Team Mang's Grand (walang) Fondo

The old Seattle Century route - minus 15, plus 15.

Team Mang started its informal fondo tradition two years ago and now on it's third year, we're right on schedule. Two weeks before the STP, we embark on a century-plus ride to cement our preparations for the One-Day STP.   This year, we tackled the original Seattle Century route - rolling out from Renton towards Woodinville, following the Burke-Gilman Trail towards Redmond, up towards Woodinville, Duvall, Carnation and back through Issaquah and Mercer Island through the I-90 trail.  We skipped the Snoqualmie Falls in and out climb due to weather and safety concerns (cutting 15 miles) and opted out of the mileage-adding reverse Mercer Loop (around 9 miles) - choosing instead to just cut through the island.  Still, we were able to complete exactly 100 miles with an elevation climb of over 4,000 feet.

The Novelty Hill climb

The forecast was for 30% chance of rain so it wasn't surprising to be riding in cloudy and wet conditions most of the time.  We had a minor mishap about halfway through the ride when Mang Amor crashed due to slippery roads.  We're thankful that it was only a few bruises and road rash and he'll still be okay for the STP.  Rains actually caught up with us while we were leaving Duvall and it was a wet slog down to Carnation. Fortunately, rains around this time are not as cold and don't cause frozen toes like it does in the Spring.

Mang Jed waited for us at the local Starbucks, bringing some recovery siopao and water. The team took some time there just to let the rains die down.  Thankfully, most of the wet stuff was done within a few minutes.

Most everyone finished the ride with no incident.  We even picked up a strong lone rider - Tony - who hooked up with us somewhere in Redmond and decided to ride with us all the way through the loop back to Seattle.  A few riders peeled off at the eastern end of Mercer island, shaving off about 4 to 5 miles from the total ride.

At the Starbucks in Duvall taking a break.

So that's it! The Team's STP Training series actually concludes with this ride.  From here on and after the STP, we're just riding for maintenance and fun, hoping that we're all in shape for the upcoming summer rides like the RSVP, the Whistler Grand Fondo, the Kitsap Classic and everything else.  Thanks to everyone who participated, helped out, planned rides and provided support from the start of our series in February. It's been a bit grueling, having to train every Saturday, giving up those opportunities to sleep-in or just relax on the weekends. But the 1-day STP is not a ride in the park so it does require dedication, commitment and some amount of sacrifice. And the team was willing to answer the call - we'll see how it all turns out on July 12th.  Good luck to everyone and we'll see you all in Portland!

Lake Chelan challenges Team Mang

On Saturday, June 21, members of Team Mang answered the call of the Lake Chelan Century - a difficult 3-loop ride through the mountains of Eastern Washington. Since I wasn't there, I've asked Aling Virna Roush for a guest blog post.  Here's her take on the ride:

Team Mang and H2Velo - ready for the ride!

The weather was beautiful - sunny and warm (high in the 80’s) at Chelan!  Team Mang & H2Velo were ready to tackle the 1st loop – Manson Loop - 30 miles long with an elevation gain of 2359 ft.  Aling Mag, Aling Lily & Aling Virna hung around the start/finish line area looking for the orange Team Mang jerseys and H2Velo black & white. As they all come in one at a time, Tam Aling cheered and rang the cowbells. Mang Alex forgot to wear the right colors so even though he came in with some of the Mangs, the cheers and cowbells stopped just before he rolled in as the Alings did not recognize him. Hopefully, he’ll have the right color next time…Orange!  Although one of the pics looks like he was being pulled by each team! 

The faster guys finished the 1st loop in 1 hour 45 mins and the rest just shortly after including Mang Eric in his 1st event back after a bike accident on 4/30/14.  It was a valiant effort for him to finish this loop as he is still in recovery stage.

McNeil Canyon Loop, the second of 3, is the ride's penultimate loop.  It is 40.8 miles long with an elevation gain of 4313 ft. The signature climb of the entire ride is McNeil Canyon which is 6 miles long starting at 850 ft and finishing at 3100 ft.  Everyone completed this grueling section and earned a dog tag.  Both teams were doing a brisk pace of 25-27 mph after 45 mph descents from McNeil Canyon.  Most of them finished the loop between 4 hours and 4 and 15 minutes.

Riders enjoying themselves at the after-party!

After the 2nd loop, the guys (and gal) couldn't decide whether or not to complete the 3rd loop.  The main reason - there was a butchered goat waiting to be cooked at the campsite.  Alas, the goat defeated them.  They all decided to cycle back to the campsite and celebrate early. The whole experience was still a great feat! Total distance completed was 81 miles with an elevation gain of 6,778 ft in less than 6 hours for most riders 

The list of Riders from both teams includes Bernard, Ramil, Henry R, Geno, Mark, Mindy, Julius, Freddie, Ferdie, Gat, Eric, Lino, Rene, Alex & Boni.  Way to go Team Mang and H2Velo!

Team Mang's Big Ride Weekend of Suprises

Team Mang at the Flying Wheels start line

The turning of the months between May and June fell on an exact weekend this year.  As luck would have it, 2 major pre-summer rides were scheduled by the cycling community.  On May 31st, Cascade Bicycle Club's Flying Wheels Classic couldn't be missed.  The annual ride takes participants from Marymoor Park towards the east and north east of Seattle's suburbs - Redmond, Duvall, Snohomish, Monroe.  The day after, June 1, Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club held their classic Peninsula Century - a rolling hills ride that goes around the Gig Harbor/Port Orchard area starting and ending at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Both are rides that Team Mang joins annually as part of their training run up to STP.  Some Team Mangs chose to ride both events - with only Mang Cris being able to complete a double century (100 miles both days). Some did a century plus a metric while others only chose to ride one event.  Either way, Team Mang's presence was felt in both occasions. At the Flying Wheels, the announcer couldn't help but mention the team at the start line - looks like we're picking up a reputation for being the fun group!  At the Peninsula, we were visibly the biggest group of riders. And we stuck together most of the time!

Even in the midst of a flat, Mangers are having fun
and laughing...probably at themselves!

Surprises came in the form of reroutes on both rides.  While many of us have done Flying Wheels several times and are familiar with the 65 mile and even the 100 mile route, Cascade modified the routes this year to completely avoid the town of Carnation (probably due to the fiasco last year where residents didn't take too kindly to 3,000 cyclists clogging up their roads on the same day as a Mud Run).  The reroutes added a few more feet of elevation gain to both routes - putting riders into busier streets (highway 202).  Nevertheless, those that rode it had a blast.  Our 65 milers even made it to the finish line so fast that hardly anyone was at the finish line yet when they arrived. Century riders finished with the pack and everyone did pretty well - enjoying the sunny weather and the fellowship of other cyclists.  The beer garden at the end wasn't bad either!

The Peninsula ride started and ended at the
Tacoma Narrows bridge - which offered numerous
photo opportunities

On the Peninsula ride, the surprise came in the form of added hills - lots of it!  Those who contested this route in  previous years were caught by surprise at the amount of hills and not just the amount but the steepness.  It wasn't uncommon to crawl up grades of 17% to 23%...on the first half!  By the time the group reached the first rest stop at the Southworth Ferry terminal, some of us were seriously doubting whether we could actually complete the century. Just before the second stop, after 2 more surprise 17% hills, many of us decided to finish the metric instead of the English century instead. We decided we'd never make it to the finish line by 5PM if we continued.  So at the second rest stop, around mile 45, we parted ways with the 5 determined riders - 3 Mangs, 1 Aling and 1 H2Velo.  

We have to mention these guys -
H2Velo rode with us all the way
and we enjoyed their company!

All of us made it back to the finish - a total of 71 miles with over 5,600 feet of elevation gains. Even our friends from the green team who had done the 100 miler admitted to the difficulty of the course.  One of our team members had a severe mechanical and had to be picked up at mile 80 by the support vehicle. He vows to complete this challenge next year!  A couple of hours after the 71 milers arrived, riders who did the century started trickling in.  Our team members were the last ones on the course - coming in at exactly 5PM. Winded but coming away with a sense of accomplishment, 3 Team Mangs and 1 H2Velo rider were congratulated by those of us who stuck around even after the event organizers had closed shop.

Selfies on the bridge!

Here are the Garmin stats for the 71 milers: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/512126156.  The century riders did more than this - they put in over 8,000 feet of climbing - check them out in the picture below! 

Special credit to the 100 mile Peninsula
finishers who did 8,000 feet of climbing!

We're getting close to the highlight of our summer - the 1-day Seattle to Portland ride in the middle of July and we're building up to it.  A few more weeks of hard training with saddle time and hills and we should be ready for 204 miles.  

The next big ride for the team is our grand (no) fondo on the 28th.  Check back after that day for a recap.