I decided to book my flight to LA late in the afternoon so I wouldn't miss the Lucas Valley ride, and I'm glad I did. The Yellowjackets met a park and ride parking lot. Just east of the freeway. Maybe about 70 riders all told. But it was so disorganized like many of the "Away" rides. Groups of riders took of at different times. The was no organization. It was sort of a bummer. In the end, it didn't really matter, because I was waiting for some friends from work, Kim & Zach, who were running late.

Kim is a new rider, so we hit the road before Zach arrived, knowing that he'd be able to catch up.

Lucas Valley is a road that runs (roughly) from San Rafael to Nicasio Valley. It winds slowly up past farms in a rural part of Marin and descends down through a redwood forest along horse ranches to Nicasio. It's part of the Marin Century and seemed much harder the first time I rode it. This time, it was a piece of cake.

Zach caught us with at the junction Lucas Valley Rd and Nicasio Valley Rd and we road together into Point Reyes Station. We were going really slow and I was sort of bummed about it, but I wanted to help Kim train up for the Waves to Wine, so I stayed with her. Then on Pt. Reyes Petaluma Rd. We were passed by a double pace line, that is two parallel lines of riders, riding about shoulder width apart. They were flying down the road, and I could have stayed with, but I would have left Zach & Kim in the dust, so I just hung on for a little while and then circled back to met up with them.

I've been to Point Reyes Station many times on my way to beaches and hikes in Pt. Reyes, and I've seen cyclists there, but I've never seen anything like it. There were probably 75-100 riders hanging out in the area in front of the Bovine Bakery. There was a mobile bike tech. Bikes stacked up everywhere. It was awesome. It was also a perfectly beautiful day, around 75 degrees with perfect blue skies.

There were some OYJers in town, but we left so late and were going so slowly, that most had already had a long break and headed up Highway One to Marshall. The riders left were mostly from the Light group who started in Nicasio Valley.

We probably stayed in PRS for longer than we should have, about an hour. It was definitely much longer than I would have liked. I needed to get the ride finished and get home before 330 to finish packing and not miss my flight.

I had an orange chocolate scone at the Bovine Bakery and waited while Zach had his flat fixed (cost him 15 bucks!&mdashnormally it runs about 8). I took pictures of everything.

By the time we got back on the road, it was getting warmer and we were in serious jeopardy of not making it around the route. Since Kim was tiring out, I made an executive decision at about the 26 mile mark that we were turning around and heading back. Zach continued on a finished the route. I'll have to come back an do it some other time. I was just worried about Kim and wanted to make sure that she got back in one piece. She didn't have tools to fix a flat and only had one water bottle. Someone had to go with her. Since I convinced her to come out and I needed to make sure that I got myself home in time to make my flight, I volunteered.

The ride back was a struggle for Kim. She didn't have enough water, so I shared, and she didn't have much strength left, so I gave her support. We managed to get back in one piece, with no flats, which I'm thankful for.

It was tough thinking that I could have been in a paceline all day and blasted my way around the route. Instead I took my time and a lot of great pictures. The roads aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

More photos on Flickr.

Miles 51.59
Ride Time 3:55:12
MPH 13.1
Max Speed 35.3
Average Cadence -
Flats 0

Here's the route map:

and the profile:

Posted by andrew at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have resisted getting an iPhone for a long time. Mainly because I have a pretty decent phone, a Blackberry 8820, but mostly because they were just so damn expensive. The prices have gone way down for the phone, but the monthly charges are still up there.

One amazing thing about the iPhone that the Blackberry doesn't have is a diaspora of developers writing killer apps for the phone. The one people in my office are always raving about can tell you name of any song that's playing nearby. Kinda cool, but I think I can live without it.

What I don't think I can live without is Path Tracks. Of course I can live without, but I don't know if I want to. Basically it taps into the GPS with the phone and plots your route on a map along with time, distance, speed and altitude. Very cool.

I already have two computers for my bike, so, you know, I don't really need it, but it is very cool, and if I had an iPhone, I'd definitely pony up the 99 cents to buy the software.

Posted by andrew at 03:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Any day you fail to carve out out even a short time to spend doing what you really want to do is a wasted day.

--Hakan Nesser, Borkmann's Point

Words to live by.

Posted by andrew at 02:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just deleted more than 18,000 spam comments that hit my site in the last month. Feels so good.

Posted by andrew at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by andrew at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Finished my third century this month. Lots of climbing. very tired. details to come.

Miles 101.94
Ride Time 7:18:11
MPH 13.9
Max Speed 42.5
Average Cadence 68
Flats 0

Here's the route map:

and the profile:

Posted by andrew at 08:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Almost every day I pass by this memorial to a cyclist killed by a car. It's right around the corner from my place. It is always lovingly maintained. The bike has been stolen and is always replaced. The white bike is a stark reminder of how unsafe the roads can be and how dangerous my new hobby is. But the message is clear:

SLOW THE FUCK DOWN OR YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US!

I try to be careful but as I share the roads with cars, there's only so much I can do.

More photos here.

Posted by andrew at 01:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Between the Olympics, all the cycling and the sheer laziness that characterizes my life, I have not been able to blog as much as I would like. I want to turn that trend around and document some of the rides I've been on in the last 2 weeks, starting with the Marin Century two weeks ago and ending with the Tour of Napa Century this past Sunday. I've got pictures, stats, and maps up for most of them, but I want to write up something and get it posted ASAP. Hopefully tonight. We'll see. I've been so tired lately, all I want to do I lay my lazy ass on the couch and watch highly motivated people compete for gold 10,000 miles away in Beijing. But if I don't get the stuff written soon, it will drift away, and, like so many other things, will seem like it never happened.

Posted by andrew at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Miles 100.37
Ride Time 5:59:11
MPH 16.7
Max Speed 44.3
Average Cadence 78
Flats 0

Here's the route map:

and the profile:

Posted by andrew at 05:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Miles 73.18
Ride Time 5:26:31
MPH 13.4
Max Speed 36.9
Average Cadence 57
Flats 0

Here's the route map:

and the profile:

Posted by andrew at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've never been much of an athlete. I enjoy sports: skiing, surfing, cycling, what have you, but my athletic aspirations have been of the vicarious sort. I'm ok with that. But as someone who's ok with that, I want my coverage to be excellent. Nowhere is this more true that with the Olympics.

My feeling is that Olympic coverage has gone in the tank since NBC took over from ABC. ABC just seemed to do everything just right. Their commentators were not only experts in the sports they covered, but incredibly well spoken and interesting. NBC, well, not so much. ABC had a nice balance between coverage of the events themselves and dramatic athlete profiles that would engage the viewer and build that all important empathy between audience and performer. NBC, not so much. In the beginning, NBC had way too many of these things, probably in a vain effort to appeal to female viewers. There was serious backlash. Now they have too few.

Then you need a personality who can frame the games in a larger context. Someone like Dick Schapp. This year NBC has got Mary Carillo. Sure, I like Mary. She's okay. Serviceable, but not really that interesting Buy why Mary Carillo? Why not Jimmy Roberts? Where the fuck is Jimmy Roberts? Jimmy Roberts is a poet. We need more commentator's like Jimmy Roberts.

Then there's the coverage itself, which, to be honest, has gotten better over the years. For this Olympics there's almost too much. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am. But it's too much of stuff that's not interesting. Synchronized Diving was on for hours yesterday. Does anyone really care about that "sport"? Blessedly, there's a DVR to take care of that problem, which is huge improvement for me personally this time around.

NBC also has a wealth of coverage online, both archived and live, which is fantastic. However a lot of the events I have seen online has had no commentary. I like really like cycling. More than the average cycling fan even, but I can't want 6 and half hours of a race online with no commentary. It's like watching paint dry. Then NBC has this terrible habit of including the result in the title of the video, such as "Kristen Armstrong takes gold in Women's Time Trial", which sort of sucks the drama out of watching. Note to NBC, please name the events with the name of the event and not the result. Pretty please.

Of course, in my fantasy world, I would have so much more control. I might not like the announcers that NBC puts up, so I'd want to listen to the commentators from Australia or the UK or Canada. Sometimes I want more information than NBC provides, so I want detailed history of a world record progression. Or maybe I want to see the event in the past Olympics or at the Olympic Trials or the European Championships. And It would be nice to control the replays, although I really can with my DVR, so this isn't such a big deal any more. What would be cool is to control the camera angles. There might be a dozen cameras (or more) at a particular venue. Why should director control the one camera that we see at any given time. Maybe I'd prefer a different angle.

There's my quadrennial gripe about the coverage in a nutshell. It seems to be getting better at every Olympiad, which is positive, and maybe in a decade or so, some of the Olympic dreams I have will come to fruition.

Posted by andrew at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

If the Olympics had any integrity, they wouldn't allow companies like McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Budweiser to sponsor the games. Does anyone think that any of the athletes would put that crap in their bodies?

Posted by andrew at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Miles 24.76
Ride Time 2:11:58
MPH 11.2
Max Speed 26.8
Average Cadence 47
Flats 0

Here's the route map:

Posted by andrew at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More photos of the Calistoga Picnic Ride on Flickr.

Miles 42.88
Ride Time 2:46:48
MPH 15.4
Max Speed 36.7
Average Cadence 68
Flats 0

Here's the route map:

and the profile:

Posted by andrew at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Went for a little ride after work today. When I left my place in Emeryville, it was starting to cool off, but it was still sunny. By the time I reached Grizzly Peak, the fog had rolled in and it was freezing. I headed east through Tilden Park and, according to my speedometer, hit 51.6 MPH down Shasta Rd., but I'm skeptical. The road was smooth and straight and I was going fast—fast enough not to be able to look at my computer—But that's like stupid fast and I don't think I was going stupid fast. I don't think I can.

Anyway, I continued on past Inspiration Point down WIldcat Canyon and I climbed the first Bear (the hardest one) but instead of following to the second two, I hung a right at Happy Valley Rd., one of those perfect winding steep backgrounds that litter the East Bay. The street is lined with leafy trees and is wrapped around farms and hidden homesteads. It's really quite beautiful.

The ascent was super steep (you can see it on the profile at around 16 miles), but the payoff was fantastic. After a short technical descent, Happy Valley straightens out into a perfectly paved road with about 2-3% grade and I hauled ass about 30 MPH all the way down to the Lafayette BART.

It's great to be able to take the train back instead of climbing in the dark, but I don't understand why it should cost me $2.25 cents to go two stops. It's a wonder any one rides the BART who doesn't absolutely have to. Even with gas prices at this level (about $4.30/gallon).

Miles 24.15
Ride Time 1:55:12
MPH 12.5
Max Speed 51.6
Average Cadence 63
Flats 0

Here's the route map:

and the profile:

Posted by andrew at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by andrew at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I found an article in the the New York Times, Turning a Century in California, that describes Century riding in Northern California better than I ever could. Here the author, John Markoff, discusses the merits of the food available at the various events:

Over the years the refreshments served by century ride organizers at rest stops have become a source of heated competition. Some rides are epicurean, some are organic, some offer complete feasts, and at the bottom of the heap are the rides that provide the meager PowerBar and Gatorade.

Each May, the Foothill Century, which involves a leisurely spin along the edge of Silicon Valley, bills itself as the "only kosher ride in the West." In August, the Tour d'Organics, in Sebastopol, offers locally grown fruit.

The Grizzly Peak Century measures up well. In fact the ride's slogan is "eat to ride and ride to eat." This year the organizers handed out yellow Grizzly Peak Century socks to all riders, with the slogan embroidered on the bottom.

THIS year the first rest stop in Tilden Regional Park, in the hills behind Berkeley, featured tasty chocolate chip cookies prepared by a local culinary institute. At the second rest stop, just past the refinery-laden town of Rodeo, there were more cookies and a lot of fruit, from orange slices to watermelon, as well as more muffins. In fact, there were three rest stops in the 73 miles before lunch.

My favorite cycling food is small, salted and boiled red potatoes, which this year were served at the rest area just before the three bears, three climbs that form a classic patch of cycling territory in the rolling hills east of Berkeley. It's odd to think that you can burn four to five thousand calories and still gain weight, but I believe it's true.

I burned about 7000 calories when I rode the Marin Century last weekend, so I don't think there was any weight gain, despite the well stocked rest stops.

Posted by andrew at 07:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just discovered the "Terrain" button on Google Maps. I don't know if this is new or not, but it's new to me. It delivers exquisite looking topographic maps which, of course, are interactive.

Posted by andrew at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lately I've become enmeshed in the world of Nordic mysteries. I just can't get enough of them. They are so dark and compelling. I picked up one of Henning Mankel's Kurt Wallender mysteries and was immediately sucked into his murky, sullen world.

After that, I sought out other Scandinavian writers and have found nothing but pleasure. Unlike many of our (American) mystery writers who are mystery writers first and writers second, the Swedes, Norwegians, et al. are firmly planted in the world of literature. They are writers who happen to write mysteries. It makes a world of difference. Henning Mankell. Karin Fossom. Kjell Ericksson. Ake Edwardson. These and many more are all excellent, but but my favorite is Icelander Arnaldur Indriðason with his phlegmatic and morose inspector Erlendur Sveinsson.

Erlendur's life is a mess. His daughter is a junkie. His son won't talk to him. His ex-wife won't have anything to do him— Erlendur walked out on his family when the kids were young. He has no friends. He despises his mentor. Best of all, his pastime is to read stories about people who get lost in the snow. This is from Voices:

Sometimes he bought a bottle of Chartreuse at Christmas and had a glass beside him while he read about the ordeals and death in the days when people travelled everywhere on foot and Christmas could be the most treacherous time of the year. Determined to visit to visit their loved ones, people would battle with the forces of nature, go astray and perish; for those awaiting them back home, Christmas turned from a celebration of salvation to a nightmare. The bodies of some travelers were found. Others were not. They were never found.

These were Erlendur's Christmas carols.

You have to love this guy.

Erlendur's a dogged detective, rather than super human Sherlock Holmes type. His flaws only serve to make him more human; his palpable depression and loneliness, more sympathetic and entirely convincing. The darkness of the Icelandic murders is belied by setting. Like most of the Nordic mysteries, the setting is winter. The weather is horrible. It's always snowing or raining. The days are short. Depression hangs over everything and everybody.

Reading novels set in other countries provide the best of many worlds for me. They are travelogues and great literature. I can't recommend these authors highly enough.

• Arnaldur Indriðason (Iceland)
• Karin Fossum (Norway)
• Åke Edwardson (Sweden)
• Henning Mankell (Sweden)
• Kjell Eriksson (Sweden)
• Håkan Nesser (Sweden)
• Helene Tursten (Sweden)

• WIkipedia: List of European Mystery Writers
• Listmania: Scandanavian Mysteries

Posted by andrew at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I start my Pavlovian salivation every time I see an Orbea Orca on the road. It's simply a beautiful machine. I need to start saving my pennies though: This custom bike runs about 7 grand (without taxes). <INSERT GRATUITUOUS "BUT THAT COSTS MORE THAN MY FIRST CAR" REFERENCE>

I figure if I can ride 7000 miles, then I can justify it. Right now, I'm averaging about 100 miles a week, so it'll take me a little more than a year, by which time I'll have probably ground my current bike (Cannondale Synapse) into the ground and I'll need a new set of wheels anyway.

Posted by andrew at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On August 23rd, my cycling club, the Oakland Yellowjackets, is sponsoring the so-called "Tour de East Bay" Bike Against the Odds Century (104 miles). The ride hits most of the good climbs in the East Bay: Pinehurst, Tunnel, Lake Chabot, Bear Creek, Grizzly Peak, Wildcat Canyon, etc. It'll be a hard day in the saddle, with over 8500 ft of climbing (the event site claims 10,000, but I'm skeptical), but around some of the most beautiful spots in the Bay Area.

The ride is a benefit for Breast Cancer research. I really didn't want to do another charity ride this year. I understand that you can only go to the well so many times—and I really appreciate everyone who's already given for the other events I've ridden. But I wanted to support my club and it's a really good cause (and a great ride), so I'm going to do it.

I'll be riding for my Dad's wife Irene who is a cancer survivor. I tapped into his network and they came through for me incredibly quickly, so I've already reached my fund-raising goals (offline), but if you (or anyone you know) want to make a donation, I won't stop you. ;) As always, all donations are tax-deductible.

Here's the route map:

and the profile:

Posted by andrew at 02:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With a little less than 6 weeks to go, I'm about 85% of the way to my fundraising goal of $1000 in support of MS research. It's not going to take much to push me over the top, so I will reiterate my plea that you don't have donate a hundred bucks or even fifty orr 25. A handful of people tossing in 5 to 10 bucks each will the get the job done. Don't you want to help out? Yes, I know you do. It's easy. It doesn't cost much. It's tax-deductible and you'll be glad you did it.

Thanks to everyone who has already donated to the cause!

Posted by andrew at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is cool not just because of the long shadows cast after hiking in beautiful Briones Regional Park in Lafayette, but because of Mt. Diablo looming in the background.

Posted by andrew at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More images of 3 Bears and Some Redwoods on Flickr.

Miles 59.19
Ride Time 4:28:19
MPH 13.2
Max Speed 42.8
Average Cadence 66
Flats 0

Here's the route map:

and the elevation:

Posted by andrew at 07:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Not only did I survive, but I did the thing in 15.99 MPH. I'm a little tired. A little sore, but all in all I feel really good and extremely proud to have my first century under my belt (actually 103 miles). Details and pictures to come.

The Marin Century is a cathedral of pain. Its supplicants suffering silently as they pedal the angry hills of 103 miles around the county

More images of The Marin Century on Flickr.

Miles 104.18
Ride Time 6:30:02
MPH 15.9
Max Speed 41.3
Average Cadence 67
Flats 0

Here's the route map:

and the elevation:

Posted by andrew at 06:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I should be getting to sleep soon seeing as I have to get up up 5am to get ready for the Marin Century tomorrow morning. I'm pretty psyched about it. It's going to be a long day in the saddle. I'm hoping to get it down in 7 hours or so. That would make me really happy. It's my first 100 mile ride and it's not exactly flat. The profile looks like a fucking EKG! 7 hours would mean about a 14.5 mile per hour pace. I don't know if I can sustain that will all the climbs, but I might make for up for it on the descents. Right now, I just hope I can get to sleep. I'm a little anxious. I'll be taking lots of pictures, hopefully, and of course, I'll let you know how it goes.

Here's the route map:

and the elevation:

Posted by andrew at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)