We did not know a GMR Beast was among us today...
And we paid the price in the form of much, much pain and suffering...
Legs aching and mouth frothing, I limped slowly back to the carpark in disbelieve. How can that much pain and suffering be dished out on a 2-hour ride? Well if the terrain is GMR, where the road goes up and up, and when you have the GMR Beast Version 2.0 in your group, pain can quickly come from all directions. I struggled to type these few words as my hands still shake from this morning's effort.
Photo #1 - The "New" GMR Beast (or at least until the next GMR epic ride)We all arrived early to the car park: Tuan, Luke, and I. Nic mentioned that there may be a slim chance that he may come, so we waited until 7:30 AM sharp before leaving. The three of us took off.
... and went immediately into a TTT (team time trial). All is well as we rotated and took turn climbing up San Dimas. At a few light stops, conversations with Luke revealed that he had never climbed GMR before and was excited to try it out. I mentioned to Luke that we are only going half way up, as we are starting further down and do not have the time or water to climb to Baldy Village.
Seems that Luke grew up climbing, as he originally is from the San Fernando Valley and there are hills all around there. I knew from our Sunday's rides that Luke can indeed climb, as we have often end up together on the few rides up Santiago Canyon.
The TTT went all the way up to Glendora Mountain Road, 5 miles from where we started, and the start of GMR itself. We were still together and struggled up the initial hill on GMR, arguably the steepest on the route.
After the GMR gate, something changed in Luke. It was as if he forced a transformation in himself. Gone is the mild-manner talkative Luke. What is appearing is a beast of a rider, quiet and cyclic in movement.
30 seconds standing and 2 minutes sitting, Luke "The Beast" continues to cycle this ride pattern. Initially Tuan and I took to the front to help pull, but after a couple of times, Tuan and I realizes that we simply cannot stay in front as Luke is too strong. We ended sitting behind Luke as he periodically repeat this pattern. Whenever Luke stands, he would shift up a gear which causes a slight acceleration. It is these deadly accelerations that starts to deaden your legs and shorten your breaths.
If I were to compare Fed-Ex (GMR Beast Version 1.0) to Luke (GMR Beast Version 2.0), Fed-Ex would be like a mix-martial arts fighter, where the goal is to quickly takeout your opponent, and Luke would be like a boxer, where the goal is to wear down your opponent. Also Fex-Ex would go for the jugular, for the kill, while Luke would kick and punch you until you can't stand anymore. This is the difference between these two.
Up, down, up, down, up, down, these accelerations started to get to me. I started gasping for air. My eyes started to go cross-eyed. The unconscious mind started playing tricks and telling me I have to stop. NO!!! My conscious mind fight on. I looked down... only 2 miles into GMR? NO!!!
The pain starts to sharpen and my eyes started to get watery from the effort. My mouth still goes dry even as I continually drinks. At last I let go of the Beast and Tuan. 4 miles after the GMR gate. They quickly disappears into the mountains.
The struggle of the next 5 miles I don't want to recap, as there is much hardship. I would like to point out that this is my best climbing effort for a while, but yet it was not enough to catch the duo.
At the top, I see Luke and Tuan. As we were chatting and recovering a bit, Luke said "Is this all?". I wisely refrained from answering Luke.
Back at the carpark, we shook hands and parted. As I sit in the car to recover, I realized that there is more to Luke than anyone of us realized. Hidden beneath that quiet exterior lies a climber worthy of a GMR Beast title. Luke was not there when Fed-Ex dominates and tore up the GMR mountain on the last VeloViet GMR ride. How would these two do on the GMR slopes together? Who are the others that have not shown themselves?
So I say it is time now for an EPIC ride. It is time now to settle the KOM title. Lady Palomar, Onyx, GMR... BRING IT ON !!!
Photo #2 - Luke and Tuan after the ride.Out,
Phong
I tell yah! It must be either some kind of Chinese's herbs that Luke found during his staying there or squatting toilets in China helped him inconspicuously ;-)
ReplyDeleteHilarious story Phong! You're a good writer!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to mention that Toan was there with me all the way up. I definitely think he deserves the beast title just as much!
Come on Phong, I rode the GMR with you and a. Long before, you are great climber. But I see these duo with Cap't, Scott, and Duc the ride on Monday, they are exceptionally strong, flat or hill. I got dropped every hill, and barely hang on the flat. If any one would like a real Sunday workout, ride with them, pack a lot of gel and food, and beg for mercy. Ngoc
ReplyDeleteTuan, yeah Luke is on some secret Chinese herb
ReplyDeleteman.
Luke, you are the man on GMR yesterday!
Ngoc, there are definitely a lot of good climbers in the group. I think the strongest are: Cap't, Duc, Luke, Tuan, Long, Fed-Ex, TZ, Nic, Billy, Big H, Ironman, and Greg. But I think Fed-Ex definitely has the edge in the pure power-to-weight ratio, and like Contador, he can jump away from the group on any hills. But Fed-Ex has been doing "baby" intervals though, and one of the other climbers may be able to edge him out. Cap't also is in incredible shape with the double century training, and we have not seen him on any hills in a while.
Stay tune!
Now I know why these guys are so strong, GMR baby.
ReplyDelete