Part 8: William, Pete, Egay, etc

MORE TDF STORIES.

In a bike "race", besides the "main contenders", there are "mini-races" within the race. These are the little competitions that happen in the back of the ride. Sometimes it's a race to make your personal best time. Sometimes it's just to finish the race for the first time. Sometimes it's a race between 2 evenly matched riders.

The following 3 photographs are one of the most interesting. It is a competition for the 8th and 9th position at Mile 10 KOM.

The first photo shows 2 riders sprinting for the KOM line. William(AdoboVelo) is trailing an SFVBC rider, but William is standing on his pedals, while the other is not. (If you know the other rider name, please comment! There's a "pencil" icon at the end of this article to let you comment. You don't need password or registration). Just 5 miles before this photo William had a 30 second lead on this rider. Now he's behind.

The second photo shows William nipping the other rider.

The third photo shows the aftermath.


OSCAR SAGALONGOS (bib number 8)
of the South Bay Wheelmen is a cat 3 SBW racer

He rides the Tuesday and Thursday night crits in Carson/Home Depot Center.



On this ride he broke his rear derailleur cable before rest stop 1, and had to jabandon.



Pete Primavera is one of AdoboVelo's strongest riders. But at the Quail Lake stop (mile # 50), he quits. Correction: He quits, then changes his mind. Here's the story.

At the starting line in the parking lot, Pete is all smiles. You can tell he's still warm.



On Lake Hughes Rd, he's still smiling. The exertion up the hill keeps his core temperature warm.


At the first KOM, he's still good. He even has a little fun with the SAG Volunteers who are pretending like the rowdy fans at the real Tour de France. In the photo below is Pete getting an "assist" from AdoboVelo President Jesse, and cheering from supposedly neutral Tour organizers.


Soon, it starts to get cold. It is windy on Lake Elizabeth Road.

(Below: Pete on Lake Elizabeth Road approaching the picnic area. Photo by Manoling Dionisio)

On a body of water such as a lake, the wind goes greater distances and at higher velocities than over land. So at the SAG stop on Elizabeth Lake picnic area, it is windier and colder than if the rest-stop were in the hills. The common complaint of everyone is the cold. Riders who carry energy gel in their backpockets have to CHEW their gel.

(Below: Lake Elizabeth picnic area. Photo by Manoling Dionisio)

Pete has a cyclist's physique for climbing hills: Slim, with low body fat. No natural insulation.

That presents a problem at Quail Lake, the rest stop at Mile 50. It's a desolate area without trees.

SAG Volunteers wear thick clothing. The temperature must be in the mid-40's.

If you're a cyclist wearing only spandex and light gear, you are meant to be pedalling and generating body heat. But if you stand there long enough doing nothing, your core temperature will drop quickly before you realize it.

This happens to Pete. He has stayed too long.

When I see him at Quail Lake I ask him how the ride is so far. Pete replies "I'm done". He says he's quitting. He is shivering uncontrollably from the terrible cold.

So we put him in a parked SAG car, turn on the heater full blast (engine running of course). Soon he is comfortable.


Much later, he sees some of the lady cyclists get back on their bikes. They are returning to Castaic by bike. No quitting for them!

So Pete is shamed into getting back on the bike, leaving his comfy spot in the front seat of the heated SAG car. He decides he must finish the ride. And so he does.

Jordan Genato has a naturally high hematocrit of 47% (about the same as the pros; Greg Lemond is even asking the UCI to peg the limit at 46%; The UCI limit is 50%). In English, a high hematocrit means more red blood cells to deliver oxygen to the muscles during strenuous exercise. On a short sprint up the hill, Jordan can drop you. But he has a smoking habit. He even smokes right after a ride. And he's very busy (with 2 kids, soccer matches to attend, etc), so it's hard for him to find the time to accumulate base miles. So he has only modest goals on this ride: He'll just bike until he drops. Jordan gets to Three Points, and goes a few miles further. Then he hitches a ride in Ricky's SAG truck.

Time to ride the SAG car

Egay Uyan is strong cyclist, with great upper-body strength. Don't bump into him if you are going elbow-to-elbow on the bike, because you will get thrown off. Below is a photo of Egay pulling a group containing Rosalie. Much later, Rosalie sees him on Pine Canyon Road getting ready to stop. She's surprised he stops to hitch a ride. She asks why? "Because my batteries are dead... You know, the batteries on my iPod are dead. So I can't go on." So Egay does hitch a ride.

The father/son team of Jun and Cupid Grape did the Big Bear TdF in July 2007 but did not complete it. (By the way, to clear some confusion, the dad is "JUN", for Francis Jr. , while the son is Francis IV or "CUPID" because he was born on Valentine's day.) Cupid's goal this time around is to finish. 'Pid starting cycling less than a year ago. Before he was introduced to the AdoboVelos, I first took him to the hills of Glendora: East Fork, Crystal Lake, GMR, Mt Baldy. He loved it. So he trained. He did long rides. He got stronger and stronger. His dad Jun also got into it, lost weight, and got stronger too. This TdF, with 10,000 feet of climbing, would be a good test. 'Pid feels ready.

Below is 'Pid on the 2nd mile of climbing.

At the Mile 10 KOM, Cupid is in 54th position.

Jun is in 85th position at Mile 10 KOM

During the ride, 'Pid feels like abandoning many times. The cold makes it a difficult ride for everyone. 92 riders started the course. Only about 30 finish. 'Pid is one of them. Jun does not finish. He makes a u-turn at Three Points. He hitches a ride along Pine Cyn Rd.

Efren Morales is one of Adobo's strongest climbers. At last year's December TdF he finished 4th (behind Keith, Deo, and Ramon).

Efren crosses the Mile 10 KOM in strong position, at 10th.
His brother Kuya Abe is driving the SAG car. At mile 45, I get the surprise of my life when I see Kuya Abe's car drive by, and in t is Efren. He has leg problems and has to abandon.

Stay tuned for more stories. I have the placings for the other KOMs (the mile 45 KOM and mile 52 KOM) with photos. Also, a look back at the previous TdF's with stories and photos.