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| One of our training rides visiting the Newcastle Golf Course after climbing up 164th Ave and Lakemont Drive in Newcastle |
Time passes by so fast when you're having fun. In the past couple of months, Mangs and Alings have been focused on building up their legs and lungs - going on regular Saturday rides to increase their mileage capacity. Rain or shine, they've been circling the area, climbing those hills and building themselves up. In the midst of all that, they've never lost their love of laughter, their passion for cycling and of course, their desire to just hang out. It's also the time for new beginnings and quite a few Mangs find themselves with new equipment. Just in the past couple of months, we've seen a couple of new Carbon rides and Titanium seems to be making a comeback. As they say, the most number of bikes one should have is n + 1.
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| Mangs in the middle of the Highway 520 bridge |
There have been a few cycling-specific events such as the historic Highway 520 Ride when it opened on April 1. Mang Robert and Mang Ron participated on behalf of the team. That's a ride that will probably never happen again as the 520 bridge is now opened to all traffic. Check out the pic of our twin Mangs Ron and Robert on the right as they enjoyed ride with the rest of Cascade Bicycle Club.
April also marks the opening of the Budu Racing Season at the Pacific Raceways in Auburn - a season long series of crits where points are awarded to racers depending on their finishing positions (sometimes per lap). Mang Alex, Mang Boni, Mang Lino and Mang Roland are participating year round, honing their racing chops and developing their speed and endurance each week. Let's give them our support every Tuesday Night as they chase those medals.
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| Mang Boni and Alex challenging the rest of the race crowd |
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| Running for cross training |
Mangs also got busy with other activities like hiking and running, on and off the road. Some of them even participated in organized events for a good cause - such as the Seahawks Run in Renton and the Break The Chains of Human Trafficking Walk/Run in Federal Way. Apparently, running is good cross training for cycling - proof of which is the improved strength and endurance experienced by the runners. We can't just keep training our legs and ignoring the rest of our bodies right? Some of us
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| Mang Raf at the Seahawks Run finish line |
have even put our bikes away for the whole season focusing just on running towards a full marathon - we'll update you on that eventually.
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| Aling Medlyn is the latest winner as of this week |
Something new that we've come up this year is a trophy titled "Mang of the Week" awarded to the Mang or Aling who exemplified awesomeness during the ride. The winner is chosen by vote at the end of the ride and it's usually unanimous. There's no prize money - just some good feelings knowing whatever good deed you did on that ride is being acknowledged by the group. Pictured on the left is Aling Medlyn who proved to be a trooper on our last 70 mile rain and wind ride on the east side.
May has come and gone with each weekend bringing about more adventures around the area. The first weekend in June is the first major ride of the summer - Cascade's Flying Wheels - where the team will attempt to ride over 100 miles for the first time this year. At the same time, a few are daring to do a RAMROD like ride around Mt Rainier for climbing training. After those, there will be a series of training rides every Saturday in June leading up to the Lake Chelan Century challenge, arguably one of the hardest rides of our season. Stay tuned and we'll update you with more stories after that ride.
