Northern California - Joel's East Bay Ride Report

Might as well get my photos out there. Great day for a ride - only a short one for me up and down South Gate from Athenian. Really nice to meet and ride with Joel at last - you're a strong rider :thumb: - hope we get to ride together a little longer next time. Always a pleasure to catch up with Ron, Brent and Cliff as well.

It was a little overcast at the start, but once we broke through the cloud at 1500ft or so, it warmed up nicely. Hitting the ranger station at 36mins and change gave me a boost that I might put in a good time today, and sure enough I got a new PR of 70min 47s - very pleased with that. I managed to keep my HR around 175-180 most of the way, but left it all on the wall - there was no sprinting for me, just survival - I think I hit 195.

It was also strangely social on the mountain today - I saw gpelpel descending as I was climbing up summit road (nice wave), then on the way down I saw Marco climbing in the zone, exchange muffled "Hey!"s with Donald, then I saw Michael who greeted me with a "Hi Rich", and then exchanged the horns with Chris on his way up. Really, Diablo belonged to BF today.

Joel arrives

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009_05_30%20Mount%20Diablo/DSC00763-1.jpg

Brent puts the hammer down

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009_05_30%20Mount%20Diablo/DSC00766-1.jpg

Cliff hauls it up the wall

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009_05_30%20Mount%20Diablo/DSC00767-1.jpg

Ron somehow pulls a sprint finish out of his pocket

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009_05_30%20Mount%20Diablo/DSC00769-1.jpg

Joel recovers and enjoys the view

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009_05_30%20Mount%20Diablo/DSC00764-1.jpg

Ron reflects on another Diablo climb.

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009_05_30%20Mount%20Diablo/DSC00770-1.jpg

SAG arrives later -- fortunately not needed today.

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009_05_30%20Mount%20Diablo/DSC00773-1.jpg

Yes, that was a nice ride today. Not too cold at the bottom and not too hot at the top. It was good seeing you folks again and meeting Joel. I suppose my time (1:27) is now my basis for Rich's KOM race in August. Unfortunately, there's no way that I'll be as fast since it'll be BOILING in August.

Here are some pics.

Joel, Rich, Brent and Ron (Nice pecs, Brent, but do they help you climb?)
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t353/CliffLowe/IMG_1056.jpg

Podium Boys
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t353/CliffLowe/IMG_1057.jpg

Ron, followed by his team car
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t353/CliffLowe/IMG_1058.jpg

Ron attacking the summit
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t353/CliffLowe/IMG_1059.jpg

Ron thinking "why did I lug two gallons of liquid up 3300 feet?"
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t353/CliffLowe/IMG_1060.jpg

Cool stuff. You guys look really strong sprinting up the wall!

I decided to meet up with the group at Athenian School. I didn't feel like climbing Palomares twice, and Mt. Diablo, and wear myself out, one week before an epic double century.

http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/550218504_jxHtd-L.jpg

I'm traditionally a slower starter (probably due to the double centuries I do), so starting at the school, and immediately climbing, didn't bode well with me. I knew I would be in the back for the whole climb, but that's okay. I know, in the end, I'll make it to the top, because I'm just stubborn that way.

http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/550218514_zjCph-L.jpg

I climbed most of the way with Brent. It was good to have some company on a long ascent. Thanks Brent. It sure made the time go by fast. In fact, we were commenting, as we approached the ranger's station "dang, are we at the ranger's station already?" We made it to the ranger's station in less than 50 minutes. I think I might be able to get this in at 1:30 ... we'll see.

I was feeling good at this point. I seem to be climbing fairly well. We caught up to Cliff, and rode with him for awhile, until I got to a point where my back started to twinge a bit. I immediately fell off to the back at that point. I guess I went to hard at the beginning. I had to slow down my pace, even though I really didn't want to. My legs were fine, it was just my back was bothering me.

It probably would have been wise to stop for a few minutes, but I just didn't want to. I wanted to keep going. Then, I saw this amazing view of a blanket of clouds, hovering over in the distance. Ok, I stopped for 30 seconds to take this shot.

http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/550218533_CcuDz-L.jpg

I had to dig deep down, to try to climb through the pain. I really wanted to get this over with, so I grunted for the last 100 meters (the point where everyone thought I was sprinting up the hill). My final time??? 1:32. I didn't make the 1:30 target, but considering my previous best was 1:39, I'm not too upset by it.

One thing odd that we did see ... a convoy of Model-T Fords climbing Mt. Diablo. I feel sorry for the cyclists who were behind those cars. One guy just had to beat the Model-T's ... and that' probably why he was so exhausted when he reached the top.

http://spingineer.smugmug.com/photos/550218541_9EnPu-L.jpg

Great time! Thanks for the company folks, and especially to Brent for the ride after. I think we did something related to pigs, but he said it was the easy way. And then this other road that was neither Happy nor a Valley. Just an extended 12 to 17% grade. He said we did that the hard way.

Oh, for those curious, I saw a 19% cross the Garmin on the way up the wall. That was my first time climbing Diablo and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The wall was tough though. I got to the top in 1:19:30, give or take a few seconds.

69 miles, 6141 feet after data smoothing.

Here's my ride profile:
http://www.jspublications.net/images/bikes/RidePhotos/09-05-30/profile.jpg

Too bad I couldn't join you guys, I had to be back home at 10:30 for an Eagle Scout Court of Honor. So I started before the 9am official launch.

I started my ride at 8:19 from Creekledge Court as the gate was still preventing parking at the Athenian school. Riding past the school I was greeted by a nervous car driver who absolutely wanted me to stop. I hadn't recognized Cliff from a distance but I was glad to slow down to say hello. I haven't ridden a lot in the last two months so I knew my form was not at its best. Nevertheless I wanted to set a good time up the mountain to set my official timing for the BF Diablo Challenge. My previous best was 80 minutes, I knew I would be slower this time around but by how much?

I started way too fast and found myself huffing and puffing already after a couple of miles. My legs were also telling me to get more realistic. Boy does it take long to get back into rhythm. At the ranger station I was back to normal but I still suffered all the way to the top. I had an urge to stop at the junction for a quick break but resisted, I needed to establish a non stop official time, that was a good motivator as I felt better past the junction finding a nice tempo.

The bottom of the mountain was under the clouds which made it really beautiful when I emerged on top of them just before the junction. It wasn't too hot under the sun, perfect day for climbing. The descent wasn't cold at all. That's when I started to saw you guys. I saw Richard first, then recognized Joel with his beard (we never met but I had seen photos on the forum before), Cliff, Ron, and Brent.

What about my time? 90 minutes even. Not stellar but not as bad as I thought. I am really kicking my Death Ride prep now so there will be a lot more Diablo climbs this coming month.

That's impressive Ron, didn't know you were pushing through the pain.

Georges, we should definitely plan another Diablo climb sometime soon, I think Brent's probably interested too.

Kudos to Joel for getting up the wall in 39x26.

Donald's Fremont extended version was a great ride.

Good weather, no wind on the summit. There was some other terrible climb near 580 we did, that had winds from hell.

I tried to keep my pace high to get some good final training in for the upcoming double.

I hit a nice 46.0 mph coming down Palomares.

I ended up doing Diablo in 65 minutes. That was after doing Palomares and Norris Canyon.

A bee found its way down my baselayer and stung my right under the HRM strap during the south gate descent. *******! I was able to locate him through the base layer, while riding, and squeezed him. I proceeded to pull out my base layer and shake out his remains, still riding.

It didn't hurt for too long, but it certainly sucked at first. Then I remembered the BF saying of HTFU on continued on down. ;)

Saw a rider who had surely broken his collarbone while descending Palomares, going the other way. The ambulances were flying up the hill.

Here's the ride stats:

Distance: 87.14 miles
Elevation: Just under 8000, still need to calc it.
Ride Time: 5:26
Avg Speed: 16.0
Max Speed: 46.0
Avg HR: 153
Max HR: 190 (of course on the wall)

this was really two distinct rides. The climb up Diablo ride followed by another 50 miles or so of joy.

To clarify Joel's remarks.

After Diablo, we went to Walnut Creek and enjoyed a sandwich at Genova Deli before heading to Lafayette to Reliz Valley Road, which we followed till it ended at Alhambra Valley Road, climbed over Pig Farm (on the easy side). We then made a left on Bear creek, did Papa Bear and Baby bear before stopping at Park for a water refill. Post Refill we went back over Happy Valley (the steep way) and then back down to Danville.

Yup, it was good to see lots of BF folks today.

Sorry Brent, you were already zipping-down the hill by the time I recognized you.

I did, however, manage to say "Hi" to Richard, Ron & Cliff. :)

I thought I heard someone say Hi to me (must have been Rich). So at that point I was on alert for BFers and saw Ron heading down. I was able to say Hi to Ron. :)

Distance: 87.14 miles
Elevation: Just under 8000, still need to calc it.
Ride Time: 5:26
Avg Speed: 16.0
Max Speed: 46.0
Avg HR: 153
Max HR: 190 (of course on the wall)

Yowzers! I wouldn't have been able to hang with you guys. I'm not there yet.

Yowzers! I wouldn't have been able to hang with you guys. I'm not there yet.

Oh sure you can ... you made some pretty good time going up Diablo.

I'm home. Alive, though barely. I thought the ride home from Fremont was going to kill me. Fremont, Newark, and East Palo Alto have to be the 3 least pleasant towns ever. Also, crossing Dunbarton, there had to be wind gusts up to like 35mph. I couldn't take a hand off the bar to drink. It sucked.

Oh well, the ride was good. Long. I started at 6:15. Rode about 15 minutes and realized I'd forgotten to put a helmet on. So, 15 minutes later, I started over. I made it to Fremont Bart just in time. 8 minutes before 8, and 40 or so minutes before Marco! :lol:

I set a time on Diablo. 84 minutes! Whee. This was not a hill climb effort though. I was not allowing myself out of my comfort zone today, at all. So, sorry for anchoring the "long ride". Hopefully my slowness made everyone else feel very fast.

Anyway, I survived East Palo alto, and decided to go for 140 miles. So I rode down through Stanford to Foothill. I got to my house at about 142, and decided to strive for a full 75% of next weeks double. 8 more time-trialing miles to get my avg speed up to 15.

I survived. I succeeded. I'm more confident about next week.

It was great to see you guys descending Diablo. That was about half-way for me, and seeing Ron also suffering with the camelback, reminded me why I was out there.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/SiHoYFW3HsI/AAAAAAAABdI/NwX1wQmjjAs/s800/Picture%205.png

I'm home. Alive, though barely. I thought the ride home from Fremont was going to kill me. Fremont, Newark, and East Palo Alto have to be the 3 least pleasant towns ever. Also, crossing Dunbarton, there had to be wind gusts up to like 35mph. I couldn't take a hand off the bar to drink. It sucked.


Now that is just nuts. 142 miles, 1 week before a double century? Not exactly what I would have done, but kudos to you for completing that. I usually try to avoid E. Palo Alto whenever possible. I guess that's why my speed increases when going through that area, for fear of life and limb.

One thing I have noticed is that headwinds really kick up going eastbound in the afternoon. Dublin Canyon must have been kicking up pretty hard too.

I headed down to Tracy on I-5 today, and could see Diablo in the distance. That's as close as I came, but it's cool to hear there were so many of you up there. :)

I would have loved to see that late-model T climbing the mountain. How fun.

Now that is just nuts. 142 miles, 1 week before a double century? Not exactly what I would have done, but kudos to you for completing that. I usually try to avoid E. Palo Alto whenever possible. I guess that's why my speed increases when going through that area, for fear of life and limb.

One thing I have noticed is that headwinds really kick up going eastbound in the afternoon. Dublin Canyon must have been kicking up pretty hard too.

150 Miles! I rode in circles near my house to make the even 3/4.

I'm young, 5 full days is more than enough to recover.

Yeah, there was some horrible climb Donald brought us to heading towards Palomares on the return. It was steep, and the headwinds were vicious. I don't know the name.

Chris, that's impressive.

150 Miles! I rode in circles near my house to make the even 3/4.

I'm young, 5 full days is more than enough to recover.

Yeah, there was some horrible climb Donald brought us to heading towards Palomares on the return. It was steep, and the headwinds were vicious. I don't know the name.

I think we were on Schaeffer Ranch road today when the wind hit us, and hit us hard. :thumb:

The winds on westbound Dumbarton in the afternoon are always bad.

Because I rode last Sunday and Today, my Bikewire is great for this week. 283.67 miles and 17013 ft climbing.

Also my best month yet, 759.14 miles and 48,487 ft of elevation.

And now Richard's KOTM to train for....

Also my best month yet, 759.14 miles and 48,487 ft of elevation.*twitch*

Pardon me, I'm going to go install training wheels and pink sparkly tassels on my bikes.

I'll match your sparkly tassels and add a bell and cards in the spokes. :^)

I think we were on Schaeffer Ranch road today when the wind hit us, and hit us hard. :thumb:


yeah it crosses 580 at Schaeffer Ranch Rd which opened not long ago, the road parallel to 580 North side I'm not sure of the name. It was only the second time I've been on it, and it didn't seem bad going the other way :innocent:.

Just woke up and had four slices of pizza.

My stats for the day:

Distance: 101 miles
Elevation: 8300
Ride Time: 6:43
Avg Speed: 15.0
Max Speed: 44.0

Time up Diablo was 69:28 with 3 loops around the parking lot, so around 69 min which is seven minutes slower then my last time up. I guess chasing Marco all morning had its effect. Did keep the heart rate under 169 for the whole Diablo climb. Had some stomach cramps/side stitches climbing Palomares on the way back, no more Lays chips on rides for me!

After re-reading this this morning I decided that I need to be less of a giant human.

Here is some data that I just downloaded. This is just the diablo climb segment.

Duration: 1:26:12
Work: 1416 kJ
Norm Power: 289
Distance: 11.275 mi
Elevation Gain: 3520 ft
Elevation Loss: 289 ft
Grade: 5.4 % (3231 ft)

At my current weight this translates to 2.60w/KG for the climb. Which is getting better for me.

Now for a recovery ride.

That's some impressive power output Brent. What did you generate on the wall?

From what I think is the wall I get the following.

Average power of 435 watts for 676 feet with an elevation gain of 99 feet for 14.9% grade.

that is 3.9 W/KG for the wall. This would explain why my legs feel like they do today.

From what I think is the wall I get the following.

Average power of 435 watts for 676 feet with an elevation gain of 99 feet for 14.9% grade.

that is 3.9 W/KG for the wall. This would explain why my legs feel like they do today.

Summit Wall is 300 meters from the roadblock.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hSZo5vjiPmQ/STQw7dBd0kI/AAAAAAAAEpw/F646nXvtwKQ/s800/Car%20Stoppers.JPG

I think I saw you guys coming up SGR when I was going down. I went up NGR, down SGR to the Tire Poppers and then turned around and back over. I'm pretty sure I saw a NorCal jersey like Ron's though.

And the antique cars (three I think) were coming up NGR when I was going down.

I'm pretty sure I saw a NorCal jersey like Ron's though.

And the antique cars (three I think) were coming up NGR when I was going down.

Yeah, that was me that you saw. I had a Camelback on. I saw a bunch of folks coming down, but didn't know you were one of them.

We were already at the top when the first antique car reached the top.

We were already at the top when the first antique car reached the top.That'd be a fun Wall race. ~20 horsepower worth of 1926 Detroit iron vs... a bike.

That'd be a fun Wall race. ~20 horsepower worth of 1926 Detroit iron vs... a bike.

That's basically what one guy did. The bike won, but he was all spent by the time he slobbered over to the water fountain.

That's basically what one guy did. The bike won, but he was all spent by the time he slobbered over to the water fountain.

I've always thought that if that didn't describe the end of your climb up Diablo then you were doing it all wrong.

I've always thought that if that didn't describe the end of your climb up Diablo then you were doing it all wrong.

Maybe I didn't do it right? My legs were a hurtin a little, but I wasn't in that kind of shape :rolleyes:

Looks like you guys had a good time. I'm not quite up to this yet, and this weekend I was climbing the walls anyway. My upper back was in agony all weekend. :cry: No ride possible.

So for the last 300 meters (I went and grabbed it out of the file).

Power was 158 Min 572 Max or average of 404 (3.63W/KG)

and I measured the elevation gain as 130 Feet in 990 feet or so for a grade of 13%

It also took 2:11 to cover that segment.