Northern California - Berkeley Hills Death Ride - Interest?

RIDE REPORT + PICS HERE (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=579573)

AUGUST 29th 2009 Start at Rockridge BART (@ THE STAIRS TO THE WESTERN PARKING LOT ACROSS PASSENGER FOOTBRIDGE), rolling at 8 sharp. If you want to join, but not do Marin, then meet at the junction of Grizzly Peak, Wildcat Canyon and Spruce NLT 8:30.

OK, I've blathered on about this one long enough, it's time to organize a local suffer-fest. I need to get this one done as it was one of my goals this year. We should plan to start early (to avoid getting baked on later climbs) - say 7:30-8am ish from Rockridge BART.

Climbs are

1. Marin - optional start up point after this for those not wanting to try Marin
2. South Park
3. Centennial
4. El Toyonal/Lomas Cantadas
5+6. Claremont + Volmer peak

Easy break point between climbs 3 and 4. Water/bathrooms readily accessible on Wildcat before South Park and Inspiration Point (bathroom only), the little trains (corner of GP and Lomas), Orinda *bux.

I updated the route somewhat, http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/BF-Berkeley-Hills-Death-Ride

The route in bikely stops at the top of Volmer, after 40ish miles, and 7100ft of climbing. There are many options to extend, let's play that by ear.

The original write up: http://www.inl.org/bicycle/deathride.html

Roll call:

IN
Beaker
mellum76
Ygduf - wavering
uspspro+ruthness
xg43x
Bostic
chrisoco
shatdow
dl33

MAYBE
jonjononline


MAYBE/NO MARIN
Robocheme?

I was waiting for you to schedule this one Richard. :)

My vote is for Aug 29th.

Are those Saturdays? I'm in.

I've been wanting to do this for a long time.

Either date is fine w/ me.

BR

What's with this fascination with pain? There was a reason why I got a triple. If I'm not on-call, I'm in.

I was waiting for you to schedule this one Richard. :)

My vote is for Aug 29th.

OK Michael - in your honour, Aug 29th is a strong favourite.

I've been taking detours while driving through Berkeley recently to take in Marin and keep saying to myself, "hey this can't be so bad", "look this parts almost flat". Denial is a wonderful thing.

"hey this can't be so bad", "look this parts almost flat".

You are surely not talking about the Marin I know. Sounds like a knee crasher to me.

That first climb looks hellacious...

That first climb looks hellacious...

Given that I know RedWood Gulch and it's 18% sections, I'm not sure I can ride up 25% or 30%.

You are surely not talking about the Marin I know. Sounds like a knee crasher to me.

SSSHHHHH Georges!! Don't disturb my denial - I'm currently expecting to be able to climb this, err, maybe.

Given that I know RedWood Gulch and it's 18% sections, I'm not sure I can ride up 25% or 30%.

To my mind (not having done it on my bike yet), the first block from the circle is moderately steep, then there are several blocks where it's not too bad, but the top 3 blocks are the crazy stuff. I've made it up Hiller before (that's 20-25%) so think I can make this, but having the worst part coming at the end is a little sick.

Yeah, it's doable Rich. YOU CAN DO IT!
...
...
...
One street block a day though.

I vote that if we actually finish this ride, then Alex should award all finishers his recently designed jersey:


Too much free time? Yes.
The Maillot de L'Idiotie: ("Jersey of Idiocy")
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/x136/misc-crap/maillot-small.png (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/x136/misc-crap/maillot-big.png)
(Clicky for bigger)

I'm interested. I've done all those climbs except Marin, and yes I've been thinking about doing it lately. After that the whole thing would be a cinch. I could do either the 8th or 29th, I think. I'd rather catch up with people at the traffic circle or somewhere similar, since I basically live down Marin. I'll keep an eye on this thread.

This looks fun. I might be in depending on my schedule those weekends...

I've driven up Marin, and that is one beastly climb.

29th sounds good to me.

Probably in :)

Probably in :)

On the Calfee?

I vote that if we actually finish this ride, then Alex should award all finishers his recently designed jersey:

^^
I'd buy that for a dollar! :p

<Threadjack>
Seriously, though, we need a new Norcal BF kit for 2010. Who's gonna step-up and design it?
</Threadjack>

If my back is healed up by then I'm in. The bottom of Marin is only a mile from my house, so at the very least I'll come out and heckle/cheer on my cruiser.

<Threadjack>
Seriously, though, we need a new Norcal BF kit for 2010. Who's gonna step-up and design it?
</Threadjack>

Agreed. I no longer actually like any of the jersey's I own, and wear them based on color/pocket usability. You'll probably all get very sick of the hideous DR jersey I just ordered. I don't think cyan/hot pink are my colors, really!

On the Calfee?

It should be done by then, and hopefully Ruth can make it. If so then, yeah!

Let me think about this for a sec, Richard. ..... Uh, no way. The hill up to my house is 18% and only about 30 yards long and that is my limit.

Have fun with it, though. It seems like you suckered a lot of people in on this.

If my back is healed up by then I'm in. The bottom of Marin is only a mile from my house, so at the very least I'll come out and heckle/cheer on my cruiser.

OK - that seals it - 29th it is. If you're not 100% perhaps you could drive SAG - might need a big van though....


Let me think about this for a sec, Richard. ..... Uh, no way. The hill up to my house is 18% and only about 30 yards long and that is my limit.

Have fun with it, though. It seems like you suckered a lot of people in on this.

Awe come on Cliff - you know you want to give it a try. Of course, there's a few options here that could make this have broader appeal - one is for folks who don't want to do Marin, then we meet at the top, and of course there are the "mild discomfort" alternatives.

I went and got a short loop in this morning, including El Toyonal/Lomas Cantadas, first time with a Garmin and my new 34x26 low gear. That always spanks me - think I'll get my 27 out for the ride though. Here's my Garmin profile for the climbs that I've done from the list:

Marin (note, I had to take two detours at the top to finish this, along with an unplanned tack near the top - the gradient dips to 20%, I definitely wouldn't advise trying that again)

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/2009_08_23ElT_Marin/MarinProfile.jpg


South Park (OK, this was a descent, but you get the idea, possibly slightly underestimating the steepness of the top section)

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/BerkeleyHillsDeathRide/SouthPark.jpg

Centennial (this was tough, that section past the half way mark of 15ish% does make you crawl)

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/BerkeleyHillsDeathRide/Centennial.jpg

El Toyonal/Lomas Cantadas (Lomas starts just after the dip, just before mile 5 on the plot is a beast)

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/BerkeleyHillsDeathRide/ElToyonal_LomasCantadasElevation-1.png

Claremont (probably the easiest of the bunch, but it gets to you by the time it gets steep. The Garmin data is probably a little whacked here as there's more tree cover to contend with)

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/RDW5980/BerkeleyHillsDeathRide/Claremont.jpg

Im no mountain goat, but Ive ridden up South Gate and halfway down North Gate and back to South Gate and felt like I had some juice left. Count me in.

Cool - I think we'll have a similar amount of total elevation as a double Diablo, but with a larger percentage of summit wall style climbing by the end :innocent: :cry:

Bring on the pain!

how about moeser lane as a warm up?

I am going to try climbing Marin this week to see if I can make it. May need to put the triple back on, current low gear is 42x26. That has got me up all the other climbs so far but the >25% on Marin might just be my undoing.

Beaker, I totally agree about Centennial, the section just after the right-hand bend past the first LBL gate is simply crawling.

how about moeser lane as a warm up?

Now that's just not helpful ;)

You can only make suggestions for additional pain if you're coming...

I am going to try climbing Marin this week to see if I can make it. May need to put the triple back on, current low gear is 42x26. That has got me up all the other climbs so far but the >25% on Marin might just be my undoing.

Beaker, I totally agree about Centennial, the section just after the right-hand bend past the first LBL gate is simply crawling.

If you can make it up the other climbs in a 42x26 then that's pretty darned impressive, whatever happens on Marin.

I went down part of Marin from Grizzly Peak this morning and I do not see how anyone can ride up that thing. Even going down, I felt like I was about to fall over the bars. Props for for those participating in this madness.

Sheesh - I would consider riding DOWN Marin to be a Death Ride all by itself! You'd always be more than welcome to join us after Marin of course.

Looking over the road on google maps, it appears there is not much room to zig zag. When ever those images were taken there were a lot of leaves, debris, etc on the road. Not the type of thing you want the tires to slip on when out of the saddle in your lowest gear. Does Marin see much traffic early in the morning?

Yeah - that's got me thinking a little bit too. The other climbs are all fine - but I do think we probably need to do Marin early to minimize potential for traffic. From my take, not having climbed it by *bike* yet, is that the first block is pretty steep, then the intervening blocks up to Euclid are moderate to pretty steep but nothing too far out of the ordinary compared to some other climbs in the area. The top three blocks look like the worst and yes, I'm thinking zig-zagging opportunities might be a little restricted, but there are bail out, flat options at every junction on the way up. I think that breaking it into bite size pieces is the key.

Looking over the road on google maps, it appears there is not much room to zig zag. When ever those images were taken there were a lot of leaves, debris, etc on the road. Not the type of thing you want the tires to slip on when out of the saddle in your lowest gear. Does Marin see much traffic early in the morning?

On the weekend it shouldn't be too bad, though you'll probably only want to zig-zag on one side of the road. Marin is a very fast way to get from Grizzly Peak down to the flats of Berkeley and Albany, so there is usually some traffic. Cars go slow on the uphill, but it's a well-used road despite its steepness.

I am going to try climbing Marin this week to see if I can make it.

So how'd that work out for you? Are you still alive?

I * might * be in. I've had a horrible couple of months with a lot of back problems, then was sick on the Death Ride (still did 65 miles/7,000 feet of climbing, but only 2 passes), so I might not be in shape. However, my ex. has the kids that weekend and no soccer games scheduled - yet. We'll see.

JB

Edit: I knew this would happen! Not even 24 hours after I posted, and I get word that the season-opening tournament is set for the 29th/30th, and my oldest son has 4 soccer games for sure (more if they keep winning). So now I'm out for the ride. I'm sure you're all shocked :rolleyes:

Ok, I'm in.

So how'd that work out for you? Are you still alive?

Heh, wish I could say I got around to it, but did not. Out of town for work till the 4th, then *hopefully* will get to this ASAP.

Damn, I'm out. Just found out I'm on call that weekend. It'll be interesting to see if this is tougher, or the BOO/Hicks, what I call Almaden Death Ride.

That's a shame, Ron. Others who made the Almaden ride will have to make that call, but I *think* this'll end up being a more doable ride, especially with an early start. I'm not sure if I'll get to pre-ride Marin, but I think that the top section of that will be heroic - but short. And we do it first.

Bump. I just got hold of a copy of John Summersons "The Complete Guide to Climbing (by bike)". The bay area looks a little under-done, but Marin does get the following starting sentence:

"Marin may contain the most difficult half and full mile of climbing in the U.S."

I updated the original post with a bikely route (incl. comments).

...
I updated the original post with a bikely route (incl. comments).

I noticed! Very informative.

Thanks for putting it together.

BR

Count me in.

PS- we are doing it on the tandem :)

... unless my back doesn't get better.

It's still hurting a bit now, but feels like it improving. 99% sure it will be fine by this ride. 90% sure it will be good enough for Hamilton this weekend.

PS- we are doing it on the tandem :)

:eek:

:eek:

28x28 low gear with a cadence of 40 = 3.1 mph

Hopefully, we won't go any slower than that... but it has happened before :lol:

Count me in.

Updated the list


PS- we are doing it on the tandem :)

I still have a nasty feeling that I may well end up "leading" this ride from the back. Given that it's a bit twisty on El Toyonal, no-one's allowed to completely drop me until the end of Death Climb 4, mmmkay?