From 50s to the 80s

Official Training Ride Kick Off for ALC 11

And I'm not talking about the songs.

I got up around 5am, it was dark outside, and cold! I supposed it was round 50+'F. I couldn't recall when was the last time I woke up this early. But I knew it was for a bike ride.

So, today we had the official "ALC 11 Training Ride Kick Off" event in Santa Monica. Meaning from now on, all the training rides I do will be consider "official."

drive on 10fwy around 6.30am, foggy and dark!

arriving at Santa Monica DMV lot, foggy and cold 

getting ready for the training ride

sign in and get your route slip

I was one of the Training Ride Leaders (TRLs) for today's ride. There were 2 routes to choose from, a 10 miles and an 18 miles, both were mostly flat and easy ride. According to ALC staff, there were over 200 riders showed up! Way to go!!

It was a great time to catch up with old friends and getting to know new ones. There were so many familiar faces, yet, many newbies too. (We love newbies, always).

Cynergy cycles let those without bike tried out Specialize bike

breakfast tent, with fruits and energy bars

tick fog still hanging around

free hugs anyone?

Aaron, a friend I've known since ALC 5 (1996)

getting started

hands up all first time riders

ALC socks vs. riders 

some of the TRLs for the day

important: stretch before and after every ride

we've many TRLs out there with the newbies

heading to the beach, riding thru foggy weather

The ride started from the Santa Monica DMV parking lot, headed to the beach, turn around and ended at Cynergy cycle, where we had our post-ride party, enjoying pizzas and more catching up with friends! Most riders went for the longer ride, making our short ride group flooded with TRLs, I think the TRL:Newbie ratio was 1:1, which me we could pay extra care to each and every new riders :).

As always, ALC events raffle out bikes from the sponsors! The lucky winners of the day were Ed and Jamie. The funny part was, Ed was asked by Kerry who hosted the raffle event to pick the winning number, he got Jamie, whom just minutes ago won a bike jersey, yes, she's the luckiest person of the day! Then Kerry called my name to help pick the next winning number. I wish I could pick my own! Well, guess what, when Kerry called out the number, it was Ed's!!! How strange is that. So I think if there was a third bike for the raffle, they winner would have been me. (Alright, I'll save that luck for the next event, I still love my Dragon)

There were other winners who got jersey, t-shirt, water bottle and socks. I wasn't one of them though. But I had such a great time, and I got free ALC water bottle (yay).

at one of the traffic stops with the group

my road-safety-tag helmet

post party at Cynergy

yummy pizzas!

Tango Mango's here too!! (not free)

raffle time!

Ed won a bike!

Jamie won a bike + jersey, super lucky person!

wanna get a bike and ride with us?

It gets warmer by the time I left Santa Monica and arriving home in the 80s'F, hot hot Saturday!

Stay tune for more updates from my training.

Don't forget, I need your support to reach my $5000 fundraising goal. Click HERE to go to my home page. 


Note: max: 20.8, avg: 9.0, odo: 1926, trip: 9.9, time: 1:05:28