second annual pedal off for 50 miles

click this map to be linked for more information
p.s. i forget to start my cyclo computer in 1 mile later from the beginning
missing 1 mile + 49 miles = 50 miles total

elevation

speed & elevation

heart rate

cuong testimonials

when 10 c4ers of us were ready to roll out together in big group. xavier & alex g were only the shined knight to ride their mountain bikes. the rest of us rode the road bikes. alex z led to ride with alex g & xavier together in 25 miles route. kathryn j led to ride with other 6 c4ers on our road bikes in 50 miles route.

riding about 5 miles, my heart rate (bpm) went higher about 165 bmp which is not good sign for my weak fitness in the beginning. i felt like i almost consider to quit and to drop. i decided to continue riding behind howie's rear wheel in order to match his easy pace to help me to recover myself better by cool off my heart down. yeah, i was last person to ride there. thank howie for being my pacemaker.

kathryn gave the direction & map to xavier and alex g so they both can enjoyed the independence in their comfort pace on the mountain bikes in 25 miles route. alex z on his road bike joined to ride with us in our 50 miles routes.

i am last person to arrive in half way in afton to stop and to rest for refuel. after i observed that mark and chet did order the roasted bagels, i started to worry that i will be smoked by them when we will ride to climb up the longest hill in afton. i decided to order the bagel myself to make sure i could be able to keep up with them.

i jumped to ride with alex z, kathryn, shanada s when they were ready to leave little early without waiting for chet v, mark s, chris s & howie v because we know they will catch up with us on top of hills later. oh holy smoke, harley davidson motorcycles began to line up on full lane to prevent us which we were unable to move across the lane to get on right shoulder. we had no choice but end up in wrong lane. the harley davidson motorcycles were about over 200 total but half of 200 h.d. that we were able to budget break up the line across the lane to get on right shoulder finally.

unfortunately, we could felt so loud & vibration from harley davidson bikers passed us to screw up our rhythm of cadence (pedaling). four of us worked hard to climb up the first longest hill. i was last person to be smoked by alex, shanada & kathryn to climb up but i plead guilt to enjoy looking at their nice butts in order to try forget my crying and pain in my legs.

shanada & kathryn did stop for regroup so kathryn could escort us together. honest, they did me a favor for my sake to recover myself. my heart rate on chart has spoken the truth that my heart worked hard to keep up with them. alex waited for us to get together in regroup then we were puzzled that chet, chris, howie & mark did not catch up with us. alex had to go back to make sure everything is alright with others 4 c4ers. kathryn, shanada and i continued without him.

kathryn asked me if i am game for the ramsey street. i had bad flashback to hear of a story about mark & chet who had bad cramp from climbing that same steepest hill on ramsey street in st. paul after rode hills in afton last year. three of us did go for the ramsey street hill together. guess what, we made it without cramp. whew! i don't know about the rest of others c4ers but this last steepest hill brought the pride in us after we pedal off our butts harder. i noticed that shanada and kathryn have the recovery abilities. i didn't have the ability to recover after the hard climbing but it was worth.

xavier and alex g on mountain bikes were already arriving there early before us. thank them for being patient and wait for us so we all can be gathered to enjoy our chat.

the bottom is that they all are ready for ironman in their good fitness.

cuong aka buzz

------

last year 2008 for first annual pedal off was 5 c4ers who rode and one c4er who could not make it to ride but did attend to the post-ride sandwich:

alex z (rode & stayed as host for sandwich)
chet v (rode)
cuong n (rode & stayed for sandwich)
jeff a (rode & stayed for sandwich)
mark s (rode)
kelvin h (attended for sandwich)
kathryn j (stayed as host)

------

this year 2009 for second annual pedal off was 10 c4ers who rode and three c4ers who could not make it to ride but did attend to the post-ride bbq:

alex g (rode & waited a while)
alex z (rode & stayed as host for bbq)
chet v (rode)
chris s (rode & stayed for bbq)
cuong n (rode & stayed for bbq)
howie v (rode & stayed for bbq)
kathryn j (rode & stayed as host for bbq)
mark s (rode)
shanada s (rode)
xavier a (rode & waited a while)
anne g (attended for bbq)
jim c (attended for bbq)
ronda m (attended for bbq)

------

wow, c4ers are expanded in twice than last year. the more the merrier!

would you like to share your stories with us about your own experience from pedal off. please e-mail me your article and i will post yours on this blog.

many thanks to alex z and kathryn j for being great host to c4ers and excellent foods & drinks. many thanks to everyone who were able to join riding with us for pedal off and able to attend chatting with us for post-ride bbq. many thanks to pro babysitter who looked after children while parent are able to enjoying riding and get a big time-out from kids. lol, right? we do miss you who could not make it to ride or to attend the post-ride bbq but hope you will enjoy reading this blogs that you are in our c4 hearts wherever you are. see you there at the ironman.

cuong aka buzz