Berkeley Hills Death Ride - Interest?
07-16-09, 09:20 PM
#1
moth -----> flame
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Berkeley Hills Death Ride - Interest?
RIDE REPORT + PICS HERE
AUGUST 29th 2009 Start at Rockridge BART (@ THE STAIRS TO THE WESTERN PARKING LOT ACROSS PASSENGER FOOTBRIDGE), rolling at 8 sharp. If you want to join, but not do Marin, then meet at the junction of Grizzly Peak, Wildcat Canyon and Spruce NLT 8:30.
OK, I've blathered on about this one long enough, it's time to organize a local suffer-fest. I need to get this one done as it was one of my goals this year. We should plan to start early (to avoid getting baked on later climbs) - say 7:30-8am ish from Rockridge BART.
Climbs are
1. Marin - optional start up point after this for those not wanting to try Marin
2. South Park
3. Centennial
4. El Toyonal/Lomas Cantadas
5+6. Claremont + Volmer peak
Easy break point between climbs 3 and 4. Water/bathrooms readily accessible on Wildcat before South Park and Inspiration Point (bathroom only), the little trains (corner of GP and Lomas), Orinda *bux.
I updated the route somewhat, https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...lls-Death-Ride
The route in bikely stops at the top of Volmer, after 40ish miles, and 7100ft of climbing. There are many options to extend, let's play that by ear.
The original write up: https://www.inl.org/bicycle/deathride.html
Roll call:
IN
Beaker
mellum76
Ygduf - wavering
uspspro+ruthness
xg43x
Bostic
chrisoco
shatdow
dl33
MAYBE
jonjononline
MAYBE/NO MARIN
Robocheme?
AUGUST 29th 2009 Start at Rockridge BART (@ THE STAIRS TO THE WESTERN PARKING LOT ACROSS PASSENGER FOOTBRIDGE), rolling at 8 sharp. If you want to join, but not do Marin, then meet at the junction of Grizzly Peak, Wildcat Canyon and Spruce NLT 8:30.
OK, I've blathered on about this one long enough, it's time to organize a local suffer-fest. I need to get this one done as it was one of my goals this year. We should plan to start early (to avoid getting baked on later climbs) - say 7:30-8am ish from Rockridge BART.
Climbs are
1. Marin - optional start up point after this for those not wanting to try Marin
2. South Park
3. Centennial
4. El Toyonal/Lomas Cantadas
5+6. Claremont + Volmer peak
Easy break point between climbs 3 and 4. Water/bathrooms readily accessible on Wildcat before South Park and Inspiration Point (bathroom only), the little trains (corner of GP and Lomas), Orinda *bux.
I updated the route somewhat, https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...lls-Death-Ride
The route in bikely stops at the top of Volmer, after 40ish miles, and 7100ft of climbing. There are many options to extend, let's play that by ear.
The original write up: https://www.inl.org/bicycle/deathride.html
Roll call:
IN
Beaker
mellum76
Ygduf - wavering
uspspro+ruthness
xg43x
Bostic
chrisoco
shatdow
dl33
MAYBE
jonjononline
MAYBE/NO MARIN
Robocheme?
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Last edited by Beaker; 08-30-09 at 11:26 AM.
07-16-09, 10:10 PM
#4
Come on, it'll be fun
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I've been wanting to do this for a long time.
Either date is fine w/ me.
BR
Either date is fine w/ me.
BR
07-16-09, 10:13 PM
#5
Spinning like a gerbel
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What's with this fascination with pain? There was a reason why I got a triple. If I'm not on-call, I'm in.
07-16-09, 10:38 PM
#6
moth -----> flame
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I've been taking detours while driving through Berkeley recently to take in Marin and keep saying to myself, "hey this can't be so bad", "look this parts almost flat". Denial is a wonderful thing.
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07-16-09, 10:43 PM
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07-16-09, 11:06 PM
#10
moth -----> flame
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SSSHHHHH Georges!! Don't disturb my denial - I'm currently expecting to be able to climb this, err, maybe.
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07-16-09, 11:09 PM
#11
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To my mind (not having done it on my bike yet), the first block from the circle is moderately steep, then there are several blocks where it's not too bad, but the top 3 blocks are the crazy stuff. I've made it up Hiller before (that's 20-25%) so think I can make this, but having the worst part coming at the end is a little sick.
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07-16-09, 11:09 PM
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Yeah, it's doable Rich. YOU CAN DO IT!
...
...
...
One street block a day though.
...
...
...
One street block a day though.
07-16-09, 11:13 PM
#13
moth -----> flame
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I vote that if we actually finish this ride, then Alex should award all finishers his recently designed jersey:
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07-17-09, 12:20 AM
#14
ahhhh
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I'm interested. I've done all those climbs except Marin, and yes I've been thinking about doing it lately. After that the whole thing would be a cinch. I could do either the 8th or 29th, I think. I'd rather catch up with people at the traffic circle or somewhere similar, since I basically live down Marin. I'll keep an eye on this thread.
07-17-09, 10:23 AM
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Mashing towards happiness
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07-17-09, 11:34 AM
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If my back is healed up by then I'm in. The bottom of Marin is only a mile from my house, so at the very least I'll come out and heckle/cheer on my cruiser.
07-17-09, 11:37 AM
#21
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Agreed. I no longer actually like any of the jersey's I own, and wear them based on color/pocket usability. You'll probably all get very sick of the hideous DR jersey I just ordered. I don't think cyan/hot pink are my colors, really!
07-17-09, 02:27 PM
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Let me think about this for a sec, Richard. ..... Uh, no way. The hill up to my house is 18% and only about 30 yards long and that is my limit.
Have fun with it, though. It seems like you suckered a lot of people in on this.
Have fun with it, though. It seems like you suckered a lot of people in on this.
07-17-09, 08:28 PM
#24
moth -----> flame
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Awe come on Cliff - you know you want to give it a try. Of course, there's a few options here that could make this have broader appeal - one is for folks who don't want to do Marin, then we meet at the top, and of course there are the "mild discomfort" alternatives.
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07-19-09, 05:35 PM
#25
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I went and got a short loop in this morning, including El Toyonal/Lomas Cantadas, first time with a Garmin and my new 34x26 low gear. That always spanks me - think I'll get my 27 out for the ride though. Here's my Garmin profile for the climbs that I've done from the list:
Marin (note, I had to take two detours at the top to finish this, along with an unplanned tack near the top - the gradient dips to 20%, I definitely wouldn't advise trying that again)
South Park (OK, this was a descent, but you get the idea, possibly slightly underestimating the steepness of the top section)
Centennial (this was tough, that section past the half way mark of 15ish% does make you crawl)
El Toyonal/Lomas Cantadas (Lomas starts just after the dip, just before mile 5 on the plot is a beast)
Claremont (probably the easiest of the bunch, but it gets to you by the time it gets steep. The Garmin data is probably a little whacked here as there's more tree cover to contend with)
Marin (note, I had to take two detours at the top to finish this, along with an unplanned tack near the top - the gradient dips to 20%, I definitely wouldn't advise trying that again)
South Park (OK, this was a descent, but you get the idea, possibly slightly underestimating the steepness of the top section)
Centennial (this was tough, that section past the half way mark of 15ish% does make you crawl)
El Toyonal/Lomas Cantadas (Lomas starts just after the dip, just before mile 5 on the plot is a beast)
Claremont (probably the easiest of the bunch, but it gets to you by the time it gets steep. The Garmin data is probably a little whacked here as there's more tree cover to contend with)
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Last edited by Beaker; 08-24-09 at 07:44 PM. Reason: Adding in the final profiles