rumbutter

What time do you expect to summit ? I was thinking of riding from Livermore up the South Gate to meet you at the top on my new toy.

ROJA

I am guessing that a fast person could get to the top in 90-100 minutes from BART. I am not fast...

Beaker

I went and checked my Strava from last year, but I apparently didn't start my Garmin until we were close to Walnut Ave; 1:45 would be a good estimate. Wouldn't think you'd be wanting to hang out at the summit for a long time in these temps though.

ROJA

Could just do repeats of The Wall until we get there! For reference, it took my just under 2 hours last year to get to the summit and I was probably mid-pack of all the riders.

Everyone, please bring warm clothes (especially for feet and hands) for the descent! Forecast is for pretty cold weather.

Beaker

Glad to see that I didn't sign over the rights to any images that would be captured if I participate in this event. I guess I'm free to charge ROJA $1 for every click on any ride report that contains my picture. Sweet!

gpelpel

Should be able to enjoy the fun... and playing the caboose role. Might bring my son too, that is if I can wake him up. May be I should tell him not to go to bed tonight.

hueyhoolihan

to keep warm, i plan on being at the Starbucks until the very last moment before departure.....

Specialized2k10

According to my strava time only about 80 ppl are slower than me to the summit from n gate side. The odds of one of these 80 being in this ride is quite small. Well see how it goes. I might just junction from both sides and go home. That's still good climbing.

cccorlew

Only sorta fast people do Strava. You'll never see me there. I prefer to lie about my times.

Specialized2k10

I wanna summit but
a) I don't wanna deal with the cold finger numbing wind
b) I crashed last time I descended and I'm still afraid of diablo.
c) I need to be back home by 1pm

cccorlew

So just do the junction.

Specialized2k10

Yea that's what I was thinking of doing, but from both sides and then call it a day.

Beaker

This.

For the cold starts the last couple of weekends, I've ended up wearing two pairs of gloves, that's really helped when the temps have been in the low 30s, maybe carry an extra pair to put on at the summit?

Re-crashing, best thing in my opinion is to not let the fear of crashing again win - lots of good threads on BF about descending and cornering technique and I'm sure plenty of folks would be happy to provide some tips/pointers tomorrow. One of the best things you can do is follow someone who is more comfortable and see what lines they pick.

Specialized2k10

Yea my issue right now is psychological. When I'm descending these days I just get crazy thoughts in my head. Basically imagining diff ways I could crash on whatever road I'm currently descending. Then I start to freak out and sit on my brakes til it's over. I know it's going to take time to get over this.

Btw, I used to love bombing descents and never thought about the what ifs. I just need practice, practice and more practice.

UmneyDurak

Yeah, that little voice that says "what if" can really mess things up. What I found worked for me, besides practicing, is to concentrate on the mechanics of the turn: brake point, turn in point, line through the turn, looking through the turn, body position.

jobob

Sorry I bailed gang, I wasn't feeling very good this morning and I slept in. You would have only seen me at the start anyhow.

You sure have a beautiful day, I hope you bundled up well.

Happy Holidays to the BF gang. Cheers!

gpelpel

Sure was a beautiful day for a ride. Thanks Justin.
I only made it to the junction. We had a surprise and very welcomed showing from taxi777 (Pete) who caught up to us on his single speed.

Specialized2k10

any of you guys on strava?

this is my link. https://app.strava.com/athletes/6587

Lanceoldstrong

That sure was fun. Thanks for getting the ball rolling ROJA.
My legs felt like a bag of hammers today but that never stops me from having fun.
Some days you get the good legs, some days the meh legs.
Maybe it was starting out at 29 degrees in Concord for the spin to PH BART
or tiredness from a hard ride in the Santa Cruz Mtns. on Wednesday - or both.

Pete is amazing.
He catches up to us all at the junction on the single speed
and beats me up to the summit from there.
Sure was great to see everyone in my extended Bike Forums family.
Christmas is about family, so how perfect that we got together.

I am looking forward to riding with Specialized2K10 in 2012. It was nice to meet him.
Here is my very not special Strava for the day.
It is too bad Strava has no metric for measuring fun.
I would have been off the chart on that one today.
https://app.strava.com/activities/2869804#

cccorlew

Man, I'm glad I went. I say I was toast, but toast is warm. I only made the junction, and when I got there I felt as beat as if I'd gone to the top. Tricia (MyLilPony) made me promise to go up new years day. How much training can one do in a week?


Here's a shot of LanceOldStrong by the ice plumes of Pleasant Hill near the ride start.


Dan at Pleasant Hill BART by ccorlew, on Flickr

And such a deal to see Taxi777! He appeared like a Christmas gift. Maybe Santa will bring him a bike with gears this year!

Taxi777 sighting by ccorlew, on Flickr

hueyhoolihan

had a great time!

got home. took three aspirin and jumped a tub full of hot water. pretty beat.

BTW the coffee at Peets, in Danville, was free today! yeah!

GizMoRdr

Oh I saw you guys out there.. wish I would have started with you to join the fun. I started later.. saw some of you descending =)

hueyhoolihan

the fun started at about 27 degrees, and increased from there...

Beaker

Surprisingly warm climb after a freezing start - folks I started riding with also pegged the temp at 27F, my coldest start of the year. I had a nice spin up NGR but elected to head back home via SGR rather than summit due to the time. Very nice to connect with folks I haven't seen for a while. Here's some snaps from the junction:

Took me a moment to work out why LO's arms and chest had gone yellow on the climb



Admiring HueyHoolihan's single speed





Adopting the pose:

Specialized2K10



RoboCheme



cccorlew


And then Pete makes a surprise entrance




It didn't take long for him to raise the tone of our conversation

Specialized2k10

I was hot 15 mins into my climb but disnt wanna stop and mess up my strava time!