Sunday, December 5, 2010

2010 Xmas Party & The Morning After Ride

VeloViets,

Wow, what a turn-out! A great party ending a great year for the VeloViet club. We must had about 80 people in Mac's house! Food was BBQ ribs, chicken, veggies, rice, tons of deserts, and an open bar! Special thanks to Mac for coordinating the party and allowing us to use his house, and Julie & Billy D for the all the great food.

The XMAS Party

Here are some great couples photos...

Photo 1 - Tan and Wife

Photo 2 - Nancy and Anh Tan

Photo 3 - Toan and Wife

Photo 4 - "The Gear" Tuan and Wife

Photo 5 - Alex and Girlfriend Isaura

Photo 6 - Dat and Wife

Photo 7 - Cap't Thomas and Wife Paulina

Photo 8 - Cuong and His Wife Yvonne

Photo 9 - Keith and Wife

Photo 10 - Long and His Girlfriend Lisa

Photo 11 - Mr & Mrs Mad Dog (aka Jason and Christina)

Photo 12 - Big Minh, Viet, and Their Wife and Girlfriend

I arrived late an hour late at 8 PM as I had to take my daughter to another party. The VeloViet party was in full swing when I got there, with everyone enjoying the food and alcohol. Here are some more pictures of the party and the friends who were there.

Photo 13 - Outside... The Food Line

Photo 14 - Inside... The Chatting Area

Photo 14a - We Had A Professional Chef Making Our Food

Photo 15 - Greg Enjoying His BBQ Ribs

Photo 16 - Candy and Luke Enjoying Their Food

Cap't got emotional when recently injured Rock Racer An made a special appearance at the party. An had us all worried when he was in the hospital, and the VeloViet folks were taking turn visiting him, but now he got us all excited when we saw him at the party and he gave us the thumbs up. We can't wait until the day when he comes out and do a ride with us again.

Photo 17 - Recently Injured Rock Racer An Making A Special Appearance

Lot's of folks brought their families. Here are some family photos.

Photo 18 - Loc and His Daughter

Photo 19 - Arnel and Family

Photo 20 - KyAnh and Family

The VeloViets were hanging out and having a good time with each other. There were a lot of bike talks, as well as non-bike conversations. In between my photo taking sessions, I stop and talk with Long and his girlfriend Lisa, and also stopped at the "MTB" table and chatted with the MTB folks to learn more about mountain bikes.

Photo 21 - MTBers Keith & Wife, Tien, Zac, Syman & Wife, and Las Vegas Bang

Photo 22 - "Ride 4 Beer" Anh Minh and Mac's Bro

Photo 23 - Toan, Rock Racers Loi, An, Can, DJ Cadence, Anh Minh, and Randy

Photo 24 - Fixie and The Animal

Photo 25 - Toan, Loc, and Duc

Photo 26 - Julie and Guest

Photo 27 - The TriCrew FedEx, Big H, and Ironman

Then came the part that we were all waiting for... Cap't speech. First he counted how much money the members spent on bikes in 2010. Yikes... the amount was astronomical. Then Cap't talked about all the fun and epic rides we did. Wow did we do all that miles? Next he introduced the newbies.

Photo 28 - Some New Members of the VeloViet Cycling Club

Photo 29 - Julie and Billy D Getting Recognized for Helping to Put On A Great Party

Photo 30 - Luke (foreground) and Steve & Family (background) Waiting to Hear Who Won What Categories

Now comes the best part... to find out who won what 2010 VeloViet award. This year was an exciting race as there were so much strong riders in the club... and the winners are:

But wait... what's a award ceremonies without Podium Girls. Yes folks, the VeloViets have their own gorgeous podium women!

Photo 31 - Podium Girls Sharing A Laugh Before the Award Handout

Okay... now for the 2010 awards:

Photo 32 - "The Beast" Luke Receiving the Most Improved Award

Photo 33 - Long Receiving the Most Supportive Rider Award

Photo 33a - Anh Minh Received the Best Coaching Award

Photo 34 - Mr Consistency Toan

Photo 35 - Mac Being Recognized as The "Party Man of the Year"

Ok, now the drumrole... Just like the cycling pros, the Sprint, KoM, and Overall awards are the most sought after VeloViets awards in 2010. Here, Cap't even build up more drama and invited all nominees to the front so that everyone can take a look at the nominees.

The 2010 sprint title was taken by The Warrior, who arrived just in time to received his award. This category was one of the tightest one as we have so much fast twitching quad muscles in the pack.

Photo 36 - The Warrior Nic Captured the Best Sprinter of the Year

The KoM was probably the most dramatic category, as the Lady Palomar climb finished just a few weeks ago and with lots of build-up. FedEx, trained hard, lost a whopping 6 pounds and totally dominated this ride. Given his performance, the members awarded FedEx with the 2010 KoM.

Photo 37 - Fed-Ex Being Congratulated by Other Mominees on His KoM Award

The is only a few riders that can sprint, climb, and be good in almost any terrain. Cap't Thomas won the best overall hands down. Watch out, he will be even more stronger in 2011 as he is building a newer and improved Trek Madone.

Photo 38 - Best Overall Contenders and Winner Cap't Thomas

Presentation finished, DJ "Cadence" Simon starts to spin the record and got everybody boogying on the dance floor.

Photo 39 - DJ Cadence (aka Simon) Spinning the Vinyl (PC)

Photo 40 - VeloViets Boogied on the Dance Floor

The Day After Ride

Hung over and with a massive headache from all the alcoholic shots, a few brave "die-hard" VeloViets actually came out on Sunday to ride. This is the traditional "Hung-Over" Ride and only the strongest riders will even attempt this feat.

MN Cap't Quang e-mailed to us this morning pictures of the weather in MN (2-3 feet of snow) and of the spin class that the MN group did recently. Man, these folks are dedicated! These pictures definitely helped us to get on the bikes on this slow morning.

Photo 41 - The Die-Hard Riders

We ended up riding 1-1/2 hour past our normal time. Party Man Mac even decided to ride from his house and was 25 minutes late.

Photo 42 - Group Waiting for Mac Daddy

We managed to drag our tired bodies about 12 miles to our favorite beach restaurant The Longboard in Huntington Beach. Oh what a relieve when we say those patio chairs!

Photo 43 - VeloViets Relaxing at the Longboard Restaurant

Photo 44 - Lobo, Big Minh, and Thomas

Photo 45 - Toan and Viet

Photo 46 - Alex and Mac

Photo 47 - Loading Up on More Food

The group attracted some attention from the normal restaurant customers. Must be the spandex and bikes ;-) We had a young girl coming over and asked for a photo of us. Watch out for it on some blog!

Photo 48 - A Fan Asking About the VeloViet Club

A great weekend over, capping probably one of the most exciting year for the OC Chapter of the VeloViet Cycling Club. Here is looking forward to an even better 2011 year!

Out,
Phong

2 comments:

  1. Thank you Phong...love all the pictures. It was my second best best party with VV family!
    I also love the hung-over ride it was Soooo enjoyable and one of the best ride of the year...yeah!

    Ride On...
    Toan

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  2. Thank you, Phong, for the wonderful recap and all the beautiful shots! It certainly was a night to remember. I didn't leave until 1 am or so as I was having such great time. Had it been an earlier departure, I might have made it out for the hung-over ride. =) ---Fixie

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