Northern California - Are we really this boring?????

I'm planning on riding a century tomorrow. Absolutely no clue how long it will take or how much I'll be hating life afterwards. I figure from home to Big Sean's hell ride to the east plus Mt. Hamilton and back will be somewhere around there.

Oh wow, yeah too early in my training for that ride. Ive been sticking to a trainig plan and that is a month off still. Have fun though, its a real brute.

Sad thing is you know I'd recognize your bikes! Have you changed since I performed your bike fit? If not, I might recognize you. My guess is this will be mostly men. And hopefully you'll recognize me.

Are you going to the reception tonight?

I'll just stand in the middle of the room and yell LORRI!!!!!! :p

I was planning on going to the reception but I don't think I'll get out of here in time to get there... might make it by 7... I'm hoping traffic is okay.

I'll just stand in the middle of the room and yell LORRI!!!!!! :p

I was planning on going to the reception but I don't think I'll get out of here in time to get there... might make it by 7... I'm hoping traffic is okay.

drive faster
:eek:

drive faster
:eek:

Yeah, that's what to do :rolleyes: ... but I can only run over the little cars though... :eek:

I mean what is going on in Nor Cal? Does everyone stop riding because of the weather? Geeze, its quiet in here. So what are you doing with your time? Are you riding in the weather or do you have other hobby's? No video game couch potato stuff either.;)

Me Im riding, going to the gym, and riding the trainer depending whats on my training schedule.


My life doesn't focus around riding. I've got a bike business that I do on the side, Grandchildren to have fun with, yard work, going to Tahoe in the next few weeks, hanging out with wife. Do I need to say more?

Speaking of BF group rides, we are nearly half-way thru Jan '08 and there are still none planned.:(

Debating on whether or not to do the SF 200k brevet. Otherwise, I may plan one after come back from SoCal ... yeah, I'm hanging out with that motley crowd of complainers, sandbaggers, etc ... I fit in well, don't I?

for a mere $70-$80 bucks you can sit in the middle all day Sean :p

sounds reasonable to me!

sounds reasonable to me!

that's what I think too! :p

Mostly spinning at the gym and lifting a bit. And sawing open rocks from an Arizona trip. :D Signed up for Pardee Party too. Also eating. Waaay too much eating...

Speaking of BF group rides, we are nearly half-way thru Jan '08 and there are still none planned.:(I was noticing this, too. Not only the lack of regular rides, but the casual series seems to have died off and the intro mountain biking rides didn't last long.

Come on, it's Northern California, it ain't like it's cold. :p

Well, if taxi777 does not do Mt. Tam next weekend (I begged for him to do it next week, since I'm not in town this weekend), I will lead a Berkeley Bart ride, starting from Fremont.

What time you riding Tracy? Ill meet up with ya.

What time you riding Tracy? Ill meet up with ya.

I'm having a tough time committing to a time :eek: ... lets see.... 8:30ish????? at the park on stevens canyon :rolleyes: ... you gonna do a real ride afterwards Sean? :roflmao: ... 'cause I am seriously back to square one... maybe even negative :eek:

I'm having a tough time committing to a time :eek: ... lets see.... 8:30ish????? at the park on stevens canyon :rolleyes: ... you gonna do a real ride afterwards Sean? :roflmao: ... 'cause I am seriously back to square one... maybe even negative :eek:

Im gonna ride out to meet you. Im riding the fixie, and I was brutalized by the team today. My legs are tired. I have to climb at whatever speed to keep moving on the fixed gear, but I can ride slow. Which park are ya talking about?

Im gonna ride out to meet you. Im riding the fixie, and I was brutalized by the team today. My legs are tired. I have to climb at whatever speed to keep moving on the fixed gear, but I can ride slow. Which park are ya talking about?

if you are riding towards Stevens Canyon on Stevens Creek, turn Left onto Stevens Canyon and just a little way up on the right you'll see a baseball field and park. I'll PM you my cell although I think you have it already :rolleyes: I just need to get back to the hotel in time to take a shower and get loaded etc... so that'll be perfect! See ya at 8:30 :rolleyes:

I'm having a tough time committing to a time :eek: ... lets see.... 8:30ish????? at the park on stevens canyon :rolleyes: ... you gonna do a real ride afterwards Sean? :roflmao: ... 'cause I am seriously back to square one... maybe even negative :eek:

Sandbaggin' ...

Sandbaggin' ...

nope, you know better than that Ron! Just wait until Sean comments on the ride and the fact that I was going 10 mph on a flat road :eek:

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

nope, you know better than that Ron! Just wait until Sean comments on the ride and the fact that I was going 10 mph on a flat road :eek:

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

I know ... can't wait for his comments.

I saw you on the list on Joy's Charity ride. Guess you couldn't make it. Too bad, it was a really fun time.

I know ... can't wait for his comments.

I saw you on the list on Joy's Charity ride. Guess you couldn't make it. Too bad, it was a really fun time.

I had a conference here in SJ that took precidence so no, I couldn't be there... probably a good thing though because I can see I've got LOTS of work to do on the riding front :p Sean lollygagged too long on the couch and didn't make it ... probably better there were no witnesses :eek:

Yep its true. I couldnt get going in time this morning. The war department was barking out battle plans and I couldnt get away in time. So I finally got out around noon, in shorts and a short sleeve jersey.:D I got tan lines from my ride today.:roflmao::roflmao: Its january. So I rode the fixie today on a rolling hilly route. Guess I worked my butt off cause I finished the 35 mile route in just over 2 hours. I chased down a pack of riders and then raced one up a climb, he got me by a hair when he shifted. At a stop light he did a double take when he noticed I was on a fixed gear.:eek: So he continued to want to race and I dropped him in the head wind. Yes I was laughing. Great day out there for a ride. Makes all those rain rides worth it.;)

Dull? You say dull? Here's Tricia holding what came in the mail. Note the light weight. Note the fine Zin.
Building it up (with pro help) on Friday. I may have a ski trip Saturday, which would be both wonderful and frustrating. I'm so ready to go skiing, but I really want to ride my new bike.

http://curtis.corlew.com/hosting/kestrel2.jpg

Dull? You say dull? Here's Tricia holding what came in the mail. Note the light weight. Note the fine Zin.
Building it up (with pro help) on Friday. I may have a ski trip Saturday, which would be both wonderful and frustrating. I'm so ready to go skiing, but I really want to ride my new bike.

http://curtis.corlew.com/hosting/kestrel2.jpg

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. New schwag is always great.;)

Yes! Finally got out in 2008. What a beautiful day today! Only 32 miles but it was the best ride I've been on in about 2 months. 60 degrees and I was horribly overdressed, sun was shining, just awesome. Ran out of daylight unfortunately. Better weather here we come!!! :D

Ah, it was indeed a beautiful day to ride! Cgallag and I rode our half-bikes (the Orca is still in the breaking-in period ;) ) and did a loop around Lake Berryessa. We were planning on 65 mi. As we were cooling down, riding through town at the end, he drifted into the street as I was moving in to avoid a car. My front skewer caught his spokes, his rear quick-release caught my spokes, and bam! :eek: He has 2 bent spokes and I had a broken one. :( We limped another mile or so to our friends' house and they drove us home. :( I hate when that happens.

So we had a great ride today and learned that you can break your bike and not fall down.

D'oh! The Orca is ok other than the broken spoke though right??? ;)

Glad to hear it was just that and not something involving a quart of peroxide and ridiculous ER copays...

Ah, it was indeed a beautiful day to ride! Cgallag and I rode our half-bikes (the Orca is still in the breaking-in period ;) ) and did a loop around Lake Berryessa. We were planning on 65 mi. As we were cooling down, riding through town at the end, he drifted into the street as I was moving in to avoid a car. My front skewer caught his spokes, his rear quick-release caught my spokes, and bam! :eek: He has 2 bent spokes and I had a broken one. :( We limped another mile or so to our friends' house and they drove us home. :( I hate when that happens.

So we had a great ride today and learned that you can break your bike and not fall down.

+100 for not crashing! Well done, except for that whole tangle thing...

Finally got in a ride on a weekend for this year. Did a 40 mile loop at 8:30 am that took me over Kirker Pass, through Clayton, Marsh Creek Rd and Deer Valley Rd. Kirker Pass was only a 3 mile climb of 808 ft. The top part was steep and punishing. I was then rewarded with a 2 mile straight down 45 mph decent. Clayton/Marsh Creek was a beautiful ride. Lots of rolling hills and great scenery. This is a ride I might do again this weekend. It was great.

+100 for not crashing! Well done, except for that whole tangle thing...

Hey Curtis. Was that you I saw on Prewett around 12 pm today with your lady? I was the guy with the sleeveless jacket going the other direction.

I mean what is going on in Nor Cal? Does everyone stop riding because of the weather?

I've been riding !

I signed up for the San Francisco Randonneurs 200K brevet in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to see if I would have a snowball's chance in hell of finishing it within the time limit. So, I did a solo century ride in the East Bay yesterday.

I started from home in Union City and headed out to Niles Canyon via the Alameda Creek Trail. Most of the climbing was in the first half of the route, including Palomares Rd, then Redwood & Pinehurst & Canyon Rds. I took the climbs really slow, since I wasn't sure how hard I could push and get the 100 miles in. My previous long ride was about 63 miles two weekends ago. ( 10% rule? What 10% rule ??? :p )

I then headed up Moraga Way, Glorietta Blvd and Acalanes to Mt. Diablo Blvd., dodging lots of traffic in downtown Lafayette. Then I headed down Pleasant Hill Rd onto Olympic Blvd, and then followed a nice shortcut I found out about which took me from Olympic to Danville Blvd, bypassing downtown Walnut Creek.

I tried to keep my stops as short as possible. Still, when I reached the Starbucks in Danville at the 55 mile point, where I was intending to only buy water and use the rest room, the siren song of the pumpkin bread was impossible to resist. Plus, of course I had to have a coffee with the pumpkin bread. So, I blew almost a half hour there. Ah, but the pumpkin bread was gooood. :)

I had a lovely smooth moderately flat stretch after that along San Ramon Valley Blvd & Foothill Blvd where I made up a bit of time. But my uber-slow climbing, combined with my setting out over an hour later than I originally planned, got me into Sunol late afternoon. I had originally planned to go over Calaveras Rd., but by then it would have been pretty dark up there (since the road is on the east side of the hills). Even though I had my lights with me I was questioning the wisdom of being by myself up there in a fairly remote area with no cell phone coverage and probably few if any other cyclists that time of day.

So instead I put on my lights & my yellow vest & headed towards home via Niles Canyon (which can also get fairly dark late in the afternoon). I then took the Alameda Creek trail to the bay end. By then the sun was setting, and it was really lovely out along the bay. I stopped for a few minutes to watch the changing scenery and listen to the chatter of birds that were tucking themselves in for the evening.

I then headed back and around Coyote Hills park. By that time it was actually dark so I got some nice night riding in. Then I headed for home.

I felt really good, all in all. A few of the usual low points but they didn't last long. I ran on vanilla Spiz drink and payday bars (and pumpkin bread!) and that seems to work fine for me. The occasional creaky neck or back would go away after a vitamin I, and I had no saddle/seat issues.

I completed about 101 miles & 4100 ft of climbing in 7:55 ride time (~12.8 mph), 9 hours total. I'm not too thrilled with how long I took, but so be it. I need to make sure to keep my stops to a minimum on the brevet. It's going to be a tougher ride than this one, with some sustained climbs and lots of rollers, plus a large part of it will be along the coast & out to the Pt. Reyes lighthouse so wind & weather will no doubt be a factor. But, after yesterday's ride I think I'll at least be able to finish it.

I've been riding !

I signed up for the San Francisco Randonneurs 200K brevet in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to see if I would have a snowball's chance in hell of finishing it within the time limit. So, I did a solo century ride in the East Bay yesterday.

I started from home in Union City and headed out to Niles Canyon via the Alameda Creek Trail. Most of the climbing was in the first half of the route, including Palomares Rd, then Redwood & Pinehurst & Canyon Rds. I took the climbs really slow, since I wasn't sure how hard I could push and get the 100 miles in. My previous long ride was about 63 miles two weekends ago. ( 10% rule? What 10% rule ??? :p )

I then headed up Moraga Way, Glorietta Blvd and Acalanes to Mt. Diablo Blvd., dodging lots of traffic in downtown Lafayette. Then I headed down Pleasant Hill Rd onto Olympic Blvd, and then followed a nice shortcut I found out about which took me from Olympic to Danville Blvd, bypassing downtown Walnut Creek.

I tried to keep my stops as short as possible. Still, when I reached the Starbucks in Danville at the 55 mile point, where I was intending to only buy water and use the rest room, the siren song of the pumpkin bread was impossible to resist. Plus, of course I had to have a coffee with the pumpkin bread. So, I blew almost a half hour there. Ah, but the pumpkin bread was gooood. :)

I had a lovely smooth moderately flat stretch after that along San Ramon Valley Blvd & Foothill Blvd where I made up a bit of time. But my uber-slow climbing, combined with my setting out over an hour later than I originally planned, got me into Sunol late afternoon. I had originally planned to go over Calaveras Rd., but by then it would have been pretty dark up there (since the road is on the east side of the hills). Even though I had my lights with me I was questioning the wisdom of being by myself up there in a fairly remote area with no cell phone coverage and probably few if any other cyclists that time of day.

So instead I put on my lights & my yellow vest & headed towards home via Niles Canyon (which can also get fairly dark late in the afternoon). I then took the Alameda Creek trail to the bay end. By then the sun was setting, and it was really lovely out along the bay. I stopped for a few minutes to watch the changing scenery and listen to the chatter of birds that were tucking themselves in for the evening.

I then headed back and around Coyote Hills park. By that time it was actually dark so I got some nice night riding in. Then I headed for home.

I felt really good, all in all. A few of the usual low points but they didn't last long. I ran on vanilla Spiz drink and payday bars (and pumpkin bread!) and that seems to work fine for me. The occasional creaky neck or back would go away after a vitamin I, and I had no saddle/seat issues.

I completed about 101 miles & 4100 ft of climbing in 7:55 ride time (~12.8 mph), 9 hours total. I'm not too thrilled with how long I took, but so be it. I need to make sure to keep my stops to a minimum on the brevet. It's going to be a tougher ride than this one, with some sustained climbs and lots of rollers, plus a large part of it will be along the coast & out to the Pt. Reyes lighthouse so wind & weather will no doubt be a factor. But, after yesterday's ride I think I'll at least be able to finish it.

Great report Jobob. I toyed with the idea of doing the 200k, but not sure if I'm in shape yet. Longest ride I did was yesterday, with my buddies in SoCal ... Latigo Canyon, which is where Lance Armstrong trained. I think I'll pass on the brevet ... just too much too early in the season.

I've been riding !

I signed up for the San Francisco Randonneurs 200K brevet in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to see if I would have a snowball's chance in hell of finishing it within the time limit. So, I did a solo century ride in the East Bay yesterday.

I started from home in Union City and headed out to Niles Canyon via the Alameda Creek Trail. Most of the climbing was in the first half of the route, including Palomares Rd, then Redwood & Pinehurst & Canyon Rds. I took the climbs really slow, since I wasn't sure how hard I could push and get the 100 miles in. My previous long ride was about 63 miles two weekends ago. ( 10% rule? What 10% rule ??? :p )

I then headed up Moraga Way, Glorietta Blvd and Acalanes to Mt. Diablo Blvd., dodging lots of traffic in downtown Lafayette. Then I headed down Pleasant Hill Rd onto Olympic Blvd, and then followed a nice shortcut I found out about which took me from Olympic to Danville Blvd, bypassing downtown Walnut Creek.

I tried to keep my stops as short as possible. Still, when I reached the Starbucks in Danville at the 55 mile point, where I was intending to only buy water and use the rest room, the siren song of the pumpkin bread was impossible to resist. Plus, of course I had to have a coffee with the pumpkin bread. So, I blew almost a half hour there. Ah, but the pumpkin bread was gooood. :)

I had a lovely smooth moderately flat stretch after that along San Ramon Valley Blvd & Foothill Blvd where I made up a bit of time. But my uber-slow climbing, combined with my setting out over an hour later than I originally planned, got me into Sunol late afternoon. I had originally planned to go over Calaveras Rd., but by then it would have been pretty dark up there (since the road is on the east side of the hills). Even though I had my lights with me I was questioning the wisdom of being by myself up there in a fairly remote area with no cell phone coverage and probably few if any other cyclists that time of day.

So instead I put on my lights & my yellow vest & headed towards home via Niles Canyon (which can also get fairly dark late in the afternoon). I then took the Alameda Creek trail to the bay end. By then the sun was setting, and it was really lovely out along the bay. I stopped for a few minutes to watch the changing scenery and listen to the chatter of birds that were tucking themselves in for the evening.

I then headed back and around Coyote Hills park. By that time it was actually dark so I got some nice night riding in. Then I headed for home.

I felt really good, all in all. A few of the usual low points but they didn't last long. I ran on vanilla Spiz drink and payday bars (and pumpkin bread!) and that seems to work fine for me. The occasional creaky neck or back would go away after a vitamin I, and I had no saddle/seat issues.

I completed about 101 miles & 4100 ft of climbing in 7:55 ride time (~12.8 mph), 9 hours total. I'm not too thrilled with how long I took, but so be it. I need to make sure to keep my stops to a minimum on the brevet. It's going to be a tougher ride than this one, with some sustained climbs and lots of rollers, plus a large part of it will be along the coast & out to the Pt. Reyes lighthouse so wind & weather will no doubt be a factor. But, after yesterday's ride I think I'll at least be able to finish it.

Great Job!! I can't wait to hear how the brevet goes.... how cool!

Trac'

Thanks guys.

Luckily I have 13 & a half hours to complete the ride - and I'll probably need every minute. :o :p :o

Ron, you could always ride the brevet me, at least then you'd know you wouldn't be DFL. :D

D'oh! The Orca is ok other than the broken spoke though right??? ;)

Glad to hear it was just that and not something involving a quart of peroxide and ridiculous ER copays...

Thanks for asking -- yes, both bikes are fine, no scratches on either. I was worried. :(

Our last crash, on the tandem, was in Aug. It didn't involve the ER but it did involve prescribed antibiotic cream and many bandages for a couple of weeks.

Ever since then my goal is to stay upright at any cost. :D

Finally got in a ride on a weekend for this year. Did a 40 mile loop at 8:30 am that took me over Kirker Pass, through Clayton, Marsh Creek Rd and Deer Valley Rd. Kirker Pass was only a 3 mile climb of 808 ft. The top part was steep and punishing. I was then rewarded with a 2 mile straight down 45 mph decent. Clayton/Marsh Creek was a beautiful ride. Lots of rolling hills and great scenery. This is a ride I might do again this weekend. It was great.

You did Marsh Creek in the good direction. Deer Valley to Morgan Territory is 7 miles with about 1.5% average grade and a prevailing headwind. :D But you were going the other way. I rode from Antioch out over Morgan Territory on Sunday. It sure was a pretty day.

So what did you think of Deer Valley?

Veronica

Hey Curtis. Was that you I saw on Prewett around 12 pm today with your lady? I was the guy with the sleeveless jacket going the other direction.

I'll bet it was. She rides a light blue Trek, I was on my black moto.

I guess we actually oughta ride together someday. I'm a bit nervous about being as slow as I am, and Tricia is positively paranoid about slowing people down. But I'm at least willing to annoy people. She isn't.

I've ridden with Tricia. She is not slow. :)

Veronica

I'll bet it was. She rides a light blue Trek, I was on my black moto.

I guess we actually oughta ride together someday. I'm a bit nervous about being as slow as I am, and Tricia is positively paranoid about slowing people down. But I'm at least willing to annoy people. She isn't.

We didn't have a problem with your speed (or Tricia's either) when we had our Vacaville BF ride. Of course, there were tandems involved. :D

We'll ride with you guys anytime. Got a route?

I'll bet it was. She rides a light blue Trek, I was on my black moto.

I guess we actually oughta ride together someday. I'm a bit nervous about being as slow as I am, and Tricia is positively paranoid about slowing people down. But I'm at least willing to annoy people. She isn't.

Yeah, that was you guys then. I was on my way back from my loop then. I had half the mind to turn around and see if it was really you but I was just too tired and can't wait to get off the bike. Especially since my house was so close then.

BTW, you are by no means slow. I remember you guys dropping me during those sprints when we did the Mt Diablo-Morgan territory ride.

You did Marsh Creek in the good direction. Deer Valley to Morgan Territory is 7 miles with about 1.5% average grade and a prevailing headwind. :D But you were going the other way. I rode from Antioch out over Morgan Territory on Sunday. It sure was a pretty day.

So what did you think of Deer Valley?

Veronica

I really enjoyed Marsh Creek and Deer Valley. It was very scenic and the roads, though narrow, were smooth. Also, most of the drivers gave me plenty of room and seemed to be very much aware of cyclists on the roads. I did notice that Marsh Creek was mostly down hill and that made the ride even more enjoyable especially after the Kirker Pass climb and the initial Marsh Creek climbs. And you are right. Sunday morning was a very pretty day for a ride.:D

Ron, you could always ride the brevet me, at least then you'd know you wouldn't be DFL. :D

Are any other BF'ers doing the brevet? I just don't want to feel like I'm riding with a group, where they are out of my league.

Thanks guys.

Luckily I have 13 & a half hours to complete the ride - and I'll probably need every minute. :o :p :o

Ron, you could always ride the brevet me, at least then you'd know you wouldn't be DFL. :D

Hey, are you doing the Primavera? Since you live right there. I do it every year it's a nice first century for me. Sounds like you would be in pretty good shape for it.
Pete

Are any other BF'ers doing the brevet? I just don't want to feel like I'm riding with a group, where they are out of my league.

Heck, it hasn't stopped me ! :D :beer:

Are any other BF'ers doing the brevet? I just don't want to feel like I'm riding with a group, where they are out of my league.

I'm doing it. I did the 200K and 300K last year. There's a wide range of riders, and it's a pretty friendly/helpful bunch. If you decide to do it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

A group of us rode out to the Lighthouse a few weeks ago to refresh our memories of the route. Much of the road has been recently repaved (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cduque/2131838702/). On a sunny day, it's a really great ride -- rolling terrain, lots of deer (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2131060657&size=o) and other wildlife, not much car traffic. The last two hills before you hit the Lighthouse are steep, but not long. My nuclear orange Camelbak (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cduque/2131060139/in/photostream/) was visible for miles.

There are still around 25 spots open. You can see a list of registered riders here (http://www.sfrandonneurs.org/2008-2k-3k-registered.htm).

I am doing the 200K also.

Veronica

Hey, are you doing the Primavera? Since you live right there. I'm not sure, yet. You're right, it's in my backyard over roads I ride all the time. But oddly enough I've never done the Primavera, the date has always conflicted with something else. But perhaps this year.

- Jo.

Finally decided to set a goal this year and I have 6 months to train... My brother and I are doing the STP on Jul.12th and taking the 1-day option rather than the saner 2-day option that most take. :eek:
204 isn't that far is it..? At what mile to you beg to be cuddled and fed soup by your Mommy?

Finally decided to set a goal this year and I have 6 months to train... My brother and I are doing the STP on Jul.12th and taking the 1-day option rather than the saner 2-day option that most take. :eek:
204 isn't that far is it..? At what mile to you beg to be cuddled and fed soup by your Mommy?

It's a good ride. It's amazingly flat.
My wife and I did it in two days. Day one was a breeze. Somewhere about 150 on day two I was ready for it to be over, but we finished and felt good enough to walk around town and go out to dinner.
Enjoy!

I climbed Mt. Lemmon over Tucson, AZ today.

Virtually... I mean. I put the bike on the trainer and run the Spinervals On The Road 3 dvd. It's a virtual ride following coach Troy up the mountain. It's a 82 minute ride at 85% to 90% effort intensity. The complete ride is on the big chainring and either the 15 or 13 rear cog. The end of the climb is on the 12 cog at 95% to 100% intensity.

A lot of sweat!