Northern California - Grizzly Peak Century roll call

Who's doing this ride? Katy and I are doing the 104-mile route, which will probably be around 110 with the ride to and from my house. We'll be at the car-free start in Tilden around 8ish. Hope to see some of you out there!

Anyone riding to the car-free start from BART can feel free to stop by my place in Kensington for a quick bite to eat/water refill before the ride.

I'm now officially in! A bit unsure yet about the starting place, however. Need to do more research.

I am riding this one again. I'm coming up from the Peninsula so I'll be driving. By far the Grizzly Peaks Century has the best the lunch and post-ride meal. And the last rest stop has the fruit bars which is the best before the long hot climb back.

Grizzly Peaks Century has the best the lunch and post-ride meal.

This is the main reason why my ride stopped at the metric ... lunch was too good, plus the car is right in the parking lot. Doing Wine Country the day before, so passing up on GPC this time around.

I'll be doing both Wine Country and Grizzly Peak again this year. Looking forward to all the home baked breads and cookies at the rest areas at GP!

This is the main reason why my ride stopped at the metric ... lunch was too good, plus the car is right in the parking lot. Doing Wine Country the day before, so passing up on GPC this time around.

Yes its mentally tough not to gorge yourself at lunch and then to ride out again away from your car. Only to face more climbing and hotter temperatures. But I make a short stop for lunch, eat just enough, unload anything I don't want in the car and head out. I am doing Climb to Kaiser, so mileage & elevation wise this one fits in nicely. Never done the Wine Country but I might some day. Not possible for me to do the Wine Country since I volunteer at the Cat's Hill race on Saturday, so maybe I'll see some of you out there. Its a great race and there is bicycle parking if you ride over.

Oh oh....it looks like there's a chance of shower in Berkeley, Oakland, Moraga, Kensington, etc. (am I missing any other cities in the full century route) on Sunday.

Should I look into a rain jacket? Mo' shopping!

Oh oh....it looks like there's a chance of shower in Berkeley, Oakland, Moraga, Kensington, etc. (am I missing any other cities in the full century route) on Sunday.

Should I look into a rain jacket? Mo' shopping!

Come prepared for rain. And its better to show up over prepared then under prepared. You always have the option of not wearing something. Because you never know what the weather is like at the start. Also so far the weather forecast is only 20% chance of rain on Sunday, but I'd still advise to bring some rain gear just in case.

Any word from the Grizzly Peak contingent? Saw lots of folks out on the road yesterday through Lamorinda.

I wussed out. I was afraid of riding in the rain. Whine be me!

I wussed out.

You weren't alone.

1000 registered - 560 started - 440 did not show up.

I'll put my recap up later today.

Not surprised.
I drove past Campolindo HS on my way to the Farmer's market in Moraga at around 9am. The rain was constant and heavy. I was amazed to see quite a lot of cars along the street meaning that the main parking lot was probably close to full.
I saw many riders coming back, evidently cutting the ride short. It must have been a tough one.

When I got back to Santa Clara around 10:30 am, the rain stopped.

I rode it but only ~70 miles (the first loop). Got on the road and with in about 45 mins I was soaked to the bone. After a while I pretty much got comfortable with the fact I was completely wet and just forgot about it. Although occasionally I would ring out my gloves by making a fist which would produce about a liter of water. The weather sucked and it even stopped raining in some places and was kind of warm. But the dark clouds always hung over head threatening to rain. As I headed back to the school it was raining again. Plus the whole ride was cold and windy. When I got back to the school, I stopped shortly for a small bite to eat and pick up the 40 mile route sheet. As I was rolling out I noticed my rear wheel had gone flat, I pondered whether I should fix the flat or just go home. So I figured it was a sign from the gods to go home, so I packed it in. Despite the rain there was a lot of people, but from those that I talked to they only did the morning loop. But I did see some people heading out for the afternoon loop. 70 miles is better then 0 miles, so I am pretty happy I road.

I posted my recap of doing Wine Country / Grizzly back-to-back here (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=538025).

When we woke up to pouring rain, Katy and I were damn close to bailing on this ride. So, we slept for another hour until the rain let up a bit, then decided to give it a go.

Ten minutes into the ride, the rain was steady and our feet were totally soaked. This was going to be her first century: not a good start. That said, our spirits were high and it was actually fun to ride in the rain (despite the abuse my components were taking).

We signed in at the car-free start in Tilden Park, and there were several people huddled under the REI tent shivering. Yikes.

Onward. It rained for the first hour, but the damage was done. We were wet the entire ride. The feet were the worst: soaked and squishy. Luckily, the air temperature was decent and we never got too cold.

After 60 miles, we stopped for lunch and decided that three more hours in wet gear didn’t sound fun, so we finished the north loop and headed home.

Despite the conditions, it was a really fun ride and the volunteers were great.

My final stats: 77 miles, 7400 vert., 15.5 avg. speed.