milliron

Thanks!

Those are on Kings.

Love the second to last one, at the top of Kings, with the steam coming off the guy.

KPH

Fantastic ride up Diablo today (South gate). My first time. I've been riding up Grizzly 3-4 a week since Oct (after years in and around Boston) more or less in preparation for a ride like this. Mind=blown. Can't wait to go back and try North gate and beyond.

Incidentally, loved how many of the cyclists knew each other by name, were familiar with each others' set-ups/components...so different from where I'm from. I could gush endlessly about this right now. So cool.

Beaker

That is a fantastic shot, nicely done.

I seem to rarely post in this thread these days, but managed a hastily arranged 50miler with some familiar suspects yesterday - taxi777, spingineer, mellum76, brentley, gpelpel and robocheme. From Orinda up pumphouse hill climb, then Pig Farm, followed by Reliez Valley then out for some flatland riding out to Danville Peet's and back. Life has been getting in the way of riding lately, so it was good to stretch the legs a little more, the route allowed for a few shorter more intense efforts but with plenty of opportunity for catching up with the crew.

BTW Ron, is officially now to be known as the wily blue ox.

danec99

Headed out the door Saturday Morning, undecided, and naturally found myself being pulled to the mountain. So it was another trip up South Gate to Junction and to be different I went down Northgate. Cool and foggy on the way up, the sun began peaking through at the Ranger Station and was above it all at Junction. Pretty sweet.

gpelpel

It didn't slow him down on the bike though. I was fighting all morning long to keep up with the pace Beaker set. Good ride and great company.

cccorlew

LanceOldStrong put together a perfect post-peak winter lazy 50 mile ride through the Delta. A good time was had by all.

I'm not sure we were supposed to ride here... but what the heck.

trespass by ccorlew, on Flickr

It was a very very serious ride.

A very serious ride by ccorlew, on Flickr

The stunning Triple Crown 1000 mile club jerseys that arrived this week were unveiled to an admiring public at the Grand Island Mansion.

double jerseys by ccorlew, on Flickr

bikingshearer 

^^^ Hey, Curtis, I see you caught my best side.

bigbossman 

Day-um, I'm a handsome man.......

Lanceoldstrong

Recipe for a great ride in the Delta:
5 friends, 50 mi, 300 ft of total climb, 2 ferry rides, 1 nice lunch, about 6 cars total. A great day

spingineer

I slugged it out up Kings Mountain. Got some pretty shots while I was out there ....

MarkoPolo

But your most endearing quality is your modesty.

cccorlew

Just a couple more from the relaxed delta jaunt.

It was very relaxed

relaxed ride by ccorlew, on Flickr

We crossed that bridge when we came to it.

bridge by ccorlew, on Flickr

No ride photo set complete without...

tricia by ccorlew, on Flickr

bikingshearer 

After riding out the rains in my recently-built ark, I finally got out a little bit. On teh 24the bigbossman and I did a 28.5 mile jaunt up and down the San Ramon Valley, including the obligatory stop for beverages and snacks in an Alamo branch of the Coffee Purveyor Whose Name we Dare Not Speak. Fun times with John, as always.

Today, after I did a 25 mile solo ride from the Berkeley domicile along the Arlington through Kensington to El Sobrante, southeast on San Pablo Dam Road, and back home over Wildcat Canyon and down Spruce. A lovely ride.

Oh, whilst in Alamo, John and I were entertained by a pair of women at a nearby table. They were in their early 30s, if I had to guess, and clearly upper middle class. The one facing us kept up almost non-stop verbal barage of catty, gossipy run-downs of what had to be every other female either one of them knew. I am not exaggerating when I say this went on for over 20 minutes, and she never came up for air. John and I didn't listen to the whole thing (I could feel my IQ dropping with every syllable I heard escape her lips), but every few minutes we'd sneak a listen and she would still be going at it, punctuated with little gems like "I don't mean to be petty, but . . . " and "Not that I really care, but . . . ." She was going at it when we arrived adn she was still going strong when we left. It was awe-inpsiring, funny and kind of depressing at the same time.

I guess some people never graduate from high school.

danec99

Sunday found me in Muir Beach, I rode past Muir Woods to Panoramic Highway, then on up to Pan Toll and Ridgecrest. I met up with 3 other riders on the climb to Pan Toll. The weather was nice down low, but wind and fog was up top. They were going to continue down Panoramic to Stinson, I decided to press on up into the elements. An unwise move. The wind was really howling on Ridgecrest, hitting on all sides it felt like. This would have been my third time on the road this year - so I did know the road. In hindsight I do recall that being a tight corner from the previous rides, but as I realized my speed was too great instinct took over. With the slick surface, the rear wheel swung past me and down I went, sliding for a good distance into the berm. Those moments were the worst; rolling around, generous use of the F word, wondering if it was better to lay in the wet road or the cold wet grass, would anyone come by (it was a very lonely road that day.) Almost instantly I heard a bike wheel, and I had help. Guy was model for how to assist the "heap on the road." I verified my functions and got up, tested my movable parts. It was a few miles to anywhere and there was no reception for either of us. while I was getting my legs back he checked my bike and only the front brake was out of whack. I was able to get back on and slowly we rode to the ranger station, unaware of just how large the the hole in my pants was. If pressed I could have ridden back to the car, but I was way to skittish on the wet downhill to be safe and I now knew how big the hole was - full moon on Mt. Tam. The ranger was more than happy to return me to the car and my helper continued on his way. This morning finds me with a sore butt, a healthy case of road rash and a mildly sore back - in all a pretty good outcome - I did walk away and I will be riding again shortly.

Ridgecrest

My pants

cccorlew

OUCH!
Glad you're still moving. And, perhaps less important, nice photo! And I guess you didn't break your camera either.

gpelpel

Gee, glad you are fairly ok. Imagine if you had no chamois.
Heal fast!

Lanceoldstrong

Scars fade, but stories last forever. I am glad you are gonna be ok and have a good story to tell.

milliron

Damn danec, that's brutal.

Have to work this weekend but got a few quality rides in during the week. This morning, got my legs torn off on Hwy 9 by these guys with cool jerseys.

ahpook

Nice to meet & ride with you milliron. Here's my upload from the ride -- https://app.strava.com/rides/249683

Haven't been on BF in ages.

cccorlew

Another fine LanceOldStrong-guided 46 mile fun fest. Some was even above ground.


Underground by ccorlew, on Flickr

danec99

With the weekend looking wet - I had big plans for today. But my backside was still sore so I broke in my new bib knickers on a 60 mile loop around Mt. Diablo. The weather kept getting colder and the clouds kept piling up, but I figured I'd warm up on the climb of Morgan territory rd. Not much. Just as I was within site of the summit three riders pulled back onto the road from the parking area, I could spot Bikingshearer's saddle bag a mile away, and sure enough, also up there was MarkoPolo and Lanceoldstrong - you just can't escape BF members. At Highland they went left, and I went right. The ride back windy and even colder. But once back into my easy chair I was sure glad I got out there.

gpelpel

Did my last ride of the year this morning. It was cold outside and I was still too many miles away from the 2,000 miles mark so I was tempted to stay in bed longer and do a hike with my wife. She asked me how many miles I was missing, 61.2. It was 8:30 and she said just do it, we can have a late lunch. Now I had no excuse.

So I ended up leaving home just after 9, it was about 39 F outside, brrr... I chose the flattest possible route if such a thing exists in the East Bay. Went down Danville Blvd. all the way to Dublin and back with a side in and out to Blackhawk, and arriving in Lafayette a 10 mile loop to Moraga. I was back home just after 1pm with 62 miles, my 5th longest ride of the year, and I have set a new yearly PR.

Final numbers: 2,000.8 miles, 132,777 ft of climbing both PRs. Great way to finish the year.

MarkoPolo

Good to see you on Morgan today danec. You looked even colder than I felt - and my forehead was numb after the long descent. (Note to self... on the next cold day wear the heavy scullcap!) Lanceoldstrong kept reading out the temperature from his Garmin on the climb up and basically it hovered around 44 to 45 degrees all day.

Bikingshearer probably feels better that you recognized him by his steamer trunk of a saddlebag. He thought it was his freakishly large frame that was the giveaway. After the climb and descent we rolled into Livermore where we recuperated and warmed up with a BBQ stop at Dickey's. Mmmm...beef brisket! From there I broke up the band and road off on my own to meet my wife who was visiting a friend in Livermore while LanceOldstrong and Bikingshearer headed back to our starting point in Concord.

The Garmin claimed exactly 41 miles. And in a quirk of fate, this was my 150th ride of the year and I reached my 2010 mileage goal on the last day possible - 3537 miles for the year. A fitting end to a good year on the bike.

Got a new camera for Christmas and risked breaking the lens the first time out with a shot of Dan and Rich...



Rich was trying to get a signal to call Bigbossman and give him the business about wimping out on the ride.

Happy New Year everyone!

Beaker

Congrats on making the goal Georges. Too many unforeseen interruptions prevented me cracking 3000 this year. Here's to 2011.

bigbossman 

Sorry I missed the ride, but I managed to console myself by having lunch with the girls and buying a new sub-woofer. Retail therapy, man-style.