Mt. Hamilton Challenge. Rode with SteveE, HillMut and several other club/teammates. Fun, but tough day, with temps a lot warmer than we've had recently really played havoc with the electrolyte and fluid intake plans.

I took a long-cut commute home from Palo Alto to Campbell last night - Arastradero to Foothill Expy south until it became Foothill Blvd then Stevens Canyon Blvd - Instead of turning down McClellan I continued up Stevens Canyon to Mt Eden Road. Lovely climb up Mt Eden and a very fast and fun descent down Pierce took me to Saratoga/Sunnyvale, underconstruction, so I took Cox to Quito to Pollard, popped out by the LG creek trail and moseyed home on the bike path.
The 27 miles was 8 more than my regular commute and lots hillier. Good fun, hope I can get out early next Friday too!

Mt. Hamilton Challenge was tough this year (and fun up to until around 100 miles) due to the heat. I want to give a big "Thank you!" to 'nother for staying with me on the seemingly interminable stretch on Calaveras Rd. where I was reduced to barely a crawl due to cramps.

I appreciated the company, bro!

^^^ Hey, no problem Steve! Been there, and "been done by that"...riding solo sucks when you're hurting! Hope you are recovering sufficiently today...

I'm getting over a nasty head cold so I took it easy yesterday. I rode from my home near the bay in Union City, along the AC Trail and then Niles Canyon out to Sunol. I was still feeling OK so I went up Calaveras, but only to the false summit, where I turned around and headed back to Sunol. I treated myseld to a Haagen-Dazs bar at the little store in Sunol, and hung out for a bit on the porch and watched the world go by. Nice.

Yeeks, it was hot though, I was thinking of the folks on the Devil Mtn. Double & the Mount Hamilton Challenge. Mines Road must have been a gawdawful convection oven, especially considering that it was our first really warm weekend so people haven't had a chance to acclimate to the heat.

'nother and Steve E, when I was heading back to Sunol around 2:30-ish, I passed a group of riders on Paloma Rd (the road just outside of Sunol and before 680) heading towards Calaveras - were you in that group? I was riding solo wearing a purple sleeveless jersey (and probably a bright red face on account of the heat, gah :p)

I hope to do the Mt. Hamilton Challenge next year.

You guys should have gone on to lunch. We beat the rain back even with lunch, though only barely. I treated myself to a cranberry muffin at the lunch place on Ralston, figured I deserved it after Summit Springs and Crestview...

Don't recall your jersey. Actually we were moving along pretty well through that section; it was Calaveras that got troublesome. We were a group of 4: 3 of us wearing Webcor/Alto Velo jerseys, one plain white.

Much better today, thanks. I had leg cramps the rest of the day. My calves are a little sore so no riding today.

Its pretty clear that we need an AV support vehicle and domestiques to shuttle water and energy packets to the lead guys.:D Congrats SteveE and 'nother.

Had to work yesterday so no riding. :(

More than made up for it today. My girlfriend, recovering from ITB, planned on a Gordon Valley loop. We ended turning around at Mankas Corner. We then rode back to V-ville and out Pleasant's Valley Rd. to Putah Creek rode. Turned around & went back to town. By the time I got home I racked up over 57 miles and thoroughly enjoyed the entire ride.

Sierraville north on 49 to Chilcoot, up to Frenchman Lake (600 foot climb) and back. 70 miles. Weather was nice, until the wind picked up in the afternoon.

Climbed Old La Honda and descended Hwy 84 today. 34 miles of riding. Realized that counter-steering takes a lot of effort during the descend. Will continue to train myself until I feel comfortable joining the AV B-ride again! :-)

LOL, sorry, I meant to say I passed by you going in the opposite direction! :o

Could have been you, but I see so many AV jerseys out on my rides (whizzing by me)

A friend was working a couple of the rest stops on the DMD yesterday. She said there were a lot of DNFs on account of the heat, and one poor guy had to be helicoptered out from the Junction on account of severe heat-related problems. She doesn't know if he was on the DMD or the Mt. Hamilton Challenge.

Spent the weekend in SoCal, and did the Tour de Santa Barbara II ... in summary ... it was HOT! Lotsa pics in the SoCal forum.

yep I saw a shot of you taken by merider

Saturday I took a nice flat ride in Fremont out to Coyote Hills via a regional bike and ped trail. It eventually took me out along the bay north of Fremont. Beautiful ride, glad I brought the sunglasses for bug protection. I did about a 12-13 mile loop. I took my wife on the same trail to show her on Sunday. Had a great time!!
Saw all kinds of colorful birds, ducks and geese, little muskrat swimming, and what apeared to be a carp? not sure if the water is fresh or brackish. Where I saw the fish it was pretty far up the stream so it probably was fresh water at that point. Nice easy ride though. Great start to find my limits and build my confidence.

briank, I ride that trail (the Alameda Creek Trail) out to the bay & Coyote Hills and to the other end at Niles Canyon very often. Since I live near the bay end, it's my starting point for many of my rides.

Someday when you're up to it, and comfortable riding along a moderately busy road, I could take you out to Sunol along Niles Canyon Road. It's a really nice destination, only about 6 flat miles or so from the eastern (Niles) end of the AC Trail. After that, perhaps you'll be ready to try Calaveras or Palomares - lovely (albeit hilly) roads.

Another not very strenous ride is to go to near the eastern end of the AC trail, but then get onto Mission Blvd heading south. It's a shallow, gradual uphill along Mission Blvd up to the Mission San Jose area. Hang a right at Washington Blvd just past the Mission, and 3 or so buildings down you'll see Mission Coffee. It's nice to hang out on the porch there and have a snack. Plus, the return is a nice long gradual downhill :) Mission Blvd is a busy street but it has very wide shoulders, for the most part.

Friday the wife and I played hooky and went for a bike ride. We got the kid off to school, and took off mid-morning. It was such a nice day that we decided to try for a decent 30-40 mile loop. Taking a familiar route up towards Diablo we felt pretty good, so when we got to the park entrance we decided to go on up... what the hell.

The South Gate approach to Diablo is a southern exposure, in full sun. We started up at about 10:30am, and soon discovered the temperature was rising past expectations. We got a good workout and went through a lot of water, but we had plenty and so had a good time. We came down the North Gate road into Walnut Creek, lunched at the Walnut Creek Whole Earth Market, and looped back to San Ramon and home via San Ramon Valley Blvd.

All told - 40 miles, 3,100 or so feet of climbing, and a little over 3 hours in the saddle. It was a nice day.

Some pics:

The Spousal Unit feeling frisky, dropping me early on in the ride:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...Lynnette_1.jpg

Chasing the rabbit:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...Lynnette_2.jpg

A broken fence, at the beginning of the climb:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...rokenfence.jpg

Looking down the first couple of miles on South Gate Road:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...wnpanorama.jpg

Looking up, from the same location - a little over a mile to go to the 1st ranger station:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t.../lookingup.jpg

Looking towards home (trees under the last ridge, far left):
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...owardshome.jpg

A field of poppies in bloom, midway down North Gate Road:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...07/poppies.jpg

North Gate Road, descending:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t.../goingdown.jpg

jobob-

I would love that very much! Thanks for the invitation.

sadly, I didn't get to ride at all this weekend. I was dealing with car junk, but now that's all done.

As seen in the other thread, I rode solo this Saturday. Although, there were a ton of riders out do to the warm, clear, low-wind weather.

My starting point was my home in San Mateo on 24th Ave (halfway between El Camino and Alameda de las Pulgas)

I rode Alameda to Crystal Springs, climbed Crystal Springs, L on to 35 near the reservoir, L on 92 to Canada, Canada to Woodside, Mountain Home to Portola, Climbed Old La Honda, Got to 35, turned around and decended OLH, went home the same way.

I met a few cool riders along the way.

On my way home on Canada, I rode with a guy from PenVelo who was very cool. We were chatting it up at around 23mph into the wind :)

Then I met a clan of riders that were going down Crystal Springs and rode with them towards my house.

Total Ride was 41 miles, average speed was 16.5 mph.

This was my first time clibing Old La Honda. I had to stop a couple of times on the climb (once for my back, and once because I need to increase my climbing endurance ;) ) I was averaging around 8-10 mph on the climb.

It was pretty hot out there, aournd 80 degrees.

uspspro-

That area in woodside is my old stomping grounds. I grew up behind the golf course there at Woodside Road and Alameda. I was a semi pro archer who practiced daily up at the archery range in Huddart Park. When I moved out from home, I rented for 2 years off of Bear Gultch and Hwy 35. Beautiful area. Congrats on your ride. Sounds like a solid ride.

Starting from Carmel, we cruised up the coast to Santa Cruz to have breakfast with friends, then headed southeast through Corralitos and Aromas to San Juan Bautista, where we had a leisurely lunch at the bakery. Then home over San Juan Grade and across the Salinas Valley. Everywhere we went we saw lots of others out on their bikes enjoying the sun. Total mileage for the day: 113

I rode my single from Woodfords through Markleeville and up Ebbett's pass. The road was closed from about half way up to the top so NO CARS! It was a beautiful thing.....The snow hadn't been plowed from the summit west, but it added to the adventure.....