Hey John, it's good that you came as it introduced you to some FANTASTIC trails, but also got you thinking about using your bike differently. These rides are mostly social, but for myself, I HUGELY like seeing different places in SoCal that I've never been. And yeah, part of it is an advocacy issue: I LOVE having seeing people get out on their bikes and using them in places they never thought they could take "that" bike. Pretty cool!
Now the trick is to find out what went wrong with those legs! You said you felt plenty strong and aerobic, but cramps. So figure that out and you'll be good. Then have fun on the downhills!!! On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 8:22 PM, John Vu <j...@jhvu.com> wrote: > Great ride, and that's coming from The Cramper himself! This was my > first off-road ride that was longer than a mile and I learned a lot! > Thanks to everyone for being nice and incredibly patient. It was all > worth it for the great company and the crisp, clear vistas and the > nice paved descents down the bailout point at Entrada and Topanga > Canyon. > > I was most afraid of crashing on descents and for some kind of bike > failure, but I evaded those. The trail was in great shape and I've > gotten a bit more confident descending. But the extended periods of > spinning did me in. I just don't ride that like ever, having a fairly > flat commute with good bus lines that I've been taking perhaps too > often. > > Maybe I need a triple after all. I also think I need a second water > bottle, I went dry right after the bailout point and was happy to see > the general store on Topanga. And you can bet that I'll be riding the > bike more and taking the bus less. There will be some more spinning, > for sure. > > > On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 9:57 PM, cyclotourist <cyclotour...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Eric, I read your post while I was running out the door this morning. > Just a > > touch different over here, low 70's, breezy, sunny. No IPA though. > > > > For the record, we started off with 10 riders in Santa Monica. Lost one > > going up Westridge. Damn that's a climb and a half! Pretty close to > losing > > another due to leg cramps. A flat tire expertly repaired. One wipe out > on > > a downhill sweeper. Three folks had to leave early and took Topanga Cyn. > > down the hill (we could see you from the ridge!) Hopefully good times > had > > by all. Especially as we had a few folks from San Diego in the south, > > Ventura in the north, and Redlands out to the east. As always, real good > > people that made the day really enjoyable. And yes, we had the requisite > > bearded guy on an Atlantis, even though Doug couldn't make it! > > > > My legs were particularly dead and I struggled a bit. Will probably have > > sore forearms and maybe neck tomorrow, maybe ITB as well. > > > > And yes, dinner at Bay Cities, although my ride and I had to split a bit > > early. > > > > And as always, the proof is in the pictures: > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclotourist/sets/72157625454132801/ > > -- > John Huan Vu > Los Angeles, Calif. > j...@jhvu.com > http://www.jhvu.com/ > -- Cheers, David Redlands, CA *...in terms of recreational cycling there are many riders who would probably benefit more from improving their taste than from improving their performance.* - RTMS -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
