A Hard but Happy Weekend in July

Mangs at the REI rest stop in Kent

Lots of work went into training, preparation, planning and now it was here – Team Mang’s signature events for the year are in July – the Seattle to Portland Classic and the California Death Ride.  

The team showed up in force for the STP.  Most started at the UW start line but others, for logistical reasons, had to start their official ride at the Kent rest stop 25 miles in, making up for the lost miles with rides from their homes or around the area on the way to the meet.  Kicking off the ride at 6AM from Kent, Mangs quickly made it through the first quarter of the ride through South King County.  A few groups developed, as is natural for a group this size (more than 25) but most everyone stayed with a team member all the way until the JBLM rest stop at mile 55. From there, the trip to Centralia broke up the group into even more. 

The fast riders arrived in Portland
a little past 7PM

The other Mangs crossed the Portland finish line within
seconds of each other, just a little bit past 8PM.

Eventually, all arrived safely at the halfway point at fairly good time.  Lunch at Fuji Teriyaki hit the spot…until it was time to climb the Napavine hill (try that on a full stomach).  By the time we got to Vader, there were some experiencing difficulty – even wanting to give up – but thanks to the always positive and encouraging tone and riding style of the others, we soldiered on even as the fast guys put in at least an hour lead over the rest of the group. The fast guys made it to Portland in record time arriving early after 7 PM while the rest of the group came in just a little bit past 8 PM.  A couple of riders got stuck with mechanical troubles early on and had to spend the night in Longview, but finished it early the day after.  All in all, another fun 1-day STP, 207 miles (or 195, depending on where you started), is now in the Mang history books.  Here's a video summary.

Mang Rene, Gat, Eric and Boni finish 5 passes of the Death
Ride challenge

Four Mangs took to the mountains on the same day – in California, no less. The annual Death Ride challenges participants with 5 mountain peaks over 129 miles and a climbing effort of over 15,000 feet.  Riding with friends from H2Velo, our super climbers also went on their own individual paces.  At the end of the day, though, every single one of them finished all 5 passes, albeit not at the same time.  No doubt the high altitude environment made an impact in terms of breathing difficulty.  Some struggled, others felt it was a breeze, but in the end, they all saw it for what it was – a fun day suffering in the mountains, conquering their demons and meeting their cycling goals.

Mang jerseys and an H2Velo jersey
getting ready for the Death Ride 

Early July tests everyone’s mettle – making sure that all our Winter and Spring training efforts would make a difference.  Team Mang was up for the challenge again this year and hopefully, we will make another memorable summer of it.  A few more official rides are coming up – RAMROD, RSVP, Whistler, Kitsap.  Watch out for us on the roads even as we build up our other half – Team Aling!

Team Mang gets busy for summer

Our awesome Team Aling support
at the Sunrise Climb ride on 6/7

Some of the Mangs who did the
weekend Mt. Rainier climbs

So the team's been keeping itself busy this past June - specially because we're only a few weeks away from the season's major rides.  A cancellation of the Peninsula Challenge gave us the opportunity to do a mountain ride on the first weekend of June.  The team started the day from the bottom of Crystal Mountain road - a 6 mile, 1,500 foot warm up climb to the resort parking lot and then quickly back down.  From there, we turned left and up on Hwy 410 veering right to climb up to the Sunrise visitor Center for a 21 mile climb and almost 3,600 feet of elevation gain. More than half the group was done by the end of that climb but others chose to add another effort to their day. Heading back down to 410, they hung a right to go up to Chinook pass, for another 3,000 feet of climbing.  It was a long day, for sure, but Team Aling was right there, providing support for the Mangs while fund raising for their marquee event in September - the Cycle the Wave Ride.  Want some video? Here you go!

Our century ride took us around our southern areas

The second weekend of June gave us the opportunity to complete another century (which was good for those who didn't do the Flying Wheels ride).  Rolling out from Renton, we basically retraced a combination of some of our previous rides starting with the 15th St Auburn climb, snaking our way through Federal Way via Dash Point.  We added a few more climbs through the Browne's Point neighborhood towards some of the roads we traveled on the May Day Classic through Jovita.  From there, we crossed over to Fife, Puyallup and then to Sumner.  Then what was supposed to be a short lunch break at Subway turned out to be an hour and a half long sit down lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Orting. I suppose you shouldn't be surprised anymore by these food detours (we ride to eat, and eat to ride). The second half of that adventure proved to be challenging (not just because we were stuffed) but because of the heat, the winds and the 1 major climb. We had already lost a few riders before lunch (dropped them on a climb and they missed a turn) and we also suffered a mechanical on one of the bikes. We managed to complete the whole loop from Sumner through South Prairie, Buckley, Enumclaw and back to Renton in approximately 10 hours.

Mangs at the start line of the Chelan Century

Father's Day weekend was a special event ride - the Lake Chelan Century Challenge over in beautiful Chelan county.  It's a 3 loop ride, kicking off from the Don Morse park in Chelan, with each loop averaging about a little over 30 miles.  The first loop was the warm up loop through the town of Manson where in spite of the climbs, we were rewarded with scenic views of orchards, wineries and just big country - mountainous terrain meeting crystal blue lake water.  This was all to prepare us for the marquee loop - the 30 mile McNeil Canyon Climb loop. It was a different type of scenic route, lots of desert and no shade for most of the ride, beginning with 20 miles of wind-breaking pacing before going into the the start of the penultimate climb.  5 miles of grinding away at anywhere from 8 to 13 % grades into some 2,300 feet of elevation at temperatures well above 96 degrees turned out to be quite an effort.  It took all of us around a couple of hours to get to the top, some faster than others, some more painfully than others.  By the time that loop was over, a few of us were done for the day and headed back to our camps/hotels but some continued on to the third loop - for more climbing of more than 2,600 feet over another 30+ miles.  You can catch glimpses of those rides in these videos: Manson Loop and the McNeil Canyon Loop.  Much more than the ride, though, was the sheer fun and enjoyment of just hanging out with each other and our extended cycling families - including H2Velo - while camping at the State Park (let's not talk about almost getting kicked out).  We just have to mention, of course, that those who couldn't make it to Chelan did their own epic mountain ride that Saturday up to Paradise on Mount Rainier.  It's good to know everyone's keeping in tip top shape to get ready for July.

With Gig Harbor beyond the Narrows bridge, these guys
were set to take on the monster hill collection over 99 miles

Finally, we closed out the month and our STP Training Series with another Team Aling supported ride through the Peninsula Century route in Pierce and Kitsap counties.  We dubbed it this year's Team Mang Gran Fondo.  Over 7,300 feet of elevation gain across 99 miles of 95 degree F weather - all for fun. No mountains here, just a ton of steep hills and rolling terrain - which, they'll tell you, is more than enough to drain you!  Everyone who participated (and some who didn't even ride) contributed towards our lone Team Aling rider doing the Obliteride in August - Aling Veronica.  We're so glad to be able to help out with such worthy causes.  Here are a few scenes from this ride.

July is upon us and three major rides, the Seattle to Portland Classic, the California Death Ride and the Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day (RAMROD) towards the end of July will prove whether or not our training was enough. We're confident that it has been and that we'll get to our destinations with time to spare. One thing to note - June has seen an increase in cycling interest among our ladies and a possible growth spurt in the ranks of Team Aling.  Stay tuned next month to  see where this is all heading. We should have a bigger contingent at the Cycle The Wave even this September.  Thanks for all the help and support from friends, family and other teams.  We'll keep riding for fun and friendships and now we also ride for meaningful causes.

Go Team Mang! Go Team Aling!

May closes out with lots of Mang Action

The month of May proved to be another month of action - both in and out of the saddle - for the Mangs and Alings.  As summer starts rolling in, everyone gets busier doing outdoor activities, celebrating graduations, playing with and on water, and of course, more cycling!  Team Mang continues to do training rides on Saturdays but they've started piling up their other days with more get togethers and fun times.

Alings and Mangs having a blast on Lake Union

Twice, this month, Mangs and Alings tried their hands on Dragon Boat - this is a team effort sport relying on paddling strength and speed but more importantly, timing.  Thanks to some coaching from the Flying Dragons Boat Club, we were able to feel how our upper bodies could actually hurt after an activity that's dependent on core strength and movement.  All this time, we've all been using mostly our legs!  Our first experience came on a sunny Sunday afternoon where we did very well, racing twice with another boat filled with beginners.  We won twice.  After nursing a few aching backs with Salonpas and Alieve the day after, we were ready to try our hand at it again.  This time, a cold Monday evening provided us an opportunity to race against the actual Flying Dragons team that's practicing for a competition in July.  Of course, we lost...but we put up a good fight!

Recognize those Mang jerseys?  Ready to race!

In the meantime, Mangs Boni and Alex participated in weekly races at Pacific Raceway in Auburn.  No medals yet but we're confident that that's just a matter of time. Going over 20 mph for 15 miles is pretty hard! We're rooting for you both and we're looking forward to some awards ceremony eventually!

Mangs pose at the finish line aftertheir first century ride

Cascade Club's Flying Wheels Bicycle Ride is the first official road bike ride that the Mangs and Alings participated in this year.  As usual, they didn't go unnoticed.  Records were shattered on this ride as our fastest riders, Mang Boni, Alex and Roland, reportedly finished the century in less than 6 hours!  For most of our team, this was their first opportunity to ride a full century and they all finished in relatively good time. Usually that's an indication that a rider is ready to do a one day Seattle To Portland ride; the only question being how much faster one can get there. There are a couple more major rides planned in the next month so Mangs and Alings can be even more prepared for the July double century.

Representatives of Team Mang at the Champions Dinner

Also on the 30th, the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure put on their Champions Dinner where they honored TdC fund raisers in the region who have raised more than $1,000 for the cause.  Team Mang had the biggest group of champions, thanks to the generous support of friends and family in their fund raising efforts (see April's dinner dance).  The Team is making such a presence in this event that they always get special mention and their own team tent at the actual event.  We'd like to recognize the leadership that Mang Rene provided throughout this effort, culminating in Team Mang bringing in more than $22K for the cause - double what we did last year.  Thanks, Mang Rene!

Mangs and Alings make a good showing at the Tour de Cure

The actual Tour de Cure ride was held on Sunday, the 31st, at Chateau Ste Michelle in Woodinville. The team had made the decision not to ride a long ride on this day in order to take advantage of all that was going on at the site.  Five Alings rode the 25 mile ride while the rest of the Mangs did the 40 mile route. With more than 20 riders total, Team Mang had the biggest group of riders in the event.  No incidents except for the usual rider getting lost in the Snoqualmie Valley (it's what happens when you're going too fast - you miss the turn).  The TdC is proving to be one of the causes that this team is solidly in support of and one of those more meaningful rides of the year.  Thanks to all of our friends and family who supported all our efforts this month!

So June is coming up and we've got more than a couple of major rides planned getting us ready for StP and the Death Ride. Stay tuned to this blog to see what else Team Mang and Team Aling are going to be up to!