JoBobs/LanceOldStrong Ride Report

[taxi777]

Stand by........

[spingineer]

You're going to crash BF!

[alainp]

Here's my take...

Got up in time and was ready to leave the house by 6am for the Dublin BART station. Well, stupid me, forgot that sunrise wouldn't occur for at least another half hour. Needless to say, I had to grab the light from the other bike and set it up and carry it the entire ride. And, I had to bring both my regular prescription glasses as well as my prescription sunglasses. Already, I'm carrying more stuff than I cared to bring.

Got to the snack kiosks about 10 minutes to 7 and met up with Twain and Peter (Taxi777). Then came the rest of the group consisting of bikejournal and bikeforum folks (Dan aka LanceOldStrong, Ramon aka Bostic, David aka sweetnsourbkr, and Joanne aka jobob, and Glenn). We stayed a little past 7am waiting for Ron (aka spingineer) to hopefully arrive not knowing he was on the other side of the station :o. Anyway, we set off en route to Sunol, Castro Valley (where Pete managed to offend some female TnT riders... we'll let Pete explain that later :rolleyes:), Moraga, Orinda, Briones, Martinez, Concord, Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, San Ramon... Along the Iron Horse Trail by Concord down to Danville, Glenn set a mad pace which just about drained all my energy. I'm definitely gonna feel this tomorrow.

According to motionbased (http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4984697), I recorded 103 miles, 6900 ft of climbing, and a total moving time of 7 hrs 19 minutes.

Aside from the frickin' cold temps the first few hours the weather was gorgeous and I really enjoyed meeting new folks and reacquainting with familiar faces. Today turned out a bunch of milestones for me: my first century, my maximum speed (43 mhph), and just discovering uncharted territory for me. Thanks to Jobob and LanceOldStrong for setting this up :)

Now for the few pics I took:

Waiting at Dublin BART in the cold (lanceoldstrong, jobob, Glenn, Twain, taxi777, and sweetnsourbkr)
http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p847474251-4.jpg

Regroup at Sunol (Glenn, jobob, lanceoldstrong)
http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p828196245-4.jpg
Twain and taxi777
http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p1020259368-4.jpg
bostic and sweetnsourbkr
http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p829109924-4.jpg
taxi777
http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p1038757213-4.jpg
regroup at the top of Palomares (?)
http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p695145968-4.jpg
http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p900963949-4.jpg

[alainp]

And more pics...

http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p924386334-4.jpg

At Orinda Safeway where LOS discovers a flat :(
http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p975014230-4.jpg

http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p582317118-4.jpg

http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p716597530-4.jpg

Posing at the Martinez Starbucks
http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p758648050-4.jpg

Our lovely host jobob
http://alainp.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p983091617-4.jpg

[taxi777]

Just woke up after Cathy greeted me with Spagetts and Meatballs, Pie and Hot chocolate. I died and went to heaven.
Probably one of the best rides in all time. Let me self indulge a little. I've never ever felt this good physically on a ride before...Period! No Bonk! 98.31 mile of pure Satori, Nirvana, or bliss. At one point after the Starbuck cookies and Mocha I felt as happy and in the zone, that you could compare to laying on a beautiful beach in the hot white sand surrounded by everyperson you've ever enjoyed a spiritual moment with. I actually felt if I closed my eyes I would drift off. I sure hope in the in the end of my life, in that death bed moment that it's excactly like that experience. Sometimes all things converge into a perfect moment.
Back to earth. Thanks Jo and Daniel for make this ride possible! I had a great time with you guys.
I arrived and Kendricks was there at his camper in the lot hanging out. Sorry I forgot your name, for the life of me I can not come up with it and you told me 3 times...arrgh! old age! Everyone arrived...wait no Ron? Bummer, was looking forward to hanging with him. The start was mind boggling cold! I seriously didn't think I'd make it through Niles canyon. There wasn't a lot of chatter except for everyones teeth and jaws. Dan was shaking, I thought maybe he was getting hypothermia. We all collectively couldn't wait to climb. Yeah! right turn on Palomares...begin climb. For crying out loud, no one filled me in on friggin Lance Armstrongs long lost brother " Glen" as in John Glen in a rocket! Holy crap he just took off and I jumped on his wheel. I could not hang on. My HR was maxxed in less than a minute. I stayed about 50 yards behind for awhile but gave up and cooled the jets. Bostic and Kendricks rode to the top with me. I told Glen that I had two blowouts that hung me up. (little did I know at the time, that would come to fruition!) We hung out and took a break. It was great to chat with Dave, Alain, Ramone nice to ride with those guys again, good people. Super duper descent. Glens re-entry tiles were starting to scorch and drop off, I had to descend in zig zag patterns:eek: up and down we started passing Team in Taining people. SWEEET lots of chicks! We took a porta-san break and chatted. I got completely caught up in hanging out chatting with these beautiful young "Sirens" Oops everyone left on me!.So I reluctently said bye to my new girl friend on the pretty pink bike (don't anyone tell my lovely bride:o and onward and upward. Spent most of my time riding at this point with Alain. Felt maybe the onset of a bonk so needed food. We regrouped on Pinhurst in Moraga and headed for lunch in Orinda. Ramone noticed that Dan's front wheel had gone flat. Perfect timing. He had plenty of time to change it. Up over the three bears, told Ramone about the years riding out here with my old Bike Group "Bad Dogs " and my connection with LuLu dog and Ventoux. Meanwhile Glen is just rediculous, non stop hammer. I couldn't help noticing that he kind of looks like Lance in a way. He told me he was a reformed smoker and quit in 91. Me too! 87 4packs a day. I remember doing my first Davis double and sneaking off to have a smoke at lunch! At this point the scenery is stunning. we stopped a few time to drink it in. Jo seemed really happy and In her zone. I went all Paparozzi as if she was Brittany falling out of a car. I think she was getting annoyed at the constant shutter clicking. Miss Jo, Miss Jo!! one more please! Anyway we had a too long break at Starbucks. A Mocha and Snickerdoodle and I was ready. More picture taking and on our way. At this point thing started to split apart. Lance..I mean Glen just took off with Alain, Ramone, Kendricks and myself in tow. We just tore through Concord...vroooom! San Ramone...vrooom barely touching the ground! I felt really alive like a 4 part man machine! So this is what they feel in a Tour de France breakaway. Well everything was great and I was just gloating over the average speed we had attained then suddenly boom, boom, psst..psst...psstt. Double blowout. I was in the back of the group and just caught a hole in the road surface the right way. Ramone heard it and stopped with me. The other two didn't and kept going but came back. The worst thing was that we only were 2 miles from the end. So I changed the flats pretty quick! and Curtis wasn't even there..WOW! both Co2's worked flawlessly. While I was doing the work the other three girls got out their compacts/mirrors and primped for their big ride to the finish! I have to say Glens bouffant looked marvelous!! Anyways another ride down and I really enjoyed myself. Thanks a lot everyone and can't wait to do it again. Sorry Jo for not waiting around but I had to split to get home and eat. Tummy comes first! talk to you soon. THE END
Pete

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/GroupBriones.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Joebegin.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/JoePotrait.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Javaboy.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Joecoffee.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Paceline.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Peloton.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Professorramone.jpg





more to come:

[jinws]

man that sounds like a sweet ride.

I really miss my bike.

[taxi777]

I had time to come home and do a self potrait in oils...Hmmm

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/PetePainted.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/TopPalomares-1.jpg

Poor little ponys needed a nap:rolleyes:

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/tiredponys.jpg

Helmet Cam:

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Helmetcam.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Glenfrombehind.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/ducksinarow.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Davidsololow.jpg

Bye Bye
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/behind.jpg

[msincredible]

Thanks for the great reports and pictures!
Sorry I missed it....

[spingineer]

Ditto. Now I feel bad ... you guys waited extra time just to see if I arrived. I wish I jotted down Jo or Pete's cell phone number ... I didn't have it. I didn't think I'd need it. All the anticipation, and I wasn't there. So so sorry. It looks like I missed a really good one too. I even had a hell of a time finding the north entrance to Bart. I've never been to this bart station before, so I was driving around in circles, and finally found the parking lot to bart. I could see the station, but had a dickens of a time getting there.

I actually had thoughts of driving along the route, and doing sag for you guys, but I didn't have the route slip either. I got home printed the route sheet, and debated on driving back up again, but that's a long drive back. Oh well ...

[cccorlew]

I love seeing these photos! Well done. Good report too.

[SesameCrunch]

Nice reports, gang. Nice ride, too. Sorry I wasn't there.

[sweetnsourbkr]

No need to feel bad Ron! We'll do it again soon! If anything, I feel bad about not making a loop around the North side just to be sure. We talked about it, but we agreed that the candy machines (the meeting point) were only on the South side.

The gentleman that Pete can't recall is Twain, aka TenBrooks, who came down from Tahoe to ride our beautiful area for a week (he's retired and has been living out of a camper these last few days). He rode a Cervelo R3, and was one of the strongest riders there. Pete himself, however, I thought was completely different than what I remember!! He was so strong Saturday, I didn't even recognize him!

We need to do this again next month. :D

[jonathanb715]

Hey, our TnT group was on Palomares yesterday - we were climbing up around 10:30 or so. We're training for the Death Ride. My goal is to keep my bike in one piece this year to see how many of those passes I can climb!

It was a great day for a ride - although I don't think I'm ready for a century covering the climbs you guys did yesterday. And Pete - 874 packs of cigarettes a day is a lot!

JB

edit: here's our TnT team website: http://sfbaycycledeathride2008.tntteam.com/perlcode/index.cgi?go=news&frame=_top click on the "people" tab and maybe Pete will id those "chicks".

[jobob]

Hey Jonathan -

There were a lot of TnT riders out yesterday!

We passed by a really large TnT group on Castro Valley Blvd and I was wondering if you were in that group.

After that were leapfrogging a smaller group of TnT riders through almost the entire ride. At one point I was riding up Redwood Road and a woman in TnT jersey caught up with me and we chatted a bit. Come to find out that group was training for the Solvang century.

Tons of cyclists out yesterday. Along with TnT we saw big groups of Diablo Cyclists & Oakland YellowJackets. Alas, no CSC (Jens, wait for meeeeee!! :D )

[jobob]

Nice photos, thanks guys !

Aw crud, looking at those photos, methinks I shouldn't have had that In-N-Out burger last night. :p

(who was it that said the camera add 10 pounds? Hopefully you meant 10 lbs to the thighs, 10 lbs to the butt, and 10 lbs to the chin :rolleyes: )

[tprevost]

Aw crud, looking at those photos, methinks I shouldn't have had that In-N-Out burger last night. :p

and here I was thinking you're looking really hot Jobob! Lee is probably chasin' you all over the house :p

[jobob]

Aw trac' you're so sweet.

[tprevost]

Aw trac' you're so sweet.

and I'm not even trying to be sweet! You've always looked great, but with your larger goals and harder rides, you're lookin' HOT!!! :D

[jonathanb715]

Hey Johathan -

There were a lot of TnT riders out yesterday!

We passed by a really large TnT group on Castro Valley Blvd and I was wondering if you were in that group.

After that were leapfrogging a smaller group of TnT riders through almost the entire ride. At one point I was riding up Redwood Road and a woman in TnT jersey caught up with me and we chatted a bit. Come to find out that group was training for the Solvang century.

Tons of cyclists out yesterday. Along with TnT we saw big groups of Diablo Cyclists & Oakland YellowJackets. Alas, no CSC (Jens, wait for meeeeee!! :D )

There are TnT teams training for 3 events in the early summer - Death Ride, Tahoe and STP. Plus the Solvang team, whose event is coming up. All of them are big teams.

We came off of Palomares yesterday and rode towards Castro Valley on Castro Valley Boulevard, but turned off on Crow Canyon - we followed the end of the DMD route going up Norris Canyon. You probably caught up with one of our ride groups (the one I was in had 13!). All of the other teams did not have official rides yesterday, but they all should have been out riding on their own. Lots of folks on the team aren't used to riding in groups yet, and that was our first climbing ride of the season, so we were taking it kind of easy.

I hopefully would have recognized Pete, Alain and Ron if I saw them on the road - I've ridden on a couple of Norcal rides with them.

JB

[jobob]

According to moitonbased (http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4984697), I recorded 103 miles, 6900 ft of climbing, and a total moving time of 7 hrs 19 minutes.


My CicloSport showed 94 miles and a bit under 5300 ft of climbing, and my ride time was 7 hrs 30 minutes.

I only did the posted route - I was starting to get tired around mile 80 and by the time I reached the car my bod was informing me that it had done enough, thank you. :)

[jonathanb715]

Now that I look a little more carefully at the pics, I think you guys hit Palomares ahead of us. We had a SAG stop setup at the Sunol train station right where one of your pics was taken. Pete's new GF must have been from one of the other TnT teams.

JB

[jobob]

We were on Palomares around 8-8:30

[jonathanb715]

We were on Palomares around 8-8:30

Yup, you were ahead of us. We were still getting our acts together and getting some instruction on climbing and descending skills in a nice warm classroom at 8:30. By the time we hit Palomares, most of us had shed jackets, vests, arm warmers. What a nice day!

JB

[Lanceoldstrong]

Thanks everyone for a great ride. Oh how lucky we are to live in a place where we can punch out a ride like that in February.

Special thanks to all you rabbits and mutant climbers who waited for me, the original tortoise, at the top of some of those epic climbs. I really appreciate it.

I am glad that once we hit the valley floor in Concord you guys kicked in the afterburners and tore it up. You must have been chomping at the bit to rock and roll by then.

I enjoyed all the pictures and the ride reports. Bikeforums is a great community.

[alainp]

My CicloSport showed 94 miles and a bit under 5300 ft of climbing, and my ride time was 7 hrs 30 minutes.

I only did the posted route - I was starting to get tired around mile 80 and by the time I reached the car my bod was informing me that it had done enough, thank you. :)

Yeah, I kinda questioned the total ascent figure as I recall that around Alhambra Valley I had about 4800 feet of climbing and thought it was mostly downhill from there after the last hill. hmmmm....

btw, if anyone wants to download any of the full size pics, they can be found here (http://alainp.zenfolio.com/p422355657/).

[alainp]

...and maybe Pete will id those "chicks".

I believe Pete said something to the effect of "move over ladies... MEN passing by". They didn't seem very appreciative :roflmao:

[fc_]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2401/2271766608_471d8f887a_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fc3/2271766608/)

my ode to the ride:

Out my backdoor
hills rise to mock me
inviting me
come, come, I am here

a missed train
a cold and misty start
come they call
then the climb comes
up, up, up

sapping strength with each turn
flats abounding
and yet they call
more than I can bear

abandoning, shame
and yet they call me
a cruel, cruel, mistress
with no love for my pain

brief glimpses of glory
behind the sweat and fatigue
they'll be there again

they'll be there again
when the legs and lungs call
and when my body needs to be broken

and I will answer
not with a song in my legs
not with a song in my breath
but a weeping in my body

for this is the life of a cyclist....

[sweetnsourbkr]

:)

[gw_12]

Nice pics, but this Glenn guy sounds like a real jerk.

It was the tailwinds!! Thanks to Jobob and LanceOldStrong for plotting a route with 30 miles of flat and tailwinds at the end. We did hit a nice zone for that last 30 miles, huh?

It was great to meet and ride with you guys. I hope to again soon.

-Glenn

[sweetnsourbkr]

Welcome to bf.net Glenn!!! :D

[taxi777]

Nice pics, but this Glenn guy sounds like a real jerk.

It was the tailwinds!! Thanks to Jobob and LanceOldStrong for plotting a route with 30 miles of flat and tailwinds at the end. We did hit a nice zone for that last 30 miles, huh?

It was great to meet and ride with you guys. I hope to again soon.

-Glenn

I think what was really irritating me and everyone was the fact that everytime we stopped we would load your bottle full of sominex and horse tranquilzers and nothing would happen!! You just kept going faster:mad:

BTW had a great time, let's do it again!
Pete

[jobob]

It was the tailwinds!! Thanks to Jobob and LanceOldStrong for plotting a route with 30 miles of flat and tailwinds at the end.

We planned it that way. I figured that was the only way I'd be able to finish. :D

Glad you could join us, Glenn.

Oh, for all you altimeter junkies, here's the profile off my CicloSport.

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/stuff/160208.jpg

[Sagebum]

Great to meet all of you...Taxi, alain, Sweetnsour, Ramon, Lanceoldstrong, gw and nice to see you again JoBob.

Hope I didn't miss anyone. It was a great week of cycling over there and hope to get back soon.

Oh yeah...gw is such a jerk, I just had to ride with him on Monday too! :p

I was wondering who Kendricks was...guess it was me!

Twain (Tenbrooks on BikeJournal)

[overthere]

Thanks for the virtual ride! I'll have to get out of the Central Valley and join more BF rides...after all, I did finally ;) get my Norcal arm warmers! Although I'll have to ride more than I have to do a ride like that! :eek: What does Tnt stand for?

[sweetnsourbkr]

What does Tnt stand for?

It stands for 'Team In Training' although I think 'TIT' is more appropriate. :rolleyes: I always call them the 'titties.'

[alainp]

Great to meet all of you...Taxi, alain, Sweetnsour, Ramon, Lanceoldstrong, gw and nice to see you again JoBob.

Hope I didn't miss anyone. It was a great week of cycling over there and hope to get back soon.

Oh yeah...gw is such a jerk, I just had to ride with him on Monday too! :p

I was wondering who Kendricks was...guess it was me!

Twain (Tenbrooks on BikeJournal)

It was great riding with you too Twain. Glad you could come down our way to ride.

[spingineer]

It stands for 'Team In Training' although I think 'TIT' is more appropriate. :rolleyes: I always call them the 'titties.'

TNT ... PC version ... :lol:

[taxi777]

Great to meet all of you...Taxi, alain, Sweetnsour, Ramon, Lanceoldstrong, gw and nice to see you again JoBob.

Hope I didn't miss anyone. It was a great week of cycling over there and hope to get back soon.

Oh yeah...gw is such a jerk, I just had to ride with him on Monday too! :p

I was wondering who Kendricks was...guess it was me!

Twain (Tenbrooks on BikeJournal)
Really sorry man!:( to many shots to the head I think...I specifically asked your real name going through Briones too and repeated it in my head over and over. I think now that Im 29 :rolleyes: again my brain is beginning to fail me. Time to invest in a pocket recorder! It was a lot of fun talking and riding with you Mr. Wayne Kendlestein,
later, Blobsmear Whadisface

[Sagebum]

Hey taxi

If you had said..."The guy who looked like he should have been riding a couch instead of a bike".....I would have known right away who you were talikng about. :D :D

WK

[taxi777]

What does Tnt stand for?

From what I gather, it stands for Try Not To ...As in "Try Not To" follow or talk to me you old letch or I'm calling the police...at least that's what most of the girls were saying to me anyway:o
Pete