Ride This Saturday

I'm riding through Morgan Territory on Sat. morning. 2/13/10
I'm eventually going to hook up with my wife somewhere in the vacinity of San Jose or beyond, depending on how quickly she catches up to me. We will be spending the afternoon hiding out in Capitola.
Wondering if anyone wants to ride as far as the far side of Morgan Territory and loop back through Blackhawk or an even longer ride and go up Palomares.
I'll be continuing on toward SJ on some "new to me" roads. You're welcome to follow, but will need your own ride back.

I'll be leaving early if no one else is going (6:00 am)
But, if anyone else comes we could leave a little later like 7:00. Unless you want to be on the road with me at 6:00am.

Pass this along if you know of anyone else wanting to ride.
Post a reply below if you think you can come.
We should meet at Petes Coffe in Todos Santos Plaza in Concord at 6:30 or 7:30.
I'll keep this updated if anyone posts a reply.

Lance and Others in 2010

I'm unwilling to jump on the bandwagon of naysayers and pessimists - especially when it comes to Lance Armstrong.
He is no saint, and probably wouldn't win the "(You fill in the blank) of the Year Award" for much of anything other than possibly something cycling related.

I respect him, however, on many levels. Mostly though, it's his "don't quit" attitude.

I'll be watching him and rooting for him again this year, just like every one else - even if they are too cool to admit it.

Here is his pre-race interview at the Tour Down under...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdSEmViEGio&feature=related

The Tour Down Under is not a race he wanted / needed to win. There are more important things to stay alive for up ahead.

Sports Illustrated noted...

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) -- Andre Greipel of Germany won the Tour Down Under for the second time in three years on Sunday, finishing fifth in the sixth and final stage of the ProTour event captured by Chris Sutton.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong placed 77th out of 129 riders in the stage to finish 25th overall, 1 minute, 3 seconds down on Greipel's accumulated time of 18 hours, 47 minutes, 5 seconds.

Armstrong improved on his 29th-place showing in last year's Tour, his first race back from a 3 1/2-year retirement. Armstrong said he felt both lighter and stronger this year than he did in 2009, when he went on to finish third in the Tour de France.

The Texan hoped the Australian race would be his first step toward an eighth Tour victory in July.

"It won't be easy as a guy who's 39 years old by then, but I'll give it my best," he said.

Armstrong's longtime team manager Johan Bruyneel also saw the American rider's form and physical condition as being ahead of last season.

"Lance is good. He's a lot different (to) last year," Bruyneel said.

"Physically his form is a lot better. He feels good in the bunch and he feels good in the team so that's three things that are a lot better than last year."

He is now riding for Team Radio Shack.
I don't like the colors - and they didn't ask me.
Looks like TREK managed to hang on to Lance along with other sponsors like SRAM, and LOOK.

Along with Lance, I'll also be trying to follow George Hincapie, of Team BMC, who like myself, is from Greenville, SC. Both of these guys are about raced out - - But won't quit.

Other riders I'm following...
Frank and Andy Schleck of Saxo Bank ... Too cool that brothers can do this on the same team.
Jens Voigt after his spill last year... Also of Saxo Bank

Tour of Qatar going on right now...
We'll see how that turns out. No Radio Shack in Qatar.

The Double

I'm giving more than thought to a double century this year. I've actually printed out the "Devil Mountain Double" registration form.
I'm not sure that the DMD is for me this year, as they state pretty specifically that it shouldn't be your first double century.

There are many other options, but something about doing this on familiar roads is enticing. Friends of mine have ridden the Terrible Two, and the Davis Double, and odds are I will be at one of them.

The unfortunate reality is, that to ride these events, one must train like they are going to ride one of these events. If typing with a 2 month old sleeping soundly on my lap is any indication - it will take some creativity to get those kinds of miles logged and still be allowed into bed with the wife at night.

I'm working on this model just in case though. I wonder if I could modify a Yakima to work on the roof?

In Spite of the Rain and in the Rain

We've had no end of rain here. Some say it's good, others have had enough of it. I'll sit on the fence.

This morning was tough. We woke up to gray and forbidding skies, with the weather forcasting storms all day. Dave and I had tentatively arranged a ride for this morning, but I was leaning heavily toward sitting it out. "It's raining" was the gist of my early text message. And his basic reply was "Not for long."

It was such a warm, dry, and pleasant idea to eat a leisurely breakfast and sip endless cups of hot coffee while the girls spent the morning at church for a ladies breakfast. But it was also laced with shame.

Dave was going to ride the 10 miles to meet me at my place to start our ride. And yeah, that was escalating the guilt. Overcome by the ignominy of it I set out to squeeze in a quick 5 mile run before he got there.

I beat him back to my place by a minute or 2, but he was driving. I felt duped, but in a satisfied sort of way.

We rode steady for about 25 miles. The rain pestered us at times, but basically left us alone.

A random driver had axed a power pole just down the main street from home, so the power was out before we headed out. Bec reported the power to still be out when she got back and proposed a McDonalds type solution. The variant power pole lay across our default route home, forcing us to detour right past the hamburgers.

Oh well, it could have been worse - She might have recommended Chinese.

Mine looked like the one in the foreground with nearly 800 calories.

By the time I was done with the fries and sauteed mushrooms, the Subway across the street was seeming a better choice. But, try substituting a 6 year old's happy meal with a nondescript ham and cheese on a french roll...
You deal with with the saturated fat and add some bonus miles to the ride home.

While Driving - Part 1

This frankly has nothing to do with cycling. However, I figured this was as good a place as any to share some of the pictures I've collected over the years. All have been taken from or near my vehicle, or are directly related to a driving incident.

Cars Decorated in Bizzare Ways


Sonora


Oakland


Novato


Walnut Creek


I can't remember where...


Emeryville / Berkeley


San Francisco - I think...


I can't remember where...




Rainbows and Rain

f
Walnut Creek


SF Bay Bridge


Pleasant Hill


One of the many canals that drain the Diablo Valley


What that canal typically looks like.


Critters


Turkeys in Moraga


Turkey racing me in San Pablo


I caught him


Peacock in El Cerrito


Duckies in San Jose


San Rafael


Hiding - Novato


What the dog I tried to help rescue on I80 in Fairfield did to my thumb.


Signage Gone Wrong


San Francisco


Tiburon


There are many many more, and more are being added all the time.

Two Bridges - Two and One Half Bikes

Carquinez Bridges - Picture taken from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission web site.
The bike lane is on the bridge to the left.

Benicia Bridges - railpictures.net by Adam Pizante
The bike lane is on the bridge to the right.

I pulled Ella on the trailer bike about 30 miles yesterday afternoon. This was definitely one of the hardest rides in a while. (Ella weighs about 45 pounds and the trailer bike weighs about 20)
Dave drove to my house and we rode the mountain bikes - Me pulling Ella.

We headed across the Benicia bridge around 10 am.
Stopped near downtown Benicia at the big park, for Ella to play for a while.
Saw the 9:00 group ride by, and then quicken their pace - wondering what weirdo was hollering at them from the park.
Stopped at the top of Benicia Rd. to down a few handfulls of trail mix and play with sticks in the mud.
Crossed the Carquinez bridge sometime later and turned left near the Dead Fish.
Followed the Carquinez Scenic Highway all the way to Martinez, dismounting a few times to avoid the muddiest sections. (The closed section took a beating this past winter. Some large sections of the asphalt are closer to the water now.)
Stopped again at the downtown Martinez Starbucks for a mocha, hot chocolate, and a vanilla bean "shake."

Arrived home and cleaned, tuned up, and loved on the bikes.
Bec got home from her friend's baby shower to find Ella making tomato soup.
Ate tomato soup and left over baby shower cake.
Cleaned up the stove.

Deception, Duress, Discipline

Not quite in that order...

DURESS

My wrist joined the ride today - yes - under duress. It was not in favor of the outing, having spent the last few weeks in a brace, and logging just under 100 painful miles since my dive on New Year's Day.

We consulted (The wrist and I), after I had agreed to an afternoon ride on Mt. Diablo with Chris and his friend (Who I will call Lance - a good cyclist name - since in typical fashion, I can't remember his real one). I bribed the wrist with 3 Ibuprofen, and began rearranging the afternoon.

DECEPTION

I was informed late in the afternoon, that Lance had already begun his assault of the mountain and Chris would be late. I was clearly instructed to obfuscate the means whereby Chris would join our group, and I lied, telling him I would cover for his drive up to the Ranger Station to meet us for the second half of the ride. I made pretty good (off season) time getting to the Ranger Station and easily identified Lance patiently waiting. Within a few minutes 3 of us had rounded the first corner leaving all evidence of the ruse tucked neatly behind a stand of trees - other than 1 out of 3 of us smelling remarkably more like Chrysler Leather than 2000' of B.O.


I topped out a few minutes before they did, with a couple I had met near the top, and then promptly descended around the circle to climb "The Wall" again - this time with Chris and Lance. To solidify the ploy even further to others now reaching the top - only feet from the top, Chris accelerated, and crested leading the 3 of us. Riding his mountain bike, he had beat 2 road bikes to the top. Hmmm?

I beat him to the bottom.

DISCIPLINE

About that couple I met near the top...

They are both Team In Training members, and both recent converts to cycling. I've added their Blog to my list at the right. They tell it best in their blog, but I was very impressed to find out that they had lost over 170 pounds between them in a few months - by cycling. I paced them up "The Wall" at the end, where he topped out on his first attempt without stepping off. She stepped off midway up, but in about the most respectable fashion possible. Her wheels completely stopped rotating with her feet still clipped into the pedals, having just wandered back toward the center of the road. (Many who climb "The Wall" wander between the 2 gravel shoulders on their way to glory) Her wheel came around nearly perpendicular - stopping her plodding cadence solidly with her right leg ready to descend one more time. It came down, but not attached to the pedal. She remounted a couple of times as I finished the first time, and then beat Chris, Lance, and myself as I escorted them to the top.

I was impressed. I couldn't lose 70 pounds and survive it, but would love to have the discipline to do it...

A Digression / Diatribe on Cars and Bikes

I have recently completed Drivers' School. I have been driving for about 16 years and decided it was time to brush up on my knowledge of the California Driver Handbook. I feel it is my civic duty to be the best driver I can possibly be.

(Not to mention it kept me from getting points on my license after getting ticketed for pulling a trailer in the wrong lane.)

During my quest for a greater understanding of the regulations surrounding vehicular travel, I was annoyed at the interpretation of cycling and its effect on traffic by those who created my course.

Not till Saturday's ride, did I fully realize how annoyed I was at the tenor of the course as regarding cycling, and better understand the prevalence of their mistaken ideas. Halfway between the cluster of ranches called Briones, CA (Population 25 - if you include the housekeepers) and Orinda (No one cares what the population is, as long as they keep paying the taxes on their estates and Maseratis) on Bear Creek Rd, I was approached by a 30 year old car worthy of a name that starts with "The" and ends with a State or President's name. He slowed as he approached and then pulled off the road to his right in order to begin the long process of negotiating a "U" turn. Waiting till I was close enough to choke me on his exhaust, he pulled around into my lane and slowly chugged down the road. By now I had braked considerably and was trying to stay clear of the smog. Feeling that I had been exceptionally patient and composed, I was surprised to see him gesture to me in a most unfriendly manner. I became less composed. I would have stuffed a handful of energy bars in his tail pipe if I could have gotten close enough.

I felt taken advantage of, and quickly remembered my dismay at the Drivers Course's handling of cyclists.
Let me premise by saying that cyclists often give themselves a bad name. But, that's all I'm going to say about that, since it seems like the major cycling publications lately have been obsessed with appeasing the public with unending stories reprimanding their readers.

Cyclists have a RIGHT to the roadways in California. Period. If you don't like it then drive somewhere else, or stay off the roads. REALLY, if I were a 5 ton tractor taking up the WHOLE road, drivers would give me twice the berth that they do. They would be forced to wait till the way is clear to pass me, rather than squeezing past between me and the oncoming. They would not gesture obscenely at me, for fear that I would lower my mower on them or spray them with organic insecticide at the next stop sign.

Now to my annoyance at my class.
First - There are 108 pages in the Driver Handbook to tell us how to drive. 100 and 8 pages. I think I could tell you how to fly a space shuttle in that many pages. This is beside my point.

Second.
The particular course I enrolled in discussed the handbook's mention of cyclists, but felt the need to expand on the subject and thereby insult cyclists in the process. Their main assertion was that cyclists are unpredictable, and thus extra care should be taken when meeting them in traffic. EXCUSE ME!? Unpredictable? I've seen a far higher percentage of unpredictable drivers than cyclists. And, not to mention, exactly how fast are we going, and how close are you passing us, that our unpredictableness is that big of an issue? Granted, I might swerve a foot to avoid a sewer drain grate at the side of the road, but for goodness sake, I have a right to the whole lane if I need it. "Bicyclists on public streets have the same rights and responsibilities as automobile drivers." That means I get a lane if I need it. That means cars pass me under the same rules as if I were any other vehicle, especially when the road narrows. If you can't pass me and give me the same amount of space that you would expect from an 18 wheeler in your BMW, then DON'T! I don't like you riding my tail any more than you do, and will do my best to give you a chance to go by - just like I would in my car.

So my point is, that this course represented what I believe is the general consensus: Cyclists - though allowed on the road - are really just there with permission, begrudged by most, and revocable at will by anyone in a hurry. If you really want to get "doored" next time you're out on your bike, try telling the jerk that cut you off, that bikes were on the roads long before automobiles were, and thus we should be dictating to them the rules of our roads. "And, have a nice day."

Bicycles and automobiles BOTH are operated by living breathing humans. It is the person, not the size of the conveyance that gives one rights. As a human, I have a right to survive my commute just as you do. My method of travel does not diminish my access to our common rights.

This is anything but an original topic, but I had to vent.
To the guy in the big blue 4 wheeled boat - "I hope your dreams are plagued by immense bicycles crowding you in your little "Car Lane," turning right - seconds after passing you, and screaming "GET ON THE SIDEWALK!!" as they sneak up on your left.

The Storm That Won't End

Not doing much other than watching this storm all week.
The rain has kept the company busy cleaning up after everyone's leaks and floods.
We definitely don't mind the work - though I'm glad I finally invested in a good rain jacket.

Maybe a ride or run on Saturday - if it dries out today.

My folks are in town and I talked dad into a hike up to Briones Peak late this afternoon. I was game for a hike even in the rain, but he showed some hesitancy. It began clearing toward 2:00 and even revealed significant portions of the heavens as the day wore on. Unbeknown to me, he was hoping for rain.

He now claims to have enjoyed the foray after all. We'll see in the morning.

Diablo had been dusted with more snow from this storm, so I was obligated to take some pictures. I should have gone home for my good camera - but the phone works.

MYOG Successes

Make Your Own Gear is a rite of passage for some, and impossible to imagine for others.
I have had many failures in making my own gear. Pure embarrassment prevents me from listing many of them though the leg warmers that wouldn't stay up are worth note.

The first in my recollection, which was among my greatest failures, is actually the very same concept that has recently brought my greatest success. Many years ago - high school I think - I attempted a bike repair stand. Constructed of a sheet of plywood as a base and a branch from the tree in the back yard, I rigged up a rickety structure unknowingly giving a nod to Modern Art. If careful, I could actually clean my chain without the bike tumbling over on top of me. It took as much time to get the bike perched upon it, as it did to remove the front wheel (which was never really suspended above the ground) and grease the bearings. Interestingly, I realized several thousand miles and 10 years later that I had actually dropped a couple of those bearings.

I disliked my work of art and have always wanted a real stand of my own. I recently verbalized my longing to my wife as I was installing the computer on my new ride. Her comment nearly collided with my thought - "Why don't you build your own?" With a chuckle I reminisced of auld lang sine, leaned my bike back against the piano bench, and lost no time mentally laying out the project.

Here is where I differ from most DIY'ers. I can do it myself. I'm a general contractor by trade, and have at least dabbled in most every form of construction imaginable. I've even tried my hand at sewing. The downside to that is threefold: Unreasonable personal expectations abound, I'm only willing to DIY because I'm too poor to save myself the effort, and the end product is always heavier, uglier, less mobile, and often dangerous.

I googled "build your own bike repair stand" and found quite a few ideas. All of them were much less than what I was hoping for, and most met one or all of the heavy, ugly, and dangerous criteria. The PVC ones bothered me just out of principle, the wood ones looked like a gallows, and the metal pipe stands, along with each of the others, looked a little too -i bilt dis here thang wid my own tules-ish. So, I decided to put my years of construction work, and a shop full of spoils from a thousand jobs to good use. In all - I spent under $20 on this bike stand, and for once I'm rather proud of the result. I must say that I did glean some good ideas from the concepts that I found in my search, and implemented a few of them here.

Though most of the typical hazards are still present (heavy, ugly and a little dangerous), I have found some measure of satisfaction. I must say also, that as a DIY'er I don't play fair. I own a welder, 5 different cordless drills and every other cordless tool concievable, 2 angle grinders, and every other tool I could imagine needing to finish this project. And, I used nearly all of them. To the person who made the PVC pipe stand "If I couldn't use a welder, I would've used your design."

I'm not going to give you the play by play, but if you're at all perceptive, you'll get the idea.

The basic raw materials: Angle iron, 2 sizes of tube steel, a 3/4" bolt and nuts, and a bar clamp.

The Bar clamp got new jaws out of redwood, reinforced with a 1.5" ABS pipe. Later I will line the pipe with strips cut out of some scrap vinyl base as padding. All of this glued together with a half empty tube of Sikoflex Construction sealant.

I've left the top of the jaws open a little hoping this will make it easier to hang the bike.

After cutting all of the pieces in my back yard, I took them to my shop and welded them together. Then I took the bones back home for fine tuning.

This shows the locking nut, with a 3/8" anchor bolt welded to it as a handle.

This is my rough welding job. More than adequate though not textbook.

Two 3/4" nuts welded together and onto the end of the pipe clamp.


And, a "finished" product. The locking nut releases the jaws, and allows them to pivot for attaching at the seat post or down tube as needed.


Still needs a tool tray, and various other accessories, but the basics are in place and operable.

I've also had another recent success in MYOG, which was actually Alter My Own Gear. The Pearl Izumi gloves which I have worn and loved for over 10 years have finally begun to show wear. Not just wear, but the tips of all my fingers too. I couldn't throw them away, and when I saw REI selling fingerless gloves for $20 I rejoiced. Why as a cyclist wearing fingerless gloves for 15 years now, I didn't think of it sooner, I don't know. I cut the fingers off, and "cauterized" the wounds with a BIC lighter, and have worn them regularly to work ever since.