Northern California - Primavera Century Ride Report

Teaser....more pics to follow later

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009%2004%2019%20PrimaVera/DSC00671-1.jpg

Well, long story short for me:

1. first century achieved - "check" - 103miles, 6000ft climbing, 15.5mph average, 6h 37m ride time
2. meet more BFrs - "check" - good to catch Rumbutter, Britpower, BlastRadius, kankou + potential noob, Tod
3. boil head in ridiculous east bay heat - "check"

Sounds like a good time was had!

Thanks to LanceOldStrong, he couldn't do this ride, so he graciously offered his registration to me. Woohoo ... I got in. This has always been a local favorite, and I didn't mind doing it again.

I happen to be the last to arrive there ... taxi777 was already signed in, so he was really ready to go. I saw Beaker in the parking lot. So it was just the three of us ... I later saw kankou at the lunch stop.

The morning started out great. No fog at all, and the air was very clear. There was still a little chill in the air at the start ... this just meant having to wear a light windbreaker ... damn, I was hoping to leave it in the car. This means I will have to carry it along with me when it gets warm ... and it did get warm ... or shall we say hot?

The first 20 miles or so gave us a nice set of flat miles, so it gave us some time to spin and get our legs warm. The other side of that is that perhaps it prompted us to go faster than we should? Not sure, but all I know was I got really tired at the end ... more on that later.

Ah, the wall at Calaveras ... that's where I got to the back ... no worry ... it just gives Pete more opportunity to take pics of me struggling up the hill. However, about half way through on Calaveras, Pete got a flat ... tables turn? :lol:

We also picked up another rider, Todd ... cool guy, and strong rider, from Santa Rosa. We kinda adopted him as an honorary BF'er.

On the way to Livermore, another couple kinda melded into our pack. One guy had done Furnace Creek 508, and his female partner (don't know if significant other or what), is training to do it this year. That is just insane. Anyhow, Pete goes and comments to her what a lovely day it is (what a giggolo). No response from her ... then, Beaker proceeds on some small talk, and she responds back with small talk ... Pete's got a way with women ... not sure what way that is.

Soon, our pace just got a little too boring for them, and they forged on ahead. Oh well ... so much for adding females to the mix.

Just before getting to the water stop (before climbing Flynn Rd), we were starting to notice no one else from the century out on the road. Kinda eerie ... but then when we got to the water stop, more people came ...

Onto climbing Flynn, and once again, I lag waaay behind. Just before the right turn to the top, I knew the end was near. Somehow, I mustered up enough energy to grind it up to the top, and just started passing people. I guess it's because I was so looking forward to the bombing descent down Flynn Rd. That was my favorite part of the ride.

Met up with the rest at lunch ... saw kankou there ... also saw rumbutter, britpower, blastradius (who was driving sag), and kster. Great to see such BF representing here ...

On the way back from Livermore to Pleasanton, I got separated from the group, in part because of the red light, but also because of a stinkin' wrong number calling my cell phone. I hate it when that happens. However, I did hook up with a cool triathlon group, and we got into a pretty nice paceline. That kinda helped out in the monotony of the junk miles back to Pleasanton, and the eventual Palomares climb.

By the time we got to the last rest stop, it had to be in the 90's. Tried to take in as much cool water as I could, and I even broke down and put gatorade in my bottle ... forgot to bring extra Heed. The cool strawberries was a nice touch at the last rest stop too.

All in all, a great ride, great support, and still one of my local favorites around here. Good job Fremont Freewheelers ... keep up the good work.

Dang, we both picked the same thread title ... and you beat me to the punch. Oh well, I guess we'll just have mass confusion here.

Congrats, Richard!

It was great seeing you guys roll through. I'm going to repaint one of the bigger signs for my Water Stop next year. A last minute thought had me throwing my two tubes of sunblock into the Jeep. There was nowhere near enough. Next year I have to remember to get a jumbo drum with a pump if it's going to be sunny.
Glad you folks had fun.

Dang, we both picked the same thread title ... and you beat me to the punch. Oh well, I guess we'll just have mass confusion here.

Mass confusion - well, it wouldn't be NorCal without it. I'm hoping that our super-mod will merge our threads. Probably just in time for Pete to start a third one.


Congrats, Richard!

Thanks hup. It's nice to achieve a goal.

Well, long story short for me:

1. first century achieved - "check" - 103miles, 6000ft climbing, 15.5mph average, 6h 37m ride time
2. meet more BFrs - "check" - good to catch Rumbutter, Britpower, BlastRadius, kankou + potential noob, Tod
3. boil head in ridiculous east bay heat - "check"

Pretty impressive for a first century! I think my first was measured in days.....

JB

Stupid Guys just enjoyin life!
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1Ronsgross.jpg
Ron's report was pretty complete, so I'll dance around it here...

I had the fortune to snag a car for the day, so I was able to get to the check-in right at 6:30. Dchiefransom recognized my mug right away and introduced himself. He told me he had been keeping an eye out for Spingineer to expedite his transfer from LanceOldstrong's (Dan) registration.

Ron showed up there after.
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1RonCheckin.jpg

Ron, of course looking stunning in his Triple crown jersey! Then the Beaker (Richard) materialized. I checked around a bit for some other NorCalr's, but we needed to move. I felt really great in the beginning. We kept at just the right pace. I kind of thought Richard would go out like a race horse, but he was well behaved. I think I've done 5 or so Primaveras over the years, but none with this kind of perfect weather.

Deaf guys. That was strange...and you had to be there. They seemed to just stay ahead or drop back and it got to be annoying with them passing on the right and their noisy bikes...good thing they were deaf. They would have driven themselves crazy otherwise. Every time I'd pass them...again! I'd give them an odd hand signal. They probably thought I was nuts!...and yes I am. The three of us disscussed the usual "Lizard brained" issues, mostly females, sex and general stupid stuff. It just comes so natural for guys.

We were striking out with the ladies, I didn't have the game today. Probably didn't help that I was wearing all Pink!...they probably were getting mixed signals. I know I was feeling rather confused myself. At least I got a hug from "BritPower" at the lunch stop...Alas! female contact, although it was my birthday.

Calaveras was quite stunning and the temps were warming up. I got a flat...the only real incident aside from the case of farts I got from my luncheon with Ron yesterday. That Frida Kahlo Burrito hit me pretty hard.

We picked up Todd, who joined us, but didn't know what he was getting himself into...Poor guy.
He was a strong rider and I found myself struggling at times to hang on. He kind of dropped me on the climb up to the windmills. At about that time I started getting a little tired and really needed some substantial food in me.

At lunch we ran into "BritPower" and "Rumbutter" who prepared a beautiful birthday cake for me complete with candle! They must have stayed up all night baking and preparing.
I thought that was really nice you guys! Thanks.
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1HenryandBritpower.jpg

"Blast Radius" Henry showed up and was involved in sag duty and we ran into Kevin as we were leaving. ( It was his first century too.) From lunch to the last rest stop was really fast and I knew I'd pay for it later.

The climb up Palamores was the killer of the day and I was done after that and happy to make it back to the finish.

Just over 100 miles at 6:15.

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1RichKevin.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1ronclimb.jpg
Laurie
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1Laurie.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1Calaveras.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1CarolandRon.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1MyCake.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1RonRich.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1Todd.jpg

Here's my version, editing out the redundant pictures.

A great day, and as always, great company. Pete, Ron and I set out from Logan High School at 6:45 ish, and got a good pace going.


Pete and Ron starting off early

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009%2004%2019%20PrimaVera/DSC00652-1.jpg

Calaveras was the first test – not a bad climb, pretty short with some steeper sections at the top. I noticed my right knee playing up a little during the climb – something that came and went throughout the ride. Hmmm.

Riding down Calaveras

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009%2004%2019%20PrimaVera/DSC00660-1.jpg


This was my first time out on Calaveras, and as Pete said, the scenery was simply breathtaking. We had a quick re-group and then Pete gets a flat. Fortunately a SAG wagon was with us within a minute and supplied a floor pump to get things moving swiftly.

It’s well known that to change a tube most efficiently 3 onlookers (Ron off camera) are required

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009%2004%2019%20PrimaVera/DSC00664-1.jpg

Special mention needs to go to the Sunol Glen rest stop – funky music and stick on sideburns were much in evidence.

Caption Contest #1

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009%2004%2019%20PrimaVera/DSC00655.jpg


We made a good pace heading through Livermore to the next water stop. The temperature was heading up though – Carroll Road/Flynn Road was a bit of a grind due to the heat and having put 50-60miles in already. The downhill from Altamont was sweet – fast, a cooling breeze and as Tod remarked “conditions to make you feel like Superman”.

Caption contest 2

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009%2004%2019%20PrimaVera/DSC00666.jpg

Lunch at the Winery was a welcome change – I’d been mostly fueling with various gels/drinks etc. so making a sandwich really hit the spot. Great to catch up with the BF crew and chill on the lawn.

Heading off from lunch, and the ride was going well – again making great pace on the flats, but a bunch of mistimed lights strung us out. Then hitting Dublin grade at 1:30 to 2ish was just brutal. It wasn’t very steep, but the temperatures were insane – easily in the 90’s – and there was no breeze or shade for respite. Needless to say the next rest stop was extremely welcome – and the head dunk under the hose was a must. I considered the massage, but at that moment the lunch, gels and drinks were making me reconsider the wisdom of that.

With the end in sight, I just had to dispatch Palomares before feeling like I was in the home straight. By this point, Pete and Tod had left ~5mins before me (too much gassing with the rest stop proprietor on my part) and I in turn left a few minutes before Ron. I knew that this was the climb to test me – coming after 90 miles. When the grade ticked up it was just a case of 34x27 and grind it up – at least there was shade.

The descent from there was very nice – and I surprised myself at being able to keep a good pace back to Logan. All in all, a great ride.


http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009%2004%2019%20PrimaVera/DSC00668.jpg

Pete goes and comments to her what a lovely day it is (what a giggolo). No response from her ... then, Beaker proceeds on some small talk, and she responds back with small talk ...

:innocent:


Deaf guys. That was strange...and you had to be there. They seemed to just stay ahead or drop back and it got to be annoying with them passing on the right and their noisy bikes...good thing they were deaf.

Yeah - that was pretty bizarre.

Sorry I missed it. Great report guys. I am glad spingineer could use my reg. After my volunteering at church that I had double booked myself into today I still got a 57 mile Morgan Territory loop in. Not a total wash eh? I left Concord at 3:30 pm. It was hot, but enduorlytes capsules and lots of water with Nuun tabs did the trick. See you soon!

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/1ronclimb.jpgRon, King of the Suffering Photo. :)

Pete, pink or not, that vintage (esque?) Klein jersey is very cool.

Congratulations, everyone! :beer:

Here are a few more pictures to add.

Beaker at registration
http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/516358376_dab9B-M.jpg

Ironman Triathlon dudes ... hooked up with them for a nice paceline coming to Pleasanton
http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/516366053_f8RfG-M.jpg

Before the climb up Calaveras
http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/516360203_pTNSy-M.jpg

Calaveras
http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/516364057_LvSwh-M.jpg

http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/516364248_qqsNQ-M.jpg

http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/516362039_5qf86-M.jpg

Motocross track in Livermore
http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/516373550_3Dh8e-M.jpg

It was great seeing you guys roll through. I'm going to repaint one of the bigger signs for my Water Stop next year. A last minute thought had me throwing my two tubes of sunblock into the Jeep. There was nowhere near enough. Next year I have to remember to get a jumbo drum with a pump if it's going to be sunny.
Glad you folks had fun.

Were you at the Greenville Rd Water Stop with the red Jeep? I was the SAG driver in the blue Pathfinder. It didn't occur to me that you are dcheifransom.

Well, this was my first century and I had a great time, the day had some interesting twists though. I had originally planned to get there early and meet up with you BFers, but since I haven't met any of you (that were riding the century) yet I was relying on my memory from pictures you've posted.

I got there at 6:20, plenty of time to go. I learned my first important lesson very quickly: check your bike out several days before the ride! I pulled the bike down from the rack and as I was doing a quick pre-ride check discovered I was missing one chainring bolt, and the others were all loose and about to fall off too. They were OK a week ago (the last time I checked my bike), but I was stupid for not going over my bike like I should have on Saturday.

So, I tighten the remaining bolts, test the crankset, and realize this will not do for such a long ride. Debated with myself for a couple minutes, considered asking around the entire parking lot to see if anybody had spare bolts, and decided the best course of action was to drive back to Berkeley and cannibalize my other bike. I registered before leaving, since I probably wouldn't be back before it closed at 8. I recognized taxi's bike leaning against the wall, but didn't look around for anybody since I was already at least an hour behind.

I arrived back at the parking lot at 8:15, and was on the road by 8:30. I joined a group of 3 century riders who had to return to the lot for a tube after a blowout 1 mile up the road, so that was good luck. They ended up doing the metric century because of other equipment problems, so I did the rest of the ride solo. Beautiful scenery, I've never ridden there before. Ended with 6:40 on the ride clock.

Very hot day as others mentioned. There was a rider with heat stroke on the exposed grade on Dublin Canyon right before the last rest stop, she was delirious and puking all over. Poor thing, but good that a bunch of us stopped. I rode ahead and got the sag support to go back for her.

Maybe with better luck I can ride with you guys next time!

Congrats on your first one, Richard!

Nice going Kevin, for all the trouble. You got a great time too!:thumb:

This was also my first century and it was quite a bit of fun. I had missed the early registration so I was still contemplating doing this ride up until my alarm clock went off the morning of the ride.

Due to waking up late, I didn't get to start the ride until about 7:40am. I figured by that time, all the other BF'ers were probably already gone, so I rolled out solo.

The scenery on Calaveras was beautiful, and the descent down was quite fun. I hopped on a TNT Ironman group to help get through the flats to Livermore. By then the temps were already getting quite hot.

Bumped into taxi777 and spingineer at the lunch stop, but they were getting ready to leave just as I got my food.

By the time I got to Dublin grade, it was very hot. The roads were completely exposed and no shade...reminded me of the hot Texas summers that I did not miss. I went through my bottles rather quickly and was very glad to see the water stop right before the Palomares climb. Palomares was pretty tough on my tired legs, but it was nice that a good portion of it was shaded.

Clocked in @ the finish line in 6:40. I beelined it for the post ride meal and saw Pete, Ron, and met Beaker (Richard).

I pulled the bike down from the rack and as I was doing a quick pre-ride check discovered I was missing one chainring bolt, and the others were all loose and about to fall off too.

decided the best course of action was to drive back to Berkeley and cannibalize my other bike.

I arrived back at the parking lot at 8:15, and was on the road by 8:30.

Wow! bad luck Matt but glad you got to finish. I probably would have jumped into bed on reaching home. :lol:

I'm getting old! I getting so confused with avatars/names/places/people...Arrgghh I am 55! :(

I'm getting old! I getting so confused with avatars/names/places/people...Arrgghh I am 55! :(

Well, you won't have to worry about driving 55 then ... :lol:

Were you at the Greenville Rd Water Stop with the red Jeep? I was the SAG driver in the blue Pathfinder. It didn't occur to me that you are dcheifransom.


Yeah, that's me, the ugly old fat fart. Can't do anything about the ugly or old, but I'm slowly working on the fat. Beaker has a picture of me above. A frontal shot of my face would have broken his camera.
You Race Team guys don't usually see me because you blink as you pass me.

Well, this was my first century and I had a great time, the day had some interesting twists though. I had originally planned to get there early and meet up with you BFers, but since I haven't met any of you (that were riding the century) yet I was relying on my memory from pictures you've posted.

I got there at 6:20, plenty of time to go. I learned my first important lesson very quickly: check your bike out several days before the ride! I pulled the bike down from the rack and as I was doing a quick pre-ride check discovered I was missing one chainring bolt, and the others were all loose and about to fall off too. They were OK a week ago (the last time I checked my bike), but I was stupid for not going over my bike like I should have on Saturday.

So, I tighten the remaining bolts, test the crankset, and realize this will not do for such a long ride. Debated with myself for a couple minutes, considered asking around the entire parking lot to see if anybody had spare bolts, and decided the best course of action was to drive back to Berkeley and cannibalize my other bike. I registered before leaving, since I probably wouldn't be back before it closed at 8. I recognized taxi's bike leaning against the wall, but didn't look around for anybody since I was already at least an hour behind.

I arrived back at the parking lot at 8:15, and was on the road by 8:30. I joined a group of 3 century riders who had to return to the lot for a tube after a blowout 1 mile up the road, so that was good luck. They ended up doing the metric century because of other equipment problems, so I did the rest of the ride solo. Beautiful scenery, I've never ridden there before. Ended with 6:40 on the ride clock.

Very hot day as others mentioned. There was a rider with heat stroke on the exposed grade on Dublin Canyon right before the last rest stop, she was delirious and puking all over. Poor thing, but good that a bunch of us stopped. I rode ahead and got the sag support to go back for her.

Maybe with better luck I can ride with you guys next time!

Thanks for doing that. I always have my bike rack even though I'm not SAG. I pulled over and helped out. The ambulance showed up first, then the CHP, and a fire truck. The ambulance ladies were great, and got her to go with them to Kaiser Hayward. I gave her husband a ride back to the start so he could get over there.
Next time I'm going to carry a cooler with ice, no matter how much room it takes up. Lots of extra water, too, as I drive the course back to the start after I close the Water Stop.

Hey shatdow - sorry not to have met you, well done for finishing after that harrowing start you had. I'd hate to have started the day with that amount of hassle.



Very hot day as others mentioned. There was a rider with heat stroke on the exposed grade on Dublin Canyon right before the last rest stop, she was delirious and puking all over. Poor thing, but good that a bunch of us stopped. I rode ahead and got the sag support to go back for her.


As I was getting close to the top of Dublin Grade I found myself thinking "hmm, I bet it'd be very easy to get heat stroke right about now....keep on drinking". Well done for helping out.


Yeah, that's me, the ugly old fat fart. Can't do anything about the ugly or old, but I'm slowly working on the fat. Beaker has a picture of me above. A frontal shot of my face would have broken his camera.
You Race Team guys don't usually see me because you blink as you pass me.

I think I chatted with you briefly Dave, but sorry I didn't put two and two together. Big thanks to you and the organizers for such a great job.

Thanks for doing that. I always have my bike rack even though I'm not SAG. I pulled over and helped out. The ambulance showed up first, then the CHP, and a fire truck. The ambulance ladies were great, and got her to go with them to Kaiser Hayward. I gave her husband a ride back to the start so he could get over there.
Next time I'm going to carry a cooler with ice, no matter how much room it takes up. Lots of extra water, too, as I drive the course back to the start after I close the Water Stop.

Dave, thanks for the update, glad to hear she had so much help and good medical attention. Good to meet you at the water stop, and probably will see you this time next year, if not sooner!


Hey shatdow - sorry not to have met you, well done for finishing after that harrowing start you had. I'd hate to have started the day with that amount of hassle.
Yeah, it was stressful and I'm glad it didn't ruin the ride, like I said the only regret is not riding with you and the others. I'll keep an eye out for future east bay rides so we can do-over. :)


Wow! bad luck Matt but glad you got to finish. I probably would have jumped into bed on reaching home. Boy did I struggle with that very idea.

So what was the elevation gain that everyone got who rode this ride? From the same Garmin, I have three completely different results for elevation gain!

Garmin Training Center: 102.74 miles, 45.4 mph max speed, 5801 feet climbing
Motionbased: 102.89 miles, 45.5 mph max speed, 6913 feet climbing
Ascent: 102.7 miles, 45.9 mph max speed, 5482 feet climbing

Part of me wants to accept the Motionbased data, but that is just unethical. Now, between GTC and Ascent, that's the real question. I might want to look at VDO instead, but the only thing that keeps me on Garmin is the fact that it can plot your path.

6913ft sounds big, so it must be right. Right?

Since I'm without a Garmin right now I can't substantiate or refute, but I believe that the FFBC website claimed "6000ft" while their interactive route pegged it at ~5500ft. I'm thinking that your GTC numbers sound pretty reasonable Ron. Good to hear what others got though?

Here's the data from my Garmin 705:

Garmin Training Center: 102.29 miles; 43.1 MPH max; 6,104ft climbing
Garmin Connect: 102.29 miles; 43.1 MPH max; 6,849ft climbing

Interesting how there's quite a big difference in the climbing elevation between GTC and Garmin Connect.

I don't have ASCENT or Motion Based so I don't have data for those.

From a 705

Training Center - 102.34mi, 5548ft
Garmin Connect - 102.34, 5725
SportTracks - 102.12, 3879
TopoFusion - 102.09, 6255
MTBGuru - 102.1, 5450

Wow - these are all over the map! I'm actually thinking of getting a 305 in the next couple of weeks, but I had no idea how much variability came from which program you used to review your data.

Looks like Garmin Training Center is a pretty reasonable average. I'm curious to plug this into bikely to see what that works out to.

Very hot day as others mentioned. There was a rider with heat stroke on the exposed grade on Dublin Canyon right before the last rest stop, she was delirious and puking all over. Poor thing, but good that a bunch of us stopped. I rode ahead and got the sag support to go back for her.

Maybe with better luck I can ride with you guys next time!

Turns out she's a friend of mine - thanks for helping out!

JB

Turns out she's a friend of mine - thanks for helping out!

JB


How is she? I figured that they'd get her rehydrated and cooled down after they took her to Kaiser.

How is she? I figured that they'd get her rehydrated and cooled down after they took her to Kaiser.

She's fine - we did a 85 mile ride from Half Moon Bay yesterday, including Tunitas, and she was strong all day. Of course, out by the coast it wasn't exactly blazing hot yesterday! She really appreciates what everyone did to help her out.

JB

She's fine - we did a 85 mile ride from Half Moon Bay yesterday, including Tunitas, and she was strong all day. Of course, out by the coast it wasn't exactly blazing hot yesterday! She really appreciates what everyone did to help her out.

JB


Thanks, that's good to hear.