2013 GMR Epic Ride - Rise of the Machine

WEEKS BEFORE -

Bones... All he sees are bones...

Bones that are stripped clean of meat. Bones that is broken like sticks. There were a lot of bones.

The boy scampered out of his hiding, and rushed to a nearby pile of bones. He dug through the pile and selected the biggest leg bone, and then ran back to his hiding place within a cavern on this ascending slope.

He turned around to face the entrance, and held the bone as like a weapon. He knew that it close now to the ascending hour.  The time is near... for he had heard the sound of the distance rumble. They were coming… the Terminators were coming… and they were coming for him.

“VeloViet had promised”, he whispered. VeloViets will come...

To understand the bones, and the boy, one has to go back, and back.  Go back in time.

Photo - The Boy on GMR

 

2008
T’was the year of Our Lord 2008. Evil and despair had ravaged the land. Man’s greed had wiped out all of what was pure and good from the land. Throughout the wasted country side, rotten corpses littered the desolate sands. Hungry children crying in the blackest of nights for the teats of their mothers, searching for milk to quench their dry parched bodies. Packs of hungry berserk dogs wandered from corpse to corpse looking for any morsel of meat, but none could be found as these treasures were picked clean by the vultures circling above.

Even the Gods themselves had turned their back on the human race. They had retreated to the highest GMR Mountain, unapproachable but on the steepest of slopes. The Gods had declared that Man must overcome that which is pure of evil, overcome that which is pure of greed, overcome that which is pure of corruption, to be able to save himself.

And it was this year that two Nomads arrived to the Land of Orange County, from the distant Dessert Land of the Inland Empire. It is they who would document the prophecy of what was to come!

2009/2010
And the Words were written.  In the year of Our Lord 2009, out of these decrepit ashes, an ember bloomed. A God borne as a mortal man arrived to their doorstep. He who started out as a boy quickly grew and matured into a powerful fighter under the VeloViets. This boy/man was trained to fight for the hope of what could be. They named this fighter... FedEx. A strong name given to a boy/man who would deliver to them the hopes and dreams of what could be... a world of peace, a world of harmony, a world that all can be.

But FedEx is just a mortal man, and the 2 years of extended fighting had slowly decayed his pure heart, and had slowly morphed him into a thoughtless killing machine, one that needs to feed on blood and domination. So powerful was this fighting machine that a new name was given to FexEx. He became known as the beast Kraken. Only the tribe’s leader Cap’t “Zeus” Thomas can control the beast initially. But so powerful did the Beast grow in the two years that Zeus himself was forced to accept that no one can control The Kraken.

2011
So captured that in the year of Our Lord 2011, Zeus had to send new warriors to the GMR battle to tame the Kraken. Two of their bravest warriors stood up and accepted the challenge. This duo comprises of a man himself a beast, the powerful Luke “The Beast”, and a young Archer by the name of Kazu. These two men repeatedly attack the Kraken and gained the upper ground on GMR. An arrow had pierced the very center of the Kraken’s heart. The champion of Man, the monster that man created, and then feared, is gone suddenly in a blink of the eye. Gone too are some of the evil and despair that once dominated the lands.

2012

~ The piercing of the arrows had transformed the Kraken. These gaping wounds that the arrows had opened in the Kraken’s body had allowed the evil that lay inside to flow out. Laid underneath the massive stones and in the darkest cave, where its body was placed by “Zeus” Thomas, the Kraken slowly transformed back into the proud and pure warrior FedEx.

So in the year of Our Lord 2012, like a Phoenix born, FedEx rose from the evilness that had dragged him down, and declared himself fit and ready to fight for the VeloViet tribe. In that year he fought hard, and it is that year that FedEx showed that he is a mortal man and can be beaten. But FedEx persisted, and he fought, and fought, and finally gained an upper ground. FedEx showed that he once again can dominate the steep GMR slopes.

2013
And now we are back to the present…

The boy gripped his bone tightly in his hands. Hurry.. he thought... hurry, he whispered… and wished that they were here already. The boy remembered that The Man, the Fighter, The Warrior, had promised The Boy that he would come back for him.

But now instead of The Kraken, the lands are now ruled by machines.  Machine that search you out and grind you to a bloody pulp.  Machine that has no remorse as it execute every living things that it could find on the desolate hills.  They are the Terminators, and are led by a vicious, attacking, special breed of Female Terminator called The Turbonator.  Barely a 100-lb of pure steel muscle, this Turbonator can take down a human with the flick of her speed.

Please hurry... thought the boy as the rumble of the slopes grew louder. A single tear roll down his cheek...

THE RIDE –

The Turbonator arrived at 7:30 AM to our meeting spot.  She has been diligently in her training and is now at her best ever.  No one even came close to her as she blasted up the slopes on last Friday’s GMR training. Turbo is a climbing machine!

Riders had started coming as early as 7 AM.  The lot filled up quickly as the VeloViets and their cycling friends are about to ascend this Glendora mountain.  VeloViet members were excited to see one another.  Check out the Photos!

 

Photo - Sean and Hieu

Photo - Uyen Happy to See Kiet

 

Photo - Long, Anh Minh, Simon, and Larry

 

Photo - John and Chanh

 

The VeloViet's friends were well represented.  Riders from Rock N Road Cyclery, Velo 105, Voz Cycling, and Team Hot Wheels are all here and are excited to join the Host VeloViet on their annual GMR epic.

 



Photo - Rock N Road Anaheim Hills Riders

Photo - John and Kimberly with Rock N Road Mission Viejo Crew

 

Photo - Velo 105 Crew

 

Photo - Parker Aerospace Represented with Steve, Travis, and Ted

 

Photo - HotWheel Cycling Team car

 

The riders gathered together for a group photo and a pre-ride safety speech.  Safety is the most important on this ride as the descent is one of the most technical ride locally, but it is also one of the most fun descent around!

 

Photo - VeloViet Captain Thomas Giving the Speech

 



Photo - The Guys Looking Very Serious 

 

 Photo - The Gals Having a Good Laugh

 

Photo - The Guys Still Looking Very Serious

 

Photo - The Group Photo

 

Then the ride was on!  There were 5 SAG cars escorting up the hill.  The first car was Dave and Bang, and their mission was to stay with the front rider.  Bang was also our official photographer for this event.  The second car was Kiet, who was carrying most of the food.  Phong and his son was in the third car.  The fourth car was driven by Thuan and he had the remaining food and drinks.  The last car was driven by Hieu, whose mission was to stay with riders in the back.

 

Photo - One of Five SAG Cars

 

Photo - And We Are Off!

 

Photo - Still Smiling and Not Tired Yet

 

Photo - VeloViets Were Everywhere

 

Photo - The Pack was Long!

 

It definitely did not take long for the first attack to come.  The truce was off!  Riders started to surged hard and accelerated up the first steep slopes.

 

Photo - What's the Rock Racer's Attack Plan?

 

Photo - Luke Driving the Pace with Nic and Thomas Right Behind

 

Photo - Two VeloViets In Search of the KoM Glory

 

Photo - Small Groups Formed and Worked Together

 

The front riders did not stop at all at the first SAG stop, at the 8 mile marker of GMR.  They pushed heavy gears and tried to tired each other out.  Everyone else though, stop and had drinks and food served to them.

 

Photo - SAG Stop #1

 



Photo - Chau, Jose, Arnel, and Keith

 

Photo - Thomas and Bruce

Photo - Nik, Juan, and Tien

Photo - The Nomads Long and Phong

 

The second half of the ride is where the KoM/QoM Contenders and Pretenders are separated.  These riders showed their determination and the hearts of champions.  Like a smooth machine in their movement, these "Terminators" rode quickly up the slopes to conquer their place in history for this mountain climb.

 

Leading the men's race is Brian from Rock N Road.  This rider was a phenom maintaining an average of 15 miles per hour on these slopes.  About two minutes behinds are Mark and FedEx.  These two stayed together to try to close the gap that the lead rider had opened up on the lower slopes.

 

On the women's race, it was Turbo Karen who was in the lead, with Uyen chasing behind.  These two showed exceptional strength to weight ratios and blasted by tired riders in the seconds half.

 

Photo - The Men's Lead Climber Brian Taking a Drink 

Photo - Mark and FedEx Chasing Hard

 

Photo - Karen... The Climbing Machine





 

At Baldy Village, we found that Brian's time was about 1 hour 21 minutes.  FedEx and Mark were about 1 hour 24 minutes.  The top women, Karen, came in at 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Uyen and then Guest Molly came in next.  Congratulations to these riders!

 

Photo - Mark, Brian, and FedEx 

Photo - Molly and Karen

 

As the pack came drifting in, I found out that the top 3 VeloViet Men were FedEx, Luke, and then Ironman.  The top three VeloViet Ladies were Karen, Uyen, and Nicole.  Congrats to our VeloViet climbers!

 

Photo - Top 3 VeloViet Men: Ironman, FedEx, and Luke The Beast

 

 Photo - Top 3 VeloViet Women: Uyen, Nicole, and Karen

 

 

So the party was move to teh Village.  We brought out the all sorts food and drinks.  There was sweet Vietnamese rice and sausage, curry chicken sandwiches, cookies, oranges, bananas, chocolate bars, gatorade, water, and more!  Everyone had fun eating and socializing!

 

Photo - Here Comes the Food!

 

Photo - Setting Up

 

Photo - The Sweet Rice was a Hit!

 



Photo - Chow Time!

 

 

Photo - Ironman, KyAnh, An, Can, Loi, Toan, BaoAnh, Larry, Vu, and DuyAnh

 

Photo - Thomas, Larry, Loan, ChauLinh, and Thang

 

 

Photo - Nicole Taking a Little Nap After a Hard Climb

Photo - ChauLinh Getting the ViP Massage

 

Photo - Bang Taking Photo While Nicole Stretches

Photo - Dave Getting the Endurance Scoop 

Photo - John and Ironman Discussing Tactics



Then it was packing time and the riders headed down hill.  After a fast descent, the VeloViet and their frinds continues the party at the parking lot!



Photo - Yes.... We Have More Food!

 

Photo - Hhhmmm... Which Beer Should I Choose?

 

Photo - Ladies Still Looking Fine After the Epic

 

In recap, the VeloViet's GMR Epic Ride was great fun!  The VeloViet Club would like to thank all of their friends for coming out and enjoying this spectacular ride with us.

 

This event was probably our best and most successful event up to date!  The VeloViet Leadership wishes to thank their SUPER support crew: Dave for driving the lead car, Bang for those great photos, Thuan for the super support making sure the riders have food and drinks at the stops, and Hieu for the hard job of the last SAG car and staying with the last rider.

 

A special thanks to Kiet and Tammy for buyingthe food, staying up late the night before to prepare the food, and waking up early to cook the food for this event.  We are ever grateful for your continuous contribution to our club!  Thank you all!

 

Ok we are not done yet!  Here is TWO recap VIDEO of this great event.  The first from The Nomad and the second from Jonathan.  Enjoy and see you soon!

VIDEO #1 - The 2013 GMR Epic Ride Video 1

VIDEO #2 - The 2013 GMR Epic Ride Video 2

Signing Out,

The Nomad