More Catch Up

OMS had this report from his New Years Day exploits. Pretty cool!

New Year’s Day Ride at Long Beach Marina.

By tradition, hundreds of riders meet at Long Beach Marina for 800 AM start of an unsanctioned ride from LB to Dana Point and return. Ride and course description: http://www.veloallegro.org/content/rides-races/rides/ride-nyd.html

Weather was calm, chilly and foggy. Pace was fast from the start; 25+MPH the norm. Most stop lights were blown by the 1.5 lane wide, quarter mile long peleton. Car traffic was light. Course on 101 is fairly flat and fast with the exception of a few small hills in Laguna. Distance from start to Dana Point about 34 miles. Approximate time to DP 1:20 = 25 MPH average. It was not especially difficult to maintain high rate of speed among this large bulk of riders. Though eventually, over 90 miles, along with many surges, the effort was substantial. Due to the high number of riders of widely varying abilities and fast pace, this ride is chancier than most. That said, I only saw one rider take a minor fall. I was also bumped slightly by an overtaking rider when I moved over a few inches to position myself behind the rider ahead. No harm done, but a reminder how quickly it can go wrong. Most riders seemed relatively capable. In summary, the ride to DP was very fast. At Dana Point some riders, including me, rode an additional approximately 20 mile loop. The loop was somewhat slower and there were quite a few stop lights which our now smaller group (100 or so) obeyed. However, once we hit 101 in Newport Beach, approximately 17 miles to home, it was “on”. I hung on about ten miles to Bolsa Chica when my legs finally blew. About 10 other riders were also dropped and we regrouped for the final 6 miles. Total miles 91.5; average speed 21.5 (including many stops; slow ride to and from start). Off at 800, home just after 1200. Similar rides: Ride For Roses with Fastrack in 2005.

Side note: my Long Beach, 1970’s era, Handball player friend, Bruce, showed me a turn of the century Columbia Model One Chainless bicycle he acquired by chance through a real estate transaction. Pix attached.



Columbia History: http://www.columbiamfginc.com/columbia_history.html

Columbia Ad and picture: http://www.jimlangley.net/brake/columbia02.html

Likely forgotten for decades in storage, it was in excellent rideable condition.


Steve