The Cornichon Journal

2011 Levi Leipheimer's King Ridge Gran Fondo

2011-10-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

So, I wondered how in the heck this year's Levi Leipheimers' King Ridge Gran Fondo could NOT be a total let-down after last years incredible event (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, go back a few clicks and read last year's blog entry.)

Luckily, I made a concerted effort to try a slightly different approach this year and it turned out to be a smart choice with some really great results!

After last year's event, I pondered my future involvement in Levi's Gran Fondo and I decided to ask (way back in January) to participate as an "on-bike course marshal." Thankfully, my efforts as a top fundraiser helped me land a highly coveted volunteer position that included many Sonoma County bike club locals (Thanks Greg @ Bike Monkey!)

Interestingly, I watched from the sidelines as open registration for the 100 mile route quickly filled up and closed. It felt slightly odd not signing up for the ride, but I was excited to be riding as a volunteer.

I had pretty much decided that my fundraising days were over too. I just didn't think asking for money again would be well-received and I wasn't sure I had the energy to work at it again.

Late July 2011. Fundraising is on...

I'm not sure when/how/why I changed my mind, but as this year's event crept closer, I decided I had an obligation to myself to fire up the fundraising machine and get to work. I guess I figured, if you're passionate about something, believe in what you are doing and want to do it, then get busy! Right?!

I won't go into the details of the actual fundraising, but I can tell you this - I have some AWESOME folks that support me BIG TIME! We raised $3601 this year (and another $100 for next year - it came in after this year's deadline and is credited to next year's effort.) For a time in late August, I was the top fundraiser and eventually settled at #6. I was really amazed at the overwhelming response of my repeat donors. I asked and they responded with great generosity and kind words of support.

Riding for Nick...

In the heat of August, on one of my training rides through the dusty cow pastures and hills surrounding my home, I couldn't help but think about how lucky I was to have the love of my wife, kids, family and friends and spend time almost every day out on one of my beloved bicycles.

As anyone who has spent hours on a bike can tell you, thoughts run deep. I thought of my dear friends Mark, Sandie and Sean Olson who had lost their

son/brother Nick earlier this year. A motor vehicle accident had taken Nick's life while at home on leave between his graduation as a Recon Marine and his pending deployment overseas.

I can tell you, the loss of Nick frequently erased the smile off Mark's face in an instant and heavy tears took its place. As Mark would tell me often, Nick loved to ride bikes - mountain and road. An idea came to me on one of those hot, leg-blasting training rides on the hills above my home. Nick would indeed ride again - with me at Levi's Gran Fondo.

Oh no, it's Facebook...

A potentially useless waste of time, turned powerful fundraising tool - FACEBOOK! I relied heavily on Facebook to reach out to friends and ask for donations. In fact, I was able to post

information about the Gran Fondo charities, post amounts raised updates and thank people for their contributions.

I must say, it wasn't without obsessive checking, updating and composing personal messages to keep things moving. For six weeks, I lived on my Gran Fondo personal fundraising page and Facebook. In all, I had 51 donations that ranged from my daughter Rachel to high school friends (wow, amazing response from folks I hung out with almost 30 years ago) to neighbors, co-workers, an NFL player, friends from my time in Portland, Oregon (20+ years ago), bike riding buddies, family members and even a few people I didn't think liked me much!

I finally landed at $3601 in early September and simply ran out of gas. I had e-mail blasted my address book, personally asked people I knew and probably posted my way into "hide all by

Patrick Layne" from a few friends on Facebook. Much to my delight, I had flown by last year's

fundraising total by over a $1,000!

Eventually, I was outdone by a few heavy hitters who came on strong in the waning days of the fundraising deadline. My only disappointment with fundraising came when I found out that Levi had taken the top fundraisers out to Forget Me Not Farm on a bike ride. I wished I could have topped the $5,000 mark, but it was not meant to be. I would have truly enjoyed being at the farm, seeing it firsthand and meeting the folks who do such meaningful work.

As many of you know, I went on an excellent bike ride with Levi last year and I didn't really feel as though I missed out on the actual bike riding this year.

If you are interested in learning more about Forget Me Not Farm, check them out on the web: http://forgetmenotfarm.org/

Levi & Me!

A van down by the river...

Shane Seymour - super-hero, fellow fundraiser and damn nice guy!

What? Where is this blog going? Read on friends, read on...

Well, my laser-like focus on fundraising, beer drinking, bike riding and "Facebooking" brought me within weeks of the Gran Fondo with NO HOTEL reservation! Keep in mind, this ride was expecting ~7,500 cyclists - not all locals.

Bad planning? Yes, bad planning on my part. No planning on my part? Outright lame for sure.

What does one do in this situation? YES, take to posting on Facebook! After three posts touting, "I'll pay in cash and/or cheap beer for a place to stay" and "Anyone got a van down by the river

to share?", I was blessed with a single response. Shane Seymour, a fellow-fundraiser from Minnesota invited me to share his room at the Hilton that he had earned through a stellar fundraising campaign - he raised over $6,000! Way to go Shane!

Thanks to Shane, I could finally breath a sigh of relief that I had a place to stay and could now

focus on staying healthy, injury-free and look forward to an awesome weekend!

Lunch at Finley Center on Friday afternoon...

Impatient readers don't despair, we're getting closer to the ride part of the story (and the end of this post!)

I arrived at the Finley Center in Santa Rosa on Friday afternoon to pick up my "fundraiser's swag" (expensive gifts donated from cool bike gear companies and given to fundraisers. I was given a very cool $250 Giro Aeon helmet and a locally-made Rickshaw messenger's bag along with other assorted goodies.)

There was also a 15 minute meet 'n greet with Levi which was cool, but I really enjoyed chatting with Yuri for a few minutes as I had not seen him since last year's event (Yuri is a real nice guy with whom I had the pleasure of meeting last year and someone who I've kept in touch with via Facebook since

then.)

Whew, I'm starving! Luckily, the fine folks at Clif Bar & Company had set out a fine spread of "lunch" products for me to chow on while I hung out at Finley all afternoon waiting for the 5PM

course marshal's meeting. BTW, the Vanilla Almond bars (pictured above) are quite good!

My afternoon at Finley Center ended with a marshal's meeting and a quick introduction with my

assigned riding partner Allen Brumm. I must say, I was beginning to have reservations about this marshaling assignment as thoughts of being out on the course for 12 hours helping riders

flashed through my head.

Hangin' with the coolest guy in Santa Rosa...

On the way back to the hotel on Friday evening, I rolled by D'Argenzio Winery to see Ray and Carmen. Ray hosted a get-together last year at his winery/tasting room and I enjoyed hanging out so much, I decided to stop by again this year and say, "Hello." Ray is a charismatic guy who will graciously hand you a glass of wine and have you relaxed and enjoying the warm environs of the tasting room in no time. Carmen is a cute young lady who works with Ray at the winery. One thing I noticed about Ray is that he surrounds himself with beautiful women (way to go, Ray!) Hanging out for a bit, I even got a bocce ball lesson with a group that included a very pretty and very talented bicycle racer - Alison Starnes. Bocce ball didn't last long as we were all tired and need to get some rest before the big ride the next day, but we did manage to share some friendly conversation. If you happen to be in Santa Rosa, stop by and say "Hey" to Ray for me...and try some of his amazing wines!

http://www.dargenziowine.com/

I get up earlier than a rooster, just ask Shane...

Ride day - wake up!

4:45 AM, in search of coffee. Thank you iPhone, thank you Yelp, thank you Starbucks!

6:00 AM, riding the streets of Santa Rosa in the dark headed for Finley

Center - 0n-bike marshal staging area.

7:00 AM, staging...start time approximately 8:15 AM.

I'm always excited to get started on the bike when I know I'll be riding for several hours - today was no different.

Pictured below: hanging with my riding partner and fellow marshal Allen Brumm before the start. Wow, what a great guy. I was very fortunate to get paired up with such a good guy (and strong rider!) Thanks for the AWESOME ride Allen!

Off we go...

Follow the Levi.

A flat tire at mile ten is better than a flat tire at mile 90...

Yep, flat went the tire. Ten miles into the ride my front tire decided not to cooperate. Allen and I pulled off into an apple orchard and quickly changed the tube. I couldn't help but think, "Uh-oh,

is this a sign of things to come? Crash later? Mechanical failure? Bonk?" Think good thoughts...

Rain, wind, cows/cattle guards, steep climbs, steeper descents & a very dangerous metal grate bridge...

With the ride firmly under way, we headed toward the steep climbs of King Ridge. By now it was raining and at times very windy up on the ridge. With every crossing of the wet cattle guards, we made our way toward Hauser Bridge. Hauser is a metal grate bridge that scared the hell out of

me when I rode across it last year (I rode too close to the 2' tall guardrail and saw the creek 25'

below!) Two years ago, as I was entering the steep hairpin turn that leads to the bridge, I came upon a fellow cyclist walking up the road in his socks. He had lost control on the turn right before the bridge and flew off the road, losing his bike to the forest. Sadly, this year was the scene of a

bad crash on the wet metal bridge. This left 30-40 cyclists carefully walking their bikes past paramedics and emergency personnel tending to a fallen cyclist on the bridge. Later, I heard the cyclist was going to be okay, but had to spend some time in the hospital receiving care.

Onward we ride toward lunch...

For some reason, the climbing sections between miles 30-60 seemed to take forever to ride. I'll have to discuss this with Levi next time I see him and get his thoughts.

Lunch stop.

A quick bite and off I go...to the bike mechanic.

As I was rolling my bike toward the road, I noticed the rear brake rubbing against the rim with great force. I thought my brake caliper had become misaligned when I parked my bike. Wrong. My rear wheel was out of true and would not spin freely. Luckily, there were mechanics at

each stop and the guy who grabbed my bike and dropped it on to the

repair stand, tightened some spokes and had me ready to roll very quickly. I was so confident in his work, I decided to test it on Willow Creek Road, an optional dirt/gravel route a few miles up ahead.

Riding through the low clouds and light rain.

Willow Creek Road...

This year, the organizers of the event added an optional twist to the route. They introduced Willow Creek Road, a closed gravel/dirt road that wandered up through a beautiful forested area.

Initially, I had no interest in taking my skinny tire road bike banging off road, but when Allen e-mailed me ahead of the ride and asked if I would be willing to give it a try. I quickly remembered that this was the year of "taking a different approach." So, I readily agreed and left it at that.

On the day of the ride, I was rapidly changing my mind as we pedaled closer to the turn-off. Around mile 70, we stopped briefly, looked at each other and confirmed that we were both still game to give it a try. Off we went, rumbling down the rutted, gravel road headed toward a long uphill climb.

As I carefully chose my line, I heard twigs and rocks popping beneath my high pressure tires. I was beginning to love the decision. Actually, with every pedal stoke, I was beginning to float off into a state of sheer happiness. The lack of big groups of riders, the beauty of the forest, the focus that it took to stay moving up the road all made Willow Creek my favorite part of the entire ride!

Racing toward the end...

As I reached the top of Willow Creek Road, I knew Santa Rosa was getting closer. The ride would contain some long, fast stretches and I knew I'd be finishing the ride for the third time in three years.

I was also extremely excited to see the Olsons waiting at the finish line. Mark, Sandie and Sean were coming all the way up from San Jose to be there for end of "Nick's Ride."

The final few miles, I pedaled harder and could feel my thighs begin to burn. My eyes welled up with tears as I reached down and touched the photo of Nick on the front of my bike. I gently, but firmly told him, "Let's do this thing boy, your parents are waiting for us!"

The kind lady in the VIP tent turned out to be my VIP...

Upon finishing, I quickly reached into my jersey pocket and grabbed my iPhone. Remember that game show "The Price is Right?" When someone would lose, the music would go, "Wah, wahhhhh!" I was hearing that music right about then! My GPS tracking software killed my battery and the phone died somewhere around the top of Willow Creek Road.

Now, flash back to the finish and imagine my distress when I scanned the horizon to find thousands of people walking around. "Shit, I'll never find the Olsons," I thought to myself.

I wandered to the VIP tent trying to figure out my next move. I decided it should be an ice-cold Fat Tire Amber Ale. Amazingly, it worked! I gained momentum and started asking around to see if anyone had an iPhone charger! I'll be damned, a nice lady working in the tent smiled and said, "Yes. Yes, I do. Follow me." She led me to the back side of one of the food tables, lifted the table cloth and there was her MacBook Pro with an iPhone cable hanging off of it!

As the iPhone was re-charging its way back from the red battery zone, I ran into my friends Marshall, Nicole (with Finn) and Forrest (photo below) and chatted for a bit. I had a nice conversation with Scott Nydam, a former racer with BMC. I met Edward Wimmer from Road ID again (I met him a few years ago at the event.)

Finally, I returned to my phone and found I had text messages stacked up from Kathy, Mark Olson, Shane and my riding partner Allen. Wow, it felt great to have the phone working again! I sent out messages and directed all to my location (except Kathy...I texted her that I'd have to catch up later, but I had made it in safely from a long days' ride.)

VIP tent meeting...

I finally met up with Mark, Sandie and Sean. They had found their way to the outer fence of the VIP area and we hugged and shared big smiles.

I should mention, another perk for fundraising to a certain level is earning an invitation to hang out in the VIP area post-ride. This is a nice bonus after a long day of riding. Not only do you get to eat, drink and relax, but there are some interesting people to meet.

Thankfully, Yuri wandered by about the time the Olsons arrived and I quietly asked him if my friends could come into the VIP area and sit down with me. I had much to share with them and they were my VIP's. Yuri quickly escorted them in without question and we again shared hugs and smiles of happiness.

Forget King Ridge...Levi is King!

After spending quite a bit of time on stage addressing the enthusiastic crowd, Levi returned to the VIP area. As he was entering, I walked up and introduced myself and was mildly surprised when he informed me that he knew who I was and that he greatly appreciated my fundraising efforts and support of the event over the past few years (I guess he had recognized me from all the fundraiser's activities?)

I informed Levi that in addition to my fundraising for the event, I had dedicated my ride to Nick Olson and his parents and brother had come all the way from San Jose to see me finish. I asked him if he could take a moment to say, "hello" to them.

Over the next 15 minutes, my admiration for Levi Leipheimer, the Olympian, Tour De France Podium finisher, 3x Tour of California winner and accomplished professional cyclist changed.

Levi turned to the Olsons, hugged each of them and expressed his sympathies for their loss. He proceeded to ask about Nick and listen to Mark and Sandie tell stories about Nick. They told Levi who he was and what he loved - athletics, friends and cycling! I showed Levi the photo of Nick that I had mounted on my bike and pointed out the side of the photo with Nick "popping a wheelie" on his mountain bike, this produced smiles all around.

Finally, Levi wrote a note to Shawn on the cover of a Bike Monkey magazine. He also wrote a note on the photo I had mounted on my bike and posed for a few photos with us.

I can tell you that this interaction between the Olsons and the world-class cycling champion named Levi, was a humbling experience. He displayed a genuine warmth and caring that changed my admiration of him from cycling fan to friend. I now know this for sure, Levi Leipheimer is a world-class person and I'll ride in support of him any day.

McDreamy rides again...

With my objectives for the weekend nearly complete (ride for Nick, have fun and be safe), I could now turn my attention to important items like - getting a photo with Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey!

You see, my lovely wife Kathy had decided the training and craziness of the weekend weren't in the cards for her this year. So, she sent me alone with one request - "Get a photo of you and McDreamy together!" Last year, I had facilitated a quick intro and photo of Kathy and "the other" Patrick, this year it was my turn.

Fortunately, I was able to grab Patrick for a moment as he was preparing to leave and explain my situation. Being the awesome guy he is, he laughed, shook my hand and took a quick photo with me. Mission accomplished - see below!

"Patrick & Patrick"

We're almost there!

"Patrick, is that you with the beautiful and talented professional bike racer, Alison Starnes?"

As luck would have it, I ran into Alison after she received her Gran Fondo award for being the first woman to finish. We had discussed the possibility the night before at D'Argenzio Winery and I was excited to see that it had happened. Alison is a very sweet and charming person and I wish her great success! BTW, that trophy weighs a ton! Thanks Alison for sharing!

Odds 'n ends...

Riding 100+ miles and meeting with Levi and friends was the high point of the weekend. Riding 5 miles back to the hotel at dusk after the event was the low point...just an FYI.

After a quick shower, I headed out for an excellent meal with Shane and his friend at Riviera Ristorante in Santa Rosa (highly recommend!) As if he weren't generous enough, Shane treated for dinner! I reiterate, Shane Seymour is a super-hero and damn nice guy! Thank you, Shane.

Okay, so I wake up early...

6:30 Sunday morning, hit the road headed for home. It was an incredible weekend and I achieved all my objectives:

Have fun.

Be safe.

Honor Nick and his family.

Get a photo with McDreamy (for Kathy).

Thank you...

Yes, we have arrived at the end of this long post. But, before I let you go I have to extend my heartfelt thanks to all my fundraising donors and all who sent warm wishes throughout the entire journey. I had a great ride and feel blessed to know I had so many people supporting my efforts.

Many thanks,

Patrick

Fundraising for 2012 is now open...

http://www.levisgranfondo.com/fundraising/portal/?user=patricklayne

2010 Levi Leipheimer's King Ridge Gran Fondo

2010-10-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

A weekend of privilege, fun and cycling...

Roughly nine months after registration and a couple thousand dollars raised for charity, the Gran Fondo finally arrived this past weekend (Oct. 9, 2010). Thanks to my many very generous friends, I was one of the top fundraisers for the event. So, what should have been a crowded century ride, turned into an incredible weekend of fun for me and Kathy.

So, this is how things went down...

I received an e-mail early last week telling me that my fundraising efforts were very much appreciated and although I did not raise the $8k required for the top-fundraiser award, they were inviting me to a series of events throughout the weekend in appreciation of my efforts. The first event was a Friday morning group ride with Levi Leipheimer, his personal mechanic and friend Glenn, a few local pros and some of Levi's fellow Team RadioShack riders...specifically, Bjorn Selander (former U23 U.S. TT Champ) and Ben King, current U.S. National Pro Road Race Champ. There were 14 riders in the group (including me and Levi). We met at 10:30AM on Friday morning at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek in Santa Rosa. Because I was notified kinda last minute, I had to scramble to get on the road from my home in San Ramon and get there in time to ride (I had arranged for Kathy to arrive later with our friend Jason.)

Riding with the pros...

I have to admit, I was a little nervous and awestruck when I first arrived as we stood around chatting and making introductions, but quickly relaxed as we pedaled out of the parking lot for our two hour ride. Within minutes, I was up front riding alongside Levi enjoying the experience. As I pulled out my little pocket camera to get a quick snapshot, Levi chuckled and told me, "Hey, don't sweat the photos, we have a professional photographer along taking photos for all you guys." The ride was an incredible experience, chatting with the pros and being part of a select group the day before a 6,000 rider event! BTW, the photos turned out great - I've organized them into a slideshow for all to see (the link is at the bottom of this post.)

Flash forward to Friday evening...

Kathy and I were invited to a "VIP" reception at D'Argenzio Winery. We'll, that may have been the "bust" of the weekend (very few people showed up), but at least we got to meet some real nice folks who we'd run into later in the weekend. But, not all was lost...Levi showed up and hung out for a bit. Kathy got to meet Levi and take some photos with him. Incidentally, we had heard that Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey (you know, that hunky dude from the TV show Grey's Anatomy) would be in town for the ride on Saturday...Kathy thought he might show up at the winery reception, but no such luck :(

Saturday morning, up early and ready to roll...

The ride started at 8AM sharp from the Finley Center in Santa Rosa. There were 6,000 cyclists in attendance for the three rides - Piccolo (35 mi.), Medio (65 mi.) and the Gran (103 mi.) Up front, there was a roped off VIP section, follow by self-staging areas for all riders. Initially, I had thought about "crashing" the VIP area as I had met Yuri Hauswald, a local pro with Marin Bikes the day before and thought he'd probably let me in since he was the "gatekeeper". However, not wanting to push my luck, I casually stopped by to say, "Wassup" to Yuri then proceeded to line up about 20 feet behind the VIP section. Kathy was nervous to start up front with the "fast" riders, so she disappeared back into the sea of cyclists. Unfortunately, for Kath, I could see "McDreamy" up ahead in the VIP area and I was bummed she didn't get to see him!

We're off...

About twenty minutes into the ride, I was flying along at a pace that should have left me totally cooked by mile 50, but I seemed to feel okay, so I decided to keep the hammer down. I was behind some dude, who was riding a bit slower than me, so I moved out around him, glanced to my right and...McDreamy appeared! I immediately sat up, slowed to his pace and looked over at him..."Hey, my wife is lookin' for you! I think you're the only reason I was able to get her to participate in this craziness!" I yelled to him. He replied, "Well, where is she?" I gave him the "back there somewhere" thumb and said, "Somewhere behind us!" He chuckled and responded, "I'll be back there in a bit, I'm sure I'll see her!" We smiled, I replied, "Have a great ride!" to which he said the same and onward I pedaled. I immediately thought, "Jeez, what dumb luck riding alongside McDreamy in this absolute mass of humanity on wheels with identities hidden in dorky bike helmets and sunglasses." I also thought about how Kathy had once again missed out, so I quickly pulled out my cell phone and snapped off a terrible photo of McDreamy from over my shoulder...I was determined to get her at least a quick view of him - if only through the crappy lens of my cell phone while barreling down the road surrounded by bike nuts!

Riding, climbing, descending rapidly, riding, climbing...

The ride itself was excellent. I was making good time, the weather was perfect, the scenery was amazing and Coleman Valley Road was looming at mile 75! I loved the constantly changing scenery from vineyards to oak covered foothills to redwood forests to sweeping ocean views. Did I mention the steep climbs and even steeper descents?! Wow, Meyers Grade was nothing less than treacherous. The overall stats from the ride were something like 103 miles, 8,500 feet of climbing and all you can drink cold beer in the VIP tent at the finish line!

The VIP tent is near...

I managed to reel off the miles at a pace faster than I had previously thought possible for me and finished the ride in 6:53. About the same time I finished, I pulled my phone out of my jersey and saw a text message from Kathy...she was in the VIP tent waiting for me...and McDreamy was there!!! Finally, Kathy got to feast her eyes on Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey! I made my way into the VIP tent where Kathy said, "What can I get for you?" My response? Well, it went something like this..."A cold beer and a photo of you with McDreamy." She whispered to me, "I stood right next to him - wow! Unfortunately, they asked us not to bother him when they let us into the VIP area." I told Kathy, "Hold on, I chatted with him on the ride and now it's time to get your picture with him." I walked over near Mr. Dempsey, made eye contact and motioned him over to me. I mentioned our chat on the ride in the morning and something about my wife wanting to meet him. He laughed and said, "Oh yeah, I remember" and then turned to Kathy asked her name and introduced himself. Without further delay, I asked the two of them to smile for the camera and...see below, enough said?

VIP tents are cool...

Maybe the best part of the weekend (aside from my Friday ride with Levi) was the VIP tent after the ride. I saw my friends Forrest, and Marshall, Levi, Patrick Dempsey and several other kinda famous people from the bicycling community. My friend Forrest who's a real character (in a great way) and knows almost everyone gave me a personal introduction to his friend "Brian." Brian Lopes is a 4x World Champion mountain biker! The "all-you-can-drink" ice-cold Fat Tire Ale and good food were cool too!

Photo: (L to R) Marshall, Forrest, Brian and Me (yeah, they finished way before me, that's why I'm still wearing my helmet!)

The "after" party...

Well, you'd think it would all end after the VIP tent, but it didn't. My friend Forrest mentioned that Yuri was having a small, private get-together later that evening at a place in the historic railroad district in Santa Rosa and we were invited. As it turns out, Kathy and I spent the evening with a dozen or so people that included Levi, his wife Odessa, Ben King, the organizers of the event - Carlos and Greg, Team RadioShack's Sponsorship Manager, Glen, Forrest and his lovely wife Nicole and of course our gracious host Yuri. It was kind of surreal, hanging out at a huge event and being swept into a small inner-circle of people who were at the center of it.

Finally, we ended our weekend with a restless, overtired sleep Saturday night, a BIG breakfast the next morning and a leisurely drive home where the couch was waiting for me to spend the rest of the afternoon.

My heartfelt thanks...

Well, I had a hell of a weekend and I'm very grateful to my friends for their generosity. Because of you guys and many others, I was rewarded with a unique and very fun experience. Thanks so much for your support!

Patrick

Picassa slideshow http://bit.ly/9fM7ID

2010 Giro di Peninsula...

2010-06-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I rode the Giro di Peninsula - 100 mile route. It was fun. Today, I rode my mountain bike. It was fun.

TUC 2010

2010-05-16T15:39:00.001-07:00

I rode the Tour of the Unknown Coast last weekend.

I've missed the last two years. Last year because of my broken clavicle, and the year before because I did the family ride.

I was very nervous; my training was a weekend regime of westward loops, culminating in doing the Dearth Ride on two weekends. I felt ready, but not confidently ready. My other preparation has been that, with Julia's help, I've been trying to do some yoga stretches in the mornings.

We drove up on Friday, and had some time to stop in Founder's Grove for some Redwood Tourism. The weather was clear, with rain forecast for Sunday. Ate dinner at the Ivanhoe Inn (http://www.ivanhoe-hotel.com/) in Ferndale. I want to stay there next year. Food was pretty good, and relatively inexpensive for a restaurant with pretensions.

Saturday was grey and pleasant. Got the usual warnings from Vic about bad roads, including new information about bad roads after A.W. Way (lunch stop). Prompt start, and we were off.

I studiously avoided getting in any pace lines, and went solo, and at a slightly slower pace. Got to the bluffs with a biggish group anyway, and I was surprised to find myself passing a lot of riders up the short hills in that section.

Through Rio Dell and Scotia, out onto 101 and then the Avenue of the Giants. I got passed by a few groups in pace lines. It turned out that I was climbing pretty good, and on the flats, I kept getting passed by the same riders in groups.

As usual, the stretch from 101 to the beginning of the climb to Panther Gap was shockingly bad. The climb is eternal (an hour?). At the top, I'd been riding for 3:30. Weather clear/cloudy. Cool and pleasant.

Down the other side: I'd forgotten how steep it is. Plus, since last year, I've been ginger with my descents, so I took it quite slow. Towards the bottom, at a hairpin turn, there's a woman, a truck, and her stretcher, waiting by the side of the road. Next hairpin, the ambulance was waiting. I got the message. :)

The Mattole valley was super gorgeous. Cow and sheep ranches, green. A bit of a headwind provided an ominous warning. Last time through, the coast (7 miles) was into a headwind that held me to 7mph.

Lunch at A.W. Way park. I've resolved to go camping there, even if I don't know why anyone would go there. It's quite a nice little park. Veggie soup, PB&J. Back into the saddle.

Over some more hills, then down to the ocean. The wind is gusty, and it's hard to tell, but it must be a tailwind, because I make about 15mph without trying too hard. This is the life!

Finally get to The Wall. Don't stop at the bottom, but just slowly slowly chug up the 1 mile, 1000 foot grade. Get to the top, passed by many. On some of the bumps, my front wheel lifts a few inches from the asphalt. Keep pedaling to the very top, and stop to eat a food bar. Yay! I'm not dead. Didn't stop. Didn't cry.

Downhill to "capetown" -- stop to refill water bottles. Didn't remember that this descent was straight down. Holy cow! At the bottom, Capetown is a house, a porta-potty, a folding table with water and Shasta cola.

I met two riders:

Rider #1 is cursing his front rim, which is slightly bent from a pothole. He can't use his front brake anymore, but I later see him ride past me up the next hill to the end.

Rider #2 is holding half of his (carbon fiber) handlebar, which snapped off during the descent to the coast. I guess he thought he could manage... until the terrifying descent to Capetown. He's decided to wait for the pickup truck.

Back in the saddle, and up the Endless Hills. It takes forever, and I go slowly. I do pass a couple of riders, which feels like a great triumph. In the past, coming up this hill, I've suffered from horrible leg cramps, and often had to stop and pant, and watch other riders glide by. This time, no stopping, and only one tense moment when both legs seized up at the same time. Rode through it, and no other issues.

At the top, then the final, terrifying, pothole-rich descent. Dropping 4,000 feet gets old after about the first 2k, and the rest is just waiting for the end.

The best part of this ride is the way the descent ends at the very edge of Ferndale. A small audience rings cowbells and cheers, and you ride a few blocks back to the fairgrounds to get your time and get off the bike.

Wall clock said 8:15, and saddle time was 7:42. I think this was my best time, by at least 15 minutes. The winner finished in his typical 5:20. Didn't win anything with the raffle tickets.

Next day was still nice, though it rained cats and dogs in Los Altos. Went up to Arcata for Mother's day brunch, shopped and watched the locals soak up the hazy sunlight in the town square. A few scenic stops. Loleta cheese factory for the samples. Dinner at Curley's in Fortuna. This in the site of Parlotta's, which one one of the excitements about going up. A local tragedy. Curley's is not bad, but not the same, either.

Sunday night, the storm moved in, with lightning, hail and rain. Drove back home in classic NorCal rainy weather.

Time to train for next year. Any takers?

David

For the Cornichon team sound track

2010-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

I Like My Bike , a new song by Hurtbird
Just about perfect for grinding up a long hill
Scroll down to find it on the list of this live session, click to listen
I recommend the audio only version, as the band is more talent than looks.

The Vang

2010-03-15T21:54:00.001-07:00

David and I both finished the Solvang Century last weekend! Now we know why there are windmills in a mock-Danish town. It's windy! I just hope Denmark isn't as crowded as this ride.

There were hoards of riders, an endless stream ahead and behind all day. To give you an idea of the mass of humanity taking part at this event, check out the scene at the first rest stop.

The ride heads west from Solvang past the huge Ostrich farm towards Lompoc. The ride didn't pass the place to eat Ostrich, which is east of Mission Santa Iñes at the intersection of 246 and the San Marcos Pass road, so we missed out on that snack. "Tastes like chicken".

The closer to Lompoc, the more the wind started to be a big factor. When the ride turned north, the wind kicked up. Found myself on a flat to downhill section going 12 mph. There was one section heading out to Lompoc where the cross wind was more behind us and that section was 22 mph. Except for when we did the longest hill climb of the ride, it seemed like we were never out of the wind.

The ride out to Lompoc took a nice country rode bypassing the direct route along 246. The 246 route is known for its flower farms, rectangles of vibrant reds, yellows, whites and blues at certain times of the year that's worth the drive sometime if you haven't seen it.

From Lompoc, the ride passes Vandenburg AFB, home to ICBM tests that target various atolls in the south Pacific, and also home to the launches of satellites worked on by our friends here at Lockheed and NASA/Ames, including Gravity Probe B (my friend Jeff worked on this).

Next it was past Casmalia, a 252 acre superfund site where 5.6 billion pounds of toxic waste were dumped. I didn't get off my bike anywhere near there.

The hoards never let up. At the 56 mile rest stop, David's comment was something like, "Holy cow, look at the food line". It must have been 50 people long. It was necessary to wait in line to use the Andy Gump. This is already 3+ hours into the ride and it really hadn't thinned out much.

Here we are at mile 70. Admittedly, there are a few less people but there's still big groups of cyclists around us.

The finish included two smaller but noticeable hills past the wineries back into Solvang. I kept my speed low on the downhills because the road was very rough.

We passed the Fess Parker winery above. Fess Parker played in the Davy Crockett, "king of the wild frontier" TV show I watched as a kid. The hotel and spa is 4-star but given who Davy Crockett was, I've got to wonder what they serve to eat. Ostrich!

Ride (CPU) time was 6hr15 minutes and I was pretty happy with it. Wall clock time was closer to 7:40.

While we were riding, our families checked out our favorite Solvang stop to sample the aebleskiver. I've been stopping in Solvang for aebleskiver for 20 years or more. Courtesy of my Mom, we actually own one of these pans. If they sold the ovens...

Dinner at Jocko's Steak House hit the spot.

The end looked like this.

Dog dreams

How To Change A Tire

2010-03-07T11:58:00.000-08:00

(note: I took the photos to create this entry last year, and just now am posting)

How To Change A Tire

A certain amount of care is required to change a tire. One must be prepared to handle the tube and flap without damaging them, and use the proper tools at all times.

Step 1: Place the Wheel on the Ground

Generally replacing a tire while the wheel is attached is more difficult and dangerous. Remove the wheel, and set it on the ground in an area with sufficient workspace.

Step 2: Deflate the Tire

Allow all air to escape from the tire. The best way to do this is to remove the valve cartridge. This only works for Presta valves, though. It is very difficult to remove a tire while it is pressurized.

Step 3: Remove the Lock Ring

Not all tube-type wheels have a lock ring, but in this case, there is one. Here, I used a screwdriver and a small sledge hammer to delicately remove the lock ring from the wheel.

Step 4: Remove the Rim Ring

The pictured wheel has a multi-part structure. Rather than flipping the tire over the rim, the rim disassembles to remove the rubber parts. In the case of this wheel, 30+ years of inactivity led to the rubber being welded to the metal. The solution was to hammer in a prybar all the way around the wheel to loosen the connection. This, and a judicious application of furniture clamps, made the ring removal quite smooth.

Step 5: Remove the Tire, Tube, and Flap from the Wheel

The tire will need to be loosened from the back half of the wheel. The air filler pipe must be guided carefully through the hole in the wheel. Try not to damage the flap, as it can be re-used.

Step 6: Clean, Inspect and Paint the Wheel

Look for cracks, and bends that can be repaired with a sledgehammer.

Step 7: Reassemble Wheel

Use a new tube and tire. Don't bother with balancing weights, as the vehicle is not likely to exceed 30MPH anyhow.

Back in Black (Tires)

2010-03-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

On Friday, I took my bike by PA Bikes to see if I could get a while-u-wait replacement of my brake cables (no dice). I was able to replace my cleats (no yellow at all) and my helmet (smacked to the ground a few weeks ago). While I was there, I noticed that you could see the cabling through the rubber on my rear tire -- time to replace!

I've been running white Continental 4000s this past year. The color isn't common in stores, and as previously noted, they seem to figure prominently in major accidents. It also turns out to be a fairly slow color. At any rate, I switched to Continental 4000S.

These tires rock. Black is a way faster color than white (blue is probably still the fastest color). These tires also have the chili compound, which gives better grip, durability and reduced road resistance -- all in one tire!!! Can you believe it?!!!

Anyhow, today was the big day. Steve, his friend John and I rode the West Alpine loop. It was on this ride a year ago, just after putting new _white_ tires on, that I had a blowout and broke my clavicle. I was very paranoid, especially when going by _the_spot_ on Page Mill. It all worked out well though. Plus I think I'm getting in shape. Solvang is next week!

This is a picture of us on Alpine road, at the turn off for Portola state park. That's me in the middle with my new black chili tires. The next step is to get matching bar tape.

My Big Black Rooster

2010-03-07T11:32:00.000-08:00

I had a different title for this post, but I decided to use the word "rooster."

A couple of weeks ago, we added a rooster to our flock. He is very protective of his hens, and you have to whack him with a stick to keep him from attacking. So far, he's drawn blood from both Julia and Leonardo.

The hens (five of them) seem to like having a husband around. Egg-wise, it seems to have made them more productive, though that might just be co-incidence. The last two hens started laying after his arrival.

This posting has nothing to do with cycling.

I see ground

2010-02-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

Ouch!

For the second time in less than a year, I experienced the ground approaching my head at about 20mph. :(

Steve and I have been practicing for the Solvang 100, in mid-March. Today we went up along Crystal Springs resevoir, all the way to Millbrae avenue, and back. It was a beautiful morning, and we had a great ride.

On the way back, just after turning from Hwy 9 onto Canada road, the road is blocked for cars, so that cyclists can enjoy it. At the end of the road, there are some cones, and a water stand set up. As we came up to it, Steve and I got our club biking signals crossed -- he turned left to get a drink, and I (not paying attention) piled into him at full speed.

The bikes survived fine. I have to check, but Steve had a sore elbow -- hopefully it's been managed with some ice and Advil.

Somehow, I managed to land on my head and my rear. After half a day, lots of ice and Advil, I'm feeling OK, but I think I'll work from home tomorrow, from a prone position. I'd post a photograph, but I think that we can skip a picture of my bruised ass. The head is as lovely as ever. ;-)

My first thought after hitting the ground was: I really don't want to get used to smacking my head on the asphalt.

Also, I'm beginning to think that white tires can kill.

Happy Elves on Dec. 8, 2009

2009-12-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

David and Rune are too busy to post pictures attesting to their dedicated cycling activities. So I'm posting some for them, and hopefully, they'll elaborate later. For example, I haven't even seen the pictures of David, but I'll assume he was the one who snapped the pictures.

I was in the pool at the time, and though it sounds worse to be swimming rather than biking, I knew I was warmer than the guys on Page Mill. There was slush on the pool deck, but the pool was the same temp as always. When I saw the pictures later that day, I knew I was right about being warmer.

D-Patmore

2009-11-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

I was going to post something about cycling, but decided this was better...thoughts?

Roadie vs. fixie

2009-08-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

See the roadie vs. fixie video Cathy kindly shared.

Livestrong Challenge

2009-07-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

The Charity Part

Participated in the 100 mile bike ride last weekend. Didn’t turn out so well, though :-)

The event required that you do some fund raising, something I’ve intentionally done very little of before. It turned out to be quite rewarding though. Got in touch with lots of new and old friends and learned interesting stories about almost everyone.

My fund raising total [http://sanjose09.livestrong.org/srfljf] of $3600 was good enough to win Linda and I a trip to the charity banquet held Saturday night before the race. In fact, 52 of us invited to the dinner were responsible for 20% of the $1.3m raised by the event. There were about 200 people there. The dinner was held at the Dolce-Hayes mansion. It’s slightly larger than our places.

During and before the dinner they showed us video about the fear and stigma associated with the disease around the world as a death curse. The emcee told us her story, and the main speaker was Carly Fiorina. The other couple at our table asked if we knew she would be speaking by the groans of our reaction at the first line of her introduction. We had both worked at HP when she became CEO (head cheerleader, head global promoter was probably a better title). She is currently battling breast cancer. She told us that she has no fear of anything, except those things that are “profound”, like death of a child, close friend or loved one. She very clearly told us that she’s running for the US senate and is not afraid of doing so. Note, that according to the merky [sic] news article about the event [http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12823079] she hasn’t announced this publicly. I hope that Barbara, Boxer[s] her butt in that race.

The most inspirational speaker was the guy who raised the most money, Alex Arato. He lost his father to cancer when his dad was 43. He’s 46 himself and raised over $37k. He pointed out that when his dad was suffering there weren’t groups like the LAF that helped people “survive” with it. This struck an emotional note with Linda, who felt the same way.

The Crash

OK, about the ride. It was a group start and you can guess who gave the ‘inspirational’ send off speech. I didn’t hear more than 2 words of it. I was nervous about being in a huge pack. The SJ police escorted the pack at 20 mph for the first 10 miles, a blessing and a curse. We got to thumb our noses at the traffic signals, blow raspberries at the drivers at the intersections and smile and wave thanks to the cops, but meant that the pack didn’t really thin until the escort was over.

I started too far back to really take advantage of a 20 mph pull, but was able to get warmed up and work nicely through the pack with an easy spin. 35 mph on Hwy 9 through Los Gatos. When things did thin, took turns pulling and being pulled by folks I found myself near. There were some rather easy hills with nice houses southwest of Los Gatos. The devil himself, or a guy in a costume, cheered, cajoled and gave us high fives when we reached the highest peak before Metcalf Rd. After 29 miles took my first rest. Average speed up to that point of 19 mph. 8 miles later on Uvas Rd, disaster would hit.

The weather was perfect and I felt like I was doing great. Was drafting behind two course marshals one second, the next I’m staring at my head tube and nothing’s connected to it. The course marshals are staring down at me, my shoulder hurts and I realized I’m not going any further. Had absolutely no sense of anything going wrong before waking up with these guys standing over me. Before I got loaded in the ambulance, the marshals said we were going about 24 mph and that I didn’t hit them or anything else as far as they knew. Three guys in a straight line.

First time ever in an ambulance. My head and neck feel fine, only my shoulder hurts but I’m a trauma patient, because of going unconscious, so I argue with the EMT about having to wear a neck brace and getting laid out on a trauma board. EMTs are arguing over which hospital to take me to, “the one farthest north, please”, eventually San Jose Regional, and now they are asking how to get to 101 and I tell them to cut across on Bailey. It takes a good 30 minutes to get there. CT scans/X-rays of everything above the waist. “Wait, I need to comb my hair”. Good thing I’m done with children. First time I’ve broken a bone that I haven’t ignored like a toe or finger. Total damage was right clavicle broken near the sternum, left thumb (may have already been broken, but more severely re-injured ), 10 stitches in ear, glue but no stitches to scar above right eye, road rash on the back, smile missing from my face.

Two days later, the orthopedic guy had no good news for me. Wants to put my thumb in a cast for 6 weeks [Are you *kidding* me?]. May need surgery on the clavicle, but he’s out-of-town and unreachable until Friday, and no message with the assistants, on the other hand didn’t tell them to schedule surgery either so that could be good news.

Bicycle Forensics

Ok, fork failure, blowout or something in the spokes? One of the owners of the Bicycle Outfitter is in the fork camp. He’s “95% sure” if it wasn’t for the broken spoke. The spoke has a large dent so took a big impact from something. The spoke is ripped out at the hub and nearly ripped out of the rim. His initial thought is that something broke the spoke but there are a number of things that prevent him from concluding the spoke caused it.

When you sit on the bike the fork is pushed forward. An impact mark inside the top tube may indicate that the fork exited forward rather than backward as would happen if you hit something that stops the rotation of the tire. If you hit something or get something stuck in your spoke then it usually shows up as wheel marks on the underside of the frame or there are impact marks on the back side of the forks, but neither exists. Forks and frame are clean. The fork sleeve is torn like a tin can, not sure how to explain that other than impact.

But impact where? Scrapes on the shifters, crank and rear tire indicate the bike went down on the left side probably with my hand still on the hood, which is how my thumb was re-injured. I probably landed on my helmet and right shoulder. Still these minor scrapes are not at all indicative of a major impact. The biggest point of impact seems to be on the spoke!

Blowout? You’d think I’d remember hearing something or would have felt something go wrong. There’s some indication of wear on the sides of the tires but it looks more like something sharp cut the sidewall. 3 guys in a line, you think they might have seen or remembered something about it, but the marshals told me my fork failed and said nothing about a blowout, so can only think they didn’t hear anything. Other than the spoke, there’s no visible damage to the rim, it didn’t slide on the pavement. Still it remains a possibility. May find out more when I take the tire off. More photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/srfljf/AnatomyOfACrash?feat=directlink

The Bike

Need to replace fork, wheel, tires. Possibly shifters, handlebars and seat post. Can’t tell if cranks need to be replaced until bike is put back together and they can be spun. Not going to do that immediately. The fork is the standard one that American Bicycle Group puts on Merlins. Going to send them pictures of the damage and see what they say. Not interested in pursuing a law suit, just want to see if they can lend any insight or make a better product. Not planning on buying a new bike at the moment. Not sure what I’d buy. The Bicycle Outfitter guy is going to loan me a bike and a trainer for the time being! I might have some time for a little spinning.

Ride safely out there.

Last Place at Time Trial

2009-07-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

Rune and I did our first time trial. He borrowed some Zipp wheels, one of which blew out with a loud bang as he waited to sign up for the TT. It was flat again at the end of the TT. Not exactly a positive experience that makes you want to buy those wheels.

Rune said he was the fastest guy on a Parlee. I got last. Don't worry, I didn't wear the three sizes too small Cornichon jersey. I didn't embarrass you all. I think it's the first time I've gotten last place. I'm still alive. I can still smile. Rune said, "Like brother, like sister." (At the Donner Lake Triathlon 2007, the male 30-34 results shows 38 participants, but my brother got 39th place in the swim.)

Want to try the TT? Be prepared to be intimidated by equipment and aero garb (space helmet, boot covers, one piece suits, seat about 1.5 feet higher than the aero bars, solid wheel). Info below and the results from the last one.

Free Wednesday night time trial on 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 6:30 pm put on by Front of the Pack. Course is 10.4 miles long. Start/finish will be on Canada Rd. and Palm Circle Dr.

Sign up on the day of the event starting at 6 pm with the first rider going off at 6:30. Registration closes when the first rider starts.

Interval between riders will be 1 minute.

Other details:

* Road is open but there will be someone flagging the turnaround near Highway 92.
* Event is a for fun event, not USA cycling sanctioned.
* Please ride to the sign up/start point to avoid lots of cars on the course.
* Riders will begin from a standing start.
* Teams of riders will be allowed.
* If you miss your start time you will be added at the end.
* Everyone must sign a waiver or they will not be allowed to participate.

Those interested in trying out a set of Zipp wheels for the TT can use them at no cost. We will have them at the start of the TT and we will hold your driver's license and a credit card while you are using them..

Dates:

* June 24
* July 8
* July 22
* August 12
* August 26
* September 9

What? Can't read that? Here, but it's not formatted ...

Place Name Actual time Helmet Bike Wheels Seat Angle

1 Paul Thomas 23:15:00 non-aero Kuota Kueen K Zipp 808f / Zipp 1080r steep

2 Justin Lucke 23:47:00 Rudy Project Syton Element 6 Hed 3f/Disc r steep

3 Kalen Gruber 24:56:00 non-aero Specialized Transition AC CR 420f / Zipp 404 r steep

4 * Anny Henry 25:46:00 Giro Advantage Tiemeyer Zipp 808f / Zipp disc rear steep

5 Twain Mein 26:35:00 Rudy Project Syton Scott Plasma Hed C2 set steep

6 Alex Hsing 26:38:00 Giro Advantage Cervelo P3C non-aero steep

7 John Villavicencio 26:41:00 non-aero Cannondale Slice non-aero steep

8 Chris Yu 26:45:00 non-aero Cervelo P3C non-aero steep

9 Ray Gildea 26:50:00 Louis Garneau aero Specialized Transition Hed 3f / Disc r steep

10 Rune Dahl 27:24:00 non-aero Parlee road Zipp 404f / Zipp 808 r slack

11 * Lisa Hern 27:26:00 Giro Advantage Cannondale Slice Hed 3 f/Disc rear steep

12 Craig Menden 28:07:00 Giro Advantage Cervelo P2C Zipp 808 set steep

13 Peter Delahunt 28:09:00 non-aero Felt road non-aero slack

14 Doug Madgic 28:26:00 non-aero Felt road Zipp 303f / Zipp 404r slack

15 Matt Masucci 28:29:00 non-aero Quintana Roo Hed Jet set steep

16 * Tana Jackson 29:06:00 non-aero Seven road non-aero slack

17 Stuart Johnson 29:06:00 non-aero Cervelo P2C non-aero steep

18 Phil Yurikonis 29:12:00 non-aero Trek road non-aero slack

19 Kevin Lee 29:52:00 non-aero Parlee road non-aero slack

20 Darby Brennan 30:09:00 non-aero Cervelo P3C non-aero steep

21 Brian Claes 30:39:00 non-aero Felt B2 Hed 3 set steep

22 Kwan Low 31:36:00 Rudy Project aero Hotta Spinergy RevX steep

23 * Sharlene Gee 31:50:00 non-aero Trek road non-aero slack

Going down Page Mill ...

2009-07-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

... as experienced from a helmet-mounted camera. This is Rachel Goldeen riding her mountain bike (whose name is Pwwka) down P.M. on June 21.

I thought you might enjoy it since Cornichons seem to have quite a lot of history with Page Mill (deer, blowouts, etc.), and a few of you are no longer able to experience P.M. on a regular basis.

I suspect you'll be most interested in the beginning and end and not the entire video. (Imagine how much longer it'd be if it were the uphill ride, though.) In the beginning section, look for Rachel's shadow with the helmet attached. And towards the end, look for a passing cyclist passing and waving, and look at Rachel checking out the camera.

Watch the exciting video

2009 Giro di Peninsula...

2009-06-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

I rode the Giro di Peninsula this year - minus David and the layer of wildfire smoke that was present over the Bay Area at last years' edition. Interesting ride...there seemed to be very few 100 milers. The route left from the San Mateo County Event Center (I departed around 6:20AM) and traveled up Edgewood Road to Canada Road and on to the first climb of the day: Kings Mountain Road. Not a bad climb, but the temperature was quite warm for early morning (close to 70°F). Upon reaching Skyline, the ride headed south to Hwy. 84 and on out to San Gregorio. I was passed by three riders (two guys, then one other a few minutes later) on Skyline and saw absolutely ZERO riders from Skylonda to San Gregorio. At San Gregorio there were 7-8 of us at the stop (BTW, the weather at the coast was spectacular).

Upon departing San Gregorio, I was caught by a 60 year-old guy named Steve (an engineer who rode out from Cupertino). I chased Steve to Tunitas Creek, where he slowed near the Bike Hut and asked if I'd like to chat/ride up Tunitas together - I agreed. Interestingly, Steve and I struck up a cordial conversation until he asked me my weight, then proceeded to calculate and inform me that I should weigh 154lbs. (two years ago when I did the Sierra Century and ran two 3:40 marathons in a span of 3 months...I weighed 181 lbs.) He continued to lecture me on being physically active and how he was in phenomenal shape at his age (no argument from me, but I wondered how often he annoyed fellow riders with his weight/age speech.)

At any rate, I slowly let up on my pedaling about 2/3 the way up Tunitas and told Steve he was my hero and he'd better go on without my fat ass holding him back (alright, I didn't mention the "fat ass" part, but something a bit kinder.) I do admit, I'm fatter than I need to be, but I have not weighed 154 lbs. since I graduated high school in 1983 at age 17 - a trim 155 lbs.

The ride continued back down Kings Mountain...going well, but really warming up, especially across Elena Road in Los Altos Hills (uggh, I was not enjoying the ride at all - now 90°F). After the rest stop in Los Altos, the ride rolled north on Foothill Expressway to Sand Hill/Portola Valley Road and stopped again at the fire station. For the first time in my riding "career", I momentarily contemplated ditching my helmet so that I could drench my head in cold water at will, but common sense directed me to place it firmly back on my head and ride on.

The last 25 miles were uneventful and not at all pleasant. It was hot, there were tons of shorter distance cyclists struggling along the route and lots of cars at the Woodside Road (I almost got hit by a car turning into a gas station) junction and a huge back-up at Hwy. 92 headed toward Half Moon Bay. I was glad to finish the ride in about 8 hours including rest stops. The food was ok...almost too hot to eat.

Possibly the finest moment of the day came when I sat down to have a bite to eat at the end of the ride and found myself listening to a horrible cover band with perhaps the worst female singer I have ever heard. Her unpleasant warbling quickly forced me back on my bike pedaling toward the parking lot in search of my car.

Levi Leipheimer's King Ridge Gran Fondo

2009-06-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

I'm signed up. It should be a great ride. http://www.levisgranfondo.com/

Back in the Saddle

2009-06-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

I've been cleared to ride for about 3 weeks now. I was nervous going in for the X-Ray, but it turns out that my bone healed up fine. The little twinges were just damaged tissue trying to find its way back together.

Even though the spinning class was useful -- I really think it made a difference in my riding -- I have not been back. Who wants to drive 30 minutes so they can ride a stationary bike? Then another 30 minutes to get home. I just can't get too excited about it.

So this Sunday, Steve, Patrick and I rode the Metric Century version of the Sequoia. Up Redwood Gulch/Hwy 9 to Skyline, over and down Alpine, San Gregorio, Tunitas, and back to the VA. It was fun, and a bit chilly.

Going up Tunitas, my shoulder hurt a bit, from putting lots of weight on it for a long time. Coming down King's, I found myself suffering from PTSD, ask I kept envisioning myself flying over the handlebars. _Hopefully_ I'll get over that -- it was not nice.

We finished the loop in about 5 hours ride-time, plus 1/2 hour dining time. Steve and Patrick were both a bit faster, and waited for me at the tops of things.

I leave you with this deep question: Why do they ALWAYS serve Lime Gatorade instead of Fruit Punch flavor?

Fall Pickle Festival!

2009-05-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so there's no fall pickle festival, but I've come across two rides I'd like to do in October (yeah, I know it's way too early to think about October).

October 3rd:

http://www.levisgranfondo.com/

Check out the GranFondo route - 105 miles.

October 4th:

http://www.savemountdiablo.org/Bike%20Challenge/MountDiabloChallengeHome.htm

The website has not been updated yet, but it is October 4, 2009. Not sure if I'd have the legs to do both, but might be worth a try?

Thoughts?

Report from the Diablo Century...

2009-04-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

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

White Tires Can Kill

2009-04-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

So I've been wanting to upgrade to white Conti 4000 tires for a while, but they didn't make 'em. I've got white bar tape these days. When I had to get a new saddle, I looked longingly at the white racing saddles at PA Bikes, but if you have to ask how much...

Anyway, the day after I bought a black saddle, I went online and discovered that you now can get white Conti tires. Yay! Now I just need a set of white padded shorts -- you can visualize on your own time.

Put two of the three new tires on yesterday, as part of an overall bike wash. Very slick look. Here's how white tires look after they get their first 40 miles:

Anyhow, today Steve and I went round the West Alpine loop. 28 minutes up OLH, which is a minute better than last time. The new tires rock. Current theory? Heat reflecting from the tires provides extra lift off the pavement. Hard to justify this theory, due to the cold day, but perhaps the effect will be more noticable when it gets hotter. Strangely, going downhill, they are a little slower. Coming down 84 where I can get up to 40, I only hit 35.

Another discovery is that Hammer Gel Tropical Flavor with 25mg Caffiene is pretty damn good, and it'll get you up Alpine road like you have rockets strapped to your saddle. Highly recommended (relished?) by this pickle. Plus, its almost like being in Hawaii.

Coming down Page Mill, on Kirkman Hill, I had a surpise when the air explosively left my front tire, and I was smacked against the asphalt at 25 miles per hour. The penalty seems to be one scuffed front tire, one scuffed bike, and a achey cyclist sitting at home with an iced ass and shoulder. If the shoulder is still very sore tomorrow, then it's off for X-Rays. Zap!

Oh, and a smashed helmet. I guess if there's something that you can be glad to see smashed, its a helmet. The darned thing absorbed a lot of energy, and I can still count and recognize food. Pass me another hat -- I'm still hungry.

Here's hoping that the damage is superficial. TUC is in two weekends and I'm hoping this is not my year of great excuses for missing long rides.

Thanks to Steve for circling back to check my vital signs, and to Julia for picking me up and all that ice, too.

Dr. Pickle

ps. The Death Ride water bottle on Kirkman Hill is mine, if you see it.

UPDATE: A broken clavicle (something hard in the shoulder area) will keep me off my arm for about 4 weeks. Spinning class here I come!

He Who Stands Longest, Stands Best

2009-04-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hmm, it's been a while since a posting, not due to lack of thoughts while cycling. Here's a specific recount, and maybe another entry is due with a general catch-up.

Last weekend was the Tierra Bella 2009. Steve Folkman, Rick, Rune and I were signed up for the 100 miler.

The Tierra Bella starts out of Gilroy, and goes all around the east and west sides of the valley down there. Avid readers will recall that Rune and I rode it two years ago in a rainstorm. This year, there's a new route, which substitues E. Dunne (to Henry Cow park) for Metcalf road, plus the route is clockwise, instead of counter-clockwise.

The weather was fantastic. There'd been a windstorm a few days before, but during the ride, there was but a gentle breeze, a cool morning, getting pretty warm (hot) by mid-day.

Due to a sad decline in his cat's health, Rick wasn't able to join us at all.

I arranged to pick up Steve and Rune early on the morning of the ride. While loading my bike, I noticed that the saddle was wobbly. I looked at it and decided that the metal rod had come loose from the rear on one side. It looked undesirable, but rideable.

Picked up S&R and we drove down to Gilroy. Took 101, which is apparently 5 minutes slower than 85 from Rune's house. No donuts or coffee.

We started out very smoothly. In fact, we set a very good early pace -- about 22mph, up and around Uvas resevoir and so on. It's fun, because at the beginning, everyone is checking each other out, and searching for just the right paceline to join.

At about 10 or 15 miles in, we stopped at a break area for a pee. I noticed that my saddle had gone from "wobbly" to "broken rail on one side." The rail had snapped at the attachment point to the seatpost. It all seemed to be holding together, so I figured I'd ride as far as I could.

On the next stretch, we were overtaken by a bigger, uber-peloton. We were all together, but spread out. I couldn't see much because of sweat on my eyeglasses. At the next break area, R&S stayed with the peloton, and I stopped, not able to see them or anything else.

Back on the road. shifting my butt a bit to favor the unbroken rail. Another 20 miles, across the valley to the East side. Rest area; back on the road...

Suddenly, a ping as the broken rail falls out of the saddle and goes away. Then the rear of the saddle drops down as the second rail breaks off.

Now, I'm riding along with the floppy padded seat hanging onto the post. Mostly standing up, with little sits now and again. Then ping! and the pad falls off with the other broken rail. I pick up the parts and head on.

It's pretty obvious that I'm not going to ride up E. Dunne at this point. I'm considering doing the other big hill climb, which is a loop around Gilroy Hot Springs. Skipping the hills, it's about 25 miles back to home base.

I could have called for SAG, but I felt that, since I'd started the ride knowing that I had a problem, it was my responsiblity to get back, as long as I was able to do so. In the end, I decided to skip any extra hill climbing, and followed the route back to Gavilan college.

Standing up wasn't too bad, but it got old after a while. I had to go about 25 miles, I think. It's kind of funny, because on Tuesday, riding with Rune up Page Mill, I found standing up much easier.

I ended up hanging around the college from 11 to about 3pm; it was an awesome day, and I had a nice nap, laying in the shade. Plenty of Lasagna and ice cream too. Rune showed up early, because he'd gotten bad directions from one of the support people, and ended up missing the Hot Springs loop.

Looking over the day, Rune remarked that Rick rode 0%, I rode 50%, he rode 75%, and only Steve got the whole 100% ride. Even though I missed out on some great riding, I had a great time, and plan to try again next year.

On Monday, I took the saddle in to PA Bikes. I bought a new Terry, similar to my old one, but with Ti (Titanium?) rails. My buddy Adam called Terry to see if they'd give me any warranty credit, but their best offer was to redo the tubes for $25. Since the seat was pretty worn anyway (I was getting ready to replace it), I decided to pass.

Next long ride? TUC!

Happy Thanksgiving ye Cornichons

2008-11-28T13:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, on Thanksgiving, it seemed half of the Bay Area was biking up Mount Hamilton, as was I for my first time. A bit out of shape, but I didn't do too badly (photo at the top of the mountain by J.Hadley):

http://www.lowkeyhillclimbs.com/2008/week9/results.html

It was a beautiful ride up and up and up ... seemingly never ending ... but at the top, after 4300' of climbing and over 18 miles, we were above the clouds with beautiful views of mist and clouds partially obscuring the hills with a brilliant white cover. The descent was not too pleasant with many cracks and potholes in the road, some wet curves and gravel and rocks in some places. But the descent was not part of the race and I could take it easy and enjoy the scenery. A very good start to the Thanksgiving weekend! See the link above for a more detailed description.

I highly recommend the Low-key Hillclimbs! With all my other activities and a trip to Norway (2 weeks ago), all I had time for was 2 of the 9 hill races. I zoomed up the short but super steep Bear Gulch a few weeks ago. The first time ever up that hill (notice the dude in the death ride jersey in the picture).

http://www.lowkeyhillclimbs.com/2008/week4/results.html

This year the Cornichons have been conspicuously absent in biking events. I did not do a single century, super-century, or deathly ride (although I debuted in several new types of events, such as a couple of swim races, a couple of running races, a couple of international distance triathlons). Next year, we should perhaps do more centuries, but also hope you will join me on the 2009 low-key hillclimbs!

In the midst of Int'l Pickle Week

2008-05-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the Mrs. Lil Green Pickle. Since it IS the middle of International Pickle Week, I have to post what I had merely emailed, so it stays in the blog of all that's pickly...

A la carte: All in a pickle over frozen sour pops

By Aleta Watson
Mercury News
Article Launched: 05/14/2008 01:33:45 AM PDT

Did you know that International Pickle Week starts Friday?
Of course, there are weeks devoted to just about anything you can imagine, but this one is the perfect excuse to write about one of the oddest food items ever to arrive in the Food and Wine department's mailboxes. We're talking Bob's Pickle Pops, ice pops made with - believe it or not - sour pickle juice.
Thank the Internet for making these chilly, mouth-puckering treats a national curiosity. Created at a South Texas roller skating rink last year, they've spread across the Lone Star State, and are now available to pickle fanatics everywhere through www.bobspicklepops.com.
John Howard began making the pops by freezing leftover juice from pickles he sold at his rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas. They proved so popular that he began squeezing whole dills in a hydraulic press to make more juice. Then he got out of the skating business altogether to sell his pickle-sicles full time.
Now, I like pickles well enough. I always eat the dill spear that comes with sandwiches in the company cafeteria. But pure dill pickle juice is more vinegar and spice than I can handle. I couldn't find any takers, either, until I wandered into the newspaper's library the other day. There I ran into a true pickle addict who happily took the pops off my hands. I last saw her slurping away on a pale green stick of ice.
It just goes to show, one person's culinary oddity is another's cherished treat.

========

And from the listed website, I found other links:
http://www.duncanwells.ca/pickle.htm (pickle song)

Spring update

2008-05-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy spring, and the size of The Unposted has grown unmanageably. Here's the stuff I can think of off the top of my head:

Solvang Century
Leo and I rode the 50 miler in Solvang. It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time. Leo got kind of bonky at about 35 miles, but with some rest and gel products, he found his mojo and pulled it off. Time was about 5 1/2 hours.

Tour of the Unknown Coast
Leo and I signed up for the 100K and Julia and Simon for the 20M. Due to a road collapse on the Avenue of the Giants, both the 100K and 50M rides were shortened to 48M, and the 100M ride went on the freeway around the washout.

The weather was fan-tastic. It was clear and pleasant until about 5pm, when the icy fog started to come in. 100M riders said the wind was not too bad at the coast. I really was sorry I didn't do the whole thing.

It turned out later that Leo was coming down with a cold, and he felt bad on the ride from the start. We ended up doing about 10 miles, then turning around. Since we got back early, I joined Julia and Simon on their ride, which retraced the path, then turns right and goes up a canyon. It was all pretty nice.

I finally remembered to check my raffle tickets, and I won a huge can of Heed energy drink. It tastes bad, even when its free.

Sequoia Upcoming
The Sequoia century is in a few weeks. I don't think we're signed up, and at this point, I think its not going to happen. I know Rune is signed up for it. Next year, I'll get back to it...

Shasta again?
The Patmore-Zarcone family has planned to ride in the Shasta century again this year. Probably not more than the 100K. Anyone else want to come along? We had a great time visiting that great cabin in the woods.

David

KOM (Finally!)

2008-02-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

Tuesday morning I beat Rune Dahl to Gate 4.

It was a great morning, with the sun just coming up as we headed downhill from the Christmas tree farm. Warmish, dry and clear -- really nice.

Now I need to start working on my 11 minute handicap. :)

David

Worst Day of the Year

2008-02-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

Statistically speaking, the second weekend in February holds the worst for Portland weather. Rain, sleet, wind, repeat. So intrepid Portlanders launched the Worst Day of the Year Ride, now in its 10th year. As former Californians who have done nothing but bitch about imperfect cycling weather since relocating, it was our destiny to do this ride. And Sunday was that day.

The ride started/ended at the Lucky Labrador Brewpub on SE Hawthorne. It should be law throughout the land that all organized rides have brewpub headquarters. Our beer of choice at check-in was Crazy Ludwig's Alt on cask, for those of you keeping score at home.

The standard WDotYR is an 18 mile urban tour de Stumptown, with a 40 -mile option over the crest to Hillsboro. We opted for the shortie, from the Lab in inner SE then north on the Eastbank river Esplanade, across the Steel Bridge, 'round NW, back over the Broadway Bridge and up into NE/Alberta Arts, down again and across the Alameda Ridge (our 'hood) then south more through Laurelhurst and Sunnyside neighborhoods on the way back to the Lab.

Did I mention this is a costume ride? True to the theme, many rode in their best tropical finery but that was only the beginning. I tried to get a picture of a giant pink bunny pedaling merrily along--thinking David and Rune might recognize him from the hallucinations section of last summer's climb up Mt. Shasta--but he T-boned into a lamp post before I had a chance to snap him.

The stats:
40's with showers
18 miles, 2 hours
150 feet elevation gain
0 flats, mechanicals
Hot chai at rest stops

Well it's a start, anyway.

Winter warmup

2008-02-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

Morning ride: A balmy 45F -- overcast but dry. I rode the Portola loop for the first time in a few months. It's getting light earlier, and it was very beautiful.

I got these new wool tights a few weeks ago, so now I head out with wool socks, pants, jersey, jacket, and cap. Still to go: gloves and shoe covers. When I'm done, I put on my wool slippers (boiled) and lounge into Peets.

Leo and I got our bib numbers for the Solvang ride. We're up at around #2000. What a zoo that ride is!

Chilly finish to the year

2007-12-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

This morning, the shortest day of the year, it was dark, lonesome, and freezing cold at about 34F. On such days I did what we usually do when it feels like the nose is about to snap off and fingers are without feeling ... I headed straight up Page Mill.

Unlike most days, Page Mill did not get warmer as I gained elevation. Frost was sparkling in the grassy fields beneath the oak trees all the way up to Montebello Ridge, and even the road was frosty most of the way up.

I was rewarded with one of the most beautiful sunrises of the year as I approached Gate 4. Bright red and orange with surprisingly sharp and vivid azure sky mixed in. I wished I had my camera along, but alas, I have no record and you would have had to be there and suffered with me to appreciate its magnificence. I clocked in at Gate 4 37:30 mins after leaving downtown Los Altos (1:20 behind my fastest time), which felt like a good way to finish what may be my last ride of the year ... unless inspiration hits again next week.

I reached Montebello ridge after 49:30 mins, and chatted a bit with another lonely rider I caught up to on the way up from Gate 4. Then a cautious decent on a sparkling road froze my face into a mask, which still has some remaining traces after a hot shower, coffee, and an hour at work.

Hope to see you sorry denizens of the Cornichon team out there next time. Keep in mind that you now can ride 4 days a week in the most excellent company of David and I. Both of us ride Tuesdays and Fridays, David on Wednesdays and I venture out on Thursdays to accommodate extra long distance swims on Wednesdays (did 3*150 + 600 + 500 + 200 last Wedn). Should you feel like a swim, join me in the slow lane on Wednesdays.

Have a happy new year and a joyful holiday!

--- Rune

Fun with Winter Bike Maintenance

2007-12-13T09:53:00.001-08:00

One is the Lonliest Pickle

2007-12-05T17:32:00.000-08:00

So Rune and I have decided to start seeing other weekdays. Rune is currently experimenting with Thursday, while I'm still on Wednesday. You can catch me down at the coffee bar, trying to look cool with my polyester shirt and tight pants.

This morning I rode up to the Christmas Tree farm -- an excellent ride, wet, but not cold, and not foggy (except for my glasses). The moon was slim and high in the sky, and the eastern hills just glowing a bit when I got to the top.

Its kind of a bummer, because I really feel far from my peak performance: At a comfortable pace, I got to gate 4 in about 54 minutes, which is a ways from my all-time best of 47. As far as distance, except for my long rides in Norway and Portugal, I don't think I've ridden farther than 22 miles since the beginning of August. Hopefully this isn't the beginning of some kind of Thompson-like burnout. Next thing you know, I'll be moving to Coeur'd Alene.

On the other hand, I'm out there and having a great ride, so I guess it doesn't matter that much. If anyone knows a sensitive and open rider looking for long sunrise climbs, non-smoker, must like Peet's, please send them my way.

(of course RD and I are still kickin' it on Tuesdays and Fridays)

Sour Pickle Looking for a Sweet Ride

2007-12-03T17:04:00.000-08:00

It's starting to feel like time to train up for the next year of knee injuries. As you know, at our household, all weekends are scheduled up to 6 months in advance. I already know that I can't attend the Death Ride, for example.

There are a few rides that will appear on my schedule though, such as:
Solvang Century, March 8th.
TUC, May 10th.

Rides from last year that were fun:
Tierra Bella, April 19th
Sequoia, June 1st
Shasta Century, August 1st
Death Ride, July 12th

I am not sure how it'll all come out this year, but I've promised myself to share the pain and encourage Leo to join me. The most likely outcome is that I'll be riding 50 mile/metric century distances, though I just can't see missing out on all those hills in the TUC.

Speaking of the TUC, we've already made our reservations in Fortuna. This year, we're riding the week before Humboldt State's graduation, so it should be much easier to get a room in town, and they aren't jacking up their prices like last year.

-- Dr P.

Cornichon of the Mountain (COM)

2007-10-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

Just back from 10 days in Portugal (including two 24-hour travel days!).

A very interesting country, with lots of fascinating things in it, including bicycles. I brought plenty of gear for riding, but I wasn't on the ball about renting a bike, so I ended up with only a two-day rental. On the second day, my butt hurt enough that I only did a little riding. :(

The setting: I stayed in the eastern side of the Algarve region, in Tavira. This is a coastal town that predates the Roman occupation. The whole area is quite touristy, though in the past, it has had a lot of industry in fishing, almonds, olives, and honey. The agriculture never really made it out of the medieval age, even now, so its all pretty rustic and decrepit. Off the coast, high mountains (say 1000m?) rise up, and 50-60 km into the interior, you end up with higher plateau country. I'd compare it to the California foothills, except that the land is absolutely cursed with rocks. Every field is surrounded by a rock wall, and it isn't because its pretty.

The websites I'd read suggested that mountain biking is the only pleasurable sport, as the narrow country lanes made it too scary to ride on the roads. After a few days, I realized that this was an overstatement: as long as one is on the lesser roads (still fine quality), the traffic was very light. This could easily be due to it being the off-season, though. I also got the sense that this area is really hot in the summer, and had just cooled down recently (mid-October). The temperature was about 70F, and it rained nicely early the morning after my one long ride.

I got it together to rent a bike on Saturday, but the rental agency I'd picked was closed, and then closed again on Sunday. Finally on Monday (closed again), I stumbled across another choice, and got a bike. I rented a mountain bike for 10euros/day. I could have gotten a road bike, but they only had double chain-ring bikes, and I was planning on doing some hill climbing. After that, I warmed up by riding the bike around town, which was great fun: going up and down hills, on cobblestones, and so forth. Just like Oslo, drivers are very tolerant of bikers, and its easy to meander around without feeling like you are going to be smooshed. I got a bike lock from the rental store, but I noticed that nobody locks their bike up. Of hundreds of bikes, I probably only saw one or two that were actually locked when not in use. Not like Oslo! Anyhow, if I'd gotten a bike with a front basket, I could have stopped at the market and gotten a salmon or an octopus or something and ridden around with it. Oh well.

The day's plan was to ride to the town of Cachopo, which is directly inland (north) of Tavira, by 37K. We hadn't been there yet, but it sounded like there might be some stuff to see there, and it was into the hills, and not a major destination. The start of the road was a few miles of cobblestones leading along the Galt river.

I'll just get it out here, so I don't have to repeat myself. The entire ride was super-mega euro-rural scenic, like a postcard or something. All the houses in Portugal (I shit you not) are painted white, with red tile roofs. There are rock walls everywhere, in various states from new and held together with mortar to ancient, stacked and crumbling. Every bit of arable land, from near the ocean to high in the mountains, will have a rock wall around it, and a half-dozen ancient almond or olive trees. There were also orchards of tiny orange or lemon trees. A new trend inland seemed to be planting forests of pine trees. I wasn't sure if this was for pine nuts, or reforestation, but there were lots. At random intervals were clusters of bee hives for honey. Not a lot of sheep, but some. Some horses; I don't recall any cows. The biggest incongruity was that the road I was on (built in the 1960's or 70's?) was lined with eucalyptus trees. Progress, I guess. The big thing missing for me was that I always like to see old rusty trucks in fields, but in this country, they were probably exclusively using donkeys until about 1990 or so.

The ride was awesome. I made a few mistakes, like not stuffing a loaf of bread, a sausage, and a wheel of cheese into my backpack (I did bring plenty of water). I also didn't wear my padded shorts (d'oh!), though I did wear my Fall River Century jersey. After riding about 30 minutes up the river, the road started to climb. and it went up forever, until the ocean was lost in the haze. Almost all the way up to the first ridge, I stopped at a little market/restaurant, where I was able to procure a bottle of chocolate milk and a Snickers bar. Riding the mountain bike was reasonably comfortable, but those bikes sure don't roll downhill fast! Coming down the other side, I had to pedal some. I was hoping that Cachopo was at the bottom of the hill, but of course, no such luck, and I found myself climbing again. I'd started at about 11am, and by now it was something like 1pm, and pretty hot out. One benefit from being out between 1 and 3pm is that everyone is eating and napping, so there was almost no car traffic -- not that there was much the rest of the time.

Something funny along the way was that there were three or four sets of milestones that had been placed in different eras. One set appeared to be in miles, so it was smaller numbers that didn't change much, and then there were at least two sets of kilometer stones that were measuring from different starting points. Thus, I would have the encouraging sensation of no progress, when I'd pass a "5", then a "5", and then, a "5". :)

At the top of the second hill, I rolled down a little bit, and finally arrived at Cachopo. I think it was around 3pm. I have a pretty strong feeling I didn't do this part quite right: I rolled through the back of the town, down a narrow street, and didn't see any place to stop, so then I rode through what I thought was the main part of town (the other ten houses). I saw a few dark restaurants -- no outdoor seating, no tourists. The only customers looked like wrinkled old men. I didn't feel like trying to speak Portuguese and figuring out how to get food, and so forth, so I just turned around and went back. In retrospect, I think I may not have gone all the way into town, and there might have been a more tourist-friendly spot just around the corner. At any rate, having arrived, I promptly left.

The return journey had less climbing, but my legs were tired, and I really should have eaten more food. Near the top of the big return climb, I stopped at a little shop where a little old lady was selling her honey. I picked up a kilo of honey, and drank a Coke, and sat there, panting, for about ten minutes. We tried to talk, but neither English nor Spanish is anything at all like Portuguese, so we didn't get far. The Coke got me the rest of the way home. Coming down the last long hill was fun, though my rear was quite sore by this time.

Finally, at the bottom of the major hill, I had to ride a few miles of flat along the river valley, then over a short steep hill, and back to the house my parents had rented. I rolled in at 6pm -- a seven hour journey! Based on leg tiredness, I guess that the whole trip was about 6,000 feet of climbing (it was 75km). Jeff, Dena and I went out for dinner than night, and I only frightened everyone one time by jumping to my feet will an immense leg cramp.

The next day, it rained in the morning, and we drove to another town to do some tourism. In the afternoon, I rode my bike down to Tavira (a few km from our house), and spend a couple of hours riding the narrow streets and seeing the sights. It was a blast, but my butt was still sore, and that detracted from the enjoyment). Riding a bike is really the best way to see these small towns, because its easy to hop off, and check out a store, and easy to go down narrow alleys and such, where you might not feel like taking a car. Way more fun than walking too.

In conclusion, I'd definitely say that southern Portugal is great for road biking. If I were ever to do it again, I'd probably try to plan 75K rides that ended in towns where I could stay the night (and have someone bring my stuff from the previous hotel). In this exact area, I'd probably ride up the Guardia river, which is roughly the border between Portugal and Spain. It's a bigger river, there's a road right along it, and the towns appear to have more tourist facilities. You want a town that at least has patio dining as a tourist option! The weather was favorable, though possibly unseasonable -- I'd consider late September or early October, but it could be really hot there! I'd also arrange a bicycle in advance, so that I could be sure of its quality and fit, and bring my own shoes and pedals.

What fun! I would love to do this as a group some year.

David

Page Mill in the fall

2007-10-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

I meant to send an email out last Wednesday, after I took a beautiful ride up to Monte Bello ridge in the morning. It was overcast and dim, with few cars. Very quiet and different feeling -- the first overcast morning of the season. One of those really great Page Mill mornings.

This morning, it was clear, dark and cold (57F). It seemed like there were a lot of cars on Page Mill. There was a buck with lots of pointy horns who crossed Page Mill just in front of me at Phil's spot. Besides him, there were a few other deer who were looking for Phil.

I made it up to MBR in 1:03, which is far from Rune's record, but is pretty close to my personal goal of one hour.

October is a big slacker month for me, as Julia is traveling (thus I am tending chillun' in the morning), then when she gets back, I'll be off to Portugal. Hopefully, I'll be mountain biker dude while I'm there. We'll see...

In other news, Patrick appears to have recovered from his crash. At least no beer came out of any holes when he was celebrating his birthday this past Saturday night.

Hope everyone is well, and getting ready for Halloween.

David

Sorry Jarl Even, but I got your bike dirty

2007-08-19T14:13:00.000-07:00

First, let me describe Oslo from a bicycle perspective. It's a beautiful little city (1/2 million people), and most everyone here takes a tram, rides a bike or walks around. There are plenty of cars, but, really, the car traffic is fairly light, except on the most major roads into town. Many commuters subscribe to a service, where you walk up to an automated stand and pick up a "city bike", then you ride it wherever, and drop it off at another stand somewhere else. It seems like a great system for letting people ride bikes, without having to deal with all of the parked bikes locked to poles and fences everywhere (which they have, too). Anyhow, the cars and buses interact very well with the bikes, and it's all very casual and loose how people get around. The worst thing is the number of wheel-less bikes, where some junkie has stolen the wheels from a locked bike. That always makes me feel sad.

One of my colleagues here, Jarl Even, has loaned me his nice mountain bike for the week. I first rode it on Friday, up the hill to the top of Oslo, along the river that comes from Maridalsvannet, the big lake that is Oslo's drinking water supply. It was about a 50 minute out-and-back, and mostly it took so long because I was trying to follow a path along the river -- once I gave up on that, it went pretty fast.

Saturday, I went mountain-biking into the forest just outside Oslo. It took about 30 minutes to ride up the hill and along the lake, then you are in a hilly, forested area. There is a huge area with fire-road like trails that are used by mountain bikers. Not really all that different from what we have in Los Altos -- in concept, at least. I think this is where Rune took Sharlene on their death-ski trip one winter.

I was equipped with a map from Jarl Even, and I rode a big loop. Inside the forest, there are these groups of huts, which are more used in the winter, as ski hotels. There was one on a lake, and the name was something like canoe-hut, and it looks like you can rent canoes, and paddle around on the (rather large) lake. The second set of buildings I got to was open for the summer, and I could smell fresh baking bread from outside. I filled up my water bottle, but didn't get anything to eat, as it was before lunch, and I figured I could get to the next one within a couple of hours. After that, the map indicated that I had to take a smaller road, and I was by myself on a trail. On the bigger roads, there were a fair number of bikers racing past me. Apparently, all the go-fast bikers in Oslo ride mountain bikes, unlike at home, where they ride road bikes. There's probably one road bike for 200 mountain bikes on the street in Oslo.

Most of the riding was on gravel roads, but a couple of times, I took a single-track path. I probably didn't need to, but I thought I did at the time. What a pain! Lots of big deep muddy puddles that I had to ride across. Fortunately, I was wearing Tevas with wool socks, but then the bike got stuck in one of the bigger puddles and I almost went over. My socks were wet, and my ankles muddy! After the socks came off, all was well. It was a little cool in the shade, but there was plenty of sun to balance it out. The second track that I took crossed over a ridge and I quickly ended up carrying the bike over a rocky mountain, interspersed with boggy puddles. It took about a 1/2 hour, then I was back on the roadway again. I resolved not to do any single-track any more that day. The bike was coated with grime and mud though.

Then it was riding and riding for a long time, up little mountains, and down into valleys with lakes. Very beautiful. I should sadly let you know at this point, that the camera battery died before I could take one picture that day. :-(

Finally, I came down into the valley where the other restaurant is, only to discover that it is a winter hut, and closed for the summer. Fortunately, I'd brought a couple of food bars, and I had enough water, but I was disappointed -- all I really wanted was a ham sandwich and a beer!

No beer was probably just as well. This was a little past the farthest point in my planned loop journey, so I was headed back. Apparently I'd been climbing much more than I'd been descending, and I found myself barreling down a long hill. At one point, my skills were outclassed by a gravelly turn, and I went down, scraping my elbow, denting my helmet(!), and slamming my left thumb (not sure what happened there). Since I wasn't permanently broken, I was able to continue to ride on. As I watched the ground rapidly approach my face, all I could think of was that guy who wiped out in front of Rune and Laura on the Shasta ride. This was nowhere near that bad, though. Nice soft gravel.

After my crash, I decided that I was getting tired. It took a long time to get out of the mountains, but it was mostly all downhill. Rune and others here had recommended going to the ski jump hill to look at Oslo, but by the time I got near to it, I was quite tired and I didn't want to ride up a long hill. Also, with no camera, there didn't seem like a lot of reward for the effort.

Just past the ski jump area, one starts to descend into Oslo. I was coming back to the city from much farther West than I was familiar, so it was quite exciting, in an urban way. First I was on an expressway, then the expressway turned into a busy narrow street through a shopping district, then into a busy street going towards downtown. Finally, in a tired haze, I recognized some buildings, and after racking my brain, figured out how to get back to Owera, put the bike back in the office, and walked the 4 blocks back to the hotel. Total biking time -- 6 hours!

I showered, took a nap, then got some curry for dinner. I was back in my hotel resigned to a couple of hours of lousy TV, then sleep, when my colleagues dragged me out for another two hours of walking around Oslo. I think I ended up sleeping about 10 hours after all that, and I'm sore today!

I expect to do a few more morning rides (I leave on Friday morning), but nothing like that again.

David

Phil's Revenge

2007-08-09T21:03:00.001-07:00

There is a tradition of using things found on rides for Cornichon awards. "Phil's Revenge" was found on Old La Honda on a May ride and was transported to Mtn. View in this manner.

Shasta Super Century

2007-08-09T20:29:00.001-07:00

What a ride! It certainly fit Rune's definition of beautiful (ie. difficult to call it fun). Phil, Rob, Cathy, Sharlene, DNA and Betsey rode the 100K, Rick rode the 100M, and Paul, Rune, Laura and I set out to conquer the 135M route. We also discovered that Tom A. rode the 100M as well, but all the Armstrongs headed out after riding, so we didn't get to hook up.

Me, Julia and the boys drove up Saturday, reaching town in the evening. We'd stopped at the Shasta Caverns tour, which was actually pretty good. I was surprised to learn that about half of the tour was through caverns not discovered until the 80's (19). There weren't any really spectacular formations or anything, but it's a pretty darn good cave even so.

That night, we ate at the much-anticipated Piedmont restaurant, an Italian diner that probably serves the same menu that it started with in 1940. I loaded the pasta in, saving just enough room for the pre-ride ice cream. The first night, we delighted in the quaint sound of locomotives tooting their pastoral horns at the 5 crossings in Mt. Shasta -- just outside our window.

Early the next morning, I rode over to the start to meet Rune, Laura and Rick. Paul was going to start much earlier, but didn't, after he saw a bear wandering about in the dark the night before -- instead he started at 5:20 from Weed, so we didn't catch him for a while. The rest of us started at about 5:45 from Mt. Shasta.

The beginning is a gentle decline and rise around Weed and up to the foothills of the first peak. Then we discovered that although none of the climbs was extremely steep, they were steep enough to make a 1.5 or 2 hour climb a real grind. The terrain is interestingly different than the Sierras, because it's volcanic, and the hills are relatively gentle -- the road had no switchbacks. The beauty was remarkable.

The first climb was on the narrowest road, and as we got near the top, the first descenders started coming down. Rune and Laura, ahead of me, had the bad experience of watching someone else have an even worse experience: This guy, coming down (about 1/2 mile from the top), hit a pothole just in front of them, doing a head/faceplant into the pavement. I'll spoil the suspense by mentioning that later in the day, a ranger told us that the guy was ok. By the time I got to the fallen rider, it was gruesome: A potentially dead guy, crumpled around a smacked-up bike, with liquid spreading onto the pavement in a circle from his head. He wasn't moving. I rode around Laura and didn't even see Rune, who had both stopped, and rode up the hill, warning descenders that there was a crash on the road. At the top, the radio man called for help, and drove down to the crash.

The crowd at the top was very subdued. The view was really nice, with a bit of a chilly breeze coming across the pass. The food that I remember was Payday bars and banana bread -- pretty good really. I think mostly ate Paydays during the whole ride. Incidentally, I drank water mixed with Berry flavored Propel, and, for whatever reason, had no cramping at all, and drank lots of water. All hail kid's stuff.

This descent wasn't much fun, as everyone was thinking of smooshed heads, and we kept having to pull off to let ambulances, police cars, and fire engines go past. It's interesting to note that since the climbs weren't steep, in order to get great altitude gain, we had to ride miles and miles, thus the descent was very long, and we could look off into the distance to see the valley we were descending into as a little speck.

Next, cross back over Weed, and Mt. Shasta. I think it was about 40 miles of up and down before we got to the next climb. This one turned out to be the deal-breaker. The first half was gentle and nice. At the half point, there's a break, and Cathy surprised me by calling my name from the back of a tandem bicycle. I didn't see who was steering, but they claimed later that Rob was there. Much to my great dismay, the "super" riders didn't get to turn around a this point, but were required to continue riding. The road exchanged its insistent medium grade for a grueling steep grade, with few dips or shallow spots. Somewhere at the point where I was contemplating the last 1" of water in my bottle, it leveled out, and we came to the tent at the top. More Paydays and water. Mmmm. The road here was better than the first climb, and the descent was much more fun.

It was at about this point that I noticed that the thrill of watching others climb a hill I'd finished had a restorative action. Since we don't ride too many out-and-back rides -- mostly loops -- I'd never noticed how the suffering of others feels so good. It's unfortunate to note that Rune admitted to feeling just this boost, every time he descended past me -- about an hour ahead of me.

Just at the base of the second climb, a special seven mile climb was indicated for the century and super century riders. I dutifully headed up. I rode with a fellow for a while who warned me that the first two miles were steep. This was true, though I thought the other five miles weren't a cakewalk either. Finally at the top, an amazing view (how beautiful!) and a little lake. The descent was awesome! It was pleasantly warm, the road wide and steep and in good shape. There were plenty of straining riders to pass and smile at.

Here I'll note that the other riders I spoke to were friendly, and I had a few conversations. It did seem like most people were interested in comparing how many extreme rides they'd done, rather than chatting about other stuff. I was told about 105F heat in Markleeville, and warned about the potential of lightning on top of Shasta.

After the third climb, lunch. As I set off, a strange rider identified himself as Paul Ries, which turned out to be true. I left, leaving Paul to pick over the lunch leavings. From lunch, the ride climbs steadily through Mt Shasta city, then up the side of Mount Shasta to the parking lot at 7500'. The total climb is about 4500', which is comparable to climbing Page Mill twice. It didn't feel like that, though -- it felt much more beautiful. The lower part was exposed to the sun, and baked out any remaining energy. Two hours from the top, Laura rolled down -- she'd gotten ahead by wisely skipping the third climb. About 90 minutes from the top, Rune flew by going down. Later, I looked over and saw David Armstrong looking at me from a car. I was too tired to do anything but stare and drool.

I really didn't want to keep going, but I did, and finally I got to the top. It was great! I sat in a deck chair in the tent, and ate some food (I don't remember what). I looked out at the view of the peak (7000' up) and the valley (5000' down). It was all very beautiful.

While I was at the top, the shadows got long on that side of the mountain, and it started to cool off quite a bit. I started my plummet to the base. The first 1/3 was in shadow, and quite chilly. The other downside was that by now, there weren't very many up-riders to give me an energy boost (many had passed me, and I assume plenty had bailed out, too). Finally, I came around the corner of the mountain, and it warmed up nicely. Although I think the road was suited for 50MPH descents, I held it to about 30MPH due to unfamiliarity.

The very best thing about this ride is that you roll off of Shasta, and into the park with the Start/Finish line. Julia, Leo and Simon met me there, and helped peel the salt-encrusted helmet off of my head. Everything was rigid with sweat -- to an even greater degree than after the Death Ride. We were all impressed that I'd finished the whole thing.

Then, a quick trip to the hotel, a fast shower, took Paul to his hotel, then over to the Cornichon's Annual Banquet in Weed (at the cabin rented by Rune and Sharlene). What a fun dinner, especially since I didn't have to do anything but sit and eat and drink. It was really nice to have a big group of the sour pickles hanging out. The word of the hour was Languid, and there was plenty of it going about. It was great to sit there on the deck, and look at The Mountain in the cooling evening.

After dinner, we held an awards ceremony. Rune was awarded the Tough Rider trophy, me, the Hummingbird award, Phil the Deer Revenge trophy, and Rob and Cathy won the Natural Environment Riders (Senior Division) award. Cathy noticed that they have some recruitment to do if they want to be able to get rid of their trophy.

Somewhere around 10pm, my energy totally ran out, and we disappeared back to our hotel. I don't remember the trains, but I'm sure they were there.

Rune thought that this ride is harder than the Death Ride. The next day, I was tired, but not too sore. My odometer was mixed up, so I don't know about total ride time and so forth, but it was just less than 13 hours of wall-clock time for me -- I figure about 11 hours of pedaling, because I took a lot of unscheduled breaks to breathe (on the last two hills). By now -- four days later -- I'd do it again next year. It couldn't have been _that_ bad. :-)

Congratulations to all the riders!

David

Death Warmed Over (Rune's version)

2007-07-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

I completed all 5 passes. Unfortunately, I do not have my riding time, as it appears my bike computer got accidentally reset after 90 miles or so (or did not register the whole ride). I used 9 hrs 50 mins to the finish line, and with a 10 minute roll down the hill to where I started, I guess my total wall-clock time was 10 hrs exactly! My riding time somewhere between 8 and 9 hrs. That was my optimistic goal so I am happy with that. I signed the poster at the finish at 3:25 pm.

I camped by the river just outside Markleeville with 5 serious riders who regularly do stuff like Bike Across America, 400-600 Km rides, some crazy ride across the Alps in France, and such. One guy had done the Death Ride 12 times on a recumbent (Larry). I guess I was nervous and hardly slept; heard all the others get up before dawn and take off at 4:30, before I starting seeing a hint of light and decided to get up. After a nervous ride up from the river along a rocky dirt road, I joined the endless stream of riders heading for Monitor pass at 5:30 am.

I quickly determined I had overdressed for the balmy morning, and pocketed my jacket, leg warmers, and long fingered gloves at the top of Monitor Pass before heading down towards Hwy 395. I was taking it easy, making sure I never felt like I was working hard and breathing easily the whole way up. A few fast hot-dogs passed me up, but I knew I had a long long way to go. Going down was fun a bit scary, as I hit 43 mph and had people blast pass me in tight turns where I slowed down. However, I had no death-wish on the death-ride and made sure to take all turns at a comfortable speed. I met David on the way down, and recognized him despite the extra weight on his back (camelback). We spent some time at the rest-stop.

Going back up the backside of Monitor was a lot of fun. I chatted with David for a while, then met Larry (from my campsite), who seemed to be in his own world sitting comfortably on his wide recumbent seat with speakers blasting some guitar solos (Led Zeppelin?) from his handlebars, head thrown back, mouth open, and dream-like eyes. I said hi, and then caught up with Paul and Christ (?) who I also camped with. The scenery was nice, the temperature perfect, and it was still early. I stopped for some water and a horrible gritty double espresso gel, before blasting down the front-side of Monitor pass. I was feeling great. Moved fast through the trees along the river, enjoyed the cheering crowds and was passing up a lot of people ... which, incidentally felt good too, and skipped all rest-stops.

As I started climbing up Ebbets pass I was spinning nicely, had found my pace and enjoyed the warm air, not yet really hot, the granite rocks, and small pine trees. It was a very long climb, and by the time I reached the top I was feeling tired, but had not really pressed hard, still trying to maintain a tempo where I never had to breath hard and never felt my muscles burn. I did not stop at the top (per advice from my camp-fellows) and flew down to the backside of Ebbets. At the rest-stop at the bottom I had some snacks and refilled my bottles. It was now getting hot. Coming back up the heat was getting to me a bit and I was starting to feel tired, but knew lunch was next, and kept pushing to maintain a steady tempo. My legs were getting tired, my butt was on fire, and I was sweating rivers. Again, I did not stop at the top, knowing I could rest on the long downhill.

After screaming down the front-side of Ebbets, by far the most fun descent, I came to the lunch stop where I had soup, a sandwich, refilled my bottles and reapplied sunscreen. There I met Mike K. who had done 4 passes fast and was wiped out. Like last year, he did not think he could make the last pass. I failed to convince him he could do it. We biked together for a bit, through Markleeville and the start/finish at Turtle Rock and I had a good understanding for why people stop after 4 passes: At this point I was tired, the climbing was becoming hard, and my butt felt like it had been hammered with rocks. But I kept going, knowing I could suffer through one more pass.

However, I had not counted on how long and grueling that last pass was. After refilling my bottles at Woodford at the bottom of Carson Pass with water and most welcome ice, I now climbed slowly at 6.5 mph up to pickets junction and Hope Valley. The climb was endless; my mind was repeating the mantra "almost there" "ice-cream" "almost there" "ice cream". More ice and water was welcome at Picket's Junction and the last part of the climb in headwind went a little better as I started regaining some strength. Towards the end I was passing up those who passed me lower down on the hill. I also met a guy on the way up who started doing the Death Ride at age 10, and did the full thing at age 12. He was now 20 and had done it 11 times. We rode together to the top. At the top I got the pin, had two ice creams, and chatted a bit with one of the MVV guys we see at Pete's. They had never passed me but still claimed to have started at 6:15, meaning they must have passed me at a rest-stop and had been going at an impressive speed.

When I got back to the finish after a scary and blitzing fast downhill with strong side-winds, they had not even started grilling dinner. I packed up and drove to Truckee. I swore I would never do it again, since the last pass was so painful, but after 24 hrs I was ready to do it again next year. What is wrong with me?

--- Rune

Death Warmed Over

2007-07-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

I completed four passes.

Yesterday, I had nothing good to say about the death ride, but my memory has pleasantly faded by today. I started at 5am, slightly chilly, but really probably mid-50's. Up over Monitor pass, which is an endless, single grade climb. The worst part of a climb like that is that you can see a line of little ants about two or three miles ahead, and slowly, you become one of those ants. Coming down was significantly more fun, except for navigating the 20-MPH and the 50-MPH riders. Jeez! Just before the bottom, Rune (starting at 5:30) caught up to me. We started back up to Monitor pass, and rode together for about ten minutes. I learned that Paul and co. started at 4am, which might not have been a bad idea.

Back over Monitor, then a left turn, and up to Ebbets pass. This one is nasty. It was a freakin' long climb. Generally, say, like going from gate 2 to gate 3 on Page Mill, but doing it for two hours or something. It was quite beautiful. Just as I got to the top, my legs started to twinge. I rested and contemplated finishing three passes, but I decided that the fourth pass (down the back of Ebbets, and back up just 5 miles) wouldn't be too much. Coming back up, I was glad that I'd filled my water backback with ice -- that saved my life. It was getting quite warm, and the climb is pretty exposed. It was unfortunate that none of the other water stops seemed to have ice. My mantra had become, at this point "the worst thing that can happen is that I'll cry".

Coming down Ebbets was great -- lots of fun zooming down the hill. It really did my heart and mood good to see all those people suffering up the mountain that I was completely done with. Then I started to get massive leg cramps, so I had to stand up in the pedals and grit my teeth. Ow! One notable thing were three women at one cabin who were partying and cheering on the riders -- they added a bit of fun to the ride.

Then lunch, and a lazy roll back to Markleeville. At this point, I was on the fence about going for Kit Carson pass -- I felt wiped out. In Markleeville, the heat came up, and it was hot! I was sweating and drinking -- but not eating enough. By the time I'd climbed back to Turtle Rock park, I was totally done. I rode into the finish area, and stood there dazed. My cell phone had no signal, so I couldn't call Julia, and I was about two hours early. There was a pay phone, but I wasn't about to call for help in front of all these other bikers who'd finished the whole thing already. I took an easy roll down to Woodford's to use my phone there. I was thinking that maybe I'd keep riding, but I could barely pedal my bike across the street, so I SAG'd out (Julia -- kindly -- picked me up about 20 minutes later). 90 miles -- 8 hours pedaling time.

Ultimately, I think the heat, combined with not eating enough, killed me. Timewise, I was doing OK. I called Julia at about 2pm, and I figured the rest of the ride would take me about three hours -- I just didn't want to ride anymore, to the degree that I didn't even want to do anything that would help me feel better. I may have to do it again; I haven't decided. At any rate, I think it was a pretty good achievement, and I feel great today.

Rune had a great ride, but that's his to tell. I heard that he ran into Mike K. at the lunch stop. I saw one of the MVV guys go by me down Ebbets, but I didn't see anyone else that I know.

We stayed three nights at David Walley's resort, in Genoa. We've wanted to test it for a long time. It's a bit weird place. The people there are quite nice -- at lot of Midwesterners. The timeshare part isn't that nice though -- it seems overdeveloped relative to the size of the attraction. The spa is good, with hot mineral pools, and reasonable massages. We ate dinner at this classy French restaurant, La Ferme, in Genoa, so I had to break my temperance rule, and split a bottle of wine with Julia on Thursday night.

Our next ride is the Shasta Super Century. Since I didn't do the whole DR, I'm contemplating the long version here, but not sure about it. I hated getting up at 3:45AM!

David

Tourus Interruptus

2007-06-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with all of my misanthropy intact. Drove down to HP Galactic HQ to register and ride in the Tour de Cure (for the American Diabetes Association) 120K gig, basically the Dearth Ride, except going over on King's Mountain.

It was fair warning -- signed up for the Google team, I was indunated with emails about practice rides, who's going to meet where, and ok let's raise money! I got to the area before Rune and Sharlene, so I registered. A crowd of morons in ADA t-shirts clanking cowbells everytime someone registers. Kill me now. I'm thinkin' "there _is_ no cure for this". I drink complimentary Starbucks coffee. I go over to the Google tent and say hi. We take a picture or two, then its time to line up for the start. Millions of riders, all in their corporate cyclewear. Lots of biotech companies. Later, I realize, of course they are there, raising frickin' money so that hospitals can afford to buy their frickin' biotech products. Vultures. No Rune, no Sharlene. Cowbells. The ride starts, and there are R&S -- not registered.

I need to reveal my own problem, which is that I have to be back by 1 (a _safe_ 1) in order to attend Simon's violin recital at 2. This means I don't feel comfortable hanging around waiting for R&S -- I've got to bust my ass to finish the loop in time, and I'm not relaxed about it.

So I take off with the crowd of nimrods in colorful cyclist garb. We blast peloton-style out to Alpine, Portola, and over to Kings Mountain. Very few friendly people. All the cockheads are out, faster than me, faster than you. I did hook up with one fellow going up KM, and we chatted -- that was ok, but the effect was spoiled by a guy zooming by us and reassuring us that we were "really doing well!". Frickin' reassuring to be the retard of the month.

Somewhere at this point, I realized that I had no interest in spending another day on my bike (after last weeks 9 hour extravaganza), and I knew I was going to bail out. I rode to the top, over to 84, took my number off, and had an excellent ride back to HP. The icy black fog over the hill wasn't the reason, buy it did provide support for the decision. The whole way back, I was trying to guess how I could get back without hearing any more cowbells. I got lucky, and was able to slip away quietly.

Going back, I did get stuck behind a guy wearing a full Bike Connection outfit, with _underwear_ peeking above his shorts. It's so wrong.

The main thing I've learned from this is to avoid rides hosted by big charities. I'd rather be contributing to the local Boy Scout's Beer Fund, or something useful like that.

Also, I realized that when the Cornichons finally organize a ride, its' going to be a fundraiser for NORML. We can ride from Mountain View to Palo Alto, do bong hits, and sit on the lawn and listen to reggae. More cowbell!

Sincerely,

David

Tour of the Unknown Coast Report

2007-05-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

Rune and Paul Ries and I rode it this year. Although rain was promised, all we got was a strong wind blowing icy fog into our faces. This was going up the Endless Hills, and down the other side to the finish.

The start was great. Rune and I got to about 50 yards behind the lead peloton, and were moving in to latch on. At 23.5mph, we slowly gained ground -- until the lead group found their pace, and voom! Oh well. Shortly later, I fell back to reattach chain to gears. Rune headed on to follow the leaders, reportedly all the way to the Wall, where they dropped him like yesterdays' fish.

The ride was gorgeous, a bit overcast and cool, but no rain. A pretty good crowd of riders, great veggie soup at the lunch break. No water balloon throwers in Petrolia. Only a stiff headwind along the coast (not like last year!).

I'm pleased to announce that I stayed on my bike all the way up the Wall, and up the Endless Hills as well. My pedaling time was 7 1/2 hours, and total was about 8. Rune finished in 6 1/2. The fastest time was slightly better than 5 1/2. BTW, the second place finisher is 49 years old. The first placed guy, named Tinker, is a bike racer in the Olympics.

A pitcher of beer, some beef and onion rings were consumed afterwards.

The biggest thrill was coming down the last descent, with bright red, swollen and numb fingers. Everything was wet. I could grip the brakes, but I couldn't feel that I was pulling on them. Then a quick rise -- I couldn't bend my fingers to shift, so I was just punching at the shifters with the tips until I got the desired action. That's what it's all about, baby!

Rune reports feelings of great confidence, due to the shininess of his new bike, and the shiftiness of his new Campy transmission. He is Ready! He is Green!

Hope to see you out there.

David

Cornichon Awards 2006

2006-07-22T21:15:00.000-07:00