Chicks on adventures

It is so nice to be back on our regular evening rides.   Great turnout on Monday and Wednesday this week.  But we continue to have adventures and are getting some great hill climbing in. 

For Monday's ride we began our normal strawberry farms route, but from the recent rains found out the trail at the beginning of William R. Mason Regional park was closed due to flooding.

Whoops..who wants to slog through the mud puddle?

We turned around and decided to attack Ridgeline.   Becky and Pat had done it a couple of weeks prior on the Tuesday hill climbing class.  They didn't remember it as being too tough.   As Suzanne and I climbed to the top and waited at Turtle Rock Drive for the rest of the group, Suzanne asked, "Whose idea was that again?"   All the chicks completed the climb successfully and we enjoyed a wonderful downhill along Turtle Rock drive to catch up to our trail off of University once again.   Everyone's skills have increased and we were back at the starting park before we knew it.

On Tuesday, Karen, Pat and Theresa attended the hill climbing class put on by Kristen with Two Wheels One Planet Bike Shop.  About 30 people show up and it's a 17 to 20 mile ride full of hills around the Irvine area.  The beginning of the ride is a warm up with the bulk of the group staying together and then as we climbed Ridgeline (all the way to the top) it really separates the men from the boys or shall we say the women from the chicks.   Karen did a fabulous job.  She completed every hill, didn't have to stop and didn't throw up.  That was the real success.   Ask Pat how her ride went.

For Wednesday night's ride we had five chicks in attendance and Pat decided it was Taco time.  So we headed out to Jeffrey to the new Mexican restaurant that Suzanne had pointed out.  Only no one remembered to take a lock and there was no patio seating, so we settled on Chronic taco for a mid ride meal.   No Margaritas or beer though.  We will have to wait until Suzanne is along.

We kept heading down Jeffrey to take the bike trail along the freeway when we were met with another "closed trail" sign.  Well to Chicks that means find a way around.  We checked and although it was fairly new cement, it was dry.   We made our way through the fresh pavement and had a great, fast downhill ride along the freeway back to the San Diego Creek Trail on our way back to the starting park.  Nice ride Ladies!

Who is up for a Sunday ride?  Time to start building some longer mileage.

Chicks riding on weekends!

Did you ride this weekend?   The way to get stronger and faster is to ride with people that are faster than you and ride with groups.  We've had great turn outs on our Monday and Wednesday evening rides, everyone is keeping pace and really attacking the hills.
This last weekend Pat and Theresa along with Theresa's husband, Steve, did the OCW Spring Metric 42 mile ride.   It started in Yorba Regional Park with a 7 mile quick ride down the river trail to Orange, through Tustin, down Jamboree to Irvine.  Lots of rollies.   After a brief well supplied rest stop with fruit and muffins, we topped off our water bottles and attacked Jamboree hill back up to Anaheim Hills.  After the ride we were treated to an El Pollo Loco lunch. 
The sky was overcast and it seemed a bit chilly but with all that climbing, the weather saved us from getting too hot.   We had to remember to continue to sip water, since we didn't seem too thirsty with the cool air on us.
Group rides are great at getting you use to riding with people of all different skills, following route slips and riding in varying terrains.
Kristen with the bike shop Two Wheels One Planet will be hosting a 9 week hill climbing clinic beginning Tuesday, April 3rd, 5:30 pm sharp at Turtle Rock Park.  She will provide some great skill training to make you more confident climbing hills.   All you have to do is show up.