bigbossman 

I'm a poor climber as well, so all the rest of you poor climbers will have someone to talk to.

backinthesaddle

Hey, based on past experience you'll be way ahead of me!

uspspro

I'll be lucky if i can talk

BlastRadius

Sandbagger

jonathanb715

Hey, eveyone,

Sorry I've been out of touch - I was out of town for the last week. I was hoping we could do this ride on Sunday, the 22nd - I'm a stroke and turn judge at a swim meet on Saturday. This will definitely be a no-drop, social kind of ride. After a bit of thought and re-riding the routes, I'll probably cutoff the extended part down Skyline to the zoo and the loop back on Redwood - it gets complicated, and the climb up Redwood from Castro Valley has no shade for several miles (and we'd be hitting it in the afternoon). It'll still be a nice, ~50 mile ride with some specatacular views. I'll post a new route sheet later.

JB

Gee3

Okay, I got the okay from the boss... so I'll keep my eyes open for updates on the routes and exact location of where to meet up with you guys. Plus I need to start training for the Waves to Wine ride on 9/29-30. Ugh!

BTW, what time are we supposed to meet up at as well?

Thanks!
Gary

ifox

I'd say it depends on the route and weather. for something in 50-60 mi range we could meet later in the day (10ish), for a longer ride earlier is better.

jonathanb715

Well, I'm back from the Death Ride, which did not go well. My bike needs a lot of work (broken chain, broken rear derailleur, damaged seat stay). so I'm bike-less. I'm looking around for one to borrow, but I don't think I should commit to leading this ride right now (especially since it looks like I may unexpectedly have my kids next weekend as well). I'll still post the route slip for the revised route if people still want to do the ride, and I'll see if I can get my old bike back from a friend (that one has a std. double with 7 cogs in the back - climbing will be interesting, to say the least!).

JB

briank

Sounds like there would be eye candy all the way. It so purty up there..

Red Rider

We're always available to entertain/lead a ride that could leave from, say, Vacaville to Fairfield to Napa to Winters to Vacaville, and there are plenty of hills, flats and rewards whether you do that loop or a portion of it. Any takers?

backinthesaddle

Sorry about all the mishaps on the Death Ride, sounds like you didn't crash so all in all I'd say that's a good thing.

I'll be glad to carry on the Sunday ride as planned, either the shorter 50 mile version or the longer original 70 mile version. Only thing is I'm the slowest guy in the group, so I can meet everyone (suggest starting Orinda BART 9:30 AM 7/22) and then we're off. I can hand out route sheets, and we can either periodically regroup, or I'll wish you all a good ride at your own pace and I'll sweep the ride. At my pace if we start the 50 mile ride at 9:30, I'll be done about 3:00. YMMV.

Gee3

jonathanb715 - sorry to hear about your bike. what happened? Were you hurt at all?

[EDIT] - just read your ride report. Sorry to hear it went badly for you so early on.

I'm down for a 50 mile (hopefully no drops) ride. Mostly because I haven't done a lot of long rides of late so I don't know if I'd slow everyone up.

I'm also down for a Vacaville ride since my in-laws live up in Fairfield so I could sleep over Sat night and be fresh for a ride on the Sunday.

Gary

cantdrv55

I'll take you up on that after Aug 4, the Marin Metric that I've been training for with TnT. A couple of the TnT'ers I train with live in Vacaville and they had thought about joing the Monticello Bike Club but the club members are too fast. Thanks for the offer to lead a ride in your neck of the woods!

jonathanb715

OK, here's the route slip https://www.routeslip.com/routes/52717
(note- click on route preview to print out turn by turn directions). I started the route at the corner of Glorietta Blvd and Moraga Way, but a more logical starting point is the strip mall at the intersection of Moraga Rd and Moraga Way, a couple of miles to the South - there's lots of parking and a few decent restaurants in that strip mall. 49 miles, 5,755 feet of climbing per Routeslip - a nice ride.

Sorry I can't make it!

JB

backinthesaddle

Jonathan, I looked at the route slip and it's very confusing, and I know the route well. Was this some sort of automated routeslip program?? I'll clean it up or redo it.

Anyway, gang, here's my proposal. Let's meet Sunday 7/22 @ 9:30 AM at Orinda BART (not Moraga). Same route with just a different start point. The start point has good freeway access + BART access. Route is clockwise around 3 Bears, then up Wildcat Canyon to Grizzly Peak, down Redwood Road, Pinehurst, Moraga, back to Orinda BART. That's 50 miles.

Optional 20 mile addition will loop to Castro Valley and back. If the weather's cool enough it's a nice extra loop. If it's really hot, the 10 miles on Redwood Road are really exposed so they're no fun, as Jonathan mentioned in an earlier post. You can decide when you get to Skyline and Redwood Road whether you want to add the 20 miles.

Any takers?? I plan to ride it, hope you're on board.

Red Rider

Oh, I'd love to know what ride those folks are riding! That's an issue right now within the club, that some rides advertised as reasonable are anything but. Please send me a PM and let me know how to contact these folks. We have slow rides, and perhaps they aren't aware of the times, etc.

Speaking of the Marin ride -- you're going to look for a black Raleigh tandem with a red-headed, blue & silver-helmeted stoker, and we're going to look for a TNT guy. How many of them will there be, and how will we know you from the others?

Offer stands. Just holla!

cantdrv55

When I learn their names, I will PM you. They are two young women who are fast riders (ave 16 mph by my estimation) and good climbers but still they thought your club folks are too fast for them.

For Marin, I'll be in a purple TnT jersey on a red/white Novara road bike with red tape. There should be about 10 of us there. I'll look for you two.

BlastRadius

May a new thread with the ride date and a running list of people going would clear up this muddle.

jonathanb715

Sorry - I used Routeslip's follow the road option, and didn't have time to check the turn by turn directions it automatically generates. Somehow, you make the route sound so simple....here's the route with the extra 20 miles - I plotted this one manually, so the turn by turn directions are correct.

https://www.routeslip.com/routes/27068

JB

8Lives

it looks like I should be able to join the group this Sunday. Look forward to it. I am up for either route (50 or 70).

SV Commuter

I'll be there Sunday and will be happy to do the 70-mile loop if anybody is interested.

backinthesaddle

thanks for the revision, looks a lot better (that U-turn on Camino Pablo on the automatic version was weird!)

the only part of the 70 mi route I haven't done is through the zoo, usually I go on Stanley on the other side of the 580 freeway which is fairly flat, how's the ride through Knowland Park?

too bad you won't be with us, we'll miss you!

Rincewind8

So does the ride start in Orinda or Moraga? I would prefer Orinda so I could take BART.

jonathanb715

The ride through Knowland Park has a small hill, but I 'm not familiar with the Stanley way so I can't compare. The idea was to avoid some of the urbanized traffic.

The ride is definitely starting at the BART station now that Backinthesaddle will be leading. I'm still trying to work out my options for a bike and something for the kids to do, so I may actually still make it - but I can't commit to it.

JB

Gee3

Will there be anyone else that's slow and familiar with the 50 mile route since I don't think I'm ready to go much farther?

I'll most likely have to drive up there.

And a friend wants to know if he can come along on his mtb [since his wife hasn't given him the okay to buy a road bike yet]?

Thanks!
Gary