12/05 Party & 12/06 Ride Recap

The rain came hard today to Southern California as if to wash away all the aches and pains endured from this last weekend of riding with the MN VeloViets. Although the pain and suffering will be erased over time, it cannot erased the new strength in friendship and a stronger bond that the OC and MN VeloViets have created in this past few days together. Here is how the weekend went…

It all started a little over a week ago when the OC VeloViet heard the news that MN VeloViet was coming into town, and immediately started their preparation for this reunion. MN was sending down three of their finest riders to ride and celebrate with the OC VeloViet, led by their captain Quang Vo. Quang would be accompanied by Thai, an aggressive rider who has only starting cycling seriously for 2 years, but has quickly matured to become one of the MN most talented road riders, and Thang, although new to road riding, is Quang’s brother and his most trusted lieutenant. These three cyclists will represent the MN chapter of the VeloViet Cycling Association.

We here in OC have all have read Quang’s numerous legendary stories, and have talked to Dashaan who rode with the MN men and women. These MN riders were the ones that ride 3 times a day, and can trained for 5 to 7 hours on the spin cycle in the gym during the harsh cold of the MN winter. It is these stories that led to the anticipation and excitement that have been building in OC this past week. Finally the day has come for this meeting.

I will leave the recap of the Saturday morning's ride, an 80 mile slugfest on PCH, to Quang, MN’s Master Story Teller, and will recap Saturday night’s Christmas Party and the Sunday afternoon ride instead.

12/05 Party Recap – Dancing with the Stars

So you think you can dance??? Well for a bike rider, who’s number one asset is his or hers legs, you would think that they would know how to use their legs for other functions beside cycling. Well after 80 brutal miles this morning, and the upcoming scheduled rides on Sunday and Monday, using their legs for dancing was on the bottom of the party agenda.

So we made it up with drinking instead!!! Mac’s house was perfectly laid out for a VeloViet party. It was one big open room, flowing nicely from the front living room into the backyard. In the living room, Mac had a full-on DJ system, complete with laser strobe lights and fog machine, and a dance floor perfect for those who wanted to exercise their tired feet a little bit more with some fancy footwork.

Next to the living room was the open kitchen. The kitchen was spacious, filled with yummy Vietnamese food, and connects the front house to the backyard. In the back, the grill was hard at work providing the party goers with grilled chicken, ribs, and veggies. Complement the backyard was a fire pit, a favorite of the guests in the cold night, and a gorgeous lighted pool. Everyone was dressed up in their finest, so unfortunately the pool was not utilized. This will be saved for the VV summer party instead.
Picture #1 – Party Guests Warming by the Firepit

If you like alcohol and beer, this is the party for you. Mac had what seemed like every type of alcohol and beer that one can get in Southern California. He also had these alcoholic gels that the guests absolutely loved. After a little drinking, everyone loosen up and started having a great time.

This is also a family party, so Mac had classic arcade and computer games for the kids. His classic arcade game table, with Ms Pac Man, Galaga, and other classic games, became an instant hit with the kids. My two kids and Dashaan’s son Jordan were mesmerized with this set-up.
Picture #2 – The Kids Favorite Hangout

For those who did not make it to the Saturday’s ride, we were anxious to meet the stars of the show, Quang and his MN men. Arrive like Rockstars they did, strolling in with their nice suit and tie as if they had not rode at all this morning. Quang, an obvious leader, immediately went to do his PR work shaking everyone’s hands. Thai, a slight build rider and had that look of a hard core rider, hanged back to talk to some of the OC riders. News of this morning ride had spread quickly that Thai’s strength rivaled that of Fed-X, a rider of Palomar’s fame, so everyone wanted to meet him. Thai had brought his own bike down, complete with Zipp 808 rear and 404 front wheels, and had dazzled the OC riding crowd with his skills on the flats and hills. Thang, the seemingly quietest of the MN bunch, immediately started discussing fixed gear topics with our own Fixie Girl.

Picture #3 – Quang, Tuan, Tuan's son Marcus, Fixie Girl, and Thang

After the eating and drinking, Cap’t Thomas hosted the award ceremony. Outfitted in VeloViet red shirt, Cap’t did a fine job and kept the crowd entertained with his numerous stories. We found out from Cap’t that the OC group purchased something like 15 new road bike this past year, equal to a down payment on a house. Also the VeloViet riders rode like somewhere around 100,000 miles in 2009. Unbelievable!

Picture #4 – Cap’t Thomas Hosting

The highlight of the ceremony was the 2009 awards, with the 3 most coveted awards being the Overall General Classification, Sprinter of the Year, and King of the Mountain. These 3 awards went to Cap’t Thomas, The Animal (aka Scot M), and The Italian (aka Billy D) respectively. We then had a Christmas gift exchange where I received new carbon water bottle holders for my Ducati. Thanks Tuan!
Picture #5 – Quang and Guests Awaiting to Hear the Award Announcements

The Rock Racers then surprised us and broke out their guitar. Turns out in their spare non-riding time these guys are classical guitarists, and they started jamming away providing musical entertainment for the crowd. Now these RR guys are the real rock stars, complete with fedora hats and a drop-dead gorgeous babe accessorized on their arm. Some of the male VV riders were scheming with the Rock Racers on how to recruit these great looking women into the bicycling club!

The party then moved onto the dancing floor at around 10 PM. I left at this point as I had 2 kids to put to bed, so will leave the remaining party recap to other folks.

12/06 Ride Recap – Sprint Is In the Air

The VV riders started showing up at 9:45 AM to Mile Square Park for our usual Sunday Ride. Today though, will not be a usual day at all. After a night of celebration at Mac Daddy’s party house, most everyone is still trying to wake up, having stay up past 2 AM to celebrate.

10 AM sharp, Quang, Thai, and Thang rolled up. It seemed that the late night celebration did not affect them one bit, and they looked ready to ride hard again.

Picture #6 – The Group that Survived Saturday’s Party

And ride hard they did at the start of the River Trail, with Thai immediately taking to the front with Cap’t Thomas as these two riders set-up a double pace line for the rest of the group. With every uphill coming out from the bridge crossing, Thai seemed to accelerate and drove the VV group faster. Not to be outdone, most of us took our turn and each rotated to the front to help pull the group. We made it to the first break stop in record time.

After a quick debate, it was decided that we would continue last night's celebration by heading into the nearby beach town to grab a bite to eat at the “Longboard”, a local hangout favored by some of the VV riders. Here, we share more stories of rides in MN and OC. Thai was telling me stories of his racing club, and how he trained in MN. Seems like Thai trained about 5 to 6 days a week, and his house is near the local bike route and also close to the gym where he has those marathon spin classes. Man, I need to get out and ride more!

Picture #7 – The VeloViets Hanging out at the Beach

On the way back, Quang talked the VeloViets into loosening their legs a bit with sprint attacks. One after another, the attacks flowed as most everyone took turns attacking the group. In the end, we all were out of juice as we gave it all into these sprints.

After the ride, it was to a local coffee shop… to drink coffee of course! We had more good stories, with our MN friends trying to recruit the local talents into bicycling, and moving to MN, I think. It seemed that saying you are from out-of-state is like having a French accent, as the locals seemed to be attracted to it! Quang had us debating heatedly the fine art of pouring hot tea.

Picture #8 – The Brothers Vo Enjoying the Local Sights at the Coffee Shop

Some of us said good bye to the dynamic trio after the coffee run, and look forward to the times when OC and MN can visit each other again. The party continues on for the guys though, as Mac was planning to take them to a local nightclub to check out more night life.

I found that these three MN men to be strong riders, exceptionally friendly, and hoped that our OC hospitality paved the way to a stronger friendship with many years to come. We here in the OC are looking forward with excitement to hear more MN stories, as we now can place faces to some of the names, and of the wonderful recaps from Quang and the MN riders.

Signing Out,
Phong