Cycling Pigs

On a recent weekend, several piggies (Juli K., Nancy E. and Russ A.) were found working their way from the Irvine Transportation Center to Solana Beach with an Amtrak train ride back to Irvine. It was a cool, crisp day. Dark clouds were everywhere with a threat of rain.

We lucked out all day and no rain until we were back in our cars. It got a bit breezy going through Camp Pendleton. The best part of this ride is pizza and beer (or wine and Diet Coke) at the end of the ride. There is a great Microbrewery across from the Amtrak Station. On this day, the trains were not on their ususal weekend schedule. No worries, we had to wait a bit longer, but were told there would be a train..more pizza and beer.

As we bought our tickets we found out that the trains were not running and we were loaded on a bus back to Irvine. Not as much fun as the train back, but a great day of cycling.

Stan Pitts sent me a picture of himself and his beautiful wife Tina on their last bicycle ride. He is attempting RAGBRAI next year after he works the bugs out of his current settup. You see they tend to jack-knife at high speed stops which could prove problematic during the crowed conditions of the RAGBRAI ride. So this is a project in the works for Stan and all of us here at cyclingpigs wish him the best of luck with his new bike or is that a trike….strike that, it must be a quike. We will call it Stan’s Quike which is the combination of quad and bike.

While Stan was figuring out his jack-knife problem on his Quike the rest of us enjoyed a leisurely ride down the bike path along the river and on to Whittier Narrows. Coffee and treats at the local coffee shop was very nice. We witnessed a near tragic burn when Darwin dropped his coffee all over the table and created a real eye-full. You never know what these bikers will pull next. The quick pace line back broke the group up a bit but it was nice to stretch out the legs a bit. We were all smelling the barn by the time we hit the Santa Anna Dam.

Back at the bike shop I dropped the Look off for a little work, saddle change and country knobby tires. The Look is now set up for long leisurely rides of RAGBRAI. The Selle Italia Strike Pro is one hell-of-a saddle. For the prices they charge it had better be. The big old knobby tires will just soak up the uneven pavement that we may run into so they will be a blessing. The racing bike looks totally garbaged now but will ride nice. Actually, I put some Michelin Pro Race 25 mm wides on. These tires have a slightly larger volume and can be run at slightly lower pressures. This combination will not give up too much in performance but really make the ride comfy. In another issue I will discuss all of the changes I have made to the Look in preparation for the RAGBRAI ride. It is now a different bike than a year ago when it was strictly a racer.

Why is it every time I have to work it is wonderful weather with clear skys and balmy temperatures and on the day off its rainy and cold. This is not the way to put miles on the bike I would have you know. Its not just today that this has happened. Looking back now over the past several weeks the pattern is unmistakable; work days are wonderful riding weather and days off either frigid cold and windy or else rainy. Hmmmmmm, maybe their is something to this.

Lets check to local weather for an update on this afternoon on the chance that things will clear up from the gale force winds and torrential downpour that we have this morning. You never know I may still get in those needed miles on the bike before RAGBRAI. Its 144 days left before the adventure begins.

What a great day to be alive riding the bike. This morning during our 50 miler through Montrose - hilly Montrose - I talked to Greg and Leone two native Iowa folks. As it turns out Greg’s home town of Rock Rapids Iowa is the starting point for this years RAGBRAI. Holy Smoley he has to go at least for the start of the ride so our little group just got bigger by two with Leone as stoker behind their tandem.

Our little training ride this morning turned out to be hilly with about 3,000 feet of climbing during the 50 miles that we spun along to Montrose. I love the Garmin Edge 305. Not only does it give you the route you traversed but the elevation during the ride too. Thats pretty cool I think.

Check out the little Cycling Pig honker. Its way nerdy but for RAGBRAI its perfect! Sunday ride will be much of the same with our little jaunt down to South Pasadena and then up through the Rose Bowl after a rest stop in the local coffee shop. I will try to put in some extra miles Sunday just because RAGBRAI is coming in 147 days yippee!!

In preperation for RAGBRAI this Cycling Pig entered the Century in Palm Springs wearing the colors of “Santa Fe Salsa Packing Co.”

This Cycling Pig didn’t hear the alarm…or it didn’t go off and I nearly missed the meeting spot for the cyclists from Stan’s Monrovia Bikes, nearly 40 strong. After words of wisdom from Stan the group was off. Soon several smaller groups formed. I rode with Chuck, Lori and Sarah. After lunch our large “sail” Rick arrived. He pulled us all in.

The group had a great ride. We finished in just over 6 hours. The weather was fabulous. And no flats in our small group. (I carried 4 tubes with me.) Rumor has it that Patricia had her first flat ever on this ride. We had a great time cheering in many first time century finishers from our group.

The day was topped off by a fabulous dinner at the desert home of Conrad and Nancy Brazzel.

It was a great pre-RAGBRAI event.

OK this is it - training for RAGBRAI in the rain. It just doesn’t get any better than this. Today was a short day due to Jury Duty being canceled at 11:30 so the afternoon was all primed for a ride down the bike trail along the Rio Hondo River. The only thing is the weather has been a little unsettled after the cold front moved in this passed weekend. Sunday morning or rather Saturday night through Sunday morning it rained for real and the Sunday ride was forbidden by the wife, Oh well she just does not understand these things.

Today at noon with a mixed sky I set out for a brisk 35 miler round the loop of the Rio Hondo. Starting out with great Southern California winter weather in the 60’s, I thought I would get through the ride unscathed but that was not the final story. It was a great ride on the Look 386 all decked out for century ridin with new FSA K handlebars and all. So a little rain squall came through. Even though it was sunny intermittently, I got wet for 20 minutes or so but dried out by the end of the ride. Actually, it was really nice riding in the rain. The bike path was empty and a quiet had settled down across the Rio Hondo River that runs parallel to the bike path. The drizzle did not bother the water fowl that now frequent the renewed waterway so it was sweet tooling down the river. I did take the Garmen out of its little holder and put in in my third pocket backside during the wettest parts of the ride however.

So this is it! Iowa is calling and the RAGBRAI is coming in less than 190 days or so. It’s going to be GREAT!

This past weekend saw many of us ride the Palm Springs Classic Century on Saturday. Rain threatened the entire day and did not come until late that evening and poured on through Sunday morning. Due to escrow “Honey Dues” I had to be back here in Arcadia working on plans for our upcoming new home but that did not prevent me from getting out and putting in a few miles here locally by myself.

The regular group Sunday ride was a rain-out for me. Maybe some of the harder core riders showed up but with steady rainful my bike tends to stay in the barn. This week starts the serious training effort for me since Jennifer has left for China and my time is pretty much my own until she gets back in a month. My goal this month is to put in 600 miles and loose 10 pounds. Hahahahaha lets see.

Welcome to the Cycling Pigs Web site the home of the Monrovia flyer’s. In the coming days and months the members here will be preparing for the Great Ride Across Iowa otherwise known as RAGRAI.

If you wish to join us drop a note as a comment in one of the posts and come join us for a great time!