La Voix August 2024
Hello La Grange!
We humbly present your monthly newsletter La Voix for the month of August. Included are a save the date for Piuma Hill Climb and annual club picnic, special contributor, the illustrious Ray Dillman describes our day out on the La Grange Edgar Burcksen Santa Barbara Century Ride, Marmotte Report by Dan Funk, new members and cycling news selected just for you, club La Grange. Enjoy.
La Voix Editors,
Renée & Rob
P.S. Have something else cycling-related you think would be interesting or beneficial to our members? Submit here to be considered for an upcoming newsletter.
By Marco Fantone
Saturday, September 14th: Save the date and get ready for the 2024 La Grange Piuma Hill Climb & Club Picnic!
The event that started it all back in 2000…
Of the three traditional LG Cup events, including the 500 Meter Sprint and 20 Kilometer Time Trial, the Piuma Hill Climb is perhaps the hardest test of every LG club member’s mettle, so we can ride in solidarity with our club racers and American professionals, some of whom hail from Los Angeles (Sean Quinn at this year’s TDF!).
The Piuma Hillclimb is the signature event of the LG Cup and routinely attracts over 100 participants.
Located in the hills above Malibu off of Malibu Canyon Road, Piuma is a twisty, windy 5.4 miles of uphill nastiness. Max gradient approaches 8% in some areas. Elevation gain is just over 1700 feet.
But wait, there’s more! The Hillclimb doesn’t end there.
Once you’ve summited Piuma, you will descend the backside of Piuma towards Scheuren Road where you will negotiate a deceptively evil off-camber left turn onto Scheuren. From there, it’s another 1.8 miles and 550 feet of climbing to the finish line at Saddle Peak.
Unlike the first two events, the hillclimb is a mass start similar to that of a marathon where riders will self-seed themselves based on their expected finishing time.
The traditional club picnic will be held directly after Piuma at the beautiful park in Rustic Canyon Recreation Center from 11:30-2:30 where members, friends and families can feast and mingle at 12 large picnic tables shaded by tall oak trees Piuma results for each age category will be announced at the picnic!
Club News
EVENTS RECAP
La Grange Edgar Burcksen Santa Barbara Century
By Ray Dillman
La Grange has had an annual century ride, from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, on the calendar for many years. But, this year’s event marked a significant change, it has been named in memory of long-time La Grange member Edgar Burcksen.
Completed on Saturday, July 27th, 2024, the first annual Edgar Burcksen Memorial Santa Barbara Century would have been a warm up for Edgar, a strong rider who completed numerous double centuries. It’s only fitting that the ride be named in his memory.
The tiny Amtrak Station in Van Nuys doesn’t offer a lot to look at but it has two essential elements that make for a great cycling starting point: a mostly empty parking lot and restrooms. 19 cyclists began arriving about an hour after sunrise. The familiar routine of checking tire pressures, slathering on sunscreen and tucking away spare tubes and keys was intermittently interrupted by hello waves, hugs and handshakes.
Club president Peter Dorantes, accompanied by his dog Momo, drove the support van. Filled with the sustenance that would help propel the peloton, the shiny blue sprinter served as the first backdrop of many for a group photograph. Backpacks were stowed, Strava initiated, and all clipped-in for a roll out at just past 7:30 am.
It’s about 17 miles to the first stop and rider pickup at San Vicente and Ocean with the first test along that route being the quietly nagging climb up to the Sepulveda Pass. There was a short regroup on the far side of the tunnel before all were hard on the pedals and the larger among our number were taking full advantage of Newton’s second law of motion.
The sweet pleasure of the downhill side of the pass catapulted the peloton nearly all the way to SVO where a much larger group awaited their arrival. Some would join the ride for the duration and many were there to simply join in on the fun, take advantage of the draft, and turn around for home when the mood or schedule dictated.
(SVO, to those in the know, is one of the most popular meetup points on the west side of Los Angeles, especially on Saturday mornings. Get there between 7 and 8 am to catch a ride with a group or meet new friends.)
After a short speech about Edgar and his eponymous ride, the peloton clipped in, slipped down Entrada, and swung out onto PCH, headed north. The weather was overcast with a marine layer swirling around the peaks of the Santa Monica Mountains.
You could say it was Southern California chilly.
The second significant climb of the day was Pepperdine hill where the skinny children have casual conversations and the descenders keep to themselves. Woody Woods, who had a minor crash on his bike a few days earlier, felt something amiss mid-climb, which turned out to be a cracked seat stay. His ride was over in less than 30 miles. He could have taken his lumps, and an Uber home, but he selflessly decided to help Peter to provide support for the peloton. Mensch!
Rest stops were taken at Trancas 22 miles away, 18 miles on, 55 total, at Point Mugu Missile Park (The Jets), and in Ventura at around the 75 mile mark. While most were busy painting banana quarters with peanut butter and pounding Mexican Cokes, we learned that somewhere out on the bleakest stretch of East Hueneme Road, Charles Pollick crossed the rumble strips meant to awake errant automobile pilots and blew a thumb-sized hole in his tire. Even those of us often humiliated by Charles passing us on his folding Brompton were bummed by the news that his ride was over with just 25 miles to go. It’s like turning back at the Hillary Step during an Everest Summit.
The more the merrier was the theme of the day, in the van, as Charles folded his bike and joined Peter and Woody.
And Momo.
The weather was absolutely stunning as the peloton paraded into beautiful, breezy Santa Barbara. The van crew was waiting in the parking lot, ready to offer up backpacks filled with not-sweated-in clothing and accept bikes to be swaddled in furniture pads and tucked inside for the journey back to Van Nuys. The consensus mileage total, 104. Give or take.
The Santa Barbara Biergarten awaited just a short walk from the train station. The group assembled, taking over a good chunk of the busy supplier of glorious hoppy beverages and darned good, much needed nutrition. The riders splintered-off into groups across 4 or 5 tables and lubricated away the pain with beer in glassware one could swim around in, old school cheeseburgers, buns glossy with grease, and superb thin crust pizza. As the unlimited beer budget and the weariness from a 17 miles per hour average took hold, the party resembled a post-wedding love fest. The smiles on everyone’s faces, the stories with heads nodding in approval and confederacy, the laughter… damned good stuff.
It’s a funny thing we do. Cyclists.
Most days on the bike are pretty awesome. But we like to suffer, especially with other cyclists. We share the pain and the accomplishment of getting through it. Like when we all get together to ride a hundred miles.
The train home was delayed but it didn’t seem to matter as the party carried on, albeit a bit quieter. The Amtrak Pacific Surfrider smoothly parted the ocean breezes and deposited us safely back in Van Nuys.
If you haven’t completed a century… or if you have but not with a big, happy, coursing peloton, put it on your calendar to join in next year at the Second Annual Edgar Burcksen Memorial Santa Barbara Century.
Epic Rides, KOMs, QOMs, bike travel
Marmotte Report! By Dan Funk
Earlier this year I learned about the Marmotte Fondo, held the end of June, in Bourg d’Oisans, France. If you’re into numbers, this fondo’s impressive, with almost 17,000 feet of elevation gain over 106 miles, summiting the cols of Glandon, Telegraphe, Galibier & Alpe d’Huez. Daunting numbers, especially when you consider that by the base of alpe d’huez you already have climbed 13,000 feet and still have 3700 more to do!>
A question I hear about climbing in the alps is “what’s the difference between those mountains and ours?” Besides the elevation and epic views, the answer imo rests in length and gradient. We have steep climbs like flores or deer creek in the santa monica’s, but they are relatively short compared to, for example, the Glandon, which is 12 miles, an average of 7%+, and has a 3 mile section averaging 9%. From the profile of the Marmotte route above you can see that each of the climbs have those kind of numbers.
Our group was staying about an hour away from the start, and race day jitters meant everyone was up at 3am, getting fueled, doing the am routine, and in the car by 4:30 for the hour’s drive. Organizers had arranged for parking in 2 large lots outside of town, and at 5:30 we had our choice of spaces. I’m always amazed when seeing riders from so many different places at these events, and despite the early hour, I excitedly chatted up a number of people from Belgium, Italy, Germany and even Canada!
We had been riding in the area the week prior and the weather had been looking iffy, but all available apps showed no rain until late afternoon that day, so we kitted up expecting the best. It was not to be. The day was heavily overcast, but visibility was good and the milder temps made for comfortable climbing, which started about 9 miles after the start. an event with thousands of riders, in this case 5,000+, can be like riding the beach path on a holiday weekend - an endless river of cyclists. Some are passing you, some you are passing, some you think will be a good wheel, maybe once in a while someone will roll by calling your name. the energy is high and the enthusiasm is infectious. For me, especially in the early miles, watching my pacing is critical.
After summiting Glandon, stopping at the feed area for a bree/baquet and water, the descent into the valley was removed from timing to reduce the dangers to riders. All the major climbs and descents were closed to traffic for the event, allowing full use of the road, but I couldn’t stop fearing what was beyond the blind corner and took minimal risks. When the timer restarted, we had 13 miles of modest ascent to the base of the next climb. Unfortunately, while the ascent was modest the wind was not, so I kept dropping off one group to the next, unwilling to push myself, losing lots of time on that segment. Going easy allowed me to recover for the climb up the telegraphe, but then it started to rain, which turned to sleet at the top of the galibier. Climbing in the cold, rain and sleet to a pass of over 8600 feet only in your kit over a thin base layer with no gloves, makes you wonder how you’ll get through the descent on the other side of the pass. Not only is there the 5 mile descent from the pass to lauteret, but then there’s another 25 mile descent to the base of alpe d’huez. Fortunately the temperatures warmed considerably during the first 5 miles, though the weather gods upped the rain and wind as a reminder that you should never rely completely on your mobile device apps.
Probably the best weather of the day was on the worst climb of the day…alpe d’huez. Some of our group commented that despite its storied history, the climb was not interesting, devoid of views for the most part and just steep. Several years ago I participated in an Etape event, held a couple of days prior to the tour coming through, and the alpe d’huez was populated by all the cycling fanatics making for an unforgettable experience. This time there were just switchbacks and suffering.
https://www.strava.com/activities/11768389154
Thanks for reading
#istandwithevan#fuckputin
Daniel Funk
Racing News
Welcome, New Members!
Please say hello to our new members who joined in May (you can find them in our Member Directory): Andrea S., Brian D., Bruce B., Joseph M., Leon C., and Randy H.
Welcome everyone, La Grange is proud to have you with us!