Sunday, April 25, 2010

Diablo Century 2010

Tricia and I rode the Diablo Century Sunday. One hundred of the slowest miles I've ridden. I started feeling low, and finished lower. Every once in a while I'd push myself up to slow, then drop back to barely moving. I'm not sure if it was last weekends double, a week off the bike letting me knee recover, the extra glass of wine at dinner, or the alignment of the stars. But I was dog meat all day. But I grunted through it. I didn't even bail at the metric point turn off.

A shame, because Tricia was in great form. She held back a lot, but I still didn't see much of her. She just couldn't ride slowly enough. She'd have enjoyed rocking this ride, but I didn't give her a chance.

On the up side, my knee was fine after I warmed up, so I think I'll be OK for the Davis Double. Here's hoping I don't ride there like I did today. And I made it. I can ride an ugly 100 miles even feeling like crap. That's got to be some kind of accomplishment, even if it's the sort of thing that doesn't usually get written up in magazines. No medals were awarded, but still...

The ride it itself was fine. Good support, and a nice route that included Morgan Territory, Sunol, Redwood Road and Pinehurst Rd and Canyon. Even really nice folks at the stops. Sure, I've done this on my own, but it was nice to support a good local effort by the Walnut Creek Jewish Community Center.

No photos. I carried a camera, but was too beat to use it. Plus, without Tricia near enough to photograph, what would be the point?

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:18 AM

    Don't feel too bad....I planned on the full 100 miles but bailed at Livermore and did the 100km....I blew up too early, following 2 fast guys up Morgan Territory to the summit. I'd never ridden any of these roads, so I had no idea how to pace myself. Do what I did - rationalize that this was just a training ride for the next century! I'd never ridden out there, so all the roads where new to me. Question, I saw somewhere that you have ridden the Canyon Classic Century. What do you think of that event? I felt like I was riding alone at the Diablo. Sure, I started right at 6:30, but saw no one after I went to the 100km route.
    -john

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  2. The Canyon Classic 100 mile version (without Hamilton) was really pretty. We rode last year after a rainstorm. Threat of rain must have kept a lot of riders away because we felt like we were riding alone. That said, it was a nice enough route we think we'll do it again.
    Read:
    http://ccorlew.blogspot.com/2009/06/canyon-classic-century-2099.html

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  3. Anonymous10:06 AM

    Curtis,
    Many thanks! I'll most likely be out there. I live in San Jose and have ridden over Hamilton out to Modesto, as well as an annual Hamilton-Livermore-Calaveras loop. WIll be unique and fun to do it from the reverse direction. Appreciate the insight.
    -john

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  4. Diablo Century - nice folks, good cause and a creative route. Not crazy about the stretch through Castro Valley, but I knew it was coming so I just had to cope.

    I think the route markings got a little dicey in Livermore. A bunch of us missed a key right turn and head 3-4 miles off into the sunset before it dawned on us that we were off route. Also towards the end they began to cut the route arrows (literally) because they had started to run out. Some route finding challenges in Lafeyette. All and all a good ride!

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