I grew up in England and although a blurry recollection of many different celebrations July 4th was never celebrated! As an athlete who has done the Boston Marathon recollections of the Boston tea party come to mind!! But that did not stop me enjoying a beautiful July 4th in California!!!
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| By 7am I had ran 3 miles and swam 3000 in the pool ! |
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My day began at 5am I decided to run to the pool and do a nice swim which included a few painful sets of stream line kicking but all good, while doing back stroke I had the pleasure of seeing green parrots fly over head! I ran home showered and quickly jumped on my beloved Cannondale to head out to Glendora Mountain Road (GMR)
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| Finally caught the tail end of the SC VELO ride at the top of the ridge road. |
I rode alone watching my speed hoping to make the gate at 8am to meet SC VELO, but as soon as I started the small climb to the gate I knew they had probably gone. Always great to ride up GMR on July 4th as the roads are closed so preventing the motor bikes and cars on the road. Lots of cyclists and hikers out enjoying the day I just wanted to catch the tail end of the cycling group.
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| Met Colin Campbell at the top of the ridge always great to run into him |
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I enjoyed my day I did a total of 60miles,it was not with out a few challenges as I had a little difficulty in shifting finally when my chain fell off the chain ring and got stuck between my frame and ring was time to seriously assess the situation! Luckily I was riding with a great group of SC VELO riders and I mentioned I was not going to change gear again as I had broken my other chain a few months back when my friend said I think you need to stop and sure enough one of the links was making its bid for freedom! Lesson learnt here I carry a spare chain link, and tool, but my friend Jeff took matters into his own hands and fixed my chain for me but we had the tools to do the job!! My second mis fortune if you could call it that was a front tire blow out on the descent of GMR wobbled a bit but again I had spare tubes and co2 so was able to change this and carry on with my July 4th celebrations.
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| My beloved mode of transportation after surgery! Will ride again! |
Just loved being out on the bike meeting friends along the ridge road rode all the way to Baldy Post office were I could re group and get water and take in my nutrition.
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| Roxy, Michelle and Jeff thanks for the company across the ridge. |
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| Was really nice to chat with Liesel for a while on the road too. |
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| Got to admire Brent he took the tandem up GMR along the ridge with his son! That is dedication! |
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| Good to see my friend Mr Pain Freak out on the ridge. | | | |
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| It is ALL about the bike!! |
On my way home I stopped to appreciate the view of the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains, how lucky am I to be able to train here in Southern California, enjoy new friendships and be healthy too.
It was a pleasant surprise seeing you out there at Cow Saddle. It was such a beautiful day and we all rode at a fairly easy pace which I'd never done on GMR/GRR. Rick asked if you were always that happy and I told him, you caught her on a bad day, she's usually much more talkative and happier!
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