Giro di Peninsula
 

This was an organized ride, which started in San Mateo, then went out to the coast then back, plus a few more hills and miles. Here's my report from the NorCal Forum:

This was kind of the June BF NorCal ride, which made this ride pretty cool. We met at 6:30 am, and there were a good number of BF members here from both NorCal and SoCal. Tiffanie came up from Huntington Beach, NYGirl777 (Asia) brought along her husband Travis, and friend Lara from Las Vegas to come along with the ride (although Tiffanie left a little later than us)

We rolled at around 6:50 am (who are we kidding, leave by 6:30 am???)
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...a/P6290035.jpg

Blastingradius ... one of the few times I'm able to see him on this ride
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...a/P6290040.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...a/P6290037.jpg

The 100 miler actually did the same route as the 100k, except doing one extra loop going up 84 down to Pescadero then back up Tunitas. Here's a shot going up 84:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...a/P6290044.jpg

There was a rest stop at mile 10, mostly for metric century riders, so I stopped by for a potty stop. But I didn't know everyone was continuing on, so I had to play catch up. I was powering up 84, and finally did meet up with Asia and Lara. We continued to ride on together down 84 to Pescadero. No big issues here.

After the rest stop in Pescadero, the route is supposed to go on 84, then turn a right at Hwy 1. However, most of the locals, including us, wanted to continue on Stage Road, which intersects with Hwy 1, then hang a right. I had to convince Asia and Lara that the reason we are doing this is it's scenic, and we get away for traffic for a little bit.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...a/P6290046.jpg

They were still whining at me ... is it because of the climbing we are doing? However, I did tell them the real climb is coming up ... a long sustained climb ... so I have this documented here!!!

Good thing I was riding with Asia and Lara, because they almost followed a couple of other riders who were not on the Giro, and were doing their own training route. I had to yell out hang a right at Tunitas ... they would have been on their way to Oregon! :eek:

I went up at my usual slow pokey pace. Asia and Lara went up ahead of me. No matter how many times I do Tunitas, it always gets the best of me. I did nothing different today. About 3 miles from the top, I see Asia and Lara waiting on the left side ... thanks ladies. They were wondering what happened to me ... I guess they never heard me say "I love hills, I just can't climb them ..." Then Asia says "How long is this friggin' hill" ... I tried convincing them the hard part of the climb is over, but somehow, she didn't believe me. So another guy comes up in some euro accent and says the same thing. Now she believes it. I guess I need to start speaking in a euro accent to obtain credibility? :roflmao: Ahpook, another BF'er, comes along side with us to continue the climb.

We made it over, then we were treated to a nice screaming downhill over Kings Mountain road, with plenty of switchbacks. Very nice. That's why we climb Tunitas, to be treated with Kings Mountain going down. Ahpook needed to get back earlier, so he went back and made it a 70 miler instead. Asia, Lara and I continued on the 100 miler.

We got to the firestation rest stop, and Asia wanted to wait for Tiffanie.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...a/P6300051.jpg

So Lara and I went on ahead. Travis, who was already at mile 80, had already done what we were going to do. He says to us "there ain't nothing pretty up there" ... assuming he meant the climbs are :eek: So we prepared for the worst. My knee was also feeling a bit of a twinge ... felt like a needle was stuck in my knee, so I made sure I wasn't pushing it too much. The climb up Page Mill was not that bad. Maybe because I was taking it really easy climbing ... again, Lara was up ahead of me. She is strong!

We were warned that someone went down on the descent on Altimont. They went over the guard railing, assuming they went too fast. We took this warning, and proceeded down with caution. No issues here ...

We proceeded to the next rest stop, and decided to wait for Asia and Tiffanie. We waited there for a good 30 minutes, but there was a no show. So we continued on. As we good back to the race track parking lot, we see everybody there ... including Asia. Tracy was worried, and was going to ride back to find us. Well, looks like Asia had a flat, and just continued on. She text messaged Lara, but she didn't have her cell phone on. Oh well.

As I am typing this, my legs are stiff, walking funny ... the usual thing with long hard rides. I think my rides this month are catching up with me. Hard double century last weekend, hard century this weekend.

I did hear that there were 9 riders who were taken in an ambulance. I really hope they aren't too serious, and hope they recover well.

Total mileage: 100.69 miles
Elevation Gain: 7633 feet
Riding Time: 7:58 ... ugh

Nice. I log on first thing and am treated to a ride report and pics. Thanks, Ron. And knock off the sandbagging. You aren't pokey. You ride at your own pace. Asia, you (as well as her friend, Lara) look so lovely in the photos (no fair! :p) Sounds like you guys had a good day of it, but sorry to hear 9 other little riders didn't fair so well. I'll update your info in the CAM thread as you knocked out your July Century for sure! :)

Good lookin' ride! Cold? I see a lot of long sleeves there early on. It's going to be close to 100 here today. We're heading to Mom's pool!

Sheldon

Hi Sheldon. I wouldnt say it was cold, just a chill early in the morning. The weather was perfect with lows in the mid to high 50's and highs around 80. There was also a pretty stiff wind in the afternoon, into the last 20 miles of the ride.:eek: I wore arm warmers when we took off, pushed em down on the climb, back up on the decent to the coast, then down the remainder of the day.

looks like a good ride!!!

Hey guys thanks for the great company before, during and after the ride. I'm so sorry I didnt get to hang around longer afterwards but we decided to head right back to Ontario so we could attend the Manhattan Beach races. It was a blast riding with Ron. We gave him a hard time about the route most of the day. :p I will post pics and more great stuff tomorrow. I just got back to Vegas.

Good Morning All:

Thanks Ron for the great description of the course. I too enjoyed the ride, riding with Tracy, Wayne, Daniel and for a bit with Tiffney and Sean. Thanks guys for making it a great day. By the way I was with Asia, Travis and her friend Lara.

The route after the firestation wasn't that bad, was it?

Actually it wasnt especially after eating about 6 more of those little red potatoes :D I rode in circles for a few minutes because my legs started to tighten up but then decided I could catch you guys. I was riding with a guy named Bruce, he was wearing a yellow livestrong jersey and he is the gentleman that changed my flat in like 3 minutes :love: he used his tube and co2 cartridges eventhough I had plenty. THANKS BRUCE. He suggested I use the floor pump to top it off. I called Lara - got voicemail - I wanted to use her hand pump. No big deal Bruce said there was a floor pump back at the firestation..........so back down I went. So whatever else was past the climb I have no idea. Didn't see it - didn't go - didn't want too :p However on a sadder note when we bombed back down Altamont or whatever that street was 2 people climbing side by side hooked handlebars and down they went. She smacked her head pretty dang hard on the pavement. I hope she is okay.
I pumped up my tire and waited a few minutes = which translates to - ate a few more red potatoes and off I went. I figured Lara and Ron probally just blew past the station so I would catch them or at least see them within the next few miles. No dice. Nothing. The rest of the ride back was pretty good. I hung out at the last rest stop devouring the melons and oranges :) boy were they tasty. Unfortunately I didnt get to see Tiffanie until after the ride when we were making our move out of the parking lot. Thanks for bringing my new jersey with you Tiffanie. I ended up with 97 miles....boo hoo. Luckily I already got my JUNE century in :p Had we not decided to go to the races we would have been able to hang out longer. I did have the pleasure of meeting REDAL in Manhattan Beach. I didn't see any other BFers :o

It seemed like I survived on those potatoes.:o Sorry I never got to catch up to you and the group, I tried but Tiff's legs were having nothing to do with chasing people down.I hope you enjoyed our beautiful climbs. They are soooo cool with the shade and beautiful redwoods.:p

Beautiful climbs ???? are you NUTS :eek: those 2 words do not belong together :p

Yes, they are beautiful.:p That wasnt the route I was hoping for at all. That was kinda the easier way around, and missed out on some great roads and parks. But never the less it was still fun. You had to enjoy kings mt rd decent didnt you? That road always gets me going, fast and flowing. You know I love to climb, and i prefer shaded areas, so those roads are my primary ride areas. You know you like to climb.

Actually it wasn't bad. We had a great time with the gentlemen from the Northern forum. We gave poor Ron so much crap I think he fell back on purpose on Tunitas :D he couldn't stomach us anymore. But we fixed him.....we waited for him :p so he could suffer some more. It was really peaceful riding in there (outside of the moaning and grunting).... the sound of the creek was heaven sent. Lara and I had fogged up our sunglasses with all the heavy breathing :p but spectacular views.

There was a guy ahead of us on a fixie that was cursing up a storm.

One of the guys from the Northern forum told me that you guys weren't that far behind so I tried to wait but my legs were saying different. Not to mention I was having a potato party and felt that if I wanted to finish to the ride I needed to leave some potatoes behind :o So up the hill -front wheel flat- back down the hill - I was just going to pump my tire at the fire station and leave but NOOOOOOOOOO I headed back to the potato tray :eek: popped a few more and rolled. Not sure if it was the potato or the salt that was sooooooooo tasty.

I have a feeling I just missed ya at the top of 84, but I waited for the group. Then on Tunitas I was planning to chase ya'all down. However I couldnt leave Tiffanie behind and her legs didnt want to go any faster, so we never caught ya. She hasnt been riding much and I think it took its toll on the climbs.

I've been saying all along, those potatoes are MANDATORY on organized rides. But watermelons were what did it for me ...

I told Lara that any minute you and Tiff were gonna come blastin by while we were on that climb. I was hoping to ride with you guys and have you suffer with my nonsense like poor Ron. :(

Nope, not the case. My climbing legs are just slower ... I told you how slow I am on the hills (even though I climb these all the time ... go figure). I was actually anticipating on meeting up with you at the top, and was surprised to see you waiting for me .... thanks a lot. It's always a lot more enjoyable to ride up the hill with friends :D as long as I can handle the pace!

Well Ron your grandmother could handle my pace :D

Well my grandmother is fast, because I was still behind you on Tunitas :D

Thursday afternoon we left Las Vegas to stay at our home in Ontario so we could have a nice pre-Giro ride Friday. We decided we would do GMR from the park to 39 blah blah blah.

Travis and myself
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s.../metravgmr.jpg
Lara
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s.../laraatgmr.jpg
karen - who by way was initially thinking about texting bitingduck so he could help her with the climb but managed it solo like a pro
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/karengmr.jpg

After GMR we took a shower at 24 hr fitness - had lunch - and hit the road.
Unfortunately we didn't get into Sunnyvalle in time to have dinner with Spingineer. Next time for sure.
Here are a few photos from the start - Ron help me with some names.

Ron: aka Sequin Man with VMC and Blastingradius ( henry ) to the right
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...atthestart.jpg
More great company
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...rthernguys.jpg
Ivan I think? I loved his sky blue jersey
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...GIRO/marco.jpg
Lara
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...O/laragiro.jpg
Northen forum folks
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...tofthegiro.jpg

After the Giro I was able to hang out with Trac, VMC and Daniel for awhile until Karen and Lara returned.
I only got to see Tiff and Sean for a brief moment because we had to get on the road to make our way back to Ontario.

Sunday morning we rode over to see the Gran Prix

Beautiful scenery
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...attanbeach.jpg

After the last race we headed home took a shower and on the road to Vegas again. Great weekend, great friends and a wonderful husband :love: I don't know how he does it.... I can barely stand myself at times.

This is a great shot. Love the jerseys ... so photogenic !!!!

I have to say this was my worst day on a bike since I started riding last year. There were so many things that added up and made it so physically challenging for me. However, of course the company and the scenery was outstanding, as always.

Tiff it was hard to tell all of that took place. You looked great like you were just about to start the ride. I know all too well about the saddle issues. The last group ride we did on GMR my last blood clot finally burst when you saw me on the side of the road heading up to the village....again thank god for mr. beanz....I switched back to my specialized seat - the original one that came with the bike and low and behold didn't have a problem at the Giro.
Your recovery ride looked like fun too. Hopefully you felt better Sunday.

Cool ride. :)