Blue Lake ride

Tricia and I are visiting Mariel and Keith on our way to Crater Lake. They live in the lovely town of Blue Lake near Arcata. We managed to sneak in thirty miles this morning, and we are so glad we did. We rode through redwoods, through fog, and through country lanes covered by the tree canopies. We rode over Mad River, worthwhile for the name alone.

Keith picked our route, and together we managed to build a circular route in Google maps using the bike feature and MyMaps points. It generally worked, though we're still puzzled over one odd turn it suggested.

Memorial ride for Glenn Corlew

I lost my father, Glenn Corlew, on Saturday morning. I needed to get tired and turn off my head, and at the same time, remember him. I decided to ride up Mt. Diablo as a memorial. Several of my supportive bikeforums.net friends joined me and my sweet wife for a wonderful ride. Thanks to you all.

Photo by Irene Hightower. I hope she doesn't mind.

The joy of hill repeats

When Dan (LanceOldStrong on Bikeforums.net) said we'd put a stone on the bumper every time we got to the top of the hill again, I thought he was being funny. But after three I had no idea how many we'd done and was glad for the pebbles.

As part of our assault on the California Triple Crown 1000-miles-worth-of-doubles jersey, we plan to attempt the Knoxville Double. We've got three doubles under our belts, but this one has a lot more climbing. To train we've decided to commit one night a week to pain, with no fun.

Our first effort was hill repeats up Avila Road in Bay Point, a dead end road that runs next to Highway 4 over the Willow Pass. Each .7 mile trip up averages just over 9 percent. We did eight. I tried to keep my heart rate above 90% max on each. During one silly "I'm in the tour" moment I was reading 99.

It sure wasn't fun, but I'm hoping it helps make my next double century a success. Because two weeks after Knoxville is the Bass Lake Powerhouse Double...

Mt. Hamilton

LanceOldStrong of Bikeforums.net and I had never ridden up the famed Mt. Hamilton. It's a classic SF Bay Area ride, so we figured we'd better get it done this summer. It was a stellar day, so sunscreen was in order. More is better, too much is just right.

The ride up is about 20 miles, with a couple of short downhill sections in the middle. The whole thing makes for just a bit over 5000 feet of climbing. Since the road was built to haul up huge parts for the Lick Observatory it never gets steeper than about a six percent grade. That makes for a very nice ride indeed. The observatory is old school UC Berkeley architecture. It makes you feel smarter just from walking through it. It's really a beautiful place.
The ride back down is a blast. It isn't as steep or as technical as Diablo, so you can feel almost like you're skiing it without thinking that you might miss a corner any second. The pavement was a delight, especially near the bottom, where it's baby-butt smooth. All in a all it's a very rewarding 40 mile round trip.

We're thinking about doing a future ride as a 100+ mile loop from Livermore, and up the back side. It's supposed to be a bit harder, and it's over 100 miles.

We were wearing our new Northern California gear. Our fans seem to love it.

New Northern California BikeForums kit

The kits I designed for the gang at the (take a breath) "BikeForums.net Northern California sub forum" finally arrived. With a lot of help from Tricia and daughter Erin I mailed out a bus load of USPS flat rate envelopes filled with jerseys, vests shorts and bibs. I ordered myself a jersey, summer jersey, long sleeve fleece jacket/jersey, bibs and knickers and was releaved when they came that I do indeed actually like the design.

Tricia got shorts and a jersey. I made photos of her after 25 fast miles in 90 degree heat and she's still talking to me.
Champion Systems did the work on the jerseys, and did a nice job. I particularly like their summer jersey, which has mesh bits that keep you cool, but doesn't look like mesh.

The kit is getting a pretty good review in the forums, and I didn't mail anyone the wrong size, so life is good.

Art in Antioch, part 1

I'm going to try adding a new feature to this blog: Public art that I see on my bike rides in East County, particularly Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood and Pittsburg.

When Tricia and I rode past the new sculpture at the corner of Rockspring and Mt. Hamilton in Antioch, I swear I thought Antioch had at last embraced a Dr. Seuss world view. The piece, by artist Robert Ellison, is both monumental and whimsical. It twists like the wind is about to take it down, and looks like... well, it looks exactly how it looks. If you don't smile, or even laugh, when you see it you're just missing out on life somehow.

As with much of the public art in Antioch, the problem isn't the art as much as it is Antioch. As fun as the piece is, it's dwarfed by the surrounding homes and light poles. I can't help but think how much more interesting this piece would be in a less crowded environment. Maybe it says something about Antioch that the largest pieces of public sculpture in the area are traffic lights. We're so used to them we don't see them, but they are amazingly large cantilevered light-emitting, sway-in-the-wind, big-dollar public monuments. This little piece has a hard time competing.

Judging from the newspaper web site comments, this piece seem to be confounding the citizenry of Antioch much as the delightful Sprint Poles befuddled the city of Concord a few years ago. I always fear we'll only get the art we deserve. I'm hoping this shows that isn't always true. This work is a step up from a lot of the trite, predictable pieces we have elsewhere in the city. I hope it's a trend.

Mt Diablo Hill Climb Time Trial 2010

Photo from Diablo Scott and his magnificent blog

It's now official: I am slow.
This isn't exactly news, but it the first time it's been 100% official, complete with numbers and statistics, officially timed and UCI certified.
My start time was 9:26. I know that because I wrote it in sharpie on my leg because I just couldn't keep it in my head.
I competed in the 55+ group. My single-day race license had me as 16 years old, but that got sorted out at the the registration table. As I pined my number on I saw zillion dollar bikes on wind trainers, ridden by the amazingly thin. I just rode around a bit to warm up.

The start was an official platform, just like the one ones at the races you see on TV. That itself was intimidating. I was worried I'd slip just walking up the ramp. There was a holder, and I was worried I'd fall over, or somehow screw up. I'd read that I should be careful not to start in too big a gear, so I didn't.

And BOOM, I started.
My plan was to start relatively easy and ramp up as I went along, saving a lot for the last third. But I was too too excited. I was at 95% of my max heart rate in seconds. I passed my first rider in about 3 minutes. Unfortunately it wasn't a racer, just a rather heavy cyclist out for a ride. Oh well. I was passed by some rocket lad at about mile one. Many others passed me before I finished. I lost count.

I was trying to keep my heart rate at 92-93%. Any more and I'd have died before I finished. I did have bursts of 95-96 and dropped down to the high 80's just for a moment when I lost concentration.
I saw Diablo Scott making photos, and, when I saw a small car-flattened snake I thought I should photograph it for him for his road kill report. But I had no camera, and it was, after all, a race.

Eventually it all ended about 6 miles later, right by the ranger house. It's now hours later and my chest still hurts from breathing so hard. I know I'm slow, but I can't believe how fast some people blow past me. It's just amazing.

I'm waiting for the results to be posted on the web so I can see if anyone was slower than me. When I looked at the sheets they had taped up, I didn't see anyone who was.
On the up side, I had thought I'd hit 50 minutes. I think my official time was 42-something, so I beat my estimate. And I didn't die, or screw up any one else in their attempt.
Still, it would be swell to be just a hair less slow — to maybe break 40 or something.

I guess there's always next year...

BREAKING NEWS:
The results are up. I was not last. There were five mens finishers slower than me. Sure, three were juniors. And I was last in my group. But I'll take what I can get.

Mendocino Monster Century 2010

The Mendocino Monster lived up to it's name. It really was a monster. Though it was billed as a century with 8000 feet of climbing, my Garmin reported it as
111 miles with 10,379 feet of up.

Tricia and I started the night before with a dinner in Ukiah at Patrona with a contingent of Bike Forum folks. The food was wonderful, but I don't know if I've ever been to a slower restaurant.

Sunday Morning we rolled out of the parking lot right at 7am. I wish the organizers would have planned for an earlier start, and hope they do next year. We left Ukiah and headed toward Mendocino and the coast in the cool but comfortable morning air.

Overall, this ride has fewer "junk miles" than any ride I've done. Lots of rides, though beautiful, have sections of city streets, traffic lights, broken glass and stickers, or high traffic. This ride was 99.9% unreal. The whole thing takes place in an unreal landscape. There are sweeping vistas, old-growth redwoods, wildflowers and wonderful aromas the whole way.

The ride is tough. I don't recall a flat spot the whole day. We either went up, or down. The ride starts with a tough climb, but having fresh legs makes it fun. The same hill, but a different route on the way back seems like it will never end, even though there aren't any steep spots, just a relentless 6% grade for miles.

If there was a downside to the route, it might be the road surface. A lot of the way the road is in ill repair, potholed and rough. In some spots it's merely gravel.
Oddly, it didn't bother me much. I think my magic Roubaix and the fact that I took my descents cautiously made my day less painful. I'd hate to try to get max speed on some of the surfaces we rode.

The feeling of an otherwise wonderful day was somewhat darkened by two crashes. On rider crashed right by LanceOldStrong. It appeared something happened to his bike. He was airlifted out. We saw another rider being loaded on an ambulance later in the day. I'd sure like to find out how they are, and what happened.

This was the organization's first effort, and they did a fine job. Lox and bagels at one rest stop, tri-tip at the post-ride meal. They marked the route well, and were just nice people. Tricia and I both won raffle prizes (Wine and a bottle of local apple brandy!)

My camera got a smudge on the lens part way through, so most of my photos have a weird dream-like look. I guess that makes sense for a ride with so many "tobacco accessory" shops downtown.

There's even a music a video!



In related news:

• With just a little pressure/encouragement from LanceOldStrong (shown below, hammering uphill) I've signed on for the Knoxville Double and Bass Lake/Powerhouse Double. We'll volunteer at the Mt. Tam Double. With luck we'll qualify for the California Triple Crown 1000 mile jersey.
• Saddle sores are a pain. After years of riding I finaly get to try one, and I do not recommend them, Yech.

Davis Double, 2010 and a ride up Diablo

Things I failed to post: (I've been a bum and haven't kept this up.)

Diablo Summit:
Fun ride up Diablo with Tricia, LanceOldStrong and Steve.
I think it's because I had camera issues and hate to post without art. But Steve provided me with a Diablo photo. (Thanks!)


Davis Double 2010: Complete! Alas, no ride photos...
Here's a quick outline of Davis:

I started with LanceOldStrong George P and Dante at 4am. I managed to hang on their hammer-fest until stop one, where I didn't stop. I rolled and they caught me again, and again I couldn't hang on. I rolled the second stop, just for water. I didn't dismount the bike until mile 95.
My goal was to minimize stop time, and I did. I was stopped altogether less than an hour, allowing me to finish at 15 hours 7 minutes. I got in a hair after 7 in the daylight.
A few thoughts:

• Riding with temps in the 70s instead on 100s makes for a nicer day indeed.
• Cobb is still steep.
• I'd forgotten the downhill just before Resurrection rest stop. What a blast.
• I had a headwind rolling downhill on Cashe Creek and was going really slow until I got behind a big strong guy and then hit 20 and 22 for a lot of it. What a relief.
• LanceOldStrong and I now qualify for the Triple Crown jersey.

I averaged only 14.1 moving speed. Weak. I was faster last year in the heat. Heck, I was 15.1 at Hemet, and 14.9 at Davis in the amazing heat of 08. So I was a slow rider this year.
But...
I turned in my best overall time and speed: 15:07 hours. as opposed to 16:37 last year. That's a huge difference! My overall average speed, counting stops, went to 13.3 mph.
15:07 total hours, and a moving time of 14:15 means I wasn't moving only 52 minutes of the ride.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to approach this ride in the future. Go faster and rest more, or carry on with minimal stops.
I know, I should HTFU and do both. Like that's possible.

And, finely

• Carbon bike: 3K plus
• Davis Registration and two hotel nights: 300ish
• Having my sweet wife greet me at the finish with a hug, kiss and great big, perfectly chilled bottle of Lagunitas IPA: Priceless.

Tour of California Sacramento finish 2010

It was a tough race, but even wearing blue jeans I managed to nudge out Radio Shack's Armstrong in the end. Either that or Nissan had a booth with a green screen and a bike on a trainer where they'd photograph you and give you a print.

The "lifestyle festival" was fun, even though I can't say "lifestyle" without gagging just a bit. We drooled over 12 pound bikes and graffitti-decorated cruisers. Tricia got a Hincappie jersey and I bought super light tires at much less than half price at the Kenda booth. I really wanted the $300 Skinz bib shorts, but managed to talk myself out of spending that kind of money. We also picked up some carbon wheels (picked up, not bought) that seemed like a good deal at $2500.

Watching the Sacramento Grand Prix was amazing. It's really magic when the pelton blows past creating wind like a semi truck and sounds like a machine shop.

Bike to Work Day posters 2010

My graphic design class designed posters for Los Medanos College Bike to Work Day. Here's a quick slide show of the best ones. You can also look at it full screen.

Serious injury or death

I peeled eleven stickers off my new Specialized Roubaix Expert. Most were silly, but the "serious injury or death" is somewhat worrisome. But still, not as worrisome as the type choice Specialized made for these stickers. I went a bit nuts and rode the bike without reading all the instructions. I wonder if I missed anything really important?

Specialized Roubaix Expert

It's here! It's here! I finely got the bike of my dreams, and so far it seems to ride like a dream. From the first short test up a really beat up Antioch street to today's descent down Mt. Diablo it's been even nicer than I'd hoped for.

Details: Specialized Roubaix Expert. Full Ultegra 6700. Triple (52-39-30 with 12-28)

I changed out the stock Avatar saddle after a 30-second test and put a Specialized Toupe 130 on it, which fits me better, is lighter and as a bonus, just looks swell.

As much as I like the package, I do have a few quibbles. Why they put 42 cm bars on a 52 cm bike is beyond me. It seems like a mismatch. I've got 40s on order at the shop. Other than the width, though, the bars feel great. I really like the shallow drop.

I wish they'd have shipped reach spacers with the bike. The new Ultegra 6700 has reach adjust with inserts. I have small hands and like pretty compact shifters. I'd ordered the inserts online. They're only a couple of bucks, but it seems like they should have been included.

The wheels are very nice looking. Perhaps a bit more weighty than my American Classic 420s, but they look sharp. I'm already looking forward to the tires wearing out so I'll have an excuse to put on something I like more than the stock Specialized All Terrain extra-heavy-seeming tires.

But the darn bike looks so sharp I haven't added the second water bottle cage, the GPS, seat bag or pump yet. I know I need to so the bike will be really practical, but it's hard to hang all that junk on it when it looks so clean now. I'll just have to ride with Tricia a while and steal her tube and pump if I flat.

It may be uncool, but I am enjoying the triple thus far. The 52-39-30 chain rings seem to fit my riding more than the compact 50-34 on my other bike. And I have no ego about dropping into the granny. It just works for me.

Tricia and I went up Diablo's South Gate with BikeForum.net's RoboChem (Cliff) to shake out adjustment details and try it on a hill. He said he's never been in anyone's blog before, so here he is. The ride up was easy, and the ride down, even in the wind, was very stable. The way the bike sucks up vibration and bumps is confidence inspiring.

My sweet daughter has been in Italy in a study abroad program. She said she saw this jersey through a window in the back of a shop as she walked past and thought I'd love it. She was so very right. And it's even better because it came from her. Here's a photo of it.

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?

Performance enhancing drugs for me

I keep reading about performance enhancing drugs, and I thought "Why are they just for professionals?" After all, we get to ride the same bikes they do, and wear the same clothes they do. So when my knee started hurting to the point it was affecting my riding I did what I assume the pros do: I went to the apothecary seeking help.

Indeed they had exactly what I needed. Magic redish pills called Ibuprofen and a stinky concoction named "Tiger Balm."

Humming "Eye of the Tiger" for good luck I applied the balm and ate a couple of ibuprofen and, shazam, I was rolling again.

I guess it isn't really fair, as it does give me an advantage over the competition. Later that day I was able to blast away from a stop light and drop a hybrid rider who had bragged about his "eighteen-mile ride" while we waited for the light to change.

There is a downside I understand. The reek of Tiger Balm is enough to send friends and family running. And if you use ibuprofen you run the risk of getting used to not being in pain. But at the level I ride at I guess I just have to be willing to make a few sacrifices. So it goes.

Hemet Double Century 2010

If you appreciate the environment of Bakersfield, the culture of Fresno or the city planning of Oakley, you’ll enjoy Hemet California, the starting point for the Hemet Double Century.

Fellow BikeForums.net poster LanceOldStrong and I launched from Northern California on Friday morning. Mr. LanceOldStrong commented that his Garmin only noted “Here be dragons” once we got south of central California. But we were on our quest for leg two of our attempt for the California Triple Crown jersey and would not be deterred. After a seemingly endless drive we finally arrived in Hemet, where we checked in and were informed that, “No, the route is not marked at all,” but we could leave as early as we wanted.

Bikes in order, clothes set out, we got to bed early and I promptly had dreams of trying to start, but not being able to find my arm warmer. I unpacked my seat bag and pulled out jackets, tires, cantaloupe and all kinds of impossible stuff, but no arm warmer. I had a two-foot tall stack on the sidewalk. What a dream. But I woke up and it was time to go. Oh, wait, no it was only 9:30 pm. And that’s how my night went.

Eventually it was really time to leave. We rolled over to the start and signed in and were on our way, with lights, in the total darkness of 4:30 am.

The first few miles were a preview of my entire day. I sat on LanceOldStrong’s wheel and hung on for dear life. Darkness? Ha! Bumpy road? Ha! Traffic? Ha! We just screamed through the night, him leading, me worried I’d lose his wheel and never see him again.

As strong a rider as Mr. LanceOldStrong is, he is not a climber (thank God.) Usually climbing is where all the work is. For me, the only rest I got was on the few hills when he slowed down. I often found myself praying for more hills. I didn’t get many.

There is one area I’m quick at: Rest/check points. Early in a ride I hate to stop for longer than it takes to fill my bottle. I’m so old I feel like my engine just seizes up if I stop for long. Mr. LanceOldStrong is more methodical at the stops. I found myself circling the parking lot enough that it showed in my mileage total.

But I can’t complain. Thanks to OldStrong’s big pulls we ended up with a rolling speed average of 15.9 for the first 100 miles.

A unique feature of this double is that it loops back to the start at 100 miles, so we were able to drop by our hotel, shed some clothes and restock energy stuff before we started our second half.

I’m not used to astroturf lawns, but if I lived in Hemet I sure would be. Our route took us through the mobile home zone where they seem to be a requirement.

At last we got to a decent hill. It’s really only 1000 feet over eight miles or so, but to hear people talk you’d have thought it was Mt. Diablo. It was the only real bump the entire day, and it was also by far the most attractive part of the ride.

We had a rest stop/check point at a winery where I caused some small amusement by buying four bottles and asking for them to be sagged back to the start. (It worked!)

After that it was just trying to hang onto OldStrong’s wheel again.

Right at dusk as the light started to fade and we started up a hill we rode past a stock yard ripe with the aroma of urine and manure and into a swarm of small bugs. It was really a low point. But after cresting that last bump we kicked on the lights and both got a burst of “horse and barn” and managed to light it up for the last few miles. It turns out that 203 miles feels a lot farther than the 195 of Solvang.

After the ride we managed to have another adventure trying to find a restaurant without a drive-through that stays open after 9pm in Hemet. We eventually ended up at what OldStrong called a “gringo mexican” place next to the ride start. I got the margarita I craved and all was good.

Final stats via Garmin 305:
203.65 total miles
6912 climbing (Ascent smoothed)
15.3 average moving speed
15:38 total time

Damage: Right knee really hurts. Enough I skipped riding to work today. I’m hoping to ride the Diablo Century on Sunday, so I’m doing lots of voodoo.

Best stat: 15.9 moving average for the first 100 miles

Special awards:
LanceOldStrong for the big pulls, and great navigation
Nick and Melgarpoe, who we hooked up with on the ride and were just plain fun to roll with.

Library Scraper Bikes

Bonus photo: Los Medanos College doesn't allow bikes inside campus buildings, but these cool scraper bikes made it into the library entrance anyway. I'm glad. They kind of class up the place.

Party Pardee ride

Joyce in the yellow and Tricia in the white cruise the California foothills.

The Party Pardee ride out of Ione CA put on by the Sacramento Bike Hikers was a blast. Every year they have a theme. This year's was baseball. They had baseball trivia questions lining the walls at the post ride dinner. Servers wore ball uniforms. They even served hot dogs at the rest stops.

The ride itself is 65 miles through the absolutely beautiful springtime California foothills. This years rain produced ponds and filled the creeks along the rides. The wildflowers were out in force. Minimal climbing made for a fast and delightful ride, but we still had time to enjoy the views.

The day started a bit on the cold side, and instead of warming up it just got colder. Still, there were just enough hills to keep us warm. The Bike Hikers insisted on a rest (read food) stop every 15 miles, so I dutifully stopped and stuffed my face at every one. I may have gained weight on the ride. If the ride food didn't do it the stops at two local wineries put me over the top. All in all, a very good day.

Solvang Double in the bag

I'm like a kid who knows he has to go to the dentist, but it's his birthday, and Christmas too. He's been called to the principal's office, and there's a bully lurking, but the girl he has a crush on just smiled at him. That was me the night before and morning of the Solvang Double Century.

Just getting all my junk together was a chore. I was so afraid I'd forget something I organized myself into disorganization. When we got to the motel I was sure I'd left my cycling clothes behind and started to panic. Tricia had brought them into the room and I was too wound up to see the big box they were in. It went on like that.

But shortly after 5 am I rolled out with my crew, with all the crap that makes a pretty bike look like a skid row trash pile: Lights, GPS, route sheet clipped on the cables, two water bottles and a huge ugly (but necessary) seat bag.
The morning ride out of Solvang in the dark was amazing. We looked like an endless trail of ants marching with candles in a religious procession as we wound our way through the hills.

I had a cold start, but used a tip I'd read somewhere. I wore an old sweatshirt I planned to abandon. It kept me warm even though my fingers froze. I dumped it at rest stop 2 and stopped looking like a total fred.

Here are a few of my disconnected memories of the ride

• The 3:30 AM call from my riding partner LanceOldStrong (Daniel) telling me he checked with the desk and that since I gave him a ride I was clear to park in the hotel lot, thereby saving me from obsessing over where to park.
• The amazing dawn as we rode through... I have no idea where we were, but it was amazing.
  
• Riding with "Big Georges." I was so beat I kept thinking I was with Big George Hincapie and maybe he'd give me some bike clothes.
• Almost missing a turn in the dark and thinking the change in road color was a cliff.
• The speed run pace line that ran at 22-24 for quite a while. I'm not used to that and it was a blast.
• Getting way too much info about LanceOldStrong's last check point break (ask him, or better yet, don't.)
• Riding behind LanceOldStrong after Pismo Beach for miles and miles at an amazing speed. That guy can crank.
• Being thrilled that the alleged 8-mile climb at the end was really only 2. What a deal.
• Telling Dan to "Light it up" with about 3 miles to go and watching him explode downhill.
• Seeing the cool poster Dan's kid's made him at the finish. Way sweet.
• Having MyLilPony sneak up behind me and rub my aching neck at the ride finish.

The best part might have been after the last rest stop. There was a climb, and we'd heard it was the big climb of the day. It was 2, 4 or 8 miles, depending on who I asked. It was steap, and over a really bad road. I was thinking it was going to get really old if it went on for 8 miles. But suddenly we were at the top. It was actually really short, and the summit that was marked on our cue sheet was really just a small rise near the finish.

Finishing stats via the Garmin and Assent:
Moving speed: 15.1 mph
Average speed with stops: 13.4 mph
Rolling time: 12:47
Total time out: 14:20
Climbing: 8020 feet
Pain: Monday, a tired neck and a tight right calf. Could be worse.

Elevation profile. Click map for large version

Map. Click map for really large version

Solvang "training" report and jerk encounter

Deborah and LanceOldStrong climb Morgan Territory Road

I've been negligent in reporting my recent rides, so I'll toss in three in this post.
What with the Solvang Double just two weeks away I've been concerned — not really worried — but concerned about the lack of major mileage I've put in this year. The big problem is that it's been wet most weekends. I do have my daily bike commute that I never miss, and that helps, but it isn't exactly long distance. Over the last three weekends I've at least put in some mileage, though not the kind that really gets one ready for 200.

Feb 28, 80 miles guided by LanceOldStrong and accompanied by the usual Bike Forums gang. The route included a good climb up Morgan Territory on the back of Diablo followed by a climb up Redwood Rd in the Berkeley Hills. It was the first good weather day in ages.

March 6 Tricia and I rode Morgan Territory for 50 miles. That gal can climb. It was a beautiful day until we hit the summit and dropped into the clouds and cold. That ride back toward Danville can be demoralizing. A slight invisible uphill with a headwind made us feel really weak for a bit. But eventually we got back to the sun, and a downhill and all was well again. And it's Spring again, so all is right with the world.

BlastRadius of Bike Forums was our Daylight Savings Time leader for the day

March 13 I rode with the Bike Forums gang from SF over the Golden Gate and out to Point Reyes Station for 75. The pace was leisurely, with frequent stops, but it was fun and 75 miles is 75 miles. The ride was to celebrate daylight savings time, and encourage Pete Taxi777 to ride with us. Daylight Savings Time worked out well, but Pete didn't make it. We were sad.

Jerk Report
While we were having lunch at Point Reyes Station we all leaned our bikes on a wall. A moment later another cyclist got his bike from the wall and in the process knocked over three of our bikes, including mine. When my bike fell it broke my water bottle cage. I pointed it out to him, and he just shrugged it off and walked away. Nice guy. My riding mates insist karma will get him.

Photo of Curtis by BlastRadius