Chicks that ride in silence

The event was held on a normal Wednesday riding night and right next to our normal meeting spot.  So we elected to join the Orange County annual "Ride of Silence".  This was a free event for local area cyclists to meet and do a ride remembering riders that have been killed or injured while riding their bicycling and promote safe driving awareness.

Becky, Chris, Theresa, Pat, and men friends, Steve and Bill all showed up.  We donned black arm bands and rode the short distance to the flag pole at the civic center.   We joined about 120 other cyclists from different clubs in the area.  

The organizer, Pete Van Nuys welcomed everyone and described the ride.  We would be riding single and double file in complete silence for 9.4 miles.   It was important that people use hand signals and take the time to reflect upon riders that aren't as fortunate as us.  Then he "opened" up the mike to participants who may want to share.

Different people came to the Mike and describe why they are riding and perhaps who they are riding for.  One woman was there with her husband and friends and riding to remember her brother who was killed in an cycling accident the previous year.  Everyone in her group had a photo of her brother on the back of their shirt.   Others shared more stories.  One guy came to the Mike and said he rides because of his dad.  His dad inspired him to ride and that the reason he was a professional cyclist today was because of his dad and his love of the sport.   His dad was killed just in this past year while riding to a large event.   He wished he could ride again with his dad, but felt like doing this ride tonight would be like riding with his dad.

Then those of us who had them turned on our tail lights and we slowly moved out of the gathering area toward the San Diego Creek River Trail.   We headed East on Alton where two motorcycle cops joined us and leap frogged from traffic light to traffic light holding the cars so our long line of riders could continue through.  Our speed was about 10 miles per hour and we didn't need to put our foot down for the full 9.4 miles, nor did we speak.  Really, Theresa's husband even bet $20 that there was no way she could do the whole ride without speaking.  It was kind of weird as you would look around at your riding companions and watching the astonished faces of the people we passed on the sidewalks and crosswalks and through the park area.

Some cars were annoyed at first and then in awe at the long line of riders stretching over one and 1/2 miles.  We eventually joined the Barranca river trail back to our starting point.  I think the thing that left an impression on me the most was all the different type of cyclists that met together to do this ride.  There were race clubs, recreation clubs, women's groups, mountain bike clubs, guys on fixes and even the casual bike commuter or two.  All different types already with something in common, coming together for purpose.  It makes you realize how small the world already is.   Plan to join us next year, it will be an event you will remember for a long time.

Chicks riding Dana Point to Camp Pendleton

It was time.....the weather has been great.   We've been working on hills and have built up some distance.  It's such a pretty ride.   Karen last rode it on her knobby tire mountain bike.  We had good intentions of changing out the tires to slicks that day, but the morning of our ride, we found out there was a slight problem.  (ask Karen about it).

 It would be Jeri's first ride on her new road bike an Italian design, Canadian made Cramerati with Shimano Dura Ace.  It's suppose to be a 40 mile ride.   Well. we can figure out a way for Jeri and anyone else to cut it short if need be.

The day started out overcast but we were sure in true Southern California fashion, the sun would soon burn through our June gloom that started in April.  We met about 9:30, so we could not have to be up so early and make the driving trek to Doheny State Park in Dana Point.  Jeri picked up Theresa and Karen and we met Pat and Stacy in the parking lot.   Tires pumped and off we went.

We elected to take the bike route through the neighborhood instead of the more direct route on Camino Real with car traffic.   It was a beautiful ride up and down the hills through gorgeous neighborhoods.  Jeri immediately learned how her new shift levers worked and spent the first five miles of our ride, shifting up and down her rear cogs.  She did a fabulous job, no one would be able to tell that it was her first ride on a road bike.

The cloud cover never did clear and the marine layer was so thick that we wished we had windshield wipers on our sun glasses as we rode along the gently breaking waves along the beach route.  We traveled South paralleling the train track and could wave to the metro riders as they passed by.

Soon we were on Old Highway 1 that was the main car route to San Diego prior to the completion of the 5 fwy.   As we rode through San Clemente old surf town we joined the bike/surfer access trail separated from the freeway.   Watch out for the surfers with their boards running to catch the trail down to the beach.  We joined back up with the highway and rode through San Onofre.  I didn't feel any hairs raise on my arms, but I heard there was some excitement there recently.   We finally came upon the San Onofre campground after a few fairly decent hills.  Jeri decided to take a break and enjoy the scenery as Karen, Pat, Stacy and Theresa headed on to the end.  

It was a fast  ride through the campground and it was great to see so many other road cyclists out getting a work out and enjoying being on the road.   Karen said it was certainly easier than her last attempt at this ride.

We exited the chain link fence at the end of the Campground and again picked up Old Highway one (Pacific Highway) continuing to make our way toward the Marine Base.   As we traveled through the tunnel, you could see the scrapes from tanks that had made their way through previously on their way to maneuvers.  There was a mock marine battle camp set up, that look like it was part of a movie set.  

We finally made it to Las Pulgas road where Stacy shared her cashew-pistachio crunch bits.  Pat described the Amtrak rest stop that would be set up here in September and we began our trip back toward the campground to pick up Jeri.

The heavy mist never really did let up, but we did not overheat.   As we made it back to Doheny State beach we noticed more and more beach goers decided to brave the overcast and enjoy a day at the beach.  Now on to find Wahoos tacos for lunch and plan our next ride.

If you weren't able to make this ride, you missed a great one.  See you on the road!

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. 

Chicks doing hill climbing

We aren't sure whose idea it really was, but everyone agreed to do it.   Let's do our Shady Canyon loop backwards.   Maybe some of us thought it might be easier, but climbing that long grade up Culver and then Shady Canyon really made us feel like we were out of shape.

What we didn't realize was we were all riding it faster than we ever had before.  No stops just kept going, climbing and climbing until we were rewarded with a great down hill coming down Shady Canyon.  As we mounted the crest a gorgeous view all the way to the inland foothills came into view.   Funny how we had never noticed this great view before since it was behind our back as we climbed up shady canyon the normal way.

We kept up the pace trying to beat the impending end of daylight back to our starting point.   On Jefferey just before we moved back to the Barranca bike trail, we noticed a little Mexican restaurant and tucked the location away for future "Margarita" ride destination.  Hmm...I think someone has a birthday coming up soon.  We are going to have to plan a stop.

Total ride was 15 miles in 1 hour and 11 minutes not bad for so much uphill climbing work.

Saturday is the OCW spring metric 40 and 62 mile rides.   Next week is our normal Monday and Wednesday evening rides.  Pat will be leading.   See you there!

Chicks riding again!

With the time change we have started our after work rides again.  Monday and Wednesday evenings, meeting at 5:30 pm at Col Barber Marine Memorial Park at the corner of Harvard and Barranca.   You can tell the chicks that have been riding through the winter.   Even though we haven't had our during the week rides, it's amazing how fast the muscle memory came back.   Pat and Becky are looking strong on their new road bikes. 

The sun does start to set around 7 pm and it's a little on the cold side so we are wearing light jackets, but this week and last we made a trip up Hick's canyon with the great Jeffrey downhill as well as a trip past Sand Canyon to Alton and back.

Everyone is strong and riding smoothly.  It's been great to get out.   Looking forward to seeing you at our next evening ride.

Chicks that get a bike fit

Guess who has a new steed?  You guessed it; Pat recently took ownership of a new Trek Lexa SLX.  She spent several months researching and looking at bikes and trying to figure out what would be the best bike investment for her that would serve her for a long time.  The Trek Lexa is designed to be women’s specific and comes in several models.  The SLX has better components including Shimano 105s for the derailleurs and shifters.  Two Wheels One Planet had the best January deal going on and awesome customer service.  They were no pressure and encouraged her to test ride and come back over and over to get all of her questions answered.

A very important step in buying a new bike especially one you are making an investment in is to get a proper bike fitting.   The team at Two Wheels One Planet feels strongly about this and will include a professional bike fit in the purchase of the bike.   They know that if someone fits the bike and feels good on it they will ride the bike, continue to buy accessories, make recommendations to friends and come back to them for any upgrades.

Kristen Lawrence, the general manager at Two Wheels One Planet has years of experience riding and bike fitting.  She was a road racer in her early career and now has such a passion for bikes and getting people to ride that it’s contagious just talking to her.   Pat made an appointment one evening after work and found out included in her bike fit was lots of additional knowledge that Kristen was happy to share.

Kristen started by checking the cleats on Pat’s shoes and changing them out to be Shimano the same brand as her pedals.  While the other off brand cleats would work, they won’t provide the best continuing wear.   Kristen explained that we start at the bottom and ensure a proper alignment with the foot starting with the position of the ball over the foot directly above the spindle of the pedal.  She checked out the fore and aft as well as the angular position while Pat’s foot was in the shoe clipped into the pedal.  This is where the power stroke comes in.   The better power you have to the pedals the more relaxed the rest of your body will feel and the longer you can ride.

Kristen also explained that there is a difference between fitting a man and fitting a woman (and NOT just the seat area) as well as fitting a recreational cyclist or a racer.   As you become more confident on the bike or lose weight or become fitter, continual fit adjustments can be made.

Next after ensuring that the seat height was correct, Kristen determined the correct fore/aft position of the seat and then adjusted the level.   She told us to think of your legs as pistons that need to go up and down for the best amount of power.  If you are trying to move your quads forward or back then you are wasting a large amount of effort.  She reminded us that pushing down on the pedal is a natural thing that we learned when we were little girls just pushing off on a bike.  We should start to focus on pulling back with our foot like trying to scrape mud off the bottom of your shoe and pulling up with our toes.

Getting all of these positions correct are essential for your actual riding of the bike.   The final area to work on (handlebars) is really just a place to put your hands and reach the controls.   If you are totally leaning on your handlebars and constantly pushing yourself back up on your seat, then you will become exhausted over a longer ride and aren’t taking advantage of your best power.

In between each adjustment, Kristen would have Pat spin her legs around both to practice her pedaling stroke and get a feel for the changes in adjustment.  For the handlebar height, Kristen explained that women do not have the huge back muscles that are inherent for men and because of our body build a slightly higher rise in the handle bars will make for a more comfortable ride.  She swapped out Pat’s stem with one at a higher angle.  Again, if Pat decides to join master racing and new adjustments and swaps can be done in the future.   Kristen then had Pat check her reach and gave her some hints for riding on road handlebars to practice on her upcoming rides.

Now that each of you has some miles on your bike I would encourage you to consider getting a proper bike fit.  The beginning of our evening riding season would be an ideal time to do it. Kristen said that if we get a group together she would give us special deal.  

So be looking for Pat on her properly fitted new Lexa on our next group ride and we will plan for our traditional champagne toast to the new bike owner.

Remember Jeri and Theresa will be racing in the Race on the Base triathlon Saturday, February 25.  Becky is organizing a ride from her house in Garden Grove.  Contact her if you are interested.