silentben
02-19-09, 05:01 PM
What road is that third shot from? Welch Creek? I am looking forward to this ride :)
Northern California - Sierra Rd - Welch Creek - Morrison Cyn Ride
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02-19-09, 05:06 PM
Yep, third and fourth shots are Welch Creek. Welch Creek was paved last year. It's still a cautious descent due to blind corners and the narrowness of the road, but the surface is nice.
dl33
02-19-09, 06:04 PM
Just be sure to wait for the tandem on top of Sierra.. haha.
Welch Creek is worst than Sierra. Also, be careful going down, lots of heavy breaking.
Welch Creek is worst than Sierra. Also, be careful going down, lots of heavy breaking.
silentben
02-20-09, 05:48 PM
I'm going to need to refuel somewhere before we hit Sierra Rd since it will be 30 hard miles from there to the next food in Sunol. Anyone know a good spot for this? I did some googling and apparently there's a farmer's market (http://www.pcfma.com/markethome.php?market_id=20) on Saturday mornings on Piedmont Rd just before Sierra. They might have have good snacks and a porta potty. Otherwise just a gas station with a decent mini mart would do for me.
gw_12
02-20-09, 05:59 PM
No problem, there will be plenty of places to stop to refuel, etc. on our way through Fremont and Milpitas.
-Glenn
-Glenn
dl33
02-20-09, 06:06 PM
Looks like I'll ride to the start adding 15 mi round trip. Need to find 20 more somewhere for my 100.
Are we meeting on the East or West entrance of the Bart station?
Are we meeting on the East or West entrance of the Bart station?
gw_12
02-20-09, 06:31 PM
Looks like the folks riding from the peninsula will be entering from the west side, so let's meet at the west entrance.
mellum76
02-20-09, 07:30 PM
I'll see you guys at the BART station. :)
reidconti
02-20-09, 09:01 PM
I don't think I'd be able to survive welch creek + sierra, I'm just getting back on the bike. I'd like to try Sierra solo first.
I'll probably do a Palomares/Calaveras loop so I may run into you guys late morning/early afternoon along Calaveras reservoir going the opposite direction.
I'll probably do a Palomares/Calaveras loop so I may run into you guys late morning/early afternoon along Calaveras reservoir going the opposite direction.
powpow
02-20-09, 11:34 PM
I'm in. See you guys at BART.
reidconti
02-21-09, 06:50 PM
I did my planned Santa Clara -> Milpitas -> Fremont -> Niles Canyon -> Palomares -> Pleasanton -> Sunol -> Calaveras -> Santa Clara loop today.
Woke up with a sore throat, late, and had a hard time getting going. Convinced myself to HTFU and got out the door at 11:30. As I rode I was afraid of sunset at 5 so I told myself if I summitted Palomares at 2pm or later I'd turn back and go down Niles Canyon to Sunol. But I made it at 1:20 and kept going.
I forgot how far it was from the summit, to Pleasanton. The ride from Pleasanton to Sunol sucked because I forgot how long it was, and I was fatiguing after 1.5 bottles of accelerade and a clif bar.
As I pulled into Sunol, who should I see by Pete, Mike, Marco and Ruth riding thru town.. caught up with them and they were on lunch break too. We had a fabulous lunch at the Jazz Cafe (?) in Sunol, and I continued on my way at 3.
5 miles from Sunol to the base of the Calaveras climbing was nothing but headwinds, and my quads were shot. I did see Ramon and the rest of the group (the folks who did the Welch Creek bit) about 2-3 miles from Sunol; I am pretty sure they didn't catch Pete/Mike/Marco/Ruth before they left the cafe though, since they were about to bail when I did.
Calaveras was a sufferfest, my quads were gone and I just was able to grind it out. For the record, it's another 10 miles from the base of the climb up to the wall, so its 15 miles total between Sunol and the Calaveras wall.
Descended into Milpitas, rode across town on a terrible route, it started to sprinkle a bit for my last 5 miles, but nothing bad at all. Got home at 5pm.
69.34mi, 4:46:29 riding (5:30:00 total), 14.52mph avg, 44.83 max (coming down from Palomares, and I wasn't even TRYING, I kept scrubbing speed with the brakes) 3,839ft climbing.
Today was my first real ride since October-ish. I've been hitting the stationary most days when I go to the gym, and done a couple of 10-15 mile loops around home in January, but not much. Been waiting for the nice weather. Definitely was overambitious on the 70 mile plan, but hey, it worked.
Looking back on it, I'm impressed with my 14.52mph average because I think lots of times last year I'd be in the mid-13s (granted most of those rides had more climbing), and I was in much better shape then. I'm definitely up 10lbs; probably at least half of that is muscle, but it sure as hell ain't leg muscle so its just slowing me down on the bike :)
Good to see everyone, and nice to meet you Mike!
- reid
Woke up with a sore throat, late, and had a hard time getting going. Convinced myself to HTFU and got out the door at 11:30. As I rode I was afraid of sunset at 5 so I told myself if I summitted Palomares at 2pm or later I'd turn back and go down Niles Canyon to Sunol. But I made it at 1:20 and kept going.
I forgot how far it was from the summit, to Pleasanton. The ride from Pleasanton to Sunol sucked because I forgot how long it was, and I was fatiguing after 1.5 bottles of accelerade and a clif bar.
As I pulled into Sunol, who should I see by Pete, Mike, Marco and Ruth riding thru town.. caught up with them and they were on lunch break too. We had a fabulous lunch at the Jazz Cafe (?) in Sunol, and I continued on my way at 3.
5 miles from Sunol to the base of the Calaveras climbing was nothing but headwinds, and my quads were shot. I did see Ramon and the rest of the group (the folks who did the Welch Creek bit) about 2-3 miles from Sunol; I am pretty sure they didn't catch Pete/Mike/Marco/Ruth before they left the cafe though, since they were about to bail when I did.
Calaveras was a sufferfest, my quads were gone and I just was able to grind it out. For the record, it's another 10 miles from the base of the climb up to the wall, so its 15 miles total between Sunol and the Calaveras wall.
Descended into Milpitas, rode across town on a terrible route, it started to sprinkle a bit for my last 5 miles, but nothing bad at all. Got home at 5pm.
69.34mi, 4:46:29 riding (5:30:00 total), 14.52mph avg, 44.83 max (coming down from Palomares, and I wasn't even TRYING, I kept scrubbing speed with the brakes) 3,839ft climbing.
Today was my first real ride since October-ish. I've been hitting the stationary most days when I go to the gym, and done a couple of 10-15 mile loops around home in January, but not much. Been waiting for the nice weather. Definitely was overambitious on the 70 mile plan, but hey, it worked.
Looking back on it, I'm impressed with my 14.52mph average because I think lots of times last year I'd be in the mid-13s (granted most of those rides had more climbing), and I was in much better shape then. I'm definitely up 10lbs; probably at least half of that is muscle, but it sure as hell ain't leg muscle so its just slowing me down on the bike :)
Good to see everyone, and nice to meet you Mike!
- reid
powpow
02-21-09, 07:39 PM
Great ride today, thanks for organizing it Glenn. Great to see and meet everyone.
Today was my first experience on Sierra or Welsh Creek. Both were frickin' steep:eek:!
My final stats were 68 miles with 7358 vertical.
- Adam
p.s. Reid, good to (briefly) see you out there.
Today was my first experience on Sierra or Welsh Creek. Both were frickin' steep:eek:!
My final stats were 68 miles with 7358 vertical.
- Adam
p.s. Reid, good to (briefly) see you out there.