4/11 Ride Report - The Clash of the Titans

Dark clouds surround the Glendora Mountains. The Mountain Gods are angry that the VeloViet riders dared to challenged the Gods last Wednesday, and have called on Poseidon, God of the sea, of water, to bring in the rain to slow the riders down. The VeloViets are prepared though, and also have called on their Santa Ana River Trail brothers, the RiverVelo, for help. The RiverVelo, in turn, have asked their friends the Buena Park riders for support. VeloViet, RiverVelo, and Buena Park riders met in unity today to do fierce battle with the Gods on the mountains of GMR.

GMR is also where the first run for the VeloViet’s 2010 King of the Mountain will take place, and would be one of at least three critical mountain rides for the KoM grand prize. To win this prestigious prize, the winner needs to place high at the finish of this epic ride. An attack from the Mountain Gods is eminent, but VeloViets will also have to watch each other as an internal attack for the KoM glory is also assured.

WEDNESDAY RECAP
Eight VeloViets have already challenged the Mountain Gods last Wednesday: The Warrior, The Gear, Martin, Long, Sang, Billy P, Toan, and I. The battle with the Mountain Gods was fierce and bloody.

Out of these ashes rose two who can challenge the Mountain Gods: Tuan and Nic. With paces kicking above 11 mph, Tuan took his weapon of choice, his Cervelo bike, and slash deep wounds into the mountain. He was relentless in his pace when others have slowed, knowing that if he slow down then the Gods would have win.

When Tuan tires, Nic took over and used his Obea’s 23-tooth cassette to do further damage to the Gods. With quads as powerful as a Ferrari engine, Nic drove the attack further and the Gods lost ground. The VeloViets slowly inch their ways up the slopes and was able to conquer the grounds up to the East Fork.

Photo #1 - GMR Recon Team (from left): Martin, Tuan, Nic, Phong, Billy, and Long

The Mountain Gods now have called upon Poseidon for help, who will bring hail and rain to try to slow the VeloViets. The VeloViet too called on their cycling brothers for help. It’s a race of time now to see if the riders can conquer the GMR mountain first before the rain comes. The showdown is today, Sunday 4/11. Thus begins the final challenge on GMR... the challenge now known as... The Clash of the Titans.

SUNDAY RECAP
Twisting and turning from the beautiful city of Glendora, GMR rises with an average grade of around 6% on the first leg and around 8% on the second leg. An optional third leg of the ride exceed 15% gradient. The third leg, the most brutal of the three legs, is a torture test of mind and body as it takes riders up to the ski lift of the Baldy Mountain.

As steep in its slope, GMR is also long in its distance. Approximately 21 miles of total distance from the gate, the GMR Mountain Gods will punish even the most endured and hardiest riders. Those who climb to the ski lift will see over 7000 feet of total elevation gain, as the second leg of GMR is filled with rolling terrain.

At the parking lot, there was a lot of socializing as VeloViet, RiverVelo, and Buena Park riders arrived and got ready for the ride. The scene feels it's like a great big party with bikes, as everyone's excitement level was extremely high. We took some nice group shots shown below.

Photo #2 - The VeloViets (from left): Ngoc, Fed-Ex, Martin, TZ, Greg, Minh, Phong, Long, Dave, Thang, Tuan, Cap't, Tan, and Cuong

Photo #3 - The RiverVelo Riders

Photo #4 - 2010 Tri Crew: Fed-Ex, Ironman, and Big H

Under a dark cloudy sky, the start was a mass of riders of about 40 total in all. 35 riders showed up at the parking lot, with the remaining 5 or so riders joining along the way. There were about 15 riders in VeloViet kit, 6 riders in RiverVelo kit, and 4 riders in Buena Park kit. The remaining riders were a mix of friends and invitees from the three clubs who wanted to do this challenging ride with us. A quick picture and we are off!

Photo #5 - The Riders of VeloViet, RiverVelo, and Buena Park Bike Clubs

Photo #6 - Cap't Looking Serious at the Start, and Probably Thinking About Attacks

Photo #7 - Riders Chatting and Rolling Along at the Start

I ended up alongside the only female rider in the group and started talking with her. Turns out she is the daughter of the RiverVelo Captain and have been riding only for about a year. For a rookie, she was doing extremely well and keeping up with all of the veteran riders.

Photo #8 - Our Brave Female Rider Attacking the GMR Slope

Photo #9 - Riders Attacking the First Serious Slope on GMR

Photo #10 - The Group are Still Bunch Together on the First Slope

As we hit the slopes of GMR, the group slowly splintered and most of the talking stopped as folks concentrated on the climb. A front group of about 10 riders quickly established themselves as the strongest, and the distance between them and the rest of the pack quickly grew.

Photo #11 - The Front Group on the Attack and Still Have the Energy to Smile

Tuan and I were yo-yoing between this lead pack and the group behind us. Around the 6 mile mark, Cap’t circled back and rode with us. Cap’t was doing all the chatting as I was way too tired to talk. After a short while, Cap’t dropped back to check on the group behind.

Somewhere around this time, Ironman (aka Tri Crew Duc) must have popped some pills because he suddenly rushed pass Tuan and I like a locomotive. Ironman was hooting and hollering on this stretch trying to motivate Tuan and I to latch on, but no screaming and yelling could have help us at this point of the climb. This was all about limiting your energy output as we know there was at least a good 15 miles of climbing still to Baldy Village. Here you can see the pain etched in the faces on some of the riders.

Photo #12 - Rock Racers Working Hard on GMR

At the end of the second leg, the halfway point and and the first SAG stop, it was VeloViet Fed-Ex first, RiverVelo Cap’t Bong, and then two Buena Park riders (John and Ramiro). Slowly the remnants of the starting pack roll in. The VeloViets came in the following orders: Fed-Ex, Cap't, The Warrior, The Gear, Cuong, Greg, TZ, Tan, Long, Ngoc, Rock Racers, Martin, Dave, Minh, and Thang.

Photo #13 - Riders Fueling Up at the Halfway Mark Under the Dark Cloudy Sky

Photo #14 - The Captains: VeloViet Thomas and RiverVelo Bong

Recap from Long indicated that the VeloViet Group A2 stayed together for the first three miles from the parking lot, then the group started to splintered also. Cuong and Tan moved on, with Long, Ngoc and the Rock Racers behind. Long made his move and caught up to Tan at the fifth mile of the climb. A mile before the halfway mark, Rock Racer Cang must have KoM thoughts on his mind, and he made a daring attack on this group. The hill was too much for Cang though, and these four guys regrouped and came up to the rest stop together.

Photo #15 - Tan, Long, Cuong, and Cang Attacking Each Other

After a short stop to fuel up on gatorade and bananas, most of the riders continued on as others have yet to arrive to the SAG stop. This second leg of GMR is even more challenging than the first, with rolling hills as steep as of 8% gradient. These terrain have yet to be conquered this year, as our Wednesday's Recon Force have stopped at the halfway point.

In the movie The Clash of the Titans, the God Zeus released the most feared Beast, called the Kraken, onto mortal man to punished them for challenging the Gods. The Kraken was so powerful that the Gods themselves feared this Beast. The only way to tame the Kraken was to sacrificed the virgin daughter of the King of Man.

Like the God Zeus, Cap’t Thomas released the VeloViet cycling monster Fed-Ex near the start of the second leg of GMR. With his shackle now unchained, Fed-Ex roared mightily and charged up the mountain on his Felt bike. His attack was so ferocious and so deadly that it quickly splintered even the strong front group. The strongest riders tried to respond, but even they can't keep up with the Beast. I can only viewed in the distance as Fed-Ex's red jersey slowly disappeared from my sight, as well as those who tried to respond to his attack. I settled in with Tuan and Big H on the climb.

Photo #16 - The Pack Splits into Smaller Groups on GMR

To get my mind off of the ride, I chatted with Big H (aka Hau) who came in with the Tri Crew. Big H has been riding seriously only recently for the last few months, and has been only riding Saturdays with the Tri Crew. He is very familiar with the VeloViet club, and has visited our Blog a number of times to check out the fun rides we have had. I invited Big H to come out and ride with the VeloViets on Sundays. This conversation though only temporary help with the physical pain, as the 8% slopes quickly reminded my body of the battle with the Mountain Gods.

At around the 16-mile mark, Cap’t came back and chatted with us. He described how after he "released" Fed-Ex to attack, even he himself could not keep up and catch Fed-Ex. Cap’t caught up and pass everyone but Fed-Ex. Cap’t just now realized that like Zeus, who could not control the fearsome Kraken, Cap’t could not control the Fed-Ex Beast! I brought up the fact that maybe he needed to sacrifice a virgin or two to control the cycling monster. Cap’t then slowed, let us pass, and waited for the group behind. He is either checking upon the group behind, or went looking for a virgin to sacrifice. Tuan, Big H, and I moved on.

Towards the last few miles of the second leg, the three of us started to pick up the pace and we shortly arrived at Baldy Village. There, we found out that the Fed-Ex arrived 8 MINUTES before anyone else. We could not believed this news. How could a mortal man be this fast? I found out that it was Fed-Ex, Ironman, and three BP guys who were among the first to arrived. Shortly after this group came The Warrior and the Captains of VeloViet and RiverVelo.

Photo #17 - The Captains Arriving Together at Baldy Village

Around this time, The Gear, who was still fresh from Last Wednesday's Recon, dared to challenge the Mountain Gods even further by suggesting that we should climb up to the ski lift. I was thinking “is he kidding”? I don’t have the right cassette to do this monster of a climb, as my maximum cassette was a 25-teeth and I had standard crank. Tuan got the lead group of about 10 guys so worked up that we all decided to do the third leg. Everyone hopped back on and proceeded up towards the ski station.

In this part of the route, you could not believe the pain I was in. In some sections, the gradient was over 15%, and the only way I could ride my bike was to stand and slowly grind it out on my 25-tooth cassette. This riding must have been closer to a track stand as I must have been going only about 2-3 miles an hour, and was struggling to go fast enough so that I don’t tip over on the bike. My back, neck, shoulder, and legs all cried out for mercy, and I did not see an end in sight as the roads curve back and forth disappearing upwards into the clouds. Even cars were having a tough time mustering up these roads. TZ, Greg, then Long passed me on these steep roads.

As I approached Manker Flat, about 10 riders came zipping down with Fed-Ex in charge. He yelled to me “you are almost there”, but no way was I even going to make this short distance and come back in time to hit the SAG wagon. Greg and I turned around and headed down.

We met with the rest of the pack, who had arrived at the Baldy Village. Everyone had loaded up and was already getting ready to head off. We took a quick picture and the group headed down. Long was the last to arrived from the ski lift. Chatting with him, I found out that Tuan and Long also turned around a little after Manker Flat, and Long almost had two near crashes with all of the curve roads on the descent. Long and I stayed a bit to stuff ourselves with bagels, then we are off.

Photo #18 - The SAG Stop at Baldy Village

Photo #19 - 27 Riders Who Survived GMR at Baldy Village

Now heading down is not really down, as we had to climb back up a steep hill to get to Cow Canyon Saddle. Then because the second leg of GMR was rolling hills, we had to climb up all that hills we came down upon. I was by myself at this time and was physically weak, mainly from the exertion in climbing to the ski lift. I could see riders in the distance but could not gain any grounds. I could not exert any energy at all on the uphill, so just had to grind it out. I passed the East Fork junction.

On this part of the downhill, I practiced leaning into the turns and use less brake. I managed to catch up and pass a few riders. On the bottom, I caught up to Cuong and we pedaled back to the parking lot together.

The date, April 11, 2010, is now forever set in stone for the VeloViet, RiverVelo, and Buena Park riders. 40 hopefuls had came to challenge the GMR Mountain Gods. The Gods answered and released their fury on these riders. Riders were mentally and physically punish, as their mind and every muscles in their body were challenged on this special ride.

The riders rose to the challenge of the Gods, and captured the GMR roads all the way up to the ski lift. Flatlanders turned into climbers to survive this natural creation. Pack drafters came forth and stood out as there were no shadow to tuck in for protection. Self doubters developed mental toughness and fortitude to survive this massive assault. But not all survived this brutal onslaught from the Gods, as the size of the group on the top was less than the size of group that started. Sacrifices were made, and many fell that day during the fierce battle.

The Kraken ruled on this day, as the beast of a rider Fed-Ex ruled GMR with his iron legs, and clearly established his current dominance in the VeloViet’s 2010 King of the Mountain prize. The year is just starting though. Will Fed-Ex be able to hold this award until the year’s end? Only Lady Palomar can say.

Enough thanks cannot be said of the wonderful support we received from Scott and Tony on this ride. A special thanks to Tony, who snapped over 1000 pictures for us on this single ride!

Photo #20 - The SAG Team: Scott and Tony.

I enjoyed sharing this pain, but wonderful and epic experience, with the VeloViet, RiverVelo, and Buena Park riders. The cycling bond these groups started on this mountain will create many future friendship rides to come.

Now onward... to the Palomar Mountain!

Out,
Phong