Team Aling Cycles the W.A.V.E.

Team Alings get in on the action!

Among all the rides of the year, the Cycle the W.a.v.e. Ride is probably the most significant.  It may not be the longest nor the most epic nor the most technical nor the most hilly ride.  But it certainly draws attention to the team - specially this year.  Four women from our group plus a friend rode the event while another volunteered for support.  The rest of the Mangs (the guys) and kids provided the cheering section.

CTW is an all women's ride for all cyclist levels designed to bring awareness to the cause of fighting violence against women (Women Against Violence Everywhere).

Team Alings with their support team - Mang!

 It's a fund raiser, too, so for Team Alings to simply ride already contributes to the cause.  The whole team made a splash because we seemed to be the only group where the men, along with their families, were cheering on the women - some of who are themselves victims of violence from the hands of men.

So to see a group of men taking the time and cheering on the fairer sex with no regard for how silly they looked in public is a significant sight.  Both Team Mangs and Team Alings kept getting complimented for their show of unity, camaraderie and friendship throughout the ride.

Team Alings share the same fun loving attitude as
their Team Mang counterparts!

Our Alings rode the 42 mile route while the Mangs provided cheering, cowbells, picture and video support at strategic locations and at the stops.  It was all for a good time but once again, team orange caught the attention of cycling organizers for their positive contribution to the cycling community.  On our way out, one of the sponsors even chased us down to give us freebies that we weren't asking for - because our colors matched theirs.  And we got lots of good feedback from bystanders and other cyclists.

See, Team Mang and Team Aling is not just about cycling - it's about being good friends, being a positive influence on the community and promoting good cycling behavior...all while having fun.

Go Team Aling and Team Mang!

Mangers Finish with Gold at the HPC

Starting the ride with prayer

The High Pass Challenge is one of those epic rides that happens at the latter part of the cycling season, when most riders are conditioned by big-crowd rides like the STP and RSVP. It's a ride that takes them through Gifford Pinchot National Forest, including the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, climbing up a total of 7,500 feet over 57 miles and 3 mountain peaks. Then they have to make it back for a total of 114 miles.

At the starting gate.

They changed the rules for the gold this year - instead of getting a gold based on your time for the whole trip, it's based only on the trip to the halfway point.  Hopefully this will prevent riders from taking too much risks on the descents on the way back just to meet the time cutoff.

The good news is that most of the Mangers did get gold.  Whereas last year, only 3 of them even rode the event, this year, September 7, saw record participation from Team Mang with 11 riders.  Each one had his or her own story about which part of the course they struggled with the most.  It wasn't exactly a walk in the park.  But they all still managed to have fun and take lots of pictures along the way.

Mangers, Alings and the support crew (1) at the top of the mountain - Harry V took the picture.

Kudos to Aling Virna who provided support and Mang Harry Vejano for photo-documenting the event (pics are in Facebook).