ALC 5 completed

[ACG]

I can not believe I completed the whole thing. I have a strained muscle in my right knee, I broke out with acne from all that sun tan lotion, have racoon eyes, I am exhausted!

I am also completly happy! I had the best time and it was a wonderful experience. The people were very welcoming and non judgemental, we became a giant family, helping eachother with a flat or encouraging someone to keep pedaling even though they wanted to quit, sharing shampoo, sharing water, dancing, etc.

I have lots of wonderful stories and will share with you all soon, for now I'm going back to bed for a while.

[snapdragen]

Congratulations and Good Job! :D

[Trek420]

Congratultations!!! Enjoy the rest....and the feeling you'll have still for a couple of weeks that you can eat pretty much anything you want ;-)

[bikerz]

Fantastic - CONGRATULATIONS!

We can't wait to hear all your stories! Hope all your "wear and tear" heals soon - rest up!

[tprevost]

Great Job ACG! I am looking forward to hearing all of the stories and adventures...

You should be really proud of yourself (as well as everyone else who rode as well). Well done!

Tracy

[Selkie]

Good job, girl!

[Trekhawk]

Congratulations - cant wait to hear all about it.

[Tiffanie]

Congratulations!!!! Looking forward to hearing the details. Enjoy your rest & recovery. :)

[Duck on Wheels]

Well done! Now treat yourself to some pampering. Hot tub? Sauna? Massage? You deserve it!

[Melody]

Cheers for ACG and *ALL* of the ALC riders!

*\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/*

Mel

[aka_kim]

Congratulations! Can't wait to hear more.

[liksani]

Yay, that was possibly one of the most awesome things I've done. :D I feel so proud of me for completing the whole thing cuz I was petrified I would be too slow since I was always by sweep in the South Bay training rides. :O But apparently, I just bike with ppl who like to go fast or something. :rolleyes: Wish I could have met up with the other TE girls, but I was always pretty exhausted by the time I got in, dragged gear over, showered, ate, talked with some of the South Bay people I was tenting near, and just about crashed and slept. Hmm.. to do this again next year or not and slowly I upload pictures... :O

[Trek420]

all the cool kids'll be there;) ....we'll figure out who we are....can have a team amici veloci section....next to the team dino....next to the velo girls.... do a ride out together....it'll be fun.

lots of Team Dino pics,

http://www1.snapfish.com/shareereg/p=935131150243262233/l=103879381/g=5946284/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB/t_=0/pns/share/p=935131150243262233/l=103879381/g=5946284/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB/t_=0

[liksani]

oh i should have taken more photos, but my set of photos are up at www.flickr.com/photos/skuldyie or http://picasaweb.google.com/blinda/ALC5 since I was testing out how the photo albums were on picasaweb too. :P I think the flickr ones look better. :O

[shadon]

all the cool kids'll be there;) ....we'll figure out who we are....can have a team amici veloci section....next to the team dino....next to the velo girls.... do a ride out together....it'll be fun.

lots of Team Dino pics,

http://www1.snapfish.com/shareereg/p=935131150243262233/l=103879381/g=5946284/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB/t_=0/pns/share/p=935131150243262233/l=103879381/g=5946284/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB/t_=0

Yeah! That's me on the far right...the short one!

I'm signed up for next year, as are all of the Dinos. It really was an amazing experience...and it'll be even more amazing next year when I do the whole thing!

[crazycanuck]

Umm if i were in north america i'd join next year...Just to see the playboy bunny rest stop would be worth the trip....heehehehhe

c

[uk elephant]

I'm not in North America and I am apparently joining next year (according to Trek420). Looks like a great experience and those rest stops would be good motivation to keep going just to see what whacky things would be at the next one. Still very nervous about getting ready, both in terms of fitness and donations, but I will give it a try.

[Trek420]

uk elephant "I'm not in North America and I am apparently joining next year (according to Trek420)."

uh, thought you brought it up that you wanted to do the ride? Hope you still do.

I'm sure you can do it.

"Still very nervous about getting ready, both in terms of fitness and donations, but I will give it a try."

You can train with us "virtualy", I know you don't have as high hills there but if we're doing hilly rides you can subsitute hill repeats, find a headwind, do "jumps" to build the ability for repeated efforts.

Have you done a TE England group ride yet?

All the rest stops are themed but the best one of all is Rest Stop 4 the last one of the day. Let's see last year they were: Dollywood, then Secret Service agents just to show they look as good in suits, ties and shades replete with pat down searches and hilarious emergency evacuation drills of the porta potties (hilarious that is unless you are the one inside), Nascar Pit Stop which was not their best effort I'm told but you should have seen their Fireman theme the year before, folks still have the bare-chest firemen calendar, the Sound of Music rest stop was just incredible, Swan Lake....uhm, missing one....

Shadon, I did a whole lot better my second ride and you will too, good job!

UK, your ride to work is perfect. there's a father/son duo I've talked to, son does the whole training routine, Dad (in his 60's I think) "just" bikes to work each day. Dad looks ageless and is right up there with his son. I spoke to them briefly last year and they agree riding to work is perfect because you get used to getting your rear on the saddle each day.

Just try to make each ride count, maybe one day you sprint a bit, next day take it easy, try different aspects each day.

[uk elephant]

I do want to do the ride, and I am excited about it. Just nervous. But I will try my very best. I've gotten in the habit of riding at least 5 days a week, most weeks 6, so now I just need to work on what I do on those rides. I figure I'll start doing some long rides at a steady pace, some hill repeats (or headwind repeats), some shorter fast rides and some jump repeats. It worries me because I'm nowhere near in shape now to do it, but I do have a year to go and a lot can happen in a year....

[liksani]

No worries, you're actually training a lot better than I did. :P And really it was entirely doable because I just looked at each day as getting from rest stop to rest stop and was like oh, 20 miles I can do that. :P It was an awesome experience and you should totally do it tho.

[ACG]

Anyone who even attemps to ride any ride like the ACL ride deserves applause. I am not a strong rider, I am rather slow. What kept me going each day and each mile was the fact that so many people I knew had faith in me that I would do it. And that when I was having issues on Day 6 with my sore knee a few riders stopped and gave me snacks, water and consoled me, then they said we'll ride with you and they did! Any amount of miles anyone does is worth a pat on the back.

I didn't think I could do it, but I did. Somehow we all gather inner strength. I loved the themed rest stops! The food was great. AND I signed up for next year!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[winddance]

I kind of...really want to do this ride next year. I know I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go before I'd be ready, but you guys have really inspired me to believe that this is something that I could do.

Congratulations on finishing!

[Trek420]

ACG "loved the themed rest stops! The food was great. AND I signed up for next year!!!!!!!!!!!!:D"

ACG I'm dying to know what rest stop 4's themes were :cool:

Winddance, you can so do this ride if you want to. I'm going to sign up on the 25th in the city (SF Pride Parade). I think it's more fun to sign up in person at the booth in the Civic Center than do it online plus it's sometimes either less expensive or get an extra hat or t'shirt or something.

I don't think I'd get my rider number any faster doing it online because the ALC staff is probably resting right now or sorting through piles of lost/found stuff :cool:

We could do a TE team, that way our tents could be adjacent, at least find each other easier that way ;)

[ACG]

Day four, that was the day we posed for our 1/2 way to LA pictures. There was the Area 51 rest stop and the Dante's Inferno rest stop. I loved the devil costumes.

[Kallisti]

Hi,
This was my first year joining the ALC ride, and it was one of the hardest, most wonderful experiences I've ever had. I was one of the bike techs, so I got to see lots of riders, most of whom were quite cheerful even when exhausted, and they were having bike problems. It was great to see such an amazingly diverse crowd. Everything from racers, to non-bicyclists who trained just for this.
I know how hard all of you riders worked, but now that it's over, and you don't hurt quite so much, does the magnitude of what a magnificent thing you've done hit home? I hope it does.:D

[Trek420]

Kallisti, thank you for crewing, the roadies rock, the support on this ride simply spoils you. I crewed on CAR4 (camp services) and crewing at least for that week is harder than the ride.

Welcome to TE, surf on over to the getting to know you thread :) Oooh, good, we got another wrench on the board.