Brian Rides Bikes

10-22-09 – QMDC Day Six – Marina del Rey to Newport Beach

Good evening friends!

Today, we went from Marina del Rey to Newport Beach for a total of 53 miles.  The ride in this area is always a bit slow, as we have to ride through the bike paths along the beach and through multiple signs and stoplights along the way. 

As was the case for the entire week, the Scott & BR Show continued on, but on location.  So, this morning, me, Alex and Adam went down to the ballroom where the Scott & BR Show had an on location set.  Scottie, BR and Pratty were there doing the show and had a promo to give away “Flippy Floppies” Rainbow brand sandals to any QMDC riders who came down and said “GREAT FRIENDS!”  We picked up our sandals and then Scott & BR interviewed me, Adam and Alex live on the air to share our experiences!

Today was particularly fun as Floyd Landis came into town to ride with us this morning.  What was hilarious about it was that QMDC Head Coach Mari Holden made Floyd hold her dog Little B in the doggie backpack all through the ride.  While Group 2 made their way through Marina del Rey and through familiar territory of Rancho Palos Verdes that we rode just weeks before on the back-to-back century days, we entered into the “not so much” fun area of Long Beach.

While in Long Beach, something unexpected and yet absolutely hilarious happened.  Floyd (with puppy in his backpack) and Mari were at the head of the group and ran a red light on their bikes when the police pulled them over.  I came to find out from Floyd later on that the cop didn’t give him a ticket, but wanted to lecture him about the penal code instead! 

We pulled up to a great lunch in Seal Beach compliments of Steve Bryant of Bryant Rubber, which is one of the main sponsors of the QMDC at a restaurant called Schooner or Later!  After having a great cheeseburger, me, Mark VD, Adam and Chin caught up with Josh, one of the Challenged Athletes and rode with him through Seal Beach.  Just then, on the way, Mark hits this massive pothole and his rear derailleur popped upside down and into his wheel causing the chain to destroy the rear triangle of his frame!  Luckily he wasn’t hurt, but his bike, which was scheduled to be replaced in a year or so with a new bike, was now dead and officially unusable.  So, the great folks at Trek Travel gave him a bike to use for the rest of the QMDC!

After arriving at the hotel, we had a chance to get some delicious food followed by getting our rooms and massage work done. Today I was in dire need of getting my neck and lower back taken care of.  The masseuse then went through some stretching and she said I was one of the most flexible people she’s ever worked with!  Heck, I didn’t know I was that flexible!  After the massage, me, Chin, Scott and Adam ended up hanging out with Floyd Landis and played a couple of games of shuffleboard with him.  Turns out, none of us knew how the heck the game works, but as dudes with beer usually goes, we ended up just making the rules up as we went along and ended up using our beer cans as targets to hit with the shuffleboard pucks! 

Afterwards, we all had our final QMDC dinner where we were all given plaques compliments of the ride with our own professional picture and group picture as a parting memento.  Then, we had our last presentation, where CAF owner Jeff Esakow, Vikki Indermuehle, Challenged Athlete Rudy Garcia-Tolsen and Co-Chairs Dean Roeper and Scott Rhodes acknowledged all of the great people who helped make this year a great success.  What a pleasure this was to be a part of this group and I’m excited to have a chance to ride down the last leg of the QMDC with them all tomorrow!

Stay tuned for the next update after we cross the finish line and finish the QMDC at La Jolla Shores!  Also, if any of you readers want to make it out to the finish line, there will be a massive party there and we’ll be crossing the finish line at 1:00 p.m.!

Hope to see you there!

-BB