Last Training Ride before STP - 142 miles

Trucking it up Puyallup hill

At the beginning of the year, we all made a commitment to train for the annual summer Seattle To Portland Ride - whether for the one day effort or the normal 2 day ride. Since that meeting, we've done our best to ride together every weekend towards that goal.  That training was to culminate in a 150 mile (approximately) ride 2 weeks before the STP in order to condition our bodies to peak at 200 miles by STP day, July 13.

The team in Yelm with the carnival in the background

As luck would have it, the hottest week of the year so far happened to fall on the last week of June this year and the forecast for Saturday, June 29, was no exception.  But...Team Mangs and Team Alings were ready for the challenge.  They suited up with their newly designed jerseys and braved the heat, rolling out from Renton Memorial Stadium on the way to Tenino for a total of 70 miles - the trip back would make it 140.  Things started off really nice - temps in the mid 70's and cloudy.  Until we got to Puyallup, just before 9 AM when the sun started its ascent.  At least, the dreaded Puyallup hill was behind us by the time the heat started picking up.

Ed was one of our  awesome support crew 

The team wasn't made up of cyclists alone.  Other members who couldn't ride (and their families) provided much needed support, hauling water and food to stops every 15 miles or so.  By 11 AM, about an hour behind schedule, the Team Mang train had reached Yelm City Park where by coincidence, the city carnival had set up.  By then, everyone was feeling hungry and drained. But motivated by lunch, they hastily rode the last 12 miles towards Tenino - the turnaround point.

The Tenino park along the STP route was the site of our lunch break where the food, a unique recipe of Pampanga style adobo, with rice and watermelon provided much needed nourishment to the riders.  It was truly tempting to just abandon at this point because the temperatures were in the upper 70's with no cloud in sight but Team Mang soldiered on. After all, they had no choice - we couldn't all fit in the support vehicle (next time we'll bring a support bus).

Picnic lunch in Tenino

Cooling down in
Spanaway

A couple of hours behind schedule, the team kept on with rest breaks taking longer than planned, pushing speeds of 20+ in mid 80 degree temperatures, just so they could spend more time cooling down under the shade and taking impromptu baths with ice cold water from the support vehicles' coolers to get some relief from the extreme heat.  By the time we reached Puyallup, a bank's spinning signboard that broadcasts the current temperature actually read 100 degrees (probably from the 90+ degree air plus the sun reflecting on the concrete)! 

An unusual Adobo dinner at Starbucks

Through some quick thinking by the support crew, the last rest stop was moved from the gas station on Fryar and Main in Sumner to a Starbucks store just a half mile east of it.  At that stop, we were able to cool down a bit (arriving there at the hottest time of the day, around 5PM) in the shade and inside the store and even eat the rest of our adobo lunch (wow! Starbucks serves adobo?).  It was a strange sight, for sure - Team Mangs and Alings sitting around outside Starbucks and on the parking lot sidewalk eating rice and adobo on paper plates.

A fitting treat - halo-halo after a
scorching ride

A couple more hours and 22 miles later, we were back at Renton Stadium - a full 13.5 hours and 140 miles after we started.  Some registered 143 to 145 on their odometers because they missed a turn in Puyallup.  Ed gave everyone a treat by surprising us with halo-halo from Chowking!  That was such a treat after the hard fought ride in that blistering heat!

Out of 24 riders, 4 abandoned at mile 58 and 70 with one cutting it 20 miles short in Sumner.  But the rest rolled through.  In spite of the fact that the route was relatively flat, this was one of the hardest rides we've had to do all year because of the heat.  Our ride time left much to be desired but we blame the heat and the need to take longer breaks from the sun.  At least now we know we can actually do the STP in one day.

Go Team Mang and Team Aling!

A variation on the Tour of Seattle

New kits on display at Redmond

A week before the Team Mang 150 (check out the next post),  Team Mangs and Team Alings were itching to put their newly received 2013 jerseys to work.  On the first ride of the summer, we decided to do a relaxed ride around Lake Washington - the traditional route, except we'd go counter clockwise to avoid the morning activities of the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon on Lake Washington Blvd.  Our route took on Lake Samm's West side through Marymoor Park in Redmond, the Sammamish River Trail and a portion of the Burke Gilman Trail avoiding the most crowded sections south of Lake Forest Park.

  

The newbicycle lanes in North Seattle

Our route took us into Shoreline and down the Interurban Trail - through the newly constructed bicycle-only lanes of North Seattle paralleling Aurora Avenue north.  The lanes eventually became minimally-driven roads as it entered the Greenwood area on Fremont Avenue.  A quick left turn dropped us into Greenlake where we were supposed to have lunch at I Love Teriyaki on 34th Ave.

Realizing that lunch would delay us significantly (and because the Fremont Solstice Parade crowd was growing), we decided to forego a teriyaki lunch and just head straight back to Renton via the BG Trail, Madrona and down to Lake Washington Boulevard.  The day was pretty memorable as we biked for the first time with Harry's kids and nieces - all of whom were able to keep up with the hill climbs (37th in Factoria, Perkins Way in Shoreline, Seward Ave in Seattle) and the rolling hills of West Lake Sammamish Parkway and the other streets of Seattle.  

A long Team Mang train pulled by Fatima

A total of 63 miles on a glorious day with perfect temperatures at just the right speeds proved to be just what the doctor ordered.  As always, it's always a fun Team Mang ride!

Welcome summer!

Check off Flying Wheels 2013 from our list

Team Mangs getting ready at the start line

Traditionally, Cascade Bicycle Club's Flying Wheels Classic has been the benchmark used by locals to measure their training progress in preparation for the Seatttle to Portland ride.  Conventional wisdom states that if you can complete the 65 mile loop within a reasonable amount of time (i.e.less than 6 hours), you should be ready for the 2 day STP ride.  Completing the 100 mile loop within 8 hours means you're ready for the 1 day STP.  The FW ride is considered more challenging than the STP in terms of elevation gain per mile so as long as you keep in shape during the month of June, you shouldn't have any problem with STP.

Team Aling Veronica with her guards :)

Since the start of the year, most of the Mangers have set their sites on doing STP in one day. So completion of the FW ride was a milestone. Although some Mangers had been training at a higher level during the year to do the Death Ride in California (and have already done a century ride or two), for most of the Mangers, this was their first time to complete a 100 mile ride (approximately) during the year. And for others, it was their first time in their life.

Team Mangs at the Monroe stop (mile 55)

The day was without incident for the team, although some controversy brewed up for the cycling community as a whole because of complaints from Carnation residents of rude and lawless behavior of a minority of riders, exacerbated by the fact that their local government also hosted the Survivor Mud Run on the same day.  For the tiny town of Carnation, all this inconvenience from non-local folks on their roads delaying them from their local driving destinations was a bit too much.  We'll be hearing more about this controversy soon as Cascade defends the rights of cyclists to be on the road against citizens who just want the road to themselves.

The ride itself was enjoyable.  From the starting line, the atmosphere was festive as riders and teams from everywhere were represented.  Team Mangs' cousin teams Grupetto, H2Velo, LAFBL and Trangko were all there. Everyone was on the starting line at 8 AM. After the first 2 hills, views of the Snoqualmie valley on a partly sunny day were perfect.  Lots of shade on the climbs and when you were out on the open, the sun wasn't bearing down as hot as it could on typical summer days.  The absence of any precipitation also contributed to a safe ride with so far, no reports of major crashes or injuries from the biggest Flying Wheels event to date (over 3,800 registered riders).

Team Mangs taking a break at the Carnation stop (mile 74)

The orange train grew long, even after a regroup at the top of the first hill climb.  Although we call ourselves a team, we are all at different skill and endurance levels and with different riding goals.  Some of us rode like we were trying to break our own records, maintaining speeds of over 20 mph throughout the ride.  Others just took it leisurely with the crowd and hammered when there were opportunities. There were those who drafted and paced with other teams to get some speed and save some sweat. Others were just happy to finish at all.  It's all good.  In the end, we all got to the finish line and checked off another ride on our training checklist.  Nobody abandoned.  And as with any ride we participate in, there's never a lack of new people to meet and make plans to ride with in the future.  That's what Team Mang is all about anyway - we don't grow through contracts, auditions or tryouts - we simply make friends and have fun riding our bikes and invite others to ride and have fun.  Like they say in some communities, the first time we ride together, we're just co-cyclists.  The next time, we're Mangs and Alings.

Some of the Mangs and Alings couldn't resist
posing at the finish line

As usual, the ride never really ends at the finish line and this time around, AYCE restaurant Haiku at the Redmond Town Square hosted the Team Mang re-calorization activities.  Seems like we gained back everything we lost that day. Oh well.

Ready for STP? Team Mang and Team Aling are raring to go!  A few more weeks to the starting line.

The hills are alive...in Gig Harbor

At the start line braving the rain

Sixty four miles isn't usually a problem for cycling weekend warriors like Team Mangers but this year's Peninsula Metric Century ride around Gig Harbor proved to be a little challenging.  Not that it wasn't fun, of course.  Any ride that Mangers do is always memorable with the usual mix of jokes, laughter, encouragement and yes...food!

The day started out with doubts as the weather forecast proved to be inaccurate.  Morning clouds that were supposed to morph into sun turned out to be rain, on and off.  The team almost canceled but there was enough excitement to pursue the ride - plus, the fact that some of us had just paid the fee!  To make matters worse, a couple of riders forgot their cycling shoes and had to improvise.  Thanks to Maria for driving Joe's shoes up to the start line and to Old Town Bicycles in Gig Harbor for supplying pedals and straps to Raf (for free).

Mang Raf riding along the beach views near Southworth

Posing at a dock in Port Orchard

The peninsula ride is scenic - long roads that curve through small towns and beaches of Southworth, Manchester and Port Orchard provided lots of picture taking opportunity - something Mangers love to do.  It had its share of rolling hills and long steady climbs. The course is well marked, although some of us missed a quick right turn and skipped a few of the last miles.  Rarely did we go on busy roads as most of the course was on interior country roads.

Rain and cold eventually gave way to sunshine and even though the sun was out, temperatures stayed in the mid 60's, perfect for climbing (not too hot, not too cold).  We had a slight mishap when Harry's chain skipped the largest cog, causing him to lose balance on a big climb. He got a little bruised but thankfully, no serious injury.  From then on, the shifting on his bike wasn't quite as good - about 15 miles from the finish but he made it back, still managing to climb the last few hills.

Joe had to abandon early on because this was his first attempt at a major ride and cramps took the best of him.  But he had his own little adventure in the island on his own - while lost trying to make shortcuts, he got treated to a party by a nearby church.

It was great riding with Eric again - work and school schedules had made it impossible for him to ride on Saturdays.  Everyone made it back to the start line by 3PM and half an hour later, the Mangers were concluding their day at Applebee's.  As usual, lots of fun bicycling with friends!

Concluding the ride at Applebees