Unneeded 200k

Amber persuaded me to ride the Four Rivers 200k again yesterday even though I have already exceeded my 10,000 mile target for the year. I guess it's good training for the Cracker Swamp 1200k next year.

It was a chilly 47F when we started at Costco, but clear and with a powerful tailwind as we headed to the coast. How many times have we ridden into a head wind, looking forward to turning around, only to find the promised tailwind never materializes? At least when you start with a tailwind, nature can never take that away from you.

Possibly because of the coolness, the bike path and beach path were less crowded that usual.

SART

Beach path

We ate at The Crema but they had no veggie baguettes. Apparently they only have one person who can make them and they weren't working that day. Amber had a veggie quiche which gave her serious stomach problems later :-(

Even the San Gabrielle trail was very quiet and when the sun came out, it was lovely.

San Gabriel trail

We ate lightly at El Monte and Amber got some Tums from the Shell. She really wanted Ex-Lax but they didn't have any. She only ate half of her pastry and we gave the rest to a pigeon who must have thought it was Christmas all over again. It probably ate until it passed out in a food coma and was easy prey for the next cat that came along. Oh well.

The trails had shown signs of recent flooding but the top of the Rio Hondo, which is prone to extreme flooding was impassable. We should have stayed on Lincoln and rejoined the trail at the dam, but we're too stubborn for that.

Top of the Rio Hondo trail

 We got to Chronic Tacos in good time despite Amber's continuing stomach issues and had cheese quesadillas and coke - the usual.

As we headed back on the SART I realized our late start meant we would have to hustle to get to Katella before the gates were locked at 6pm. Amber was in no condition to pull so I pulled at 18mph with Amber hanging on  my wheel as best she could. We got to Katella at 5:56! We rode the rest of the way at a more manageable 14mph and still recorded a 9:35 time.

We got so lucky with the wind with only 15 miles of headwind into Long Beach (as usual). The rest of the ride was either still or with a tailwind.

Close call

Eight of us set out on Greg and Stacy's Four Rivers 200k brevet on Saturday. Kerin, David Danovsky, Garrett Eves, and Hoang Nguyen took off in a fast group while Greg, Stacy, and I waited for Debra who was running late.

The weather was perfect, with almost no wind and temps in the 50s.

Waiting for Debra

Riding along Huntington Beach bike path it was overcast and calm - perfect.

Stacy is getting very good at selfies

We rode a very gentle 14-15 mph inland to the Shell station at El Monte.

Happy to be halfway

Headed back on the Los Angeles River Trail we didn't have too much headwind and Stacy captured this rather nice weather effect.

Like a scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail

Long Beach Marina - the sun came out

The fast crowd at Chronic Tacos

The slow crowd an hour later

As we were making our way through Marina Pacifica on 2nd, a speeding car span out of control and missed wiping us all out by about 100'. Take a look at the picture below. We all stopped as soon as the accident occurred. Look how close the car came to some of us. It's amazing she missed two cars, five cyclists, and didn't crash through the guardrail into the water below.

Missed me!

The egg salad sandwich I had at the Shell might not have been as fresh as some. I started having stomach cramps about three hours later and had to spend some time in the rest room at the beach. Fortunately we don't have any photographs of that.

Fast group at the end

Greg waiting for someone to do something

10,000 Miles for the Year

I finally passed the 10,000 mile mark for the year, which I've done for several years now. I used to think that was a lot until Shai told me he rode 15,000 miles a year. Damn!

I'm starting to plan for next year. I have two events planned - a week of hiking in England with Amber and the 2020 Crackerswamp 1200k also with Amber. I plan on riding my 200k Four Rivers brevet a lot (assuming RUSA gets its permanent insurance settled) and a flattish Super Randonneur series.

• 1/25/2020 Santa Barbara Easy 200k
• 2/28/2020 Five Rivers 300k pre-ride
• 3/21/2020 Borrego Springs 400k
• 3/28/2020 Triple Loop 600k pre-ride

• 5/20/2020 - 6/2/2020 Hiking in England

• 11/5/2020 - 11/8/2020 Crackerswamp

Stacy's K-hound ride

Stacy and Greg Kline are both going for their K-hound award (10,000km of official RUSA rides) this year. Greg already has his, Stacy got hers on Sunday on my Four Rivers 200k brevet. You pretty much have to ride a 200k brevet every week for a year.

It was a beautiful day - 52F at the start with a high of 65F and almost no wind. The trails were quiet and the sunrise was colorful.

We met at Costco and ride down the SART to the beach. The pass under PCH was flooded so we had to walk our bikes around. A little tricky with cleats.

We were both starving when we got to The Crema

and as we sat outside eating we saw the Batmobile drive by

The recent rains had left some puddles but the mountains were heavy with snow.

We ate light at the 7-11 in El Monte so we were ready for a cheese quesadilla at Chronic Tacos. The usual headwind into Long Beach failed to make an appearance which was good because locomotive Greg was busy scraping barnacles off his (boat's) bottom.

The sun was close to setting as we left Belmont. Not quite as spectacular.

This is what you look like when you have finally finished your K-Hound!