spingineer

On such a short notice (I posted it one week in advance), we got a pretty good turnout. Total number riders was 7 (Marco, uspspro, was a little late, and he caught the pack ... ).

The air was a bit nippy to start with, so dressing warmly was an issue of concern.

The group split up into two packs ... the second pack, being the slower climbers (yours truely included). We knew it would get a bit chilly when we started on the descending portion of Mt. Hamilton (it's not completely constant uphill). Then, uspspro comes along .... we say hi, then he proceeds to catch the front pack.

About 3 miles from the top, we see another rider coming down ... he tells us it's 29 F at the top. Not sure if that was meant to scare us .... definitely not something to motivate us with. By the time we got up to the top, it was pretty bone-chillingly cold. My time was around 2:25 ... I think uspspro was 2:05, or something like that.

We all huddled indoors, and spent probably 30 minutes inside, and keeping warm, sitting on the furnace .. Later we wanted to take a picture in front of a frosty tree, just to show evidence we were there. Stepping outside, after spending 20 minutes near the furnace ... dang, that was cold.

Rolling back down the hill was painful. Fingers, toes, ears suffered. We went slower than we normally would coming down the hill. When we got to a slight uphill, it was such a welcome sight. It quickly warmed us up, and the rest of the descent was noticeably warmer.

Distance: 37.81 miles
Elevation Gain: 5217 feet
Elapsed Time: 3:30:38
Time to the top: 2:25
Avg Speed: 10.7 mph

Pictures to come a little later.

ntnyln

We did the same ride this morning and it must have been about the same time because we received the same "information" about the temp.

Other than having no pics I had almost the exact same experience. 2:23 to top and 3:27 ride time.

Rincewind8

spingineer,

thanks for organizing this. I had fun.

spingineer

Glad you had fun. I was going to do this anyways.

spingineer

Kachunk needs new shorts




Kachunk, Rincewind, Steve, Jimples

spingineer

uspspro, kachunk, and jimples trying to keep warm ... INDOORS!

kster

You guys in shorts are crazy.

spingineer

uspspro

Here's my stats for the ride:

Distance: 38.67 miles
Elapsed Time: 2:54:07
Avg Speed: 13.3 mph

Time to the top (from the elementary school): 1:54
Average speed to top: 10.1 mph

It was a great ride, but crazy freezing at the top. We even saw a few snowflakes flying around

I didn't arrive at the start until 9:30, and ended up starting around 15 mins later than the group.

So I pushed it up the hill, and caught Ron's group right at the first decent. I continued on and caught Ramons group during the 2nd climb. Then I stayed with them, and felt pretty spent. LOL

Funny Story:

After descending about a mile, I thought I had left my sunglasses at the observatory. I turned around and climbed almost 1/2 mile, and realized I was wearing them

So I had to catch the group again!!

sweetnsourbkr

Looks cold ... esp. after being out there all day myself. But I'm glad you guys made it back OK. Black ice is no fun when you're in contact w/ it.

Steve MacK

Thanks, Ron, for organizing this. I'd never been up Hamilton on a bike before, so I wasn't entirely sure what I was facing. But yep, it was cold; worst part for me was the first of the 3 descents - it was cold enough that my hands would stiffen up a bit.

On the second descent, for some reason, my rear brake started dragging. I knew something was wrong when I was losing ground on the rest of the group. Being a bit over average weight, descending is usually not a problem for me ;-) And then the gentle upslope near the park was tougher than I would have expected! But adjusting the barrel all the way in cleared the brake, and was fine from there on. Something odd is going on with the brake, as they have a fair bit of wear on them. Perhaps the cold was messing with the cable, don't know. Something to look at tomorrow.

But thanks again for the ride. Its not something I would have done without the support of this group.

Steve

jimples

Honestly, my legs were fine the entire time because they were active. The worst part was my feet, and I was wearing toe warmers!

uspspro

Yeah,

No problem with the shorts, for me it was the toes!

Steve MacK

Yea, I was fine in shorts on the way up, but thankful that I brought leg warmers for the way down. But before riding in such conditions again, some toe covers are in order!

spingineer

On a day like today, up at that altitude, toe covers aren't enough. Full boot covers would have been nice and toasty. The other thing I found was skull caps keep you amazingly warm. I would highly recommend this for winter riding.

BlastRadius

The frost on the tree tells the whole story.

If you don't have them, get fleece arm and knee warmers, full fingered gloves, and at least toe warmers. No sense getting frost bite on your fingers and toes. Toes get especially cold because of the "wind" from spinning.

superunleaded

LOL

that's a first.

I'm glad you guys are okay. My buns would have been freezing if I went to this ride. I'm not that good with cold. Brrrrrrrrrr

taxi777

Ok Ok Ron... I'm passing the torch, you guys are more crazy than me!

sounds like the " Ride Of The Penguins"

zorrov999

Pete, You're right!! I knew I saw something on one photo. I just zoomed in that part and here it is !!

taxi777

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ROFL ..........
Awsome!

SesameCrunch

I wonder who got to the top first - the Penguin or USPSPro?

spingineer

USPSPro ... the penguin kept following me and gave me the motivation to finish the climb. I didn't want to fall victim to the attack of the penguins!

taxi777

At least he didn't leave you with and egg to carry up to the top....brings a whole new meaning to last one is a rotten egg!!

jinws

man that looks cold. I didn't get back to the South bay til noon time. took a little ride up Sierra road then down Calaveras, it was freezing. Well, there's always next year for Hamilton.

Glad you guys had fun.

Bostic

Another great Bike Forums ride. Thank you Ron once again for organizing it. It was nice to meet some others that I have not seen before on BF rides. Justin and Kristov (sp?) had a great pace going and Marco caught up around the middle of the second climb. Near the top my toes were getting numb, the PI covers were of little use. Justin and I were talking the better part of the third climb so that took my mind off of the weather and we reached the summit sooner than I thought we would.

I bought the rest of my Hoth outfit today. Full shoe covers, a face mask, head cap and some lobster gloves. Bring on the cold.