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04-21-09, 12:46 AM
Upon the urging of Mhendricks, here’s my Tierra Bella Ride report…
This is my second time riding Tierra Bella, but the last time was about 1986-87, so that one is a very distant memory. I rode the 100k route with a friend named Armstrong, but his first name is John and no relation to LA.
After meeting up at registration at Gavilan College south of Gilroy, we left right at 8:30. While the drive down had been a little foggy, the sun was already shining by the time we left, but it was still very pleasant temperatures. The first part of the 100K is flat and skirts around the city of Gilroy before heading to the east side of the valley for the only significant climb of the day up towards Gilroy Hot Springs. It wasn’t a long climb – only gaining about 900 feet in total - but had a few tough pitches of 11-12%. John climbs faster than me (which I could say about just about everyone), so he got a few minutes of rest waiting for me to catch up.
The first rest stop was close to the top of the climb at the fire station on Canada Road. It was pretty crowded – the pack hadn’t split up much by then, so it took 15-20 minutes to grab a few snacks (they had the killer salted red potatoes that just taste great to me on a long ride), refill on water and get a picture taken. Here’s John at the fire station.
http://s710.photobucket.com/albums/ww105/MarkoPolo33/JohnTierraBella.jpg
We had a bit more climbing to get to the top, but it was hardly noticeable. The views of the hills were gorgeous - hills, valleys, old barns, cows, horses and the first growth of this seasons wildflowers.
http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww105/MarkoPolo33/IMG_0142.jpg
The downhill had some nice “swooping” turns, but nothing too scary. It didn’t’ take long to hit the flatlands again and we headed north into a slight headwind, but given how breezy it can be in this part of the valley, it was really wasn’t much of an impediment. We traded pulls with a women who was traveling pretty much at our pace for a few miles before a slight incline dropped me off the back, but I rejoined John as we turned west towards the other side of the valley and then up to Uvas Reservoir which we reached at the 42 mile mark.
http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww105/MarkoPolo33/IMG_0140.jpg
It was a short stop – We downed some PB&J, oranges, bananas and of course more red potatoes. We had seen some Cokes at the first stop and both decided that it was still to early in the day for a soda, but that we’d have one later. The only big disappointment of the day in regards to the rest stops was that neither of the two remaining stops had Cokes!
We continued our circle around Uvas and then Chesbro reservoirs before hitting the last stop at Machado school. Saw a really young boy at this stop who couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 riding with his dad. I think they were doing the 60K ride. He was pretty tired by this point, but it was clear they were going to finish.
Just after leaving the last rest stop we passed the umpteenth person changing a flat. My first thought was, "Gee, nothing sucks worse than having to fix a flat when you are almost done with a long ride." My second thought was, "Gee, I haven't had a flat in a long time, aren't I smart for getting these bulletproof Conti Gatorskins…" My third thought was suddenly remembering the couple of sections of broken glass I had ridden through earlier that day and saying, "Ah crap, karma will doom me to flat 2 miles from the finish!” Fortunately, karma was looking the other way and the last 10 miles were uneventful, other than we caught every red light on Santa Teresa as we headed back to Gavilan College. But other than that we tore back home with a nice little tailwind.
Here I am near the end... hey at least my tongue isn't hanging out.
http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww105/MarkoPolo33/MarkFinishTierraBella09.jpg
According to the Garmin we finished up with 64 miles in 4:20 riding time for a moving avg. of 14.83 mph and about 2800 feet of climbing.
The quote of the day, overheard from a young woman who finished along with us, “Do you think they serve margaritas?” Our reply, “Not likely, but they should!” Instead we settled for lasagna, salad and garlic bread, and topped it off with ice cream, strawberries and chocolate syrup as we sat on the lawn under the shade of an oak tree.
All in all - a great day with perfect weather, and really nice volunteers. Thanks to everyone at the ACTC who still know how to put on a fantastic ride.
This is my second time riding Tierra Bella, but the last time was about 1986-87, so that one is a very distant memory. I rode the 100k route with a friend named Armstrong, but his first name is John and no relation to LA.
After meeting up at registration at Gavilan College south of Gilroy, we left right at 8:30. While the drive down had been a little foggy, the sun was already shining by the time we left, but it was still very pleasant temperatures. The first part of the 100K is flat and skirts around the city of Gilroy before heading to the east side of the valley for the only significant climb of the day up towards Gilroy Hot Springs. It wasn’t a long climb – only gaining about 900 feet in total - but had a few tough pitches of 11-12%. John climbs faster than me (which I could say about just about everyone), so he got a few minutes of rest waiting for me to catch up.
The first rest stop was close to the top of the climb at the fire station on Canada Road. It was pretty crowded – the pack hadn’t split up much by then, so it took 15-20 minutes to grab a few snacks (they had the killer salted red potatoes that just taste great to me on a long ride), refill on water and get a picture taken. Here’s John at the fire station.
http://s710.photobucket.com/albums/ww105/MarkoPolo33/JohnTierraBella.jpg
We had a bit more climbing to get to the top, but it was hardly noticeable. The views of the hills were gorgeous - hills, valleys, old barns, cows, horses and the first growth of this seasons wildflowers.
http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww105/MarkoPolo33/IMG_0142.jpg
The downhill had some nice “swooping” turns, but nothing too scary. It didn’t’ take long to hit the flatlands again and we headed north into a slight headwind, but given how breezy it can be in this part of the valley, it was really wasn’t much of an impediment. We traded pulls with a women who was traveling pretty much at our pace for a few miles before a slight incline dropped me off the back, but I rejoined John as we turned west towards the other side of the valley and then up to Uvas Reservoir which we reached at the 42 mile mark.
http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww105/MarkoPolo33/IMG_0140.jpg
It was a short stop – We downed some PB&J, oranges, bananas and of course more red potatoes. We had seen some Cokes at the first stop and both decided that it was still to early in the day for a soda, but that we’d have one later. The only big disappointment of the day in regards to the rest stops was that neither of the two remaining stops had Cokes!
We continued our circle around Uvas and then Chesbro reservoirs before hitting the last stop at Machado school. Saw a really young boy at this stop who couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 riding with his dad. I think they were doing the 60K ride. He was pretty tired by this point, but it was clear they were going to finish.
Just after leaving the last rest stop we passed the umpteenth person changing a flat. My first thought was, "Gee, nothing sucks worse than having to fix a flat when you are almost done with a long ride." My second thought was, "Gee, I haven't had a flat in a long time, aren't I smart for getting these bulletproof Conti Gatorskins…" My third thought was suddenly remembering the couple of sections of broken glass I had ridden through earlier that day and saying, "Ah crap, karma will doom me to flat 2 miles from the finish!” Fortunately, karma was looking the other way and the last 10 miles were uneventful, other than we caught every red light on Santa Teresa as we headed back to Gavilan College. But other than that we tore back home with a nice little tailwind.
Here I am near the end... hey at least my tongue isn't hanging out.
http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww105/MarkoPolo33/MarkFinishTierraBella09.jpg
According to the Garmin we finished up with 64 miles in 4:20 riding time for a moving avg. of 14.83 mph and about 2800 feet of climbing.
The quote of the day, overheard from a young woman who finished along with us, “Do you think they serve margaritas?” Our reply, “Not likely, but they should!” Instead we settled for lasagna, salad and garlic bread, and topped it off with ice cream, strawberries and chocolate syrup as we sat on the lawn under the shade of an oak tree.
All in all - a great day with perfect weather, and really nice volunteers. Thanks to everyone at the ACTC who still know how to put on a fantastic ride.