Good Evening. With last week's nerve racking announcement over and being one of two finalists left. I had to honor a promise I gave to several G3 riders and ride leaders. I told them If I made the top 3, I would color my hair CAF blue and yellow. So with a little blonde hair color and blue and yellow hair spray color, one side of head was blue and the other was yellow. The yellow didn't turn out as bright as I expected but the blue was very visible. Several riders saw the color and commended me for keeping my word. I never colored my hair funky colors before so this weekend will have several firsts, and will be very memorable to me in so many ways.
Coming into this weeks ride, I didn't know what to expect. I have never ridden over 100 miles and let alone riding another 100 the following day. I just had to be ready and come mentally prepared. Extra incentive at the end of the day one was Terranea resort. (visit http://www.terranea.com/.)The day started well but the forecast called for upper 90's for the weekend so we were all planning for a very warm ride even during the mostly coastal route. The ride up hit no snags. When we got to SAG #1, we were met by the 1978 NBA MVP and advocate / spokesperson for CAF, Bill Walton. He rode with a couple of CAF riders but said he prefers to ride at his own pace. It was amazing to see Bill on a bike and you would never know he was a avid cyclist just by looking at him. But with a long journey ahead, the group saddled up and continued on.
Passing the coastal cities of Dana Point, Laguna Beach and Newport beach. We were greeted by picturesque coastal beaches and cliffs along the route. When we reached Hungtington beach, we made it to SAG #2 with Lunch. SAG angel Tina supplied us with drinks and Subway sandwiches. Yummy! Thanks Tina. With only 30 minutes to spare, we were back on Highway #1 and headed north passing Seal Beach and Long Beach. When we reached downtown Long Beach, the heat caught up with us and everyone was feeling it. It felt like walking right under a heat lamp riding through downtown Long Beach till we got to the bottom of Palos Verdes Drive.
Before making our accent on Palos Verdes road toward the resort, the group stopped for a quick refill on everything we could get our hands on. Even the ride doctor, Mike Mchale grabbed a slurpee with me and Francesca. Lets just say, it was hot. This was the first time I didn't get "brain freeze" while downing the slurpee. Of which fellow rider Tracy treated most of the group. Thanks Tracy. Soon we were back on the road heading to our final destination. The road was a little cooler since there was some tree cover, but with a constant grade. It felt like I was not pedaling at all. After riding 95 miles already and the heat beating down on us. I was thinking that I could not wait to see the resort already. My body must have turned on the overdrive just to get to the finish since I was able to hang with the first couple of riders from G3 who separated and wanted to pick up the pace. On our way up, we met with G1 ride leaders Chance and Joe and Coach Pat Jack and they lead us to Terrenea resort.
Chris was already waiting since he attacked the hill from the very beginning. My roomy Brian was there as well to greet me since he rode up with Group 2. I have to admit, I was tired but not to the point of collapse. The weeks of training really paid off.
After I checked in the room and got my bag. I wanted to see the sights around the resort. So after a quick shower and change of clothes I was off to explore the resort. While Brian took in some much needed "recovery" drinks called Fat tire with G2 riders. I decided to go sight seeing and take pictures since in less than 24 hours we would be checking out. The greeter at the reosrt took a picture of me with Catalina Island in the background overlooking the ocean in the lobby. I also went down and walked through several trail heads leading to and from beaches and cliff viewing area around. It was breathtaking and I really wish I could have taken my wife with me. She would have loved it as much as I did.
Later that night we had a reception and no host dinner in the hotel. It's always nice to see the group in normal clothes. Even better was to meet some of the families of the G3 riders. From Mrs. Hower to Mrs. Nasielski and the kids. It was really great seeing some of the riders better halves. I hate to admit it but I was really looking forward to the dinner part of the evening. I can only take in so many recovery drinks, gels and bars. Dinner was pasta, salad and veggies and was it delicious. As everyone made it through the dinner we were introduced to Virginia Tinley, Executive Director of CAF and co-chairman Dean Roeper. We were presented with a short year in review video of the events CAF hosted the past year. 
Through out the night we were introduced to several speakers. We listened as John Siciliano reenacted the night he was involved in the car accident that cost him his leg, but later inspired us with his paralympic and hollywood sucess. Then we heard a little from NBA great Bill Walton and Ron Kovic. Who is Ron Kovic you say? You might had heard of the movie by Oliver Stone starring Tom Cruise called Born on the 4th of July. Well, Ron Kovic was the person who Oliver Stone based that movie on. Bill Walton also intruduced us to his wife Lori and one of the greatest NBA Hall of fame players and coach, Bill Sharman. Mr. Sharman was way before my time but with the invention of the World Wide Web. I saw the legacy Mr. Sharman created in the game of basketball. After desert I decided to call it a night and headed back to the room. My roommate Brian talked for a bit about life, cycling and riding with CAF. But we were both tired from the day ride and festivities so it didnt take long till we both crashed.
Day two was upon us and my body was a little sore which was understable. I had a very light breakfast to make sure the stomach doesnt give me any issues along the ride. I am amazed how my body has recovered in such a short time frame. Like coach Pat said, Recovery is the key to successful back to back rides. After a short debriefing by Coach Pat in the hotel lobby. We were ready to hit the road again. As fast as we rode into the lobby, we were as fast if not faster leaving it behind. A short but definitely a memorable stay.
The day two of the route was exactly opposite of day one. So naturally it felt like a shorter ride. One thing we didn't have today was the mid 90 degree temperatures in Long Beach. Nevertheless the sun was out already and it was still going to be a warm day again. We had been fortunate since the group has not had any real mechanical issues or delays of any kind. Except for me forgetting my gloves in SAG 1 which was SAG 2 yesterday. Riding without gloves felt different, but was good change. About 6-7 miles after the first SAG, the group experienced a scary moment. Fellow MDC rider, Chin crossed wheels with another rider then went over his handle bars and literally flipped then landed on his neck. OH NO! The worse sight you could ever see is a fellow cyclist on the pavement. We all went in to action, ride leaders contacted the police and fire trucks, rolling SAG with Mike and Christine was notified, several riders redirected traffic and fellow MDC rider Jeff Krebs attend to Chin since he is a doctor. All signs were good since we all heard him laughing and moving his extremities. We still had to take Chin to the emergency room to run further tests to make sure he was ok. He was in good spirits as he left with the emergency response personnel.
The group was split up so others couldstart heading to the SAG two. I decided to stay with Mike, Jeff and ride leaders Mike H and Jack N. I knew they were going to need help pulling to catch up with the rest of G3. So for the next 20 miles we were on our own. With all of us taking turns pulling the group, we were able to catch up to the group at Dana point, sooner that the anticipated SAG two meeting. From there we met up with co-chairs Dean Roeper and Scott Rhodes who were moving from group to group to see how everyone was doing. We filled them in regarding Chin and expressed their concern. Once we made it to SAG 2, we heard news Chin had negative results on all the tests and he was later cleared to leave the hospital. Between SAG 2 and Solano beach, everything was a blur. My rear end was sore, legs were twitching from all the catching up we did. I decided to just keep my head down and cycle through it. Next thing you know, I was greeted by the my wife and daughter along with Chin and the rest of G2 riders just hanging out. WOW! I cant believe I did it, back to back double century and I feel great. Not like the feeling I got after running 26.2.
This was has to be one of the most challenging rides I ever had to do. I am glad I did it and I look forward to riding down the coast in a couple of weeks. Knowing I can ride back to back does wonders to my mental ability. I can't say it enough but this ride was epic and was glad I was able to share the expirence with other several riders in the group also new to the century mark. Congrats to everyone, good to hear everyone made it ok. Now its time for me to rest up since we have our FINAL RADIO visit on Thursday, where we find out if Chris G or Mark E is to be crowned 2010 XX1090 Scott and BR cycling winner.
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