Training for May Day Metric - 67 miles

Posing at the viewpoint overlooking Commencement Bay
in Northeast Tacoma (Brown's Point)

On Saturday, April 27, Team Mang did Cascade Bike Club's 3 Points and a Levee route going from Renton to Auburn through the Interurban trail, climbing up to Federal Way, down to Dash Point, Brown's Point and some other point (I could never figure out what that 3rd point is).  Maybe it's the viewpoint overlooking Commencement Bay. From the Cliff House restaurant, they dropped down to the Tacoma Tidal  Flats, crossed I-5 into Fife and rode a bit of the Levee road.  Then they crossed the Puyallup river and cruised into Puyallup for a break at Subway.  From then on, it was just hammering through the flats in Sumner, Auburn, Kent and back to Renton.

At the bridge crossing into Puyallup

Lunch at Subway for the $2.99 special!

As with any ride, Team Mang/Aling spreads the joy of cycling with everyone - we ran into a couple of cyclists who just rode with us for a while, enjoying our company.  Hopefully, they'll join us for future rides.  Another lady approached us from nowhere - saw us riding on the road and probably thought, "Hey, that looks like a fun group." and left us contact info to let them know when our next ride will be.  Maybe she and her husband will join us in the future.

We got a bit separated on the way home with the first group whizzing through, a second group sticking together with Bob's hurting knee and Edgar's flat, and the third group missing a right turn and taking a different route back.  The ride took exactly 7 hours, including those food breaks, regroups and picture taking.  The party concludes, of course, at Pho Hoang in Renton where we were joined by hard working Cris!

Thanks to everyone for joining this ride.

Team Mang lives!

Despite being almost a no-show at Daffodil Classic and almost a 3 week absence from the weekend cycling scene (due to inclement weather), Team Mang is not dead.  They proved today that they are very much alive - representing at the Tulip Pedal Classic in Mount Vernon, at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA and technically even in Singapore, while the rest continued to brave the rain and train locally.

Eric and Veronica at the Tulip Pedal

Veronica and Edgar joined the Skagit County Tulip Festival's official ride, the  60 mile 2013 Tulip Pedal (which actually turned out to be 70 miles with headwinds that could stop you at your tracks according to Veronica).  The course may have been flat but the conditions in the area create deadly headwinds that make you wish you were part of a professional time trial team with their aero bikes, helmets and suits.  Nevertheless,the scenery was gorgeous and the company, as always, enjoyable.

Photo snapped by Eric at the start line of
the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA

Further south, in Monterey, California, Eric participated in the 2013 Sea Otter Classic's gran fondo - a punishing century ride with a 2,000 foot climb at mile 65 (among others).  Despite a flat early in the ride, Eric persisted and finished strong - claiming a victory for Team Mang.

Boni and Virna in Singapore

While not technically on a training ride, accidental honeymooners Boni and Virna actually did a ride of their own while in Singapore. Since they're now skilled in tandeming, it was but natural to rent a tandem and blast through the streets of Singapore...at tourist pace. No reports yet on the mileage or average speed but knowing Boni and Virna, circling the famous city state several times would not have been enough to satisfy their craving for cycling (hehehehe).

The rest of the guys, Dondi, Arlene, Rene, Bong, Cris, Marisa and newbies Aldwin and Rudy braved the Seattle area rain to do the 62 mile Renton to Enumclaw loop.  The distance itself and the weather would have been enough training but the last 12 miles of rolling hills really did a number on all of them.  It was a hard ride but as with any Team Mang ride, it's the company that makes it worth it.

Team Mang hanging out at the Black
Diamond Bakery on the way to
Enumclaw for 62 miles

Here's hoping more of the Team Mangs show up for the coming weeks.  April seems to be a time when the weather gods are confused - so they settle on rain...and on the weekends. The month of May should bring about more sunny weekends and hopefully more consistency in our riding if we hope to all finish the STP victoriously.

Spring is here! Time to ride!

An unplanned stop at the Leschi Starbucks

Team Mang's last major ride was on Saturday, March 23, when we did a 60 mile loop from Renton to UW to Bothell, Woodinville, Redmond, Factoria and back - the typical Lake Washington loop.  It took us 6 hours, but that was because we had a full hour and a half of stops for water, bathroom, coffee.  That Subway stop at Marymoor really slowed us down - a full hour break.  Overall, though, the team did really well, riding an average of 12.5 mph, when you consider a riding time of 4.5 hours over 58 miles.
The weather held up for another week after that but most of the team missed out on spectacular weather over the Easter weekend due to other obligations. This coming weekend, April's first, promises to be a soggy one and once again, we are hindered from enjoying our iron steeds.  Oh, sun! When are you coming back?

Lunch break at Marymoor

Nevertheless,  the first major ride is coming up - the 60 mile Daffodil Classic from Orting to Eatonville and back.  The team did it last year but we didn't all finish strong. As a matter of fact, some of us didn't really enjoy it with its bumpy roads. It was early in the season and it was to be expected. But as with all our rides, the camaraderie kept us all going. This year, it seems like we're behind schedule - a week into April and some of us have barely ridden our steeds. Turns out, there are so many other things in life (who knew?). So we're taking every opportunity to condition our lungs and our legs.  The closer we get to summer, the harder it will be to start getting serious with training - specially for the one day ride.

So to all Team Mangers out there - let's get going!  After the Daffodil Classic, some of us are doing the Tulip Pedal in Mount Vernon - that's a flat 60 with more focus on the scenery than on the training. That's okay, as long as we're pedaling.  After that, all our rides will be either very hilly or over 50 miles - the Hills of South King County, the Enumclaw loop, the Puyallup/Fife loop, the 7 Hills of Kirkland, the May Day metric and before you know it - we'll be doing the hilly Peninsula metric (64 miles) less than a week before our first century ride - Flying Wheels.

Whew...just thinking about all of this tires me out...but we're shooting for it.