Welcome!!

If you're new to Cycling-Through, please take a second and read some of the "Posts of note" in the list to the right. Then, if you see others that you appreciate enough to recommend for that list, let me know.
Also, please feel free to comment - even anonymously if you must.
Thanks for reading!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

1 Week till the Wine Country Century - 75.8 Miles

Rode on Saturday with Vince, Milt, and Mickey.
Talked a lot about next weekend's Wine Country Century.





Still a little sore from my 20+ mile mountain bike ride home from work on Thursday (including a stop for a quick 5 mile run in Briones), and then return on Friday with the road bike.


Took it rather easy at the onset.
Stayed with Milt and Mickey for a while, and then left them just before Bear Creek Rd.
Waited at San Pablo Dam Rd. where we finally left them for good.

They finished a loop back through Orinda and Lafayette, while Vince and I explored a new route to the top of the Oakland Ridge. 100 yards or so on a singular stretch of dirt road concerned me, but not as much as the abrupt climbs in the next couple of miles. Very steep.

Wind breaker on. Wind breaker off. ...all along the Oakland ridge. We would descend long enough to need it, put it on, and then sweat up the next climb. Once we came out of the hills, we were able to stash them for good.



We followed basically the same route as my century last week, but skipped the mountain to get home on time.

Led a spectacular tail wind from San Ramone to home. No complaints.
Total of 75.8 miles.

Monday, April 20, 2009

100 Solo


1 large Whole Grain Bagel - 1 oz Neufchatel Cheese.
1 cup Grape Nuts cereal
1 chopped banana - in noted cereal.
1.5 cups Starbucks Italian Roast Coffee.

4 homemade energy bars - designed, created, and wrapped by my wife.
2 bottles of Cytomax mixed a little too strong.

...Fuel for Saturday's 100.5 mile road ride.


The Course was not new. From Martinez, a slow climb to Pig Farm Hill and then the rolling hills of Bear Creek Rd, up into Tilden and abruptly up South Park Rd.

(I got a "good luck!" from a passing motorist as I began my climb up South Park. If I wasn't already intimate with this climb, I would have certainly begun having second thoughts about the relationship.)

Photo from my phone looking West over Oakland and SF Bay.
Taken from Skyline Blvd.


From SP the route goes south through the Berkeley and Oakland hills to Castro Valley, and then back to the Diablo valley through Crow Canyon.

I was hoping for an unseasonal "off shore flow" meaning that the warm air, assisted by a stiff breeze, would be coming from the east out of the central valley. Alas, this was not the case, though warm indeed. Head wind all the way to the foot of Mt. Diablo, and I failed at meteorology again. I did pick up a draft along this stretch though. A older gentleman caught me at a stop light, and I agreed to slow my pace, so that we could trade off drafting for a few miles, saving us both considerable energy.

I had determined early on, that riding Diablo was not optional - I would at least see the Ranger Station. I relegated the summit to an option, but after consuming the last of the energy bars, turned from the Ranger Station and ascended the last 4.5 miles.

Actually I went about 4.25 miles. The final 1/8 of a mile is an 18% death march. I had been seriously contemplating stopping short even as I approached the mountain - nearly 70 miles into the ride. Within a 1/4 mile of the top, an unbelievably obnoxious swarm of tiny flies made the decision for me. They literally covered my arms as fast as I could sweep them off. Ears. Nose. Forget it.
I was spitting bugs for a mile.
(No not like that - I can only spit about 10', and that's with a tail wind.)

I descended fast.
Not my fastest descent, as I did a lot of stretching and sitting up on the straights, but I felt very sharp on the corners, and managed to pass quite a few cyclists.

Got passed myself for the first time on the descent. He's lucky I had to keep stretching. Passed me on the flats at the bottom, where I reigned in with a long back stretch till he slid by, and then I basked in his draft till we hit some rollers. I don't think he was 85 miles into his ride.

OK, so in conclusion, full disclosure requires that I report...
I was passed by a girl on the way up. There were 3 other guys that passed me too, but the girl...

There are so many reasons why... And believe me, I rehearsed them all within the milliseconds after noticing the obvious. It would be pointless to list them here, since you would file them all under the label "excuse" any way - with the exception of the one reason, that I have settled upon. Though fatigued by many miles of riding; a far inferior bike; with no professional training (like she must have had); and weighing dozens of pounds more; I, was only passed for this one reason:



[Consider inserting photo here]


I don't shave my legs.
I'll never let this happen again.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Writing Not Riding

I am sitting at my laptop with my phone, credit card and driver's license in a plastic ziplock bag. I've been waiting an hour for the rain to let up so that I can get on my bike and ride to the regularly scheduled Tuesday Hike / Run event. My plan was to leave 2 hours early and ride the mountain bike as a training ride. The rain has gone from steady, to torrential with thunder and lightning. The thunder and lightning is actually pretty cool, since we almost never get it here in the SF Bay Area. However, I just got a call from Vince pulling out of the run, leaving me with a decision. So here I sit all dressed up with nowhere to go. I went out and took these pictures so I would have something to put in this post.



4 hours later...

Never mind, we went.
When the thunderstorm blew over, we decided to dodge rain drops and give it a go.

I changed plans on Pastor - who was going to come and pace us on his bike - a few times via text message...

Me (3:16 PM):
Don't necessarily have to bring your bike.
Mine will be there and you could ride it.
I plan to ride to the hike - rain or shine.

Me (3:17 PM):
Vince is looking at closer to 5, so don't wait too long or you may need your bike to catch up.

Me (4:23 PM):
Vince bailed out. (legit Swintonism - I just realized the play on words)
It is POURING!!!! And lightning.
May just wish I was riding instead.

Me (4:45 PM):
Nevermind we're going.
Yeah we're fickle.

Snow, Brent (4:47 PM):
ok ill see u there

So yeah he was there a little late and had to catch up - Not that it was all that hard for him. We ran the 7 miles and he rode it. We still got wet, 'cause the rain wasn't really gone.

Bec opted out of today's adventure. No complaints here, because I'm now dry, showered, and fed: Bean burritos, and chicken stuff (not sure what it's called - but sure is great to have waiting for you after riding and running in the rain).

Sunday, April 5, 2009

The Rim Trail


As noted in the Biathalon post - the Lafayette Rim trail is a 5 mile hilly loop around the Lafayette Reservoir. There is a paved trail down at water level that makes the circuit in just under 3 miles, but the more adventurous brave the hills.

The map above is a track recorded by a cool piece of software I downloaded to my Treo. It uses the built in GPS receiver on the phone to track my coordinates and altitude during any period of time that I tell it to run.

The route is known for it's abrupt climb at around 2 miles. Locals refer to it as "Cardiac Hill," climbing over 250' in under a quarter mile. Basically, it needs steps cut into it. One of these days I'll post because I have run the route twice consecutively.

This picture was taken just before our "Biathlon Run"
I'm not cold - I'm just standing like that because...I don't know why.
Quit being so critical already.

We enjoy this spot because it offers a pace for everyone.
And...it has a HUGE playground for Ella at the end.