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04-06-10, 10:55 PM
It's been a while since I posted a ride on BF so here goes.
I'm planning on doing a fast paced ride through the Cupertino, Saratoga, and Los Gatos foothills this coming Saturday, April 10th.
Route info:
This is not your typical epic ride. It's only 70 miles long. It doesn't go up any big climbs like Montebello or Bohlman. In fact the high point on the route is a meager 1350 feet. Yet there still manages to be 6800ft of climbing, much of it quite steep.
Here's a representative snapshot of the route (subject to change):
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3259/hills.jpg
The final version will be a bit different in a couple of the rate flat sections to make those few junk miles less junky.
I've had the idea for this route for a couple months so it is a weird coincidence that there was a recent thread about "private roads". Saturday's route may go across a few stretches of roads that aren't maintained by the county. We will ride courteously and be respectful of local property owners. The route won't be going on any driveways or through gated communities or past any "no trespassing" signs.
Many climbs will be quite steep. Many of the descents will also be steep, twisty and sometimes rough and bumpy. Don't expect to hit 40mph (although there is one really fast descent if we make it that far). Everything is paved though - no gravel surprises.
Pace:
According to the Western Wheelers ride rating system (http://www.westernwheelers.org/main/schedules/ride_info.htm), this will probably be an "E" pace with a hilliness rating of 4.
This could potentially be harder than a century due to the hilliness. Some people might be using this as a training ride for DMD.
The bad news is that because the route is so twisty and because we'll be trying to maintain a quick pace it might be cumbersome to regroup every 2 miles. The good news is that the route is relatively compact and if someone needed to bail out they wouldn't have far to go. I'm really not trying to discourage people from joining, I'm just being frank about what you can expect.
Start location:
Starbucks at Homestead and Foothill
22390 Homestead Road
Cupertino, CA 95014
Meet at 9am for 9:15am rollout? I am willing to negotiate this within reason :)
I'm planning on doing a fast paced ride through the Cupertino, Saratoga, and Los Gatos foothills this coming Saturday, April 10th.
Route info:
This is not your typical epic ride. It's only 70 miles long. It doesn't go up any big climbs like Montebello or Bohlman. In fact the high point on the route is a meager 1350 feet. Yet there still manages to be 6800ft of climbing, much of it quite steep.
Here's a representative snapshot of the route (subject to change):
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3259/hills.jpg
The final version will be a bit different in a couple of the rate flat sections to make those few junk miles less junky.
I've had the idea for this route for a couple months so it is a weird coincidence that there was a recent thread about "private roads". Saturday's route may go across a few stretches of roads that aren't maintained by the county. We will ride courteously and be respectful of local property owners. The route won't be going on any driveways or through gated communities or past any "no trespassing" signs.
Many climbs will be quite steep. Many of the descents will also be steep, twisty and sometimes rough and bumpy. Don't expect to hit 40mph (although there is one really fast descent if we make it that far). Everything is paved though - no gravel surprises.
Pace:
According to the Western Wheelers ride rating system (http://www.westernwheelers.org/main/schedules/ride_info.htm), this will probably be an "E" pace with a hilliness rating of 4.
This could potentially be harder than a century due to the hilliness. Some people might be using this as a training ride for DMD.
The bad news is that because the route is so twisty and because we'll be trying to maintain a quick pace it might be cumbersome to regroup every 2 miles. The good news is that the route is relatively compact and if someone needed to bail out they wouldn't have far to go. I'm really not trying to discourage people from joining, I'm just being frank about what you can expect.
Start location:
Starbucks at Homestead and Foothill
22390 Homestead Road
Cupertino, CA 95014
Meet at 9am for 9:15am rollout? I am willing to negotiate this within reason :)