taxi777

After being kept up late again by wild drunk tenants in one of my buildings I ended up sleeping late, rushing out with no coffee, hopping on the wrong train, then having to get off backtrack just barely catching the transfer zipping off to the start almost missing the ride and forgetting some of my gear which made for a very grouchy beginning on top of still being sick, but hey it'sok cause I just wrote the longest sentence I've ever written in my life which is a landmark achievement for myself at least I had something go right today because I had been trying to do this for some time but could never get close to what I've been able to do in this single expulsion of bad grammar! Thankyou...

My first ride with Grizzly Peak Cyclist's who by the way have very cool looking jerseys that work very well on the abundance of nice looking ladies...



Three different rides were available to choose from, named with musically descriptive titles...interesting and nice way to present them for our choosing.

23-mi Larghetto, hilly but moderately slow; 65mi Allegretto, a bit faster, with a 55mi alternate option and an 80mi Presto, faster yet.


I settled for the Allegretto. The group was huge!



Unfortunately I never finished the ride, I was struggling to just ride, just too tired. I lost my route sheet and I had to stop for so many work related calls that I lost everyone in Alamo, where I decided to get some coffee. By that time I was going through severe caffeine withdrawal.

I think I ended up spending more time with non-GPC riders. I rode with an older guy named Dick, on an old Univega and toe straps, but he was hard of hearing so it was difficult to carry on a conversation. What was really odd was right after that I stopped for coffee and got into another conversation with a 70 year old that was also hard of hearing! I was becoming a little exasperated so I went the rest of the way solo and I bailed out at Crow Canyon/Diablo Plaza where I was unable to find the group. It was supposed to be the lunch stop. From there I rode direct to Pleasanton and grabbed the Bart. The odd thing was I had to use my phone on the platform and with the 580 traffic noise I couldn't hear anything! It was extremely frustrating and I think probably the Universe was trying to make a point with me today.

I'll have to do another ride another day to really get a feel for riding with this group...today wasn't my day. At least the weather was great...a bit cool but nice.

Beaker

Somehow, you always manage to pull these interesting experiences out of events that would frustrate the heck out of most of us. .

GPC looks like a fun ride, I'm really going to have to show up there one of these weekends and see for myself.

Tapeworm21

My least favorite hill in all the bay area. Yech.

jobob

It's a stinker. oink.

PrincessZippy

Dick is one of the Delta Pedalers, a really nice guy. He does pretty well for an old guy on an old, heavy bike. I hope I'm still riding when I'm his age.

Veronica

spingineer

I actually kinda like that hill.

taxi777

I caught him at the top of Pig hill then he toasted me going down I decided "I gotta have a chat with this guy!" Quite the guy for sure!

PrincessZippy

I kind of like Pig Farm too. Patterson Pass gets my vote for worst hill.


Veronica

spingineer

I like Patterson Pass.

PrincessZippy

Every time I've ridden it, it's been so windy. I end up setting a new slow speed record. There is a reason they have a wind farm up there you know. It probably doesn't help that out of the 5 times I've ridden it, three have been after doing Mount Diablo and Morgan Territory.

I've always ridden it from East to West. I've wondered if it is easier the other way.

Veronica

BenRidin

It most certainly is!

spingineer

Maybe that's why I like it! I've only ridden it from the west side. As I was bombing down the descent, I kept thinking to myself "It would suck to do this in the reverse direction".

bigbossman 

You were in my neck o' the woods and you didn't call? >sniff<

We were riding fairly close by - from Concord to Crockett (Verona Deli), and then out, up, and over Cummings Skyway and down Franklin Cyn back to Concord.

Only one canyon over from Pig Farm (and I like Pig Farm, too.).

ROJA

I think Pig Farm is easier than Papa Bear!

gpelpel

These are totally different beasts; Papa is never too steep but long, Pig Farm is short but a handful. I am talking about the west slope of Pig Farm as shown in the photo above. The East side is an easy Papa Bear.

taxi777

That's the ride I wanted to do!
Oh well next time...