In Yahoo groups, Mang El shared his experiences, after reading Victor's run of bad luck (3 flats, and inadvertently causing a mom cyclist to panick and fall -- by saying the usual "on your left" ),
He says the most flats he got in one trip, was going to Seal Beach: 7 flats. At that time he had a patch kit in his back pocket & a hand pump. Now a days he carries 3 tubes, glue-less patch kit, 4 CO2's.
As for accidents, he's had a few.
Once he hit a simple bump on the bike trail (near El Dorado Long Beach) causing him to tumble 20 feet down the embankment all the way to the the river bed , bad enough to ruin his front wheel. He was OK.
In another accident, after he hit a bump, he aimed his bike toward the rocks, and ruined both wheels. He was was OK this time again.
But his luck would soon run out.
In yet another incident, a "rookie-wanna-be-racer" was going too fast while making a sharp turn, and ran straight into El's lane, knocking him down. El suffered 5 broken left ribs. That was very painful, and he could hardly breathe. He managed not to pass out. He recovered alright.
Then there was the attempted mugging in Pico Rivera golf course. El wanted to pee, but he was waiting for this man who was loitering in the area, to leave. The man then approached him and said he wanted El's Colnago. The man was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
El replied "I'm going to put a fight first before I give my bike to somebody else". The man was holding a stick and swung it toward El's face, but he deflected it, causing it to land between his left shoulder & neck.
Next, El stepped forward & pushed him, and the man almost went down but managed to run away. El could not chase him with his cleats on. Fortunately, El did not suffer any broken bones from the hit.
Nowadays, El yells or whistles while approaching joggers/bikers or groups of people. Most of all he is super alert and watches out carefully at those hang-out areas (park/rest stop) where they could surprise & jump you. He advises, in the tunnels make lots of noise. Always watch the road for broken bottles or debris. He has been using this trail since 1980.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Arden Doing Well in JUNE 2008 Ominium Events
The Encino Velodrome organizer informed our track/omnium racer Arden Arindaeng is ahead in the leaderboard for the 40+ Overall Sprint Trophy. (June 2008 Results)
Arden concentrates in 3 events: 200m TT, Match Sprints, and Keirins.
Don't worry if you don't know what's a keirin. See here.
Invented by the Japanese as a betting sport in 1948, it's a track cycling event that's 2 KM long, with a mass start, and involves a motor-pacer (which could be either a standard motorcycle, a special motorcycle called a "derny" made just for the keirin, or a tandem bicycle) .
Six to 9 Riders draw lottery to determine start positions. Riders must remain behind the "pacer", who first goes slow (about 25 KPH), gradually increasing in speed. The pacer leaves the track about 700 meters before the end, at a speed of about 50 km/h.
What's a scratch race ? It's where all contestants start from scratch ( on equal terms, not staggered start). If one rider (or a breakaway group of riders) gains an entire lap on the peloton and keeps this to the finish, this advantage places the breakaway rider/group ahead of the other riders with fewer laps completed.)
Arden's chosen 3 events do not cover all the 5 events in an"omnium", so he cannot compete in the overall.
OK, OK, you're asking..., what the heck is a OMNUIM?
You can be forgiven for asking. It has not been held at UCI events at world championship level for almost 40 years. It's a competition where the cyclist must be well-rounded because he/she must accumulate points in multi-disciplinary events, in the same vein as track and field's "pentathlon" where you must run, jump, throw, and shoot rifles.
In modern track cycling competition, a cyclist is either a sprinter, or an endurance rider. Few cyclists have the well-rounded ability to be competitive in both disciplines. The track-and-field world is the same, where you have 100-meter sprinters unable to compete in 1,500 meters or marathons, and vice-versa.
In the newly re-instituted modern omnium (UCI 2006), individual competitors accumulate points in five events, in the following order:
Look for the 40+ , and Cat3/4 Categories. Look for Wilson's name too.
Coming up:
There's one more "Bob Hansing Memorial Cup" competition coming up the following weekend (click here) but its an endurance omnium (no sprint events, only 5 medium/long events), but Arden might not race that.
(OK, too many names. WHO IS BOB HANSING? What? You don't know? That's OK.
He's an insider and pioneer to the bicycling industry. Founder of the Montrose Bike Shop in February 1955, and the Montrose Cycle Club (from which emerged several national and Olympic cyclists). A founder of the Encino Velodrome. 1968 U.S. Olympic Cycling Coach in Mexico City. Manager of the Pan-American team in Columbia in 1971. President of Shimano American Corporation, where he retired in 1971.)
Next for Arden are events held at the 3 Southern California velodromes: Encino, Home Depot/ADT in Carson, and San Diego, those three constitute one big tournament called the "SoCal Cup".
So, to repeat, Arden is in line to win the 40+ Sprint Trophy, but not for the over-all Omnium (because you must compete in all 5 multi-disciplinary events, whereas Arden is concentrating first on just 3 events). He is accumulating valuable experience, and getting ready mentally for bigger things/events.
--------------
The Keirin Finals didn't look so well because his team's tactics didn't work as planned for his teammate. To gain points, his teammate needed (but failed) to finish well. But the qualifier round worked as planned for Arden because of his team's help. Arden's teammate Shawn covered his back the whole time allowing Arden to finish 1st.
Arden concentrates in 3 events: 200m TT, Match Sprints, and Keirins.
Don't worry if you don't know what's a keirin. See here.
Invented by the Japanese as a betting sport in 1948, it's a track cycling event that's 2 KM long, with a mass start, and involves a motor-pacer (which could be either a standard motorcycle, a special motorcycle called a "derny" made just for the keirin, or a tandem bicycle) .
Six to 9 Riders draw lottery to determine start positions. Riders must remain behind the "pacer", who first goes slow (about 25 KPH), gradually increasing in speed. The pacer leaves the track about 700 meters before the end, at a speed of about 50 km/h.
What's a scratch race ? It's where all contestants start from scratch ( on equal terms, not staggered start). If one rider (or a breakaway group of riders) gains an entire lap on the peloton and keeps this to the finish, this advantage places the breakaway rider/group ahead of the other riders with fewer laps completed.)
Arden's chosen 3 events do not cover all the 5 events in an"omnium", so he cannot compete in the overall.
OK, OK, you're asking..., what the heck is a OMNUIM?
You can be forgiven for asking. It has not been held at UCI events at world championship level for almost 40 years. It's a competition where the cyclist must be well-rounded because he/she must accumulate points in multi-disciplinary events, in the same vein as track and field's "pentathlon" where you must run, jump, throw, and shoot rifles.
In modern track cycling competition, a cyclist is either a sprinter, or an endurance rider. Few cyclists have the well-rounded ability to be competitive in both disciplines. The track-and-field world is the same, where you have 100-meter sprinters unable to compete in 1,500 meters or marathons, and vice-versa.
In the newly re-instituted modern omnium (UCI 2006), individual competitors accumulate points in five events, in the following order:
• 200M Flying Start Time Trial
• 5 KM Scratch race
• 3 KM Individual Pursuit (or 2KM for Juniors), with the starting seeding determined by their finish in the previous scratch race event (so dropping off the back of the bunch in the scratch race is not a good strategy)
• 15 KM Points race (with a minimum of 5 intermediate, and the sixth being the final sprint)
• And then to cap it off, a 1 KM Time Trial, generally regarded in the track cycling world as one of the hardest and most violent minutes of any cyclist's life. In the omnium, the riders will ride off in pairs, pursuit-style.
Look for the 40+ , and Cat3/4 Categories. Look for Wilson's name too.
Coming up:
There's one more "Bob Hansing Memorial Cup" competition coming up the following weekend (click here) but its an endurance omnium (no sprint events, only 5 medium/long events), but Arden might not race that.
(OK, too many names. WHO IS BOB HANSING? What? You don't know? That's OK.
He's an insider and pioneer to the bicycling industry. Founder of the Montrose Bike Shop in February 1955, and the Montrose Cycle Club (from which emerged several national and Olympic cyclists). A founder of the Encino Velodrome. 1968 U.S. Olympic Cycling Coach in Mexico City. Manager of the Pan-American team in Columbia in 1971. President of Shimano American Corporation, where he retired in 1971.)
Next for Arden are events held at the 3 Southern California velodromes: Encino, Home Depot/ADT in Carson, and San Diego, those three constitute one big tournament called the "SoCal Cup".
So, to repeat, Arden is in line to win the 40+ Sprint Trophy, but not for the over-all Omnium (because you must compete in all 5 multi-disciplinary events, whereas Arden is concentrating first on just 3 events). He is accumulating valuable experience, and getting ready mentally for bigger things/events.
--------------
The Keirin Finals didn't look so well because his team's tactics didn't work as planned for his teammate. To gain points, his teammate needed (but failed) to finish well. But the qualifier round worked as planned for Arden because of his team's help. Arden's teammate Shawn covered his back the whole time allowing Arden to finish 1st.
Elpidio's Report 6/28 Encanto-GMR
Elpidio reported in Yahoo groups the following:
Ricky called him at 7:30am, but he just woke up, so he told Ricky to go ahead. El started at 8:00 AM & went up to East Fork where he met up with Ricky Boy, Jessie & Jojo. They went to Camp Williams hoping to see Victor & Manny there (but of course they had gone south instead to Seal Beach.)
Ricky boy got burned out & decided to head home. Jojo & Jessie went up to GMR. Ricky boy & I ended up to Banana Leaf as usual.
Ricky called him at 7:30am, but he just woke up, so he told Ricky to go ahead. El started at 8:00 AM & went up to East Fork where he met up with Ricky Boy, Jessie & Jojo. They went to Camp Williams hoping to see Victor & Manny there (but of course they had gone south instead to Seal Beach.)
Ricky boy got burned out & decided to head home. Jojo & Jessie went up to GMR. Ricky boy & I ended up to Banana Leaf as usual.
Victor's Report 6/28 Encanto-SealBch
Report by Victor Dakila
(Editor's note: What a day for VIctor and Manny: Broken spoke, slashed sidewall, 3 flats, and mom on cruiser crashing into wall)
--- In ADOBOvelo@yahoogroups.com, "Victor" wrote:
Manny and I missed the Liberty guys. We were late rolling out of Encanto so we did not get to Liberty in time. Saw Arnold "Kapatid" and two others going north on the trail, perhaps to Turnbull.
We did good time getting to Seal Beach and still felt pretty fresh. Manny and I decided to head back and climb to at least East fork.
We were hauling ass on the way back with Manny pulling most of the way up. We were almost at Beverly then ran into some glass. Manny was able to swerve away from it but broke a spoke in the process. I cut up my tire pretty bad (First flat of the day). Put a new tube in, but got another flat one mile up (2nd flat). Then another flat about 5 miles up (3rd flat).
Some riders stopped by to help out. Sold me a new tube plus a small piece of cut out tire to help cover the cut on my tire. No more flats all the way to Encanto.
We just cruised back but on one of the tunnels this lady with her daughter were riding the opposite direction. We yelled 'rider up' but this somehow caused her to panic and crashed into the wall inside the tunnel. I swear to God I did not touch her. She just panicked. She was OK though but I felt somewhat responsible. Anyways, we still managed to get in 75 miles. Now to the bike shop to get new tires and tubes.
(Editor's note: What a day for VIctor and Manny: Broken spoke, slashed sidewall, 3 flats, and mom on cruiser crashing into wall)
--- In ADOBOvelo@yahoogroups.com, "Victor" wrote:
Manny and I missed the Liberty guys. We were late rolling out of Encanto so we did not get to Liberty in time. Saw Arnold "Kapatid" and two others going north on the trail, perhaps to Turnbull.
We did good time getting to Seal Beach and still felt pretty fresh. Manny and I decided to head back and climb to at least East fork.
We were hauling ass on the way back with Manny pulling most of the way up. We were almost at Beverly then ran into some glass. Manny was able to swerve away from it but broke a spoke in the process. I cut up my tire pretty bad (First flat of the day). Put a new tube in, but got another flat one mile up (2nd flat). Then another flat about 5 miles up (3rd flat).
Some riders stopped by to help out. Sold me a new tube plus a small piece of cut out tire to help cover the cut on my tire. No more flats all the way to Encanto.
We just cruised back but on one of the tunnels this lady with her daughter were riding the opposite direction. We yelled 'rider up' but this somehow caused her to panic and crashed into the wall inside the tunnel. I swear to God I did not touch her. She just panicked. She was OK though but I felt somewhat responsible. Anyways, we still managed to get in 75 miles. Now to the bike shop to get new tires and tubes.
Jonas' Report 6/28 Liberty-HB
Report by Jonas "Jojo Mayabang" Victorio
In ADOBOvelo@yahoogroups.com, "Jonas Victorio" wrote:
There were 7 of us. Deo lead the way to HB. I met up w/them at Sunset Beach RR stop.
Saw a group of 40 riders, mostly Velo Allegro kits.
(Wish we had hour AdoboVelo Kits by now!!! Can we cancel and move our orders to ChampSys.com?)
Continued to HB. Kicked back for 20 minutes enjoying the scenery w/ Edgar and friends.
Met Marlon , who used to ride w/Adobo a couple of years back. Recruited him into joining our "fat burning" grind. Edgar, way to push the pace thru Bolsa Chica!!
Anyway, it was a short ride for me today... dedicated to the ultra marathoners at the Grand Tour.
In ADOBOvelo@yahoogroups.com, "Jonas Victorio" wrote:
There were 7 of us. Deo lead the way to HB. I met up w/them at Sunset Beach RR stop.
Saw a group of 40 riders, mostly Velo Allegro kits.
(Wish we had hour AdoboVelo Kits by now!!! Can we cancel and move our orders to ChampSys.com?)
Continued to HB. Kicked back for 20 minutes enjoying the scenery w/ Edgar and friends.
Met Marlon , who used to ride w/Adobo a couple of years back. Recruited him into joining our "fat burning" grind. Edgar, way to push the pace thru Bolsa Chica!!
Anyway, it was a short ride for me today... dedicated to the ultra marathoners at the Grand Tour.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Arden's June 13-14 San Diego Report
Arden's Report:
Got some motor-pacing time with Coach Mark Whitehead at the track last Friday afternoon, June 13 in San Diego. This was to familiarize ourselves with each other. I survived the "session" on a lighter gear and he actually sped it up even more on the last set where I was spinning my legs off the pedals! There where 2 others of his trainees that showed up so it was a good session with them. Another reason why I went to his training session is also to get familiar with the track as all velodromes are different.
Go to my in-laws before 8pm and luckily got to bed at an hour after but had a hard time getting to sleep. Got up at 5am and arrived at the meeting place a few minutes before MMCCs started to show up (I think I was the closest anyway). Edgar arrived next, clad in ADOBO Velo Kit, and it felt good after seeing that. I'm bad in names so I won't mention some but MMCC folks are all good people. They knew that I rode the night before, so they always had someone behind me and telling me what's on the next turn, especially Sammy. My hill climbing weakness was exposed, I was dropped easily. Their strong man actually went back to make sure everyone was ok. This is actually the first time I witnessed the "no-one-gets-left-behind" moto being done (maybe because I was always behind). It even happened on the way back on the flats when I started cramping! We finished off by having lunch at Tita's Restaurant.
One thing I learned about Raffy on the downhill: He can draft closely on a fast downhill (which I think its an amazing skill) and tuck-in for an aero position, but you'll always be faster than him. So if you want to make a move on him, do it on a downhill!
Got some motor-pacing time with Coach Mark Whitehead at the track last Friday afternoon, June 13 in San Diego. This was to familiarize ourselves with each other. I survived the "session" on a lighter gear and he actually sped it up even more on the last set where I was spinning my legs off the pedals! There where 2 others of his trainees that showed up so it was a good session with them. Another reason why I went to his training session is also to get familiar with the track as all velodromes are different.
Go to my in-laws before 8pm and luckily got to bed at an hour after but had a hard time getting to sleep. Got up at 5am and arrived at the meeting place a few minutes before MMCCs started to show up (I think I was the closest anyway). Edgar arrived next, clad in ADOBO Velo Kit, and it felt good after seeing that. I'm bad in names so I won't mention some but MMCC folks are all good people. They knew that I rode the night before, so they always had someone behind me and telling me what's on the next turn, especially Sammy. My hill climbing weakness was exposed, I was dropped easily. Their strong man actually went back to make sure everyone was ok. This is actually the first time I witnessed the "no-one-gets-left-behind" moto being done (maybe because I was always behind). It even happened on the way back on the flats when I started cramping! We finished off by having lunch at Tita's Restaurant.
One thing I learned about Raffy on the downhill: He can draft closely on a fast downhill (which I think its an amazing skill) and tuck-in for an aero position, but you'll always be faster than him. So if you want to make a move on him, do it on a downhill!
Ride Report June 15 Father's Day
Rosalie's report:
The Duarte Boys came out to play again: Pete, Francis and Mang El and also William "Legstrong", Victor, Kuya Ricky, Mandy, Manny and myself, and Felix (who showed up but rode to E. Fork instead).
Today's rider of the day, with an IMPRESSIVE showing beyond expectation, goes to KUYA RICKY. His polka dot KOM Colnago was jealous of Ricky's other bike, the Championship De Rosa, so the KOM Colnago showed Kuya Ricky what he was missing. The name says it all. Kuya Ricky was the KOM of the day.
Kuya Ricky passed 3 unknown riders and accumulated 30 pts (10 points for each rider overtaken). Victor got 10 points with the help of "domestique" Legstrong, who did Deo's job today pushing a few riders up Big GMR. Awesome for having an aluminum bike. It's not the machine, it's the RIDER: Lungs and Legs. Well the MACHINE helps too. Francis lent his DeRosa to William on the last 2 miles of the Hwy 39 climb. And "man, oh, man", Legstrong took off like a sling shot. Pete chased after him, but this time did not catch up.
After the ride, where else, the "well known to everyone by now" BANANA LEAF. I think we consumed more calories than burned. Once again, Great Ride Guys.
The Duarte Boys came out to play again: Pete, Francis and Mang El and also William "Legstrong", Victor, Kuya Ricky, Mandy, Manny and myself, and Felix (who showed up but rode to E. Fork instead).
Today's rider of the day, with an IMPRESSIVE showing beyond expectation, goes to KUYA RICKY. His polka dot KOM Colnago was jealous of Ricky's other bike, the Championship De Rosa, so the KOM Colnago showed Kuya Ricky what he was missing. The name says it all. Kuya Ricky was the KOM of the day.
Kuya Ricky passed 3 unknown riders and accumulated 30 pts (10 points for each rider overtaken). Victor got 10 points with the help of "domestique" Legstrong, who did Deo's job today pushing a few riders up Big GMR. Awesome for having an aluminum bike. It's not the machine, it's the RIDER: Lungs and Legs. Well the MACHINE helps too. Francis lent his DeRosa to William on the last 2 miles of the Hwy 39 climb. And "man, oh, man", Legstrong took off like a sling shot. Pete chased after him, but this time did not catch up.
After the ride, where else, the "well known to everyone by now" BANANA LEAF. I think we consumed more calories than burned. Once again, Great Ride Guys.
Ride Report June 15 Saturday
On Saturday, there was a big group ride (20 Adobos) in Encanto, and another group ride in OC.
The OC group from Laguna Niguel had 4 riders, Vic, Randy,Eric and Chris. They made a round-trip to Newport and back, totalling 36 miles. Randy reported they each burned 2,ooo calories, giving him an excuse to feast on aCarl's Jr. Western burger. They started early at 6am, headed up north along PCH. There was a nice climb up Newport Coast, and up Ridge View Dr. Stopped at Starbucks and had an entertaining conversation about our house pets.
The Encanto Duarte group started at around 8AM. The parking lot had riders from BikeForum and LAWheelmen. Their itinerary was to go up Angeles Crest Hwy, then down via Crystal Lake/Rte 39.
We Adobos on the other hand decided to go up Hwy 39 to E Fork, then Little GMR, then return via Big GMR and Sierra Madre.
The Adobo riders were well represented. We were 20 RIDERS all in all (photos). Four riders from Cerritos decided to save on GASOLINE and get EXTRA BASE MILES by riding all the way from Liberty Park, Cerritos (30 miles): (1) El Presidente Jesse Santamaria, (2) Jaimer Rodriguez, (3) Richard Dones, (4) Ben Aragon. The other riders were: (5) Deo Asuncion, (6) Pete Primavera, (7) Francis Ignacio, (8) Ed Morente, (9) Roy Adeva, (10)Manny Amit, (11) Rhey Abad, (12) Victor Dakila, (13) Ricky Herrera, (14) Louie Navarte, (15) Jesse Agrezor, (16) Felix Bautista, (17) Doc, a neighbor of Felix, (18) Manolito Dionisio, (19) James, and (20) Mandy Genato.
Jesse had just arrived the night before from RP, and was still jet-lagged. But he was very excited to resume riding with the group. He biked straight from his house in Covina to meet us at E. Fork.
While we were going up Little GMR, a bunch of Pasadena Triathlon cyclists were there too. Much later, when we were going home along Sierra Madre, we saw paramedics and fire engines at the park past Azusa Ave. It turns out that one of the Pasadena riders crashed from hitting a raised crack in the asphalt. We learned that he separated his shoulder, but did not crack his collar bone, according to a rider we spoke to later at the parking lot.
While going up Little GMR, Mang El would come down to check on the "pasyalan" riders in the back. Deo (Mr Olympian) too was riding in the back, but he was "pushing" the laggards. I mean literally pushing them one by one with his right hand, making the rider zoom up. First he pushed James, who zoomed past everyone in the back group. Then he pushed Manolito, who leapfrogged everyone. Then Ricky went ZOOM too. Then Victor. Then Mandy. Then Deo did it all over again. And again. It was AMAZING! Mr Olympian is out of this world. To top it off, he was the one pulling everyone on the climb to Mt Baldy.
When the group got to the top of GMR, they chatted a bit. The Pasadena group was there too. A pretty woman cyclist from the Pasadena group came over to the Adobo side, and walked up to Felix, and asked him "Are you Felix?", and gave him a warm, tight hug. She said they should ride again. Felix was just nodding his head. Later we asked Felix who that was. He said he didn't know her. A case of Mistaken identity. That's why he never took off his shades, so she won't
realize her mistake.
The Adobos split up at GMR. Seven "astigs" went up Mt. Baldy: Deo, Pete, Francis, Ed, Roy, Manny, Rhey. The Liberty Park group split early to make the return trip to Liberty Park, to complete almost 100 miles. The rest followed about 10 minutes later to Encanto via Big GMR/Sierra Madre.
The Mt. Baldy group was led by Deo & Pete. Mang El described it as "a murder." He was falling behind purposely to wait for other riders, not realizing that there was no one in the back, since everyone else already turned back to Encanto. He was the last one to reach M. tBaldy. Then then left from MtBaldy before 12 noon & got back to Banana Leaf before 1:30PM.
The Liberty group of Ben, Jaimer, Richard, and El Presidente in the meantime arrived at Liberty Park a little after 1pm. Along the way they stopped by a taco stand along Sierra Madre/corner Azusa to satisfy Jaimer's craving. They later saw the other Adobos (Mandy, Vic, Jesse, Manolito, Louie, Doc, Felix and Rick) pass by. Then they loaded on drinks and resumed the ride. As usual they rode against the wind. They applied El Prez' "counter clockwise" pace line at a steady rhythm through the Sante Fe Dam. They were having so much fun they didn't realized they were almost home.
(By the way, Ben says someone earned a new nickname, "Datu". But he did not explain. That will have to come later. It's a "a can of worms" he says.)
Meantime, the "pasyalan" group of Victor, Ricky, Louie, Jesse, Felix, Doc, Manolito, James and Mandy returned via Sierra Madra. At the Grand Ave hill there was a little competition. James put on his turbo and sprinted and put a little gap. Felix overtook him at 3/4th of the way and took "KOM". Mandy and James got to the top together. The rest were taking it easy in the back.
After the ride, all of us then went to Banana Leaf except the Liberty riders, Jesse (he went home at Azusa, Manolito (got handcuffed by commander when he got home), Rhey, and Doc. That restaurant probably got about $200 in business from AdoboVelos on that day.
The OC group from Laguna Niguel had 4 riders, Vic, Randy,Eric and Chris. They made a round-trip to Newport and back, totalling 36 miles. Randy reported they each burned 2,ooo calories, giving him an excuse to feast on aCarl's Jr. Western burger. They started early at 6am, headed up north along PCH. There was a nice climb up Newport Coast, and up Ridge View Dr. Stopped at Starbucks and had an entertaining conversation about our house pets.
The Encanto Duarte group started at around 8AM. The parking lot had riders from BikeForum and LAWheelmen. Their itinerary was to go up Angeles Crest Hwy, then down via Crystal Lake/Rte 39.
We Adobos on the other hand decided to go up Hwy 39 to E Fork, then Little GMR, then return via Big GMR and Sierra Madre.
The Adobo riders were well represented. We were 20 RIDERS all in all (photos). Four riders from Cerritos decided to save on GASOLINE and get EXTRA BASE MILES by riding all the way from Liberty Park, Cerritos (30 miles): (1) El Presidente Jesse Santamaria, (2) Jaimer Rodriguez, (3) Richard Dones, (4) Ben Aragon. The other riders were: (5) Deo Asuncion, (6) Pete Primavera, (7) Francis Ignacio, (8) Ed Morente, (9) Roy Adeva, (10)Manny Amit, (11) Rhey Abad, (12) Victor Dakila, (13) Ricky Herrera, (14) Louie Navarte, (15) Jesse Agrezor, (16) Felix Bautista, (17) Doc, a neighbor of Felix, (18) Manolito Dionisio, (19) James, and (20) Mandy Genato.
Jesse had just arrived the night before from RP, and was still jet-lagged. But he was very excited to resume riding with the group. He biked straight from his house in Covina to meet us at E. Fork.
While we were going up Little GMR, a bunch of Pasadena Triathlon cyclists were there too. Much later, when we were going home along Sierra Madre, we saw paramedics and fire engines at the park past Azusa Ave. It turns out that one of the Pasadena riders crashed from hitting a raised crack in the asphalt. We learned that he separated his shoulder, but did not crack his collar bone, according to a rider we spoke to later at the parking lot.
While going up Little GMR, Mang El would come down to check on the "pasyalan" riders in the back. Deo (Mr Olympian) too was riding in the back, but he was "pushing" the laggards. I mean literally pushing them one by one with his right hand, making the rider zoom up. First he pushed James, who zoomed past everyone in the back group. Then he pushed Manolito, who leapfrogged everyone. Then Ricky went ZOOM too. Then Victor. Then Mandy. Then Deo did it all over again. And again. It was AMAZING! Mr Olympian is out of this world. To top it off, he was the one pulling everyone on the climb to Mt Baldy.
When the group got to the top of GMR, they chatted a bit. The Pasadena group was there too. A pretty woman cyclist from the Pasadena group came over to the Adobo side, and walked up to Felix, and asked him "Are you Felix?", and gave him a warm, tight hug. She said they should ride again. Felix was just nodding his head. Later we asked Felix who that was. He said he didn't know her. A case of Mistaken identity. That's why he never took off his shades, so she won't
realize her mistake.
The Adobos split up at GMR. Seven "astigs" went up Mt. Baldy: Deo, Pete, Francis, Ed, Roy, Manny, Rhey. The Liberty Park group split early to make the return trip to Liberty Park, to complete almost 100 miles. The rest followed about 10 minutes later to Encanto via Big GMR/Sierra Madre.
The Mt. Baldy group was led by Deo & Pete. Mang El described it as "a murder." He was falling behind purposely to wait for other riders, not realizing that there was no one in the back, since everyone else already turned back to Encanto. He was the last one to reach M. tBaldy. Then then left from MtBaldy before 12 noon & got back to Banana Leaf before 1:30PM.
The Liberty group of Ben, Jaimer, Richard, and El Presidente in the meantime arrived at Liberty Park a little after 1pm. Along the way they stopped by a taco stand along Sierra Madre/corner Azusa to satisfy Jaimer's craving. They later saw the other Adobos (Mandy, Vic, Jesse, Manolito, Louie, Doc, Felix and Rick) pass by. Then they loaded on drinks and resumed the ride. As usual they rode against the wind. They applied El Prez' "counter clockwise" pace line at a steady rhythm through the Sante Fe Dam. They were having so much fun they didn't realized they were almost home.
(By the way, Ben says someone earned a new nickname, "Datu". But he did not explain. That will have to come later. It's a "a can of worms" he says.)
Meantime, the "pasyalan" group of Victor, Ricky, Louie, Jesse, Felix, Doc, Manolito, James and Mandy returned via Sierra Madra. At the Grand Ave hill there was a little competition. James put on his turbo and sprinted and put a little gap. Felix overtook him at 3/4th of the way and took "KOM". Mandy and James got to the top together. The rest were taking it easy in the back.
After the ride, all of us then went to Banana Leaf except the Liberty riders, Jesse (he went home at Azusa, Manolito (got handcuffed by commander when he got home), Rhey, and Doc. That restaurant probably got about $200 in business from AdoboVelos on that day.
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