Devil Mountain Double Century 2012

Not just a number, but a name.

My longest ride deserves the longest post I've ever made. Here it is. 
The Goddess of the Weather looked down and thought "I gave these folks one-hundred-degree-plus weather for the Davis Double Century two years in a row. I made it pour like crazy on the Wine Country century even though the weather prediction was just for 20 percent. At Solvang I gave them gale-force headwinds for almost 100 miles. They endured. It's time for their reward. For the Quack Cyclists Devil Mountain Double this year I'll give them a cool morning, but not too cool. I'll provide a tail wind at Altamont, and just enough gentle headwind on Patterson to keep them cool. I'll help them up Mines with a slight tail wind, and make sure it doesn't get too hot. I won't even make the backside of Mt. Hamilton hot, and I almost never do that. And when the sun goes down I'll stop the wind all together and make sure it's not too hot, not too cold, but just right."

Thank you Weather Goddess. I know I wouldn't have made it if you hadn't smiled on this endeavor.

The Weather Goddess wasn't alone in helping me on this ride.

My sweet bride Tricia came and spent the night with me at the ride start in the San Ramon Marriot Hotel the night before, She tried to keep me from pinging off the wall so hard I left dents, even though it meant waking her non-morning-person self at an insane hour.

My good friend Dan (Mr. Lance Oldstrong) did DMD last year, and had announced he was done with that particular flavor of fun. When I told him I was going to give it a shot he did everything he could to talk me out of it, and when that didn't work he decided he had to ride with me just to make sure I got through it. Even his family helped, texting encouraging messages and the the kids track meet successes throughout the day. Heck, they even made me a sign.

Steve (Midland on BikeForums) surprised Dan and I by being on Ygnaico Vally Road with a cowbell and a big sign after we came down Mt. Diablo. He made a ton of noise and worried me that he'd get us disqualified for private SAG, something the Quacks don't allow. But he made noise for everyone, and we didn't get a ticket or fined or anything. Thanks Steve!

Our friends Veronica and Thom staffed a rest station just before the Hamilton climb, giving us the pleasure of seeing friendly faces and even a couple of hugs (hugging a cyclist after they've ridden 130 miles is a true act of friendship, even if you're really careful)



The DMD staff is beyond belief. Every rest stop, and roving SAG is staffed by people who understand what you're doing. They don't get charity-ride silly with over the top cheering, they just help you through your ride. Here's my "Pet the Goat" rest stop experience: We were at mile 162, and it just got dark and we'd just finished Sierra Road, one of the toughest climbs of the day. We needed to stop and pick up our drop bags with lights for night riding and some warm clothes. I sat down, zoned.
"Can I get you anything?"
"No, I'm fine."
"How about a warm cup o' noodles?"
"Oh, that does sound good. Thanks."
Let me get it for you. Something to drink?"
"No, I'm fine."
"How about a V8?"
"Oh that sounds good. Thanks."
"Let me get it for you."

They understood how stupid I was at that point, and that my decision making ability was shot.

I realized one of my rear blinkie lights had a dying battery. The ride staff  had warned me in their ride packet "Check your batteries." and I thought I had. But there I was…. When I asked if they just might have some they took my light and brought it back blinking, with fresh batteries installed.

This rest stop isn't the exception, it's the way Quack Cyclists run a their ride.

I had a team worth of support. All I had to do was "push the pedal back down when it comes up" as Quack Cyclists advise.



The ride started at exactly 5 am. Thirty seconds later we had our first minor "mechanical." No big deal, but it meant we were off the back right at the start. We managed to catch the tail end just in time for mechanical number two. Dan's Garmin, unlike the weather, had decided today was the day to be a total pain. Dan's 206 mile ride, if you go by his GPS, was .4 miles with zero feet of climbing. We know better, but still, if he wants official US Government registered ride credit he needs to re-ride it within 48 hours. That's the law.

Our ride up, and down Diablo was beautiful, but uneventful, with a quick turnaround at the top. It feels funny to write that. In the past I viewed any ride to the Diablo Summit as "epic." Even lately it's been "noteworthy" at the very least. Today it was a warmup. Even the dreaded wall at the top was just a small obstacle before the ride got hard. The same for Morgan Territory.

It was just a plain old nice day for a ride, though. The "Plunge" was wind free, but when we got to Altamont, a section veteran DMD riders say is long and dull, we had a tail wind. We were on the Wente Road race for a bit, and hoped for a slow moving train to catch, but it didn't happen. Instead, we ended up behind a strong DMD rider, and combined with the tail wind, helped us cruise at near 30 for a ways and chew up some pavement. It was a ball.



Patterson Pass is often a nightmare, but with only a light breeze Saturday is was only steep. Dan commented on the way up that if you keep thinking you hear an airplane, it's just the windmills. As I rode up I thought, "Wow, he's really right, that sounds exactly like an airplane." Then the airplane flew over.

I'd been worried since i signed up for the ride about making the 1PM cutoff at the mile 92 rest stop on Mines Road. I mean truly obsessively panicked. I had my eye on the clock the whole way, and worried every time I slowed. But we made it with time to spare and were in and out as quickly as we could shed our warmer clothing.

The ride up Mines to the Junction for lunch is just a grunt, but we cranked it out with the help of a slight tail-breeze.

The lunch cutoff is "leave by 4:30," but we were out by 3:15 or so.

The section between the Junction and the bridge water stop is the only section I hadn't ridden before. It's beautiful, and the only section where I wasn't so busy, cold, or working too hard that I was able to shoot a few photos. I can't imagine a more California place, with its meadows and oaks. It was stunning. It was also about the last section I felt fine. There are three bumps on the way to the Mt. Hamilton Climb proper the locals call the Three Bears. No one mentions them when they talk DMD, but they are there, they are real, and they are a pain. Worse, they are just the lead in to the Mt. Hamilton back side climb, a relentless five-mile, double-digit monster. We all talk about Sierra road, but Hamilton is worse (Just ask Marco P, who pointed it out to me.)  It's longer, and there are no stair-steps for a moment's relief. It's relentless. The only saving grace is that there are mile markers painted on the road, so you know exactly how much suffering is left, and can confirm you are still moving when the numbers go by.

Dan had a strong ride and waited for me at the top, only to jet down, descending zen-master that he is. By that point in the day I couldn't find a good line through a corner with a Geiger counter and a map. I took it easy, and managed to avoid the worst bumps and gravel. We hooked back up at the Crothers rest stop

After the Crothers rest stop at mile 150 (which is an out and back up a hill, what's up with that?) comes Sierra Road.
It's unreal. I had determined that I might need to stop on it, being as I was toast, or maybe jello. Or maybe something more slimy and gross. But Dan rode with me and, knowing the road well, called out upcoming "flatter"zones — flatter meaning only 10-11% — that helped me struggle up without stopping. We got to see a beautiful sunset, and watch the lights start to come on all over San Jose. Dan likes to point out that the faster riders miss this stunning scene.

Tandems, amazing on the flats and descending, are not noted for climbing well. We managed to catch our Bike Forums friends Marco and Ruth on the way up in a most comical slow motion race to the top, gaining about 6 inches a minute. You'd have needed one of those time-lapse photography setups like they use to photograph plants growing to see us ooze past them. 

At the top before the descent to the "Pet the Goat" rest stop, I stopped to put on my light windbreaker. I couldn't. The very light material kept blowing around and my arms kept getting stuck. Finally Dan said, "Here, let me put it on you like you're my prom date or something."  That worked, and we were off to the "Pet the Goat" rest stop even though the goat had apparently gone to farm animal heaven sometime earlier this year.

There's a long, fun descent to a right turn onto Calaveras Road. It would be more fun for me in the light. Even with a very bright headlight, I'm not bold enough to bomb it. I felt fast, but Dan was gone like a falling missile. I didn't miss the turn at Calaveras , which was great, and another thing I'd worried about. More than a few have, and have had to slog back up a steep hill after overshooting it. Quack Cyclists had come through again, with a large "1/2 Mile DMD" painted on the road, visible even at speed in the dark.

As  I  turned on to "Calaveras Wall" I could hear a woman swearing. Her light had gone nuts, blinking oddly and sputtering. Stopping on a hill that steep in the dark would suck, so we rode to the top together so she could see where she was going, seeing the road in my light.  I stopped and illuminated her bike as she fired up her backup and was off again. I rode the entire Calaveras Road by myself. It was wonderful. It's in the middle of nowhere, no cars, no other cyclists, just frogs and an occasional coyote howling. I relaxed and pedaled and enjoyed not trying to keep up with faster Dan for a while.

I met Dan in Sunol where his bike was getting an on-the-fly overhaul. It seems he produced so much power he bent his derailer hanger and his drivetrain was a mess. Of course, Quack Cyclists had a first-rate mechanic there, in the dark, at night, who made everything wonderful again, at least for a while. Dan really needs a new bike. He's ridden this steed into the ground. He may love it, but it needs to be put out to pasture. With love and respect, but it's just wrong to make the ol' Felt keep working so hard when it needs to retire.

At 25 miles to go you might think we'd be almost there. You'd be wrong. Palamares  Canyon is a wonderful ride, if you're fresh and in a climbing mood. I was ready to be done, and this climb is more work than many will admit. I did see a white owl and almost hit a deer, so it wasn't uneventful, and again the sounds of a flowing creek and croaking frogs made riding, even uphill in the dark, almost (but not quite) pleasant.  At the top I wanted to switch my MagicShine light from medium to high, but I forgot you have to cycle through strobe and then to off. I'd been on the bike too long to ride even half a heartbeat in total darkness with the light off, so I stopped long enough to cycle it to bright.

Dan and I met at the bottom of the hill, rode to Crow Canyon and eventually to the Norris "Is this really necessary?" Canyon climb.  The weather had started to cool enough to see my breath, and I thought I was getting odd reflections from my glasses, perhaps from condensation. But no, it was real. There were spider webs on my bars, spun across my cables in front of my light. I wondered if I'd been out so long and gone so slow spiders had moved in, but I think it was just one of those floating webs that landed on me.

Oldstrong family sign for me. Such a deal!

Amazingly, on Norris I felt like I was out in the country, but in just a couple of miles we were approaching the hotel. I can't explain how odd that feels. I'd been out for 20 hours. It was weird to stop. It felt impossible. All through the ride Dan had been saying "You're going to finish this!" but, even with 1/2 mile to go I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure when we got to the parking lot. Tricia and Dan's family were there. The kids had made a sign. I loved it, but could hardly think. I just wanted to check in and be officially done.

Inside at the sign in table there were no trumpets, fireworks or cannons, but Tricia brought me an icy cold IPA and sushi. That may sound odd, but I've discovered I have sushi lust after a double century. I don't know why. We visited a bit with Marco and Ruth, amazing tandem riders, until Tricia pointed out how late it was. She drove us home and I finally got in bed at 2 am, an old, sore guy, but at least an old, sore guy who completed the Devil Mountain Double Century.

Damage Report:
Nothing serious at all, or really damaged. The usual slightly sore neck, and a bit of stress in the Achilles tendons. My nagging back-of-the-knee issue seems to be resolved. My brain is semi-functional. All in all, pretty darn good.

Things that worked really well:
Sidi shoes. My feet felt perfect at the end of the day.
Selle Italia SLK saddle. No buns issues at all.
Garmin Minty Boost battery thing with lithium batteries. My Garmin finished fully charged.
DeFeet Kneekers. Wonderful knee warmers.
Hammer HEED and Perpetuim kept me fueled
Capo shorts were comfy all day
Tiagra 12-30 cassette. Thank Shimano for that 30 tooth gear or I'd never have made Sierra Road.

Stats via Garmin and Strava and Twitter:
Miles: 206.4
Moving time: 17:35
Total time out: 20:02 (though I left the darn Garmin a few minutes when we got there.)
Climb: 21,718 (The 305 may read high, ride is billed at 19-something, but it sure felt like 21,718)
158 registered, 139 finishers, 5 DNS, 14 DNF.
Ride start 5 am
Last rider in at 1:45 am
And, for inexplicable reasons, I got a 10th place Strava cup in a .3 mile segment. Weird.

Friends:
We also rode with (kind of rode with anyway as we were on the same course) Bike Forum folks Bassem, Metin Uz, Silent Ben, Maillotpois (Sarah), Rumbutter on his trike and Bostic (Ramon)

Parting thoughts:
Imagine sticking yourself with a sharp pin for 20 hours. It would hurt. You could claim some sort of victory over pain and sleep after you accomplished it. You could say "Not many people can do this!" But really, it isn't because they can't, it's just that they don't want to. They can't imagine why anyone would. Yet all the other dedicated pin stickers would congratulate you, and each other. You'd have special shirts made, and in general set yourselves apart from, and above, the non-pin stickers. You would display your pin pricks with pride, and argue about the merits of steel vs. titanium pins with your colleagues. I would have to shake my head and wonder what had become of the world I live in. I would be sad for you. Edit: Don't miss Dan "Lance Oldstrong's" response to this in the comment section

Links to 2012 DMD things on the web:
Cool 15 minute ride report video by Bike Forum's chidonchea
Sacpedalclips made a time lapse of the Mines Road rest stop that pretty swell

The Jewels of Antioch and Pittsburg

I found this in my air-free tire when I got to work.

Scattered on my bike commute trail are diamonds. I think they are falling from the soles of her shoes, but I'm not really sure. Perhaps it's just the drunks tossing their bottles about. I do know that after a rain storm this stuff sticks to my tires really well, and often allow the air inside them to become air outside. In response to this situation I have several proposals.

1. Diamond wearing be banned on multi-use paths. This seems harsh, but if they keep dropping them they shouldn't have them.
2. Alcohol sold to minors in Antioch and Pittsburg should only be sold in plastic or cans, never in glass.
3. The trail should be swept clean every five years, whether it needs it or not.
4. Glass breakers (from now on referred to as "glass holes") be dragged through any glass they deposit on the trail.  Naked. Twice.

Primavera Century 2012

Livermore has a wonderful bike path that runs through the vineyards.

With a week of "rest" after the wind-fest of Tierra Bella Century, Tricia and I tackled the 104 mile Primavera, a century with 6700 feet of climbing hosted by the Fremont Freewheelers. It starts in Union City, and you just can't get there from here. It's a bit over an hour away, too close to hotel the night before, but too far to really enjoy driving to. We'd packed the car the night before and still had to get up way too early to be on the bikes by 7am.

www.sailinsteve.com photo

Right near the start, the ride took us through the very quaint  Niles,  which I'd never seen or heard of before. But Wikipedia says 'From 1912 to 1916 the Niles section of the Fremont area was the earliest home of California's motion picture industry. Charlie Chaplin filmed several movies in the Fremont area, most notably The Tramp."

After some rather nice suburban riding with great views of the bay we hit Calavaras Road, including the famous "Wall" which isn't nearly as bad as its name suggests. A bit later we came across the Freewheelers  special stop, with a telescope for viewing the nesting bald eagles in a nearby power tower.

The ride was very well supported, and seemed to have the ideal ratio of riders to support staff. The rest stops were busy, but not crowded, and they had plenty of restrooms. They even had a goodie bag with stuff that I was actually pleased to get. We also enjoyed the boost to our egos when we received multiple compliments on our 50 Plus jerseys. People really like them, and it's fun to get to say "I designed it!" when they ask. I could, however do without the "It's great to see you're still out here getting exercise." that accompanied one person's jersey praise. (Hey, kid, get off my lawn...)

After looping through Livermore and some of Patterson Pass, we headed back toward the last climb of the day, Palamares Rd. Maybe it was the end of the day, being about mile 90, but the summit just wouldn't arrive. We cranked and cranked, and because we'd worked so hard really enjoyed the downhill afterward. Until I flatted. It didn't take long to change, and just as I was ready to use the mini pump along came SAG. It was none other our Bikeforums friend, Dchiefransom, with a floor pump.

The end of the ride along busy Niles Canyon Road was a bit unnerving as there's no shoulder, and I just can't get myself to take the lane in 45 mph traffic, but we made it back safely. We'd bought a bottle of wine at a rest stop/winery and it had a bit of trouble getting SAGed back as the driver was making sure it didn't get lost or broken, but it eventually showed up.

Look! Sleeveless jersey, no shoe covers. Winter is over.

Specialized Roubaix Expert 10,000 mile report

I've ridden my Specialized Roubaix Expert 10,000 miles since getting it, and writing about it in this post. I'm still very happy with it. I've made a few changes, and had a few things have happened since I bought it.

I hated the saddle it came with and replaced it with  Specialized Toupe immediately. That saddle was OK, but I didn't love it, and it's important to love you saddle. I replaced it with a Selle Italia SLK that I do love. I've done double centuries on it and my buns feel fine at the end.

The bars that came on this 52 cm frame were 42 cm, a bit wide for me. The shop swapped them for the 40 cm model, which is a better fit for my size.

The wheels it came with were  a model of Roval Fusée. I broke a spoke on the rear wheel during the Davis Double. I'd read online that several people had problems with spoke breakage, and that Specialized was aware that some wheels had been built in such a way (something to do with incorrect spoke prep fluid or something) that they knew they were breaking. I contacted the shop that sold me the bike, who contacted Specialized.

I expected a wait of forever, and needing wheels for upcoming rides I ordered a set of Williams System 19s, a great, lightweight wheel set that arrived almost immediately.   Much to my surprise, Specialized responded very quickly to my bike shop, and not only replaced the wheels, but upgraded them to Roval Fusée SL 25.  So now I have two nice sets of wheels! I use the Williams a lot, but now have them set aside with latex tubes and lightweight tires for double centuries. I have Rovals for daily use. They are near the same weight, with the Roval front being just a tad more heavy.

The bike came as a triple with 52-39-30 and an 11-28 cassette. God only knows why they think an 52-11 gear is necessary on a bike with a triple. I'd have speced it differently, but perhaps Shimano gave them no choice.

I tossed a 12-30 cassette on the Williams wheels for super steep climbing rides. Read about my choice here.

Other than that, the bike is pretty much stock, with full Ultegra components.  I added water bottle cages, a bag, Shimano pedals, a Sigma computer and Garmin 305, a road morph pump, and that's it.

In a nut shell, I love this bike. It handles well, and is comfortable as all get out. Sometimes when I'm riding with others who complain about the rough road, I realize I'm not bothered at all. I don't so much notice a smooth ride as much as I don't notice a rough ride. I've done a good fist-full of centuries and double centuries and I've noticed I don't finish all beat up. I'm worn out, but not rattled to pieces. Is it the Zertz inserts, or just the overall design? I don't know, but it seems to be working. I also used to get a worn out, sore neck. I don't think I'm sitting more upright on this bike, but my neck is much more happy at the end of a long ride.

I also think this bike looks sharp. I like the somewhat subtle graphics, and I like the color. I even like the graceful  bow of the top tube, though I realize that's a personal preference. I feel lucky I got it the year I did as Specialized stopped making a Roubaix Triple at this component level and I don't like the new color schemes as well. I'm happy with the triple, and find the 39 tooth freewheel is often just the right size for a lot of my riding.

I highly recommend this bike.

Tierra Bella — but wait, there's more!

Tricia and I bought the Tierra Bella ride jerseys. Their cool design was one of the reasons we wanted to ride this century (report and photos in my last post). There was a small bobble of a problem with sizing, but the nice ride staff solved it for us. Tricia ended up with an extra-small the fits perfectly. Of course, we wore them the next day on our twenty-five-mile-recovery-ride-with-mexican-food.

Tricia mentioned  to me that she had a rare contribution to this blog. here it is:
"Guys, when you're using the potra-potty, there's a lock for a reason. Use it. I don't need to see your back side. And while I'm on the subject, when you stop for a natural, try to be a little more discreet."

She grew up with brothers and boys, so she isn't that all that sensitive, but as she says, "Come on guys, really?"

Medical report:
That darn strain in my leg bothered me too much all day long. Fortunately it bothers me the least when I stand and climb. But on long flats into a headwind every pedal stroke is a twinge. I'm doing all teh voodoo I can over the next week. Today's recovery ride didn't bother me much, so I still have hopes it will be magically healed for DMD in two weeks. Time for electro-stimulation... now.

Tierra Bella 2012

When Tricia and I left the hotel in Gilroy, garlic capital of the world, to head for Galvin College to start the 2012 Tierra Bella Century ride, the sky was dark and the flags were standing straight out. It was...worrisome. But by the time we got to the college and had our bikes ready the day was a bit brighter and the college was in a wind shadow, faking us out into believing the wind would not be a factor.

Once we got to the road we found ride starts slightly uphill and into a headwind. What a nice way to start the day! But after a few miles we got to the first climb of the day, up around Gilroy Hotsprings. What a beautiful area. Everything was green and still wet from the showers the day before. We rode past cattle, and horses so big and beautiful Tricia asked me if I'd seen Daenerys Targaryen, Calisi of the Dothraki, in among them. I have to find an easy way to make photos when I'm cold and fully gloved. I was too busy staying warm to want to mess with my gloves, so alas, no Daenerys photos.
There was, however, a skeleton by the side of the road, holding a warning sign and cautioning us about the steep (and delightful) descent.

The Alamaden Cycling Club has wonderful support. Beyond the skeleton,  they'd posted volunteers at many difficult intersections to help with traffic and point out tricky lane crossings. The route was very well marked. Well enough that even I didn't get lost.

After the Hot Springs climb and descent we got to my favorite part; endless headwinds. I just suck at headwinds. No one loves them, but I just don't have what it takes to power through them. If I hadn't been on Tricia's wheel I'd still be out there. Not only did I shamelessly suck wheel for miles, but at one point I looked back and she was dragging along about seven tough-looking guys.

All "fun" ends, and this did when we got to the Henry Coe climb. I'd so much rather climb than do flats. I felt great, passed a lot of folks and didn't get passed much.

 Depending on where you start counting, Coe is about 3100 feet over 12 miles, and mostly double digits. And beautiful, with sweeping views of the valley. It was nice to climb, and get warm.


I saw a guy who must have a professional rider for Astana. He had their full team kit on, and I don't think they allow that if you aren't on the team, right? It is indeed a nice looking kit.

At the top we were at the 50 mile mark, half way done. Before we descended we bundled up again to counter overcast sky, cool temperature and the steep downhill. It was a cold day, and even with all the climbing we'd never become truly warm. Thus armed against the weather we started our screaming, face numbing trip back down, only to encounter a shirtless rider on his way up. Someone in this story has no clue, and I hope it isn't us.

We descended, fought too much headwind and eventually hit some more climbs. They don't look like much on the map compared to Coe, but as surprise climbs at the end of the ride they sure got my attention.

At last  we  hit the home leg — and a tail wind — where we got to ride at 20-24 for a while. Tricia just launched, and we ended up blowing the doors off a lot of other riders as we got closer to the start.
As a tri-geek said to me as we rolled past him, "She's really enjoying herself."

My Gamin died at mile 96, but the Sigma computer said 104 miles at the end. The Strava upload claims 8126 feet of climbing. We were toast. But happy toast.



Tricia said she was getting a bit concerned because I'd had seven blog posts without her in them. She'd suffered a cycling setback and just hadn't been out with me lately. So for those distant readers who might have been wondering, but were too polite to ask, yes, she is still, and always will be, my Calisi.

In the begining

Matt Gass, near the Diablo Summit, sometime in the 70s.

Fans of me, and this blog, have been asking for ages "Yes, but where did it all start?" It's time to reveal my humble roots and at the same time, marvel that I can still even ride.

Sometime in the early-mid 70s I bought a Gitane Grand Sport Deluxe from a now-defunct bike shop on Mt. Diablo Boulevard in Walnut Creek. I ued it to commute to Diablo Valley College. I few years later my neighborhood friend, Matt Gass, who was a cyclist and a garage sale explorer suggested I go with him in search of the restorable saxophones he enjoyed searching for. We started spending Saturdays and Sundays riding all over the county, garage sale to garage sale. We never found much, but we rode a lot.

Matt had a Stella bicycle and, unusual for the time, a helmet. He always said his brain was worth protecting. So I bought a Bell Biker too.

He taught me how to draft, ride with a group, clean my chain and replace a freewheel. He took me on a ride  up to the Mt. Diablo summit for the first time(42 x 26...30 pounds of steel... I was younger then.)

Matt had a wonderful quirk I never told him I noticed for fear he'd stop. He was unable to ride past an animal and not make the sound of that animal.  Riding up Pig Farm Hill was always fun because I knew he'd be oinking before the ride was over.

We rode together constantly until he moved to attend UC Davis. His departure made cycling a lot less fun for a long time. I still remember him fondly when I ride some of our old routes, like our "Tour of Walnut Creek" or past Easy Street in Danville.

#pandaportrait

Not that I understand, but apparently if you are a photographer and a cyclist you are required by custom and law to make a photo of yourself, while moving, and call it a #pandaportrait. There's even a Flickr pool of 'em. Not wanting to be left behind by all the cool kids, I made one too, so I can be different like everybody else.

I made mine on a full-kit trip to the post office to drop off a Netflix DVD. I just wanted credit for 30daysofbiking

Mt. Diablo. Twice.

After a week of recovering from the Solvang Double Century with just my usual bike commute and a couple of half-hearted intervals, Lance Oldstrong suggested we join BikeForums.net all around cool dude Taxi777 (Pete) on his ride to the Diablo summit from South Gate. Then he had an even better idea: Gather Steve up, head up Northgate to the summit, drop down the Southgate, meet Pete and Ron, and summit again. I've never even considered doing that before, but I claim to be preparing for the Devil Mountain Double, so there was no way to say no.

I arrived at the meeting place and put my bike together. Except for the front wheel, which I'd left in the garage. As I loitered with Steve, Lance Oldstrong was kind enough to go to his closer-than-my home and get his Williams System 19 front wheel to loan me. So, we got off about 15 minutes late.

We had a delightful ride up in the cool morning air. We were all feeling reasonably frisky, even knowing we were going to do it twice. I was surprised to see ice coating the trees — and blowing into us — as we neared the summit. Climbing at relatively slow speed and putting out a lot of heat made the morning seem not cold at all.

The ride down was a lot colder. Really a lot colder. Even in full gloves and jacket I froze. I'm not a fast descender anyway, but being cold and stiff makes being smooth a lot harder.  Steve and Dan left me in the dust until I caught them, stopped by the road. Oldstrong managed to get quite the tire cut and flat, requiring a boot.

We met Pete and Ron coming up a few moments later and started climb number two. I was feeling really good, but still couldn't keep up with Pete, on his single speed no less.

We managed to summit again, still feeling better than I have after just one trip up. I was ready to head home, but Oldstrong, being Oldstrong, figured if two was good, three was better, and announced he'd do it yet again. I think I made it to the hot tub when I got a text from him announcing his third summit of the day. Somehow I managed to get no photos of Ron, but he really was there. He has a good ride report on his blog.

On a side note, I somehow slightly strained my calf on the Solvang ride. As I have already announced that this is the year of health voodoo, I decided to try TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) with a unit I happened to have. It may have helped. I sure felt better on Sunday. My clinical trial of one test with no control group seems to indicate potential success. 

 

Thanks to Steve for the photos of the ice tree, Pete, and myself riding with Dan.

Devil Mountain of Doom?

Yep. I did it. I signed up for the Devil Mountain Double Century.

I've agonized over this sine January. Can I do it? Should I try. In the end, the deciding factor was "I'm not getting any younger."

From the description on the Triple Crown site: "On this ride, you'll have the opportunity of climbing Mt. Diablo and Mt. Hamilton in the San Ramon area. Certainly "not for the faint of heart", this ride is a major challenge for sure!!

Mt. Diablo was listed by BICYCLING magazine as one of the ten toughest climbs in America. Mt. Diablo rises 3,200 feet in 10.5 miles to a height of 3,849 feet. Mt. Hamilton will have you climb 2,100 feet in just 7 miles to the 4,100 foot peak.

Sierra Road will be your biggest test: not only is it incredibly steep, climbing 1,800 Feet in 3.2 Miles, but it comes after 150 miles!!

Most of this ride is very rural, very scenic, and very low on traffic. The terrain is unspoiled and rugged. If you like to climb and are ready for a real challenge, this ride's for you!!"

Notice that I used a Christmas stamp with the baby Jesus on it. Pray for me.

Solvang Double Century in the wind 2012

There aren't many photos from the Solvang Double. It's too hard to drag out my iPhone wearing glove liners, and even if I do the screen doesn't react. So this is it. LanceOldStrong, Me, and Spingineer in our extra-fine looking California Triple Crown Gold jerseys at an early rest stop.

Solvang is supposed to be an easier double century (like there is such a thing.) Lance Oldstrong, my road partner and room mate for this adventure met Spingineer, a BikeForums buddy, and launched  at 5 am. We rocked. There wasn't any of the expected rain I worried about, and there was no wind. We danced up the climbs. We had a ball. We were fast enough that the Planet Ultra folks at the first rest stop chastised Oldstrong for getting there too soon. We knocked off the first 100 miles in six hour and were thinking we'd get back before dark.

Then it all changed. The storm coming in brought winds from the south, exactly the direction we were heading. I checked Weather Underground and we had 20 mph headwinds with greater gusts for endless miles. At one point a group of 20 cyclists was moving at about 9 mph up a very slight grade. It was crazy. I couldn't hold the wheels of my more powerful friends in the big winds and oozed along by myself for a long time, exhausted and depressed.

My pals had waited for me at the last rest stop. LanceOldStrong made me drink a cup-of-noodles thing, which I'd never had before, but really hit the spot, and we were off. After a bit I found I couldn't hang on and let them go.

I've never been so relieved to get to hills and out of the flats and wind. Once the road turned up I felt a lot better. I caught, and passed, Oldstrong and Spingineer. I took it easy on the downhill until they caught me, where we used our combined bike-light candlepower to really light up the night roads.

The second 100 miles ended up taking 10 hours. LanceOldStrong and I rolled in together 15:58 after we started, with 14:21 of riding time, a few minutes after Spingineer. Still, that's seventeen-point-something mph for the first 104 miles.

When we finished and checked in we grabbed a shower back at the hotel and discovered there is no place to eat in Solvang at 10 pm. We ended up at a Burger King. I haven't had fast food in ages, and now I remember why.



Strava says I have a 673 "suffer score" but Strava doesn't know about the wind. And it say "no achievements" but heck with them. Just finishing and making the time cut was a big deal

Photography child — sight return

I don't have much of an opportunity these days to revisit my photography career. Even though I teach photography, I don't actually shoot very much any more. When  I do shoot it's mostly just bicycle-related snapshots for this blog, or demonstrations for class. So when LanceOldStrong asked if I'd make a photo of his bike for a project he's working on I was thrilled to have an "assignment" again.

This is one of my efforts for that assignment. I tried to evoke some sense of non-specific nostalgia with the picket fence and the out-of-focus lad on the steps. I hope cycling enthusiasts will recognize the La Vie Claire colors of Lemond and Hinault on the jersey. At least that was my plan.

I may be ready for the Solvang Double

I'd somehow let my weight climb to the point that when the year started I'd crept back up to 160 and a bit more. I needed a goal, and I figured signing up for the Solvang Double Century would put the fear of failure into me and motivate me to train and lose some weight. I'm hoping it worked. The ride is a week away now and I think I might be ready. 

• I've got my weight down to 142. That's kind of fun as I now have clothes that didn't used to fit that do now.
• I pretty much gave up beer and zinfandel to loose the weight, which hasn't been easy.
• I've followed Chris Carmichael's "Time Crunched Cyclist" training program as much as I could.
• I've done the intervals with a heart rate monitor and bike commuted my 16 mile round trip every day.
• I've done voodoo nutrition with Hammer supplements for the last two month.
• I bought a new cassette with slightly lower gears (12-30 instead of 11-28.)
• I installed nice new Schwalbe Ultremo tires and fancy latex tubes on my Roval SL 25 wheels.
• I installed a high-end Wipperman chain and put new cleats on my shoes today.

I've done what I can do.  Even with this annoying cold I didn't loose training or gain weight. I'll try a hard ride or trainer session Sunday, then taper for Saturday. My goal isn't to hammer, just to finish feeling reasonably good.

If it works, I'll have enough data to decide if it's wise, or possible, to proceed with my next cycling goal.

Sierra Road

Curtis is toasted at the top of Sierra Road. Photo by Midland.

On Sunday's ride with LanceOldStrong and Midland, we determined that all bicycle ride reports should start with a list of excuses. We are, after all, cyclists. Therefore:
LanceOldStrong — Rode the Death Valley Double last weekend and is still in recovery mode.
MidLand — Had to stop a lot to take a natural
Curtis — Suffering badly from a serious cold and had no business being out at all.

 With all of us in excuse agreement we headed out from the Crank2 bike shop in Pleasanton to ride a "lollipop," (At least that''s what Oldstrong calls an out-and-back with a loop at the end) and introduce me to the stunningly steep Sierra Road.

I'd feared this road. As you can see, it has double digit climbs (see chart below) with no let-up for 3.5 miles. My goal was to get up it alive. Preferably without stopping, but that was optional. I just wanted to get through it.  After a cool but delightful ride up — and down —  Calavaras Road we got to flat San Jose, then turned left into a flippin' wall. Midland and Oldstrong quickly rolled away from me as I tried to contain my heart rate. I was glad I'd just installed a cassette with a lower gear as some sections made me worry I'd just not be able to get the pedals around one more time.

After about 2.5 miles I realized I was doing OK and was going to finish, I thought "What the heck" and just went all out. All out, as in crazy-high heart beat, drooling snot and screaming legs. Amazingly I caught my partners and even passed them for a moment. We finished pretty much together, or as Oldstrong said "A team NorCal podium sweep!" even though there was no one else around to claim victory over. For the record, my time was 40:31, not that I'm keeping track or anything.

My cold pretty much kicked in after that and I was toast for the rest of the ride. Coming down the hill Oldstrong had warned us several times not to miss the turn at "the wall" onto Calavaras. I managed to  anyway, and did something I haven't done in over 20 years. I'm blaming the cold and Sierra Road. I turned slowly, pushing 52x11 and executed the perfect no-speed, Fred-alicous, tip-over idiot maneuver. Sadly, my compatriots were able to observe it as it happened, so I couldn't even make up a heroic tale about saving the life of a child or something.

We rolled back to the car ... the car that I'd safely locked my keys inside of. Fortunately, I am an AAA member, and while we waited ate pizza, AAA arrived and popped the door. All was good again, and Sierra Road is checked off my bucket list.

Fight! Fight!

Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, the much anticipated match-up between Shimano brothers.

On the left, Ultegra, weighing in at 242 grams with a reach of 11-28 and on the right, it's weightier brother, weighing in a whopping 329 grams and an amazing reach of 12-30 is Tiagra.

In this contest we'll see just how much that 87 gram (3.06883469 ounces for you Americans) matters on a bicycle. Though Tiagra surely weighs more, there's the matter of teeth to take into consideration. That 12 tooth vs 13 tooth high end likely won't matter with a 52 tooth chain wheel, so we'll call that a draw for now. But on the low end, where the real contest will take place, that 30 vs 28 may make all the difference when the hills hit 12 and 15 percent.

Is it better to be low, or light? How much will that 3 ounces matter, or, put another way,  will 24.5 vs 26.25 gear-inches make up for that 3 ounces? Both combatants will be paired with a 52-39-30 support staff and a long-cage derailer in their corners. Settling this contest is why we meet here tonight.

This fight promises to be a rough one, with trash talk even appearing on the Tiagra Box, placed there no doubt by Ultegra fans. Since both lads are looking at double centuries, Tiagra faithful ask "How can Ultegra characterize Tiagra in such a dismissive manner? It's just BS coming from a lighter sibling" Ultegra fans just continued their chant "Fat! Fat! Fat!"



We'll be back right after a word from our sponsors with tonight's featured match, and find out what Sierra Road near San Jose has to say.

North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show 2012

North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show in Sacramento was amazing. We spent the day filled with bicycle lust. I really wanted an eleven-pound $13,000 carbon piece of cycle goodness — Festka — that even came with it's own signed and numbered matching jersey. In the end, I bought a nice chain, a ti wrench for the fixed gear bike, and a bit of bike jewelry for Tricia.

She liked her bracelet, but really fell in love with a sweet steel-frame Cielo and it's matching fenders, complete with all Chris King parts. But we didn't order one.

We did get to meet cycling-clothing goddess Sheila Moon, who I think was amused by our celebrity stalker treatment of her when I asked to shoot a photo of her with Tricia.

Among the goodies we saw:  Bamboo bikes, hardwood bikes, a Brompton semi-formal cycling jacket that I loved, a whiskey flask bike mount, Carbon belt drive (to replace chains) Fat tire bikes with four-inch wide tires and only half a fork. We went to an art bike parade, a gallery featuring bike art, and had dinner with BikeForums.net buddies.

Here are a few photos, more than I usually post, but what the heck.

Chris King lust.

Edible Pedal after event party.

Carbon belt drive. No grease!

Is it wrong that I want this?

Brompton water proof jacket with hidden reflectors.

Super-fat tires, half a fork.

Easy Street

We rode by Easy Street on our "easy tapering ride" that  Lance Oldstrong put together. Except for being 70 miles with three lung-searing climbs, it was pretty relaxing. I only managed to find a new max heart rate a couple of times. I took advantage of the climb next to 580 on Dublin Bl to get a workout — and later on some semi-secret climb Oldstrong found (update: Palomares Hills) — to darn near kill myself. Tricia went along, and we tried to drop her all day, but she just wouldn't stay dropped.

It's impossible tp use an iPhone with fingered gloves on, so all my images are off the bike. The most amusing was this really really expensive time trial bike with a freakin' trailer. He carries ... dogs. I asked him not to go where we were as I wasn't in the mood to be passed by a trailer bike.

Barely bike related: Cuba!

This may be my first non-bike post on this blog, but it's too big a deal to not post it.

I'm taking a study abroad class to Cuba and teaching photography for a week in summer of 2012. And guess what, you can come too! It's through Los Medanos College, so if you'd like to come, all you need to do is apply at LMC, and sign up for the class. You'll have to get your deposit in to the study abroad folks by mid-march too. My Photography in Cuba blog has more info, and a downloadable brochure with deposit info and an itinerary.

You can be sure I'll be posting some Cuban bicycle photos here, and if you come, I'll post yours too!

Stuff I think about when I ride

Sometimes a good ride helps me turn off my brain and just be. Sometimes not. Maybe it's the coffee, but I occasionally find myself in senseless contemplation of ideas and issues such as...

• It feels unfair that no matter how far I ride, it always fits on the screen at the same size in Strava, RideWithGPS or even my Ascent program. Two hundred miles looks just like a ride to the grocery store. That can't be right. Something here needs to be fixed.

• It seems that however hard I work on a climb or interval, coughing up a lung and crying, as soon as I stop, I think "I could have gone just a little harder. I should have gone just a little harder." I keep telling myself I'm going harder than the guys that are home on the couch, but right about then some other cyclist will roll past at looking calm and rested, confirming that indeed I should have worked just a bit more.

• Do Hammer products really work, or do they just make me focus more because I spent so darn much money on them? Mitocaps? Do they do anything? Phytomax? Really Curtis? And does Recoverite really help recovery, or is much-cheaper chocolate milk just as good, as some claim? I don't know, but right now I'm into voodoo and will give anything a shot. Well, maybe not the Dark Rage, or the Size On I saw in the weight lifting section of "The Vitamin Shop." That stuff is just scary. I think. Unless some cyclist tells me it works. I'd try it then. Unless it kills you after it makes you better. Then I'd only try it a little.

• The best thing about drinking wine is not that it tastes so wonderful. It's not even that it's so relaxing. It's that if you wake up not feeling well, a bit sore and grumpy and with an aching body you can think "Hey, I should have skipped that last glass of fine vino." Now that I've cut wine out of my diet (temporally, as a weight loose measure,) when I wake up hurting the only thing I can think of is "Damn, I'm getting old." I miss the wine.

• How much is a gram? How much is an ounce? I'm pretty sure that a lot of either added up makes a lot, which makes a difference. But how about one, or just a few? If I drop 100 grams from my bike, that's more than four ounces, which is a quarter pound, which starts to sound like it might matter. But then again I carry a 16 ounce water bottle (that's the water itself, not even the bottle weight) and sometimes even two of those. Are 180 gram tires worth their delicate nature, or are 225 gram tires really more appropriate for the riding I do? If I have two tubes in the tires and one spare, should I use 49 gram tubes, or are 100 gram tubes smarter even though there's that 150 gram difference slowing me down?  Should I stop carrying a pump and a spare tube? Do I really need bar tape?  How much does a Road ID weigh? Do I need a haircut? Should I trim my nails? Is it wrong to carry a phone? How about a camera? Should I weigh my clothes?

• And cassettes. Oh my.  My 11-28 Ultegra weighs 242 grams, but I'd really like a lower set of gears for an upcoming ride with lots of super-steep hills. There's a Tiagra 12-30 that might be perfect, but it weighs 329 grams. Do I trade lower weight for the lower gear?  It makes me crazy.

• Compression: Is it just more voodoo, or or a legit way to aid recovery? I feel both more silly, and more like a super hero, in my black compression tights and shirt. But do they do anything? Are they tight enough even if compression does work? And do I really work hard enough that I even need this "recovery" everyone speaks so highly of? Tricia asked me "How are those different than the sup-hose the oldsters wear?" and I didn't have an answer. Blacker? Pricier?I'm not sure. Maybe I should get some for her and she'll not ask such questions. Or ask more.

Mt.Hamilton with Tricia and snow

The required mirror photo at the Mt. Hamilton summit.

 We were so very proud of our Mt. Hamilton climb, right up until the couple on fixed-gear bikes rolled in behind us. It was Tricia's first time up, so we made sure to pick a nice cold morning so she could experience the maximum amount of suffering. Even though the sun was out a bit, the shadows were really cold, and there were still small piles of snow near the top.  Even with a cap and long gloves, the ride down was even colder. I tried to do some hard nine-minute efforts on the way up, and we both worked hard on the two uphills that come during the descent trying to warm up, but my biggest heart-rate spike was when a car came within inches of me on the way down.

Tricia, riding behind me, saw them swing out to pass her, then move back into our lane only to run up behind me as another car came in the opposite lane. It ended up as close to me as I've ever had a car come. We followed it on the descent for a mile or two, so clearly it was important that it pass us. It warmed us up, at least.

Other than a near death experience and losing feeling in my fingers, it was a grand day. Tricia is full of HTFU and just rocked the whole thing without even a trace of whimper or whine. I did almost as well. A good time was had by all.