ADOBO Velo's 2008 Christmas Party

Talking about another successful ADOBO Velo Christmas Party! Third time and still getting better! New faces and more families took part of the festivities. Lots of delicious food where brought in by the Uyan Family, Borillo Family, and from all other members and their families! We had some donations for the party expenses and also for the raffle prizes from Irving family, Francis, Wilson F., and from a few more members. Thank you for your generosity! Thanks again to Agimat for finding a really nice venue. Before the feast started, Moderator Arden gave an intro speech summarizing some of the amazing accomplishments the club had for the past year. He introduced our founding fathers of Fil-Am cycling, our officers, the creators of ADOBO Velo, mentioned names of new members and December B-day boys!

Raffle tickets were being sold fast throughout the day! You can see how busy El Prez was... he was also responsible for signing and framing all 13 certificates and big smiles at all photo shots! Yes, we made him work, hard! And he did without any regrets!

Below is a pic of Richard, Ike, Wilson F., Lito A., and Deo enjoying the festivities.

Later that afternoon, El Prez Jesse and Vice Egay presented Certificates of Appreciations to Manny for his art logos and designs used in the website and the new ADOBOkits, Mandy Genato for the creation of the website and blogspots, Rosalie Kneebone for the numerous help she gave to the club and for being a great moderator, Ryan Roldan for taking care of our financial matters, and Arden. The efforts they gave were noticeable and elevated the club to the next level.

Later, they presented Certificates of Accomplishments to Francis Ignacio for his Furnace Creek 508 finish, Rosalie Kneebone for her first time competing at Fargo Hill Climb with a new unbeatable record, William Aligue for completing three double centuries this year earning him the California Triple Crown, Rhey Abad for first Double Century, and Arden Arindaeng for his accomplishments in track competitions.

Here's Francis (above, left) receiving his Certificate of Accomplishment together with the Los Brutos Chapter aka Fabulous 5 for his Furnace Creek 508 Challenge. Below is Rhey Abad receiving his Certificate of Accomplishment for finishing his first double century.

Some cash, TdF shirts and gift certificates where also presented to the deserving members and friends! Below is Juliet Agressor receiving a token of appreciation for all the assistance she gave at all Tour de Francis stages.

The festivities went on and the much awaited awards was being anticipated and then the drum rolls!

The Most Improved Rider for 2008 was awarded to Ed Morente.

The Best Attitude Rider for 2008 was awarded to Arnold 'Kapatid' Irving.

And ADOBO Velo's Cyclist of the Year was convincingly awarded to William 'Legstrong' Aligue!

The awardees were voted by the members and were submitted to Jesse and Egay for their stamp their approval. Thank you Egay for making those beautiful certificates! Nice work there too, El Prez!

White Elephant game followed shortly as more smiles were seen from the participants! There were lots of food left and were later divided up to be brought home as it was getting late that afternoon. Not to mention that it was also getting colder!

Overall, it was another successful big event for the ADOBO Velos as we look forward for year 2009 and beyond. Thank you and we wish you all a safe and joyous holiday!

MoorPark- PortHueneme- PCH Malibu- Latigo Cyn- Mulholland

It was 33 degrees when be started at 6:40AM. The double-century aspirants were out for a training ride to "get tough". It was just the 3 of us: Rosalie (Darna), Manny, and me. (Victor called in sick from the ER that very morning due to vomiting; We found out later he has kidney stones ; Hope he gets better soon so he can resume training for the double century on February 28).

We met Filipino Filipe riding his Schwinn w Terry Cloth Soft Saddle

Our Route yesterday copied the L.A. Wheelman's Grand Tour Lite, except we started in MOOR PARK instead of PCH Malibu. That means that the monster LATIGO CYN RD 10-mile climb will have to be tackled at Mile # 60 with tired legs, instead of at Mile #4 with fresh legs if we had started from Malibu.

It's a great route, esp. in the morning with no traffic. We went through a lot of hills at Moorpark, then through Camarillo, then Pleasant Valley Road for 10 miles on the way to Channel Islands and Port Hueneme (mile # 30) where we had a bathroom break and photo-opp. It was 50 degrees at 9:30am. Then to PCH on the way to Latigo Cyn in Malibu. Along the way we stopped as the restaurant Neptune Net to refill on water and eat our sandwiches (I made chicken sandwich for Rosalie and Me, and seafood salad sandwich for Manny since he's a vegetarian.)We encountered stiff headwinds along PCH. And there were a few rollers. I was already pooped. Rosalie and Manny had to slow down and wait for me. I was thinking "wala pang Latigo Cyn, todas na ako sa PCH".At mile # 60 we started to climb Latigo Cyn, a 10-mile climb. It was now 62 degrees. That climb has a LOT of 10% and 12% grades. Mostly it's 7-9%, and a few 2-5% here and there. To me it seemed harder than Big GMR or Small GMR. Manny and Rosalie did fine; I got dropped in the beginning and suffered alone (no Victor to ride w/ me).

Finally I got to the bottom of Latigo Mile # 70) where Darna and Manny were waiting for me for 25 mins. It was already 2 PM and we were still in the middle of the Sta Monica mountains, we still had 50 miles to go with lots of climbing !!! We had no lights.

So we had no choice but to shorten the route. We skipped Potrero and Santa Rosa. But there were still a lot of hills along the way: Mullholland, Westlake, and Moorpark Blv. It was survival mode for me, but Darna and Manny were still fresh since they had to slow down to my "Group C" pace.

We got to the parking lot at around 3:30 PM. We did 95 miles, with 5,500 feet of climbing. Darna and Manny were still good to go for another 30 miles, if only it wasn't dark. If they did their own "Group A or B" pace and not have to wait up for me they could have finished the 120 miles in time. But they had a no-drop policy.

It's a great route. Next time we'll skip going to Port Hueneme (roads too dusty and busy), and instead from Pleasant Valley take Las Posas down to PCH.

Tour de Francis V Stage 4 Century Ride Report

What more can we ask for in a century ride? Besides an amazing route, refueling stops were ready to serve, great post ride food fest, and the great weather! Turn out was about the same as last year but we still missed some of our friends. Here's Emre getting ready for the start!

As expected, the first climb at Lake Hughes Road stretched the pack that became the sight all the way out to Elizabeth Lake, to Quail Lake and back to Castaic. Here's a pic from the lead group with Raffy of MMCC sitting wisely at the back.

Later followed by Pete and more MMCCs..

Volunteer SAG crews were busy at work from roving, giving directions, and making sure food were ready at each of the designated stops. Two unfortunate mechanicals happened at the first 25 mile, a broken chain and a broken spoke. So one abandoned and the other one had a replaced wheel. Some riders made a return trip but a lot continued on to Quail Lake, more than last year. This is because of the better weather. Arm warmers and jackets became an option as some participants handed them to the SAG crews. Here's a pic of Legstrong and his ADOBO Velo comrads at Quail Lake SAG Stop...

Below, friends from San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club taking some precious break also at Quail Lake SAG Stop.

Steve of Sta Barbara was the first one to arrived at around 1:30pm and got his souvenir TdF shirt!

Deo came in a few minutes later with that contented smile!

All the food where warmed up and devoured. Souvenir shirts were being bought. Donations were pouring in. Masseuse busy at work till dark. Stories being told and new friends were being made.

Overall, another successful Tour de Francis! Everyone got punished by Director Francis as they enjoyed the whole day of festivities as much as the volunteers. Thank you all for making this a special day. We hope to see you all again next year!