Jett and I are back from our Veteran's Day long weekend in So California. While down for a visit to my dearest friends and family, we took the opportunity to participate in the Tour de Foothills in my old cycling stomping grounds of Upland-Claremont-Rancho Cucamonga. Another plus about this ride is seeing my old friends, many of whom were part of the ride support and organization. Good job to Mike & Mike & Brent!
Here is the start of the race. 7 AM in Upland. Upland is in the Inland Empire (area code 909!), just north of Ontario, 40 miles east of LA, 25 miles west of San Bernardino. Jett and I stayed at a hotel right across the street from the start. What a perfect set-up! We loved being so close and convenient. They had a group of bag-pipers playing in the morning. In years past, my special cycling buddy, Big Mike, played the Star Spangled Banner a la Jimi Hendrix for the start of the race. I loved that a 10! This year, Mike was providing SAG support, so no axe wielding this morning.
The weather was gorgeous. Warm and sunny. November can be icky and iffy, weather-wise, but not today. Loved it.
And here we find our other cycling buddy and my 2007 RAGBRAI brother, Mike Miller (aka Painfreak). At first I was taken aback by the wild TdF kit, but more amazed by the sign on his back reading "Ride Marshall." Whoo-hoo! He got a promotion! Then Jett and I ribbed him a bit about his lack of directional skills. Good thing the ride was so well marked, I thought! Mike is universally known to get lost on organized rides, always adding "bonus miles" to his centuries.
Here's Jett & Mike riding through my old cycling terrain. It was perfect. 3625 feet of climbing over 63 miles. Easy-peasy compared to the Gran Fondo (9000 feet over 103 miles).
Here we are approaching the climbing section. Wish I took more photos of the day. It was wonderful. Hope to do it again next year!Oh, and yes, Painfreak did veer from the route after all! He was able to get back on track pretty quickly...
