Cycling Report 7/1 - 7/7

I shall write in chronological order.

Last Sunday I went up Mt Wilson. As I was going up Angeles Crest highway, I saw a bumper of a mustang hanging off the edge of the cliff. Before long, there were police blocking off the left lane and what looked look flame retardants on a long stretch of the blocked off lane. Then all was well and I continued up the climb. Actually, I can't remember much of that ride since it happened awhile ago (aka 6 days ago). But I can't forget this. While I was descending Mt Wilson, I saw what looked like a huge furry brown dog dashing across the road. Then I realized it was a baby bear! One moment it was crossing the road, the next it was by the foot of the cliff and the next it was climbing the cliff like no tomorrow. I'm surprised they are so fast and so good at climbing. It looked really scared. I was equally scared but also in awe. I was glad that I was descending, because where there is baby bear, there is bound to be a mother bear. If I had been ascending I'd be doing an astonishing 6mph and that would have been a easy chase for the mother bear. Ha, it's ironic cos I go to Yellowstone to see bears without any luck, and now I see a baby bear in my backyard. If I was 2 seconds later I'd have missed it, 2 seconds earlier there would have been a collision - hence it was perfect timing!

This Wednesday I did the backside of GMR with the club. I don't know why they always like to do the backside, I prefer the frontside cos you finish the climb early on. And I really can't feel the grade difference between front and backside. I think I don't have much endurance....after just a short climb, my whole body becomes tired and it just doesn't want to do anything anymore. I have to have strong determination to keep moving at a 'fast' rate. Anyway, I started the ride out with a lady but I soon 'dropped her like a hot potato'. There was also another girl whom I rode with 4 months ago, at that time we were pretty much the same speed. But now I am without a doubt miles ahead of her. However I still can't keep up with the guys - it kills me! Yet, when I was coming back, there was a bunch of guys whom I don't know, but who must have seen me cycling who stated to me 'you are strong.' Hmm I don't think so. If I was a leisure cyclist just doing it for fun, then I'd be fine with my strong performance. But since I want to be serious, I'm not happy at all at my mediocre performance.

Today I did GMR-39 loop with a ride to Mt Baldy village. In total 58 miles. It's one of the hardest rides I've done and it was pretty epic. I started out the usual having parked at the bottom of 39. Soon I reached GMR, the climb was pretty good. I didn't feel very tired and I rested at the top of GMR and used the makeshift restroom. A couple of guys came and they asked me where I'm headed. Once I told them that I'm going up to Baldy village, one of the guys wanted to go too, but didn't succeed in convincing his buddy. That may have actually been a good decision on their part. I happily rode away on GRR. I had about 3/4 bottle of water left and I thought it would be enough till Baldy. Not so! It was HOT. By mile 2, I was already feeling dehydrated and wanting more water but I know that I should be more frugal. By mile 5, I was out of water and not very happy. By mile 6, the cyclists in front of me turned around - I assume they were out of water and didn't want to climb anymore. A thought crept in my head for me to turn around too. It's a descent to the store on E-folk. But I wanted to complete what I started and there was 'only' 6 miles left. So I pedaled on. I was feeling quite sleepy and tried to stay focused. I wondered if I could follow some animals to their water hole. Then I thought about asking some cyclists for water, but I was pretty sure that they were in the same situation. I rode as fast as I could to the water stop at Baldy. The last part was great because it was a descent - but I used all the energy I had left to stay focused. And finally, I reached the water station. Drinking water felt so good. There was a cyclist there who started talking to me, I opened my mouth and realized that I couldn't speak properly anymore from the dehydration. Anyway, he also had the water problem and he and his friends filled up their water bottles at the store on E-folk. That is only 18 miles away! I rode 28 miles on 1l of water....soon his friends came and they were highly dehydrated, they were the guys whom I had passed earlier and thought about asking for water. I'm glad I didn't. One of them said to me 'you passed me so fast like I was standing still' - haha, but they were standing still, they were resting in the shade! I rested about 20min by my water savior. Another cyclist came who wished me a safe ride home - which I really needed because as soon as I got back on the bike, I felt like I wanted to fall asleep again. The fact that it was such a hot day didn't help the slightest. Then as I was descending on E-folk and on 39, wind started to pick up. It was mostly sideways or head on - never tailwind. And it was so strong to the point where I thought it was going to pick me and my bike up along with it. I think my bike at 10.3 kg helped me to stay grounded. In total it took me 4h 44min excluding 30min rest. I think I have burnt 2700 calories from cycling. I consumed 2 cliff bars, a waffle and a powerbar - total 870 calories on top of what I normally eat in one day. It looks like I'm having a negative calorie day. I have to eat more otherwise all this effort would go to waste!!