be a tourist type participant. John has a way of talking to convince yourself you can do it. The public class of participant can pick and choose their portion of the routes and have full sag support. Hmm, I think I can. John will be training by climbing 10,000 feet per week. Let me do the math. Doh! Very little time for training. But more motivation. Well, I will see. I have not made any commitment. First it is a mental activity.

Tip of the day: You know you're riding too slow when the turkey vultures start strafing you as you descend. Laughs. I made it home. I tried to keep better attention to what was behind me.