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!