Cycling Archive

Looking like it's going to be a long day in the saddle on Saturday. If I can get through it, should be a beautiful ride.

A very foggy day in the city (until the end when we had a nice lunch at the Ferry Building). A brave crew of about 8 of us tackled Fillmore. It was a lot of fun. Sort of a slow ride, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Miles 38.66 mi
Ride Time 3:03:36
MPH 12.6 mph
Max Speed 42.4 mph
Elevation Gain 2,984 ft
Flats 0

More stuff here:

• Garmin Ride Stats
• Strava Ride Stats
• Flickr

Here's the route map:

Leading the Humane group with Fred. Started as a stupidly foggy day. Moist weather casued lots of flats going up Tunnel. I was lucky and avoided any trouble. The skies broke when we hit Contra Costa County and we had a really nice ride up and over the Three Bears.

I convinced the small group I was riding with to stop at the Espresso Roma Cafe in Berzerkly for a quick lunch on the cyclist-friendly terrace.

Miles 48.54 mi
Ride Time 3:51:27
MPH 12.8 mph
Max Speed 43.9 mph
Elevation Gain 4,142 ft
Flats 0

More stuff here:

• Garmin Ride Stats
• Strava Ride Stats
• Flickr

Here's the route map:

A fun little ride with some cycling friends to celebrate my 40th birthday. Someone put up a couple of signs, one in Piedmont (above) and another on Tunnel Road. I have no idea who did it, but it was very touching.

Miles 25.10 mi
Ride Time 2:04:22
MPH 12.1 mph
Max Speed 39.4 mph
Elevation Gain 2,380 ft
Flats 0

More stuff here:

• Garmin Ride Stats
• Strava Ride Stats
• Flickr

Here's the route map:

Signed up for the ride on a whim. Didn't look a the route sheet. Knew about the climb up Kings Mountain, but little else. It was a tough, but spectacular ride in San Mateo.

Miles 63.57 mi
Ride Time 4:20:21
MPH 14.6 mph
Max Speed 37.8 mph
Elevation Gain 5,319 ft
Flats 0

More stuff here:

• Garmin Ride Stats
• Strava Ride Stats
• Flickr

Here's the route map:

After almost five years of living next to Scarface, the constantly barking Pit Bull, his family up and sold his domicile and moved out. Awesome. It's never been so quiet. Until this morning that is.

The new owners (who have a pit bull—of course, why wouldn't they?) are replacing the foundation and removing the concrete front yard (yes, the previous owners had a red and green concrete yard. Low maintenance? Yes. Horribly tasteless neighborhood eyesore? You bet).

The jackhammers start at about 7:30am. I was up watching Germany getting raped by the Spanish ref in their game against Serbia, but it made it hard to enjoy with all the noise and whatnot.

How long will this go on? Who knows. And just when it's completed, Scarface the sequel will take up residence in the back.

Time to find greener pastures.

Really wanted to go to this, but I was too busy watching the World, CUp, NBA Finals and queen stage of the Tour of Suisse all the in same night.

If you don't know about the Bike Snob NYC, check out his blog. Even if you're not a cyclist, it should have you rolling with laughter. (And if not rolling, at least smiling quietly on the inside.)

Miles 64.54 mi
Ride Time 4:38:42
MPH 14.1 mph
Max Speed 40.9 mph
Elevation Gain 5,185 ft
Flats 0

More stuff here:

• Garmin Ride Stats
• Flickr

Here's the route map:

Miles 38.26 mi
Ride Time 2:49:34
MPH 13.8
Max Speed 31.3
Elevation Gain981 ft
Flats 0

More stuff here:

• Garmin Ride Stats
• Flickr

Here's the route map:

Had a nice casual day riding with the Humane group. Perfect weather for riding. Could have done with a little more sun block. Lots of fun until right before the last turn, maybe 50 meters from where my car was sitting at the Union City BART parking lot, I had a blow out. It was really strange. As I pulled to a stop at the light, the front tire started to hiss and I as I looked down to see what was going on it popped. Sounded like a gun shot. The tire had been blown off the rim which is pretty freaky. Lucky for me it didn't happen when I was a descending Arastradero.

I wheeled the bike the block or so down the BART station. I'll fix the flat later, but I really want to know why it happened.

Miles 56.71 mi
Ride Time 3:50:54
MPH 14.9
Max Speed 35.6
Elevation Gain 2,081 ft
Flats 1 (blow out)

More stuff here:

• Garmin Ride Stats
• Flickr

Here's the route map:

Crazy wind at the Baileyana Tangent Winery on Orcutt Road:

Miles 62.07
Ride Time 4:00:39
MPH 15.5
Max Speed 41.5
Elevation Gain 2,034 ft
Flats 0

More stuff here:

• Garmin Ride Stats
• Flickr

Here's the route map:

We're headed down to SLO for a weekend of cycling and sun. Should be fun. I've never really spent any time there. I've stopped for gas, but that doesn't really count.

The rides we're doing are here. Going to miss the Friday ride because, well, it's happening right now as I type this. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's ride which takes in Pismo Beach and Morro Bay. Sunday, we might ride down to Avila Beach for brunch. It's only a 24 mile round tripper, but we'll see. The weather is supposed to be great. Should be a spectacular weekend.

One thing I have no plan to visit at all is this. Totally awful.

These are some very heady days for Australian cycling.

They've got Tasmanian Richie Porte in the Maglia Rosa leading the Giro d'Italia. They've got Mick Rogers, who seems to have completely recovered from the injuries that have plagued him in recent years in the lead of the Tour of California. Matthew Lloyd is leading the King of the Mountains race in the Giro. Lloyd along with Cadel Evans and Matt Goss have won stages at the Giro. While Bret Lancaster picked up a win in a soggy stage 2 in the TOC. And, of course, Cadel Evans is the reigning World Champion. It really doesn't get much better than this.

Hopefully Porte can hang on for vistory in the Giro. The last week is going to be rough and he's sort of an unknown quantity. He does have a little lead to wrk though. On the other hand, Rogers' competition is right on his heels. It's nice to be in the lead With three days to go including a time trial in LA (he's a former TT World Champ). However, Dave Zabriskie has the same time and several riders incluing Levi Leipheimer are well within striking distance. Should be an exciting few days of racing.

It started out nice enough. Cool winds in the morning in SF lead into a beautiful day of cycling in Marin. Cruising up the Embarcadero. Hauling my bike up Fort Mason. Across the Presidio along Crissy Field. Over the Golden Gate Bridge.

A brief climb up Conzelman which was aborted at the top because of the construction. Still we descended behind the Headlands. Twisted through Fort Baker. Dropped into Sausalito. Whipped down the Bike Path. Up and over Camino Alto into Corte Madero. Past San Quentin. Raced around the Tiburon Headlands, saw a few pre-shot deer and hit up Caffe Acri for brunch.

It was almost perfect.

There was this one guy without a helmet riding on the bridge towards the city screaming at us to "get out of the way, ass holes!" which was more funny than anything else.

After a nice leisurely brunch we headed out of Tiburon through Belvedere and then back then back the way we came. On the Embarcadero, less than a mile from the BART station, thing started to unravel for me.

An amazing streak of good fortune came an abrupt end. I got a puncture. It's the first flat I've had this year and the first on any Yellowjackets ride since 2008.

The change didn't exactly go smoothly. First, the CO2 cartridge I was carrying was empty. I must have forgot to swap it out after my last flat in 2009. Chris lent me a cartridge which I proceeded to blow before I could get it on the stem.

Then it was time to manually pump tire. First with Chris' little micro-pump and then, when it was taking too long, Dan busted out his super-foldo pump with foot stand and psi gauge and I was able to get it inflated to 120 with no problem at all.

Then came mounting the tire. This is where things got a little dicey. I was having some trouble getting the tire to sit correctly. I put it and the missed the chain. Then it got jammed in the wrong place and we had trouble getting it out. Chris helped and we finally got it mounted, but somehow in moving the bike the release for my Garmin (Edge 705) was depressed and it went flying off the bike and into the road where it was promptly (I think) run over by a bus.

The reason I say, I think, is because I'm not 100% sure. I didn't see it directly. It all sort of happened in the my peripheral version. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something fly off the bike. I saw something land in the road. I saw a bus come by roll over it (not sure if the wheels actually ran over it).

When I realized it was my Garmin I rushed out in the street to get it and nearly got run over by a bus myself. What a stupid idiot. I had to raise to my hand to get the bus that was barreling down on me to stop.

I reached under the bus and grabbed my computer. It was all jacked up. The LCD screen was cracked and showing a shinny rainbow pattern. The case was cracked. It wouldn't turn on at all. I was stunned. My Garmin was dead.

Then Fred rolled by and when he saw what happened said, Let it go Drew. I tried, but I just couldn't believe it. What the fuck just happened?

I rode the BART home in shock. The thing cost several hundred dollars. It cost more than my first car (not really, but close). What a nightmare. On top of that, I'd lose all my ride stats from today, plus stats from a few other rides that I hadn't yet uploaded to Garmin Connect. More annoying than anything.

A few days later I called Garmin Support to tell them what happened and they were totally cool about it. I guess this sort of thing happens frequently. Usually it starts with a crash and not a Vaudeville skit that my puncture devolved into, but they were going to send me a replacement for 120 bucks (shipping included). I couldn't believe it.

My Garmin is dead. Long live my Garmin!

Miles roughly 51 mi
Ride Time about 3.4 hours
MPH more or less 15 mph
Max Speed around 44.1 mph
Elevation Gain perhaps 4,747 ft
Flats exactly 1

More stuff here:

• Flickr

Here's the route map:

After a delay of unknown provenance, we were finally able to pick Raquel's custom order Cannondale CAAD9 Féminine 5. It's a pretty sweet ride:

Right now she's working on practicing clipping in and out. Fun! Fun! Fun! Tomorrow, we ride!

Miles 100.01
Ride Time 5:44:09
MPH 17.4
Max Speed 37.1
Elevation Gain 3,160 ft
Flats 0

More stuff here:

• Garmin Ride Stats
• Flickr

Here's the route map:

Miles 100.00
Ride Time 5:59:15
MPH 16.7
Max Speed 42.0
Elevation Gain 4,747 ft
Flats 0

More stuff here:

• Garmin Ride Stats
• Flickr

Here's the route map:

I can't sleep so I'm up searching for my photos from last weekend's Wildflower Century up in Chico. There's a company Photo Crazy who sets up triggered cameras at cycling events to take shots of the riders. There's a big clock by the camera and you're supposed to remember the time your pic was snapped so you can hunt it down later on their website.

I was a little delirious by time I rolled by their cameras after lunch, so I couldn't exactly remember when the shots were taken, but I found them soon enough.

They aren't messing around any more with the watermarks. I guess they figure that the new content aware functionality in PhotoShop CS4, they can't be too careful.

They want 25 bucks for hi-res images of these shots which is a little stiff, but I'll think about it. They're not bad. Normally they give you advanced warning with some signage that you're approaching the cameras. I might have just had my head down fighting the infernal wind, but I was totally surprised when I came across the cameras.

I'm not 100% sure that setting a camera with a flash to have a reflection street sign in the background was the wisest decision ever. They probably could have done without the transmission tower as well. Who makes these decisions?

Getting ready for my first Wine Country Century. I'm psyched about it despite the problem with my left hand.

Here's the ride description from the SRCC website:

Heads west across the valley floor before climbing into the wooded hills around Graton and Occidental. After descending to the Russian River at Monte Rio, the route meanders through rolling terrain along the sides of the river valley.

There are several climbs...some long but gradual, some short but steep. At about mile 44, the forested hills give way to the vineyards of the Russian River, Dry Creek, and Alexander Valleys. Aside from the fairly substantial climb on Chalk Hill near the end, the remainder of the route is flat or rolling, and beautiful!

Map here. Interactive map with GPS tracking here. GPS tracks are for informational use only; use them with caution. Ride safely and exercise good judgment. The official route is shown on the printed maps.

Their site says 3300 feet of climbing while the interactive map they link to says 5371. That's a huge difference. Normally I wouldn't care, but since I plan to ride another century on Sunday, I would prefer it was the former.

The weather is looking like it's going to cooperate unlike last year when it rained miserably all weekend. Should be fun.

Chico is small, rural town about 3 hours north of the Bay Area. The town's sole reason for existence seems to be the California State University of Chico, once a notorious party school:

(from snopes.com) Campus legend has it that Playboy does a yearly ranking of America's top party schools. Truth is, we haven't done such a roundup since 1987, when we tagged Cal State-Chico the craziest campus in the nation. Chico has had bragging rights for 15 years,causing students to binge with pride while parents and administrators have dried out fraternities and sororities and canceled Halloween. Some students have sent us e-mails that say "Don't you dare say Chico State. I'm sick of having to defend it. It's all because of your article 15 years ago!" Why do another ranking now? The kids demanded it, our public relations department is bombarded with calls from students who wonder where their schools rank. We wanted to hear what goes down on campus — the good, the bad and blurry — in your own words, more than 1500 of you wrote. These are your stories.

Raquel and I drove up on Saturday morning. We walked around. Had burgers at the "World Famous" Madison Bear Garden, took a tour of the Stansbury House and walked around the Bidwell Mansion Park. The town seemed pleasant enough.

We headed down to the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds to check in for the Chico Wildflower. It was very well organized. After a short wait in the Go-Hs line, I picked up my bag that included a water bottle, a route map printed on cloth and my wrist band.

That afternoon I did a fast 30 mile warm up ride around town. The start of the ride took in Bidwell Park (it's all Bidwells all the time in Chico, apparently), a lovely green strip along the Big Chico River that juts out of town to the east. Seemed like an auspicious start to the weekend. But then it all went wrong. Quickly.

Slow Start

That night, I had a rough time getting to sleep at the motel. When I finally managed to drift away, I was woken up by some drunk kids running up and down the corridor at 2:27am and couldn't for the life of me get back to sleep. So when we got up at 5am, I was less than well rested.

Before sunrise, we packed up, loaded the bike and we went off to Jack's in downtown Chico to have breakfast. Most of the table were occupied by cyclists, which I took to be a seal of approval, but the food was awful: rubber pancakes and ancient, acidic coffee. Before we left, I filled my bottles with ice water and we headed out to meet up with Stephen from the Yellowjackets.

I had never ridden with Stephen before but we had arranged to meet at the start line and ride together. We headed out from the fairgrounds, but before we hit the road, I realized I wasn't wearing my gloves and had to turn back. Then, with gloves on, I headed out again and got a little further down the road before I realized that I had forgotten to put on my wristband and had to turn back again.

Each time, Stephen waited patiently for me as he had at the start when I was gearing up. So I felt pretty bad when I realized that he was going to maintain a much slower pace than I wanted. We chatted for about 3 miles, but we were only going about 10-12 miles per hour and I knew I needed to take off and go my own pace. So I apologized and stepped on the gas.

The Humbolt Meat Grinder

The first climb, up Humbolt Road comes at the five mile mark. It would be a lovely climb through the grassy foothills outside of Chico, but the road surface was just hideous. Think Morgan Territory before it was repaved last year and add in hundreds of little pot holes and you'll get the picture. It was an extremely unpleasant 2.5 miles. I had been sadistically pulverized.

The descent, however, was wicked. Back on a real surface, I rocketed back to sea level taking turns pulling with a woman in a George Hincapie US Champion BMC jersey.

The route continues down a narrow bike path, which made it hard to pass the early starters, before dumping out on Honey Run Road for the ascent to Paradise. I let two riders from the Tri Counties Cycling Team tow me up to the covered bridge, where the something of a rest stop: toilets, but no food or drink. Probably would have been a good idea as it's at the 20-mile mark and comes just before the big climb of the day.

I got off and took a few pics, but didn't hang around long.

6 Miles to Paradise

Quickly after the bridge, the road kicks up to the sky for the 6 mile climb to the small mountain town of Paradise. The road twists and turns like a contortionist as it makes it way along the edge of the canyon. There's nary a car. It's spectacular.

Words of encouragement to participants are painting on the roadway a la the Tour de France. There are some families by the side of the road cheering us on. There was even one kid dressed up a Big Bird.

Typically my strategy for these rides is conserve energy on the climbs and go like crazy on the flats and descents. That's worked well for me in the past, so I found my tempo, got into a nice groove and just cruised up to the top enjoying the scenery and the scene.

At the summit, there was a crowd of about 50 folks with cowbells cheering us on. As I rolled though Paradie to the rest stop. I was feeling ok. Tired, but not fatigued. I was thrilled that two of the three climbs were behind me.

Then I got off the bike at the rest stop and I felt a little cramp in my left hammy. Not a bad one. Just like a little tweak that let me know that all was night not right. I grabbed a banana and a couple cans of V8 and did a little stretching. I didn't want to hang out to long because I was anxious to get to the descent.

Expelled from Paradise

After the rest stop, i was expecting to plunge back down to sea level, but instead there's a series of massive rollers that rise from about 1650ft (Paradise) to 1870ft (the actual summit). I wasn't prepared for this at all. Nor was I prepared for the long, flatish initial part of the descent. It doesn't tkae much of a headwind to turn a 1-2% descent into a grind. I was riding alone and I used up a ton of energy desperately trying to latch onto a large group riding tantalizingly in front of me, but I never did catch them.

Then we passed a sign that read 11% grade and I hit 46 mph as we plunged down along Lake Oroville. I think I could have gone faster. The road was smooth and straight. There was a little headwind, but that didn't really stopped. I just got a little nervous riding alone and being unfamiliar with the roads.

After the quick descent, the route winds through cow country for several miles before we hit the second rest stop in Oroville right on the lake.

At this point, I'm feeling pretty good. The ride is about halfway done. I had ridden 19.8 miles in the third hour, which was just wickedly fast for me. And it wasn't even 10am yet. I sat in the grass, stretched my hamstrings, refueled and pondered the miles ahead.

Table Mountain Bonk

After the rest stop, the route meanders through suburban Oroville. At the 48 mile mark, there was a confluence of three events. (1) The road kicks up between 7-8% for about 5 miles. (2) The mercury started rising as fast as the road. (3) I started suffering immensely.

I had seen Table Mountain, a large and impressive looking mesa. It was looming to the left of us as we rode south towards Oroville. It looked big. It was hard for my to believe mentally that we'd be climbing up there, but I had seen the route profile and I wasn't that concerned, but I should have been. I really should have been.

I don't know the exact reason, but some combination of sleep deprivation, dehydration, extreme exertion, and poor fitness just made me bonk early on the climbing. I was chugging along at about 4 miles per getting passed by anything and everything on two wheels on Cherokee Road.

If I were in better shape, I think I would have appreciated the scenery. The road hugs the side of the Table Mountain cliff with on of the fingers of Lake Oroville on the opposite side of the road. This is the area where the Wildflower gets its name. I don't think this was the most impressive year, but there flowers here and there. To be honest, we have better wildflowers in Hercules.

Someone, probably with intentions had painted mile markers in orange on the road. 3 mile to the top, 2.5 miles to the top and so on. When you're strong, this is encouraging, but when you're creeping along at 4 mph and you do the math in your scrambled brain and figure that at this rate 2 miles is going to take you half an hour, it's demoralizing.

Granted, I wasn't going 4 mph the entire climb. The road pitched up and down like a dinghy in high surf and I was able to quicken my pace in sections, but it was still a long and miserable haul. I was so thrilled to finally reach the summit, that I skipped the little hydration station up there and continued on.

As you'd expect from Table Mountain, there a long, flat stretch at the top. I tucked in behind some stronger riders and let them drag me across the mesa. I could see snow covered peaks in the distance and the top of volcanic Mt. Lassen peaked out from behind the Cascades.

The descent off the ridge was hampered by a pick up that was stuck behind a slow rider, but I wasn't too concerned because the hills were behind me and all that remained was 40 miles of flat riding. No problem, right?

The Mighty F*ing Wind

In aerodynamics, a headwind is a wind that blows against the direction of travel of an object. A headwind reduces the object's speed and increases the time required to reach its destination[*]."

We doubled back down Durham Pentz Road to the lunch break. I grabbed more V8, some delicious pate sandwiches and sat my weary ass under a shady tree. I was rested refueled and ready. I just sent a few tweets before I hit the road:

Sitting under a tree in the shade. Cool breeze blowing. Eating pate sandwiches while I rest my weary legs. Hard to beat this. 11:19 AM Apr 25th

Made it to the lunch stop. Damn good thing. I was dying up the Table Mtn. climb. #cycling #wildflower http://myloc.me/6p7vF 11:20 AM Apr 25th

I only managed 10 miles in the 4th hour after clocking 19.8 in the third. All blame goes to the insufferable table mountain #cycling #wi ... 11:21 AM Apr 25th

Only 40 miles to go and it's all downhill or flat. WOOT!! #cycling #wildflower #chico http://myloc.me/6p7Ew 11:22 AM Apr 25th

Clearly my optimism was misplaced. But I was reasonably please with myself as I started down the long flat ride back bast west towards Chico.

The problem was that there was a massive wind heading east. I don't really know how to estimate it, but if I had to guess, I'd say 25-30 mph. The temp on the road was now close to 90 degrees. I was exhausted.

Another problem was that it was just so boring. The long stretch of road offered nothing but pain. The scenery was just so unmemorable. I just had to put my head down and fight through it.

I tagged along with various groups at various speeds until I ran out of energy and then the wind pushed me back. I would continue along solo and then another group would pass me and I'd get a hitch for a while. This went on for mile after bloody mile until the final rest stop at some nondescript school in Durham.

I really wanted to quit at this point. I had been beat down by this ride. I was alone. A little bored. My knees were starting to hurt from the effort. I was dirty. I wasn't having fun anymore. The wind had just sucked all the pleasure out of the ride.

The thing about climbing is that there's a payoff at the end: the descent. With the wind there's nothing. And it didn't seem to matter which way we turned, although there was precious little turning, but the wind was always anyplace but behind us. The few times where we turned north and suffered a cross wind were the worst. I couldn't find any shelter. It just sucked.

It was taking a toll on everyone. For a long time I hitched a ride behind a guy with big 6 on his jersey. He was much stronger than me and seemed to have no problem taking the lead. But after about 5 miles of wheel sucking, he started to tie and I started to feel guilty so I went around and him and took a 20 minute pull. It killed whatever energy I had left and when he eventually came around me, I couldn't hang on to the 16 mph pace and sucked out the back to continue on my own at 13-14 mph. But later I saw number 6 leaning on his bike in a small patch of shade by the side of the road. He hit the wall.

Later I latched onto a woman wearing a Triple Crown jersey. She had finished three double centuries in a one year. Certainly she'd have no problem towing me along and she didn't. Seemed happy to do it. I could only hang for so long before crumbling again.

Eventually I got my second wind. And when I did, I started passing slower riders. When I was passing this one woman, I felt something hit me on the hip and when I looked to my left, I saw this red with the side view mirror bent backwards. I thought, fuck, he just hit me. The fucking bastard just hit me!

So when traffic slowed and I was able to pull up to the car, I knocked on the window. When he lowered it, I told me just hit me. I must have been a little delirious since I expected him to say, dude, I'm sorry, are you ok?. The last thing I expect was for him to say, "how much do you pay to ride on these roads? I pay my DMV fees. Get off the fucking road ass hole."

I was stunned speechless. I should have taken note of his license plate or even better, taken a picture of his car with the mirror bent backwards, but I wasn't thinking straight.

When we rolled into downtown Chico past the Stansbury House I knew the end was near. The temps were cooler in town. The breeze was finally behind us as we finished the short section between town and the finish.

As I pulled into the fairgrounds, my odometer read only 95 miles. Normally I would have felt cheated—five miles short of a century, but not today. The ride was a sun-stroke inducing sufferfest, but it was over.

I've always wanted to go to Chico, but for some reason or another, I haven't made it up there yet. But this weekend, I'm headed north to ride Chico Velo's Wildflower Century.

It's my first century of the season and I'm 100% sure I'm ready for it. I haven't done a ride over 70 miles yet this year, so this is really pushing it. There are three fairly substantial climbs on the route that add up to 5000 feet of climbing, which isn't too bad spread out across 100 miles.

The weather is supposed to be spectacular—the forecast high temp is 83° on Sunday. The scenery should be impressive—Chico is located at the base of the mountains, where the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade ranges seamlessly join. I'm really looking forward to it.

The organizers, Chico Velo, are very "green" bunch. They provide all participants with a water bottle (so they don't have to use paper cups at the rest stops) and the route map is printed on a cloth bandanna. All uberprogressive.

There's meant to be more than 4000 participants which I'm certain is the largest group ride I've ever participated in. It's going to be something of cycling circus.

Here's the route map.

It was a perfect day for the 24th Annual Oakland Yellowjackets kick-off ride. Mid 70s. Blue skies. Little wind. It was just what you wanted for a nice 20 mile cruise out to Alameda and back. The turnout was impressive. I'd guess there were at least 200 riders there. And I've never seen more club members actually wearing their jerseys. It was really impressive. I took lots of photos of both the ride and the picnic afterwards.

Even though I've only been able to ride weekends, the cycling season has gotten off to a fast start for me, compared to last year anyway. The rides have been more frequent, longer, faster and more challenging. I've spent more than twice the amount of the time in the saddle at a rate about 1 mph faster while climbing about 3.5x as much. Not bad.

Stats through April 10th:

2010

2009

I spent the first 90% of the rides suffering with a body that was out of shape and a machine that needed an overhaul. But I plowed through the pain, got my bike fixed up like new and now I feel a cheetah, ready for the cycling the season and the 5 centuries (at least) that I have planned.

At the end of April I'm headed up to Chico for the first time to ride the Wildflower. Then the following weekend, I have the Wine Country Century on Saturday followed by the Tour de Cure on Sunday (still looking for donations to meet my goal on that ride). Then I don't have another century planned until the Oakland Yellowjackets Pacifica- Monterey ride (120 miles) in September followed closely by the Waves to Wine.

In between there are a couple of dozen Yellowjacket rides and maybe some rides with the Grizzly Peak or Mission Cyclists. Should be a great, great year on the road.

I was eager to get started this morning. I really love this ride. But the weather was conspiring to make this a potentially very ugly day. So it was with some trepidation that I clipped in and headed out to BART. Immediately I was hit by a wave of cold wind that made me want to change to my mind about riding in Marin.

I sucked it up and carried on, but I did change my plan of riding to the West Oakland BART. Instead I rode up the street to the much closer Ashby BART. That decision cost me a lot of time and resulted in me being late for the start. I hate being late for the start because the roll out is one of the unique aspects of club cycling that I enjoy.

The train pulled into Embarcadero at exactly 9:20, the time I was supposed to be a Red's Java House. Another tough decision. Should I go to the starting point where someone might be waiting for me or just get my ass on the road and hope I can catch up before we hit the bridge?

I'm really looking forward to today's ride, Mt. Tamalpais. It's one of my favorites on the calendar.

First we BART over the city where the ride starts under the shadow of the Oakland Bay Bridge. We ride along the Embarcadero past all the foodies at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, through Fisherman's Wharf bereft of tourists in the morning, up and over the short but pleasantly steep hill at Fort Mason, through the Marina, alongside Crissy Field and up amongst the old edifices of the Presido before crossing into Marin on the Golden Gate Bridge.

After the bridge, we descend into Sausalito and pass through a serious a quaint Marin towns, Larkspur, San Anselmo, and Ross before taking a break at the hamlet of Farifax. Time for coffee, sandwiches or some other kind of refreshment before the main event starts.

We take a 90 degree southward turn on Fairfax-Bolinas Road which bisects the town and head up into the hills. This section of the road is a gradual ascent, windy through the Marin hills past large homes and a secluded golf course before plunging down to the Alpine Dam. Time for another rest.

After a break at the dam, the real climbing begins. Continuing on Fairfax-Bolinas, the head takes a sharp turn upwards through the redwoods to the ridge line. We continue up on a series of rolling hills called the "Seven Sisters" before plummeting back down to sea level from the heights of Mt. Tamalpais. Then it's back to SF and BART and finally Oakland 63+ miles and 6000 feet of climbing later. All in day's work.

It's a little nasty outside. Overcast and cold with a chance of rain (it's actually raining now in Fairfax), but it should still be an amazing ride.

After suffering for a long time with slipping gears and inconsistent shifting, I finally plunked down the money to replace my drive train and it's a beautiful thing. The shifting is silky. The gears stay where they're supposed to be.

The new cogs are still the same: 50/34 compact double. The new chain is the same: Ultegra. The big difference is the cassette. I swapped out my old, grimy 12-27 for a shinny new 11-28. What does that mean exactly? Well now the highest gear is higher and lowest gear is lower so I will not only be able to climb with more comfort but also speed down descents faster. If I don't hit 50 mph on Dublin Grade, I'll be really pissed.

Is it the answer to all my problems? Probably not, but it's helped tremendously. Now I just to need to take care of it to keep in good working shape for several thousand miles.

Garmin Connect has changed it's display interface for activities, which is nice. One of the new features is the ability to embed the activity directly to a web site through an iframe. Works well enough as you can see above. It's certainly much easier than the way I handle it now, which involves exported the GPX file, importing it into Bikemap.net, embedding that map and then manually adding the activity details. It's time consuming, but I like the end result.

If the Garmin Connect embed is going to become something I use, it's going to have to do the following:

1) Allow Terrain to be set as the deault map type
2) Allow me to customize the embed dimensions (it's too narrow now)
3) Allow me to customize the event details
4) Show the entire event description

Until they add these things, it's just not good enough to use.

The day got off to a really bad start. Delays on BART. They've jacked up their prices, reduced there service and they still have delays. It's really a sad state of affairs for public transportation in the Bay Area.

Then it was cold. Below 50 when we departed from Concord BART around 9:25—late start because of the delay. There were about 25 cyclists assembled there. Only a handful from the Advanced group: Richard, Joe, Randy, Joan and Donelle. The rest were Humanes with some non-members thrown in for good measure. No intermediates.

So I had a tough decision. Hang with the big boys and have a tough quick ride or hang back with the Humanes and take it easy. I chose the former because I felt pretty and I wanted to test out my new drive train. It was a smart decision.

While I couldn't keep up with the hammerheads the entire way up the climb, I did manage to hang in there from the Morgan Territory decent, which made for a fast, fun ride.

The new drive train (cogs, cassette and chain) worked like a dream. Shifting was smooth as silk. Gears were not slipping at all. And I didn't have any of the power issues that have been plaguing me all year.

Morgan Territory is a beautiful long climb out east of Mt. Diablo. Home of massive houses, horse ranches and very cars. The narrow tree-lined road snakes up to 2000 feet over about 8 miles. It starts out gradual for the first half and then slowly builds with a serious of small terraces. There are a couple of 9% grinders, but nothing too bad. Now that the road has been re-paved, it's really a dream climb. It felt fantastic when I arrived at the summit. I was behind Richard, Joe, Joan and Randy, but ahead of Donelle who usually leaves me in his wake.

At the top there was a large group of people out training search a rescue dogs. Maybe a dozen German Shepherds. I thought it was all very cool until I stepped in a pile of steaming soft dog shit that was hidden by the tall grass. The group waited somewhat impatiently while I used the spigot and a stick to remove the fecal matter from my cleats. Fucking nasty.

There's a brief climb up to the real summit before the descending starts in earnest. For me it's one of the scariest descents we do. The road is decent, but it's so narrow and if a car is coming up the other way, there's precious little room to pass. Plus there's a 15% section that is downright frightening. On top of that, it was bitter cold. By the time I got to the bottom, I couldn't feel my fingers or toes and my entire face was numb. it was miserable.

We waited for Richard was severely underdressed even with the newspaper he stuffed in his jersey back at Concord BART, he was still a popsicle on the descent.

Then we were in for a treat. Highland Road from Manning to Camino Tassajara is one of the prettiest we ride. Rolling hills wind through horse and ranch country. This time of year, everything is green. It's just so idllyic. There's a small shallow climb to the saddle and then a fun turny descent.

The rest of the ride is just about getting back to BART and getting home. Balckhawk, Danville, Alamo all go by in a blur as we pacelined up to Walnut Creek. We cranked out almost 19 miles in the third hour alone. It was nice to get done early, but the pace took a huge toll on my still fragile body.

Miles 47.72
Ride Time 3:07:49
MPH 15.2
Max Speed 38.5
Elevation Gain 3,058 ft
Flats 0

More detailed ride stats here:

• Garmin

Here's the route map:

I'm still fighting the bike on all hills of any stature and it feels like a losing battle. That said, it was a nice change of pace to climb Calaveras in the spring. It was about 80 degrees instead of the normal 100+ we get in the middle of the summer. Instead of scorched hills and frying pan pavement, we have emerald green slopes and perfect roads.. We also saw a bald eagle roosting on a electrical tower near the summit. Too bad the battery on my camera died.

Along with the usual problems of fitness, energy and power that i've been suffering from, this week, allergies were thrown into the mix of maladies. I don't usually suffer from allergies, but the massive amounts of pollen and flower in the air, especially on Redwood Road, were just killing me. I had trouble breathing. My chest felt constricted. It was really awful.

I did manage to hit a season high 44.1 mph coming down from Calaveras, which was pretty sweet. And Raquel came down to Milpitas to pick Dan and me up which saved us both the 6 mile trudge back to the Fremont BART and 45 minute train ride back to civilization.

It's really notable to compare the first three hours of this ride with last week's ride which were exactly the same from Lake Merritt to Sunol, about 40 miles.

The first hour was really comparable. A little faster yesterday than last week, but not much of a difference. But there was a huge fall off for the next two hours. Part of that I can chalk up to the headwind that we fast going east and south that prevented us from descending Redwood Road and Dublin Grade very quickly. Some of it was due to the pollen, but when it comes down to it, I should be getting stronger and faster and I'm just not. That is a bit of a worry.

Miles 60:04
Ride Time 4:15:12
MPH 14.1
Max Speed 44.1
Elevation Gain 4,479 ft
Flats 0*

More detailed ride stats here:

• Garmin

Here's the route map:

*Had to fix a flat tube before the ride. Must have had a slow leak.

I was really looking forward this ride. It would be first time I'd done Palomares with the Yellowjackets when it wasn't in the middle of summer. But right off the start, I was feeling weak and it was a long day of suffering in the saddle for me, again.

I feel like I should be getting stronger each week, and while the ride distances and climbing has certainly increased, my fitness seems to have decreased. Not really sure what's going on unless it's just a matter of getting a little older and not riding quite as much as last year. I have my first century in a about a month, so I better figure it out quickly.

I struggled up Leimert, BBR and Redwood Road. Dublin Grade was a slog and Palomares was simply a nightmare.

I bailed out at Castro Valley BART, but it was a wise decision. After 55 miles and 4000 feet of climbing, I started cramping up just after boarding the train. Never a good feeling.

Miles 58.13
Ride Time 04:02:48
MPH 14.4
Max Speed 40.9
Elevation Gain 4,388 ft
Flats 0

More detailed ride stats here:

• Garmin

Here's the route map:

Felt pretty good the whole way on this ride. Norris Canyon was a bitch, but I plowed through it. This ride has some of the best descents, notably Happy Valley, which is just sheer joy, and Norris Canyon, which is a rocket ship. Plus rolling down Telegraph before the hippies have woken up is always fun.

Miles 65.33
Ride Time 4:38:34
MPH 14.1
Max Speed 41.9
Elevation Gain 3,323 ft
Flats 0

More detailed ride stats here:

• Garmin

Here's the route map:

I'm happy to report that Google has finally gotten around to adding directions for cyclists in Google Maps.

After a long wait and more than 50,000 signatures on an online petition, cyclists will be happy to know that Google has finally added bicycle routes to Google Maps.

In Google Maps, users can now find "Bicycling" in the tool's "Get Directions" drop-down box. After choosing the option, bikers can input two addresses and find the bike route that will get them to their desired destination. Like Google Maps' other modes of transportation, the mapping tool provides turn-by-turn directions and an estimated travel time.

The new Google Maps bicycling feature is available in 150 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City. The tool boasts over 12,000 bike trails. When users look for directions, the company's mapping algorithm weights trails more heavily than roads for safety reasons. If cities have bicycle lanes, those are also weighted more heavily than roads without them.

I tried a few routes and got mixed results. The route from my house in Emeryville to where I work in Hercules put my on the Ohlone Greenway bikepath, which is awesome. However, plotting a course from Emeryville to Mt. Diablo has me going over Shepherd Canyon, which has about 20% grade at the top—probably not the best route for most cyclists.

It's in beta, so it's no surprise that it's far from perfect. I sent feedback into Google, as I suspect thousands of other eager cyclists will do. When Google Maps for Cyclists is ready, it's no doubt going to be a fantastic and incredibly useful tool.

UPDATE FROM GOOGLE:

The directions feature provides step-by-step, bike-specific routing suggestions - similar to the directions provided by our driving, walking, or public transit modes. Simply enter a start point and destination and select "Bicycling" from the drop-down menu. You will receive a route that is optimized for cycling, taking advantage of bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly streets and avoiding hilly terrain whenever possible. Just like Google pioneered with driving directions, you can click-and-drag your route to customize it as you'd like. You can also access the other features in Google Maps, such as Street View, so you can tell exactly where you might need to turn on your route or preview how wide a bike lane is, and Local Search, so you know where you can take a water break or where the bike shops are along your route. Biking directions provides time estimates for routes based on an algorithm that takes into account the length of the route, the number of hills, fatigue over time, and other variables.

In addition to directions, a new bicycling layer for Google Maps, accessible via the "More..." drop down menu at the top of the map, will display an overlay of the various bike-friendly roads and trails around town. The layer is color-coded to show three different types of paths:

* Dark green indicates a dedicated bike-only trail;
* Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road;
* Dotted green indicates roads without bike lanes but are more appropriate for biking, based on factors such as terrain, traffic, and intersections.

Also, check their blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/biking-directions-added-to-google-maps.html

Just returned from a great afternoon ride up the coast to Pt. Richmond and back. I was fighting a headwind most of the way north and west which kept me at a paltry 13.8 mph on the outward leg. But with the wind at my back on the way home, I was hammering down the coast at 25 mph. Super fun. Details to come soon.

Still not feeling great in this preseason. The bottom has just fallen out of my fitness. I struggled up Old Tunnel and Grizzly Peak. The views of SF were outstanding. Crystal clear with patches of blue sky peeking out from heavy cloud cover. Near the top of Grizzly Peak we cycled into heavy fog and it started raining. It wasn't heavy rain. It was what they call garoa in Brazil— very light rain, but it was enough to make the descent down through Tilden Park downright miserable. At the bottom of Wildcat Canyon I couldn't feel my face.

A few riders, Kyle and Kevin, headed north on the actual route, but the rest of the small remaining group headed south through Orinda. I planned to take BART back, but decided I needed miles so I pushed and returned via Pinehurst, my first ascent of the year. It felt pretty good, but I didn't push it hard. I was helped immensely by the cool weather. I blasted home down Shepherd Canyon, Montclair, Piedmont and Rockride. Felt great to be done and even better not to have to given up and settled for taking the train home.

Miles 42.23
Ride Time 3:15:19
MPH 13.0
Max Speed 41.5
Elevation Gain 3,682 ft
Flats 0

More detailed ride stats here:

• Garmin

Here's the route map:

I just signed up for centuries on back-to-back days in the first weekend of May. I've got a few months to get in shape for the Wine Country Century and the Grizzly Peak Century.

It'll be my first go at the Wine Country Century. I wanted to do it last year, but couldn't fathom 100 mile rides on consecutive days. Not sure If I can no either, but I don't feel up to the Sunday ride, I can always sell my registration since the ride sells out and there will be no shortage of people wanting in.

I did the GPC last year and it rained cats and dogs for most of the ride. It's was downright miserable. 10000+ feet of climbing in the rain with perilous descents on wet roads that we impossible to enjoy. I've got my fingers crossed for better weather this year.

Tested out a new route that heads north from Oakland and heads over the Carquinez Bridge returning via the Benicia Bridge. Despite getting lost and having to backtrack up a hill, which always sucks, it was a great ride.

Encountering the wholly unexpected 18% climb of Magazine Street was a shock to the system and sucked some the life out of my legs. The section of the Bay Trail along the shores of Benicia was particularly nice. I had never been to downtown Benicia and was surprised to find such a quaint downtown.

The section following the Benecia Bridge to the finish at Pleasant Hill BART was seriously onerous, but the weather held up and we didn't see even a single rain drop. Not a bad day in the saddle.

Miles: 55.53 mi
Ride Time: 4:00:39
MPH: 13.8 mph
Max Speed: 35.9 mph
Elevation Gain: 3,024 ft
Flats: 0

More detailed ride stats here:

• Garmin

Here's the route map:

It's still the pre-season, but we have rides scheduled every weekend. Even though it was super cold this morning (around 40 degrees F), I decided I need the miles, so I dragged my sorry ass out of the sack at 8am and got ready to ride.

It was rough going. I'm not ready for sustained climbing and I struggled mightily up Fairview and Redwood Road. I was sucking air and my lungs were burning, but I know those tough miles will pay off later in the season.

There was a freshly killed skunk on Redwood Road that make the ascent malodorous but we did see a family of three deer crossing the road which almost made up for the suffering.

I bombed down Joaquin Miller at 45mph which scared me silly, but it was fun as hell.

Miles: 44.43 mi
Ride Time: 3:16:35
MPH: 13.6 mph
Max Speed: 45.0 mph
Elevation Gain: 2,596 ft
Flats: 0

More detailed ride stats here:

• Garmin

Here's the route map:

My goals for the coming year are fairly modest. I just want a slight increase on what I did last year.

1. Ride 3500 miles
2. Ride 6 centuries/100+ mile events
3. Raise $1500 for MS and Diabetes
4. Less than 3 flats
5. Climb Claremont Avenue without stopping
6. Get a bike for Raquel and train her up to ride the MS Waves to Wine in September
7. Redesign the Oakland Yellowjackets website

(1) I'm already signed up for The Wildflower Century in Chico, the Tour de Cure in Napa and the MS Waves to Wine in Marin/Sonoma. Baring a scheduling conflict, I'll ride the Yellowjackets Pacifica-Monterey as well. So I'll just need to find two more 100 milers. No problem.

(2) Rode about 3000 last year, so this shouldn't be a huge deal. It's less only 67 miles a week. Easily doable.

(3) Just slightly more than I did last year. I have faith in my network that I can get this done again. Even easier if the economy continues to improve. (Only 116 days til the start of the Tour de Cure - donate now and beat the crowd!)

(4) There's a matter of luck here, but if I take care of my tires and keep an eye on the road, I should manage this one. Only had one in 2009, but have to be realistic.

(5) The hardest, without a doubt, is going to be Claremont. I've tried it a few times in the past and made it to the fire road when my heart felt like it was going to pound through my sternum and had to stop. I'll need to totally overhaul my cardiovascular fitness to check that one off the list.

(6 & 7) The last two are going to be tricky because I'm not the only person involved. But both can and will be done.

2009 is in the books. I recorded 2,812.39 miles on my Garmin. I actually rode much more—there were a couple of rides where I didn't start recording or that didn't record at all, most notably the century I rode in the wine country. I was helped by not working for a good part of the year, but then again, I didn't get on the bike til February 21st, was in Brazil for a month in May and June and only had one ride in December. So around 3K miles is not bad.

Remarkably, I only had one puncture in all those miles, on a flat recovery ride in Alameda. I managed more than 400 miles in a single month (April), which was huge. I only rode three centuries, which was down from 5 in 2008. I hope to break that mark this year. I raised more than 1200 bucks for diabetes and MS research. And I took over as webmaster for my cycling club, the Oakland Yellowjackets.

All in all, it was a pretty good year.

Wasn't planning on a very long ride. I just wanted to start 2010 off and stretch my legs a little. The route went up north from my place in Emeryville, headed into the Berkeley hills on Spruce and returned on Grizzly Peak and white knuckle descent of Centennial above the UC Berkeley campus. My fitness is pretty weak at this point, but I'm much better off than I was last year.

Miles: 12.97 mi
Ride Time: 1:03:22
MPH: 12.3 mph
Max Speed: 32.6 mph
Elevation Gain: 1,265 ft
Flats: 0

More detailed ride stats here:

• Garmin

Here's the route map:

[finally getting around to finishing this up - Andrew 5MAY2010]

I had been looking forward to the Thanksgiving trip to LA for a long time. I was excited to see my family and friends, but what I really wanted was a chance to ride my bike over the territory where I grew up.

My family lived in the canyons of West Los Angeles, specifically Roscomare Road through the west gate of Bel-Air. We moved there just after I was born and I lived in the same house until I left for university 18 years later.

It was not a convenient place to live without a car. There was a no public transportation at all. I suppose you could have walked the mile to Sunset Boulevard and waited for a bus. But the ironically named RTD ("Rapid Transit District") was so awful and went nowhere, it was just unthinkable.

There was no place to buy anything within a mile and a half. No shops. No convenience stores. Nothing. We had Bel-Air Foods at the top of Roscomare, more than 2 miles distant up a very steep climb and we had Bel-Air Shop Easy through the wining and dangerous hills to the west near the 405 freeway. Neither was a good option.

In the summertime, trapped in the house and desperate, my brother and I would choose one or the other and head out, sometimes on foot and sometimes on our little banana seat Schwins. Inevitably we ended up pushing the bikes up the hills and fearing for our lives around some of the tight corners. But the bounty of baseball cars, chips, and coke made it worthwhile. Sometimes.

Anyway, I hadn't ridden a bike in Los Angeles in over 20 years and the prospect of rolling around the Santa Monica hills on my Cannondale was compelling me southwards.

I wanted to ride up Roscomare. Plain and simple.

I made my first cycling map on BikeMap.net and I'm fairly happy with it despite a few minor faults. I like it for two main reasons. The first is that the terrain maps are beautiful. The second is that you get an embedded dynamic elevation profile when you post the map on your site. There's also location makers and the ability to add photos which is sort of nice. On the down side, the mapping tool is klugy and I had a real tough time getting the map to follow the road. I had to constantly switch back and forth between automatic, magnetic and manual, straight-line mode to get the map to cooperate. But in the end, I'm happy and I think the results speak for themselves.

This Saturday, the Oakland Yellowjackets are making a clockwise trip around the East Bay. We'll head out from Lake Merritt through Berkeley riding along Telegraph Avenue in the early morning before all the crazies, students and vendors have riden. Then we head west around the campus and climb Spruce to Tilden Park and on to Inspiration Point. The ride then cuts through Lafayette and Rossmoor on the way to San Ramon. A long, paceline-friendly stretch on Danville Blvd is a nice prelude to the only other significant climb of the day, the scenic Norris Canyon. After riding through Castro Valley, the ride heads back to Oakland via Bancroft Ave.

Last year it was incredibly windy. We took a few liberties with the route and I think it was a big mistake. I'm going to stick to the real route this time.

Today is Bike to Work Day. I can't really pariticipate as, I'm not working (and leaving for Brazil for three weeks today), but I encourage everyone who has a bike and lives close to work to get involved. It really is a great event and if you can bike to work, you are really blessed. It's so nice to cruise the streets a few miles while other fuckers are stuck in their cars in massive traffic.

I felt like I had to do this ride because I had signed up for the charity Tour de Cure, but was unable to ride because of a conflict with the Grizzly Peak Century. (Thanks to all those who donated to the cause.) Today was the last day for me to do it since I'm headed to Brazil tomorrow for three weeks so I headed up to Napa in the early AM for a nice long day in the saddle.

The weather was fantastic, clear blue skies and nice light clouds. The only problem was the wind which swept south down the valley and sapped my strength and made the riding pretty miserable. The surface of Highway 29 between Yountville and St. Helena is also crappy—not smooth at all and lots of flat-threatening debris—plus there is tons of traffic on this two lane road, which is never nice.

The ride really gets started when you pass Calistoga and head up into the hills towards Sonoma County. There wasn't much climbing on the way out, but the road is nice and windy, super smooth and traffic is light. The county line is at the summit of the climb on Highway 128 and the decent is not long, but fun.

Still fighting the infernal headwind, I pedaled through the wineries of the Alexander Valley before I took a breakfast break in Healdsburg. Then, after making a few wrong turns, I headed north on Dry Creek East and then back to Napa via the same Highway 128 that I took out to Sonoma. I stopped in Calistoga for a cold drink and then just hammered it down the Silverado Trail. Aided by a nice tailwind, I did the miles 80-100 in less an hour. It was really brilliant.

Despite the wind, this was far and away the easiest 100 mile ride I've done. I'd love to do it again next as part of the Tour de Cure.

Miles 100.1
Ride Time 6:02:32
MPH 16.55
Max Speed 32.3
Elevation Gain -
Flats 0

For some reason, I wasn't able to upload my ride data from my Garmin, so I don't have the actual route. Instead I have my planned route.

Here's the route map (not exactly, but close enough):

View Larger Map

This was a great ride out to Point Reyes and back until a crazy woman who wanted to buy flowers for her mom on Mother's Day veered into the bike lane when she spotted a flower shop in Sausalito ran over George. Fortunately, he came away with some minor bruises and a little road rash, but it was scary as hell watching that happen right in front of me and it really underscores how dangerous it is to be riding in traffic, even when in the bike lane.

Had a great flank steak and fennel sandwich at the Cowgirl Creamery and a banana and blueberry muffin the size of an enlarged heart at the Bovine Bakery, both in Point Reyes Station.

Miles 89.02
Ride Time 5:39:56
MPH 15.7
Max Speed 43.3
Elevation Gain 4,322 ft
Flats 0

More detailed ride stats here:

• Motion Based
• Garmin

Here's the route map:

View Larger Map

The normal club ride was Arlington Rd., a nice ride, but a little boring. So we set out across the bridge and then across the other bridge and into Marin for a loop around the Headlands and Tiburon. It was simply a gorgeous day—perfect for cycling.

Miles 60.82
Ride Time 4:08:13
MPH 14.7
Max Speed 38.0
Elevation Gain 3,232 ft
Flats 0

More detailed ride stats here:

• Garmin

Here's the route map:

View Larger Map

...are really boring. Can't believe I have to listen to these jokers for the entire Giro. Where are Phil. Paul and Bob when you need them? Give me Al Trautwig. Give me Al Michaels. Give me anybody but these guys. I'd even take Craig Hummer.

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to have the Giro on US television, but we've got to be able to do better than Schlanger and Gogulski.

Hold your hats, but the Giro D'Italia is coming to American TVs for first time in it's 100 years. It's going to be on Universal Sports.

So what's the occasion? One word: Lance. Lance Armstrong is back and riding the Giro for the first time. Can he win? I wouldn't put it past him. He has an iron will and you have to know that his training has been insanely intense. However, he's coming off a broken collarbone, he hasn't raced a grand tour in a couple of years and doesn't have that many race miles under his belt. More likely, he'll be helping his teammate Levi Leipheimer win the race. Only one American, Andy Hampsten in 1988, has won the Giro, so it'll be good to get another yank in the winners circle.The competition is going to be fierce. This is the 100th version of the race, so the Italians will be extra-motivated to keep the title at home. Should be an incredibly exciting race. Defending champ Alberto Contador, Armstrong's teammate on Team Astana, will not be riding. Instead his preparing for his return to the Tour de France in July.

The Universal Sports announcers are rather dull. I'll take Phil, Paul or Bob any day, but it will be a pleasant change to have commentary in English. Last year, in order to watch the event live, I signed up for the Italian Sports Channel RAI. For three weeks I watched the cyclists suffer through the Italian peninsula while commentators babeled in Italian I couldn't understand. I was happy to watch it, and the animation of the Italian announcers was impressive. It would have been nice to understand what they were saying.

The three week Giro kicks off with a team time trial on Saturday on Lido di Venezia. Coverage starts at 5:30am PST, so set your DVRs.

If you don't have a TV (or don't have cable) or just want to follow the event online, the best place to track news of the Giro, as always, is Steephilll.tv

There's a large schizm in the Oakland Yellowjackets over the issue of "away" rides. An away is where you have to drive to the start of the ride. Most of our rides start at Lake Merritt . Members can drive and park there, but most ride to the lake. Many members feel like they don't want to have to drive to the start of a ride. This is totally understandable. For me, I want variety in my cycling. I want to new places and cover new terrain. So I'm not opposed to driving to a ride at all, but I understand why some people are.

Now the Lake Sonoma picinic ride has been one of the most contentious of the away rides because the ride, which is north of Oakland, starts at Lake Sonoma, which on the north end of the route. This required members to drive 25 mile north of the most southern part of the route. And it's a long drive, about 100 miles.

So the map committee was tasked with finding a southern staging site and creating a new route. Since I'm sort of an unofficial member of the committee, I was invited along for the ride to test out the new route. In the end, it turned out that it was just Richard and I riding around the Sonoma wine country starting from the Shiloh Ranch Regional Park.

The ride starts by heading west through rustic rolling hills south of Winsor, heads north on West Dry Creek, which is one of the best cycling roads in the country. The route then crosses over the Yoakim Bridge to Canyon Rd. (a great quick descent) and then heads south on the 128 through Geyserville and Alexander Valley with a little climb of Chalk Hill at around the 47 mile mark before the ride finishes back at the park 51.5 miles later.

It's a beautiful route passing dozens of wineries with lush, green vineyards on the gently sloping hillsides and in the valley. The are very few cars. It's a cycling paradise.

Richard and I really put the petal to the medal. We finished the 51 miles in 3 hours. You do the math. Fast. Fast. Fast. Rich is about 20 years older than me, but he's also roughly 30 pounds lighter and has been riding for much longer than I have. When you have someone pushing you, it's amazing how much faster you can ride. Alone, I would have dogged up most of the little rolling hills. With Rich nipping at my heels, I was out of the saddle and flooring it each and every roller.

It was a little tough for me in the morning when we were facing a 10mph head wind up Dry Creek Rd, but heading south along 128 with the wind at our backs was joyous. The sun was out but I don't think it got much over 70 degrees. Really a perfect day.

I'm going to miss the picnic ride which is scheduled when I'm going to be in Brazil, but the map committee has created a great route and the club should have a fantastic ride for this year and many years to come.

More photos on Flickr

Miles 51.66
Ride Time 3:01:35
MPH 17.1
Max Speed 43.1
Elevation Gain 2,127 ft
Flats 0

More detailed ride stats here:

• Motion Based
• Garmin

Here's the route map:

View Larger Map

and the route profile:

Tomorrow morning is going to be my first Grizzly Peak Century. I'm anxious (and a little nervous) because of the forecasted weather. It's supposed to rain all day. Not that I'm opposed to riding in the rain. I actually like it. I'm just not sure I like it for 100+ miles.

So much depends on the quality of the rain. If it rains like it has the last couple of days, a light sprinkle. I'll be fine. I just picked up full fingered gloves and some neoprene covers for my shoes. The only question will be how much clothing to wear to not be too hot or too cold. If it rains cats and dogs, I'm going to be miserable. We'll see.

There's more than 8000 feet of climbing, but over terrain that I know quite well—right in my backyard actually. The food is supposed to be great on the ride, so that's something to look forward to. I've trained well, riding more than 400 miles in the last two weeks of April. I tapered off this past week so I should be well rested. Again, we'll see. I don't expect a monstrous pace, simply because I won't descend that fast in a driving rain storm, but it should be around 15mph. That fast or faster and I'll be happy. Much slower and it's going to be a long day.

I'm starting from the "carless" start in Tilden Park which means I have to ride about 6 miles (all uphill) to get the beginning on the ride at 6:30am. I'm meeting Dan at 6am at Peet's for a pre-dawn caffeine injection, so I need to leave the house at around 5:30. Yikes!

Hopefully there will be some breaks in the weather and I'll be able to take some pics. The route is beautiful and I'd like to be able to document at least some of it.

Alright, time to hit the sack. Only 7 hours or so before I need to get my ass out of bed and into the saddle. Details to follow tomorrow evening.

Even though I'm riding a century tomorrow, I would have really like to ride the Wine Country Century up in Sonoma today. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful rides in the country. I've ridden many of the roads up there, but never that far. I hadn't signed up, but you can always go on Craigslist and find someone who is injured or can't make the ride for whatever reason selling their registration. As late as last night, I could have ridden it for 40 bucks (30 plus a 10 dollar transfer fee).

However, it was going to rain today. A lot. And it's supposed to rain tomorrow. A lot. And the thought of riding 100 miles in the rain on consecutive days is just a bit much for me. It will have to wait til next year.

So tomorrow I'm riding the Grizzly Peak Century for the first time. I just joined the Grizzly Peak Cyclists last week so this is my club's century. I'm excited despite the forecast. The route is hard—over 8000 feet of climbing, but it's over roads I know very well, right in my backyard. I rode most of the 70+ mile North Loop. It was tough, particularly the wall that is McEwen St., but it's doable, especially with rest stops, good hydration and nutrition.

So next year, I'll try to ride both events. This year just the Grizz in the wet.

Miles 64.46
Ride Time 4:55:26
MPH 13.1
Max Speed 39.7
Average Cadence 65
Flats 0

Miles 58.51
Ride Time 3:50:44
MPH 15.2
Max Speed 53.4*
Average Cadence 75
Flats 0

* I think the Garmin had a little hiccup coming down Palomares. I was going fast on the descent, but I doubt I made it over 50. More like 45-48 if I had to guess.

Finally got my act together and mounted my new yellow Continental tires. It's the first time I've put on new tires myself and it's a real a pain in the ass.

It's like field fixing two flats, but even worse because the tire, which has been folded over for packaging since it left the factory, is incredibly unwieldy. It keeps wanting to flip around backwards instead of staying in a circle making it tricky to get around the rim. Then add in the cats trying desperately to knock over my bike and it becomes a bit of nightmare. But I got them mounted and they looked* great.

More pics here, here and here.

*Of course, after one day of riding, they are now gray and yellow tires.

More photos on Flickr.

This was really a recovery ride from yesterday. I got a late start—didn't leave the house until about 1:3o, so by the time I got to the Ranger Station half way up Mt. Diablo, the sun was setting and I had to head home. As it was, I had to ride home from Rockridge BART station to my house in the dark—probably not the best plan as I was wearing all black and had no lights on the bike. I managed to make it home safely. Another great weekend of riding. Lots of pics and data for you.

More photos on Flickr.

Humbled. That's how I felt when I finished the Kings Ridge ride. It was only 55 miles, but it was easily the most challenging ride I've ever been on. The sheer quantity and severity of the climbs was daunting and the descents were downright frightening in some places. However, the scenery along the ridge and along the coast was spectacular. Even that is not going to make me come back to this ride any time soon. I might feel different next year, but right I'll be happy to see Kings Ridge and Meyers Grade through a windshield.

More photos on Flickr.

Tomorrow morning I'm heading up to Sonoma with Team Schwab for our end of season ride. We'll be taking on the King Ridge-Meyers Grade. I'm excited because this is supposed to be one of the best rides in the universe. I'm nervous, because, although it's relatively short at 55 miles, there's a monstrous amount of climbing and I don't know that I'm up for that much suffering. I'm certainly up for the challenge, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it, but the sheer amount of pain in my near future is daunting. Fortunately I'll have some good friends from work with me. That is, If I can keep up with them. I'll have to suck it up.

Here's how the Santa Rosa Cycling club website describes the ride:

This 55-mile loop with 4500' of climb is considered one of the most beautiful, fulfilling bike rides in the world. Once into the hills, there are no services and only one likely spot for water. Be prepared, fit, and self-sufficient. Begin in Monte Rio at the north end of the bridge over the Russian River. Head west on River, turn R on Austin Creek, R on Cazadero Hwy, and take a break in the small town of Cazadero (get water!) before heading into the hills on King Ridge Rd. King Ridge climbs steeply up to an exposed ridegeline called The Butcherknife with views in all directions. It is very remote, very scenic, and very quiet. At the end of King Ridge, turn L on Hauser Bridge and descend very steeply (20% in places) to the Gualala River, then climb again (road name changes to Seaview). If you need more water, try the Ft Ross elementary school. At the end of Seaview, continue straight on Ft Ross Rd for less than a mile and straight again onto Meyers Grade. This beautifully paved road is almost as beautiful as King Ridge and snakes along the ridgeline high above the ocean before plunging down to the beach in a wild, several mile-long tumble. At the end of Meyers Grade, turn L and continue the descent on Hwy 1. After the beach town of Jenner at the mouth of the Russian River, turn L on River and return to Duncans Mills, turn R on Moscow Rd and follow it to Monte Rio. Turn L and cross the bridge to the finish. For more miles and more climbs, at the end of King Ridge, turn R on Tin Barn, L on Stewarts Point (rest stop at the Stewarts Point Store), L on Hwy 1 south to the historic Ft Ross trading post, then L up the brutal, 2.6, 1500' climb on Ft Ross Rd. At the top, turn R and continue on Meyers Grade.

I've ridden that little stretch of road between Jenner and Monte Rio on the Yellowjackets Petaluma ride, absolutely our hardest and most rewarding ride. But I've never been north of there along the coast. I suspect it's going to be spectacular once the fog lifts. The forecast in Monte Rio calls for a clear day, around 50 degrees F at start time (8:00am) and rising into the mid 70s around noon. You really couldn't ask for better weather, so I'm hoping it's right on the money. I should be able to take tons of great pics. I'll have the top 4-5 posted here with the rest on Flickr, as usual.

The route slip is here. We'll most likely be doing the tough one.

Here's the route map:

More photos on Flickr.

Got some great photos from the MS Waves to Wine ride posted by fellow rider and coworker Zach. My battery died early on day 2, so it's really good to see photos from the ride from Rohnert Park to Lake Sonoma like one above of me on the steel bridge on the south end of Dry Creek Road.

More photos on Flickr.

This weekend is the end of the season Yellowjackets ride from Pacifica (or from further south in Pescadero for some) to Monterey. The roughly 120 mile route hugs the coast, first on Highway One down to Santa Cruz and then through the southern part of Santa Cruz county to Monterey via a series of surface streets and bike paths. Should be absolutely spectacular provided:

• The prevailing wind is from north to south, as is often the case
• It doesn't rain

Apparently it rained last year and it was just damn fucking miserable (so I'm told). The ride was in October and it's been moved up a few weeks to catch the last good weather of the year (hopefully). This will be longest, but not the hardest ride I've been on. There's only about 3,800 feet of climbing, most of it right at the start. Devil's Slide is particular notorious, but we'll get it out of the way early (we leave Pacific at 7am) and when most drivers are still sleeping. The route past Santa Cruz is mostly flat. The forescast is calling for a high in the 60s in Santa Cruz and the low 60s in Monterey, which is perfect weather for cycling. No sign of precipitation at all.

The ride is supported by the club with rest stops in Pescadero & Sand City and lunch in Santa Cruz at the Lighthouse Field. It will be really interesting to ride along a route that I have driven many times. Should make for some amazing photography.

I took a spin class today and my right knee is acting up again. It took about 20 minutes of spinning for it to loosen up. I'll be armed with ibuprofen on the ride, so I'm sure I'll be fine. Thank you, Big Pharma!

Here's the route sheet and the map:

and the profile:

Gus and Gels that athletes use to have been around for almost a decade now, but I have mostly been spared them because, well, there's no reason for me to have used them. They are consumed by athletes looking for quick energy when the are competing or training. But since I've started cycling in earnest this year, goos and gels have been an increasing part of my training nutrition diet. I almost always bring one with me on a ride and when I do a supported ride, like Waves to Wine or any of the Century rides, they are usually available at the rest stops. Since they are easy and quick to consume and provide a well needed energy boost, goos are very welcome.

However not all goos are created equal. They come in a rainbow of "flavors" and brands. For me, there's little difference between the brands. At their core, they are all a same—a viscous jelly-like substance similar in texture (and often taste) to tree sap. I tend to stay away from any of the fruit flavors which taste like Elmer's glue and stick to the chocolate, mocha, espresso spectrum, which are far more palatable.

On the first day of the Waves to Wine ride, I made a huge mistake and, at the last rest stop, ate several goos with a fistful of pretzels. Big mistake. The combination of the viscous goo and the flour from the pretzels creates a mortar like substance that could have been used to build the pyramids. It sat like a brick in my stomach for the last 15 miles of the ride. It was terribly uncomfortable. On the plus side, I probably won't have to shit for a week.

Here are some sample goo varieties:

More photos on Flickr.

It's often a problem finding a place to fill up the tires with air. On my mountain bike with uses Schrader valves, I can go to any gas station, but with my road bike, the stem is different. It's a Presta valve, so the standard gas station air hoses don't fit.

Enter Dutch designers Jeroen Bruls & Krijn Christiaansen who invented the "Heklucht, type ", a bike stand with an integrated pump. What a brilliant idea.

WHAT is it?? a bikestand with airpump (Heklucht), type Ypenburg The product has been conceived for an art project in Ypenburg (a newly build neighbourhood in the Netherlands). Eight products will be placed in front of eight houses. The goal of the project is to stimulate an interaction between neighbours, while pumping up the tyres of their bicycles. The hurdle is made out of polished stainless steel. Because of this, it shines like a jewel on the grey pavement. Available in every color.

Since it was going to be a hot 90+ day, I was wearing my Camelbak, but it was leaking on the way the short ride from my house to the lake, so much so that by the time I arrived, my ass was soaked. I tried to fix the bladder, but I couldn't find the problem and the thing leaked all the way Sunol when it was empty. I just bought a replacement for the original bladder that was leaking. Damn thing.

I was really looking forward to the Calaveras ride because the routs heads south into a place I've never been, the area between Sunol and Milpitas. There were probably about 100 riders at the Lake when we departed at 8:20. The sun was already out and the Canadian Geese were lounging everywhere in the grass.

The ride starts with one of my favorite ascents up to Skyline-Wildwood & Butters Canyon. It's not a very difficult grade, maybe 4% tops, and the roads wind around palatial homes in the Oakland hills up to Skyline Blvd. It's just really pleasant.

From Skyline, we glide down Redwood Rd., again a great descent because it's very straight and not very steep. There was a freshly killed opossum on the far side of the road and I wanted to stop and take a pic, but I was going too fast.

Redwood bottoms out and then the rolling climbs begin. Nothing too tough. Finally, there's rather speedy descent into Castro Valley for the first rest break.

Out of CV we head east up and down the Dublin Grade. It's a really easy climb and the road down is so smooth and straight, it's no trouble to hit 40+ MPH. After a short regroup at the little powerstation at the bottom, we head south on the leafy Foothill Dr past Pleasanton homesteads and golf courses and into Sunol, the tiny whistle-stop town where we had a lengthy break at the general store.

The sun was starting to bear down now. It was around 11am with the mercury hovering around 90. We were heading south into some pretty unforgiving territory. After a Gatorade and a popsicle, and about a 40 minute break, we headed out towards Calaveras Rd.

It was really hot. No shade. It had been drinking lots of water, so I was going to be fine. But it wasn't very nice. The climb up Calaveras is not tough at all. It might be 3 percent on a nice curvy road. But the road is crap, full of pebbles and pieces of gravel which I was constantly having to knock off my front tire lest I get a flat. Then my right knee started to really bother me.

I've had some knee troubles on longer rides in the past, but it's never really been disabling—just sort of nagging. This time, it felt like someone was driving a railroad spike through my patella. I had to clip out my right foot and ride along with just my left. Since the grand wasn't all that demanding, it wasn't that big of deal—just annoying.

The last 8 miles when we turn out of Milpitas and head north up to Fremont, we just sheer misery. The road is just terrible, flat and boring. Tons of cars and street lights. 95 degrees. It was terrible. Early in the day, I had thoughts of riding the 35 miles back to the lake, but now, I was so beat up, I just wanted to get on BART on get on home. I did manage to stop at Raley's to grab a roast beef and horseradish sandwich for the ride home.

The 150 (or possibly 175*) mile MS Waves to Wine event is just over a week away. Thanks to everyone who's supported me. I've raised $995, just 5 bucks shy of my goal, which I'm sure now will be no problem. The next goal is to get into the top 150 fund raisers. This is pretty unlikely as the numbers will spike in the last week before the event, but right now, I'm only a couple a hundred dollars from making the list. At the top of the list, the top fund raiser has over 16 grand, but the bottom is only $1389.

To donate to the cause, please visit my personal site.

thanks.

*On the first day, there are 40, 75 and 100 mile options. I originally signed up for the 75 miles ride, but I'm leaning towards the century as I think it'll be a good challenge. I'll definitely be riding the 75 miles on day 2 as it's the longer option.

Four months in to my new cycling adventure, and I'm just shy of 1800 miles on the bike. August was my biggest month by a huge margin with my first three completed centuries and over 600 miles on the road. Here are the monthly tallies so far:

In September, I have the 150 mile Waves to Wine event and the Oakland Yellowjackets end of season 120-mile ride from Pacifica to Monterey, so I will easily crest the 2000 mile mark. Not only do I feel great and should be in awesome shape for the ski season, which was one of my goals when I bought the bike, but I'm putting far more miles on my bike than on my car.

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.

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:

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.

More photos of the Calistoga Picnic Ride on Flickr.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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!

More images of 3 Bears and Some Redwoods on Flickr.

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.

More images of The Marin Century on Flickr.

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:

I'm sitting at work fantasizing about my next vacation. I'm thinking riding from Prague to Vienna sounds about right right. There's even a trail, the Greenways trail that runs between the two cities, with lots of little towns and castles and places to stay and eat along to the way.

There's a very cool interactive map of the entire trail system. Of course, there are many tour companies that run group tours along this route and many others in Europe. I'm leaning towards the self-guided variety where you are given a map and maybe a GPS and someone takes care of moving you luggage from one hotel to the next. All you need to worry about is getting there. This is sort of the middle ground between carrying all your yourself with absolutely no support, which I'd like to do eventually, but not now, and fully supported tours with trailing vehicles, guides and catered lunches, which I think I'll save for retirement.

Maybe when I have this trip under my belt, I'll ride the Donauradweg, Europe's longest trail running more than 3000 kilometers from the Black Forest in Germany to the Black Sea in Romania.

More Links:

• Prague-Vienna Greenways Bicycle Routes
• Through the Hapsburg Empire

I discovered the documentary about Lance Armstrong and the US Postal Team, The Road to Paris, while I was reading Bob Roll's Tour de France Companion. I had never heard of it. I went immediately to Netflix to order the DVD, but they didn't have it. I was bummed. Then I tried You Tube and found the entire thing, split conveniently into 11 8 minute and 41 second vignettes. I love the internet.

Over the next couple of days, I watched all the episodes. The movie follows Lance Armstrong's US Postal Service for 27 days of training before the Tour de France. You get insights into both how a major cycling team functions on the inside, how they prepare for races, not just the Tour de France, but the entire European season, who does what on the team. You are privy to the internal machinations and the thought process behind training for the Tour. Finally you actually see Lance training in the rain and the snow and you get a sense of the amount of dedication it takes to win. It's truly amazing to see.

Listening to Johann Bruyneel discuss what it takes to win the Tour, trust in the team, how difficult it is to wear and defend the Yellow Jersey and why it's important not to have until absolutely necessary—all the demands, the media, the drug testing, etc, wears on the riders has given me new understanding for cycling and the Tour.

Here's the first episode:

It's a little hard to find the next episode once you've finished one, so here they all are:

1 Epiosde 1
2 Epiosde 2
3 Epiosde 3
4 Epiosde 4
5 Epiosde 5
6 Epiosde 6
7 Epiosde 7
8 Epiosde 8
9 Epiosde 9
10 Epiosde 10
11 Epiosde 11

Congratulations to Carlos Sastre for taking the 2008 Tour title. Congrats to all the riders really. It was a fantastic Tour—the best in recent memory. Over 3 weeks of racing and almost every day was exciting. From the first stage in Brittany with Alejandro Valverde winning in an uphill sprint through the Massif Central, the Pyrenees, the Alps and all the way the Champs Elysees in Paris. The race did not disappoint.

Up until Sastre blew everyone away on Alp d'Huez, 6 riders were within a minute of the lead (Evans, F. Schleck, Kohl, Menchov & Vandevelde). The racing and attacking was fierce. And here in the States, the coverage by Versus was unprecedented in terms of the length, often going on air before the start of the start so we were actual able to see for the first time how breakaways are formed, established and nurtured. (My only complaint about Versus was Craig Hummer. Nice guy, but not a great commentator. What happened to Al Trautwig?)

In all, there were seven men in Yellow, including 2 from Luxembourg and even a Frenchman for day. The 4 Americans and the two American teams in the race acquitted themselves well. Christian Vandevelde exceeded all expectations finishing 5th and announcing himself as one of the top contenders in the peloton. Team Columbia took 5 stage victories—4 alone to British sprinter Mark Cavenidish and held at times early in the race, the Yellow, Green and Polka-Dot Jerseys. I would have liked to see George Hincapie do better. He almost won a stage in the Alps, but lost some time on the last climb and couldn't quite make it up on the descent.

Mt. Diablo sits out in the middle of Contra Costa Country like a challenge to all cyclists. At 3879 feet, it's easily the highest mountain in the area. It's winding slopes are both daunting and enticing. It's a hard enough climb if you start from the base, but today we started from Oakland (Emeryville for me) over 40 miles away.

Then there's the final 100 meters where the gradual slope kicks up to a sickening 17% grade. To put that in focus the Col du Galibier in the Alps on a regular climb on the Tour de France route is only 6.9% average. After 50 miles in the saddle, most of it uphill, hitting a 17% grade for any length of time will test the hardest of riders.

There were probably 40 riders or so who met at the lake and were going to to complete the whole ride. The Light riders leaving from the lake were only going to the Ranger Station at the halfway. The intermediates had taken the BART to Lafayette and skipped the Oakland hills which look like nothing compared to Mt. Diablo on the profile, but can be quite tough.

We had three riders visiting us from some club in LA. I talked to them a little at the lake and on the way up Butters. They told me they drove the course they day before, so they knew what they were getting themselves into, but after Butters, I never saw them again. Maybe they abandoned?

The route starts out very similar to the Palomares ride, winding through the Oakland hills up Wildwood, past the Mormon Temple in Montclair, on Butters to Skyline and then down Redwood Road. Instead of continuing on Redwood Rd to Castro Valley, we turn right up the south end of Pinehurst and down into Moraga. From there it's fairly straight down the base of the climb about 30 miles away in Diablo.

Typically, when we started the ride, it was nice and cool. About 3 hours later at 11am when we were ready to start the climb, the sun was out and it was starting to warm up, not a happy situation. I wanted it to stay as cool as possible for as long as possible.

Back when I first got my back in August of last year, I had gone hiking with a friend at Mt. Diablo. That was the first time I saw cyclist on the mountain. Actually I might have seen them before, but I probably didn't notice, since I wasn't one of them. We drove all the way to the observation tower at the top and on the way down there was a cyclist in our draft. Eventually he passed us and was just gone. He could descend far faster than we could drive. It was scary, but also kind of cool. I thought, after our hike, I'd give it a try - at least see if I could get up to 1000 feet.

That day was seriously hot, over 80 and though I had little problem getting to 1000 feet, I had serious problems getting down. I was new to the bike, had no idea how to the descend and the steep hairpin turns and the cars really freaked me out, so much so that I had to stop a few times, clip out and get myself together on the side of the road. I eventually got down, but it wasn't any fun.

I just signed up to do the Marin Century on August 2nd. It'll be my first 100 mile ride (if I survive). The profile is daunting:

I was hoping for flat first century, but that's just not in the cards. But it's well supported with lots of rest stops and SAG vehicles. I'll be riding with a group from work and some friends (and maybe some from the Yellowjackets?) so it should be a lot of fun. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and it will be a nice cool Northern California day. Keep your fingers crossed.

I've got an 88 mile ride coming up this weekend from Petaluma to Jenner and back, so that should be a good indicator if I'm up for it not. Either way, I've already paid for it and bought the event jersey, so I'm committed (or should be, rather).

These days, I don't just ride outside, I joined the gym downstairs and have been taking spin classes for about a month.

The Spin trainer Rachel (who also owns the gym), is incredibly hard core. She's in great shape (so much so that's it no big deal for her to teach the spin class and then turn around immediately and teach the core class. She's done Ironmans and ultra-marathons. Basically she's nuts, but in a good way. Don't beleive me? Check out her bio.

Rachel also runs a serious state of the art fitness program for cyclists. It helps that there are so many Schwab employees who are into cycling and training for various rides. In class, we ride CycleOps Pro 300PT bikes. I know that doesn't mean much, but just know that they are top of the line. The basic difference between these bikes and other spin bikes is that they tell you what your output is in watts so you can tune your training not to your heartbeat which is variable but to wattage which is testable. Each class is geared to your personal threshold. There's a chart on the wall where you can find your 100% threshold and then see what output you should be at during various parts of the class.

Today was the first of the many Schwab training rides leading up to the Waves to Wine 150 mile ride in September. I met 6 co-workers at the Sports Basement at 8:30am after taking the Transbay bus across the Bay Bridge from Emeryville and riding up the Embarcadero from the Transbay terminal.

It was cold. Really cold. And foggy. When I first arrived around 8:10, I couldn't see the bridge for the fog. I t started to burn off and I took the above picture, which is not a black & white image despite appearances. I didn't have a jacket because I didn't want to have to carry it when the sun came out. My arm warmers kept the worst of the morning chill off, but it was still cold.

We took off about 8:40 at a very leisurely pace across the Golden Gate Bridge. At that hour, there wasn't much much traffic on the bike path. But there was this one mountain biker who was giving some of our riders shit for what he called "breaches of etiquette. He told Peter he shouldn't be using his Aerobars on the bridge and he made some comment to another guy, Phil, which I didn't quite catch.

Meanwhile, this guy is riding with two iPod ear buds and whistles to people when he's going to pass them instead of saying something. When Phil pointing this out, the guy asked if he wanted to fight. What a prick.

The sun was starting to peek out as we made our way off the bridge and down into Sausalito. From there, it's onto the San Francisco Bay Trail for a few miles, up to the tiny Camino Alto climb and around the Headlands to Tiburon. It was really nice ride though I did pass two turkey vultures fighting over a deer carcass which was was fairly disgusting and very inauspicious.

At Tiburon, which is only about 20 miles from the Sports Basement, we broke for brunch. I had a great omelette with avocado, fontina cheese and ham. Exactly the fuel I needed to for the next leg of my trip from Tiburon to Stinson Beach.

After about a 45 minute break, we were back on the road. I continued with the group until we hit Highway One where I peeled off and headed up the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais on my way to Stinson Beach. Almost immediately the road starts to wind up the mountain. It's a narrow two lane street with barely a shoulder. Super freaky. I used to see cyclists coming up and down this road all the time when I was headed up for a hike or going to the beach and I thought they were insane. Now I was one of them.

The worst part was going around a right hand turn in places where the shoulder narrowed. I could hear the cars screeching around the corners behind me, knowing full well that they had no idea I was just ahead of them. It was nerve-wracking.

The first part of the climb to the fork that head up to the summit of Mt. Tam wasn't bad in terms of grade. The funny thing is that I thought I was done with the climbing. Oh no. Not even close. The worst of it was still ahead of me.

I dropped through thick fog to Muir Beach on the most hair raising descent of my life. It's not just the windy roads, the fog and the cars. It's the grade and the speed. It's just almost impossible not to go fast. You just have to white knuckle it and hang on for dear life.

There's a short flat section past the Pelican Inn, but then it's back into the steeps for the hardest part of the ride. There are tons of false flats and every time I thought I had reached the summit, there was another hill ahead of me. It was tough, but at least the fog kept me cool.

When I did reach the summit around noon, it was so socked in with fog it was hard for me to believe that it was going to be a nice beach day, but a couple of riders heading the other direction assured me that the sun was shining at Stinson. I had to go up and down a few more hills before I reached the scenic lookout above the beach.

Dropping into Stinson was brilliant. The sun was out. The road was nice and smooth (and relatively straight) and I knew I wouldn't have to ride back. Jennifer met me in Stinson. We had a great afternoon sitting on the beach eating the picnic she brought and hanging out. It was a great way to wrap up the three day weekend. After 199 miles and 14 hours in the saddle over 4 days, it was good sit my ass on the sand and do absolutely nothing for a few hours.

I seem to have a problem with these Yellowjackets BART rides. Must have something to do with not taking BART. This time, I was five minutes down the road to Union City when I realized I forgot my shoes. What a dumb ass! I really need to post a cycling checklist on my door so I can make sure that I have everything I need before I head out the door.

So I had to turn around, head home and grab the shoes. I hustled down south to Union City, but by the time I got there, not a single rider remained. By the time I geared up, I was way, way behind. Lucky for me there was a good tailwind on the first long stretch and I put in huge turn to catch up. Within a few miles, I passed 3 riders on the side of the road fixing a flat. At 5 and a half miles, I passed our president, Al. Great guy. Not a very fast rider. At 8 miles, I was thick in the middle of the Light riders where I stayed until the rest stop regroup where I joined up with the Advanced riders.

It was actually a nice change of pace for me as I was cruising along at a slow enough pace to chat with another club rider, Leslie, who I hadn't met before. Normally we're riding so hard, there isn't much conversation on the bike. Leslie and I rode together over the Dumbarton Bridge, one of the few bridges in the Bay Area you cross on bike, and into Menlo Park.

It was a beautiful day. We were in cycling heaven in the Peninsula. The sun was shining. The skies were blue. The road was well paved and the bike path was wide. We started to head up Sand Hill Road and there were hundreds of riders coming down the hill. They were everywhere. Awesome!

It was really easy climb up Sand Hill Rd. to Portola Valley where we had a nice long lunch break at Robert's Market, a place so new they didn't even have a sign on building. But they did have cheese (and ice cold Gatorade) and we're nice enough to fill one of my water bottles full of ice. All the talk at the break was about the Tour de France.

The Tour de France gets underway in a few hours. It's a wide open race without 2 of the top three finishers from last year, defending champ Alberto Contador and 3rd place Levi Leipheimer. Good money is on Aussie Cadel Evans to win, but I don't know. This year's tour is more mountainous and has fewer time trials so it could favor a climber. With no real clear cut favorite, the racing will be exciting and unpredictable.

For the best coverage, look no further than Steephill.tv. The Official Site is always worth a look. Here's a race preview from Velo News.

Enjoy!

Since I didn't make it last weekend, I decided I needed to tackle Palomares today. I had planned to get going at 6 because I didn't want the ride to kill my day and I thought it was going to be incredibly hot so best to get the ride out of the way before the heat of the day, but it didn't work out, and I left at 8, as usual.

I also wasn't going to do the exact ride because instead of coming from Oakland, I was already on the east side of the hills in Walnut Creek. I'd head down to Pleasanton via Danville and San Ramon and pick up the route there.

It was a seriously overcast morning, which really worked to my advantage. The cloud cover providing shelter from the strength-sapping sun. I headed south on Danville Rd. through Danville where preparations were under way for the 4th of July parade. Lots of people parked by the side of the road even though the parade was more than 90 minutes from the starting. There were floats lined up, a contingent of marines with a Blackhawk and lots and lots bunting and flags. Danville is as close as we get to middle America in the Bay Area. Well, it's a rich middle America, but almost seemed trapped in the 50s with a few ferraris here and there.

I was cruising. There was a slight headwind, but it was mostly downhill to Pleasanton. I did the 16.36 miles in the first hour. But it was boring. Danville Blvd. and San Ramon Valley Rd. are less than inspiring. But then the route changed dramatically at Foothill Rd, 8.5 miles of winding ribbon down to Sunol.

It was still overcast when I got to Sunol, a nothing whistlestop of a town with a train station and a couple of businesses. I stopped to fuel up and take some pictures.

Decided to give myself a break from the bike and instead go watch some other people rude at the Burlingame Criterium down on the peninsula. I lived in Burlingame, which is about 20 minutes south of San Francisco, for more than 2 years when I worked at Electronic Arts from 1998-2001 so it was a homecoming of sorts.

There are several races throughout the day culminating with the pro men's and women's races which wound around a short course in the heart of downtown Burlingame. There are lots of corners so many great places to watch the race and take photos. It was a beautiful day on the peninsula, so it was great to walk around the course, taking in the race, people watching and snapping a few pics. Christopher Hipp took top honors among the men, while Anna Woldring captured the women's crown.

The Burlingame Crit 2008 is a relatively minor race in the diaspora of world cycling, but Olympian Christine Thorburn (above left) was there and, amazingly, rode in both the pro men's and women's race. She was right up there up the boys unitl the end when she faded to a distant 59th. The Women's race starts immediately on the heels on the men's. It had to held up slightly so Christine could change numbers. Not surprisingly she didn't win. Clearly she could have if she didn't compete in the race right before. This must have been some sort of training ride for her.

More pictures of the Burlingame Criterium on Flickr. Full results of all the races on the official site.

Just before the Tour de France every year, European countries hold their national road racing championships. At the tour the winners of those races proudly wear the colors of the national champion of their country. It not only makes it easier to spot these riders, but makes for a more colorful event.

Here are the results:

Germany: Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner)
Belgium: Jurgen Roelandts (Silence-Lotto)
Luxembourg: Frank Schleck
Estonia: Jaan Kirsipuu (CFC Sport Club)
Denmark: Nicki Sorensen (CSC)
Spain: Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne)
France: Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel)
Italy: Filippo Simeoni (Flaminia)
Kazakhstan: Assan Bazayev (Astana)
Netherlands: Lars Boom (Rabobank)
Russia: Sergey Ivanov (Astana)
Switzerland: Markus Zberg (Gerolsteiner)
Portugal: Joao Cabreira (LA-MSS)
Poland: Marcin Sapa (DHL Author)
Latvia: Normunds Lasis (Dynatek Latvija)
Norway: Kurt-Asle Arvesen

Sadly only Valverde, Vogondy, Wegmann, Arvesen Schleck and Sorensen on this list will be competing in this year's TdF. Kurt-Asle Arvesen.

The US National Road Race Championships won't be held until August 8th in Greenville, SC.

Saturday's ride started out great. It really did. We left Lake Merritt around 8:20 heading up into the hills for a 72 mile ride that would take us south all the way to Sunol and back. It was nice and cool. Very foggy around the lake and the hills. Perfect weather for climbing. It was a big group, over 100 riders if I had to guess. But it turned sour so quickly.

About 20 miles into the ride, I was feeling great. The sun was starting to peek out from behind the clouds, but it was still coolish. We were ascending the last part of the climb up Redwood Road before the descent into Castro Valley. Then my back tire started feeling sluggish and looked down. It was flat. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!!!! After last week's ride, this was the last thing I needed.

I pulled over resigned my fate. Took the wheel off, got the tube out and started to work on replacing it while riders left me in the dust (literally) by the side of the road. This was the first time I changed a tube on my own and I made a nighmarish hash out of it. I accidentally took the tire off the rim completely. It wasn't that big of deal, but it just added to the time it took me to get back on the road, which was about 30 minutes.

By the time I was ready to roll again my hands were covered in chain grease and (as I found out) there was only one club rider behind me. I was exhausted from wrestling with the tire and just wanted to get the hell out of there. I continued to climb and caught up with Erin, who I found out, is married to Ray who I met last week in San Jose. She told me that Ray was well behind us, which turned out to be lucky for me.

I rode with Erin up over the summit and on the start of the descent until I realized that I forgot to tighten my back break (big mistake) and had to stop. After I tightened it, I was feverishly trying to catch up to her when I heard something funny from the back tire (never good when you're going 35+ miles an hour) and then a loud POP! like a gun being a shot - a BLOWOUT!!. A mutherfucking BLOWOUT!

I got to the top of the ride, at the Oakland Mormon Temple, took out my camera to take a shot of the hazy skyline below—there have been fires raging all week since the electrical storms over the weekend started hundreds of wildfires—and I realized I forgot to put the battery back in. I probably shouldn't have been riding, but other than the haze (and the all the particulants in the air) it was a nice day.

Miles 27.82
Ride Time 1:57:09
MPH 14.1
Max Speed 33.8
Average Cadence -
Flats 0

Here's the route map:

and the elevation:

With gas approaching 5 bucks, we should expect local government officials to do everything in their power to promote cycling. Instead we get shit like this:

County considers tightening rules on cycling excursions

By Karen Holzmeister
The Daily Review
Article Created: 06/23/2008 12:02:51 AM PDT

CASTRO VALLEY — The county is circulating a new "bicycle event" law proposal that would make excursions on country roads more difficult and expensive for organized cycling clubs.

County Supervisor Nate Miley said the law would balance the concerns of bicyclists and residents.

"We want people to ride bicycles, and not to impose unfair burdens on people who live along (rural) roadways," Miley explained.

The proposal would primarily affect roads in unincorporated Livermore, Pleasanton and Sunol. However, it also would cover portions of Crow Canyon, Cull Canyon, Eden Canyon, Lake Chabot, Palomares and Redwood roads, and East Castro Valley Boulevard.

For years, bands of bicycle riders have irritated residents living along rural roads.

The cyclists often clog narrow roads at unexpected times, dump litter and take restroom breaks at inappropriate places, the residents have claimed during a decade of meetings with elected and appointed Alameda County representatives.

Under the proposed new law, organizations with advertised rides and 50 or more riders would have to apply for permits, which the Alameda County Sheriff's Office could approve or deny. The permit would cost $189. Another $150 fee would be required for informational signs, which the county would post along the requested route.

Groups with 49 or fewer riders would not be subject to permit requirements. The sheriff's office estimates that rides with a few hundred to a few thousand cyclists occur about 20 times a year.

The proposal was introduced last week to Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council members, who had mixed reactions.

Council member Dave Sadoff called the proposal "not an unreasonable approach," while member Cheryl Miraglia claimed it went "overboard." The law wouldn't take effect until it is approved by county supervisors. As of Friday, no date had been set for a hearing.

The East Bay Bicycle Coalition, which advocates for cyclists in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is batting 0-for-3. Nearly a year ago, as the ordinance was being drafted, the coalition told the sheriff's office that signs were unnecessary. The Oakland-based organization asked that the 50-cyclists threshold be removed and the term "bicycle event" — which could trigger the need for event liability insurance — be eliminated.

I love the "bands of bicycle riders" reference. As if we are roaming brigands irritating the local populace with our vulgar ways. I understand that there's tension on the roads between cyclists and motorists. Always has been, always will be. Cyclists don't want to get run over and killed and motorists don't want to be delayed even for 5 seconds getting to where they want to go. But this whole law would be absurd. For the record, I've never seen anyone in my club litter or "take restroom breaks at inappropriate places". That's why the baby Jesus invented rest stops, which are built into every club ride. One imagines the locals think cyclists drop their shorts and crap by the side of their road. It's batshit craziness.

Essentially what it would do is to force the Yellowjackets to pay both for a permit and a fee to ride just about every Saturday. If it does pass, I think we should send out riders in groups of 49 and then ride 5 abreast down the narrow rural roadways referred to by Supervisor Miley. Fuck 'em.

Write to Supervisor Miley and tell him what he can do with his law.

More information:

• Bicycle Event Ordinance in the news
• Letter to Supervisor Nate Miley on the proposed Alameda County Bicycle Ordinance
• Anti-Bike Event Law Proposed In California
• County considers tightening rules on cycling excursions

It's amazing the difference 30 degrees can make. This morning, I woke to sunny skies and a perfect crisp 75 degrees. I slept like a log last night and had a massive nap after I returned from San Jose, so I felt pretty good this morning and decided to go for a little ride.

I'm getting pretty familiar (and much better) and the Tunnel Road climb. Past there, it's a fun little climb up Grizzly Peak beyond Skyline, something I hadn't done before. The views of the East Bay and the city, marred by a line of brown smog on the horizon, are still amazing. After Grizzly, the route rips through Tilden Park along Wildcat Canyon and down to San Pablo Dam.

Up and around El Sobrante and it's all downhill, albeit with a slight headwind down through Richmond, El Cerrito, Albany, Berkeley to Emeryville and Oakland.

Nice little ride.

Saturday's ride was always going to be a fucking a nightmare. The length and the profile just didn't look like fun. Add in a 40 minute drive down to San Jose for the start and a little heat wave and you've got the recipe for unmitigated masochism. Here's how it went down.

We got a late start (big news). Dan was supposed to meet me at Lake Merritt for the ride down to Hellyer Park in San Jose, but when I texted to let him know I was on my way, I woke him up. It actually turned out to be a lucky break because another club rider, Lauren, showed up late and wouldn't have the ride down to the start if we were on time.

The ride left at 8:20, as usual, and we pulled out of the Hellyer parking lot at about 8:40. It didn't take us long to start reeling in riders, although there was only a handful, around 25 I later learned, who decided to take up the day's challenge.

We first caught up with Ray, a club member and a grandfather. Since we had dropped Lauren way back, I suggested to Dan that we hang with Ray until Lauren caught up and then they could ride together. This both gave me a break and allowed me to talk to Ray who's incredibly inspirational. It was tough for me to be out there in this heat. I can't imagine how Ray who is closing in on 70 felt. But there he was chugging away at the pedals, not too fast, but fast enough. I hope that I have the strength to ride when I have a grandkids. Of course, the way things are going, I'll be 90 when I have grandkids and will likely be closer to Ray's age when I have kids of my own, but I digress. Lauren eventually caught up and Dan and I headed up the road.

I was carrying two water bottles in my cages and had my Camelbak (actually North Face) filled with 2 liters of ice water. It wasn't nearly enough. Early on, it wasn't that bad. There was a breeze and because the route was flat and we were cruising along at a good clip, you didn't feel the heat. It wasn't until we started the first climb up Metcalf Road that we felt the blast furnace.

I went for a little ride after work today. It was fucking hot. Scorching in the city. Over 90 degrees in Emeryville, which is really unusual. I saddled up around 6pm,. It had cooled off somewhat, but the sun was still beating down on me. I took two frozen water bottles with me, but it wasn't really enough. Within 45 minutes, they were both warm. I headed over to Lake Merritt and wound my way through the Oakland hills to Montclair. It was a killer. I got lost, ended up on some unnecessarily steep hills.

About 10 miles and one hour into the ride, I hit Joaquin Miller Park and it got really steep. I don't know the grade, but it's enough to get me out of the saddle for most of its 5.7 miles. I think I would have made it to the top, but I'll never know, because right near the summit, my chain seized up and I toppled over. Lucky for me, I was only going about 3 miles an hour, so breaking my fall with my hand was no big deal.

It always sucks to go over. It's stunning in the moment just before you crash when you realize that you're going to hit the pavement and there's nothing you can do about it. It all happened so fast, there was no way to clip out. I was just along for the ride on the machine.

I think the logo for the Yellowjackets is kinda wimpy. You can see it on the website. Doesn't exactly inspire much of anything. The jerseys are these purplish red sun bursts which besides being pretty ugly, don't exactly say "yellowjackets" to me. I think something a little more muscular as well as black and yellow would be better. I found some stock art (I will download and pay for it if the club decides it wants a new logo) and played around with some ideas and came up with the above image. How cool would that look on the back of a jersey?

Saturday's ride to Morgan Territory got off to a very inauspicious start. The ride was leaving from the Concord BART station at 8:20am, so I spent the night at a friend's place in Walnut Creek, about 7 miles away. The plan was to get up, have a little breakfast, get ready for the ride and cycle over to the station. But as usual, I left everything to the last minute, or rather, I was just moving very slowly and before I knew it, the clock hit 8am. I rushed everything down to the car. Got my shoes on. Didn't have time to pump up the tires or even check them for air pressure and I hit the road. I had less than 20 minutes to make miles and didn't really know the way. I had check Google Maps a few minutes before and had some sense, but this was really unfamiliar territory for me.

So I hauled ass, averaging almost 19 MPH over the 7 miles and arrived at 8:23, just as the last rider was pulling out of the station. I breathed a sigh of relief and latched on to the end. I had the route map clipped to my bike, but I didn't want to ride alone. But my work wasn't done. I had to move ahead past most of the beginning riders, past the intermediate guys to catch up with the advanced group. I finally caught up to them in Clayton 6.5 miles down the road, but this is where the hills start and just as soon as I caught them, I was dropped like a sack of potatoes. I was beat. It was starting to get hot and the worst of the ride was right in front of me .

This week, I registered for the Waves to Wine ride to support MS. The ride kicks off in September so I have a few months to train for the distance, 150 miles over two days. Should be a good time and great way to raise money for a worthy cause.

My goal this time is raise 1000 bucks. Thanks to generous early donors, I'm already at $565, so just a few hundred more bucks to reach my goal. All I ask for a small 5 or 10 dollar donation. Nothing big. Nothing that's going to make it hard for you make your mortgage or rent. Just the cost of a couple of lattes. With lots of little donations, I'll reach my goal in no time. Thanks in advance for your support.

Here's the link if you want to Donate Now

This is where you can find my Personal Page to see my progress.

It's going to be a fun ride, so if you're in the Bay Area or want to come, I'd love to have you ride with me. The Event Details are on the MS Waves to Wine website.

Of course, I'll be blogging about all my training rides here whether you like it or not.

So this cycling thing seems to be taking. It's fun. It's keeping me in good shape. I'm meeting interesting people. What's not to like?

So in the past month, I rode 464.24 miles. I had 7 rides of more than 40 miles, including one over 50, one over 60 and topped out at 73 miles. I spent almost 34 hours in the saddle. I raised 300 bucks for the American Diabetes Foundation. I joined the Oakland Yellowjackets and rode all 4 Saturday morning rides. I'm still a little bit of chicken shit on the descent, but I raised my top speed from 28 MPH at the beginning of the month to a rip-rairing, hair-raising, death-defying 43.3 MPH coming down the Patterson Pass at the end of the month. Not a bad month.

Today's ride was technically list as "BART" ride. You could take BART from Oakland down to the last southern stop at Dublin/Pleasanton. It would cost almost 8 bucks round trip, would take more than hour each way and would only get you to within 7 miles of the starting point in Livermore. So I drove. So did almost everyone else. Should have carpooled, but what the hell.

It was ugly morning. Cold, overcast and windy, but not raining. Despite this, there were about 100 riders assembled at the Safeway parking lot at 8am. Lots of fretting about the weather, so we didn't get rolling til about 8:20 or so. Lucky for me because I needed that time to gear up, take a leak, and put some air in my tires. I also helped another club member get the PSI up in her tubes. She came over and told me she was having problems getting ait into her tires. I introduced myself. She introduced her herself as Angela, but I already knew that. It wasn't any Angela. It was Angela Davis. Yes.That Angela Davis. Radical feminist turned cyclist. And, no, the irony was not lost on me, but I was happy to help.

Just this past Monday, I had driven up in the Oakland Hills coming up Sheppard Canyon and down along Syline and Tunnel Road. We got stuck behind a few cyclists, decidedly nervous on the perilous descent down to flats. There were dozens of riders heading up as we headed down and they just looked miserable. It was a cold day and the winding hills seemed steep enough to destroy the strongest legs.

But it was all an optical illusion. Today after work, I decided to tackle Tunnel Rd. myself to see what the big deal was. The big deal the view and the descent. The climb was a piece of cake. I'm not saying that because I'm getting in great shape or anything. It was just a cruise.

By the time I joined th OYJ, they had already had a few club rides, so on Sundays, I'm trying to make up the rides that I missed by working my way through the ride calendar. Today I headed out to Pioint Pinole, a place I didn't event know existed.

The ride out there was really nice, mostly flat, skirting north through Berkely, Albany and El Ceritto under Arlington Avenue. Then it heads out on San Pablo Dam Rd through El Sobrante, but instead of continuing on like the Arlington Ave Loop through Orinda and Moraga and eventually up Pinehurst, It heads north through the suburb of Pinole to the Point Pinole Regional Shoreline.

When I woke on Saturday, I said say when Mak woke me on Saturday morning, it was miserable outside. The sky was steel grey and a mist like rain was falling steadily. No chance I was going to ride today. Right.

But I had to go Lake Merritt to pick up one of my gloves that I left in the back of someone's car after last weekend's ride in Sonoma. My bike and gear was already in my car and I threw a couple of water bottles and a rain jacket in just in case and took off for the lake.

It was still nasty as fuck when I got to the lake. On a typically saturday morning at 8am, there are more than a 100 Yellowjackets getting ready to ride. Today there was less than 25. Not hard to understand why. The sky was pissing rain. It was about 60 degrees and the prospect of a long ride in those conditions was not promising.

I was feeling pretty damn good on Sunday morning, so instead of doing my usual, sitting around doing nothing, I saddled and rode out to see if I could take on next week's advanced club ride, The Dublin Grade. The ride itself is 62 miles, but it's more than 5 miles from my place to the start finish line at the lake, so I was looking at 73 miles or so. I thought I could do it, no problem. Oops. 5 hours in the saddle later, I didn't feel so smug about it.

This week's ride with the Yellowjackets was up in Sonoma, one of the infrequent, "Away" rides. I wasn't feeling great on Friday night. It was a long week at work. I stayed up way to late and the cats kept getting me up at 6am. By Friday, i was exhausted. I just wanted to sleep and sleep long. But I wanted to do this ride, so I sucked it up.

The event was a potluck, so I not only would I have to get up early, I had to find the time to put together my side dish, feta and cherry tomato salad with basil and parsley. Very simple dish, seasoned only with salt and pepper and a very light dressing of olive oil and champagne vinegar. It's simple, but time consuming. I got it done before I hit the sack and it's damn good thing, because like usual, I was running late and barely made the meet up place in time to get a lift to Lake Sonoma.

I couldn't really join the Bike to Work fun this year because it would have been ridiculous. For one thing, can't ride to work. There's no bike path over the Bay Bridge. The new bridge project is going to include a bike path (to at least Treasure Island) which is cool, but it won't be ready for a while now. I could ride to the bus stop, which takes about 4 minutes to walk now, put my bike on the bus, thus depriving someone who actually needs one of the two spots in the bike rack, and the ride my bike from the terminal to my office, a walk of about 3 minutes. It would have been a complete and total waste of time.

But I wanted to have a solidarity ride with my fellow bikers, so I got out on my mountain bike (road bike had a flat) and went for a short ride around the neighborhood. Felt good getting outside so early. So good, that I'm going to start making early morning rides a regular part of my week.

My first ride with the Yellowjackets was the 40+ mile Arlington Avenue loop.

There were about 100 riders ready to go at Lake Merritt around 8am. I handed in my membership application and check (30 dollar annual fee) and saddled up. Riders went out in three waves, Advanced, Intermediate and Beginner (roughly). I went with the middle group and it was a good choice. We didn't see the advanced guys again. They must have been hauling ass.

It's official. I'm now a Yellowjacket I've been wanting to the join the Oakland cycling club for a while, ever since I bought my road bike, but have put it off for many reasons, mostly lethargy and, well, the ski season. The ski season is over, the sun is shinning and I need people to ride with to get me out on the road consistently, so I plunked down my 30 bikes and I'm now a member of the club.

The group is much different than I thought. In my warped mind, cycling is a very homogenous sport, but not with the Yellowjackets. It's a very diverse group. Young and old, although mostly older than me. Men and women, although mostly men. Black and white. Straight and gay. Skilled and novice.

The group rides at 8am every Saturday with courses designed for all levels. Most of the rides leave from Lake Merritt in Oakland (about 2 miles from my place), but there are also routes that start from BART stations around the Bay Area and some that require a little drive, like next weekend's roll around Sonoma. Here's the ride calendar on the club's impressively up to date website.

The Giro kicked off today with the always Interesting Team Time Trial (TTT). It works like this. All the riders from the team (in the Giro, there are 8 per) leave the starting gate at the same time. The ride together in a long line for 26 kilometers. The clock is stopped when the 5th rider from the team crosses the finish line. The fastest team wins the TTT and each individual member gets the same time as the team. Interesting, no?

So while it's hard to win with the Giro with the Team Time Trial, one could easily lose it. Say, for example, you're a strong rider on poor team, you could find yourself minutes behind the other contenders on stronger teams. It's hard to make up that kind of time, even over 3 weeks of racing.

There are two American teams in the Giro this (up from the normal 0), High Road and Slipstream/Chipotle. Both are solid teams. High Road has been racking up victories all over the world and Slipsteam has the national time trial champs of USA, Canada and England, David Zabriskie, David Millar and Ryder Hesjedal respectively. They had just come off a TTT win at Road Atlanta in the Tour of Georgia.

Slipsteam went off early and posted a fast time. Favored teams like CSC and Astana finished behond and the end the of the day, Slipsteam's time held up and they won the stage. Better yet, because American rider Christian Vande Velde actually crossed the finish line first, he was leading the race and would don the Maglia Rosa, a first for an American in 20 years!

I'm not going to write about every stage in the Giro, since I know not too many people are interested, but it's great to see American cycling on the rise.

On a side note, Team Slipsteam/Chipotle uses Flickr to host their image and here's a link to the Giro d'Italia Set.

I looked into the Giro coverage on Versus and decided their "weekend only" coverage wasn't going to be enough for me, so I called Comcast and ordered the Italian RAI TV channel which is covering the race every day. It's live coverage, but it hardly matters since I have to DVR it anyway. And the announcers, well, they all speak Italian. While very passionate and interesting to listen to, they are less than instructive. Again, no matter, I'm watching for the racing. Though I will miss the insightful commentary of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin, I'm happy to have some Giro to come home to every night for the next three weeks.

I've been watching the Tour de France for years, first on ESPN and now on OLN/Versus, but I've never seen the Giro d'Italia, the first of the season's 3 grand tours (Giro, TdF, Veulta d'Espana) that take place over 3 weeks. That will end this weekend, when Versus will start broadcasting the Giro's first stage this coming Saturday.

Now that daylight savings time is here and there's a few hours of sunlight after I return home form work, I want to started getting some rides in before sunset. Yesterday was my first ride. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going, I just knew I wanted to get 15 miles in. That's a short ride, but long enough to get a good sweat going and the blood flowing. It would probably take an hour or so.

So the Tour de Cure went off without a hitch, I'm happy to say. I had a great time. Made the 50 miles (or so - the route was actually only 47 miles and change) without any trouble. Hard to beat cycling through Napa with friends, meeting new people all while raising money for the American Diabetes Association.

It was an early start. I was up at 530 to get everything ready and left at 645 for the hour drive up to Yountville in Napa. It was foggy and cold, which didn't make me too happy, but it would burn of eventually, so no big deal, right?

It's about time to hit the sack. I need all the rest I can muster before my big ride tomorrow. I have to get up around 5:30am. That will give me about an hour to get my shit together and another hour for the ride up to Yountville in Napa. Check in is at 745 and there's a rolling start. I'll hitting the road with Team Schwab around 8am. I expect to get the 50 miles done in about 4 hours at roughly 12.5 MPH, but I really don't know since I have no clue what the route is like or what my fellow riders are going to want to do. I'll be in no rush. The weather is supposed to be great and we'll be riding through the heart of California wine country. Should be spectacular. I'm going to take a camera and try take some pics.

It's not late to donate. I've already reached my fundraising goal, but if you want to support and the American Diabetes Association, you can do it here.

I finally picked up a computer for my bike. After much searching, I settled on the Blackburn Delphi 4.0. It's a pretty slick piece of machinery. The thing weighs about an ounce. It's singularly unique, sculptured in design, hand-crafted in Switzerland and water-resistant to three atmospheres. It tells time simultaneously in Monte Carlo, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Rome and Gstaad. More importantly, I get speed, cadence, time, average speed and even altitude if I can figure out how to set the altimeter.

It was a monumental nightmare to get my bike wired up. The instructions were for shit, which is problematic, because it's amazingly complicated. First I had to get the battery in and that was no easy chore. Then I had to mount the magnet on the front spoke and the wireless transmitter on the front fork. The cadence magnet has to be mounted on the left crank with the cadence sensor on the left chain stay. Then I had to run a wire under the bottom bracket and along the down tube and mount the actual computer on the handle bars, which, of course, I did backwards the first time because I'm an idiot.

The first ride out, I wasn't getting any readings and after 30 minutes of wrestling with the thing, I was almost ready to give up. The problem was that the magnets were too far apart from the sensors. Both sets of magnets and sensor have to be between 1 and 3mm apart, which is a little tricky with fat fingers like mine. I moved everything closer together, and bingo, I started to get data. Very cool.

The sun was setting, but I needed to get out on the bike to test it out. Here's the deal on my first recorded ride. I rode from my place up Adeline & Shattuck towards the Berkeley campus, up to Elmwood and back down Alcatraz to my house. The total mileage was 5.54 which I managed in 25 minutes and 30 seconds at an average speed of 12.9 MPH. My cadence was 54 and I hit a top speed of 28 MPH cranking down Alcatraz. Short ride, but it was fun and I needed to stretch my legs before my first 50 miler tomorrow.

Today I had the longest ride of my life (I think, at least I can remember). I met up with a friend from work and we rode from Crissy Field in San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge, dropping in to Sausalito, up the very minor hill Camino Alto, up and around to Tiburon and back. All told, it was just shy of 37 miles, only 13 less than I'll have to ride next week at the Tour de Cure.

I felt pretty good doing it. No major back pain, no shortness of breath or dizziness, no real ill effects. I helped that I stay well hydrated and that we stopped for pannini in Tiburon. There were some tough little hills, especially at the end heading out of Sausalito. And getting over the bridge in the late afternoon with all the cross winds was no picnic, but I felt I could go much further, so I think I’m a decent bet to complete the 50 miles in Napa.

The only real problem I had is that I didn’t put on enough sun block for the 3 hours or so I was in saddle so I came back with a wicked farmer’s burn. That’s something I really want to avoid again.

Wow! It took me less than 2 days to reach my modest fund raising goal. Thanks Rana, Peter, Michael & Jennifer.

If you still want to donate, please do. I've met my goal, but my company has only reached about 25% of its goal of $125,000. Like I said, every little bit helps even if you can only give a few dollars. Of course, your contribution is tax-deductible. It's fast and easy to support this great cause - you can make your donation online. I appreciate whatever support you can give.

The ride is coming up in a little more than a week. I have to get some miles under my belt if I'm going to make it. Not much time to train.

Thanks!

I recently accepted the challenge of cycling in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event. The Tour de Cure is a series of cycling events held in over 80 cities nationwide.

The Tour is a ride with different route lengths from a leisurely 10-mile course to a demanding 100-mile journey. 100 miles is a bit too intense for me at this point, but I'm going to push my limits and go for 50 miles (the most I have ridden to this point is around 40). The goal is to have fun and get some exercise while supporting the American Diabetes Association's mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

So on May 4th (a mere two weeks from now), I will saddle up and ride along with Team Schwab in our company's efforts to raise $125,000. My personal goals here are very modest. Only 200 bucks. Every little bit helps even if you can only give a few dollars. Of course, your contribution is tax-deductible.

It's fast and easy to support this great cause - you can make your donation online. I appreciate whatever support you can give.

More information on the American Diabetes Association, its programs and diabetes in general can be found at the Association's Web site.

***UPDATE*** [2:28PM - 4/22] Got my first donation from my first cousin Rana (incidentally the First Lady of San Diego). I'm 1/8th of the way there. Please help me get to 200 bucks, MAKE A DONATION TODAY.

***UPDATE***[3:24PM - 4/22] Thanks to Pete I now have 63% of my $200 total. Of course, Pete meant to bribe me to attend our 20th high school reuninion in June. I'm sure you'll have more noble reasons to donate. MAKE A DONATION TODAY.

I've been wanting to take up cycling for long time. I've been a huge fan of the Tour de France since I was a kid and I always wanted a road bike so I could take up the charge. Now I finally have one. The right circumstances-having some disposable income and a friend who could walk me through the very intimidating environment of the modern bike shop, and a sale-made this the right time to dive in.

I'm really happy with my bike. It's a Cannondale, like my mountain bike. All carbon fiber, with Shimano parts. It's super light and very fast. I'd couldn't be happier.