Northern California - Next B&B Slowpoke Ride - On the Peninsula!

NOTE - RAIN CANCELS

Due to popular demand, and because bigbossman will be off shooting at turkeys in Oklahoma (the last trip was postponed), the next B&B (minus one of the B's) Slowpoke Ride will start in Woodside and be a variation of the Portola loop. This one has a little something for everyone, from uber-wussies such as myself to more hard-core types, such as . . . well, you know who you are.

We will meet at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 3, at the intersection of Whiskey Hill Road [NOTE THE CHANGED MEETING PLACE PER T4MV's EXCELLENT SUGGESTION BASED ON LOCAL KNOWLEDGE] and Highway 84 in Woodside. Rumor has it that there is a great bakery just up the road at 84 and Canada Road for pre- and post-ride victuals.

NOTE - RAIN CANCELS

Here is a map. [Again, note that the start has been moved down 84 a little bit to the intersection of Whiskey Hill Road
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/redwood-city/919123973519266523

We'll head down 84 to Alameda de las Pulgas, which allows us to avoid crossing 280 at Sand Hill. Turn right on said Alameda de las Pulgas (aka Flea Avenue), continue past Sand Hill and then immediately left onto Junipero Serra (thanks for the correction, Silentben). (As near as I can tell, there are wide lanes and good shoulders the entire way so far.) We will turn right onto Page Mill, and then almost immediately bear slightly right onto Old Page Mill, a lovely, virtually traffic-free and scenic little respite from both the cars and the hill that makes the new Page Mill less than wonderful at this point. Cross under 280 again, go about a quarter mile, and turn right onto Arastradero. After passing an open space park (porta-potties available, and I think water, too), we come to Alpine, where we turn left. Go up a gentle but noticeable hill PAST Portola Road to Willowbrook Drive. At the end of Willowbrook, now you can turn onto Portola Road (go left). Continue straight onto Sand Hill, turn left onto Whiskey Hill, and follow that until it ends at Hwy 84. Turn left, and in a very short distance, we come to the Start/Finish at Canada Road.

Total distanct is 18.76 miles, sez Map My Ride. There are rolling hills, but nothing that, say, the Oldstrong kids can't handle.

NOTE - RAIN CANCELS

If you want to add more flat miles, you can park at the other end of Canada Road, meaning at its junction with Hwy 92, and ride to the start and then back from the finish. It's a tad less than 7.5 miles each way, so that option would give you about 33 flat to rolling miles for the day.

For you more gladiatorially inclined, we will be going right by the lower end of Old La Honda Road, so you could go blast up OLH and down Skyline and 84 and rejoin us sane folks at the finish area repast. Or for that matter, go up OLH, down the other side, head for the beach, and come back via Tunitas and King's Mountain. I won't be doing any such thing, but if it floats your boat, go for it. Like I said, somethng for everyone.

So who's up for this one?

NOTE - DID I MENTION THAT RAIN CANCELS?

EDIT: Here's the attendance list as of 10:00 p.m., Thursday 4/30:

YES (or at least a "yes unless some specified potential event interferes")

bikinshearer
msincredible
x136
subframe
genejockey
ahpook & clan
pacificslim


MAYBE
silentben
pohlf
pohlf's convert from mountain to road


NO

Ah, who cares about them, anyway? :p

Sounds like fun! I'm tentatively in, will probably ride to the start via Alpine/35/84, then head back home via OLH.

I'm in, of course.

I'll probably have to arrive much earlier and get some distance/climbing in, though. :)

I'll get out to one of these. My son wants to make one of these rides. So we'll be up for sometime in the summer.

This ride passes within half a mile of my house so I might have to join you this time :) A couple notes on the route:



We'll head down 84 to Alameda de las Pulgas, which allows us to avoid crossing 280 at Sand Hill. Turn right on said Alameda de las Pulgas (aka Flea Avenue), continue past Sand Hill and then immediately left onto Foothill Expressway.


As you approach Sand Hill there are two car lanes that go straight. I highly recommend you establish yourself in the leftmost of these lanes before crossing Sand Hill. It's much better than crossing Sand Hill in the bike lane and trying to merge over to make the left turn after you cross. Also, the left turn is actually onto Junipero Serra. The road doesn't change names to Foothill until south of Page Mill.



(As near as I can tell, there are wide lanes and good shoulders the entire way so far.) We will turn right onto Page Mill, and then almost immediately bear slightly right onto Old Page Mill, a lovely, virtually traffic-free and scenic little respite from both the cars and the hill that makes the new Page Mill less than wonderful at this point.


When you merge back onto new Page Mill you will have to immediately cut left across two lanes of freeway-only traffic in order to continue under 280. Cars are coming down the hill at 60 mph and so be prepared to have to stop in the shoulder here and wait for a break in traffic. You will see a bike lane but in a possibly unexpected place - to the *left* of the two freeway-bound car lanes.

cool! Yeah, I highly recommend that optional Start/Finish at Canada and 92. Canada is good for kids on Sunday.

You might want to consider meeting in the parking lots near the area around 84 and Whiskey Hill (1 long blk towards 280) because there's generally more parking available there, and the intersection at Robert's is pretty packed on weekends.

Maybe I should bail on the Delta and stay close to home...:innocent:

I'm in! I'll be riding down from SF (via Skyline / Sawyer Camp) if anyone wants to join me...

Thanks, all, for the info and suggestions. I've ridden in the area before, but I don't live there, and local knowledge is always a good thing.

Please check the OP every so oftern to make sure that nothing has changed too dramatically. In the meantime, as of 4/19 I'm off to Kauai for a week and a half, so don't be too surprised if I am less than diligent about following the meanderings of this thread.

Hope to see y'all on the 3rd. :thumb: 'Cuz if there isn't a big turnout after the various "how about a Slowpoke ride on the Peninsula?" comments, I'm slipping the leash on bigbossman and letting him taunt you a second time.

Okay, folks, I am about to return to NorCal from the Shangri-La that is Kauai, so it's time to get serious about this ride. I'm hoping all you Peninsula peeps (and East Bay peeps, and SF peeps, and North Bay peeps) will come out and have some fun.

So c'mon and let me knooooooow
Should I stay or should I go . . . . .

Wow, this would be a great one for me to join, but I have family conflicts on this date....:(

bigbossman will be off shooting at turkeys in Oklahoma

Seems like he has been doing some practice shooting this week:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=535523

That was a very big turkey though!

Maybe it was a jive turkey.

I'm in. I usually ride this in the other direction. I wonder if it will look different....

..cheap BUMP..

I'm working on this one, and am a maybe at this point. An MTB-only friend recently acquired a road bike - I'll see what he's doing on Sun.

-Frank

we may have the entire ahpook clan up for this one.

If I don't end up having to pick up my husband from the airport I'm definitely in (darn open-ended tickets :rolleyes:).

Also a friend new to road biking is planning on joining. He just did Page Mill yesterday! :thumb:

Crap, I'm going to have to miss this one. My daughter's First Communion is that day. Have fun for me! :)

NOAA says rain this weekend - we still doing this?

Rain will make the post-ride coffee and pastries taste better :lol:

I have Church obligations on 5/3 otherwise I'd be there for sure.

I plan on being there. Subframe, you still riding down skyline/sawyer? Maybe I could meet you up there somewhere (i'll be coming from pacifica) or at 92/canada and ride down to 84.

NOAA says rain this weekend - we still doing this?

Not if it's raining - at least, I'm not doing this in the rain.

What's this "rain in May" bull-bleep anyway?:notamused:

Assuming the weather reports are a damned lie and we can get this ride in, check the revised OP for the latest attendance list, and let me know if there are any changes or corrections. Or don't. See if I care.

I might be in too if its not raining. This should be a good recovery ride.

I'm in as long as it's not total crap at ride time. The rest of the clan might tag along, too.

I hope NOAA's wrong, though their forecasts have been accurate when I've used them to plan rides.

Sucks that I'm going to miss this ride. I'm watching my little boy so that mommy can ride the Tour de Cure in Napa.

count me in.

this will be my first planned BF ride.

one of my pals will be riding along too.

Weather Underground is giving 50% chance of rain on Sunday right now.

If I don't end up having to pick up my husband from the airport I'm definitely in (darn open-ended tickets :rolleyes:).

Also a friend new to road biking is planning on joining. He just did Page Mill yesterday! :thumb:

I'm the friend! And now that my legs have de-jello'd it had better not rain on Sunday!
Must... keep... ridding!

(emerging from my long nap in a cave)

I'll be there, rain or shine. I need a good long ride, and doing this loop with the transit to and from my house in San Jose should get it for me.

Unless it's pouring, I'll be there - I need the miles.

NOTE - DID I MENTION THAT RAIN CANCELS?That's crap.

Pansies.

*squeezes excess water out of his skin*

That's crap.

Pansies.

*squeezes excess water out of his skin*

Some of us will be there anyway. ;)

That's crap.

Pansies.

*squeezes excess water out of his skin*

No kidding - whatta bunch of girlie-men.

I'm out here in Oklahoma, and mere rain would be a dream come true. We've had driving rain, wind, and violent electrical storms all day. Makes it tough to hunt turkeys, what with having a lightning rod in your hands and all...... :)

Some of us will be there anyway. ;)Good! Sanity prevails.

No kidding - whatta bunch of girlie-men.

I'm out here in Oklahoma, and mere rain would be a dream come true. We've had driving rain, wind, and violent electrical storms all day. Makes it tough to hunt turkeys, what with having a lightning rod in your hands and all...... :)


Hold it as hiiiiigh up in the air as you can to keep it as far away from your body as possible. Y'know, just to be safe . . . . :p

Weather Underground forecasts mid-60's with a 60% chance of rain. Be prepared!

Weather Underground forecasts mid-60's with a 60% chance of rain. Be prepared!

Uh, make that 70%.

Oh, all right, I'll meet the more foolish of you there. Actually riding is a game-time decision. But if frogs or locusts start falling from the sky, no way I'm riding . . . .

FWIW, weather.com (which i think uses the national weather service forecast) is only calling for 10-20% chance of rain and doesn't really call for "few showers" until 2pm. I think we'll be ok.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreation/outdoors/hourbyhour/graph/USCA0926?from=36hr_topnav_outdoors

Light but steady rain here in campbell right now. If it were just me, ya see, I'd surely head out. But somehow jen and g-man have not developed the same enjoyment in misery that I have and this probably isn't the time to inculcate it. Have a good ride.

Just went outside and it's getting wetter and windier by the minute here in Pacifica. I'm going to bow out. See you guys next time...

Tour of Romandie is on versus at 2pm i think.

It was a little wet, but not too bad. Fun ride!

The rain coming down was not as bad as the spray coming off the wheel of the bike in front of you.

It was a fun ride! Nice meeting folks I hadn't ridden with before, and riding again with those I had. And here's a first for me on a BF ride - nobody crashed!

BTW, I think "50% chance of rain" actually meant "raining 50% of the time." It was wet, but not that unpleasant because the temperature was reasonable.

We get extra 'hardcoreness points' for this, right?

It's a good thing I decided to show up. I don't think I could have lived with the shame of candy-@$$ing out of my own ride when so many others actually came out. :o

Thanks to all nine of you - including the entiire t4mv clan! - who braved the elements for this one. Not that the elements were all that bad, but it was misting/sprinkling about half of the ride and genuinely raining about 10% or so of it. Unlike some of the reports from yesterday, dampness, rather than soaking wetness, was the order of the day. Dryness definitely was not.

Special kudos to msincredible, who rode over from Loma Mar, rode with us (usually at the very front of the peloton, setting tempo) and then had to ride back to Loma Mar. What a studette. :thumb:

Meeting new folks was fun. Seeing familiar faces was fun. The ride was fun. Goodies at the Woodside Bakery and shooting the breeze afterwards was fun. Making fun of bigbossman when he wasn't there to defend himself was especially fun.

And now the West-o'-the'Bay types know what the East Bayers figured out a couple of Slowpoke rides ago - the main purpose of organizing these rides is so that the people who ride them feel at least a little bit honor-bound to wait for me every so often. :rolleyes: Thanks to all, on this ride on the previous ones, who have been patient with the effects gravity has on me whenever the road turns even slightly up.

We get extra 'hardcoreness points' for this, right?

You betcha! :thumb:

Great ride thanks for having me along!
That coffee and pastry made it allll worthwhile. :D

bikingshearer, et al, thanks for coming out on a wet day and going for a ride. As mentioned earlier, the temps were OK, but the soggy socks and squishy shoes were probably not what the rest of the clan had in mind, and we all know what it's like sitting around getting cold(er) in wet feet, so I opted to bail on the eats at the end. Maybe we can do this ride again in the middle of summer when it's about 100 deg (the rain would probably feel real good right about then). Ironically, 280 was dry from El Monte south, so we must have been riding right on the edge of the rain. The driveway was still dry when we got home, but that's OK, this was a good Flemish Harden Defukup introductory lesson for the rest of the family. :D

Great ride you guys! It was great to see you, I was amazed how many people showed up.

Jammen and I rode over from Loma Mar in the morning. When we first left, it was only drizzly. However, 2 miles later, the rain had really started and we were soaked at the top of Haskins Hill. The rain did not let up for the whole climb up Alpine, and got much worse when we were on Skyline. Poor visibility, cold pouring rain, and strong gusty winds blowing the rain into our faces made for an interesting ride. We didn't lose our senses of humor however and despite the poor visibility managed to laugh when we saw a minivan with an inflatable monkey and Christmas lights on its roof! :twitchy:

The descent down 84 was pretty nice despite the rain, coming around one corner there was a bit of sun, and I don't know if it was just the contrast with the cold on Skyline, but the rain actually felt warm at that point, almost felt like I was in the shower.

Great ride around the Peninsula with you guys, very nice to be at a relaxed pace with plenty of stops and time for chatting. :thumb: The hot coffee at the end felt soooooo good.

Rode with Jammen back to Arastradero & Page Mill, then he headed back to Palo Alto and I went up Page Mill and down Alpine to home. It was dry until halfway up Page Mill, then I got rained on again until halfway down Alpine. My bike and I were completely filthy, all cleaned up now though.

73 miles 7100' for me, and 57.5 miles 4800' for Jammen.


Special kudos to msincredible, who rode over from Loma Mar, rode with us (usually at the very front of the peloton, setting tempo) and then had to ride back to Loma Mar. What a studette. :thumb:

Thanks, but I think Jammen should get even more kudos, as he has had a road bike for less than 3 weeks and this was by far his longest ride to date. :beer:

Pictures from Arastradero Preserve:

t4mv, platypus and bikingshearer
http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/2009-05-03_slowpoke01.JPG

Jammen
http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/2009-05-03_slowpoke02.JPG

t4mv & genejockey
http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/2009-05-03_slowpoke03.JPG

BTW after failing miserably at a little spot of wheel-sucking down Portola, I think we need a new rule for BF group rides.

All tandems must sport full fenders in wet weather. :p