No trip down to our old Hesperia stomping grounds in the Mojave Desert is complete without at least one completely windblown day; and this last trip we got a couple of them. But first a little traveling explanation.
Terri and I picked up Oralia in San Ramon at about noon:30 Thursday March 27th and arrived in Hesperia at approximately 11pm. Zack, Dan and Kevin had to work and were delayed getting out of town until nearly 5pm. They all were scheduled to open up the San Dimas Stage Race on Friday with a Time Trial that rolled out Cat3's and Cat2's mid-day.
The bike racers were driving hard straight through down Interstate 5 while the three of us were meandeering across California on several highways because of a required stop in Fresno at Sequoia brewing. Due to several of Zack's races in the area recently Oralia is becoming quite a regular in the Tower District wateringhole and I think she may even be thinking of joining the Pint Club! We filled a couple growlers with IPA and their wonderful pale Ale.
We had all our bikes mounted to Darek's deluxe bike rack which was itself securely attached to Terri's cop car Crown Vic 's receiver hitch. We planned to ride during our four day stay in the cultural wasteland.
Our plan was to ride early in the day and get done in time to attend Zack and Kevins CAT2 races as well as Dan's CAT3 heats; most of which were scheduled at roughly 1pm each day.
Friday morning Terri, Oralia and I made it out by 9am and did a nice 15 mile loop that included nearly 600' of climbing. The girls were cussing me at the time on the hills but by the time we were done they really enjoyed the fact that they pulled through it all pretty well. After eating lunch I went out again and rode to Oggies Brewery in Apple Valley. What a nice day.
Saturday we made it out on time again despite the fact that the Oggies Brewing, Sequoia Brewing and Russian River Brewing products were flowing freely in nice accompaniment to my Moms Friday night gringo taco feed.
This time virtual family member and great friend Ralph joined us on his "Too small for his beer proportioned 6'6" body" Raleigh aluminum framed road bike. To be fair Ralph hasn't ridden in some time and so the plan was to take it as easy on him as his ample ego would allow. But despite our well intentioned plans the local winds had other ideas. By 9am the winds out of the South were all wickin along at what seemed to be in the 15-20mph range.
We all managed to clock 10+ miles that included a brutal slog home into a beast of a head wind on an exposed 1% grade for 3 miles. It wouldn't seem like too much to the seasoned racers we had in the house but to Terri, Oralia and especially Ralph it was a daunting task. They all pushed on through it without so much as a single complaint and frankly I was quite proud of them.
On Sunday it was a whole new ball game. The winds continued to grow in intensity with gusts that the news reported as being in the 40mph range. Terri and Oralia were not interested in riding in those severe wind conditions and frankly I didn't blame them. Ralph and I on the other hand are just a couple old fools dumb enough to give her a go. Especially since Oggies Brewing in Apple Valley is located almost purely downhill and downwind from our starting spot. Mercy.
The very first challenge Ralph and I faced was a 20+% downhill that I went 40+mph on at the start of my solo Friday afternoon ride. I figured there would be a big cross wind about half way down so I kept my speed in check and all the paramedics in Hesperia were glad I did. A gust nearly cleaned me off the bike completely and blew me four feet across the road. Ralph took quick note of it and slowed his speed as well. After that sphincter testing jolt we more carefully picked our way across the old potato lands of the mesa and decided to cross the Mojave river on Rock Springs Road. The generous looking riding shoulder turned out to a hellishly grooved tire shredding mess so we were forced to ride the edge of the well traveled road instead. Just about that time we noticed that the wind was picking up the grit off of the river bed and sandblasting everything that passed that way. Ralph had it in his ears and I swear I was still noticing granules 2 days later sifting around the inside of my helmet. Yes indeed...this was the life...livin the dream. Ultimately of course we made into the Jess Ranch area where we met Terri, loaded the bikes onto the car rack and might have slipped into Oggies for a pitcher or three of Green Flash Imperial.
So ya...it's one of my old favorite sayings but it's so spot on. The wind doesn't blow....it sucks!
Terri and I picked up Oralia in San Ramon at about noon:30 Thursday March 27th and arrived in Hesperia at approximately 11pm. Zack, Dan and Kevin had to work and were delayed getting out of town until nearly 5pm. They all were scheduled to open up the San Dimas Stage Race on Friday with a Time Trial that rolled out Cat3's and Cat2's mid-day.
The bike racers were driving hard straight through down Interstate 5 while the three of us were meandeering across California on several highways because of a required stop in Fresno at Sequoia brewing. Due to several of Zack's races in the area recently Oralia is becoming quite a regular in the Tower District wateringhole and I think she may even be thinking of joining the Pint Club! We filled a couple growlers with IPA and their wonderful pale Ale.
We had all our bikes mounted to Darek's deluxe bike rack which was itself securely attached to Terri's cop car Crown Vic 's receiver hitch. We planned to ride during our four day stay in the cultural wasteland.
Our plan was to ride early in the day and get done in time to attend Zack and Kevins CAT2 races as well as Dan's CAT3 heats; most of which were scheduled at roughly 1pm each day.
Friday morning Terri, Oralia and I made it out by 9am and did a nice 15 mile loop that included nearly 600' of climbing. The girls were cussing me at the time on the hills but by the time we were done they really enjoyed the fact that they pulled through it all pretty well. After eating lunch I went out again and rode to Oggies Brewery in Apple Valley. What a nice day.
Saturday we made it out on time again despite the fact that the Oggies Brewing, Sequoia Brewing and Russian River Brewing products were flowing freely in nice accompaniment to my Moms Friday night gringo taco feed.
This time virtual family member and great friend Ralph joined us on his "Too small for his beer proportioned 6'6" body" Raleigh aluminum framed road bike. To be fair Ralph hasn't ridden in some time and so the plan was to take it as easy on him as his ample ego would allow. But despite our well intentioned plans the local winds had other ideas. By 9am the winds out of the South were all wickin along at what seemed to be in the 15-20mph range.
We all managed to clock 10+ miles that included a brutal slog home into a beast of a head wind on an exposed 1% grade for 3 miles. It wouldn't seem like too much to the seasoned racers we had in the house but to Terri, Oralia and especially Ralph it was a daunting task. They all pushed on through it without so much as a single complaint and frankly I was quite proud of them.
On Sunday it was a whole new ball game. The winds continued to grow in intensity with gusts that the news reported as being in the 40mph range. Terri and Oralia were not interested in riding in those severe wind conditions and frankly I didn't blame them. Ralph and I on the other hand are just a couple old fools dumb enough to give her a go. Especially since Oggies Brewing in Apple Valley is located almost purely downhill and downwind from our starting spot. Mercy.
The very first challenge Ralph and I faced was a 20+% downhill that I went 40+mph on at the start of my solo Friday afternoon ride. I figured there would be a big cross wind about half way down so I kept my speed in check and all the paramedics in Hesperia were glad I did. A gust nearly cleaned me off the bike completely and blew me four feet across the road. Ralph took quick note of it and slowed his speed as well. After that sphincter testing jolt we more carefully picked our way across the old potato lands of the mesa and decided to cross the Mojave river on Rock Springs Road. The generous looking riding shoulder turned out to a hellishly grooved tire shredding mess so we were forced to ride the edge of the well traveled road instead. Just about that time we noticed that the wind was picking up the grit off of the river bed and sandblasting everything that passed that way. Ralph had it in his ears and I swear I was still noticing granules 2 days later sifting around the inside of my helmet. Yes indeed...this was the life...livin the dream. Ultimately of course we made into the Jess Ranch area where we met Terri, loaded the bikes onto the car rack and might have slipped into Oggies for a pitcher or three of Green Flash Imperial.
So ya...it's one of my old favorite sayings but it's so spot on. The wind doesn't blow....it sucks!
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