VeloViet: 2013 Crystal Lake Ride

The gloomy clouds rolled in blocking out all sunlight. The day was omminous and the impeding doom can be feel through teh murky air. The day have been set... and it is on this very day that the Spartans, lead by King Leonidas, will take on The Crystal Witch. To the Winter Wonderland we go!

THE DAYS BEHIND

300... What is it? What does it means?

For Greek mythology, it was the number of Spartans that held the mighty Persian force of 7,000 strong for 7 days at The Battle of Thermopylae. King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans fought bravely and block 7,000 men from invading Greece. And it is this example that both ancient and modern war fighters used to show the power of a unified and smart army defending against overwhelming odds. The Spartans sacrified down to the last man.

And it is this tactics that the VeloViet must impart to seize the glory of the Crystal Lake to reveal her Magic. The Viets must be unified... must be smart on when to defend and when to attack the climbs... and they must fight, fight, fight to the last men and women!

THE DAYS AHEAD

The Siren of the Crystal Lake sang a captivating song telling of a story of those weary few travelers that first came to her in the year of our Lord 2012. It was a year that we first dare to journey into her protective bosom on this magical trip.

The Siren's song tells a tale of a magic within the Crystal Lake that can transform a mortal man who reaches it first to be the most magnificent and handsomest Warrior. One who would rule like a King, and command men among men in his Army.

The song also reveals that the first lady who reaches the lake will captured its most precious treasure. To be a Queen whose beauty cannot be describe with mortal words. A Queen who controls and rules every men’s hearts as if she was the Siren of the Lake. A Queen to be treasured by all!
But the reality of this trip was that it was filled with hard battles, as The Siren had decided to test the limits of these travelers to see if they were worthy of being on her top. It took the collective three of FedEx, Anthony, and Thomas to battle the witch and reach her seductive slopes first.

Then the Siren Witch brought out her 3 Goblin Sons to try to slow down this ascending Group. And it was the seductive beauty of Karen, Kristy, and Lily that mesmerized The Sons, paralyzing them with magical charms of their own, so that the travelers can slip through and reach the top.

So borned the VeloViet story of our Three Brave Kings and of the Three Seductive Queens. And yes... the trip were so arduous that many did not complete this journey on that day in 2012.

So in 2013, King "Leonidas" Thomas again brought back his VeloViet Spartans to this cresending mountain of Crystal Lake!

THE RIDE

90 riders showed to battle the Witch, supported by a super strong SAG Crew that the VeloViet has ever had on an epic ride. We had 7 SAG cars roving teh hillside to make sure all of riders were safe.

On the line also is the VeloViet's 2013 KoM and QoM prizes. Secret training have been heavy in the past few months to prepare for this epic battle.

Photo - John, Brian, Donovan

Photo - FedEx, BigH, Hoa

Photo - DuyAnh, Rock Racers, Andy, Chinh

Photo - Sang, Chinh, Trung, Khanh, Huy, Thieu

Photo - Group Photo

After the group photo, riders took off on time to tackle the gruelling hills. At the start of teh mountain, the Contenders started to separate themselves from the Pretenders. There was no holding back on this ride!

In the front were the racers, with VeloViet FedEx heavy in teh mix. Not far behind were the A1 Team. including Tuan, Thomas, Karen, BigH, and others. The pace was heavy and intense!

Photo - Thomas, Minh, Thang, Khanh, Arnel, and Guest

Photo - Beginning of the Climb

Photo - Racer Group

Photo - A1 Group

The A2 pack initially was a mix of hard riding and casual riding. The pace is pushed by riders like Chinh, DuyAnh, Ngoc, and others. Often we can see the Rock Racing brothers accelerating to keep the intensity high.

Photo - A2 Group

Photo - Huong and Bang

Photo - Rock Racing Crew Attacking

Photo - Hieu Pushing Hard

Photo - Huong and Kym

Photo - Tuan Driving the A1 Pack

Photo - BigH Escorting Karen

Photo - Nicole "the Tiger" Pounches on BaoAnh

Photo - Rock Racing in Synchronization

Photo - Arnel and Keith

The race heats up after the halfway mark. The format was different than last year where we had 5 minutes staggered start to prevent riders from bunching up and to promote safety. Staggered times were taken into account from the final accumulated times to determine the fastest times. The racers started first, then A1, and then A2 group.

Photo - Pack at Midway

Photo - KoM Polka Dot Jersey Appears at Halfway

Photo - Can, Nicole, Huong

Photo - A2 Mass Start at Halfway

Input from King Leonidas "Thomas" indicates the A1 team took off five minutes after the racers. The A1 wolf pack stays together for the first 5 miles, but the gruelling pace causes the pack drop to four main climbers: John, Chanh, Tien and Capt. Pace maker Chanh finally succumb to the fiery hounds and dropped off from the pack. Leonidas then took over and started to set an even more gut wrenching pace for the next 2 miles.

Lulled by the sweet siren sounds of the Lake, Capt thinks that no one is going to make the move and continue to exert energy pulling teh group. Suddenly.... wolf hound John made a brave attempt and surged hard in an attack. The plan worked and John took off while Thomas has no moer ebergy to respond. Thomas never lost sight of John, but was not able to catch up.

Photo - Tuan Pacing Thomas and John

Photo - Brian, Hoa, Tuan, John, and Thomas

Photo - What's Missing Here?

Photo - Ladies At the Top

Back at the park, Grill Masters Dave and Loan got working on making us the yummy BBQ meat and chicken. Man the food were great after a long and super hard ride!

Everyone gossip and socialize with each other. By far, this was the best part of the ride. Hoa even got to celebrate his 38th birthday when his wife brought out two large cakes for us all. Happy Birthday Hoa!

Photo - Grill Master Dave

Photo - Grill Mistress Loan

Photo - Happy Birthday Hoa!

Photo - Hoa and His Family

Photo - Huong, Bang, and Turbo

Photo - DuyAnh and Simon

To recap, this ride could not have been so successful were it not for the numerous of supporters we had. First off, supporting us with food and drinks were Kiet, Nam, and Vu. On the BBQ we had Dave and Loan. Photographers were Jonathan and Canh. Super SAG Crew included Dave, Toan, Danny, Fred, Paul's Daughter, Q, Larry, Nik, and Long. Thank you all for supporting our VeloViet Cycling Club.

Photo - Larry, Thomas, Loan, Dave, and Toan

Photo - Chau Getting Help from Toan

Photo - Photographers Canh and Jonathan

Photo - Paul's Daughter Helping SAG

Photo - SAG Crew Fred Loading a Bike

Photo - Sag Crew Dave Feeling the Appreciation from the VV Ladies

Photo - Thank You Support & SAG Crew!

The race was even more exciting with our guests joining us on the ride. Top finisher went to Brian at an incredible time of 1:09. Top VeloViet male climber went to racer FedEx at 1:14. Top VeloViet female climber went to Karen at 1:35. Congratulations!