UmneyDurak

I won't be able to make it. My legs are shot right now. Plus I don't think I will be able to wake up early enough to ride to the starting place on time.

platypus

I'm about to head out to the start point. see y'all there!

scottmorrison99

I'll check back later for a ride report, I hope you all have a lot of fun!

UmneyDurak

I just woke up. Slept through my alarm. ha ha.

cantdrv55

I hope someone took pics at the group ride.

spingineer

Weather looks great for the ride. Wonder if anyone is taking pictures?

scottmorrison99

Anyone... Anyone...Buehler?

scottmorrison99

Helloooooo...........

t4mv

Hi, Scott, I was one of the folks that went on this ride; I don't know what the exact count was but we ended up with eight of us doing most of the ride. The weather was great, Hwy 9 was "interesting" (son and I took a tandem, maybe not the brightest idea, but it was a great ride), Skyline had its ups and downs, and Page Mill was a big grin on the downhill portion. Steve gave us a custom scenic tour through Cupertino, and true to his word, Danno did actually probably keep the avg speed to somewhere around 10 mph, although I don't think this was a zone 1/max 160 bpm kinda ride though, unless you're an elite athlete or something. I didn't have a camera but I think Danno snapped off a few so perhaps he will have some to share with us. I want to thank all the other folks who went on today's ride for your enduring patience waiting for Daniel and I to catch up to the regrouping point. I'd definitely go on more of these rides if they popped up around N. Cal. 'Really a great group of folks we have here!

Siu Blue Wind

Oh I can't wait to see them!!

law_in_motion

the weather was perfect! the company was even better. by my count, here's who showed up:

-playtpus
-me
-danno
-danno's brother
-steveE
-'nother
-hermes
-cranky stoker?
-t4mv and son

nice pleasant pace (at least for me). i did my best to keep up with the AV riders who showed up in force. i know danno snapped off some pictures, although it looked like a film camera so i don't know if we'll be getting any pictures soon. hermes also snapped a few from a digital. looking forward to doing this again.

'nother

Yeah it was a great day for a ride. I only did the first half, but it was the uphill half Nice to meet everyone and hope you enjoyed the rest of the ride!

Edit: OK I'll put in some semblance of a report, for at least the part I was on.

I rolled out from my house, which is about 5 miles away from the start, at about 8:20. I got to the start point just as SteveE was pulling in; DannoXYZ and his brother (?), Hermes & cranky-stoker, platypus, law_in_motion were already there, and a short time later t4mv & son drove up with their tandem.

There was some chatting and photo taking as everyone got to know each other and got suited up and tended to last-minute repairs and such. After everyone got their gear sorted, roughly at the stroke of 9:01, we headed out along Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd, towards our first turn.

Apparently I haven't been on this particular route for some time and/or they recently started a lot of construction because the pavement quite a bit rougher than I remembered. Fortunately we soon turned off onto Pierce road, which is nice and flat at the bottom, but starts gradually introducing a few rollers, and eventually turns into an actual hill that required surprisingly more effort than I wanted to expend (following yesterday's antics on our club's B race...er, I mean, ride! ) law_in_motion was setting a good pace so I just sat on his wheel for most of that, like a leech.

We stopped at the crest of Pierce road (at the entrance to the Mountain Winery), just as our club's A ride was blazing through. We waited for everyone in the BF ride to make it up, had a little rest and chat, then carried on down a short hill and right into Highway 9 (Big Basin Way). Somewhat like Pierce road but on a larger scale, 9 starts out flat-ish and gradually pitches up to a relatively constant 6% or so grade for about 5 miles.

Here things splintered up a bit, with SteveE, me, law_in_motion, Hermes, & cranky-stoker in a group off the front, with DannoXYZ and the rest of the crew a bit further behind. SteveE pressed ahead on a couple of solo ventures, so I tried my best to reel him back in to make sure he was being sociable

Due to family obligations, I had to turn around at the top of 9 to get home in time, so I bid farewell to the crew and headed on down. Stopped briefly to say goodbye to DannoXYZ and the other group before continuing on for a nice 35+ MPH descent into the town of Saratoga, and eventually, back home.

It was a good ride, wish I could've done the whole thing, hopefully next time. And I'll try to remember a camera.

SteveE

Yep, it was a beautiful day. Clear blue skies, a little cool up on Skyline but a windvest was sufficient. t4mv and his son, Daniel, did great on the tandem. Hermes & Cranky-stoker got to ride further down the Peninsula than they'd done before. Hermes took some photos at the start and some more up the CDF station. law in motion and I rode together along the section of Skyline to Page Mill Rd. Platypus was a real trouper, having raced at "Clobberopolis" yesterday.

Thanks again to Danno for organizing the event.

spingineer

Sounds like fun. Too bad I had to be on-call, otherwise I would have joined you guys. What was the mileage, time, and elevation gain? Looks like it wasn't a total hammerfest, so I probably would have hung in. I'm not the best hill climber!

Hermes

The weather was beautiful with clear skies, light wind with the temperature in the mid 60s. Our first regroup was at the winery after a steep climb - the longest part of the climb was yet to come. I snapped a few pics at the winery. Once everyone was ready, we started our ride to the top. After the winery, there are mile markers so that you know how much farther to the top. It is about 5 miles from the winery to the top. The road winds through the redwoods. The views along Skyline are breath taking but one has to watch the road, the traffic and the turns on the descent.

At the top of the climb, we regrouped at the fire station which had nice facilities. Then we started our descent. The descent was filled with fast downhill sections and many technical turns. Traffic was light and not a problem. We regrouped a key turns and made our way back to the start. It was a great day of cycling and Danno did an excellent job of organizing. SteveE provided a lot of insight and leadership.

Here are some pics and graph of elevation versus distance:

Cranky-stoker carried a Garmin so we have some metrics on the ride.



Here is the first regroup at the winery.







Top of the climb hanging out.







A rose between two thorns.

spingineer

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. Wish I was out there, but then you would have had to wait for me ...

UmneyDurak

Damn Steve you look kool! ha ha.

I will try to make it to the next one.

Siu Blue Wind

Hey nice pics!! But who is who?

cantdrv55

Good thing I couldn't go. You'd have had to call an ambulance for me. That climb would've done me in!

'nother

I am the one that you can't see

Hermes

Okay, I will identify but need a little help. Who are the two riders in the back of the first regroup pic behind the tandem? Were they the first two up the hill from the Alto Velo "A" ride?

'nother

Yeah, if I remember from my chat with SteveE, that's Ted Huang on the left, and Brian Buckholz (sp?) on the right with the red/white/green. I don't know if they were first up or not, but they went back down Pierce, then a short time later and with a third rider whizzed past us going up 9.

Hermes

I remember them going past. We were in Zone 1 at the time . Right?

law_in_motion

i'll take the blame for pierce. my excuse... i haven't been able to go out riding in about a month so i got a bit overzealous. thanks to you and cranky stoker for setting a more reasonable pace up big basin. and i second the comment about steveE - offered a lot of great insight. seems like he knew just about every rider out on the road too.

EDIT: btw, i'm the one to the right of steveE in the picture where he's looking "kool."

platypus

woof, that ride was a lot more tiring that it ought to have been! I'm in the pcitures wearing my safety-green day-glo jersey.

That was a lot of fun, we'll have to do i t again!