7/4 Ride Report - Call Me...

Fresh off from yesterday's caffeinated ride, the VeloViets went in search of more adrenaline rush for the Fourth of July weekend. This excitement they found, plus a whole lot of testosterone thrown in, in today's ride.

This recap is dedicated to our VeloViet racer Nic, who have been busy doing baby-interval training: feed, burp, and change diaper. This ride recap is appropriately titled "Call Me...", Nic's favorite phrase. Boy, did he missed out!

When everyone is home relaxing on the holiday, all the VeloViets "die-hards" showed up for this ride. A group of 20 riders rolled off from MSP, including members like Tan, whom we have not seen for a while due to travel, and Sang, whom have been busy with work. Alex came out to represent the Postal Team (refer to last week's recap), and Greg was ready and fully loaded with food in his jersey pocket. Here we go...

On SART, the Rock Racing Crew hook up with us. Immediately Duc, Greg, and Luke took off. The chase is on and it is furious. The pack broke apart as speed got up to 25 mph. Around the wooden bridge, Cap't and I have caught up to the front pack, but I dropped off as I could no longer hold this speed. I came to the PCH stop with Sang.

At the stop, the VeloViet's testosterone went into overdrive as we spotted a couple of gorgeous ladies with unbelievable physiques. We struck up a conversation with them, and found out the two ladies were training for a 5K run. Check out a picture of their six-pack abs below!

Photo #1 - Cap't and The Ladies

I asked if they ride bikes, and one of the gals does indeed ride. She asked out our bike club and I gave her brief details of the club. She mentioned she just completed a 90-mile ride and asked what route do we do, how far, etc... I said we rode all routes, and even have a small race group that does crits on Thursday.

Her eyes lit up when I mentioned racing. Seems like these two gals are serious athletes and are always looking for competition. I mentioned that our Racing Development Officer (e.g. Nic) would have more info. I gave them our club's web address and they said they would check it out. Hopefully someone is montitoring the website's e-mails!

Photo #2 - Nic, Call Me...

Renew with energy, and now full of testosterone, the mob pack took off on PCH. Added to the group now is Don, Jimmy, Mathew, Phillip, and his dad. The VeloViet pack is now about 30-strong.

Don, not at all tired from yesterday's ride, went to the front right away. Duc, Greg, Luke, Billy D, and Toan also were in front, with the rest of the pack drafting these front runners. Average speed was hovering somewhere between 24-27 mph as we approached Newport Coast.

Billy must have some extra caffeine this morning and zip up Newport Coast, dragging me along. As we attacked this hill, the rest of the pack got caught up at a stop light, and we opened a large gap.

A quarter way up, I spotted a female rider that I knew and slowed to talk to her. I had met Ye and her friend Tom on GMR a few weeks ago. Ye mentioned she just went to see the movie Chasing Legends, featuring HTC-Clolumbia's Cavendish and Hincapie, and recommended that we go see it.

While we were talking, the VeloViet pack caught up and swarmed us, surprising Ye. After the initial shock, she told me to go chase them down. After saying goodbye, I took off after the pack.

After conquering Vista Ridge, the VeloViets made a run home. The ride on PCH was like a long sustained sprint, with riders rotating and kicking the speed up. We reached the SART entrance quickly.

Riding on SART, I don't think we have rode this fast in a long time. The front four: Don, Duc, Cap't, and Jimmy, were going nutz at the front, trading places, and immediately distancing themselves from the rest of the group. Behind the front group were Sang and the two kids. Luke and I were next, and the rest were a little further back.

Right before the bridge, I made a move to try to close the gap to Sang and lost Luke. After I caught up, the two of us took turns pulling the boys at 25 mph. Even at this speed, we were nowhere close to reducing the gap to the front pack.

After a pull, Sang move aside and surprisingly Mathew went to the front. This 11-year old is incredibly strong and held the 25 mph pace for about a mile. Mathew pulled aside and I took over. After a short pull at the same pace, Sang and I noticed the kids had dropped off. We backed the speed to 18 mph to let them catch up. After catching on, I slowly pull the speed back to 26 mph and we made this last dash to the end of SART.

This ride was fast, and full of adrenaline and testosterone. Don and Duc lit it up like fireworks this weekend, and the speed of the pack was some of the highest sustained speed we have had in a long time.

Thanks to the two ladies, with abs that would make a grown man cry, who chatted with us and made our ride even more exciting today. See you gals on our next ride!

Out,
Phong