Northern California - Tour of Napa Valley 8/19/07

Anyone riding in the Tour of Napa Valley Century next weekend?

I'll be there, probably wearing a Peet's Coffee jersey (like that helps).

JB

I'll be there, probably wearing a Peet's Coffee jersey (like that helps).

JB

I will either be in a red 2006 Amgen Tour of CA or yellow Triple Crown jersery.

I'll look for your jersey.

Mike

I'll be at that the Napa...

JB, where you on the Marin Century? I was chatting with a Pete's Jersey rider for a good stretch, and we talked about the CA Triple Crown. Was that you?

No, I had custody of my kids that weekend. Peet's sells a lot of jerseys in the area, especially since they started donating the profits from them to TnT. As for the Triple Crown, that definitely wasn't me! Double centuries aren't quite within my capabilities!

JB

This from the guy who was prepared to do the Death Ride?? Oh, I'd say doubles are within your capabilities. :)

Back to the topic, sort of, I'll be doing the Holstein 100 the day before.

Velodiva and I will be there riding our silver Santana tandem - 65 miler. We will probably start right before 9AM.

I am planning on taking the 65 mile course...

It mentions two climbs; Pope Valley and Ink Grade.

How hard are those climbs?

Is it worst than Mount Tam or Red Hill here in Petaluma?

I drove by the other day and noticed the 30 mile course is too shallow and simple, thats why I am shooting for the 65...

I'm in for the 65 as well.

I rode Pope Valley and Ink Grade this past Saturday and found them to be challenging. This is only my second ever metric so am still a novice and getting into shape. The first time I rode Ink Grade it was a little hot outside (85 degrees) and I had to stop three times on that road. It is 4 miles of curvy, narrow incline. This past Saturday, I stopped just once very close to the top so I am getting in better shape. I think the secret to the Tour of Napa though is to start as early as possible because it will get warm.

I rode Red Hill during the Marin metric and it was hot then too. I stopped along that road to find shade twice. It is definitely harder than Pope and Ink as both roads have a lot more shade.

I'll be there!! It'll be my first Century ride!

What the heck, I signed in for the 65 miles.

Like I mentioned before, the 30 mile leg is too short and flat as I checked it the other day driving by.

It is a nice place that whole region, its crazy there is even a high class fully working train restaurant.

The only thing about the hills is I have a compact double crank, now I wish I had a triple crank.

By the way; about how much it would cost me to swap from double to triple?

I am super lucky, I was going to wait after finish work and register from home, but I changed my mind and did it from work after all.

Dont tell my boss about it...

Turns out its full to max by this evening, ufff... almost did not make it.

mazpr,

I have a compact double and rode Pope Valley and Ink AND I am a clyde. If I can do it, you can too.

By the way; about how much it would cost me to swap from double to triple?

LOTS... You'd need to swap the brifters along with the crankset.

What size cassette are you currently using? If you have a 50/34 compact crank with 12-27 cassette, you have nearly the same low end gearing as the "standard" triple setup. You could even go to a 11-28 mountain bike cassette without any problems or equipment change.

I did just that last week. I had a 12-25 cassette and a 50/34 compact crank. Switched to SRAM Rival 11-28 cassette. It helped. I rode the Ink Grade loop 35 miler on Saturday and did a 40 miler hilly club ride on Sunday. My legs and butt are sore but my knees feel OK.

This from the guy who was prepared to do the Death Ride?? Oh, I'd say doubles are within your capabilities. :)

Back to the topic, sort of, I'll be doing the Holstein 100 the day before.

You can do both, and you'll have your double century weekend :D

Aw, darn, I can't, it's all filled up ;)

mazpr,

I have a compact double and rode Pope Valley and Ink AND I am a clyde. If I can do it, you can too.



Thats a good one, now I better do this thing right or else it will hunt me forever, lol.

mazpr,

I have a compact double and rode Pope Valley and Ink AND I am a clyde. If I can do it, you can too.

That is great info. I am a clyde with a compact double. I will probably be at the ride, barring anything unexpected.

Anyone interested in an informal BF group start, I will be leaving the VA at 7 AM. I will be wearing my yellow CA Triple Crown jersey. I am a clydesdale at 210. I crank out the flats and do the best I can on the hills.

Mike

jupiterboy, are you doing the century or metric? I am doing the metric and plan on leaving the VA at 0700 as well. I'll be in a yellow "Benicia Bicycle Club" jersey. The rest of the club members are leaving at 0630 so I should be the only one left at the start.

Anyone else want to meet up for a 0700 start? I won't try to keep up with the fast guys. Like jupiterboy, I am a clyde at 215 but only 5'8". My goal is to finish in 6 hours, including rest stops.

I'll be rolling with a group of TnT alumni at about the same time (we're meeting at 6:45). I'll be wearing a Peet's Coffee jersey (that burnt orange color) and weigh close to the same as you. We should be keeping a pretty moderate pace.....

JB

I'm a TnT alumni as well. Is the rest of your group going to be in TnT jerseys? My TnT group are still at it and will have ridden a long ride tomorrow, Saturday. So, they'll not be at the Tour of Napa. Their event is in September in Honolulu. I don't expect to be able ride with them again until after that.

No, I don't think any of us will be in TnT jerseys - I know a few of the people riding, but others were on different teams and I haven't met them yet. We stay in touch via a Yahoo group (TnTcycle_alumni, or something like that - I don't have the name handy right now) - it's all Bay Area alumni, as far as I know. Not an official part of TnT, just a handy way to stay in touch with old teammates. The moderator was one of my coaches for the Death Ride team, and he'll be there on Sunday.

I'm doing a training ride with my new TnT team on Saturday, but it's only 25 miles so I should be ok on Sunday.

JB

I am a little confused here regarding the start times, What is VA?

Isn't suppose to be an official time to leave the start?

By reading the postings it gives me the impression that I can just sign in and go right ahead and start pedaling.

From the website:

CHECK-IN
Check in at the Yountville Veteran’s Home either Saturday 5-8 pm or Sunday morning 6:00 – 10:30 to receive a map and other materials.

Riders must leave the vets home by the times below, leave times are firm
100 mile route - riders must leave by 8:00 AM
65 mile route - riders must leave by 9:00 AM
30 mile route - riders must leave by 10:30 AM

LUNCH SERVED BETWEEN 11:30 AND 4:00.

COURSE CLOSES AT 4:00 PM.


They don't have a mass start, and it's not officially timed (AFAIK).

JB

I am a little confused here regarding the start times, What is VA?

Isn't suppose to be an official time to leave the start?

By reading the postings it gives me the impression that I can just sign in and go right ahead and start pedaling.

I am riding the century. The century riders have to be on course by 8 AM. My goal is to leave an holur before that.

Thanks,

Mike