Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Report from the Diablo Century...




Fellow Pickles,

While David was busy trying to kill himself, I was riding the Diablo Century. It was fairly uneventful, so I'll try to be brief (or not). The route started at the Walnut Creek JCC (Jewish Community Center) through Clayton (small town on the northern flank of Mt. Diablo) out Morgan Territory Road (very nice remote climb through wooded forest) to Livermore. Lunch stop in Sunol, onward through the 580 corridor to Castro Valley (Yuck!) and back up into the East Bay Regional Park system. Finally through the towns of Moraga, Orinda, Lafayette and returning to the JCC. In all, about 6,000 feet of climbing (nothing too difficult) and mostly pleasant terrain (except for some fairly grim scenery in Castro Valley). The best part of the ride was discovering some really beautiful terrain that I did not know existed. The downside was definitely the horrendous selection of food - both during the ride and post ride. Lunch in Sunol consisted of sun-baked lunch meats and pretzels...gag! Upon my return to the JCC, they quickly and generously offered up the "post-ride BBQ" inside the cafeteria. To my dissapointment, it was some gross looking pre-packaged hamburger patties (no cheese - remember JCC? Jewish dietary laws, Kashrut (Kosher) prohibit the mixing of meat and dairy) and soggy veggie burgers. At least they had piles of salty potato chips - oh, how I love salty potato chips! The nice organizer lady at the door asked me how the ride went (it was version 1.0 of the Diablo Century) and I kindly commented that I enjoyed the ride and appreciated their efforts, but the food sucked. At least I had several baggies of Perpetuem to sustain me for the long ride. In closing, I officially dedicate my day of pedaling to our injured comrade and fellow Cornichon, David. Heal fast and get a new helmet - not baby blue! Patrick

3 comments:

Miss Dragonfly said...

So sad when Perpetuem is the culinary high point of the day.

Other than that, sounds fun!

Pickled Herring said...

Last year I rode the Foothill Century, a metric that bills itself as, "The Only Kosher Ride In The West". http://www.wizevents.com/register/landing.php?id=65

Well according to your post turns out not to be true! The FC had good food, including excellent BBQ chicken and lots of fresh fruits.

Route goes up Foothill/Alameda de las Fleas/Canada Rd to Crystal Springs, down to Polehemus, back to Canada, up KMR, down Woodside, then back down Foothill through the Los Altos Hills to finish in Sunnyvale. Will probably do it again, May 17.

Patrick said...

I too rode the Foothill (metric)Century last year (organized by the same folks as the DC) and found the food really good. I guess this years' ride will advertise "The Only Kosher Ride In The West With Edible Food." Not sure if I will do it again this year...my riding calendar really only has room for one kosher ride per year - P