What a fantastic adventure! Sorry I didnt blog the last few days ( I received QUITE a few angry emails!) but we are busy.  We arrived at the St Regis at 4 and we out to dinner by 5:30 so the Rylo is sorry but I was busy.

We really didnt know what we were getting ourselves into but man did we have a great time figuring it out. My turn by turn Garmin worked fabulously so it guided us–Thanks to Karen Wiggan for being in charge of my Technology team–TeamRyloTech–and getting all of  my gizmos up and running before the journey.

The weather was fantastic the entire way although there were some hefty winds–most of them at our back though. I have so much to say but I really need to go to Robertos so let me go day by day (one post today another tomorrow) and I have a TON of great pictures so there will be plenty of them and I think you can click on them to blow them up–should you want to look at say my powdery blue eyes–or something like that.

We departed the Huntley at 7:20 (Bobby is always late) and boogied south! We had our first official stop where STR (ok Support Team Rylo) met us in Huntington Beach which was exactly mile 50.  We dined on Fish Tacos at the Pier with all but Rylo also enjoying a Bloody Mary. I know. The food was so so and they raged when we insisted on eating with the bikes at the table but we were a pretty motley and overwhelming crew (we had probably 25 paparazzi following us at this pt) so they yielded but fed us quickly.  Here we have Nathan studying the markets pre-departure. He was scared so he was trying to distract himself.  The others are the beginning of the journey where the excitement was palpable!!

After lunch we thanked STR-hugged them–and headed out! I managed to lose my glasses so I grabbed an awesome pair at the pier for 10 bucks they might be seen in the next batch of pictures.  The wind really picked up as did the crowds but we just kept plowing forward.  By mile 65 we were sick of it and wanted a beer but we were only at the Shake Shack so we stopped and acted like tourists. The cheering of the crowds gave us the energy we needed and we flew through Laguna Past Crystal Cove until we arrived, to much fanfare, at the St. Regis. Here are a variety of shots of that stuff.

Once at the Hotel I was upgraded to a suite with a Butler. The Butler was fabulous but scared me. He was 8 feet tall and well he was just scary. BUT Jeeves came through with this when he heard I was 50! Thanks Jeeves!

Lastly we went to dinner in Laguna with special guest Bruce Reinecke! Yes! We not only have a famous rock star we have Bruce Reinecke. Bruce recently retired from an illustrious career at Citi where he was an MD and on the Firm’s Competitive singing team : “The Screaming Citis!” Bruce is an avid cyclist and will join Ryloride3 next year! Before joining Citi Bruce was a linguist with the CIA where he translated intercepts before being promoted to Head Linguist Guy which enabled him to interrogate the various evil doers around the world.  Bruce speaks 11 languages, plays the flute and once considered being a Poet but he couldnt get anything to rhyme with flute so he moved onto bond sales. Bruce hooked us up with a great place for dinner where we did some serious damage.  Here we enjoying some local IPAs along with well  ummm wheat grass shots! Being around a guy turning 50 gets people excited for some reason!

Ok I gotta go I will try to get to some Q&A later today Tierney submitted a lot of questions. Here is day one in a picture!

And action shot!

More later!

Well we will be around 7 Nathan and the support team (STR-Support Team Ryloride2) is stuck in traffic. Damm LA traffic! I am sure it is related to the ride. So last night Bobby and I had a pre ride strategy session at the hotel bar and then we wandered over to dinner with Bret at the Watergrille. Now I am not sure exactly what high performing athletes do the night before a big ride but Bret and I ate steak, lobster, had white and red wine and shared 2 lovely desserts. Bobby was BEAT from the extensive cross country travel so he retreated early leaving more for me and Bret to gorge on. I will put up the pictures from dinner and head out! I would like to thank Bret for a fabulous and probably expensive dinner but I deserve to be treated nicely. Bret regaled me with stories of his youth and family before singing me a good luck song! Thanks Bret. For those of you who dont know Mr. Bret Barker he is an MD at TCW running the rates/derivatives team (high pressure) yet finds time for competitive sailing and man can he knit a mean sweater. Bret is not good at having fun and is very uptight when I am around which can clearly be seen in the pictures! I give you team Rylo Santa Monica Dinner People. Huh, kind of a Motley Crew.

THIS IS BIG! Due to some unforeseen family emergency type stuff we had to wait on the status of our SHAG van drivers but we have confirmed they are able to attend (thoughts and prayers please for Dominick’s Dad!).  We are going to be graced by 2 of Nathans dear life long friends– one of whom is a famous musician as in he is the Bass Guitarist for Cold War Kids and I am being honest and the other is best friends with a famous musician!  Both of these gents were in Nathan’s wedding party as well so we have a fabulous team! Maust is used to being the star–I mean they were one of the headline acts as Outside Lands 2 years ago and their new album–check the charts–NO go BUY it. BUY IT NOW. BUY a copy for everybody you know. DO IT NOW–but this ride is about the riders although we will use Maust’s fame to our advantage as much as humanely possible.

Sorry, but we have costs for Ryloride2. Yes these 2 fine men are taking time out of their busy lives to be our support crew. We love them.

Our primary driver is Dominick Santos who is a professional snowboarder and is in charge of merchandising for the Cold War Kids–I know found out after I made all my Ryloride2 gear!! Before moving to his current vocation Dom (as he is called by his dear friends) was a Navy Seal for 11 years having completed 11,923 missions. His nickname in the service was “Badass” so we are also good for muscle if we get any unruly crowd issues.  Before becoming a Seal Dom spent 2 years at the Culinary Academy In Paris where he specialized in ” Saucery”. He also has 2 exercise videos on the market and once saved a dog on the freeway.

Driver #2 and famous person –Matthew Maust. Nathan and Maust go way back (I think they did some mission trips together in HS like my daughters do/did). Before becoming a famous Professional Musician Mr. Maust dabbled in extreme dance but was hurt fairly badly during a tryout for Circe De Soleil. Like myself, Maust is scared of sharks and is wary of the frenetic shark activity along the coast. Maust won a Nobel Prize in 2007 for his work on “big lizards in the desert” and, also like myself, did some modeling in his earlier days. Maust has sky dived 1,120 times once blindfolded while playing the bands latest hit.

Wow, this is so good. I am off to dinner with Bret and Bobby LOTS of pictures and Q&A Later. I give you Dom and Maust! And here is Nathan fleeing the Paparazzi. 

Wow they look fabulous.

Whew, well I made it to Santa Monica. I left Moraga at 6am and pulled into the Huntely at 12:39. I started the day with 2 large coffees and at mile 100 added a sausage mcmuffin with egg. Around 250 miles I got another giant coffee and a box of doughnuts. I know you think I only listen to Trey but when I was at the peak of my sugar and caffeine high I belted out Sweet  Caroline along with Mr. Diamond from Live at the Greek! Oh the memories. Here I am about to take off this morning:

Oh wait its really dark and you can’t see me? Oh yeah, I will throw it into my new Lightroom Software and unlock the actual image–hold on give me a minute….ok, go it, here I am at 6 am:

Man I really am good looking. I clean up nice if I do say so myself.

Ok, I will have a lot more later I need to put the bikes together/charge all the gamin’s etc. I wanted to add a few more pictures though–Here I am saying hi to Bobby at the hotel–I think he might have had a few on the plane…..I have the grapevine to prove it rained and YES here we have one of many of our fans (or you can use the word groupies)  packed up and heading to the course to cheer us on and follow along! I did wave at them. Ok, more later! We get to see Bret tonight! I know, its like Xmas already.  Here are the pictures:

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My bags are packed, I’m ready to go….I’m leaving in my Highlander. Ok, you get the point. All 3 bikes are in/on the car (one needed emergency repairs and was literally JUST fixed–I KNOW!) and although we are having some minor staffing issues the Ryloride2 Executive Committee is having a call at 8pm to discuss all options and finalize the remaining details (royalties, Media schedules, VIP obligations etc).  Here are the bikes and the car ready to go!

Ann and I saw TAB last night here are a few pictures including when Trey became a crazy beam of light!

I can’t believe the # of questions my team is getting. One of my interns was organizing the questions til 2 am! I will address a few of the questions, share some more of my amazing photographs from my recent class and then impart words of wisdom for all of you to drink in and use to become better people.  You are welcome.

Q: Why can’t we ride with you if we want to ? We are high performing near professional type athletes and we dont want to hurt you.

Q: Are you worried about crowds along the route? YES. Bret Barker is in charge of course management, VIP Viewing Stations and all Media Relations. I haven’t seen his final report but all indications are we could attract thousands.

Q: Are you insane? The Doctors are not in agreement on that one.

Q:  Are you going to transmit 24/7 so we can follow along every minute of the way? No. We just didnt have the time to plan this. Sorry maybe for Ryloride3.

Q: What do the get if we purchase a VIP pass? You get preferred seating along the route. Access to the Riders at the end of the day. We will be in your Christmas Card Photo.  You can buy us drinks and Robertos at the end. First dibs on all Media Tours.

Here we have the beach at Sunrise its shot in color,  a brook I froze by setting a very slow shutter speed to give it a ribbony appearance vs freezing each drop.  My friend “Mr. Otter” and of course Monterey Bay at Sunrise.

Wisdom sharing: You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Its been perfectly planned-its completely insane. Throw away stuff you don’t need in the end but keep what’s important and know who’s your friend.  Never take any wooden nickels.  Pretty solid stuff, I know. I must go now I have so much still to do.

Boy have I been getting asked lots of questions about the upcoming–as in 2 days–Ride! My staff has been having a hard time keeping up with all the questions but unlike Goldman I’m willing to work my interns to the bones so keep those questions coming. I will address a few of the more popular ones:

-Merchandise: Is Ryloride merchandise available. Sort of. For the Riders we have custom made American Flag Ryloride Jerseys–see below–but those are ONLY for participants so its on you for not signing up for the ride. Yes there are Ryloride2 tee shirts available but quantities are VERY limited due to off the charts demand. Yes in addition to my many talents, to be discussed at length during the ride–dont worry, I apparently am quite adept at high end clothing design. I give you Ryloride2 Wearables!

Very impressive, no?  OK, back to the questions:

-if we see you guys along the route can we ride with you? NO

-can we arrange to send you presents or other treats to commemorate the ride and/or your 50th? YES

-are you at all nervous? Yes.

-Have you done any other longer rides to prepare we all know u have like 19 injuries–Well, sort of. I did do the 62 miler leg of the Levi Grand Fondo last month which was a ton of run. Here I am at the starting line with Young Logan (he will appear again soon) and then what does 7500 people look like all in one line? Sorry bout the Greenbay guy.

-How else have you been spending your time Rylo? Well as many of you know I have been matriculating at Stanford where I am currently in the Post Graduate Multi Discipline Program. Some call it “continuing ed” but well ok thats what it is. I have dabbled in photography where I have learned to use Aperture and Shutter speed to interpret time and space. I know, cool. The class was fantastic with an unbelievable team of professionals to help us on our 2 day journey along the California Coast.  I also JUST got lightroom so I can start to do some post capture enhancement. Here are some excellent examples of my recent pictures:

-I also dabble at the Martinez Gun Club where my wife got me shooting lessons for xmas. I have gotten quite a few people out there including one of the founding members of Ryloride1 and 2 Mr. Michael Schumacher! Not only the greatest Strategist ever also a great shot. Well, not really but we love him. We don’t harm anything I shoot 5 stand Clays and everything including the shell and lead is 100% recycled so no angry emails please. We seem to have found Logan again and Phil Schade and the Mrs. She seems happy she likes me having a Browning Citori Crossover 32″ barrel 12 gauge over under! Who wouldn’t! Lastly my shooting coach Blake.

Ok, thats some serious updates on Rylo. Gosh if you have a blog you can really just talk about yourself.  You all should try it. Ok, enough stalling. Tomorrow is packing and preparation where we ascribe to Mr. Martin’s 6 P’s–Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.  The drive with all the bikes and gear should be interesting and we will have the final Support Staff Roster shortly so we can complete “The Players” for the ride.

Off to see TAB at  the Fox!

Rylo.

Hello! Yes it’s crazy Rylo back at the Blogging–Yippee!  What is the occasion you ask? Ryloride2! Now this is about as different as you can get from last years ride in that 3 of us are going it alone but we are doing the fun part of the ride–Santa Monica to San Diego. We are replicating the last 2 days of the CAF ride (SM to OC, OC to SD) so we can end up in San Diego for a day or 2 of relaxation and ROBERTOS!  The reason for the ride? I turned 50! I know can you believe this knucklehead is 50 (photo from my 2 day Photography class from Monterey to 70 miles down the coast!).

I get so excited. I digress, so I turned 50 and Nathan mentioned meeting in SD for Robertos and after a lot of intense thinking Ryloride2 was born! To begin I will introduce you to my 2 bike mates–aka The Players.

First we have Mr. Bobby Jaskolski my former boss of 12 years and my still friend of over 20. Bobby does live in Jersey and has 5 kids but his zest for life and enthusiasm for outdoor adventure has led him to head West to tackle the 150 mile 2 dayer.  Although this would qualify as a very long ride for Bobby he is in fantastic physical condition and was recently on American Ninja Warrior. Bobby is the youngest of 19 children and his father was a famous mobster who killed over 100 people before entering the Witness Protection Program. Oh wait, sorry, that was the documentary I was watching the other night my bad. I guess I dont know much about Bobby ( we will change that!) other than he was born and raised in Detroit and attended Univ of Michigan where he was valedictorian and the Starting quarterback.  In college his nickname was the motor city madman but as he aged he became an avid Kid Rock fan. I am actually serious on this one. He has seen tons of concerts and even went on a Kid Rock Cruise. Yes, I guess they have those. After so many concerts I think Bobby is starting to look a bit like Kid Rock but maybe that’s just me–Ladies and Gentlemen– I give you Bobby J!

The second participant is Mr. Nathan Rose.  Nathan attended the finest University in the World, UCSD (wait, I went there!) , but I met him when he was the Jr Buck at one of my accts in LA way back when. I guess I am like a dumb mentor to Nathan. Nathan is probably 34 and although he has never ridden a bike–as in never–he is a runner and can bang out a marathon just behind the guy from Kenya. Nathan is 6’8″ or so and was married just over a year ago to his lovely wife Taylor.  Taylor graduated from Tulane where she was a Rhodes scholar and the Captain and #1 Violinist For the Tulane Musical Group “The Wicked Strings”. Here we are at his wedding last september:

:

Like Bobby J Nathan lives back east currently residing in a fantastic home in Brooklyn where he sits on many Boards. Even though Nathan isn’t a rider he comes from a family of extreme and well decorated athletes–Between them they have 3 Olympic Golds and Countless World Cup Titles.  When I asked Nathan what his training technique was going to be he responded “well I’ve been researching other riders and I read some books and ummm they had some techniques in them that ummm I might try out.” Well I hadnt seen Nathan in a while but I do think he looks a bit different, no? 

He told me we need a big cooler for some reason or other.

And, then there is me. Yes, the 3 of us. Nobody else except our awesome support staff of one–but there is the possibility that our staff might double to 2 so I will leave that for another day! The bikes are almost ready (yes we are using my 3 bikes) so the journey begins Monday when I head out for LA in my new used bike car–the 2011 Highlander! Get ready its gonna be fantastic.

That sounds like an appropriate title for the final blog entry for Ryloride I think. I know you all thought I would end it with a Trey lyric—well, I will be patient, jeez.

I have struggled with how to try and end my blog in order to do justice to my epic journey. I thought about just a one liner but the pressure was too much so I will just blather about til I get tired and move on. Its my blog I can do what I want.

My mind is still processing the entire adventure. Parts of it seem totally surreal to me still. Its hard to believe a week ago at this time I was struggling to get to Pismo Beach alive yet here I am not only alive but feeling fantastic. I literally feel like I can do anything but luckily I realize that I can’t. I have proven to myself that I can do things I didn’t think possible, which is great, but I also learned that there are limits and I should respect them.

One question I kept getting asked along the way by the other riders was “why are you doing this ride”? Most of you know the drama of my back from 06-08 which sort of ruined a good slug of time for me but via a relatively minor back surgery at Stanford in 7/08 followed by life saving physical therapy from my friend Thomas I was able to move forward. I didn’t really fix the problem, I went for more of a “bandaid approach , but the Dr. said after my surgery get out there and ride a bike and stop running. So, I did and it changed my life. I started slowly but within no time I was riding up Diablo. It changed my entire existence from one of painful maintenance to one of endless adventures on my bike. Exercise is part of my DNA so when I was out I wasn’t happy and that is why the CAF ride spoke to me. The same is true of Bill Walton. When Bill would speak to us, which was often and always fun, he frequently started like this: “ I love my bike. I love my bike. I love my bike. It changed my life. It saved my life. It gave me my life back”. I feel the same way which is just more proof that we are twins!

Was it worth it? What? Of course what are you talking about! It was a fantastic life altering journey that I am so happy I took. It had some lows—oh yeah—and there were parts that kicked my butt, but, I came back strong and kicked some righteous butt myself! I met the official “pro rider” at the very end while we were drinking bloodies at the Lodge. His comment was: “are you telling me you rode that bike in tennis shoes all the way down here and I didn’t know? That is the most insane thing I cant imagine what you could do in clips. “ Well he hadn’t met me cause he was a bit further in the front than I was but I will take that compliment all day long!!

The Charity: CAF is a fantastic organization that does SO much good for SO many people that I am proud to have been the second highest fundraiser at just north of 35k. The CAF staff thanked me constantly and really let me see where the money would be put to work. They were all fantastic so feel good about your donations as I feel good about my efforts.

The people: I have never been surrounded by so many TYPE A people at once let alone so many amazing athletes. The caliber of the riders was so far above what I ever expected that I remain in awe of what they can do but I think I probably deserved a bit more awe than I received as well from them–but its ok I had my own supporters! I met some people who I hope to keep in touch with down the road as they enhanced the journey for me. To my new buddy Ray from CCSD (an absolutely amazing organization who supported the entire ride) who picked my up out of the dirt when I was covered in grossness—thanks. Thanks for picking me and my bike up and taking care of me until I battled back to a more normal state. You are a good man and I greatly enjoyed getting to know you. Bill Walton—amazing/generous/sincere-a wonderful addition to the experience who was one of my bigger fans.—I love Bill.

My bike: whats next? Oh man I am totally jonesing to ride but I promised myself I would take a week off but I wont make it that long I just need to get my bike back! I always wanted to do a double Diablo—up north gate to top back down via southgate and then do it in reverse—but I didn’t think I could do it. I know, right? I will bang that out this week cause I KNOW I can do it. 8000 feet of climing in 24 miles—I know doesn’t that sound fantastic and that means 22 miles of downhill too! But you won’t be able to follow my journey on strava cause I am no longer going to use it. My riding from this pt forward will be about me and what I want to accomplish on that particular day. I am gonna ride a ton and I am gonna set so many PR’s but only I will know what they are (oh and the guys I text non stop) which is the way I want it going fwd.

Fundraising: Another journey I had never taken. I was completely overwhelmed by the generosity of all my sponsors.   Each and every donation meant a TON to me cause it made me feel like I had a team of supporters—It wasn’t about the amt it was about supporting me. I was surprised by some of the sponsors, and to be honest some of the non sposors!, so thank you to each and every one of you who donated to my ride. That said I feel I must give a shout out to the 3 people who each gave me $5k, yes $5,000, when I was just getting the fundraising going- you guys rock, thank you: Charlie, Nathan and Phish (Steve).

Team Rylo:  I am a nut and over the last year (well way longer) I have pummeled a select group of you with what I think are just awesome pictures of things I see when I ride via text. So I send them thousands of texts and well they put up with it—thanks Nathan, Bobby J, Bret, Cooker, and Ann!  Yes one more shout out to my lovely and loving wife Ann–THANKS. And to my 2 soulmates who put up with all of the above PLUS a ton more you guys rocked it and your texts telling me to get off my lazy asss and finish probably are what made me do just that so thanks Steve and Jason. Sorry if I forgot you I still like you don’t be mad.

The end: I guess that’s it. The last entry is pretty darn long but I got lots of free time now so deal with it. I will throw up a bunch of pictures to end it cause I love pictures and I want to remind you that although I have blathered about myself a lot the ride was about the Challenged Athletes and the CAF as a whole—remember #morethanaride. Not sure what my next adventure will be and it might be a little less public but I plan on making it super fantastic like this one. Its all good!

“toss away stuff you won’t need in the end

but keep what’s important – and know who’s your friend”

 See you on the bike! Go do great things.

RIDE ON!

 Rylo

This concludes Ryloride.

at Roberto’s check back Monday Night for the final blog entry for Ryloride! OMG the pressure on me to end it in such a way that it leads me to the final version of this specific journey–yes, I have always wanted to be on Letterman just to tell him how much I have enjoyed his show–we used to watch it as UCSD in our dorm room–remember Spencer? On the $89 black and white tv we got at Sears. Woohooo! So, somebody get on that. Here are a few pictures cause it is so darn NICE down here. And, yes, this pair of shoes did me well. They got me down the coast and despite being the ONLY one in tennis shoes I did so without my toes falling off from pain and numbness–they feel fabulous. Thank you tennis shoe gods, who live off of Torrey Pines State Beach, please accept back his pair of shoes as  a symbol of my thanks.  Til MONDAY–maybe I will perform one of my Broadway numbers I have been working on !