I gotta say, I thought it was a great ride. The weather and company really couldn't have been any better. I 'm sorry if some rough days were had, but hey its 95 miles with 12k feet, it's to be expected that it would be long and hard. We don't often do such long/hard rides, so hitting the roads less traveled (to me) is kind of nice, since we wouldn't be able to do so on something shorter/easier.

Here is our take on the ride:

- We got there at around 7:31, and started unloading the bike quickly. Matt showed up around 5 min after us... Thanks Matt for making me not the solo dunce of the group j/k We rolled out at apx 7:40 - 7:45. Sorry about that guys.

- Crothers was an interesting warm up, and I plan on doing that one more often for sure.

- Qumiby, like Ron said, was GREAT. Rarely can you say that about Quimby. Cool temps, and a good rhythm set be Ruthie and I, made it a nice experience. We had such a good rhythm going, without over exerting ourselves compared to the last time we did Quimby. On the climb Ruth told me, "I think our goal should be to finish (the ride) strong." We commented that we felt good, and were very happy at this point. We were able to keep Chris, Michael and Ron in sight (just a turn or so ahead) for most of the climb. Chris and Michael pulled ahead a little, but we were able to have Ron in our sights all the way to the top. I gotta say, Ron you were having an awesome day, good job dude!.

- Next part of Hamilton was pretty much normal.

- Much of our suffering came on Kincaid, since it was an unknown, and looked much easier on paper. So it was a bit surprising, PLUS it came not long after Quimby. However we felt much better afterward when we got back onto the 3rd climb of the Hamilton frontside.

- About 2/3 of the way up the 3rd climb on the frontside, we got a bit of a second wind just as Ron had closed the cap to a couple hundred yards or less. I kicked it up to a bigger gear and we started tapping out a good pace. Ron disappeared from sight and then we reeled in another rider whose friends were cheering him on from the top, telling him a "tandem was bearing down on him, and to grab our wheel" Haha. Instead we blasted by, I was anxious to get to the top, since we ran out of water just a moment ago.

- Observatory was good, Coke and cookies were good, and so was the cold water. Now it was time for a crazy descent.

- I had never piloted the tandem down the backside before, only up, but I knew it would be pretty crazy. The hairpins were a bit tight, and the steepness made it not the best tandem descent. For comparison, I consider the frontside is a good tandem descent if not for the bumps. I used a A LOT of braking. We were able to lead the group though, with Matt, Ben and Donald just behind.

- After the descent there was a pretty good hill that separated Ruthie and I from those three. We pushed on, and we could see the trio off, just ahead, in the distance. However, I was getting a bit concerned about the group behind us (Ramon, Michael, Chris and Ron) since I could not even see them at all looking back. I had no phone coverage there, so we pressed on to the Junction. I could see Matt pulling in just ahead of us. Ben and Donald had pulled ahead and were just getting their sandwiches.

- Lunch... we ordered and, Chris arrived a few min later. Ron and Michael had teamed up together and rode just just after Chris. Ruthie and I felt much better after eating and getting off the bike. When we left it was just after 3pm, so I knew it was time to pickup the pace to get back to the cars at a somewhat sane time.

- Way back on the rollers of San Antonio Valley was much easier. We set off at a fairly fast pace on the flatter beginning section, pushing the 53-ring a bit. Ramon and Ben caught us on a roller, followed shortly after by Donald. We rode together with those 3 until the first really big roller. We were passed be Michael, Matt and Chris, but then we re-passed them on the next downhill. Soon thereafter we caught DONALD... wtf I guess Ramon and Ben were kicking out a blistering pace, and Donald couldn't keep in the draft, so he decided to wait for ours. Us and Donald continued on. On the big roller before the main climb Donald got ahead, but then we re-passed him when he stopped to eat. Michael, Chris, Matt and Ron were still nowhere in sight.. so Ruthie and were feeling pretty good about our efforts.

- Then came the main climb back to the top which is around 7 miles (I have heard 6-8, but have no Garmin data myself). This climb is quite a bit steeper than the front side. We looked at the time and it was 4:01pm, we wanted to see our time to the top. Donald re-caught up, but then we stopped for a bit (maybe 4 minutes or so) to eat. Donald continued on, and when we were stopped we were passed by Michael, Chris and Matt. We got back on the bike and set off. After our quick bite, we started to feel pretty good, I could see the 3 just ahead and even Donald just off in the distance. Matt Michael and Chris had stopped for a nature break, and as we passed, expressed how pissed off they were that I had setup such a long/hard ride. We said sorry...

- We were feeling pretty good at this point, which was somewhat a surprise, and very exciting actually! We had a good STEADY pace going up the hill, and I was really proud of my wife at this point, I was smiling the whole time, even while pushing up the hill! We saw Donald pretty close, but he took off hard to get to the observatory by 5pm. We got to the top at 5:05 pm. So only 1 hour of riding time for the ascent! We filled our bottles, then came Matt, Chris, Michael and Ron.

- Soon thereafter Ramon and Donald came down from the now closed observatory with Coke/soda for everyone that they got just before closing. That was very nice. Major props to Ramon. Ben had taken off, since he had to ride home to Los Gatos

Now our favorite part of the ride:

- The descent was fun. The cool thing is, we had energy left!!! I decided to put out everything I had in the 2nd climb on the way down the frontside. We were tapping it out in the 42x22, and even the 42x19, maybe even the 17!! Ramon and Donald made chase, and were slowly closing in, but we were keeping away. We were having a blast. Then Ramon caught up and matched our tempo, when suddenly just before the crest, out of nowhere, Donald looked like Contador and launched a ninja-like attack!! Ramon chased, and we tried to follow but couldn't catch their wheels. We chased hard and hammered the 53x11 on the descent and caught them on that short rise that follows soon there after. We passed them, only to be stuck behind a Mustang the rest of the way down.


WOW!!! That last part was a blast, some of the most fun I have ever had on a bike. To still have kick at the end (and be hammering with the likes of Donald and Ramon) was an exhilarating feeling, that we only experience every so often on the tandem.

Again, I love my stoker ... Major props to her for not only making it through this hard ride, but performing brilliantly. I am still on cloud 9.

Thank you to everyone that came. It was truly epic.