Bicycle Ride to Montrose

Saturday and the weather is beautiful. What a great time to go for a bicycle ride with some new friends that I have recently met at the Velo Monrovia bicycle shop.

The ride started early around 07:00 and headed out through Arcadia and up into Sierra Madre. Climbing about 1500 feet into the base of the San Gabriel mountains and then on towards Pasadena and the Rose Bowel. By this time I was getting a little worn down. The route I was familiar with and the climbing is something that I have been doing regularly because I live at the base of these beautiful mountains. The pace was a little faster than I was used to and combined with extensive climbing the toll on my legs started to mount up.

At this point, when we reached the back side of the Rose Bowel, about half of the group returned due to early commitments. Silly me, I forged on with the remaining "A group". By the time we climbed through Montrose and past the Descanso Gardens in Verdugo I had hit the wall. The plan was to go on to Little Tujunga canyon and the three mile climb over the top and back. Discretion is the better part of valor and I decided, my legs rather made the decision for me, to let them go on ahead and to lick my wounds in peace and quiet. At the base of Little Tujunga I hastily beat a retreat. Better to withdraw and fight another day I always tell myself.

Limping home, mostly down-hill was still a struggle. You know you have had it when the road takes a slight turn upward and you resort to your lowest gear and just grind away going about eight or nine miles per hour. This is not what you want your sponsors and loved ones to see. My plan is to make it home so that I can recover enough to hide again Sunday with the same Velo Monrovia group. This is basically a recreational club with a few racers sprinkled into the mix but the pace of the rides are never ridiculous. These people has really inspired me to ride more and to become thinner. Climbing requires a thin svelte physic. Currently I have been struggling with my weight having crept up to almost two hundred pounds. Ridiculously high for any kind of quickness in the mountains.
Tomorrow is another day. Lets see what it brings.