A Classic End of Season Ride at the Kitsap

The cover of the latest Team Mang
album hit - photo courtesy of
Aling Veronica

The Kitsap County Classic, a romp through the rolling hills of north Kitsap county, is the traditional end of season official ride sponsored by Cascade Bicycle Club.  More often than not, it's a rainy ride because of the time of year, but this year's event promised spectacular weather inviting quite a few more riders than usual.  This year, Team Mang and Team Aling represented again. They rode the whole 57 miles (both the Hansville loop and the Port Gamble/Poulsbo loop) in under 4.5 hours including those long winded breaks and around 3,400 feet of elevation gain.

Bike all over the ferry!

As with other rides, Mangs were instantly recognizable and we got those usual compliments and kudos for our fun but brisk (and musical) riding style. One of the riders who rode with us at last year's RSVP actually had his team ride with us while he went on ahead.   It got a little "windy" there for a while.  Yet he couldn't resist hanging with us - I guess we're just a fun group.

Cyclists all over the tarmac on the ferry causing quite a stir
among regular ferry commuters

Averaging around 20 - 21 mph on the flats, the  team members consistently worked together, swapping turns at the front of the pace line to keep the brisk pace.  Sometimes it did seem too fast, though, because the sights were just so good to see and we didn't do too much sightseeing.  Yet we still snapped our customary pictures - go figure!

Both ferry rides to and from Kingston were quite an experience - not that we haven't ridden ferries before but this was another one of those where cyclists simply overwhelmed normal commuters - walking around in spandex, helmets and shoes that clicked on the floor, laying their bikes all over the place.

Mangs at the end of the ride - on the way back to Kingston

 It's always an exercise in psychology when huge numbers of people who are different surround you.  And we saw that with the reaction of some of the commuters, a few who were visibly "terrified" of us - hello, it's not like we're going to run over you with our bikes.  We're more terrified of your cars! A group of teens was also walking around making jokes of cyclists, loud enough to get heard (trying to provoke a response). Cyclists are usually a peaceful bunch, though, and they don't stoop so low as to engage in the negativity.  Maybe it's all that triptophan flowing in their insides because of their workouts that's causing them to be so relaxed.  Thankfully, there were commuters who were just business as usual - just be careful not to run over them cyclists.  I guess someday, we'll be in a world where cyclists are a normal part of the commute where they're afforded the same respect and courtesy as motorized vehicles.  But enough commentary...

The 2014 KCC goes down in the team's books to formally close the cycling season.  Thanks to Aling Veronica and Mang Edgar for promoting the event and getting a lot more of us to join in.  I personally enjoyed the ride.  Weekend rides will still continue in the fall with the goal of just getting our legs spinning and keeping our base healthy - when the weather is good.

Alings Cycle The W.A.V.E...and have fun!

Team Alings still smiling after their CTW rides

Somebody pointed out that throughout the year, our cycling is always focused on the Mangs - their pace, their speed, their routes, their rides.  Well at least once a year, all the focus goes to our sisters, Team Aling, who give us so much support during the year.  Aling Annie serves as the ambassador for the Cycle the W.a.v.e. ride (Women Against Violence Everywhere), a ride to support the programs focused on raising awareness and prevention of domestic violence.
This year, 6 Alings represented, with 2, Aling Veronica and Aling Fatima, doing the "Burly Girl" ride - a 61 mile hilly ride through the east side (Redmond, Issaquah, Bellevue).  4 other Alings did the 14 mile "Little Sister" ride, including 2  who rode this as their first organized ride.  Aling Arlene and Aling Marisa repeated their exploits from previous years, choosing the shorter ride to lend their support to our two newbies - Aling Emily (cycling and Aling's latest recruit) and Aling Christine (who signed up on the day of), both of whom bit the bullet to try their hand at riding on the street with hundreds of other women for the first time.

Mangs and Alings poke fun at themselves at the end

Mangs were present, too, cheering them on at the start line, at the pit stop and at the finish.  The Little Sisters' ride took just a little over an hour so we had lots of time to hang around the festival.  Our burly girls lent support to a couple of newbies, too, so their ride took longer than expected - but we were all there to welcome them at the finish line with all the enthusiasm we can muster.
The team has such a presence in this event that organizers constantly recognized us and approached us thanking us for our support and enthusiasm.  Even the local high school cheerleaders wanted pictures with us (what are we? Celebrities?)  Apparently, our silly pictures are a big help to the event when they approach sponsors (you see these wacky folks?  These are the kind of people who do Cycle the Wave).  And as usual, cyclists give the whole team kudos for bringing our brand of fun and happiness to all cycling events ("Hey, you guys were at the RSVP - we followed you and we got lost...oops").
Great weather, coupled with great sponsors, good food, fun at the finish line festival (how about that Sounders marching band?) and a whole bunch of awesome supportive people pulling for a relevant and important cause (specially these days) make this a truly special event.  Here are a few highlights of the action:

Mangs blast through the Tour de Blast

Sitting around after the climb

They call it the Tour de Blast because it's a ride into the heart of Mount St. Helens' blast zone peaking at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, a little over 4,000 feet above sea level.  From the stories of the Mangs who did it this year, I can understand why - they had a "blast".
With a total climbing effort of around 6,500 feet over three peaks, the way down would be the most enjoyable.  The scenery is breathtaking and the support from the Longview Rotary Club was awesome.
Four Mangs, together with our friends from H2Velo, decided to try their hand at this ride this year.  From all accounts, they all did extremely well, finishing the ride of about 86 miles in about 6 hours - including picture taking at the top, of course.  As with all rides the Mangs participate in, there was no shortage of joking around (at the top of the climbs, of course).

Congratulations, Mang Ferdie, Mang Gat, Mang Rene and Mang Roland for another great showing at another epic ride!  Maybe we'll get more Mangs and Alings to do this next year!

Here's a video of the ride from one of our friends, Eric Tuazon - you see some of the Mangs on their way down the mountain.

Mangs open and close the Whistler Gran Fondo

Most of the Team Mangs rode in to the start line from
Capilano - crossing the Lion's Gate Bridge at 5AM for a
warm up.

Some of us just signed up for a 74 mile ride from Vancouver to Whistler - a cumulative climbing effort of little less than 7,000 feet. Ok, it's going to be difficult, but we should be able to handle it, right? And then we can enjoy Whistler.  But on the day of the packet pickup, someone (yes, you know who you are..wink) convinced the rest of us to upgrade to the 94 mile "Forte" ride - which goes through the same route except it adds a 10 mile, 2,500 foot climb up the Cypress mountain and back.

Team Mangs at the start of the Forte line

The Whistler Gran Fondo is one of those epic rides where locals and semi-pro riders descend into the neighborhood.  Local community and government participation is high - specially since it's a significant economic boost for the resort.  Major arteries, the Highway 1 freeway, and the whole stretch of Highway 99 (Sea-to-Sky Highway) from West Vancouver to Whistler were blocked off to give riders at least one lane (in the case of Highway 1, the whole southbound lane was dedicated to the ride from 6 AM to 11 AM).  Thousands upon thousands of cones to guide traffic and ultra nice and good looking (really!) government workers assisted in waving traffic away from cyclists until around 3 PM.   The organization, crowd support, cooperation from drivers and locals was all superb. This was by far the best road experience Team Mang has ever had...except maybe for the food on the stops (which wasn't much).  But then again, it's not a typical Cascade relaxed ride - it was a fondo...which basically means, you go and race!

The event entourage waiting on our flat tire repair so they can
reopen Cypress Boulevard, an hour and a half behind schedule

We rolled out at around 6:15 AM to the sound of the starting gun.  Even as the announcer made sure to let everyone know it was a neutral start all the way up to around mile 3, it seemed like we were already getting left behind just riding up to Lion's Gate Bridge.   Our fast riders, Mang Boni and Mang Alex kept up with the lead group and kept their race pace on. But the other half (the group I was in) took a more relaxed pace with other riders. It turns out that the unwritten expectation was for Forte riders to be done with the Cypress climb by 8:30. But a few riders and the other half of

At the top of Cypress Mountain

Team Mang were still on a relaxed climbing pace going up the the top by 9AM.  A couple of flats on the way down further delayed the trip.  We actually had the whole event entourage waiting on us do a flat repair just to make sure we were out of the Cypress road before they reopened it to the public.
Racing by ourselves on Highway 1 was a unique experience - as the empty freeway felt eerie and we were a bit embarrassed by the fact that by then, even the fondo (74 mile) riders who had rolled out of the start line 45 minutes after us, had already gone past on the same freeway.   It felt a bit better, though, on the Sea-to-Sky Highway as we slowly started catching up with the tail end of the Fondo group.

Mang Jay cruising along the sealed
off sections of the Sea-to-Sky
Highway

We all went on our own pace - trying to stick together and work together but we eventually all got separated into 3 groups.  A little after we reached Squamish (the start of the long 30 mile climb to Whistler), the lead group of Mang Boni and Mang Alex was only a few miles from the finish, crossing the line around half past 1. The other half of us slogged through, as temps reached the mid 90's.  The consistent rolling hills combined with the heat to drain the second half of the team.  Pit stops on the last half of the ride were abundant - almost every 10 miles - which was good for shade and hydration.  At the last stop - 9 miles from the finish - we all decided to wait for each other...except that the sweeper car was already there! Uh,oh...
So we soldiered on so as not to get swept up.  The lead rider of our group, Cris, finished maybe a half hour before the others, just past 3PM.  Mid pack of the tail end, Mang Jay, Raf and Dondi finished around 3:30 while Mang Harry literally closed the event - leading the sweeper car behind him about 20 minutes later.

Mangs at the Whistler Village after the "race"- From left to right:
Raf, Jojie, Jay, Cris, Alex, Boni, Dondi and Harry

This "race" goes into our history - another event where we represented in front, in the middle (Mang Jojie did the fondo event and finished with a decent time) and at the end - literally.  We may not have gotten great race results but we did get great ride memories! I have to give kudos, of course, to our friends from H2Velo, who were there to race with us - at least with the lead group.  They are an awesome group of riders, too, and awesome to hang out with.
Scratch that off the bucket list...and you can be sure we'll be back next year to do better...or not.

Let's Party all the way to Vancouver, BC!

A few miles from the finish line in Vancouver, BC, Team Mang
just had to stop and take pictures!

Team Mang participates annually in the Ride from Seattle to Vancouver (RSVP - where P stands for Party). This year was no different with no less than 18 riders representing.  Although 188 miles isn't exactly a walk in the park, the fact that this two day, no-pressure ride comes after a 1-day STP and RAMROD makes it feel like a relaxed, take-it-easy kind of ride.
We started out from University of Washington at 7AM on Friday, August 15.  It was an unexpectedly wet ride all the way to Snohomish.  By that time, the group had split into two due to "bathroom" issues.  The lead group proceeded quickly to Arlington and by the time they reached Mount Vernon, they had dropped a few more.  Still, that second group worked together to get to mile 75 in a reasonable amount of time.  The trailing group made their way through the course in a relaxed, but brisk pace, literally singing along the course, even as they passed many riders cruising along at 21mph. 

The buffet detour, 30 miles from
Day 1's finish..was well worth it!

We all regrouped at the Mt. Vernon rest stop by noon.  Half of the group decided they wanted to solider on to Bellingham to end the day early while the other half decided to take a "buffet" detour in the downtown area - $7.99 for an AYCE sumptuous meal was hard to beat, plus it was tradition.  It was hard to continue the ride after that meal...but still, that group managed to cruise on down to Bellingham and arrive by 4:30 (2 hours after the first group) - still singing and head bobbing along the way. 

At the border, just before we were shooed by an angry
border guard

After a nice dinner at Tokyo House and some ice cream at Fred Meyer, we finished the evening with a good night's sleep.  A few hours later, we were on our way to Vancouver, BC on day 2.  We had decided to all stay together so we can finish as a team.  We started out exiting Bellingham at a decent pace until Mang Roland started huffing through at 23 mph - and we all followed.  We still stuck together but as we got closer to Lynden we decided to take the pace down a bit so as not to tire all of us out.  What was the hurry anyway? At the border, it was the shortest crossing ever - less than 5 minutes and we were all through.  That's when we ran into the border crossing guard who probably was having a very bad day (she was not nice at all).

At the Golden Ears Bridge
clowning around

A few miles into British Columbia and we were presented with "the Wall", a short 20% climb that separated all of us.  That wasn't a problem because the first BC rest stop was just a couple of miles away.  We regrouped and from then on, all worked together to stay together, cross the Golden Ears Bridge together and just have fun, cruising together at anywhere from 19 - 21 mph.  We did get hit with a few rain showers, which is why we all still finished with wet shoes, muddy clothing, faces with splatter and grossed out bikes.

At the city limits

A few miles from the finish line, we were going through a modified route from last year and we just had to stop to take pictures of the nice views and surroundings - literally 2 miles from the finish.  Being the silly folks that we are, we managed to get lost and bring a few other RSVP riders with us.  But we eventually found our way back.  We got to the finish line party by 2:30, still at a better time than last year's.  And from then on, it was just party, party, party (see what Team Mang did on the video).  Festivities continued until the evening when we all met up at the Richmond Night Market.  Way to go, Team! Its always a fun time when doing a ride with the Mangs and Alings!

Congratulations on another RSVP fun ride, Team Mang and Team Aling!

Here's a video summary:

Mangs spotted at Hurricane Ridge...

Mang Rene and Mang Boni
at the top of the climb

It's amazing how diverse a group we've become - we've got cyclists who ride for fitness, those who ride for the adventure, tourists who ride on multi-day events, even those that ride a combination of automobile and bike (preferably the car on the hills), and everything else in between.  A few weeks ago, a couple of our Mangs who love to challenge themselves answered the call of the Hurricane Ridge - a 4,800 foot climb stretched over 18 miles starting and ending at Port Angeles, Washington.  It's a unique ride - a majority of which is spent climbing with others participating in the Lavender Festival on August 3 near the Olympic Mountains. Most folks would rather just drive up to take in the scenic views but Mang Boni and Mang Rene chose to "defeat" the mountain and earn those views!  Here's Boni's take on the ride:

Taking in the views mid-way through the ride

"Just 3 days after the RAMROD and legs are not fully recovered yet but somehow at the last minute, I made up my mind in joining Rene on the Hurricane Ridge ride.  I was glad I did!  It was an 18-mile climb with 4767 elevation gain (per my Garmin). Rene and I finished the 36-mile ride in 3 ½ hours. Praise God for the strength, endurance and motivation to finish.  Same as the other event rides Team Mang has participated on, we were recognized at this ride also.  One of the riders made a comment “Your team is on all of the rides, we see you everywhere.”  I can’t help but smile."
- Mang Boni

Mang Rene finishing the climb.

As the team continues to grow in number, diversity and skill, it's becoming more and more of a fixture in the region's official rides. Hopefully, we continue to be a positive influence in our sport.  And every time a Team Mang or Team Aling is recognized for something positive - whether it's a fund raiser or a big ride, we all somehow share collectively in that victory. 

For a non-organized team, we sure are everywhere making a splash - sometimes in big numbers but other times as few as one or 2, still representing!  

Mang Boni took this video clip of their ride to help the rest of us experience it from the comfort of our couch.

Team Mang represents at the RAMROD

RAMROD stands for the Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day - a 168 mile ride (this year) with close to 10,000 feet of climbing.  In the past, only a few Mangs have been able to participate in this epic ride, partly because of its difficulty, happening a couple of weeks after the STP, but also because only 800 riders get selected in a lottery.  This year, a lot more Mangs had the confidence to sign up and quite a  few were selected, including a sole Team Aling - Fatima.  As a result, our team was very well represented in the event and many in the cycling community continue to recognize our jerseys and the joy our community brings to cycling in Washington.

Mang Cris, Roland, Rey, Rene, Gat, Efren and Boni all finished in good time, working together to the end!

Since this author wasn't a participant, I asked those who rode it to share some of their thoughts on the ride.  Here are some quotes from the riders themselves:

"This was my first RAMROD and I had a blast. The team of volunteer and coordinators are awesome. They were everywhere especially in places where road hazards were present; the food was excellent and it's a very well organized ride.
I am happy and proud of this accomplishment  despite my struggle climbing up Cayuse Pass - thanks to Efren, Rene and to Roland for motivating me to keep on pedaling up to the top. My 11/32 is my savior.....And for the rest of the team members - you all rock!
This ride is well represented by Teammang and H2 Velo (Pinoy cyclists); more and more we are being recognized by other riders.  The ride is tough but very rewarding and satisfying; the views are magnificent, especially the part of the route towards Packwood and along WA 410 coming down from Cayuse Pass ... 
Let's ride!"
- Cris Francisco

Mang Josh, Aling Fatima and Mang Raf finished together.

"It was a hard ride but made a little easier by comments by strangers like these -> "Hey Team Mang!  Saw you guys at STP!  Yeah!". This one made me LOLed -> "There's so many of you.  Just how many Team Mangs are there?"  Of course while comments by strangers were boosts, it was the company of TEam MANG, H2Velo, and other friends made along the way that carried me through. Bow."
- Raf Lim

"First of all, the event was well organized…….. Kudos to all d volunteers!
Secondly, I don’t mean to discourage the future riders but the 90 miles of rolling hills, without a doubt, made the ride even harder to climb the Cayuse Pass.   All I can think of is…. “No Pain No Gain”  - The exhaustion, the heat and the slope caused my speed to dropped down to 3.5 mph for the last 4 miles of Cayuse.   But every ascent has descent, therefore, I did enjoy the downhill, twisty roads for 10 miles towards the next stop, where I was reunited with the TeamMang, H2 Velo & Mang Jeff of Trangko for lunch!  After lunch, everything was sore, but knowing that there were no more hills to climb - the last 40+ miles was a joy ride to get to the finish line.   Thank you to Mang Jeff, Mang Rene & Kuya Efren for getting me back on track on the last leg of the route.  It was priceless when I read the “Ramrod Finish” sign, what a great achievement as we crossed that line and received the badge of “RAMROD 2014” and to top it off – a piece of that ice cream!    
Finally, Thanks to Lino for giving me this opportunity and CONGRATULATIONS to all RAMROD riders.
The best is yet to come!"
- Rey Escarez

Another One-Day STP in the books

As luck would have it, the annual northwest heat wave decided to appear on Team Mang's longest ride of the year - the Seattle to Portland Bike ride.  The forecast for the weekend was a high of 92 degrees in Longview, which we had estimated was where we would be during the hottest time of the day.  Of course, air temperature is just relative - the sun on the pavement typically adds another 10 degrees to the temperature.  We proved this theory while in Centralia when signboards all said 80 degrees at around 10:30 AM while our GPS units read 90.  So we actually rode the most difficult parts of the ride in temperatures in the mid 90's to just over 100...whew!

Team Mang at the Kent REI stop

More than half of the team started out from QFC near UW ahead of the official start.  By 4:15 AM, the guys and gals in orange were flying through the streets of Seattle on their way to meet up with the rest of the group at the first stop in Kent.  Just a little before 6 AM, the whole team started their journey together, agreeing to make it a brisk pace with disciplined short breaks to try to beat last year's time and beat the heat.  There were a bunch of first timers, too, and three riders - Mang Eugene, Mang Rudy and Mang Aldwin - were out to conquer the ride after having to abandon early last year due to an accident. Our team was probably the biggest in this year's event - more than 35 by the time we started out from REI in Kent.

Having fun on the ride!

The pace was quick, as expected, through southern King and Pierce Counties.  The team was averaging 19 - 22 mph with other riders on long trains on the way down to Puyallup.  That feared hill didn't really slow us down as much as it did in the past years.  All those hill training rides actually paid off.  The ride towards the half way point was pretty uneventful - cruise, break, cruise.  At the Spanaway stop on mile 54, there were orange jerseys everywhere as the team's paces varied with some taking longer breaks than others and riders leaving just as others were arriving.  Nevertheless, Mangs always found a way to stick with someone wearing the jersey.  We made it to the official halfway point, Centralia, between 10:30 - 10:40 am. The amazing support team was well prepared and had set up shop at an alley beside the local Teriyaki joint.  Lunch was in individualized specialty containers!  As mentioned earlier, temperatures at this time had reached 90 degrees and riders were beginning to feel the heat.  Everyone had their own way of dealing with it - ice in stockings inside their jerseys, special cooling towels, quick "showers".  The idea was to keep hydrated and cool.  We were on our way out of Centralia by 11 AM.

Team Mangs at a rest stop

The second half of the ride would prove to be the most challenging as the first major hill approached.  The thermometer slowly but surely started rising on our way to Napavine and by the time we hit that hill up to the elementary school (mile 115), temperatures were hovering around 95.  Usually, from there, the short ride to Vader is where riders start questioning why they're doing the 1 day in the first place (existential crisis).  Our main support crew had skipped the Vader stop and set up shop at Lexington, but thanks to family members who were following along, the lead riders were refreshed at Vader.  They left before the second group who hung around a bit more to wait for a couple more trailing riders. The Vader break is usually a morale booster, as it was this year, and the break was a big help considering that rolling hills were approaching. 

On the way to Lexington (mile 145), a flat and a broken spoke (requiring a wheel replacement) would further slow the second group, which allowed a third group to catch up.  A fourth group of riders would still be further behind.

The lead group taking a break at Lexington

At Lexington, we took a long awaited break from the sun but had enough discipline to not relax too much. The lead group had already been gone for almost an hour and they reached the last stop - St. Helen - around 5PM.  They weren't all together, of course, and all the way to the end, their train was long.  Towards the last 10 miles, Mang Roland decided to attack with Mang Ferdie and a few others giving chase.  A flat prevented them from catching the guy and he rolled into Portland first around half past 6.  Everyone else in the lead group followed quickly with everyone in that group coming in before 7 pm.  

The secondary group at the Lexington stop

The second big group stuck together all the way to St. Helen and reached that stop just before 6 pm.  This is, of course, the stop-and-take-pictures group.  They're the only Mangs who have a picture of the Longview Bridge as a backdrop.  Just before they left the St. Helen stop, they decided that they'd cruise at 15 mph until the end due to heat weariness.  But adrenaline just kicked in and they slowly started accelerating to 19 - 21 shortly thereafter.  The train grew long, and the tip of that spear crossed the finish line around 7:45 with the tail end crossing around 8:30.

Some of the Team Mangs and Alings the day after
hardly recognizable without their superhero costumes

The support crew waited for the last few riders to come in at the St. Helen stop.  It turns out we did have one more rider abandon due to a broken derailleur. The last of the riders came into the finish past 9 PM.  We're thankful that everyone made it safely to Portland and we had no major incidents.  This was our toughest ride as a group, as most STP riders will attest, not because of the distance or terrain but because of the heat.  That would be the biggest story of the day.  

Team Mang is a diverse group of riders of all abilities and cycling goals.  We have everything from fast tough racers and climbers, to recreational weekend warriors. We respect everyone's right to ride as they see fit. As long as you're willing to hang around with a bunch of happy cyclists, you're welcome in Team Mang!
Here's a video summary:

Mangs and Alings and extended family!

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.

The Rain did not Defeat Us at the Tour de Cure!

One of our riders, Mang Roland, always says, "in regard to your cycling, do not let the rain defeat you!"  Saturday, May 10, was the Tour De Cure ride put together by the American Diabetes Association - a fund raising event to help find a cure for Diabetes.  Most of the region was wet that day - but we all followed Roland's advice and rode anyway in spite of the showers.  With some careful riding, we came away with only a couple of slow crashes along slippery tarmac - some road rash and bruised egos but no serious injury.  The rain did let up eventually and we even got some sunbreaks in the midst of all the clouds.  The cool weather actually made for some ideal climbing conditions along those Redmond hills.  Some of us opted to do 40 miles while the rest attempted 70.  Unfortunately, due to some signage problems, a few of us got lost and ended up doing less than what we signed up for and just making our way back to Chateau Ste Michele in Woodinville. Oh well.

The 70 milers hoping to get into the cover of a Tour De Cure brochure -
expressing their gratitude to their TdC donors.

It was never just about the ride itself anyway.  The whole event was an opportunity for Mangers and Alings to give back to the community by raising funds individually and as a team to help in the efforts to fight Diabetes. Diabetes is a disease that affects at least 26 million Americans including a few Mangers themselves. Our official red rider this day was Mang Aldwin. All of us are connected in some way to someone who is afflicted by the disease. 

Team Mang, through the leadership of Mang Rene, managed to raise the second largest donation amount by a private friend/family group.  As of this writing, the team had raised close to $10,500, with three of our riders entering the VIP fund raiser crowd by raising over $1,300 individually - one even raising over $2,100.  So the whole day itself was just a celebration of our team accomplishment.

The 40 milers and support crew just before the ride.

The day started out with fun and revelry even as the riders were still making their way into the parking lot.  By a little past 7:30 AM, the first group of Mangs had started their journey.  The 40 milers rolled out  around 8:15.  The usual mix of laughter, pseudo-racing, clowning around and pedaling were there throughout both the 70 and the 40 miler adventures. Most had gotten back (completed or lost) by around 1PM when the festivities at the winery were just getting started.  70 milers started returning just a little past 2 pm. The band played fun dance music, sponsor tents handed out giveaway promo materials, LMPs gave free massages and food trucks cooked lunch for everyone (riders got free lunches and non-riders paid - with some proceeds also going towards the cause).  In spite of the rain and messed up directions, team members had a blast doing the ride, getting free massages, sampling wine, eating food truck offerings and hanging out with each other through late afternoon.  We even got special mention from the organizers for our team accomplishment.  None of it would have been possible if not for the donors who gave to our individual riders and to our team.  Special mention goes to Swedish Medical Center for their awesome support of the cause through Team Mang.  So on behalf of the team, we'd like to thank everyone who helped out regardless of the amount.  It all added up!

Team Mang got special mention at the event for their enthusiasm and fund raising excitement!

As usual, many were drawn to the unusual energy brought by the team to the event - a spirit of fun and family, all for a good cause.  In the words of Mang Raf, "Team Mang is good at two things: FUND raising and FUN raising!" Hopefully, we will always bring the spirit of bicycling fun among friends in everything we do.  Here's the video courtesy of Mang Boni and Aling Virna!  Go Team!

 

Tiptoe through the Tulips with Team Mang

The invasion continues as Mangers and Alings traveled north to Skagit county to participate in the annual Tulip Pedal Bicycle Classic on Saturday, April 19.  The event is part of the county's Tulip Festival and features several options of lengths for rides around the tulip fields.  Most of the ride is flat but man...those winds!

Mangers with their "adopted riders"

As with any ride we participate in, there was no shortage of laughs, clowning around and making every situation as fun as we can make it. Don't get us wrong, the ride was actually brutal - most of the riders did the 60 mile ride but with the headwinds constantly pushing against you, that 60 could have easily been 80 with hills!

Mang Raf put it this way, "It was a beautiful route what with all the flowers - planted or cycling - around. The relatively flat terrain was made brutally hilly by the harsh headwinds which at times would turn, naughtily it seemed, to side winds that tried to knock us off our balance. The brief time that it turned to tailwind was a welcome downhill pedaling. Good thing the rain was intermittent with probably a total of just 5 minutes of "daan lang yan" (passing through) rain. "

Mangers clowning around in public...I really dunno
what they're doing...

That Saturday didn't give the region much to celebrate in terms of good weather - most riders were drenched that day but the heavens spared the team and only gave up a few sprinkles in northern Washington during the ride. Special mention goes to Joji's wife, Christine, who used this opportunity to do her first official ride - it's always good news to find out we've got a new (Team) Aling!

The riotous group even attracted the attention of a couple of lady cyclists, Julie and Amber, (see the picture above) who hung out with the crew and wanted to join up for future rides.  Of course, we never got their contact information (if you two ladies are reading this, please contact us again)!  Like we always say, riders of all types are welcome in the "team"...nah, we're not really a team, we're more like a family. Team Mang and Team Aling - always synonymous with a fun time bicycling with friends!