Top 10

There is a loop out east, and it’s pretty great. So great I can’t even count the number of times I’ve done it because I started doing it before I got a gps. It’s no surprise that I love the Great Western Loop. So I’ve decided to post a top 10 trips around the loop, or variations on that theme. In no particular order:

1) My first time. Obviously. This also happened to be my first ride on Kermit.

Ride partners: Mark Kenny, Stephen, and possibly Shannon Castle? All I remember was something about her being basically a pro, and I didn’t see her again until the end.

Notes: It rained. On my new bike. I cried. The hills almost killed me. Descending Lyons Valley on a TT bike is not safe. Especially when it’s your first time on any TT bike. But the reward of killing it on the flats made the entire loop worthwhile. I swore I’d never do it again, but oddly enough those flats brought me back. I was blinded.

2) The coldest ride around the loop.

Ride partners: Ian and Julie. Noko was home sick like a smart person.

Notes: We rode clockwise and up to Descanso. As we were climbing it was getting colder. And colder. It was just about freezing when we got there and decided to hit up the restaurant rather than the store. I ingested 48oz of hot chocolate. I went to the bathroom and took off my shoes/socks and put my ice blocks for feet into the hot sink water. We eventually got back on the road and decided to go back down the same way we came up. 20 miles of frozen descending. My stomach was so sick from the copious amounts of now cold chocolate sloshing around.  It was a terrible 10 flat miles back to the car. Noko was lucky she was sick.

3) The time i quit (and one of the hottest times around)

Ride partner: Jake

Notes: I had done GWL 2 times that week. Sunday rolled around and I thought, why not do another? I had celebrated on Friday night at Erin’s b-day bash, and worked the Carlsbad expo and race on Saturday/Sunday. I couldn’t meet him out there until mid-afternoon. We rolled clockwise and about 3/4 of the way up the first time I had to quit. I was so dehydrated, exhausted, rolling on no sleep. I am not invincible.

4) TCSD Sweethearts Ride

Ride Partners: Bethany, and 25 other tcsd members

Notes: Somehow I hadn’t gone counter clockwise, so Bethany and I planned a Valentines Day ride and invited the tri club. There were like 6 flats and someone crashed. Somehow we all made it back.

5) Virgin GWL’ers

Ride Partners: Ian, Noko, Erin H, Kara, Sonja, Jeff & Anne. Anyone else? Have I taken your GWL virginity?

Notes: Probably the only time I kicked Noko’s butt on the loop. Erin H cried and I know she loves to tell that story. It’s my favorite and I love to share. Have a mid-week day off? I’ll take you out there!

6) The dirty double

Ride Partners: Noko and Jay W.

Notes: I remember Elizabeth doing a double after riding with us for the first (with us, or WAY ahead of us!). She was training for Kona, and wow, there is NO WAY I could ever do that. I wouldn’t make it! Too much climbing, too many hours in the saddle, it’s way too hot. Nope, not me.

Well, IMLT wasn’t going to train for itself. And what better way to train for a 2 loop hilly IM course than with a double great western?! Ahh! The mental anguish leading up to the dreadful ride was overwhelming. But I just told myself, take it a mile at a time. Climb by climb, I got it done. Thanks to Jay for coming out for the 2nd and always much hotter loop.

7) Counterclockwise and the GWL Regulars

Ride Partners: Brian M, The Daubners, Matt, Julie, Jen, then Noko and Ian, and anyone else who rotated through as regulars.

Notes: We used to park on the loop and do the flats first, but counter clockwise. That way, we could descend and be finished. And have an amazing out and back trail run. I had no business on these rides. I was always hanging on for dear life. I became a better cyclist because these friends pushed me, waited for me and cheered me on when I’d find those bursts of fitness.

Another quick week and work, and the epic Thursday morning GWL with Noko, Ian and Brian. I say epic, only because of how I felt. After having to turn back on Sunday, exhausted from a crazy weekend, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel on Thursday. I had never turned back on a ride. I finish what I start. Physically and mentally, that was a tough ride. I went into the Thurs ride thinking I was going to take it easy, and let my body recover. Yet the Parlee wouldn’t stop. I pushed the pace for a while on the front half, yelling at myself to watch it, or else I’ll pay for it later. But I never paid for it. I worked the back side, staying on Brian’s wheel. Soared through the downhills, and laid the hammer down at the end…and even had fun with a little sprint at the finish. Seriously, who sprints at the end of GWL? Surely not me. On the way home I thought back to my first time on that ride, which was the maiden voyage on the Guru. Rain and pain. Key memories. I think the first handful of times were all pain. Telling myself I’d never do it again. Yet here I was, celebrating my fitness, and enjoying the entire ride.  – July ’09

How about that one time I brought 2 left cycling shoes? I sucked it up and rode with 1 running shoe and 1 cycling shoe. Counter clockwise. Sometimes I surprise even myself.

Then one time the Daubner’s van was being syphoned of gas when we returned. That was the last of the parking lot. Also, the no parking signs solidified the end of an era.

8) My first century

Ride Partner: Jen N

Notes: She was training for IM Arizona. A flat race, yet we were doing her last long ride as GWL + Laguna loop. {100 miles, 10,000ft elevation gain} She was in top form and I had never ridden over 80 miles. Liability, much? I was seriously her last resort, and was her only friend with the day off. I was apparently a crazy person, but that’s beside the point. I made it. I also diagnosed myself with exercise educed asthma. That was a HARD ride, stopping only at the Descanso store for water, Laguna for a popsicle, and back down to Descanso for a fill up from the same gallon jug we stashed earlier. That was the first day of my IMSG training. $$ in the bank… Did that GWL + Laguna loop a couple more times that chilly winter of Ironman training.

9) Lacking fitness, lacking motivation.

Ride partners: Noko and Wendee

Notes: I have friends in high places. Friends with way more fitness than me, friends who still invite me back for more, and friends who accept my invitation and still wait up for me. It was one of those mornings where staying in bed sounded much better. But as I’ve learned, a trip around this loop will always put a smile back on my face. The weather was perfect. The views were crisp and clear. The trip left a lasting smile on my heart.