Northern California - What do you like for your ride?

I know we have a wildly variant group of people here. And I'm curious as to what you look for in a ride and what motivates you to go to one vs. another. I'm not talking about the big organized rides, but the rides that get posted here or club rides with your local group. What leads you to pick one over another?

I admit it, I like to suffer on hills. I keep climbing them and they don't ever get easier, but they do go by faster. I'm also picking up my pace and distances.

I'm not much on destination type rides, though I do some with my son during the summer.

I enjoy social rides and riding with other people. I'm also starved for adult conversation. Not surprising considering I'm a stay-at-home dad and most of my company during the day is a 5yo girl and 2 dogs.

I've resigned myself to mostly riding alone. I figure my "training" rides are either too much for some, not enough for others, too far away (for those of you in the Bay Area), or always on the wrong date (Nico, are you out there? :rolleyes:).

I also think I've finally gotten to where I wanted to be when I started nearly a year ago. I'm no longer worried about century rides. I'm to the point where I can go out and ride one now without any particular training. That's pretty cool.

I'd usually come out on your rides, but I've doing a lot more mountain biking lately. In fact, any time I have the opportunity to go mountain biking, I'll take that ride over pretty much any road ride. I really like road biking, but I LOVE mountain biking ;)

For group rides for me, I generally will only pick those close to here. It's hard for me to get to the bay for an 8 or 9 AM ride :\. As for ride type, I'm like you. I like to suffer on the hills, not afraid to hit a group ride with faster riders and a lot of miles.

The biggest issue for whether or not I join the rides that get posted here is if I already have plans for that day. I haven't joined any other group rides besides bikeforums and usually people here are pretty good about not scheduling conflicting rides on the same day. So for me I've never had to weigh one ride against another and pick which one to do.

That said, the things that would draw me towards a ride would be:

* New roads. I've gotten to see literally hundreds of miles of new (to me) roads just in the last 6 months thanks to joining some BF rides. It's nice to ride with a group when you're in a totally brand new area.
* Some climbing. Doesn't have to be non-stop hills but something to make me get out of the saddle.

Hills, hills, hills. Just drove this course
http://centralcaliforniacycling.com/TM_66_Preview.html
Will ride this within the next three weeks. Incredible beauty, narrow, one-lane roads and steep climbs/descents.
VG

I like it all. I ride alone, I ride with people. I commute, I go on long rides. I like new rides, but I enjoy the comfort of my standard loops. Climbing is good, but I'm pretty slow doing it.

I've enjoyed teh various BF rides I've been on. No one makes me feel bad for being the slow guy. And on some rides, I haven't been the slow guy!

The distance thing is tough. When I rode with Joel we had a good time fighting the wind, but it took be 1:20 to get home. I've had the same experience going down to the south bay. It's a LONG way home. But I've sure enjoyed riding with BF folk and doing new places.

No help. huh?

I like rides that feature scantilly clad, sinfully proportioned young ladies and gents (gotta keep everyone happy:thumb:) offering up pealed grapes, ice-cold Cytomax and oven-fresh Cliff bars at the snap of one's fingers.

I like rides that have hills that end exactly when I decide I am tired of climbing and descents that feature precisely the right mix of steepness (not too) and twistiness (moderate - enough to make the cars slow down but still let me blast on through).

I like rides that feature moderate breezes that always shift to be behind me, no matter which way I turn.

I like rides that have temps in the 60s to mid-70s.

I like rides that feature fun "comfort food" at the end.

But failing those things, I'll settle for 20-40 milers (for the most part) that feature pretty roads and hills that aren't lung-bustingly steep.

I like it all. I ride alone, I ride with people. I commute, I go on long rides. I like new rides, but I enjoy the comfort of my standard loops. Climbing is good, but I'm pretty slow doing it.

I've enjoyed teh various BF rides I've been on. No one makes me feel bad for being the slow guy. And on some rides, I haven't been the slow guy!

The distance thing is tough. When I rode with Joel we had a good time fighting the wind, but it took be 1:20 to get home. I've had the same experience going down to the south bay. It's a LONG way home. But I've sure enjoyed riding with BF folk and doing new places.

No help. huh?

You're welcome! :D

I think for myself the social aspect has become more important than the technical. Without getting too deep into the philosophy of it, my job tends to be confrontational and difficult. Riding with my NorCal group (or family) is such a relief, escape and joy. The ride becomes secondary. We've developed into different levels of riders within this group IE. Gladiators-hard core, WheelStooges-moderate, but challenging and B&B Slowpokes...as the name suggests. I like to ride in all three of the categories depending on my mood and how I feel at the time. I tend to be more of a WheelStooge.

I do like to ride alone depending on my state of mind. If I'm in a bad mood I tend to get better towards the end of the ride. There have been a few times I've gotten in over my head with the Gladiator rides and not really enjoyed the ride but felt good afterwards that I had put in the effort and still got to ride with friends...A win, win situation for me.

Location is important to me. The closer the better and being car-less is a huge factor for me...Do I want to ride on a train for an hour and a half, do a 5 hour ride and hour and a half home? The best rides are the ones I host to Pt. Reyes...hop on the bike and go!

I just recently in my last blog spewed out my opinion in it's entirety, it might be sappy, but...Hey I'm a sappy guy.

One of these day's I'll get up there I hope.
Joel I still think you should do the Davis btw...

Hills, hills, hills. Just drove this course
http://centralcaliforniacycling.com/TM_66_Preview.html
Will ride this within the next three weeks. Incredible beauty, narrow, one-lane roads and steep climbs/descents.
VG

With the exception of the Iowa Hill climb, I love that ride!

BR

- location - I prefer not to drive
- nice challenge, usually hills
- date / time

Most of the time I prefer to ride by myself, it's just simpler. But I do like the social aspects of the group rides.

For me, it's mostly about time commitment. I have a cross-bay commute that gets me out of the house before dawn and home with little time to spare before the kids go to bed each day - so spending time with the family at weekends is my main constraint/need. For me, East Bay is easier than peninsula. I really need to make some rides further away this year, but need to make sure I balance riding time with family time - spending 2hrs+ to get to/from a ride makes that tougher.

As to what kind of rides, I normally need to get climbing - like lots of folks here, it's what pushes my buttons for some reason. Scenery helps, and like minded company is great - I hope to do more BF rides this year. Solo riding is also nice though, it allows me to empty my mind of the weeks detritus and recharge my batteries.

One of these day's I'll get up there I hope.
Joel I still think you should do the Davis btw...

You'll get up here Pete. You signed up for the May 23 BF NorCal Century ride :thumb:.

I keep going back and forth on the Double. I really can't afford it, I don't think I want to sit on my bike that long. On the other hand, it would be great to complete.

you'll get up here pete. You signed up for the may 23 bf norcal century ride :thumb:.

I keep going back and forth on the double. I really can't afford it, i don't think i want to sit on my bike that long. On the other hand, it would be great to complete.

see!;)

see!;)

I know. *sigh* I still can't afford it. Especially because I would absolutely have to get the jersey to go along with it.

The biggest issue I have is just scheduling. My weekends tend to be packed, with kids stuff mostly but during a TnT season with Saturday rides I'm committed to as well. I enjoy the social aspect (and the Nor Cal group rides tend to be an entirely different kind of group than you'd usually see on a TnT ride), but some of the best rides I've done have been on my own, where I turn left instead of the planned right and add 20 - 30 miles to what I was going to do.

JB

I love the Bay area scenery, and I like not having to go far to get where I want to ride. Those run very counter to each other, but hopefully someday that'll no longer be the case.

I really enjoy riding in a small/smallish group, both for the social and motivational aspects. I ride alone a lot, too.

I suck so much at climbing that I have my own event horizon, but I'm still very much drawn to hilly routes. Hell of a sense of accomplishment. I want to say "the more climbing the better!" but much more than 6-7000 feet still scares me a bit. :lol: I'll get over it.

some of the best rides I've done have been on my own, where I turn left instead of the planned right and add 20 - 30 miles to what I was going to do.

+1

For some reason I get a lot of enjoyment out of improvising routes and then looking at the map when I get home to figure out exactly where I went :)

I like the HTFU gladiator type rides, but I ride them at wheel stooges pace. But every now and then, something that doesn't give me a great workout is a welcome change.

I'd like to go somewhere with no climbing for a change! I don't think there is a level spot of road more than 1/2 mile long anywhere near me and sometimes I just get sick of climbing. Makes me want to go out to the Valley and just ride flats at 20mph instead of averaging barely over 10 with all the hills around here, ha!

I'm kind of getting more into off road myself. Not big crazy downhill or jumps or anything, but I'd love to take a long ride on dirt roads/trails. As it is, whether I'm running cyclocross tires or my road tires, I always start my rides off by hitting the dirt trails up Mori Point here in Pacifica. I'm going to look into finding longer trails or fire roads in the bay area and go ride them.

I'm also planning to do some bikepacking this summer. Either on the vintage mountain bike or the cross bike.

Anything that's 60-70 miles with a bunch of climbing. I love getting home and barely able to walk because of leg pain. It's awesome.

I can't do BF rides because I'm always working on the weekends. Monday mornings is my fast ride, Tuesday and Wednesdays are my far and kinda fast rides. Normally I'm riding alone and don't see many cyclists.

I want to do rides that'll help me get back to doing centuries with hills. Location matters not, timing does. Family, baby, work and school all rank higher than riding, unfortunately.

Any slowpoke rides scheduled for the 25th of April? My wife may be able to join in but it would have to be less than 30 miles.

I drive a ton for work so when it comes time for me to ride, I find that I don't want to drive that far. (Far for me is an hour or more) However, I do like riding in new areas, but I usually just bring the bike along on a job then ride after. With the way my schedule has been recently, it's really tough for me to get into any kind of fitness which has limited what rides I do.

As a Yolo County flatlander, I'm less excited by hills than most here since an overpass qualifies as a hill on my normal roads. I just want to see beautiful scenery on rides. Riding in/through suburbia isn't that appealing since I live three blocks from open farmland and I see way too much surburbia for work.

...or always on the wrong date (Nico, are you out there? :rolleyes:).

I'm here!!!!! Yeah... we need to line up a common day.



- location - I prefer not to drive
- nice challenge, usually hills
- date / time


I'm pretty much agreed on the above. I like the hills, but I'm practically in downtown Sac (city I love :love:), which means an extra long ride for me if I want hills and I don't want to drive. The American River Bike Trail is great to get to the hills out East.

The social aspect is important too... but I'm usually put-off by ultra-hard-core-snooty types (definitely not saying all talented/strong/fast cyclists are like that.... just some). I'm also interested in some race training.

I just want to have fun :D ... and ride strongly!

The social aspect is important too... but I'm usually put-off by ultra-hard-core-snooty types (definitely not saying all talented/strong/fast cyclists are like that.... just some). I'm also interested in some race training.


I'd say there are definitely different levels of "hard core" here on the NorCal board, but I've yet to run into
"snooty" - hopefully that doesn't put you off heading south+west once in a while?

Can't say I go looking for hills to climb -OK... maybe sometimes I do- but if I want to go *any* where here in Coastal Valley Land, they'll come to me soon enough so I don't shy away from them, either. I still haven't done anything longer than 2 or 3 miles, I guess but some of them do get up into the 9% or 10% (or more) range. But give me something in the 4% to 6% range and I'll go forever.

I haven't ever ridden with a group... heck, I've never really ridden with another person... except for my wife, and that's pretty rare. That's OK, I like riding alone... just me and my thoughts.

Beyond that, I can pretty much do 15-30 miles in my sleep and I'll go farther when I can (which is usually on a Saturday). The longest to date is 62 miles, with one 50 and a bunch of 40s.

I'd say there are definitely different levels of "hard core" here on the NorCal board, but I've yet to run into
"snooty" - hopefully that doesn't put you off heading south+west once in a while?

Yeah... "hard-core" was the wrong word, that can be confused with cyclists that have a major passion in the sport. I meant more of some of the arrogance and superiority (and you-must-have-expensive-___-to-be-good type attitude). I actually haven't run into that here, I was just saying...

And I've definitely ridden in the Bay a few times and loved it... Mt. Diablo is worth the drive for me... so is Old La Honda and that area (but only if I'm staying with friends and not going for just the day ;) ).

I like all kinds of rides especially long challenging rides but my riding time is limited to shorter 2-3 hr chunks so I've tried to get the best workout in that time with a minimal of driving to and from the ride. There aren't too many rides that start in San Bruno so I either ride to the ride, which adds to the total time or I need to drive.

I really miss the BF rides since most of them require a long transit time or start a time that won't have me back in time for family stuff. I'm looking forward to the WCC to catch up with a few BF'ers.

I like all kinds of rides especially long challenging rides but my riding time is limited to shorter 2-3 hr chunks so I've tried to get the best workout in that time with a minimal of driving to and from the ride. There aren't too many rides that start in San Bruno so I either ride to the ride, which adds to the total time or I need to drive.

I really miss the BF rides since most of them require a long transit time or start a time that won't have me back in time for family stuff. I'm looking forward to the WCC to catch up with a few BF'ers.

Interested in a ride up San Bruno Mountain some time during the week one of these days? I work in South City.

Interested in a ride up San Bruno Mountain some time during the week one of these days? I work in South City.I might be up for that. I could actually ride a bike this time, instead of a big truck! :P

Cool - there's me thinking I might snare a local for a ride, and I ended up reeling in a guy from Sacramento.

Maybe the end of the afternoon some time could be a good plan? I normally ride early morning or step out for an hour or so at lunch. Catching the end of the day might allow me some more time for a social ride :thumb:

Hey Richard, I'd be up for that...Tue/Thurs work best for me.

Cool - a thursday could work for me. I'll end the thread-jack and post something.

Interested in a ride up San Bruno Mountain some time during the week one of these days? I work in South City.

Absolutely! Send me a PM or email with when you plan to ride after work, or even during lunch.

...I meant more of some of the arrogance and superiority (and you-must-have-expensive-___-to-be-good type attitude). I actually haven't run into that here, I was just saying...
..

Don't think you will either. I have only participated in just a few BF rides. They have been some of the most fun rides I have been on. There are some good friendships forming. If there are ego's or arrogance or superiority problems, I think they are left in the trunk of the car. (Well, w/ the exception of that Taxi777 rider, watch out for him, if he has a chance, he'll take you down... :D)

Back to the o/p. Being in the flat lands, I'll drive to get to a ride if it worth while, and most are. My regular afternoon rides from doorstep range from 25 - 50 milers. These can be solo or w/ a group. For the hills, I'll drive to the greater Bay Area (East, North, South), drive to Sacto and climb to Auburn, Or drive to Auburn and climb to wherever. If I haven't been in a certain area, and it interests me, then I'll try it.

Don't even get me started on where I'll drive to ride my MTB.

I think the riders that live with hills in their backyard are the luckiest people on this board. Congrats to all of you. I hope the next place I live will have a trailhead out the back door and nice paved roads leading to beautiful car-less roads out the front.

BR

I love climbing, smooth pavement, twisty descents, medium-long distance (50-70 miles). Today was the first time I rode tunitas creek, and it was AWESOME :P. I usually also ride alone, but sometimes I follow some random cyclists that pass me for a while.