Lanceoldstrong

UPDATE - new meet up spot in Livermore see below

This was an above top secret mission, until word got out about it.
Damn, Wikileaks!

Some that have got wind of it are wanting details.
If you are interested in joining, at your own peril, here are the specs.

I am doing a DMD training ride Saturday with Midland and Ccorlew.
We are covering the DMD course turn for turn from the DMD start line in San Ramon to the Mile 91 mark of Mines Rd where it hits Del Valle Rd.

We aim to do this in under 8 hours to produce a facsimile of the pace required to make the 1PM cut off on DMD day.
Here is our route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/280801

Here is where it gets complicated.
We are using 2 cars. One will be parked in San Ramon and the other in Livermore. When we finish in Livermore we pile in that car and all drive back to San Ramon. This means...

We meet at 7:30 AM and park here:
We drop a car here. Dicky's BBQ / Starbuck at Vasco Rd and Scenic Ave:


Then I pick up the other guys in my van to shuttle all three of us and 3 bikes 15 miles to San Ramon. I will park .5 miles from the DMD start line in a San Ramon park. We pedal over to the start line and hit it.
Projected San Ramon Ride Start: about 8:15 to 8:30 AM
Starting at intersection of Executive Parkway and Camino Ramon

When it is all said and done it will be close to a 100 miles with 9000 feet of climbing because we have to ride bikes back to Dicky's BBQ when we end our "time trial" at Mines and Del Valle.

Confused yet?

If you are not too confused and you are interested, you would need to work out your own portage with another ride buddy to get back to San Ramon. The car we are dropping at Livermore only has room for the 3 of us to get back to San Ramon.

Now are you confused?

Midland

"Confused" is my middle name. Along with: "Danger", "Trouble" and "Should of Known Better". Sat. Morning...can't wait.

cccorlew

It must be time to post this again:

bikingshearer 

Suggestion - drop the car at or near the intersection of Mines and Del Valle. There is plenty o' room. (I lived about a quarter mile from there from age 8 until I wandered off to college.) The ride back into town is slightly downhill (as in 1% or less), but it is often head wind hell in the afternoon. Also, the later in the day on a Saturday, the more likely yo are to be dealing with drunken idiots coming home from a day of "fishing" at Del Valle. Granted, that's a bigger risk in the summer, but it promises to be a sunny day and the sun seems to bring out the drinkers around those parts. Besides, you are not going to want to ride back into town at that point.

Ygduf

What time do you think you guys will get to the end, the part where you shuttle back to start?

Lanceoldstrong

about 4 - 4:30

gpelpel

Would have loved to join the ride but already have a commitment later in the day so I need to be home around Noon.
Will probably see you on Diablo. I will repeat my ride from last week: Home - top of Diablo - Home (52 miles, 4700').

Midland

Curtis, that's my new tuck "the rabbit". ha ha

cccorlew

Returning readers, note meeting place change in 1st message!

Lanceoldstrong

Well this one is in the books, and I made the Mines Road rest stop time cut off with 23 minutes to spare. Not bad for February fitness and I will take it. 107 miles total with the trip back to the cars and 8868 feet of climbing.

cccorlew

For me:
I failed miserably. I did 6700+ feet of climbing and 63 miles in at such a slow pace — 11.3 mph average, 5:53:31 total time — that I bailed in Livermore and didn't even attempt Patterson Pass. I'd never have made it to the cutoff point in just two more hours. (This being a test to see if I could make the first 90 miles of the DMD fast enough to not be D.Q.ed at the first check point.)

Sucks big time. I know I'm slow, but I've always managed to muddle through. But I can't ride fast enough to hit the cut off time, there's really no point in starting.

Oh well. I guess I'll just keep my daily, flat, short, untimed commute going. Maybe on one of these. Specialized called. They want their Roubaix back.

cccorlew

By the way, LanceOldStrong looked great. I couldn't hold his wheel for even a moment.
I remember the old days when I could at least draft and hang on. That boy has come right along!

spingineer

I know exactly how you feel, Curtis. I just try to hang on ... and when I can't, I just try to push as much as I can, but within my limits.

Lanceoldstrong

Way, way too harsh on yourself dude. It is only February. Last September at Knoxville you slayed me up Cobb and Loch Lomand. Every dog has his day. You will have plenty more good day.

Midland

Curtis, dude you did great. Diablo for breakfast and then Morgan Territory is brutal.

Midland

Oldstrong 100+ miles and 8,800 ft. of climbing in the legs and happy as a clam. Thanks for the pull.

Midland

Diablo Scott's mountain was beautiful this morning.

hooligancyclist

Nice job. Nice shoes, Lance.
I could be wrong, but it looks like you are sitting quite a bit further back from the BB than usual, and you are pointing your toes down in the picture. Have you had a fit recently?
Otherwise, your back looks nice and straight.

Lanceoldstrong

I think Midland just took a picture at a weird time. This is at about mile 104 of 107 for me, I am just accompanying him on a quick out and back from the car to help him round his day out to a full 100. I think I was sitting high on the hoods and way back on the saddle just to kind of relax. I don't normally ride like that.

Thanks for the compliment on the shoes, Specialized S Works.
Take that, Bigbossman! (he thinks they are a bit "flamboyant")
But seriously, they are light as a fart and stiff as iron. They made as much performance difference for me as any upgrade I have made to the bike.

bikingshearer 

No, you did not. You were appropriately flexible in defining "sucess."


After that ride, I'll bet they smell like one, too.

(And bigbiossman is right.)

hooligancyclist

Hey Cccorlew, don't beat yourself up on your pace that day. Anything can happen on any day and you have 2.5 more months to pile on shape. I also notice that I am faster on race day even if just for the drafting, but the morale and competition help, not to mention the support. It would be fun to reg and do the first half like you said, I think you would make it.
Lance, I have those same shoes! Mine are white. My last pair were some black S-works with the single boa and a slightly different sole. Once I had conveniently lost those in the sierras where I couldn't find them, it was time to get the new model ;-)

motorider

Man, that sounds like a cool ride! I registered DMD too and definitely need to log some miles to prevent it from going too ugly.