While many participants didn’t know what to expect from the 1st Spring Uprising, one thing I have heard repeated over and over again was everyone’s surprise and delight at just how social the event was.  There’s nothing like shared suffering to boost camaraderie, and this day had both in droves.  The course wound around the quiet neighborhoods of Carlsbad, with punchy challenges spread out every few miles or so.  Some folks would hit the hills hard, while others stayed in steady, strong survival mode throughout.  In between, there was plenty of time to get to know old and new friends better and share a laugh or two.

Matt Sparks is always good for a laugh

With both accomplished cyclists (including a former Olympian) and brand new riders, there was a little something for everyone.  I was personally stunned to see the level of participation we had, with approximately 40 participants for this inaugural event.

A quick little background on how the event was conceived….  Several months back, someone posted a video about a ride held in Pittsburgh every year called “The Dirty Dozen”, and may have even joked to me that wouldn’t I love to do something like that.  Well, considering I’ve made a habit of doing rides exactly like that off and on for about the past six years, I thought it was an absolutely genius idea for a new Swami’s tradition.  So one day I sat pondering an appropriate name for the event, and was browsing through the beer list at Iron Fist looking for inspiration … The beer called “Uprising” caught my eye, and lo and behold, the ABV is 12%. Perfect.  The name “Spring Uprising” was born.  After sharing the idea with the Board, Matt Forsyth came up with the perfectly appropriate logo adorning the event shirts and added the tagline “12 Stages of Ascension”.  I love it when a plan comes together.

Except we did have one bump in the road, which came in the form of there being no food truck available at the Iron Fist for the post-ride feeding frenzy.  I thought of all kinds of alternatives, but the truth was I really hadn’t factored food into the pricing structure and I needed to do something a little out of the ordinary to make this work.  While I was never an official chef of any kind, in my pre-California days I spent an awful lot of time cooking for large dinner parties (Idaho has long, bike-less winters).  It had been an extremely long time since I cooked in quantity, and my brain felt like a bike with a rusty old chain trying to determine the ratios… it helps a little that I don’t use recipes for most of what I cooked.  As a wise old friend once told me, the most important part of the process is how much love you put into the food, and with all the bonds that have formed over my last few years as a Swami’s member, I had that in spades.

We love seeing both long time members and new faces at our events!  We will be starting up the Wednesday Night Hoppy Hour Ride at Iron Fist on April 18, with moderate-paced groups starting at 5:30 pm and the heavy hitters at 6:00 pm.