Women of the Tour de Francis Stage 2 (May 2008)

Did we say this course was pretty, with great scenery?

Among the many reasons, is the presence of women cyclists.

(Above photo: OK, guilty, I shamelessly put this gratuitous and totally unnecessary photo. Credits: pezcycling.com's "Daily Distractions")

Road cycling seems to be a male-dominated activity. Having women on the course is a treat to the organizers and other riders.

(Photo: Regina and beau Gerald)

The boys like having them around, simple as that.

I don't know if you notice, but the boys get protective of the women cyclists. It's a primal instinct.

(Photo: Maria at Mile 20)









The TDF does not have the budget for "Porta-Potties" along the course.

Not having them is an inconvenience and disadvantage for the women (whether volunteers or riders). (The boys just do their business anytime anywhere.)

(Photo: That's me holding the door, and my breath, at the L.A. River Ride 2005)

But despite having to "rough it out", the women come to the TDF anyway. The boys are grateful.

Here are the WOMEN OF THE TDF. Six women. They all completed the entire course. Props to them.

Adobo's very own Rosalie (bib# 122) wearing the Hammer kit was all smiles from beginning to end. What else would you expect from this whirlpool of energy.

Rosalie

Cathy (bib # 89) wearing the knickers is not new to TDF. I think I remember her at the Big Bear and Castaic rides. She finished very strong, beating riders younger than her. Wow. She puts on the pressure.

Cathy

Desi (bib # 108) wearing the MTB knickers and fanny pack is a dedicated mountain biker (and only an occasional roadie). She tagged along with coworker (and co-MTB'ers) Manny Amit and Shawn . We saw her in the last group going up at the last hill at mile # 85. She was spent, but never complained one bit. What a trooper.

Desi

Edina (bib # 151) wearing the seafoam green jersey is a student (not sure if college or masters), who was too busy with papers and exams to train properly for a hilly century. She seemed to have a lot on her mind. She did well on this ride anyway. Very admirable example for us all.

Edina

Maria (bib # 116) wearing the OC REBEL jersey (or mint green windbreaker) has the light physique of a roadie. She did quite well too.

Maria

Mary Elizabeth in the sky-blue Trek is a "frequent flier" on the TDF. She's done a few double-centuries. She'll cuss and rage at Francis's evil genius as she suffers up the hills, but it's all in jest. You can tell she enjoys these epic rides that challenge her limits. When she arrived at the finish all her biker friends from SoCalBikeForum and Adobo gave her a very warm reception at the parking lot. She has a lot of loyal friends in the cycling community. Way to go M.E. !

Mary Elizabeth (more popularly known as "M.E.")

Personal growth

We now have had several consistent TDF's. They have been "brutal". We did Castaic twice (Dec 2006 and Dec 2007), Balcom Cyn twice (Feb 2007 and Feb 2008), Big Bear in July 2007, and now Frazier Park in May 2008.

WHY DO WE DO THIS? It's a question my relatives and friends always ask. We all have our own personal reasons.

The beauty of the Tour de Francis is that it brings all levels of cyclists together in one epic ride. The Tour de Francis has a reputation of challenging (actually, "brutal" is a more apt description for us mere "weekend" athletes).

Nothing is more satisfying than a hard-fought "victory", whether it's (A) finishing among the front, or (B) being in the middle but besting someone else in a "mini-race", or (C) being in the back but besting your own personal record, or (D) the entire ride being on the brink of quitting, and simply just willing yourself to the finish line after utterly depleting your physical and mental reserves.

In that sentence we just described 4 kinds of accomplishments, 4 kinds of cyclists, all equally deserving of recognition.

There were riders way in the back who had big smiles, despite the suffering, because they knew the enormity of their accomplishment.

And in the middle, we witnessed riders in groups. Each group was its own mini-race. That was fun to watch too.

Then there were the top athletes. To make it simple, let's consider the 4 front runners we witnessed racing to the top of Heartbreak.

Deo and Raffy reached the top together, mano-a-mano.


Pete was next (1 min 10 sec gap).


Following him was Henry (45 secs, but my camera jammed, sorry Henry) and "Agent Al" 4 secs later (I think that's him. If I'm wrong someone will let me know), then Glen, Mike, Reggie.

Being a top athlete like those guys requires 2 things: "potential" and "training".

Potential is something you're born with, e.g., naturally high hemtocrit (red blood cell count), low resting heart rate, large lung capacity, etc. Training is your plain hard work. It is what separates you from another person with exactly the same natural potential; The one who trains more, wins. The one who trains less, does not reach full potential.

The photo below is the elite group on the way to heartbreak. Notice the "Orange Crush" (those MMCC jerseys, they always come out to play!). In this elite group were 4 MMCC (Raffy, Reggie, Al and Mike), 3 Adobo (Deo, Pete and Henry), and 1 Sta Clarita (Glen Berdin).


Here below, Pete was trying to put a time gap before reaching the hills. Deo and Raffy pulled him back. The rest in that lead pack were Henry, Al, Mike, and Glen.


Those riders who raced to to top of heartbreak were simply awe-inspiring to watch. They were born with "potential." But that's not enough. If you don't train, you don't achieve your destiny. These top athletes trained hard to acheive their full potential. We must give them props.

15 miles prior to hearbreak, at mile 54 (pistachhio store) the lead group took a break.

They's still laughing and joking. Not all of them joined the heartbreak breakaway.



For "edutainment" let's digress a little bit on the topic of hematocrit (red blood cell count). In case you were absent from biology class that day, Red blood cells carry oxygen. The more you got, the easier it is to deliver oxygen to your cells. Reference range for hematocrit is 30 to 50, meaning, if you have 30 or lower, you are seriously anemic, and if you have 51 or more, you are automatically suspected of doping.

In truth, there are people who naturally have 51 or higher hematocrit. My own brother Jordan has 51 hematocrit, smokes Marlboros. I train twice as much and don't smoke, and I'll still lose to him going up Glendora Mountain Road (10 miles, 5% avg gradient) because my hematocrit is a crummy 38, and my resting heart rate is too high at 80 BPM. That's really lousy "potential".

So you see, you need "potential". You also need training. Jan Ulrich (one of my fave cyclists even to this day) had greater potential than Lance (another fave). But when Jan was night-clubbing and getting fat in the winter, Lance was training in the Alps. The results speak for themselves.

If you don't have "potential", you can raise it artificially (illegally) by doping. As you all know, dopers can raise their hematocrit by either taking EPO (a wonder medicine for recovering cancer patients whose RBC is depleted from chemo), or taking blood transfusions.

Either way, if done improperly, it can result in your blood getting too THICK. Guess what happens when blood is too thick: It's harder to pass through the veins, so the heart has to pump extra harder. That's like your heart working as hard as if you were climbing GMR, while you are asleep. That can result in death while you're asleep.

Unsupervised dopers who overdose on EPO have to take HEPARIN ( a blood thinner) when they feel their blood getting too thick.

Anyway, back to the topic of the four kinds of cyclists at the TDF. So let's say you have only average potential (or crummy, like mine).

No problem.

We can still make it fun. Whatever you are, whether it's top athlete, average, crummy, or barely making the cut-off time, you should carry on anyway. Train to reach your full potential, whatever that level is.

The TDF is there to TEST and CHALLENGE you. When the TDF is on the calendar, it makes you get up in the morning to train even in miserable weather. It makes you put in the miles.

It makes you pimp up your ride. It makes you come to the parking lot to join other cyclists for the camaraderie.

And in so doing, you achieve personal growth.

"The key to climbing a mountain, is to watch the pretty flowers along the way." Francis said that (in Tagalog) while we were climbing Angeles Crest Hwy in April. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. I didn't see any flowers. One of these days he will tell us what he means.

When doing the TDF, best to say a prayer. Francis makes it tough (or should we say, tougher and tougher).

By now riders, organizers, and volunteers of the Tour de Francis (photos here & here) have gotten used to the idea of it being an epic event: a large cast of participants, covering lot of distance, over the entire day, and offering a full gamut of emotions, from joy to pain, from defeat to victory.

It will take a lot of story-telling to do it justice.

On the one hand, there are the awesome exploits of the natural (and trained) athletes who "ride in front". Below are Deo (Adobo) and Raffy (MMCC) climbing "heartbreak", putting in serious time gaps on the field.
That aerial shot is not from a chopper, but from the top of heartbreak, like where Vince is positioned in the photo below.

On the other end of the spectrum, there's the utter desperation of less-gifted riders who "hang way, way, in the back", but persevere for no other glory than to say "I finished the ride". Below is Desi arriving at Mile 20 over half an hour after the first rider. She's a mountain biker (and only occasional "roadie"). She finished the entire course, by the way.


Below, at Mile 50, are some of the front riders.


So here, I will tell their stories, little by little. But first, we should all agree it's a really very pretty route. For example, here at Mile 68 a clear and cool stream crosses the road.


Here's Mile 30, in the hills of Los Padres Nat'l Forest.

More to come

Century rides getting attention in the New York Times

There's a May 2008 New York Times article on century rides in Northern California.

An excerpt... "Over the years the refreshments served by century ride organizers at rest stops have become a source of heated competition. Some rides are epicurean, some are organic, some offer complete feasts, and at the bottom of the heap are the rides that provide the meager PowerBar and Gatorade."

More excerpts... "You can take all day to ride a century, or you can ride it like a race. There is always a crowd that rides at “race pace,” and it’s fun to hop on the back of a pack of 10 or 15 riders that comes buzzing by at 20 miles an hour or more."

"As you get older, the hardest part of riding centuries is getting going again after standing around for 20 minutes."

There's also a May 2008 New York Times article on L'Etape ("The Stage"), an organized bike ride (open to the public but you have to pay) using a route on an actual stage of the Tour de France. Here's an excerpt: ... "the organizers of the Tour de France are kind enough to allow anyone with a bike to take a shot at riding the whole length of a single, mountain stage during each year’s Tour. This annual event is actually a timed race called "L'Etape", which sets 8,000 cyclists loose on one of the hardest segments of each year’s course, just a few days before the actual Tour de France."

And there's a Blog about the "legends of the Tourmalet". (12 miles, 7% - 9% gradients).

Here's an excerpt... " the man they call ‘the father of the mountains’ recconnoitred the Tourmalet by car (in 1910, almost a century ago). Halted by a snowbank at 6pm (and still 4 km below the peak), he told his driver to head back. Then, in his town shoes, he set off alone on foot, following the poles marking the road under the snow. Night fell. He slogged on to the gendarmerie in Barèges and, when he had recovered, telegraphed Desgrange (the Tour Director) in Paris: ‘Tourmalet crossed. Very good road. Perfectly practicable. "

"The first man across the col in 1910, Octave ‘Curly’ Lapize, walked part of the way. Half an hour behind him came Gustave Garrigou, (winner the following year), who didn’t dismount once."

Report-May 17 2008 Scouting Ride

Some people like to sit and admire a mountain. The crazy ones will climb it on a bicycle.

If you like to test your fitness, and have fun doing it, this.is a great route to do that , because the roads are well paved, the scenery is spectacular, and the traffic is bare (except for the first 10 miles because there's a village there). It's the same route as the Heartbreak Hundred ride (the one operated by PlanetUltra on May 24th 2008). There's a lot of climbing (8,500 feet), but also a lot of straight flat roads in between the hills. Even a crummy rider like me finished this ride today, May 17th. And how crummy am I? Well, I was 7th from LAST place among the 427 finishers at the May 3rd Breathless Agony two weeks ago.

May 17th, Frazier Park: The day started interestingly. No one knew him, this guy who parked his pickup truck next to us in the empty parking lot. He had nice expensive bike in the back of his truck. He seemed fit and ready for a long ride. "Where's the registration table for the Heartbreak Ride? " he asked. He thought we were riding the Heartbreak Hundred. "But that's NEXT week", we told him. "You're a week too early." His expression was a mixture of confusion and dejection. He told us he had driven from Simi Valley. So, to salvage his day, we invited him to join us. His name was Nick. He was a nice guy, a friendly sort.

So we were 6 riders in total: Francis Ignacio, Pete Primavera, William Aligue, Allan Messara, myself..., and our new friend Nick. At the very last moment Ricky Herrerra volunteered to SAG for us (thankfully), otherwise we would run out of water in this heat. He would drive my CRV. Allan and William graciously chipped in for gas. Nick donated his 3 gallons of water to add to our 3 gallons (we consumed all of it, by the way). Francis had brought sandwiches and gatorade. Ricky had a big cooler of ice and water. I brought groceries (sodas, V8, crackers, gatorade, M&Ms, bananas, etc.) We had everything. So off we went, with Ricky following us in the SAG car. It was like an expedition. Sounds like fun? It was a blast.

Right away, the first 20 miles is a gentle climb into the forest of Mount Pinos. (Better to have most of the climbing done in the beginning, than in the end.) No cactus or desert plants in these hills. Only pine forests. The air is cool. Elevation: 6,000 feet. You might spot some coyotes. They are afraid of humans, but not cyclists. (Just joking, they're afraid of us too.)

(I "borrowed" these photos from westcoastroads.com)

The 5/31/08 TDF will have a water-refill table at mile 12, and a fully-stocked reststop at Mile 20.

The next 25-mile stretch has lots of rollers at the beginning, but then it's mostly downhill into the other side of Mount Pinos. On the way down into the valley, you will notice the pine forest has thinned out, but the view is still spectacular.

Los Padres Nat'l Forest.

The vegetation is dry, a reminder that California could not have become an agricultural powerhouse on native weather alone: Water had to be diverted from Nevada and Colorado using man-made aqueducts.

At Mile # 41 you hang a LEFT on Hwy 166 , then after 4.5 miles hang another LEFT onto Hwy 33. It's Mile # 46. You have conquered half the distance and 5,500 feet of climbing (roughly equivalent to going up GMR twice). Somehow you are still fresh. It's not yet noon.

Hwy 33 is long and dry

At the start of Hwy 33 (Mile # 46), make sure your water bottles are full, and hydrate well on this stretch.

Highway 33 (Ventucopa)

The highway goes for 21 miles straight and flat, with some rollers at the end. The black asphalt is new. The environment is dry. There are orchards and farms (thanks to drip-irrigation).

Lunch is at Mile # 67, the junction of Hwy 33 and Lockwood Valley Rd.

Mile 67 (Junction Hwy 33 & Lockwood Valley Rd)

You're now covered 2/3d's the distance. What follows is Heartbreak. The peak is 10 miles away. It starts gently, then becomes difficult near the peak. This is where Pete, William, and Nick had their "competition" going. The young guy won, but the old stalwarts were not far behind.

Heartbreak starts gently

There's even water run-offs in the month of May

View from Heartbreak

Mile # 77 is the peak. Then it's 5 miles of rollers, then finally, RELIEF at Mile # 82. After that you are "basically" home free, downhilling.

So, to recap: You just need to haul your sorry little ass to Mile # 77 (top of Heartbreak), then drag it across some rollers to Mile # 82. After that it's all downhill except for a 4-mile gentle climb at Mile 88.

Scouting Ride for TdF Frazier Park

It's free. It's fun. It's tough. It's fully SAG'd. (Did I say it's free?). It's back.

The latest edition of the Tour de Francis will be at Frazier Park (a new route) on May 31. The clubs that battled for supremacy last December are back to reprise their friendly rivalry: SFVBC (San Fernando) , MMCC (the orange boys of Mira Mesa) , and of course AdoboVelo. Of course there are other clubs represented.

The scenery is simply spectacular:
Photo credit: I "stole" these beautiful photos from Bernd Strahle's cycling blog La Vuelta

Below is a photo "heartbreak" hill. (That's Bernd Strahle climbing the hill). It's on Mile 80.

This is a new route for AdoboVelos (but it's familiar to anyone who has ridden PlanetUltra's "Heartbreak One-Hundred").

On May 17th, we'll do a "scouting" ride of the exact route, self-supported (no SAG support car) with tour director Francis Ignacio and other riders (Allan Messara, William Aligue, Ricky Herrera, myself). We'll give you a report after the ride. By the way, PlanetUltra will hold its Heartbreak Hundred on May 24th! So it will be a "busy" route in the next 3 weeks.

Cycling routes can be categorized into 3 types: "out-and-then-back" or "roundtrip" (where the trip back to the starting line is a re-tracing of the trip out), "loop" (where you do not go over the same roads on the return trip back to the starting line; You cannot U-Turn to shorten the ride), and "A-to-B" (where the Finish line is a different city from the Starting line, just like a Stage in Tour de France).

This new route is a loop. That means if there's no SAG cars and you get tired, you cannot just make a U-turn to shorten the ride. You have to complete the ride.

It is 100 miles long, with 8,500 feet of total climbing. In comparison, here's how it stacks up with other TdF's and popular AdoboVelo routes. It's easier than Castaic TdF, a little tougher than the Big Bear TdF.

Castaic TdF , 100 miles, 9,500 feet total climbing
Big Bear TdF, 76 miles, 6,500 feet total climbing
Balcom Cyn TdF, 80 miles, 1,000 feet total climbing
Dana Pointe, 80 miles, flat + rollers
East Fork, 80 miles, flat + rollers
Mt Baldy, 60 miles, 5,500 feet total climbing
Mt Wilson/Upper Tujunga, 60 Miles, 6,000 feet total climbing
Breathless Agony, 112 miles, 12,000 feet total climbing

We'll give you a scouting report when we're done.

“Some people like to climb a mountain. Others like to sit down and look at it.”

Deo Asuncion: 1984 Olympics & 1982 Asian Games

Deo Asuncion, AdoboVelo's very own Olympics member and Asian Games medalist

When Americans who are of Italian descent watch Olympic games, sometime they wave Italian flags along with the US flag. It's fun. American-Germans do that too. So do American Swedes, American-Armenians. And so on and so forth.

So there's nothing unusual about American-Filipinos of the Adobovelo club waving the Philippine flag at competitions held in Los Angeles. They're proud of their heritage.

The Philippine government has bigger priorities than supporting its athletes at world competitions.

So, with a limited budget for sports teams, the Philippines must be very selective about which athletes it sends to the Olympics, Asian Games, and other world-class competitions.

And even then, the chosen athletes frequently must self-finance things like equipment and food, or find private benefactors.

Sometimes they borrow equipment to train. Simply put, the odds are stacked against the Philippine athlete.

Yet, they persevere.

At the Olympics or Asian Games, the Philippine government does not field a full slate at every event. It does not field just any Filipino athlete that has a gold medal at a local track meet. It must choose events where the athlete is at a world-class level.

So, merely being chosen on the Philippine Team roster for the Olympics or Asian Games is a big accomplishment by itself. Such is an honor held by AdoboVelo's own DEO ASUNCION.

At the 1982 Asian Games held at New Delhi, the Philippine Cycling Team fielded 5 cyclists , among whom was Deo Asuncion.


That Philippine cycling contingent harvested 3 bronze medals: one in 4,000 meter Team Pursuit (Deo Asuncion and 3 other teammates), 30 Kilometer Points Race (Ed Pagarigan), and 1,000 Meter Individual Time Trial (Rudy Guaves).


In Team Pursuit, two teams at a time compete on the track. A team has four cyclists. Each team starts at opposite ends of the track. They go around 16 times (totalling 4 kilometres). The objective is to catch (that is, to "lap") the other team. If neither is caught, then the method for choosing the victor is the teams' time (based on the third rider of the team to cross the line). Individual Pursuit is the same, but without team groupings.

The Points Race is a bit more complicated. It's a rolling start, meaning, all the cyclists are scattered on the oval when they start going, without a defined "starting line". Gradually, a "main group" naturally forms on the oval, which is very important! If you can lap the "main group" you get 20 points. If you are lapped by the main group you lose 20 points. You can also gather points at "sprint points" every 5 laps (or every 2KM in Elite), where the FIRST 4 riders are awarded points of 5, 3, 2 and 1.

Individual Time Trial, well, everyone knows what that is. You ride alone on the track, and go as hard as you can, and post a time. Fastest time wins.

Two years later, at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics,
the Philippines cycling team fielded 4 cyclists.

The best placing was 23rd in the 100 Meter ITT (Rudy Guaves).

Deo Asuncion was the only member entered in more than 1 event. He competed in sprint (where he was eliminated in the 1st round) and in the Points race, where he placed 18th in Heat 1, and then lost in later rounds.

At the 2007 UCI World Track Championships held in Los Angeles (Home Depot Center in Carson), (Photo by Arden)

Deo represented the Philippines on his own dime and time. He competed in the Points Race.

Deo has Bib # 34

(Photo by Arden)
In Points Racing, a "main group" usually forms, as you can see in the photo below.

(Photo by Arden)
You earn 20 pts if you can break away and lap the main group. You can also earn points every 5 laps at the "points sprint", where the first 4 to cross the line are awarded points of 5, 3, 2 and 1.

(Photos by Arden)
Below, ADOBOVELO members came to show support the Philippine entry Deo Asuncion. L-R: Unidentified member, Jaimer (white T-shirt), Andrew, Egay, Ben, William, unidentified official, Gil (in vest), Arden, and unidentified official.

Below, ADOBOVELO members outside the Home Depot Center. L-R: Elpidio, Manolito, Ben, Arden, Andrew, William, Efren, Kuya Abe, Egay, Jaimer

Below, Deo shown in the main group.

(Photo by Arden)

Below, Deo at the Home Depot track velodrom at Carson.

(Photo by Arden)
Below, ADOVOVELO members Arden Arindaeng and Louie Rivera are Official UCI volunteers. They hold up the AdoboVelo jersey with pride.

Below, ADOBOVELO members Louie Rivera and Charles help Deo get ready.

(Photo by Arden)

Below, Deo wears Bib# 34 in the Points Race

(Photo by Arden)

Below, Deo chases a rider in the Points Race

(Photo by Arden)

Below, Deo in the Points Race

(Photo by Arden)

Below, Deo warming up before his event, the Points Race(Photo by Arden)

Below, Deo training at the velodrome

(Photo by Arden)