Amber's Adventures: Road Trip part 1 of many.....

With Reno high temps in the 20's I loaded up the van and fled town with no real plan in mind other than head south until the temps were at least in the 60's. The van is fully pimped out with a cozy bed, dog crate, and ice chest. I drove as far as I could on I5 south the first night. I wasn't sure how comfy the setup in the van would be, but I slept a solid 7 hours.... in a rest stop. Sweet!! Woke up and finished the drive to Huntington Beach. I had fully intended on camping in the van the entire week, but got an invite to stay with some friends that I met at Ultraman this year. Thanks Keevin!! I also got invited along on a little ride. I hadn't been on the bike outside since day 2 of UMH and had only managed 2x45 minutes inside on the trainer. I heard that we were jumping in on the Long Beach New Years Day ride. I was told the pace would be fast and there would be 500+ people. We planned to regroup part of the way through the ride at a Starbucks along the course.

In spite of knowing before hand the logistics of the ride, I was in no way prepared for the sight or sound of the peloton as it rounded the corner. I started pedaling to meet their speed, but felt like I'd never be going fast enough to latch on. Finally I merged into the group, but found myself towards the rear of the 600+ riders. It was really amazing to see and be surrounded by the riders, but really nerve racking. It took a lot of concentration to stay away from the rift raft and keep up when the group surged. I heard that we were doing 30+ during sections of the ride, and the one time I managed to peek at my HR monitor I saw an unbelievable 178. I don't think it's ever been that high on the bike before. There was a police escort we were blowing through most stoplights, but stopping at others. The slow and then sprint surges finally got the best of me and I was relieved to get spit out the back. I sat up and cruised into the coffee shop to regroup with everyone. After that the ride mellowed out and we headed to Dana Point for breakfast buffet. The return trip entailed a little more suffering with a stuffed belly.