Northern California - Anyone down for a Peninsula Ride (maybe next week) Update: Saturday, 3/29

better...

sandwiches with freshly baked rolls and/or Fresh Bakery items :)

Man I have a production maintenance to do at midnight tonight. Hope it goes well. Our window is until 0300 but I'll be a pretty sad puppy tomorrow if it takes the whole time.

I've got pre-ride antsiness. Laid out all my stuff, got the bike checked over, water bottles in the fridge, etc. I know some of ya'll do this every weekend but with a 3-year-old it takes a special planetary alignment to get out for anything other my commute, so I'm super excited.

Here's the latest from the NWS:

A LITTLE MORE LIGHT RAIN OR DRIZZLE CAN BE EXPECTED
TONIGHT...BUT AGAIN ANY RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE VERY LIGHT. A
MODERATE NORTHWEST FLOW WILL DEVELOP SATURDAY MORNING BEHIND THE
SYSTEM AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OFF THE WEST COAST BRINGING
RAPID CLEARING. SO SATURDAY SHOULD BE A NICE BREEZY DAY.

Hopefully that stretch up Hwy1 between Stage and the turn-off for Tunitas won't be blowing too bad!

Man I have a production maintenance to do at midnight tonight. Hope it goes well. Our window is until 0300 but I'll be a pretty sad puppy tomorrow if it takes the whole time.

I've got pre-ride antsiness. Laid out all my stuff, got the bike checked over, water bottles in the fridge, etc. I know some of ya'll do this every weekend but with a 3-year-old it takes a special planetary alignment to get out for anything other my commute, so I'm super excited.

Here's the latest from the NWS:

A LITTLE MORE LIGHT RAIN OR DRIZZLE CAN BE EXPECTED
TONIGHT...BUT AGAIN ANY RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE VERY LIGHT. A
MODERATE NORTHWEST FLOW WILL DEVELOP SATURDAY MORNING BEHIND THE
SYSTEM AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OFF THE WEST COAST BRINGING
RAPID CLEARING. SO SATURDAY SHOULD BE A NICE BREEZY DAY.

Hopefully that stretch up Hwy1 between Stage and the turn-off for Tunitas won't be blowing too bad!
See you tomorrow
Pete

Hopefully that stretch up Hwy1 between Stage and the turn-off for Tunitas won't be blowing too bad!

That's all downhill, so no worries.

It's actually the beginning of Stage that will probably suck for wind. Luckily the wind becomes shielded before the 3 "bumps" on Stage.

That's all downhill, so no worries.

It's actually the beginning of Stage that will probably suck for wind. .

that's why we put you in the front:)

Did we make sure we invited that pesky penguin?

Alright, I'm out the door. See you guys & gals in a bit.

Is it safe to assume it's going to be mid 50's temp wise the majority of the ride?

Weatherunderground's hourly forecast says 45deg at 8am, 50deg at 11am, 52deg at 2pm and 5pm. Brrr.

Aright, let's do this.

Of course I was in fact up till 3AM. This should be interesting...

The wind looks nice so far, but that always changes in the afternoon.

Ok, I am out the door in 5 min.

See everyone there.

Well even though I decided to stay on the east side of the mountians due to the cold and wet conditions I ended up with 72 miles and 6000ft of climbing. Longest ride for me this year, and the most time on the bike. Im gonna need to do some more long rides. I can feel that my body is not used to the loner durations. I am also gonna need to add in more climbing to build my strength back up. It was good to see everyone, hope you all made it home safely.


Sean

I dropped my chain downshifting on the first stretch of portola rd, and I guess I missed a turn because I ended up at Alpine with nobody in sight. I didn't feel like backtracking and was making slow/bad choices from sleep deprivation so I thought it would not be smart to push it. I SMSed Henry so ppl wouldn't worry -- did you get it? Took P.V. To arastradero and back down foothill.

I rode up to the memorial on stevens canyon and paused as long as I could take it (not long, the kids drawing of the crash destroyed what little composure I had left) and then headed home, glad I chose to bail.

62 mi, some minor elev, really nice to ride over w/ Sean and see everyone even if it was brief.

Quick note, I went down. It was on the negative sloping bank on Altimont going downhill. Bostic drove me home, and I'm okay. Going to the hospital, just to have them check myself out. Got in 44.5 miles.

Ron: Hope you're OK. Let us know what happens!

I left the house at 8:15am. Looking forward to a nice long ride. It was 45 degrees and foggy, not good. But hey, the weatherman said it was clearing up, right? So, I dress for moderate temperatures. Just my long sleeve jersey and a wind breaker.

Went up Tunitas in fine fashion. It's about 1 hour and 15 minutes from my house up Skyline, so I pop in my MP3 and grooved all the way up. Averaged 10.8mph to the top, just a little under my best time. It was damp all the way, but I stayed warm because, well, that's what hills do to ya.

That was the good news - the bad news was the descent down King's Mountain. I was damp on the outside from the fog, damp on the inside from a bit of perspiration. The normally short and fun descent down Kings was interminable and FREEZING! BRRRRRR :eek:! By the time I got to Robert's my cheeks and lips were so cold I couldn't talk for a while. Took about 20 minutes for me to thaw out and be human again.

It was great to see the big turnout. Wow! Lots of folks I hadn't seen since last year. Too many to mention! We'll let the pictures do the talking. Within about 15 minutes, everyone had assembled and we rumbled up OLH. I half heartedly pushed myself up the hill, but with just having done Tunitas, my legs were not into more punishment. When I got to the top, the usual suspects were waiting - Marco, Henry, BigSean, Bostic, and Pete, plus some others.

I couldn't believe it was still foggy and cold up there, having expected the fog to burn off, but frankly, it was worse than when I crossed Skyline the first time. After some considerable debate with myself, I decided I didn't want to freeze my cheeks again going down Hwy84. My wife happened to be in the car nearby, so I called her to meet me back at Robert's. I had gotten both the climbs in, so it wasn't a wasted day. I felt like a weeenie, but having just unthawed from the King's descent, I really wasn't up for another popsicle imitation. I kicked myself (figuratively) for trusting the weather report and not wearing a heavier jacket, but hey, live and learn.

I was disappointed not to get the full ride in, but at least I got some climbing done. Hope you all had a great time. Look forward to reading the reports.

I dropped my chain downshifting on the first stretch of portola rd, and I guess I missed a turn because I ended up at Alpine with nobody in sight. I didn't feel like backtracking and was making slow/bad choices from sleep deprivation so I thought it would not be smart to push it. I SMSed Henry so ppl wouldn't worry -- did you get it? Took P.V. To arastradero and back down foothill.

I rode up to the memorial on stevens canyon and paused as long as I could take it (not long, the kids drawing of the crash destroyed what little composure I had left) and then headed home, glad I chose to bail.

62 mi, some minor elev, really nice to ride over w/ Sean and see everyone even if it was brief.

We also stopped by the memorial. It was a rather somber moment. That was the last time I saw ??? I forgot his name.:o

Ron I hope you are doing okay. let us know. Alan had a moment of sliding too, fortunately he didnt go down.

Here are some pics:

Andrea at the top of OLH : 30.5 minutes. Not too shabby for a first timer.
http://www.zaftig.net/files/images/gallery/03.29.2008_09.54.19.jpg

Somewhere on Portola
http://www.zaftig.net/files/images/gallery/03.29.2008_10.38.38.jpg

Don't know who this is... ;)
http://www.zaftig.net/files/images/gallery/03.29.2008_10.48.10.jpg

x136 back on familiar flat territory. Causeway repeats just aren't doing it for him...
http://www.zaftig.net/files/images/gallery/03.29.2008_10.48.15.jpg

Marco and Ruth
http://www.zaftig.net/files/images/gallery/03.29.2008_10.48.30.jpg

Andrea ruining a great shot of the Bike Friday
http://www.zaftig.net/files/images/gallery/03.29.2008_12.08.48.jpg

Ahhh Bike Friday. That's better.
http://www.zaftig.net/files/images/gallery/03.29.2008_12.09.09.jpg

Thanks for the great ride. Sorry the weather didn't work out for us today. Hope you feel better soon Ron.

We'll have to organize the same ride (the original plan) for another Saturday.

Ron take care man. I am glad it wasn't worse.

Ron I hope you are doing okay. let us know. Alan had a moment of sliding too, fortunately he didnt go down.

That was pretty freaky. His rear wheel went sideways at least 6 inches.

Ron, I hope you'll check out to be fine.

That was pretty freaky. His rear wheel went sideways at least 6 inches.

Ron, I hope you'll check out to be fine.

Glad to see you made it home. I lost you at the split at Stevens Canyon. Seemed like you were feeling good. I on the other hand was really beginning to hurt.:o

I started from Santa Cruz to join the ride at the top of Old La Honda. But the weather wasn't cooperating. It was cloudy when I started but I was expecting it to clear up. The climb up Hwy 9 went up into wet fog that made for poor visibility. At least I was climbing, though. The descent on Skyline was worse. It was miserably wet and visibility was horrible. It wasn't as bad at the top of Old La Honda, but it was cold standing around. So I got talked into heading down Old La Honda with Sean, Alan, and Tony, pretty much missing the ride.

After a moment at the memorial on Stevens Canyon, I headed up Redwood Gulch and took Hwy 9 back home. About 100mi and 7000ft. Now I've got to go clean my bike.

Glad to see you made it home. I lost you at the split at Stevens Canyon. Seemed like you were feeling good. I on the other hand was really beginning to hurt.:o

Well, I was pretty much just sucking wheel up to that point. But I did have almost 40 miles to go after that.

Damn, the sun is shining through my bedroom window. We should have done that ride today instead. Oh well.