Let's Talk.....

Jodi and I did a loop through Diamond Valley today. The temperature was absolutely perfect with a slight breeze, that kept it from getting too steamy. Jodi started off like a "speed demon" and once I caught up to her we chatted for the rest of the ride. I found myself gazing periodically at the bright colors, as our area is in full bloom. Wow! It is absolutely beautiful here! I even saw a couple of butterflies and was pelted by several bugs along the way. The ride itself was pretty mild, but it was nice to have the opportunity to talk and relax. Along the way we passed by several friendly cyclists that would wave or say "hello". We even met a group of women riders at four corners that were getting ready to do a cycling class. They were super friendly and wanted to talk. They loved my Wildflower jersey and wanted to know how to get one. One of the women had climbed Mt. Everest and wanted to tell us about it, when we ran into her again later on during the ride.

I got thinking.... Generally speaking, bicyclist are nice people. Whether you meet someone new on a ride or at a century, they seem to be friendly and outgoing. Maybe people who ride bikes and enjoy the outdoors are happier and more content. I really look forward to getting out riding and meeting more fun people.

Let's go play!

Ebbett's Pass

We road up Ebbett's Pass this Sunday, something that has been on my to-do-list for a long time. Ebbett's Pass is located in Alpine County, California. It's a narrow alpine road that is closed during the winter season. In fact, the pass is closed right now. To automobiles! There are still campers and anglers along the way, but from 7,000 feet to 8,730 feet, it was bicycles only.

We began our ride in Markleeville, CA at 5,500 feet, with the Jody and the Potters. The first half of the ride was a gentle climb along the Carson River. The sound of the rushing river winding through the narrow canyon cleared the mind. Midway up, there was an old cow camp. The old wood and green meadow spoke of simpler times. Around the 7,000 foot marker, the road pitched up steeply, and the country became more rugged. It was also at this point that we went around the Road Closed Gate.

The road became narrow, and I was glad I was not in a car. Mountain roads like this scare the heck out of me in a car. I feel like I'm more in control of my destiny when traveling these types of roads on a bicycle. We climbed up past the snow level, and the temperatures began to cool off. Kinney Reservoir at 8353 feet, was completely iced over still.



Kristy near the top of the climb.

It was a great feeling to reach the top. 3,200 Feet over 18 miles. It was certainly a milestone. It made me think of how far I'd come on my bike since I started getting back into cycling in 2001. We met up with some other cyclists at the top, had some good conversation, did some carbo-loading, and got ready for our descent back to Markleeville. The first half of the descent was amazing. I thought to myself that I need to spread the word...this is one thing you need to try before you die! As we descended I couldn't believe how much we had climbed. It just seemed weird to me that we did this on bicycles. This 36 mile out and back trip is highly recommended!




Looking down the descent.


More photos can be found HERE in the Ebbett's Pass photo set.

Seventythreetury

Today we rode in the Chico Wildflower. We didn't do the whole 100 miles, but we did 73, making it a "seventy-three-tury". We completed the two hard climbs, and they were the most rewarding part of the ride.

We woke up at 5:45 and headed down for breakfast at the Holiday Inn. We had a good helping of carbohydrates and some really bad coffee. Luke warm, watered down Folgers. Bad coffee to a cyclist is like garlic to a vampire or wolfsbane to a werewolf. There were a lot of cyclists running around the hotel ready to go before the sun was even up. There was a slight drizzle of rain outside, but it appeared to be stopping!

We got to the fairgrounds at around 7:40. We had already checked in yesterday, so all we had to do is park the car and ride. We spent the next 15 minutes debating what to wear on the ride. We were trying to figure out how to stay comfortable all day long through changing conditions. We looked around, and some folks were dressed in winter gear while others were wearing shorts. We finally dressed in more layers than a Taco Bell burrito. We were comfortable all day. Toasty when it got cold, and cool when the sun came out. The temperatures were all over the place today! We brought knee warmers, arm warmers, wind vests, and rain jackets. All were very appreciated. I think we both could have used some toe warmers though.

I think my favorite part of the ride was the Honey Run Climb. It was narrow, steep, twisty, lots of riding graffiti on the road, with misty cloudy skies. The most rewarding climb was the Table Mountain loop. The climb was long and steep, but the scenery was beautiful. We were both really glad to see the top and we both had a great sense of accomplishment that we conquered the climb. They had a shuttle taking some cyclists to the top. I can imagine that climb being overwhelming for folks that haven't had enough time in the saddle this year!

After Table Mountain, it was mostly downhill or flat. We had a pretty good lunch around 2:00, and then put in some pretty good miles before reaching the last rest stop. We had already gone around 60 some miles at this point. The course had another 20 miles left on it, but we were pretty wiped out. We took Jones Avenue back towards Chico, and rode through several miles of fruit trees. The traffic was light, and there were few cyclists. It was a good cool-down to end the ride with.

There were all sorts of cyclists on the road today. Men, women, and children. There were mostly road bikes, but we saw a few mountain bikes, and even a couple single speeds! We didn't see any wrecks thankfully, but we saw about a hundred roadside flat repairs! I can't imagine what was causing the flats. I certainly didn't see any road hazards. Maybe it's a good rule of thumb to put some new tubes in before a big ride like this.

They had a decent looking buffet setup in a cafeteria-like setting back at the fairgrounds, but we were ready to head to the Sierra Nevada Brewery. We went back to the hotel for a bath...for some reason there wasn't enough water pressure for a shower...and then headed down for some beer and pizza. We both had a pint of the draft style pale ale, and then we shared a stout which also went very well with the brownie for dessert! It's nearly 9:00 P.M. and we are both ready for some sleep! Tomorrow we'll head back over Donner Pass for home. And a day off work!

The full set of this weekend's ride is HERE.

Chico Velo Wildflower Century

This coming Sunday on the 22nd, Kristy and I will be riding in the Chico Velo Wildflower Century. I'm not sure if we'll do the whole hundred miles. We may opt for the Mildflower which is 65 miles, or we may try do something in between. This is our first time, but we hear it is one of the best organized rides.

When Kristy asked me if I wanted to ride in Chico, my first thought was, "That's where the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is...". I immediately told her I was in! We hope to visit/tour the brewery on Saturday.

Has anyone else done this ride before? Anyone doing it this year?

Cinderella Classic

Lookout! Here come the Cinderella's. We watched some Cinderella's start their ride from the Fairgrounds. Last Saturday, the 31s of March was the Cinderella Classic in Dublin, California. Amy, Kathy, Patti and I met Kim and Monica aka Cujo for the ride. It was an amazing day for me, I completed my first Century, a metric Century but a Century none the less. We spent the day stopping and starting more times than I care to count and passing pink princesses. I got to see the Lemon Drop Man and enjoyed the beautiful rolling hills.

On your left, on your left, on your left.... was the song of the day. Cujo knows the song only too well, the rider she was trying to pass on the left, went left and they almost collided. Riders were everywhere! I heard that over 2,800 entries were sold for this event. I couldn't believe the amount of female bikers everywhere. It was pretty amazing.



Ahh, it was a perfect day, temps in the 70's, beautiful scenery with rolling hills and the best company. What more could one ask for? Well, actually a few less stops and a few more cooperative princesses, but who's counting?...

We only got lost one time when Kathy and I were following a very fast Cinderella, we figured she must have been a racer or something. Later, we found out he was a Cinderfella. There were so many girls with unshaved legs that day, who knew?

Who would have thought that the Lemon Drop Man, was a guy on a hill passing out Lemon Drop candies???? I somehow managed to ride uphill, with camera in hand and pick up a lemon drop. It was well worth it! Shortly after this shot one unlucky Cinderella had crashed her bike on a fast downhill, which reminded me to pay attention and be thankful that I was able to have this special day.


This was our last rest stop before the finish. The last 10-15 miles seemed to fly by, thank goodness. What a fantastic day! I got the pleasure of sharing it with some amazing women. Until next time, ladies....

Check out more pictures here.

Cinderfella

On Saturday, I hooked up with a bunch of guys for a road ride near the San Francisco Bay Area. Most, if not all the guys were significant others of girls riding in the Cinderella Classic, hence the name "Cinderfella". I can't really tell you where I started riding. From my hotel, I switched cars three times before getting dropped off in some area in the urban sprawl along the 680 corridor. Looking at the map, I think the drop off point may have been the city of Clayton just north of Mount Diablo.

We started heading south through some traffic, and I got the impression that the whole ride would be like this. I was wrong! After turning onto Morgan Territory Road, we saw very little traffic for miles. In fact, it was so quiet that I felt very isolated. It was a nice long climb up a heavily shaded canyon below the east side of Mount Diablo. The green hills on both sides and the trees above my head gave me no indication on how far the top of the climb was. We finally came up out of the trees at the summit, and had a nice break at the Morgan Territory Regional Preserve.

After a nice rest we began our descent. It was probably the craziest descent I've ever done on the road to date. Steep, narrow, twisty, low visibility corners, with a drop-off on the downhill side. It was kind of scary, but I guess it's stuff like this makes you feel alive! We came out north of Livermore, and took the back roads to Altamont Pass Road. This pass was very short with not a whole lot of climbing. Which is good, because the big climb was coming up.

We rode the foothills above Tracy, and made our way towards Patterson Pass Road. We passed hundreds of windmills along the way. At first I was pretty excited to see them, but after hours of them, they became just part of the scenery. We also passed quite a few young thug work crews picking up trash along the road. One kid wanted to borrow my bike. I thought better of it, and besides, his baggy pants would've gotten all messed up in my chain rings. We started our climb up Patterson Pass Road, and it continued to climb for quite a ways. You could never really see the top. Every time you thought you were at the summit, a new summit would appear. Finally the real summit loomed in the distance...the picture you see here.

Here's a picture of the summit looking down at where I shot the previous picture. I think this climb was the highlight of my ride. It is certainly the most memorable section. At the summit we had just completed 4,000 feet of climbing and were about to start our final descent into Livermore to complete the 50 mile loop. Afterwards, we regrouped at a brew pub for much deserved dinner and beer.

This is just my adventure...Kristy will be posting the story and pictures from her ride soon...

More pictures of this ride can be found HERE.

High Plains Shifters

I'd like to start off by saying, "85 miles and 3,200 vertical feet of climbing, baby!"

On Sunday the road riding gang met in Wellington, NV, a small farming community in Smith Valley. It was a bit nippy out, so we put on the wind vests and arm warmers and headed out. The ride started out with a nice flat road out of town, and gave us a nice warm up before hitting the climb up the canyon. Within the first half hour, we were too hot, and stripped off the vests and arm warmers at the first pit stop.

I expected the temperatures to be much cooler, and the snow levels much lower this time of year. It felt like May with temperatures in the high 70s! After emerging from the canyon, we were treated to views of the Sweetwater mountain range for several miles. I felt like we were on the set of a Clint Eastwood Western. In fact, High Plains Drifter was filmed not too far from here.

When we reached Sweetwater Summit, the highest point in the ride, I had already felt like I had a good ride. Turning around at this point would be a good 40 miles, but we were only half way to Bridgeport. We got on the bikes and headed downhill for several miles towards the Walker river. My descent was abruptly interrupted by a couple of Asian tourists. They honked their horn at me and were asking me if this was the road to Las Vegas. They were clearly lost, so I had them pull over before we crashed.

They had a junk map...just a one page tear out of some tourist magazine that had only the main roads on it. They asked me to show them where they were on the map, but I told them this road was not on their map. I gave them instructions on how to get back to Yerington, and over to HWY 95, the well traveled route. It would be a bit of a back track for them, but better than trying to steer them through some obscure mountain pass if they continued on. Always carry a good map when traveling in Nevada. It can be very far between services!

Everybody else was gone, so I was thankful the Asian guys were so friendly. It could have been bad. They could have been lonesome desert dwellers with a homo-erotic spandex fantasy perhaps. I got down a bit further and saw that Kristy was waiting for me. I wouldn't have to ride alone after all! We took turns drafting down the rest of the descent, and then headed up the Walker River towards Bridgeport Reservoir. We soon entered California, and it started feeling less like the desert. We regrouped with the rest of the gang, and got a pace line going all the way to the reservoir. When we climbed out of the canyon and saw the water and mountains, it was breathtaking!

We pedaled along the lake shore and finally arrived at the half way point of the ride, Bridgeport. We were thirsty and starving, so we patronized one of the local delis. During our brief stay in Bridgeport, the population temporarily increased to 848. After resting, we saddled up the bikes and headed back north. My butt was already getting sore, and we still had 42 miles to go!

In order to get some quick miles done, we organized a pace line. Jeff F. and Jeff P. took turns leading. I'm still getting used to the whole pace line thing. When I ride my mind likes to wander. I like to look around and take pictures. It's my meditation time. In a pace line, however, you have to concentrate only on riding. If your mind starts to wander, you find the guy in front of you drifting away from you. At one point, Amy was giving me pointers on what I was doing wrong. I didn't quite understand what she was telling me, but before I could figure it out, she said, "There you go!". Apparently I had corrected what I didn't know what I was doing wrong! I have much to learn.

The pace line broke apart when we reached the 900 foot climb back to Sweetwater Summit. It was the steepest climb of the day, and we were at around mile 60. Kristy and I started falling back from exhaustion. In my mind I was going to have to take care of her and help her back with lot of encouragement; however, after doing a glucose carb-bomb, Kristy took off and was way ahead of me! I would be the one that needed words of encouragement... After topping the summit, we started down the canyon. The canyon seemed to go on forever. I was happy when we got to the flat desert section, but as you can see from the picture, it was a pretty long stretch too. I didn't feel relief until we made the final turn into town with only a few miles to go. The last stretch felt like a ceremonial ride! A parade lap.

Normally I hate getting in the car, but with our 3rd degree monkey butt, the wide padded seat was heavenly. Kristy and I drove home and quietly celebrated our longest ride ever!

More pictures from the ride can be found HERE.

Virginia City

On Sunday we got some of the usual Sunday gang together for a road ride to Virginia City. After we rode to Markleeville last week, something I've been wanting to do for a long time, I was wondering what would be next. We seem to push it up a notch each weekend, and when Jeff P. announced we'd be riding to V.C., I got pretty excited. I've only been there by car and motorcycle, so in my mind it's a long ways up in the mountains. Getting there by bike would be an adventure.

We left Potter's base camp, elevation 4,700 feet, at around 10:30. The temperature was just starting to warm up, and we decided to wear shorts! Three guys named Jeff, and four ladies headed east across Carson City. We took the back roads on the north side of town and found little traffic. Once across town, we were treated to the climb out of Carson City on Hwy 50. The traffic was pretty heavy, but the speed limit is fairly low, and there is a decent bike lane. Brent commutes this way to work on his bike, and has not died even once.

Before turning off HWY 50 to V.C., we got to tour the lovely town of Mound House. It's not really even a town...just a wide spot in the road full of wrecking yards, gun shops, and legalized prostitution. We didn't stop. The first stretch of road to V.C. is narrow and a little unnerving, but being early in the day we didn't encounter any drunk motor bike riders (That would be on the return trip when some toothless wench/meth-addict on the back of some bike barked at the girls to get off the road...). In just a short time we got off the main route, and began the five mile twisty ascent up the V.C. Truck Route. As it turns out, grades good for big trucks are also great for bicycles! The group that had mostly stayed together up until this point began to spread out.

Once we regrouped at the outskirts of Virginia City, elevation 6,200 feet, we decided to split up the group. The girls headed back down, and the guys headed for Geiger Grade to the north of V.C. As usual, V.C. was packed with tourists, bikers, and all the local characters, many in old west costume (Sometimes you even see Mark Twain walking around). Bicycle was the best way to get through town, as we were able to slip through the gaps in traffic.

We were treated to many smells as we pedaled through town. Stale beer and cigarettes from the bars, kettle corn and fudge from the local shops, and horse manure from the local mounted posse. If there was the sound of honky tonk piano coming from the Bucket of Blood Saloon, we didn't hear it over the V-Twins of the hundred or so Harley Davidsons.

We left V.C. and continued north up towards Geiger Grade. Before reaching the top though, we turned onto Lousetown Road, and did the Virginia Highlands Loop, another 1,300 feet of climbing. We even blasted by Todd's house on the descent. I had just enough time to see Todd's old truck...the one that has been slowly sinking into the earth over the last few years. We continued to descend. I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into... Finally we started to climb back out. After the steepest climb of the ride, we finally dropped down to Geiger Grade where we could begin another ascent to the summit. The traffic was a bit scary because of the narrow shoulder, but at least the traffic wasn't heavy. We were treated to spectacular views of the Sierras to the west, the two prominent peaks being Mount Rose and Slide Mountain. At 10,776 feet, Mount Rose is the third highest mountain in the Tahoe Basin.

We finally reached Geiger Summit, elevation 6,789 feet. We paused for a picture to show how much taller Jeff is than me, drank some water, and had a snack. It was time for miles and miles of downhill! We raced down the east side of Geiger Summit towards V.C., zipped through traffic in V.C. and then blasted down the truck route. It was probably one of the more exciting things I've done in my life! I couldn't keep up with the other Jeff's, but I got a feel for all the turns and will be able to let go a bit more next time. We finally made it back to Carson City, and decided to take the scenic route around the south side of town. It was longer, but what the heck...I was already out of food, nearly out of water, and sunburned. We finally made it back to the Potters. I was actually glad to get off the bike and put it back on the roof rack. I didn't have the strength to keep my head up I was so tired. I was led to a table with a bowl full of pasta, and I began to eat. And eat. I even downed two water bottles full of water, washing down a couple chocolate muffins. Once again...thank you Potters for your hospitality!

In the end, the guys ended up doing 62 miles and lots of climbing. The girls did over 40 miles with their big climb. But now I have to ask myself...what's next?

More pictures from the ride can be found HERE.

Sunday Road Ride

As usual, we went out for our Sunday Road Ride. It was one of the first road rides in quite some time where we weren't miserably cold by the end of the ride. It sure looked cold out, but was actually quite pleasant.

FBC rider Todd joined us today, and this was his first ride on his new Fuji Roubaix. It was also his introduction to road riding too!

We began the ride from the bottom of Kingsbury Grade, and rode a few miles along Foothill Road, a pleasant, gently rolling road along the base of the Sierras. Once into California, we began our ascent to Woodfords. The group split up at this point. Some took the more scenic Carson River Road, and others took the steeper Emigrant Trail Road.

Once we regrouped at the Woodfords store, the group split up again. Some headed for Diamond Valley, and my group headed for Markleeville, a cool little mountain town. The snow started to get deep as we started our ascent, but the roads were completely dry. This was my first time on this road on the bicycle. The slower pace offered me time to enjoy the alpine scenery. It just seems to go by too quickly in the car.

We stopped at the entrance to Turtle Rock Park before beginning the descent into Markleeville. Turtle Rock Park is the start and finish of the world famous Death Ride, a ride that includes 129 miles of road, and 15,000+ feet of climbing! We split once again, Kristy and Amy heading for Diamond Valley and Genoa, Me, Todd, and Jeff P. heading for Markleeville. The descent into Markleeville was a blast, losing a lot of elevation quickly over three miles. About 3/4 of the way down, I started thinking, "You know, Jeff, you're going to need to climb back out of this when you're done!".

We took a little break in Markleeville, and then made the climb back up to Turtle Rock Park. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I was glad to have a triple chain ring for sure. Once at the top, we made our way for Diamond Valley. There were several miles of downhill all the way back to Foothill Road, a nice change from all the climbing we had been doing. About a mile from the staging area, we met up again with Kristy and Amy. They had already been to Genoa, and were coming back to see what was taking us so long! Once back at the cars, we wolfed down some of Amy's scones and Kristy's cookies. We spent the rest of the day in R&R mode...

Windy Daze

Windy Day
Originally uploaded by Facility Bike Club.

It's been several days since my last post. I've been fighting a cold, and haven't felt like doing much of anything! I was able to ride yesterday though. It was a sunny day with brutal winds. And not just winds from any particular direction...the foothills and canyons seem to direct wind in multiple directions. Usually the opposite direction you are riding. In this first picture, Barbara is taking it easy down the hill. It's hard to appreciate from this angle, but there's a pretty good drop off the right hand side of the photo. The wind was trying really hard to push us over the edge!

The winds were high today, and it looks like even worse tomorrow. Wind driven snow/rain. Yippee! If I'm feeling better tomorrow, I'll have to come up with some new excuse not to ride. Maybe I'll create an emergency at work...

I felt great on Monday though! It was a cold day, but we had lots of sunshine. We were able to get a 30 mile road ride from Carson City through Washoe Valley and back. We had originally planned to ride from Folsom (where Johnny Cash really wasn't in prison) to Old Sacramento and back, but the weather didn't cooperate. The Washoe Valley loop was a good substitute.

In environmental news, it looks like the Bush Administration wants to build a new Coal Power plant in Eastern Nevada. I bet our new coal friendly governor/ex congressman couldn't wait to get this dirty project going. In a state that is full of wind, sun, and geothermal energy potential, a huge coal plant is ridiculous. If you'd like to take action and preserve your cyclist lungs, protect your family from mercury emissions, slow down global warming, etc., it's easy. Just visit the NRDC Take Action webpage, fill in the blanks and hit submit. There are plenty of other action items to get involved in too. Check it out!

Monday Road Ride

Kathy joined Kristy and I for a road ride today. Kathy seemed to have a hard time kicking our butts on her road bike. I don't know...maybe she's losing some fitness. Or maybe it's because her road bike had 2.1 knobby tires, and full suspension. Whatever...



Kathy and the rest of the gang had just finished doing the Lakeview/V&T loop, and decided to ride with us for the rest of our ride. After we finished our upper Lakeview loop, we headed for Kings Canyon. When we got to the canyon, I headed east for work, and the girls climbed the canyon to the end of the pavement.

Roadies

Jeff, Amy and I did a lunch time road ride today. Our road bikes have been a little jealous, while our mountain bikes have been getting all the action. We did two tough climbs today, the first one started up King's Canyon road. We had a fierce headwind which made the climb difficult and slow going. Usually the reward is in the downhill, but today it was not the case. The wind came through the canyon from both directions in gusty bursts, so it was hard for me to let loose. At the bottom, we did a quick time check. We decided that 15 minutes was enough time to get across the valley to Lakeview, and still get Jeff back to work on time.

We felt a few sprinkles of rain along the way but decided to go for it anyways. I am glad we did too. By the time we were ready to head up Lakeview, the goo (Power bar Jell) that I sampled at Amy's house before the ride, had kicked in. Let me just say that my body isn't used to caffeine, so the double dose made me feel like, I was all hopped up on Mountain Dew. I couldn't believe how much easier the climb felt. Usually on my mountain bike, I am praying for the final stretch. Today, I found myself sprinting to the end.

Personal note to self...
caffeine = fast, fun
no caffeine = slow, miserable

Captains log supplemental....
I got a big kick out of watching Jeff suffer a little last night. He said, "man am I tired, that was like two lunch time rides in one!" I just snickered and said, "oh so your tired huh," as if I wasn't. I have waited a long time for this day. I remember many times where he has done circles around me, or even climbed to the top of the hill and come back to meet me. I just look at him in disgust when he can easily carrying on a conversation, while I am struggling to breathe and trying to keep the sweat out of my eyes.

Lookout honey....here I come!