Well, the SoCal weather did not want to cooperate over the last couple days.  I ALMOST got to go to my first MLB game (Angels vs. Tigers) but it was nasty and raining…. The forecast had rain in store for our planned group ride last night as well, but we managed to get out and stay dry for the most part!  There weren’t quite as many people as last year when Ergon and Crank Brothers/Troupe Racing put together this ride, but we had a fun little group!

Tim’s most famous move of the day.

There were dark clouds and blustery wind looming at Laguna Beach, and we went out hoping the clouds would play nice. The only rain we got on the ride was right at the beginning…

We rode at Aliso Woods, and the first climb of the day was long and BRUTALLY steep!

Hup! Hup boys!

We actually had some pretty badass riders in our group!!!

I think my favorite character of the ride was a guy named “The Animal.” 248 lbs of pure muscle, tearing it up on a rigid SS with giant hands! Super strong!!!!!!!

The Kerkove Man-imal.

Captn Roy likes singletrack

More flowers.

Taking a break and shooting the breeze

This DH made my teeth chatter…. and a DH we did later claimed my first crash on the new bike. Thank goodness for my Cratoni helmet… I definitely needed it this time.

Pedal porn.

random cool shot from a bike shop we were at….

Good times!!! I also loved this really cool Belgian place we went for dinner called Brussels Bistro . Great food, Belgian beer, and live jazz. No complaints!