Amici Veloci’s Grand Day Out !

Amici Veloci’s Grand Day Out ! (hopefully the first of many)

Here are a few photos from the Top Hat ride yesterday - I sized them pretty small so they wouldn't take forever to load.

Some of us at the team check-in table. Our team name turned out to be first alphabetically, great choice that! We were assigned numbers 101-115, made us sort of feel like US Postal at the Tour.

http://tinypic.com/4t0taq

http://tinypic.com/4t0tfl

V & AG show off their tattoos, and in V.’s case, her amazing flexibility.
http://tinypic.com/4t0tvq

Here’s team Amici Veloci in all its glory, right before we set out. L to R: Snap, Bill, SadieKate, Rob, AG, aka_kim, V., Diane, Gerald, jobob, Jason, Petunia, Emily, Jennifer, and Cory.
http://tinypic.com/4t0utx

And we’re off !
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The 50 and 75 mile routes coincided for the first about ~28 miles and then the routes split and converged again for the last 15 or so. We all started out together but the killer-fast studly riders in our group started out on a fairly brisk clip – which was fine for me since it was freezing cold (and I left my vest in the car, duh) so I sort of kept up to ward off the hypothermia. At the first rest stop I admitted there was no way I could keep up with them, and AG wasn’t too keen to keep up that pace either, so we waved everyone on ahead and told them we’d see them at the next stop.

I have hardly any photos during the ride itself, I was in survival mode for the most part… Soon after the first stop we encountered The Hill That Went On Freakin’ Forever – it was one of those perverse hills on a windy twisty road that continuously fakes you out, just when you think you may have reached the top you turn a bend and see, uh no, notsomuch, and since you can’t see the summit you have no idea how much farther it is. Bleah. So I geared way down and watched AG pull farther and farther ahead of me (uh, spazz, if you have a moment I’d love if you could do another one of those great morph shots of The Look, but with AG as Lance and me as Jan … she totally smoked me going uphill. Scratch that, she just totally smoked me, period :p ). And then, when we reached the top and had a fun but all-too-brief descent (at which time I managed to catch up with AG, I like decsending fast), we turned a sharp corner and started Going Up Again (“wtf??” I am muttering to self, “I am not liking this!!”). The scenery was lovely and I should have taken photos but you’ll just have to take my word for it. Near the top of this second hill the evil Winner Photo guy was stationed (why must they place themselves where you are most likely to look like crap?) but he made my day when he informed me that yes I was at the top and the next rest stop was at the bottom of the hill – he lied a little but it was enough to get a smile out of me (click!) so that’s all that mattered.

Maybe ½ mile before the second rest stop, on a slight uphill on a really crummy road, I passed by a woman standing on the side looking really forlorn while others were going past her, so I pulled up and asked her if she needed any help, and she told me her chain had fallen off. I helped her put the chain back on, showing her how easy it was when you had someone to hold up the bike. I think that gave me enough Karma Points to finish up the ride without incident, the bulk of the hillage being over for the 50 mile ride, no flats, and my knee didn’t act up at all.

I met up with the rest of the group at the second rest stop, and the Fast Gang was ready to head out by then so we said our farewells. AG and I were joined here by Rob, who was also doing the 50 mile ride and decided he’d rather go at a bit more leisurely pace. So the 3 of us set off. Alas, I had a really hard time keeping up with them, but they very kindly waited up for me a couple of times and between that and the fact that we were riding through very hi-traffic areas with lots of stoplights (yuck) enabled me to more-or-less keep up with them until maybe the last 10 miles where I lost them for good – which was fine, I have no problems riding on my own, I’d just as soon everyone went at the pace they are happiest with, and there were always people to chat with along the way.

I saw Rob again in the parking lot loading up his bike, and we headed off to the celebration area where we met up with AG and met her husband Adventure Boy. AG and AB very graciously drove off and bought some champagne and strawberrries for an after-ride celebration when the 75 milers returned. In the meantime, we were checking out the food situation and Rob suddenly lit up like a kid in a candy store – he located the Beer Booth ! ( Oh dear, yet another Bad Influence for jobob :D ). Well, needless to say Rob and I made a beeline and since I had my wallet on me, I treated – which meant of course he had to buy the next round later. :rolleyes:

During that time snapdragen showed up – and boy was I relieved ! I’ll to leave it to her to report on her adventure, but I mentioned we had all started out at a pretty fast pace and she and Bill were riding together for a bit. At the first rest stop Bill gave us a rough idea of how far back she was, and I figured I would meet up with her there and ride with her the rest of the way. When she didn’t show up when we expected, we were wondering if she had a mechanical problem or if maybe she skipped or missed the stop and went on to the second, and when we didn’t see her there I worried a bit. Then when I return to the lot, there was her car, without her bike, so I figured maybe she was still out on the course. I had forgotten to take my cell phone (it was in the pocket of the vest laying on the seat of my car, duh), and when I checked it when I returned there was a missed call from her (with no message, slap slap). Then my imagination started going wild – OMG what if she fell and was in the hospital with a fractured pelvis or something? – and I on the verge of receding into Mother Hen mode when she appeared.

We had a bit of a wait for the 75 milers to return so we all kicked back and sat out in the sunshine, listening to the tunes being played by a DJ from our local radio station KFOG, and just having a grand old time. The weather started turning funky after a while, overcast and chilly with a brisk wind and we were hoping the 75 milers weren’t having too difficult a time. Happily the weather didn’t degenerate much more, and the 75 milers returned triumphantly:
http://tinypic.com/4t0wpc

And we pulled out the champagne and the celebration continued :D
http://tinypic.com/4t0x0m

Go Team Amici! Mel, how do you do the pom-pom thing?

Is the Tiara available in a team version?

I'm on pins and needles to read snap's great adventure.

Here are the ones I could find.
They were taken at the top of the Hill That Went On Freakin' Forever, part deux:

Cory & Jason (love those armwarmers):
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...0_3826_top.htm

Petunia (I'm sorry, people should not BE so young and fit :p )
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...8_3831_top.htm

Kim
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...2_3837_top.htm

Emily & SadieKate (w jaunty team tattoo on her arm):
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...8_3840_top.htm

Jennifer, aka our newest TE member DenaliMom! (sorry I missed your pic the first time thru, Jennifer!)
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...8_3842_top.htm

Rob (looking, happy?)
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...6_3843_top.htm

Bubba
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...0_3849_top.htm

V. ("Hill? What hill?" :p )
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...0_3869_top.htm

Gerald & Diane
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...4_3871_top.htm

AG (who was well ahead of me :p )
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...2_3896_top.htm

me (at least I'm not quite as red as my jersey, thank goodness):
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/pineh...0_3902_top.htm

... and here's one I found of AG & AB at the finish line, aren't they cuuuute? :) :)
http://www.winnerphoto.com/top/finis...4_8432_top.htm

GO TEAM AMICI!!! :)

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Originally Posted by Trek420

Go Team Amici! Mel, how do you do the pom-pom thing?

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It is (verbose) "asterick, backslash, little 'o', forward slash, asterick" :) So:

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YAY! TEAM AMICI! :)

Mel

Thanks for the great report, Jobob! Good for you for making up that hill. Did you check the mileage to see how long it was?

I sure wish I could have done this one with you guys. You would have been waiting for me, or I would have been drafting off Snap.

Anyway, it sounds like you all had a blast of a day! Good for you guys and I hope you raised a lot of $$$ for MS. BTW, can we still donate?

They haven't deleted our page yet, so I'm sure you can still donate.

Amici Veloci

Thanks a bunch!

V.

Hi Everyone!
I just joined the forum and wanted to thank you all for letting Cory and I ride with you guys! We had a BLAST! The 50miler was fun and challenging, wish we could've hung out with you all afterwards but....we had to get home to our BABY!! Our black Lab named Denali (hence, the user name!)
Anyway, anytime you all ride again I would love to join you! Thanks again for a wonderful ride!!

Jennifer Schulz

I arrived as jobob was putting air in Dusty’s tires. She introduced me to the gang, it was so great to finally have faces to go with the names! Poor V got teased, Fluffy isn’t the lightest bike on the planet, I have so much respect for V’s riding abilities. Jeez, put her on some high zoot feather bike, she’d dust us all! :)

Starting off was fine, although it was mighty cold. My toes were not happy; it was then I remembered I left my sock liners in my bike
bag. :( Oh well. The main pack shot off, Bubba and I rode together for a bit, until the first hill. Off goes Bubba, I settled into my own little zen thing “the hill will not kill me, I like the hill”.

All was fine until Dublin Canyon Rd, both calves decided to get cramps. I continued riding as long as I could, finally had to stop at the roadside and stretch. Of course, my endurolyte caps are also in the bike bag, in the car. I stretch, then get on the bike, and they’d seize up again. A woman I know from ACTC rode by, then stopped. We chatted, I tried recruiting her to the TE boards….we’ll see. Finally after about 15 minutes, I was able to get on my bike and continue. Got to the first rest stop. Holy Mother of whatever, Accelerade is NASTY stuff. :eek: I knew I’d be leaving it on the roadside if I continued to drink. I had plenty of Gatorade in my bottle, figured if I had to I could stop at one of the numerous quickie marts. Not too impressed with the snax, pretzels, oranges and Sharkies. Maybe Cinderella has spoiled me? Met up with Debbie (ACTC club) and we left together, promptly missing the first turn and continued up Crow Canyon-a hill of course! After a bit, Debbie realized we had blown it. We turned around, and rode back. I told her I just needed another hill, ‘cause there weren’t enough in this ride. Besides, we would have missed 2 dead deer. Oh geez…. :rolleyes:

We went up Heyer – wtf is that about? – this nasty sharp, short hill. How rude! Once we got on to Redwood, Debbie went on – damn those light bikes, Bleu is no feather either V! I continued in the zen hill thing, stopping for photo ops and leg rests. Met up with another woman, whose name I’ve of course forgotten. We pretty much dragged each other up the THE HILL THAT WENT ON FREAKIN’ FOREVER (thank you jobob). Somewhere along this road to hell, as I was starting one of the many false decents, my seat made a “clunk” sound. Oh please God, let something be broken so I can ride off Beelzebub’s Boulevard in a car…… :p My saddle had come loose. I began to rummage around in my pack for my tools, when a lovely man stopped, whipped out the right allen wrench, and tightend everything up. A special thanks to Coach Curtis Cramblett, who marked my saddle position when he did my bike fit. So everything was back where it belonged, I could ride on.

At one point my new friend and I stopped for a quick snack. We could see the top; she wanted to walk! I explained walking was harder than riding; if I say that often enough I’ll believe it. :D Didn’t tell her I had vowed a year ago to never walk another hill. By this time, not only do my calves hurt, now my thighs are beginning to cramp too. We get to the lunch stop and are met with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. :mad:

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to scream or cry – so I politely asked where one might catch a ride with the SAG. It took about 20 minutes for SAG to get there, that’s when I called jobob’s cell phone. I have no excuse for not leaving a message, let’s just say I was so fried at that point it just didn’t occur to me! Duh! As Mr. SAG and I are leaving, he asks if I’d help find an address, there was a rider with a broken chain waiting, and he couldn’t find her. Of we go, after a couple minutes, we see said rider walking down the street. Note to all riders: If you have the highway patrol call in to the SAG, and tell them you will be at a certain place – STAY THERE! We dropped broken chain girl off at a bike store in Danville, then got called BACK to the lunch stop for two more riders. Picked them up, and finally got back to the starting point of the ride.

A very mild chastising from jobob, a little snack, drank half of jobob’s current beer, some champagne and strawberries, and I’ve just about forgotten about the road to hell….. :D

Jobob came back to my hotel for coffee and a short snooze. We had a lovely dinner at Fuzio (mmmmm lemondrops).

What I learned:
1.I need more hill training
2.Massive quantities of sinus medication the week before, can really screw you up hydration wise-thus the cramps (I think)
3.Endurolytes go in the seat pack.

If I had known the level of hill climbing on this ride, I would not have done the 50 miler (well, 37 miler in my case!) So I’m glad I didn’t know, I'm quite proud of myself for making it up those monsters.

I had an absolute blast guys!

Hugs to all! Pictures to follow later!

Looks like everyone--OK, well MOST everyone--had a grand time.

I thought about you guys alot yesterday and was hoping the weather there was better than here...and it sounds like it was.

Congratulations. You guys kick some booty!

y

Oh Snap, I'm sorry you had such a time, but your story sure did have me LOLing for 10 minutes or so. :) You're quite a gal to keep going for so long! Good for you and I really do hope to get to ride with you sometime in the near future!

Snap-You get the award for persisting despite the painful cramps. :) :) One that note - I recommend that you get the electrolyte packets at whole foods- instant success! I 've now done 2 centuries using them and they work!!! If you are taking sinsus med, yes you need to hydrate like crazy all the time since that stuff does dehydrate you! I even start drinking fluids on the way to a ride, to make sure I am hydrated enough!

THANKS TO EVERYONE for the pictures and the narrative. :) :) Would love to know what the route was for future hill training rides! :D

WTG all you guys and gals!! I signed on tonight in the hopes of reading your days adventures!....Jobob Loved your description of that hill....and tyvm for stopping to help that lady put her chain back on. Snap, Loved your Tale of 2 Woes! I'm sorry you didn't finish the ride hun - but you sure gave it you Snappiest all!!! and loved that pixs!!!


I do believe there is a She-Ra Princess of Power Tiara for the whole team! (ok....we'll find a He-Man Prince of Power Crown for the guys! ;) )

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Originally Posted by snapdragen

If I had known the level of hill climbing on this ride, I would not have done the 50 miler (well, 37 miler in my case!)

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Mea culpa. Sorry about that. But strawberries and champagne are a great reward.:)

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Originally Posted by aka_kim

Mea culpa. Sorry about that. But strawberries and champagne are a great reward.:)

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Oh, no problem, like I said, I'm quite proud it did it! I agree, strawberries and champagne cure everything! :D

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Originally Posted by snapdragen

Jobob came back to my hotel for coffee and a short snooze.

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My dear friend Snap is so kind, "briefly passed out" might have been a bit more accurate. :D

On the 5 chain ring scale:
Pavement quality – 4 of 5
Food- 3 of 5
Route – first and last sections get a 0, the rest gets a 5
Company – 20!!

The Breakfast and Tattoo Parlor opened at 3:45 am when Robb knocked on our door and set off the canine alarm unit. A crowbar was applied to Petunia so we could get her vertical and loaded in the car, always the first big challenge of the day. Amazingly, the eastern contingent actually arrived on time and Bubba re-opened his tattoo parlor for those who hadn’t arrived adorned already. We got lots of nice comments all day about these. It was really fun to see our long line of calves all decked out.

You’ve read all the stories from the 50-mile group, so here is a bit on the 8 of us who continued on the 75 mile route. Except for a few times, we pretty much stuck together for the remaining 50 miles. Bubba and I both talked about how special it was that we managed to get all 8 people back as a unit – camaraderie and team spirit was the rule of the day.

Anyway, we took off from the 2nd rest stop with our Doom and Gloom Forecaster (aka_kim) who forgot to mention the aptly named “Happy Valley Rd.” All this talk of Pig Farm (lovely estate property – comes with its own trash dump :eek: ) and Reliez Valley, and she just happened to leave out the steepest climb of the day. I felt like I was on the last bit of Diablo but somehow the parking lot had been moved. According to the map it is 2 miles long. I was definitely happy at the top (and very happy that we’d put a 28 tooth cog on the night before).

Pig Farm was steep but very short so it wasn’t too bad. We had a lovely stroll around Briones Regional Park where Bubba and I mtbike (and the location of our first ride with V and Thom) so it was nice to see a frequently driven road from a different perspective. The hills at Briones were covered with wildflowers and at one corner we found a very friendly chicken who liked our trail mix. She trilled and clucked very happily at this horde of machines that arrived to dole out goodies for her. Half the group decided to go into the Briones rest stop while the other half spun off to the last climb of the day, Reliez Valley. The sun had appeared so we started breaking up even more as the fashion parade had to go through impromtu wardrobe changes (Jo – did you get a picture of Em and Jason’s tres chic outfits?).

Reliez Valley turned out to be mostly a mental challenge because it had no shoulder and what I thought were the most unfriendly drivers of the day. Fortunately, there was a sort of bike path that you could ride portions of, going on and off it through driveways. As Kim had said, the climb probably seems harder than it is because you’ve already ridden 50 miles and most of the climbing. The route info states 6,136 of climbing and shows only one last long and gentle grade after Reliez. So this last climb with traffic can be a challenge but everyone did it and we re-grouped at the lunch rest stop where we scarfed down P&B sandwiches, threw out the Accelerade (I’m with Snap -- pee-uuu!) and switched to Lemonade.

We had one climb before we headed down into Danville, Dublin, Pleasanton and the eternal Bay Area traffic jam. We actually rode by the train museum where we parked for our last Diablo assault which meant I sort of knew where we were. Then, we just stuck racer boy (Jason) up front and motored on in to the cheers of Jo, Robb, Snap and Adventure Boy with AG jumping up and down waving bright yellow pom-poms.

As you know, ABoy had champagne (including some mighty fine stemware) and strawberries ready to go with our veggie burgers, potato salad and chocolate milk. Someone found OJ so mimosas were then served. It was so nice to have almost the entire group ‘round the table even as the weather was turning inclement. G’s wife and son had come down to be at the finish. With Adventure Boy we had quite the little party going. Through out the day I had been watching the other teams and thought ours displayed the most rapport and emotional cohesiveness and you know this was so because I’m not biased :p
I loved everyone’s stories of the day and seeing new friendships develop.

Additional observations:
--Contrary to appearances in the winnerphotos, I am NOT 10 months pregnant.
--Be sitting down when Robb announces that he really liked climbing up along Lake Chabot (Moose liking hills? What?)
--Robb and Jo need designated drivers

I am rolling in the bounty of friendship. It was a special day with my fast friends and I know there will be more to come.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

--Robb and Jo need designated drivers

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Originally Posted by jobob

My dear friend Snap is so kind, "briefly passed out" might have been a bit more accurate. :D

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I was glad I had Adventure Boy there to drive me home. I not much of a drinker, so after a good ride, a beer and a little champagne, I wouldn't have made it solo! I took a "short snooze" myself on the way home! :p

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Originally Posted by Adventure Girl

I was glad I had Adventure Boy there to drive me home. I not much of a drinker, so after a good ride, a beer and a little champagne, I wouldn't have made it solo! I took a "short snooze" myself on the way home! :p

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He said he liked his women "likkered up!" :D

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

Then, we just stuck racer boy (Jason) up front and motored on in to the cheers of Jo, Robb, Snap and Adventure Boy with AG jumping up and down waving bright yellow pom-poms.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

He said he liked his women "likkered up!" :D

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Unfortunately for him, when I'm "likkered up" it usually means "fell asleep like a rock" :o

Now that I know the route, I just cruised around on my trusty Krebs map. I've lost count of the number of double and triple chevrons we rode - some of them pretty closely spaced. The Redwood/Pinehurst climb included quite a few also.

Give yourselves another round of *\o/*

I know a few of you have worn the tattoos before, but this was my first time. Did anybody else have to really scrub to get them off? I tried baby oil and extra virgin olive oil and they didn't work. I was going to try some pesto (as suggeested in Bubba's instructions) but I didn't want my leg to smell like garlic. :rolleyes:

I ended up using finger nail polish remover and had to scrub pretty hard. Is this normal? I have a race on the 14th and I'm going to head back to the tattoo parlor and proudly wear the Amici Veloci tag for it. I guess I just have to be tougher when it comes to the scrubbing!

I've gotten the tattoos off in the shower with just soap and water. And a little light scrubbing.

V.

Saturday, I used a lot of baby oil and scrubbed hard with a paper towel. It kind of shredded into little balls and rolled off. It came off more easily the day we wore them on Diablo - when I worked up more than a ladylike glow.

Mine kinda "rolled" off, with light rubbing. Maybe because I put lotion on my legs before hand?

Hee, I also was starting to worry about getting the tatoo off, it was hanging on for dear life !

This morning I slathered it with Oil of Olay (come to find out I didn't have any baby oil laying around) and worked it in for a few minutes. Then I rubbed the tatoo with my fingertips and eventually the friction caused it to roll off in bits & pieces, the way snap said.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

The sun had appeared so we started breaking up even more as the fashion parade had to go through impromtu wardrobe changes (Jo – did you get a picture of Em and Jason’s tres chic outfits?).

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Why, but of course :cool:

http://tinypic.com/4tvz9k

Thanks, Jo. I guess you don't need to worry about having "your colors done" if you just wear them all.

Who says cyclists have no fashion sense! :D

I just received a Top Hat patch in the mail from the MS Society! I love these. I have a corkboard of patches that serves as my memory. I actually have a patch from the 1987 Cindy when there were well less than a thousand of us out there (hard to imagine that!). Someday, I'll be in my rocker with my little lace hankie and start reminiscing about the Top Hat and all my TE friends. Ah, now that was THE year . . . 2005!

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

I just received a Top Hat patch in the mail from the MS Society! I love these. I have a corkboard of patches that serves as my memory. I actually have a patch from the 1987 Cindy when there were well less than a thousand of us out there (hard to imagine that!). Someday, I'll be in my rocker with my little lace hankie and start reminiscing about the Top Hat and all my TE friends. Ah, now that was THE year . . . 2005!

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yarite, only if that rocker as at least 2 chainrings in the front and 6-8 in the back! :p