2011 ReUnion Ride Recap

Cycling isn't all about racing, being the fastest, or have the coolest bike... it's the friendship that you make along the way. The friends that I have made through VeloViet has brought joy to my life. I'd like to thank the riders for helping the sport grow and encouraging new riders to come out and have F-U-N! Thank you VV for allowing me to mentor the newbies and being a part of your group.

- VeloViet Kristy M


These words from Kristy were what the ride this last Sunday was about. It was a memorable ride about renewing old friendships, strengthening existing friendships, as the current VeloViet members, past VeloViet members, and their friends got together for a fun ride. Here is how the 2011 ReUnion Ride went...

A whooping 90 people showed up at MSP this Sunday! I could not believe my eyes as cars quickly filled up the parking lot after 7:30 AM. There were so many bikes in the lot. Here is who showed:

First off, from Minnesota comes Thai, a rider that I have met once before. Thai was here two years ago with Quang, Captain of the MN VeloViet Team, and I remembered him as a very strong rider who likes to attack all hills. Thai came down as a guest of Anh Minh. I could not wait to introduce him to our OC VeloViet climber Fed-Ex!

Photo - MN Thai and Kristy

From TRUCycling, based in Chino Hills California, Captain Sang V brought out most of his racing team. This team is mostly Cat 2 to Cat 5 racers who races local Southern California crits. I recognized half of the guys here as I had ridden with them a few times before. At MSP, there was the 3 juniors racers, one of their dad, Don, Sang, and about 3 guys whom I have never met. I went over to introduced myself and shook their hands.

Photo - TRUCycling Team Posing at MSP

From United Velo, based in San Jose California, Captain Phuc N brought down what seemed to be the entire UV team and their families. This team had rented a multi-million dollar 8-bedroom house in Newport Beach, and this southern trek is one that they make every year. A special member on this team is a 74-year young racer who used to raced back in Viet Nam from 1952 to 1965. Rumor has it that this racer still has powerful cycling legs. Man I sure hoped he doesn't drop me on the ride today!

Photo - Anh Minh and Some of the United Velo Riders

From Ventura County, Thanh "Danielson" brought out his riding crew. These guys have been training together in the hills around Ventura, and have just completed the Solvang century so were in good shape.

Photo - Thanh's Ventura Crew

And of course, based in Orange County California, the OC VeloViet Team were led by none other than our own Cap't Thomas. I have been pumping the team about this rides for a few weeks, and all the VeloViet riders were excited!

Photo - VeloViet Team at MSP

And from seemingly everywhere else, we had a ton load of guests! There were folks from Vegas, folks from Northern California, and local folks. I have no idea how words of our ride got out, but I was happy and excited to see everyone faces.

We waited and waited to see when people would stop coming, but cars were still pulling in 20 minutes after our scheduled start time. Riders who had parked elsewhere, or riding from their house, were rolling in on their bikes as well. Finally I had to coordinate everyone for the photo session or else we might now make it out of the parking lot. Here are the photos!

Photo - Group Shot at MSP

Photo - Group Ready to Roll from MSP

Cap't Thomas counted 80 people at MSP. Someone mentioned to me Cap't did not count the 10 or so people who were late. I have no idea how many people but I knew that it was probably the BIGGEST group that ever rolled from MSP.

The fast team were off first. Cyling in this group were the VeloViet's A1 team, Thai, and most of the TRU guys. I would help Toan with the intermediate second group, and Cap't and Long would handle the social group. After about 5 minutes after the fast team went, Toan and I took with with the second group.

Our group consisted a mix of riders. There were about 3 or 4 TRU cyclists, a few UV riders, 4 to 5 VeloViets, and a mix of guests. It started simple enough, a little talking on Brookhurst then Warner. I think I was next to Daniel, our newest VeloViet member, who was telling me he had only cycled for 3 months.

Photo - Second Group Rolling Along

Then the next thing I knew, we were on SART and someone in our group fired the first shot. The speed quickly moved up to 22 to 24 mph!

There was no warning, no shouting, just a quiet escalation of pure adrenaline speed. The "intermediate" pack went from a double paceline to a thin and strung-out single paceline. The belabored breathing of this pack, barely audible as the mechanized motor sounds of chains churning loudly in circular motion.

I remembered there was a United Velo jersey working the front. I don't know who it belonged to as I was working hard to try to warm-up my motor. Then it was a TRU rider working the front for a short time. After this rider, Toan took the front and pulled for a very long time. I was about third in line at this point and could not believe how long Toan was at the front. I remembered thinking that I hoped Toan don't blow up.

After Toan, I think Keith was there working the front. Keith just completed the San Diego century and probably have developed enough reserves to probably go for hours. Man we were flying and all the talking have completely stopped. So much for the social ride! I took over somewhere around the wooden bridge.

We went so fast we blew by a rider changing a flat alongside the road. We later found out that this rider was our own Yahoo! Girl Kristy, whom we did not recognized because we are used to seeing her in the Yahoo kit. Kristy was wearing another jersey, to get color coordinated for the photo, as her VeLoViet kit is on order and has not arrive. Luckily Tan and a few riders in the back of our group recognized her and stopped to help.

Our second group caught up to the first group who were waiting at the restroom on SART. A quick chat with The Animal and we decided to stick together as a group. This large combined group rolled out.

The seriousness in the rider's faces was a preambled to this friendly competition. On Taft, everything seemed okay as I remembered still having energy to chit-chat with FedEx, BigH, and Kazu. I was joking with Kazu not to let FedEx out of his sight when the hills showed. Then I was joking with FedEx not to let Thai out of his sight on the hills too. But then... the hills showed up...

The incline on Taft was deceiving as it was just a baby of a hill, enough to make a rider breathe hard but not really enough to drop a competitive cyclist. I looked around and only saw guys with big thick quads and I wondered why the heck am I in this group? Then I spied Toan and Daniel and gave a relieve knowing that some of my second group compatriots are still with me.

Santiago came and threw in a monster of a hill. It seemed that this route was slowly tightening its grip on the riders, slowing cracking and crushing our rib cages as everyone labored and struggled in the climb. The pack had diminished in size and only racers and hard men are now in this front pack fighting this magnificent battle. Even while laboring, I remembered thinking how cool it was that I was still in this pack and have not been dropped yet.

And then... I got dropped on Newport. This hill is even more of a monster than the last, and weaned me out of my energy. I remembered being in the pack of a rider who got gapped. One of the TRU junior jumped and made the gap. Then another junior jumped and made it as well. By the time I made the "racing" decision, and a racer I am not, the gap had grown too great. Luckily though, I was not the only one who got drop so there was a regrouping in front and the pack rolled into the halfway mark.

Photo - Kazu, Thai, BigH, and FedEx At the Halfway Stop

Photo - Pack at the Halfway Stop

Photo - Riders at the Halfway Stop

There was a lot of chit-chat going on at the stop. There was one rider who wanted to go on, but everyone else was thankful for the breather and a chance to talk to folks. Everyone was still on an adrenaline high and excited at the friendly competition. I managed to snap a few more photos.

Photo - Tuan's Guest and Gerardo

Photo - The VeloViet Crew at the Halfway Stop

More people rolled in and the group size build up at the stop. We rolled out after about 15 minutes more of story swapping.

On the ride back, a couple of TRU riders in the back of the pack got a flat so their Cap't Sang went back to help them fix the flats. The front guys rolled on. Keith and I also stayed back with Nancy to escort her back.

The ride back seemed worst than the first half to me, as we were dealing with a strong headwind and I did not have the large pack to shelter me. Keith and I traded turns at the front and we managed to complete SART intact and hook up with the front group who stopped at the Warner exit. This group rolled back to MSP together.

At MSP, we saw the social group as they had shorten the ride and finished first. A short time later, the TRU riders who flatted and TRU Cap't Sang rolled in. The folks there and were still talking about the ride and trading old time stories.

A quick change and we were off to the VeloViet picnic. Man the food looked good! I was so hungry and was excited to see tables filled with delicious food. Here are some photos.

Photo - Chef Steve Showing the Hungry VeloViet the Food!

Photo - Haldane Working on the Watermelons

We had fried rice, white rice, Vietnamese style chowmein, Vietnamese beef stew with french bread, BBQ chicken, egg rolls, Vietnamese pork rolls, chicken enchiladas, salads, and so many other main courses. Of course the desert table was filled too! I loved the moist chocolate cake, but the cupcakes were to die for. They were brought out by the Rock Racing Brothers, and must have meant for the kids... but man I will fight the kids for one of these cupcakes! Luckily for me, there were plenty of cupcakes!

Photo - Yummy Cupcakes!!!

It was great to see my VeloViet Brothers and Sisters relaxing with each other. Here are some great photos of the picnic courtesy of Kristy.

Photo - RR An, Loc, Danny, Thang, and New VeloViet Members Brian and Blake

Photo - Keith, MN Thai, and Scott

Photo - Toan, UV Guest, Sang, MN Thai, and Phong

Photo - Kristy and Haldane Showing that Using the Chop Sticks is Easy

Photo - Guest Sarah, Nancy, Co, MN Thai, Brooklyn, and Kristy

Photo - RR Can, Anh Minh, RR Loi, Ngoc, Donovan, Tan, and Duc

Most everyone brought their families too! Here are some great family shots.

Photo - Hoa and His Family

Photo - Big Minh's and Co's Families

Photo - David, His Wife, and Greg's Wife

Photo - New VeloViet Member Daniel and his Family

Photo - Steve and His Family

Photo - Jonathan and His Wife

Photo - Tan, his Gorgeous Wife, and Friends

Photo - "Beauty" Lilliana Taming "The Beast" Luke

Photo - Cap't and His Wife Paulina

And there were kids there too! Here are some kid's photos.

Photo - KyAnh's Son and RR Can's Daughter (right side)

Photo - David's and Greg's Sons with Matching Haircut

Photo - KyAnh's Dogs Were Popular with the Kids

Photo - The Dogs were Popular with the Adults Too!

The United Velo Crew must have brought in their entire family! Here are some shots.

Photo - United Velo Crew and Families

Photo - 74 Years Young UV Cyclist Telling Toan and Captain Stories of His Racing Days in Viet Nam

Near the end of the picnic, UV Cap't Phuc and Some of his team members came up to thanks us for the picnic food and to say goodbye. We all shook hands and said we would see each other on the 2012 ReUnion Ride.

Cap't Thomas then gave a speech discussing the VelloViet's club ethics and honor. He indicated that we, as members, should represent the VeloViet club on and off the bikes, regardless of whether or not we wear the club's jersey at the time, but most importantly when we are wearing the jersey.

Cap't indicated he saw some unsafe manuever in the pack today, and announced that Master Racer Haldane will be conducting a VeloViet bike clinic for the club. We are to learn more of bike safety and etiquette. I am most excited about the "bump-n-ride" session that Haldane will be teaching, and can't wait to do a "friendly" bump on some of the A1 riders to take my frustration out on all those beatings they have been dishing to me. Just kidding!

Photo - VeloViet Group Checking Out New Sticker

Photo - Cap't Discussing the VeloViet Club's Credo

In the end, it turned to be a memorable ride again. The VeloViet Club would like to thank Cap't Phuc for bringing down the United Velo Team, and Cap't Sang for bringing in his TRUCycling Team, to ride the 2011 ReUnion Ride. It was a great ride and we hoped to see you and your teams again in 2012.

Special thanks to Toan for organizing the picnic, Steve for organizing the food, Greg for all the tables and chairs, Haldane for the Yahoo flag and mastering the watermelons, Cap't wife Paulina for saving us the spot, and all of our VeloViet members who contributed and brought food! It was a great picnic with lots of great food and greater memories! Here is the last photo of the group at the picnic.

Photo - Group at Picnic

Hoped you all enjoy reading this! See you all on the road soon!

Out,
Phong