RIDE REVIEWZ: Collective Co @ AMGEN Tour of California 2009

two of us from the collective co. and some friends went out to support lance armstrong on his return to pro cycling and the tour of california... check it out...



yes this was my first attempt at video editing and recording... not bad from an iphone and standard mac software right?

camera: apple iphone 3g
recording software: cycorder
editing computer: apple macbook 2.4 core 2 duo
editing software: imovie / ilife 09 / itunes




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RIDE REVIEWZ: OC to LA... short and sweet.... FAST

well with all this fitness talk going on.. i thought i should do something to get back in the game... not that im overly outta shape or anything... i do sure feel like it ! with PENGY talking about doing MASTER CLEANSE... lunch with my mom and meeting with DR. ZI CHANG talking about proper diet and exercise... to me and AGENT DEE... talking about gaining weight.. it seems like its everywhere!!!

well i know im not crazy enough to do master cleanse.. especially after having just MAN HANDLED "FURUSATO KOREAN BBQ" in gardena (and yes i think master cleanse is a scam) no debate here.. just accept it... its a scam people.. now go out there and get your real fitness game on ...i had this idea that i should do something and just get out there and ride...

just wanted to document a quick fast and fun ride i had today.... i rode to UCI (in a car) spent the night and decided it would be fun to ride back (on the bmc) from OC to LA one way in the morning time.... my total distance covered was just about 38 miles...(my friend covered about 40) here is a little overview of what i did....read on!



1. started off near UCI...left with a friend who would ride with me half way to KINGS BICYCLE SHOP in SEAL BEACH... he had work at 3...they live in a very hilly part so we had a great down hill ride towards pch...



2. we stopped at UCI ROWING BOAT house to say wassup to my friends rowing coach and take a look at the UCI crew team boats.... after a brief moment we proceeded back toward PCH.. and continued to ride toward seal beach...



3. by now we are on PCH ( pacific coast highway ) heading north west.... its a long long beautiful stretch of just beach and scenery... we were fortunate to have just a light headwind... along the way we did see quite a few triathletes and road racers training and riding... along the path i developed a very loud knocking noise from my bottom bracket....

now im thinking oh great.... as the sound got louder i pull over to just try to do a quick maintenance check... we decide to keep on going and hammer it out toward KINGS BIKE SHOP...



4. at this point we are at KINGS BICYCLE shop in SEAL beach.. if you have a chance.. stop by and visit.. they updated their stock and inventory.. have a great selection of just high quality track and road bikes.... MIKE who is the shop mechanic was free and was able to help me on my issue.. with just one crank of riding it around the parking lot.. he found i had some play in my cranks. and needed to get my crank and bottom bracket re-serviced... pretty much TAP AND CHASE the threads...re grease and re install... he said he can get it done for me in about 25 mins... and that was perfect time to stop and chill....



5. well after some time my friend had to start heading back because he had work ... so we went our way.. he headed back toward the apt. ( WHICH ENDED UP BEING A 44 MILE total trip ride for him! good job!) i continued alone... purchased 2 packages of CLIF SHOT BLOCKS...



6. now im pretty much hammering it towards home... i ride up PCH.. toward the LONG BEACH TRAFFIC CIRCLE.. continue on LAKEWOOD... turn on SIGNAL... turn on CHERRY... turn on WARDLOW.... then pretty much ride the stretch home.....the bike was holding very well.. no more noise or problems with my crankset.. road conditions worsened just a tad bit... but im home and safe....

great ride!!!
now stop reading!! and get out there and get ya fitness on!!!

YOUUU CAN DOO ITTT...


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RIDEZ REVIEWZ: CRITICAL MASS SAN DIEGO MAY 08

May 30th 2008 (last friday of the month) was SAN DIEGO CRITICAL MASS. me and some friends treked all the way down from LA to SUNNY SD to take part of probably one of the best critical mass's ive done in a while. LA and OC's critical mass has become more of a headache than just fun to ride, the turn out at san diego was intense, as well as the different types of riders that showed up. check it out...



We pretty much showed up right on time and met at the fountain. some friends went to get some drinks at a local liquor store before we went to ride. (just to note TILT and riding does not mix!) By about 8 pm the fountain where we met was packed!

Overall the route and ride was pretty chill, san diego police acts more of an escort than a force trying to stop it, of course you will get the occasional knucklehead that will purposely try to run a red light or defy the law of the police, but it was nice to ride through such crowded streets see san diego from a different perspective and pretty much roam free.

Our route was pretty simple from what i remembered, we started out from the fountain, headed slighty north through HILCREST then down this huge hill washington street i think. over by the SD airport, then through GASLAMP. afterwards and loosing most of my friends we ended up regrouping at some random ALBERTOS across from a Liquor store and went to HAMILTONS TAVERN. Ended up throwing down some beers by like 9/10pm ish and ended up riding home pretty drunk... now i dont advise you try this at home kids, but it was kinda fun, stupid , but fun. actually really funny, but then at the same time really stupid.. well you get the idea.. here enjoy the vids.. and hell thanks again san diego for such a great ride....

as LAVAR would say "YOU DONT HAVE TO TAKE MY WORD FOR IT"

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RIDEZ REVIEWZ: Venice Chill Ride "ATTACK ON LAX"

Ok So. Myself and my fellow bloggers/colleagues here  all cycle/bike/ride whatever you wanna call it... Well almost all of us... Except Jan... or maybe Jan but who knows.  But for the most part we like to keep it green like that. So with that said I'm gonna start a new segment here called "RIDEZ REVIEWZ", which will pretty much recap a ride we've gone out and done or something like that. one of them was a week ago with people from Venice and LA riders included groups from "LA FIXED", "WOLFPACK HUSTLE", "MIDNITE RIDAZZ" etc... it was called the Venice Chill Ride.

We all met up at VENICE circle, and we rode from there to Manhattan Beach on the way there, we made a sweet ride thru LAX... yes the actual airport, and then thru LAX tunnel. Check it out. (edit: you can see me in my striped sweater/cycling cap at about 18 secs in the video) 

Venice Chill ride 5/20/08 LAX II from Hernan Montenegro on Vimeo.

Ive been huge in cycling lately and its pretty much taking over my life for the past two years. This Venice Chill ride was awesome. A great experience... If there is ever an opportunity to ride thru Lax again you better believe i will be there. 

Other rides we like to try and frequent are Critical Masses. Now i know what you are thinking, oh god a critical masser right? now hold up, im all about safety and promoting cycling the right way. not wild and reckless, it is possible to do those large rides and help contribute by being an good example of how cycling can help benefit. now yes i agree that sometimes large and somewhat organized/unorganized rides like that just hurt cycling and the whole movement, but lets save that topic for another post.

im here to let you see what my ride was about... thats whats great with the video and pics.. i dont really have to say much.. just soak it in and see for yourself!

here are some pics from the ride.. so enjoy get on your bike and get out there... So here it is. "ridez reviewz" PART 1.... hopefully i can post my 1st SAN DIEGO critical mass, ill try to get some pics and video. 

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