Northern California - weekend ride reports - where'd ya ride?

Up the South side of Diablo to the 2nd ranger station, and down the North side. First time doing Diablo this season. I gotta get into shape! No summit for the first time. :-(

Rode my favorite route, along Mulholland Hwy, up Rock Store Hill, then on to Little Sycammore, then Yerba Buena Rd to where it descends halfway down to sea level, then turned back up Cotharin for a wonderful punishing climb to the top of Deer Creek Rd, and down Deer Creek for my favorite descent in the world. By the time I hit PCH the rims were hot from braking. Yowza!

Saturday, did Saratoga Gap, then Page Mill ... http://sevencyclist.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/saratoga-gap-my-new-fallback-ride/

Sunday, rode Kings Mountain with BF's newlyweds, Marco and Ruth ... http://sevencyclist.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/some-days-you-have-it-some-days-you-dont/

Bikingshearer and I teamed up for a leisurely tour of SF, the Marin Headlands, and Mill Valley. We met at the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero, under a heavy marine layer and chilly breezes. We lasted all of about 15 minutes before I twisted Rich's arm and made him stop at Starbucks for a hot beverage and a small bite to eat.

After I achieved a proper mindset, we headed through Fisherman's Wharf to gain access to the Golden Gate Bridge. Up and over, through the fog and down the other side, we turned left and looped through the Marin Headlands. The fog was sort of lifting by this time, but was still above us sending it's tendrils down and around us now and again.

Coming off the headlands and back into Sausalito, we finally got some sun and blue skies. From there, it was a delightful romp up to Mill Valley and lunch, threading ourselves between the throng of participants in a massive walk for breast cancer research. Arriving at Mill Valley, we lunched with Rich's charming fiancée while planning our return route.

Going back to SF we retraced the route coming up, neglecting of course the loop through the headlands. It was such a nice day so we eschewed the many opportunnities to ride back on a ferry and scooted back across the Golden Gate and our starting point. After feasting on a vendor-cart hot dog we shared a ride on BART, eventually parting ways on the other side.

A Good Day - about 40 miles and 3,000' of climbing or so.

In the beginning - On the BART platform, waiting for a SF bound train:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/jd6572/2009%20Rides/SF-Mill%20Valley/Bartstation.jpg

A funny juxtaposition:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/jd6572/2009%20Rides/SF-Mill%20Valley/hooters-1.jpg

GG approach:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/jd6572/2009%20Rides/SF-Mill%20Valley/goldengate.jpg

Crossing the GG:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/jd6572/2009%20Rides/SF-Mill%20Valley/rich-1.jpg

Land's End, with Bolinas Lighthouse dimly visible:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/jd6572/2009%20Rides/SF-Mill%20Valley/Bolinaslighthouse.jpg

Through a tunnel, darkly:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/jd6572/2009%20Rides/SF-Mill%20Valley/tunnel-1.jpg

A nice toy, riding anchor:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/jd6572/2009%20Rides/SF-Mill%20Valley/boat.jpg

Coming back, the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/jd6572/2009%20Rides/SF-Mill%20Valley/baybridge.jpg

Alcatraz:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/jd6572/2009%20Rides/SF-Mill%20Valley/alcatraz-1.jpg

The Balcuth:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t267/jd6572/2009%20Rides/SF-Mill%20Valley/balcuth.jpg

A funny juxtaposition

:lol:

Saturday AM, at Brentley's instigation, we put in another flat ride - yes it is possible here. Headed out from Orinda, through Moraga, Lafayette, Danville to Blackhawk and looped round. It's easy to forget how much fun it can be to just push on the flats and get some speed up. The section from Blackhawk, down Diablo Road to Green Valley and then Danville Blvd was high cadence awesomeness.

54.1miles and 2800ft (OK we threw Happy Valley in at the end).

Video from our ride with Ron.. Fast descending on Skyline and East 84. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4gTpsB5A2Y

Sweet! I gotta unpack the gopro one of these days

Saturday we previewed the entire Slowpoke Ride 7/18. We ended up riding faster than we published (I made cgallagh do some sprint drills), and we had a flat 3 miles from home, but it was all good.

Today my left knee hurt so I bailed on riding and we walked the dogs instead. Later, cgallagh rode a ridiculous hill within the city limlits and gave me a hard time for not riding it with him. :notamused: I'm not willing to push a sore joint.

Looking forward to the coming week -- I feel a shift in the force. :D

I gotta get one

I kinda fell off the cycling wagon just a bit last fall and winter, and I've been slowly trying to build back up, but without the benefit of weekday rides, it's been tough.

Sunday, I finally convinced myself that I was ready to tackle some hills, so I dragged my aging butt over OLH. Took 33+ minutes, but I DID manage to avoid throwing up or fainting at the top. Once I had recovered a bit, I went down the other side to 84, climbed back up to the top, then a quick spin down 84, out to Portola/Alpine, and back home. Just shy of 60 miles, the first 55 of which felt pretty good.

The whole 60 would have felt better, but as I was coming back on Portola, I passed couple where the guy was on an MTB, and the woman was riding with toestraps and a gawdawfully squeaky chain. I put them out of my mind, until I heard that squeaky chain catch up with me at the turn-off where Portola splits off Sand Hill (I had to wait to make the left turn). I swore that squeaky chain WOULD NOT pass me. So I spent a huge amount of energy staying ahead.

What a dope! :rolleyes:

Having spent all that energy on a stupid egotistical quest to stay ahead of a stranger, my legs started cramping up 5 miles from home. Kharma.

At least there is Advil.

Video from our ride with Ron.. Fast descending on Skyline and East 84. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4gTpsB5A2Y

Nice vid. The GoPro adjusts pretty quickly between the bright sunlight and shady sections.

I parked on the south end of the GGB in a Presidio parking lot right on the corner of Lincoln and Storey Ave (http://maps.google.com/?q=Lincoln+Blvd+%26+Merchant+Rd,+San+Francisco,+CA+94129&sll=37.801059,-122.469199&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17&iwloc=A) where I could just hop right onto the Bridge. It's easier to get to and leave from than Sports Basement.

I road across the Bridge and at the north side Visitor's Center, met my friend John whom I haven't seen since last October. We rode leisurely around the Alpine Dam/Seven Sisters loop. It was such a beautiful morning (once past the fog on the bridge) that even the dang third Sister couldn't put a damper on the ride.

On the way back through Mill Valley and Sausalito we stopped in to look at Studio Velo and Bicycle Odyssey. Drool. There are no high-end shops like that on the Peninsula.

I did a 91 mile, 8200' of climbing loop through the Santa Cruz mountains today ... starting at 2:20am. I hadn't planned it as a night ride but I couldn't sleep and decided to go for it.

Starting in Los Gatos, I climbed up Hwy 9. There were no cars at all for the longest time and I thought I might make it to the top without any passing by but finally a few did. It was warm out and it seemed to get warmer as I climbed. I had my jersey unzipped all the way and was loving the warm air on my skin. There was no wind and a crescent moon rose over the valley below. Occasionally I glimpsed views of the city lights sprawled below me but tree cover mostly got in my way.

At the top I stopped to put my headband on in preparation for the descent down the other side which I expected to be cold. It wasn't. 75 degree temps the entire way as I coasted along in the darkness. I made the turn onto Hwy 236 to go through Big Basin State Park. At first this road climbs and then drops down inside the basin. This was finally my first taste of cold and it was sure eye-opening but bearable.

All the way through the park and then right on Jamison Creek road, a short but relatively steep climb up to the top of a ridge. This starts out at a shallow grade and then pitches up and stays steep until the top. At this point the sky was beginning to lighten. I turned off my headlight for the first time and began climbing out of the saddle in an easy rhythmic fashion. Hwy 9 always feels like a boring slog to me but this was steep enough to be interesting! Aside from a couple quick breaks to drink water, I climbed out of the saddle all the way to the top in either my 34x26 or 34x24.

Reaching the top I turned right on Empire Grade knowing this dead ends. At first, the road descends before angling up and ending at an imposing gate. The little dip through the low-lying portion of road blasted me with cold air again. By this time it was somewhere between 5:00am and 5:30am and I imagine the air had been stratifying for the entire calm night with cold air sinking into any little valley it could and displacing the warm air upward. As I turned around and headed south on Empire Grade I would encounter these little pockets of cold air in each valley no matter how small the valley seemed.

I made a right turn on Pine Flat road and took this until it turns into Bonny Doon which goes all the way to the ocean. I should emphasize that the last few hours of riding had been mostly in 75 degree temps even though I didn't know it at the time (other than "gee it's warm"). Here's a temperature plot from Scott's Valley which is at 1530' and seems like a good representative:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=18&year=2009&month=7&ID=KCALOSGA21&type=3&width=500&showtemp=1&showpressure=0&showwind=0&showwinddir=0&showrain=0 (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCALOSGA21)

So I was cruising downhill with my short sleeved jersey and arm warmers. For some reason I had left my windbreaker at home. As I got lower it got colder. I hit Bonny Doon and tucked in for a high speed thrill ride to the ocean and it was freezing the entire way! Arctic cold or at least it seemed. I could not wait for that descent to be over with although it would probably actually be fun if it was warmer. When I finally got to the bottom my watch was indicating 55.0 degrees. Usually this reads high because my body heat influences the sensor. But I think it was pretty accurate. Here's a temperature plot of downtown Santa Cruz which should be pretty close to what it was all along that stretch of coast (I was there around 6:20am):

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=18&year=2009&month=7&ID=KCASANTA70&type=3&width=500&showtemp=1&showpressure=0&showwind=0&showwinddir=0&showrain=0 (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCASANTA70)

A 20 degree drop in a matter of minutes! Fun. I made my way south on Hwy 1 diving in and out of mist and fog. Finally I got into town and found a coffee shop that had opened a few minutes ago at 7:00am. I got a coffee and bagel and then went back for seconds - a cinnamon roll.

After stopping for probably too long and eating probably too much food, I got back on the bike and headed back via Graham Hill, La Madrona, Bean Creek, and Mt. Charlie roads. My stomach was feeling the food and my legs were feeling Jamison Creek. But after a while I finally got back in the groove and had a good time on Mt. Charlie road. It was not even 9:00am yet but HOT out! I saw my first other cyclists of the ride. I passed them on the climb and felt like mentioning I had 75 miles in but thought better of it ;)

Finally made it home and, cured of my insomnia, promptly took a nap.

great story! inspiring ride.

Met up with Micheal, Fudgy Chris and Marco at Sycamore Valley Parknride to tackle Diablo, Morgan Territory and Patterson Pass. It was hot. I drank 80oz of camelbak from the top of Diablo to the parking lot at MT. We agreed to ditch Patterson Pass in this heat. Getting to Vasco road for food was unpleasant as was the return trip. An ice soak on the neck would have been helpful. 83 miles. They can fill in more details later.

Met up with Micheal, Fudgy Chris and Marco at Sycamore Valley Parknride to tackle Diablo, Morgan Territory and Patterson Pass. It was hot. I drank 80oz of camelbak from the top of Diablo to the parking lot at MT. We agreed to ditch Patterson Pass in this heat. Getting to Vasco road for food was unpleasant as was the return trip. An ice soak on the neck would have been helpful. 83 miles. They can fill in more details later.

The wind felt like it came from a giant blow dryer :twitchy: HOT HOT wind!

:giver: http://www.splendicity.com/styleitless/files/2007/11/blow-dryer.jpg

Met up with Micheal, Fudgy Chris and Marco at Sycamore Valley Parknride to tackle Diablo, Morgan Territory and Patterson Pass. It was hot. I drank 80oz of camelbak from the top of Diablo to the parking lot at MT. We agreed to ditch Patterson Pass in this heat. Getting to Vasco road for food was unpleasant as was the return trip. An ice soak on the neck would have been helpful. 83 miles. They can fill in more details later.

Me, Chris and Ramon went into this ride knowing the heat would be punishing - we all brought Camelbaks. Marco decided that he'd rather carry a 3rd water bottle and had puffy jersey pockets the whole way. :p

Diablo was fine - we were all hydrating properly and that was that, until my left knee started giving me trouble. This is the same left knee that took the hit on Death Ride when some jackass decided to help me fall-over on the way up to Ebbetts. I decided that it wouldn't be fun to get stranded, in the middle of nowhere (aka Livermore) in the heat so I made my way back to the car. Ramon, Chris and Marco continued on to Morgan Territory.

I can't say that I didn't envy them, but I can also say that I did love my air-conditioned car as I was just happy to get outta the crazy heat. Not fun. Props to Chris, Marco and Ramon for finishing what we started. :thumb:

Met up with Micheal, Fudgy Chris and Marco at Sycamore Valley Parknride to tackle Diablo, Morgan Territory and Patterson Pass. It was hot. I drank 80oz of camelbak from the top of Diablo to the parking lot at MT. We agreed to ditch Patterson Pass in this heat. Getting to Vasco road for food was unpleasant as was the return trip. An ice soak on the neck would have been helpful. 83 miles. They can fill in more details later.

That sounds more promising than the ride report! :)

I became a statistic today and got hit by a car. This will teach me never to ride on Hamilton Ave in San Jose again. I was in the bike lane and somebody took a quick right turn into me trying to get into the Home Dept parking lot. My bike is fine and I'm fine (somehow I made it into a grassy patch) but I slightly scratched my frame and there's a scratch on my new Ultegra cranks (my bike took 2 months to build and I've only had it a week) which pisses me off to no end. In my 15 minute rage of fury, I forgot to get the guy's information. I did make quite the scene, though.

Today I rode locally 35 miles total. Almaden to Los Gatos, chill ride along Los Gatos Creek Trail, out to Santa Clara and somehow made it back to Los Gatos back to Almaden.

It was a beautiful, very nice chill ride with just enough climbing around to make it a calorie burner. Aside from getting hit, I had a nice time.

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs157.snc1/5848_1125568312525_1626676832_306529_1763452_n.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs137.snc1/5848_1125568352526_1626676832_306530_2751361_n.jpg

Rode my first sanctioned cat5 race today: the Watsonville crit race. It was nice and cool on that side of the hill, perfect weather.

We got there a bit early and I was able to ride the course for almost half an hour to warm up. It was a tight .75 mile loop in a nice residential neighborhood. The turns were a little choppy with a hairpin left in the middle so I was glad for the preview. We lined up just before noon and got briefed on the rules, inspected for improperly pinned numbers (one 13 year old in street clothes thankfully got pulled for "not having a number"), and then the whistle blew.

Right out the gate I was working harder than I'd expected to. I guess because of the short distance people went out hard at the beginning. I worked pretty well for the first four or five laps but I was redlining unsustainably to stay up. There was a short hill on each lap which seemed to hurt more and more each time up it and I started to move back. I was able to close gaps until the seventh lap when the distance between the main pack and my back group started opening up on the upwind leg. By the eighth (this is fifteen minutes in, mind you) I knew I wouldn't catch back on, especially since a smaller group has to work harder and the bunch was receding in the distance. Other people off the back were dropping out, including the strong looking joker in a mullet wig and daisy dukes and the Fox guys I'd warmed up wtih, but I wanted to finish. I ended up being part of a good group of four guys and we worked together to keep things moving. We got lapped on the 14th, which is an experience I am used to from the SJBC crits so I hollered to keep right and neutralize as the main pack rode past. The last two laps I rode with a few guys who were off the back of the main pack but not lapped and cruised in at 29 minutes. Thanked the race organizers and talked to Todd Manley who was racing 3's and we went on to the beach at Carmel for some fun in the fog.

It was a very intense 30 minutes. I am disappointed in my performance but not terribly surprised. Gotta ride harder, that's all.

http://gallery.me.com/eric.sorenson/100008/watsonville/web.jpg?ver=12479799170001

I became a statistic today and got hit by a car. This will teach me never to ride on Hamilton Ave in San Jose again. I was in the bike lane and somebody took a quick right turn into me trying to get into the Home Dept parking lot. My bike is fine and I'm fine (somehow I made it into a grassy patch) but I slightly scratched my frame and there's a scratch on my new Ultegra cranks (my bike took 2 months to build and I've only had it a week) which pisses me off to no end. In my 15 minute rage of fury, I forgot to get the guy's information. I did make quite the scene, though.

Today I rode locally 35 miles total. Almaden to Los Gatos, chill ride along Los Gatos Creek Trail, out to Santa Clara and somehow made it back to Los Gatos back to Almaden.

It was a beautiful, very nice chill ride with just enough climbing around to make it a calorie burner. Aside from getting hit, I had a nice time.

Sorry to hear that - did you have a "chat" with the driver?

I became a statistic today and got hit by a car. This will teach me never to ride on Hamilton Ave in San Jose again. I was in the bike lane and somebody took a quick right turn into me trying to get into the Home Dept parking lot. My bike is fine and I'm fine (somehow I made it into a grassy patch)


Hey Dion, this is right in my neighborhood and I agree that stretch of Hamilton is awful for bikes. Sorry you got taken out, especially on your fly new ride. No damage is good though.

Unfortunately your only options for getting across 17 around there are either campbell ave or the ped / bike bridge that connects Westfield (W side) to Downing Ave (E side). They are supposedly widening campbell ave to include some bike lanes for the narrow tunnel under 17 but now you just have to take the lane and deal with the s...heads.

Sorry to hear that - did you have a "chat" with the driver?

YES. :lol:

Hey Dion, this is right in my neighborhood and I agree that stretch of Hamilton is awful for bikes. Sorry you got taken out, especially on your fly new ride. No damage is good though.

Unfortunately your only options for getting across 17 around there are either campbell ave or the ped / bike bridge that connects Westfield (W side) to Downing Ave (E side). They are supposedly widening campbell ave to include some bike lanes for the narrow tunnel under 17 but now you just have to take the lane and deal with the s...heads.

It's really sketchy over there, but now I truly realize that. Thanks for the kind words.

So, as mentioned, Marco, Ramon, Michael and I set off to climb Diablo, Morgan Territory, and Patterson Pass.

Even when I got to the parking lot at 8am I felt the heat. I knew it would be hot, but I had NO idea what that word meant before today.

Everything started out grand. We got lost, added a few miles by missing the turn to Diablo, but eventually found our way. I'd forgotten to turn on the garmin, got that corrected as we turned to Diablo. (I'd also forgotten my HR monitor, major mistake)

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK0nQt7STI/AAAAAAAACAc/mlIppI20vsQ/s800/P1010539.JPG

It turns out that with no HR monitor, I am much more unsure as to how to ride. Really, without the numbers it's hard for me to tell if I'm dying, or if I am just slightly uncomfortable. Regardless, I tried to pace myself and ride by feel. I think I did alright. I wasn't too bad at the top of Diablo, and I even made it up in time to catch faces of pain on the summit ramp.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK0ozMpzGI/AAAAAAAACAg/2M-e2UIXqDE/s800/P1010555.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK0sI3aeOI/AAAAAAAACAo/OfbG0MVQ3FA/s800/P1010557.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK0vmC1XuI/AAAAAAAACAs/6iBtEQDt_D4/s800/P1010559.jpg

No one was around, but I promise I was making a terrifying face. I have only been on Diablo 2x, and this was the second time I underestimated this grade and got caught in too big of a gear. I barely made it to the top on the bike.

Michael was favoring the knee he fell on last weekend, so he decided discretion was the better part of valor today and cut it short before being stranded in hell, er, Livermore. Good call, Michael!

Marco, Ramon and I headed to Morgan Territory. Along this way I started to notice how hot it was. Man, was it hot. Seriously, hhoott more accurately describes how hot it was. Also, I think Marco and Ramon were punishing me for summitting Diablo first by pushing a crazy pace to get to Morgan Territory. I'm not sure. Anyway, this was my first time, and I think I would have enjoyed the climb had it not been for temps. It was brutal, but scenic.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK0yhNu-eI/AAAAAAAACA0/jwwGwn7cFK4/s800/P1010567.JPG

Notice that the photo originates from the left side of the road. I rode wherever the shade was. I don't think I was alone in that. Near the top, I was feeling sick. I felt thirsty, and dry-mouthed, but my stomach was full of water. No matter how fast I drank it, my body wasn't processing the liquid as fast as I was losing it. I learned how true this was later.

Still, very scenic and remote. No traffic. Will have to re-attempt the full day sometime when the sun isn't crashing into the earth.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK01u7WMRI/AAAAAAAACA4/HafQ-cPMGKM/s800/P1010570.JPG

We met Michael at the top of Morgan Territory and tried to regroup. He'd driven up to return Marco's house keys, which was very kind. He offered a ride home. I probably should have taken it then. Instead, we took the plunge and rode to Livermore for lunch. At Subway, I wanted to know what I didn't really want to know.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK02v37xcI/AAAAAAAACBI/M0cs0ohGPT8/s800/18160219.jpg

If 99 was the air temp, I swear the temp on road had to be 105, 110? Something like that. It was like riding into an open oven, or the worlds largest hair dryer.

After lunch I tried really, really hard to stay close enough to draft Ramon and Marco back to the park & ride. I was really hurting just to hang on, and felt cramps coming on the entire way. We finally stopped to check directions about 3 miles before the end of the ride. I was standing in the shade, and just didn't feel right. Luckily it was downhill to the end, so I coasted and coasted and surprised the pack with a victory coming out of the sprint about 30 yards before the cars. I don't know that anyone else was racing, but I'll take them where I can get them.

I drove Marco home, and I polished off the rest of my camelback and cytomax in the air conditioning. I kept getting weird hand/thumb cramps. When I stood up to unload Marco's bike I felt really light headed. Unloading the bike, more cramps, this time in my forearm. It was just no good. During the day I'd constantly felt thirsty, but unable to pack down more water. I'd gone through 2 camelback loads (80oz. each), 4 24oz. bottles (forgot 1 in my twitter), 3 20ish oz. cokes from the fountain at Subway. Overall, well over 300oz. of fluids over the 5:45 ride. When I got home, I had at least another 16oz. of v8 before I weighed myself.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK02YQTGvI/AAAAAAAACBE/v9kuaJydWoY/s800/18209307-8a7ae3c6bee586fb0e50b8e929c2b995.4a62b18f-full.jpg

Normally, I'd love to be 170lbs. Unfortunately, when I started today's ride I was 181. So, despite packing my gut with enough water that I felt sloshy all along, I lost 10lbs over the 83 miles. Wow. Skipping Patterson pass really may have saved me a lot of trouble! Good idea, everyone!

I forgot the garmin for the first few warmup/being lost miles. Overall ride was probably 83 miles, 5:45 ride time. Multiplied by a difficulty of about 1.4 due to unreasonable temps... :innocent:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK02G1hBAI/AAAAAAAACBA/YJPo6DGPx8s/s800/Picture%2014.png

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK0vmC1XuI/AAAAAAAACAs/6iBtEQDt_D4/s800/P1010559.jpg



That has to be a close comparison to my Dalewood climb ... :lol:

I'm in SoCal this weekend, but that didn't mean it wasn't hot here either. So I did a ride near the coast, from Marina del Rey to Palos Verdes. 55 miles, 3000 feet climbing. Not by Gladiator standards, but at least I wasn't cooking out there. Still, it was 79 F in the shade at the top of PV East.

http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/595078716_8JeUj-L.jpg

Ride report at http://sevencyclist.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/beating-the-heat-pv/

So, as mentioned, Marco, Ramon, Michael and I set off to climb Diablo, Morgan Territory, and Patterson Pass.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7c/Looney_Tunes.png/250px-Looney_Tunes.png


If 99 was the air temp, I swear the temp on road had to be 105, 110? Something like that. It was like riding into an open oven, or the worlds largest hair dryer.I think it's generally about 90 degrees hotter on Diablo than in the lands surrounding. http://www.bikeforums.net/mysmiliesvb/mysmilie_15.gif It ain't called Diablo fer nothin'.

Congratulations on not dying, you guys.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK0vmC1XuI/AAAAAAAACAs/6iBtEQDt_D4/s800/P1010559.jpg


Is it me or does this picture make it look like Michael was coasting up the wall????


Well done guys, it was deceptively hot yesterday, we'll need to start in pretty good time next weekend.

We've been out for the past week living in a tent, cycling Washington. It's been stunning. About 500 miles of stunning.http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/3735397617_4f08cdcf3c_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/3735393011_4ce6b63677_b.jpg

So, as mentioned, Marco, Ramon, Michael and I set off to climb Diablo, Morgan Territory, and Patterson Pass.

Nice report! I'd love to ride that loop with you guys the next time you take a cut at it if you don't mind another wheel. I usually ride it the reverse (Morgan to Diablo) so I'm definitely familiar with the route. I love going up Morgan from the other side since it's usually a nice and shady ascent.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SmK0vmC1XuI/AAAAAAAACAs/6iBtEQDt_D4/s800/P1010559.jpg



I think that bag-thing on the handlebar and the water backpack-thing weighted your knee down. :p

Marco gets the style point for not carrying the water backpack-thing. :thumb:

I think that bag-thing on the handlebar and the water backpack-thing weighted your knee down. :p

Marco gets the style point for not carrying the water backpack-thing. :thumb:

Eh... I also ran out of water before hitting the top of Morgan Territory, even though I was riding with 3 full bottles. :innocent:

I filled up at the Diablo Summit, but probably should have topped off at Clayton too.

Odd mix today for me.

Barted into embarcadero and met up with my friend Nick at the station; then went and did the headlands loop. The Bridge was totally socked in in the middle (100 ft of visiblity tops and probably about 50 degrees).

When we were done with this short loop I got back on bart and went to Orinda and rode home via pinehurst. It was at least 100 in Orinda today and the difference was very obvious.

I didn't lose 6% of my body weight like some folks did but I was pretty warm by the time I was done.

I only got 20miles in today, but 3 of them were climbing El Toyonal. I hit Lomas Cantadas at ~9:30 and I was already getting a little fried on the top part - what was really annoying was that sweat decided to work its way into my right eye, like I needed more pain at that moment in my life. I'll be ordering a Halo now, after this has happened to me a few too many times recently.

I only got 20miles in today, but 3 of them were climbing El Toyonal. I hit Lomas Cantadas at ~9:30 and I was already getting a little fried on the top part - what was really annoying was that sweat decided to work its way into my right eye, like I needed more pain at that moment in my life. I'll be ordering a Halo now, after this has happened to me a few too many times recently.

Save your money, Richard. I have a brand new Halo headband (tags still on) that I never used. I'll bring it on Saturday.

I think that bag-thing on the handlebar and the water backpack-thing weighted your knee down. :p

Marco gets the style point for not carrying the water backpack-thing. :thumb:

You know, as Fred as it looked, I kinda enjoyed having the camelbak with me in the heat. The handlebar bag, however...

Save your money, Richard. I have a brand new Halo headband (tags still on) that I never used. I'll bring it on Saturday.

Thanks a lot Michael, you're too kind.

Drink like a fish and still lose a scary amount of weight? Yep, I've done THAT!!

Then you're drinking constantly for the next couple days. It seems to take a long time to rehydrate the tissues once they've been drained.

Myself, I'd planned an ambitious (for me, in my current state of fitness (fatness, really): Home to Woodside, up Kings, then down 84 and 35 to the bottom of west OLH (one of my favorite short climbs), then back down to Woodside, maybe add The Inner Loop if I felt okay.

I got to the top of Kings (BARELY!!!), and stood there, with sweat literally dripping, trying to cool off. I swear, I don't remember ever having sweat pour off me like that! I decided that discretion is the better part of valor, and headed back down Kings and home. I've been drinking all day, and I'm STILL feeling dry.

Rode the Davis Bike Club ride from Davis to Winters for the first time. Great ride!!! Got to Winters and it looked like the whole town was full of bicyclists!! Asked about it and was told Winters is the place to go on a Weekend/Sunday! Farmers Market in the park, great food at Mocha Joe's. Great atmosphere all the way around. Can't wait till next time. Give it a try if you're in this area. It's a no-drop ride and averages about 14 MPH.

Rode the Davis Bike Club ride from Davis to Winters for the first time. Great ride!!! Got to Winters and it looked like the whole town was full of bicyclists!! Asked about it and was told Winters is the place to go on a Weekend/Sunday! Farmers Market in the park, great food at Mocha Joe's. Great atmosphere all the way around. Can't wait till next time. Give it a try if you're in this area. It's a no-drop ride and averages about 14 MPH.

That sounds like fun...any link/url to ride details? :thumb:

Good idea skipping Patterson Pass yesterday guys. I think it would have been brutal. It was supposed to be cooler out this way today, but it wasn't. Yesterday's official high at Livermore airport was 100, today was 104. I rode a fairly flat 61 miler starting at 1:30 in the afternoon. Stupid hot - the temperature on the VDO read from 106 to 111 during the ride.

-Glenn

Just a 16-mile run to the store for groceries on the Orbea today (it's been a little while...my mother-in-law has been visiting the last couple of weeks).

But I also had a fun ride on a new (to me) bike...a friend was getting rid of a fixer-upper 1995 Trek 950 MTB, so I picked it up, slapped some new tubes and grips on, lubed the chain, and took it for a ride on Old Haul Road (just around the corner from me).

Front derailleur needs adjustment, can't get to the big ring. Rear shifter doesn't work at all (think it has a broken cable). So I was limited to 2 very different gears. Still had a really nice ride, especially since I managed to persuade the husband to get on a friend's MTB and go with me. :thumb:

Here's a "before" picture, still a work in progress:

http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/2009-07-16_trek3.JPG

This past weekend I rode the Fall River Mills 2x Metric. Had a great time despite forgetting my water bottles at home.

I had to miss the KoM challenge as some teammates were doing the HouseOfPain Lite aka House Of Mild Discomfort. Always wanted to do HoP, but not knowing the route kept from going. Had a good time, cool ride, medium intensity, very friendly. A few more times then I think I'd be comfortable navigating back the HoP if I get dropped on that hill or flat or something.

Did the PV Ride Sunday morning, and to be honest just kinda bored of the route/ride. Great ride, I've just done it too much. Pulled off half way and spun back.

Sat: Repeats of Cantelow, then a Winters loop with a stop at Steady Eddy's for lunch.

Sun: Rest day.

Saturday, did the KOM ride, and only the KOM ride. Went up, then down, back in the car, and drove home.

Sunday, rode out to OLH, did the climb, then back home. Didn't kill myself this past weekend. :p

I had to miss the KoM challenge as some teammates were doing the HouseOfPain Lite aka House Of Mild Discomfort. Always wanted to do HoP, but not knowing the route kept from going. Had a good time, cool ride, medium intensity, very friendly. A few more times then I think I'd be comfortable navigating back the HoP if I get dropped on that hill or flat or something.

Did the PV Ride Sunday morning, and to be honest just kinda bored of the route/ride. Great ride, I've just done it too much. Pulled off half way and spun back.

You'll have to show me the HoP route. I've been curious about it.

I rode the Hole-In-The-Ground trail up in Truckee yesterday. I gave myself a goal to ride that trail on my new rigid single speed, and yesterday was the day. My body is sooorrreeee today. Shoulders, arms, chest, back, legs. Feels awesome!

http://www.cleanspokes.com/Hole%20in%20the%20Ground,%20July%202009/DSC00272.JPG

http://www.cleanspokes.com/Hole%20in%20the%20Ground,%20July%202009/DSC00289.JPG

She purty:

http://www.cleanspokes.com/Hole%20in%20the%20Ground,%20July%202009/DSC00317.JPG