11 posts tagged “ride”
We were driving back from Davis on Sunday, discussing how we could possibly characterize the stress of the previous day to non-cyclists, particularly endurance cyclists. Anecdotes were mentioned about telling coworkers and friends about the miles ridden this weekend, met with basic incomprehension.
On Saturday, Tina and I qualified for the 2007 California Triple Crown. Every one of those three days was hard. Really hard. Anyone who tells you different is soft pedaling (hah) or has a bad memory. Maybe that’s why the average age of folks who do these things is somewhere north of 50. :)
Saturday was also one of the most enjoyable rides I’ve ever done, thanks to the support of the Davis Bike Club and their volunteers. However, it was not the “fast, fun and flat” ride for beginners it was supposed to be. A fire near lake Baryessa closed half the route, turning the otherwise reasonable loop into an out-and-back with all the hard climbs, twice.
Good times.
We woke at 4am, dressed and packed our bikes & gear, then drove on one of the many nameless county roads from Woodland to Davis. Upon arrival at 5:30, cyclists were already departing. We finished gearing up and headed out. The sun rose by the time we reached the first rest stop, a ranch around mile 20. That’s where the confusion started.
We found out about the fire (and saw the smoke in the distance) and heard that the course was being altered. At this point our route sheets were essentially void, so we stowed those and took off in a pack of about 30 riders. We rode a couple miles past the rest stop into some rollers when a SAG truck blazed past and headed off the first riders. Apparently we missed a turn. We turned back and rode a half-mile or so back to an unmarked right (now left) and got back on track.
It seemed like 130 miles of uphill. Tina and I just got back to the hotel, and plan to do another 60 in the morning. Yes, I think we’re a little crazy too.
200 miles (sandwiched between 1000 miles of driving). Tired. Happy.
- Official results
- Time: 16:16
- Time riding: 13:22
- Time spent in hot tub post-ride: 00:40
Tina has a longer post recapping the weekend’s events.
Went on a longer ride with my riding buddy Tina. We set out to do 125 miles, and succeeded. Much better than last time. :)
Caught a photo of my favorite piece of Marin real estate too. Not sure how they crammed the hot tub in there, but I’ll bet it results in only good times.
Distance: 125.1 mi (201.3 km)
Time on bike: 8:33:10
Total time: 9:34
Woot!
48.6 miles, 2:58. Sunrise photo is from last Tuesday's ride. Daylight savings time is good for something after all!
...or maybe just Cingular sucks. Or perhaps it's just my phone. In any case, having a shiny new tricked out Smartphone with the most expensive data plan available in an area that should have more cell coverage than flies on shit just goes to show you, it doesn't. Mean. Diddly.
Two beautiful pictures taken at 7 this morning from the top of the headlands, one click two and they're off! Or are they? Despite all my tries, pleas and harassment, my phone still refuses to email the messages I had intended for this blog.
Which I suppose is OK, since the two most interesting events of my ride weren't captured in pictures anyway:
- Riding down the back descent of the headlands I envisioned being passed by a Ducati with a dry-clutch motor. Sure enough, on the last 50 feet of the headlands road before it enters the one-lane tunnel back to civilization, a Duc Monster S2R with a ventilated clutch cover rumbles, clanks and clicks past. The fellow pulls up the light and promptly shuts off the motor (he's done this before). I mention my premonition to him, and he smiles (or at least I think he does, it's hard to tell under a full-face helmet). After which he informs me I can ride a bicycle through the tunnel despite the red light: "There's a bike lane!" I bid him good ride and drop into the tunnel. I did not see or hear the motorcycle again.
- Riding up Market street can be a scary thing for a novice bike rider. I've done it a few times (and had my share of almost-oh-shit-I'm-gonna-wipe-out-on-the-rails moments) on different bikes in all kinds of weather & traffic, so it doesn't really bother me. In the morning (around 8:30 or so) it tends to be clogged with commuters of various persuasions, including motorcycles, pedestrians, buses, trams, taxis, cars and cyclists. Including this one girl on a Cannondale, with iPod, blazing up at the front of the bikes-waiting-at-the-next-light mob. This goes on for a few blocks, she and I trading pole position, until I give it up on a techicality (a senior citizen in a Crown Vic shoulders me out of my share of the lane). This is going fine until we hit the beauty that is Market & 4th. There are about 10 cyclists now, and one poor driver stuck in the intersection. Well, not quite stuck enough to compel Ms. iPod to stop. So she tries an around-the-back, between-the-rail-and-bumper swerve around the Corolla. At which point Corolla stops to avoid hitting the more conservative cyclists going in front of her. Ms. iPod eats shit, slams into Corolla's bumper and does an inverted aerial, landing on her back right in the center of Market street. This happens about 2 feet in front of me. Everything stops for about 5 seconds while a few pedestrians & cyclists (including myself) query as to her condition. She gives me a thumbs up from the pavement, neither her hair, nor sunglasses nor iPod headphones out of place. I ride on, and when I look back, she's already on the curb putting her chain back on.
Reminds me, need paragraphs in <li> elements in this hizzie.
Update: Finally my phone synced. Sweet!
Going on a Sunday morning fixie ride (probably to Fairfax and back, maybe White's Hill if I'm feeling ambitious). If anyone wants to meet me, I'll be at the Bridge at 9:30.
