Interesting Day on the Bike

The five stages of Saturday's hill day.

5 flat tires

4 salt tablets

3 big climbs

2 crashes on Lexington (and 2 new climbs)

And a drug-addled autograph seeker


I will think twice next time I suggest we go over Lexington. On the way up, Loren came unclipped on the first dirt ascent and crashed hard enough to jam his wrist, scrape his knee, and twist his seat.

As we cut across the single-track, we were victimized by the first of many flat tires: Chris punctured in the dirt just before we got to concreta firma.

So far so good for me though, I was pleased to get up the dam without dismounting, though I was gassed by that climb!

Then it was up Black Road, first time for me. The morning was chilly and I was happy to have my microfiber jacket and knee warmers. Over the course of the day I only took in 4 bottles of fluids and four salt tablets, which is half of what I took in last weekend in the heat.

Up Black, and across Bear Creek in the dripping fog, passing a couple of great SC Mountain Wineries (Byington and David Bruce) before descending to climb Alba. I ran over a big piece of metal on the descent, blowing up my tire and dinging my rim as well. Hopefully no long-term rim damage there!



In Boulder Creek, the autograph hounds were out. I can't decide whether to feel guilty or pleased for making somebody's day. A guy approached us, certain we were professional riders. I thought he was putting me on but he looked just off enough to be serious, and what with me rocking my Freddie Rodriguez jersey I could see where he could get confused. So he got an envelope and I signed "Fred Rodriguez USA" and then handed the paper to Loren "Levi Leipheimer" and Chris "George Hincapie". And we were off like a flash... wait, no we weren't, we were fixing another flat tire. Where's that damn team car???


At the base of Alba, Chris flatted again, and I attacked! That is to say, I built up a little cushion so that they wouldn't have to wait for me at the top. The climbing was going pretty well. Having the 27 tooth sprocket was a welcome relief, and cooler weather helped a lot as well. The Death Ride is certainly seeming less ominous.

The last climb was Mountain Charlie's, since we had to go to Scotts Valley for more tubes, and thus skipped the tougher Zayante. No issues on MC, that climb isn't too tough. Chris flatted again somewhere, but I no longer remember where. Sucked for him, especially on a new tire, but at least it gave me some breathers every so often. We opted for the full descent down Old SC highway. I had planned to try running it without touching the brakes, but I scared myself early on when I hit a rock in a corner and nearly went down. After that I rode just a bit more conservatively, but only hit the brakes 3 times.

Sadly we came on another crash on the way down Lexington. Two guys (who we think were handicapped) were coming down, and one flipped his bike and hit his head on the big pipe that comes down from the dam. I think he was OK, and there was a good samaritan helping him out and calling 911, but it was a fitting end to a slightly off day.

Overall a fun day. I'm heading for 500 miles and 40-50K feet this month if I get in some decent rides this week.

Today we enjoy the weekend.

New Gearing for the weekend

my 12-27 cassette is in! Let's see if it makes a difference.

you know it's hot when...

...the sweat marks reach the bottom of your shorts.

When your water is so hot it's undrinkable

when you prefer having your helmet on for the shade it provides

When the squirrels keep running out in front of your bike tires trying to commit suicide (yes, that happened three times).

Saturday we started training for the death ride in earnest. 3 tough climbs, 9K feet and 90 miles. And if that weren't enough, Loren and I missed the Zayante Creek Road turn off and did an extra 10 miles from Felton to Scotts Valley and back (Mt. Herman road at noon on a Saturday is nowhere you want to be). But a great ride overall: the descent from 35 down 9 and through Big Basin is really nice, Jamison Creek is as steep as it looked on mapmyride, and we both agreed that Zayante Creek was tougher than we'd expected. Probably due to the heat (approaching 90 at 1PM) and the point we were at in our ride. The route was basically as follows: My home -> 9 to Mt. Eden over Redwood Gulch. then down 9, to 236, through Big Basin, up Jamison Creek, Felton Empire Grade over to Felton. Lunch. Felton to Scotts Valley. Scotts Valley back to Felton (Mapmyride gave us the wrong directions, neglecting to mention that we couldn't hit Zayante from Mt. Hermon). Up Zayante, then over and down Mt. Charleys and Old Santa Cruz, back to my place. I walked in, grabbed a cold glass of water, and laid down on the floor for 5 minutes, wrecked. I have decided that I wasn't dehydrated but I may have been over-heated, because after a cold glass of water I felt just fine. I'm going to invest in some lined water bottles for the Death Ride. Great ride overall.

This was my first trip up Zayante and Jamison Creek. In the past three months I've added the following rated climbs (5/6)to my Resume:

Bohlman
Mt Umunhum
Hicks East
Eureka Canyon
Zayante
Jamison
Mt. Charlie
OLH
Harwood/Santa Rosa
Kings


Along with a bunch of others including Overlook (with the dirt trail by-pass); Calaveras; Palemares;

Not bad. At this time last year I had only done Hicks East. And Pearce/Mt. Eden...

not a lot of writing but plenty of riding

I've been doing plenty of climbing in the past few weeks and have 90 M scheduled for tomorrow. This weekend I'll post all the new climbs I've gone up in the past two months. I've bagged quite a few.

I haven't run much, but was able to do an easy 5 miler at sub-8 pace. Next week I'll put in a few more running miles to gauge my current running form.

Progress on Montebello

Went up in 43:18 today, 3 minutes quicker than my previous best. Form is better but I also scoped out the route a bit and figured out a better way to ride it. I rode hard the first two, rode quick but recovered the flat part, and rode hard the last part. Nice to arrive ahead of schedule.

Thoughts on Boston 2009 from the US Perspective

i finally finished watching the 2009 marathon race today. Wow, that was certainly one for the ages on the women's side. On the men's side, it was nearly a classic, but at the end of the day the smartest runner took it. Hall went out way too fast, if not for that he might have had a real chance. To go out that fast and still finish third says a lot about his strength and fitness. I have to say, what a knucklehead move. He tried to go Prefontaine, running a pace that would've put him at the half at 1:01:30... this in a race that is usually won in the 2:09 range. Still he showed a lot of guts in the second half, and he makes me think we'll see more of him as he figures the race out.

The Women's side was unbelievable. Goucher really threw everything she had at the two other leaders. Proof of that was the total collapse of Tune just 1 step after the finish. I don't see how she could have run any better tactically, but the other two were just strong enough and clearly they showed that will at the end.

Great race and exciting to see US runners perform so well.

Primavera - hot day on a beautiful course

A short preamble: detailed memory of events has never been my strong suit. I have friends from high school who can remember details of basketball or soccer games we played it, for me I can't even remember the final scores. My mind seizes on certain events, plays, scenery, etc but I don't as a rule record the event in my mind. I note this only because I've read some blogs and talked to some people who do this very well. I suppose it just isn't my style.



Anyway, I finally I got a chance to ride the hills that I've driven past for most of my life. Whenever I head up 680 I'm always impressed with the scenery around Sunol and Livermore, and Justine has been telling me for awhile how nice it is. Well, she was right, it's really nice. The trick of course, is riding there before it gets super hot. Yesterday was borderline.



Here are some highlights: I headed out with a group of about 6 - my friend Loren and a group of riders from Western Wheelers, including Laura, who I rode with last summer at the "Kiss of Death" cycling camp (I like to call it a camp, sounds cooler). Both are strong riders (Laura was second in the Everest Challenge last year), so I could only hope to catch them on the descents. Thank goodness for rest stops where I could hook up with the group.



The climbing on this ride isn't crazy if you're used to riding the Santa Cruz mountains, it's just long, hot and windy. The ascents included the following: "The Wall", up past Ed Levin County Park (one rider called it a "National Park"... uh, not quite). This one came early, and was a nice long grind, broken up by a rest stop. Not too bad; Altamont Pass, which was windy and exposed. We probably hit that one around 10 or 10:30. I unhooked from the group on this one and just stayed in my saddle, climbing slow and steady; and finally Palomares, from the Livermore side back over to Union City. Again, not too too bad, a bit steep at the end, but I felt pretty strong since we were re-integrating with the shorter course riders at this point and I was passing folks going uphill for a change!



The highlights of the day for me were the pacelines and trains on the flats. We had a great 10 person line going through the ugliest section of the day (Stanley Blvd.), which was a blast. Coming down next to 580 I tucked behind another small group and we averaged well over 32 for about 3-4 miles. Descents were also pretty fun, it was nice to hit 43MPH after Altamont and feel no wobbles at all. I think that flipping my stem has given me a little more stability as well as comfort. Nice!



Calaveras was quite nice also, saw a fox out hunting, and then spied the Bald Eagle nest and one of the eagles (I didn't take this picture)
.

Food was fine, support was great, temperature was hot but not July hot. Just unexpectedly hot.

Riding with the group was a good time. They're all good riders, and you have to focus and pay attention. I have taken to thinking of Laura as the "Matron", the one who keeps order in the Peloton. Pretty funny to hear her scolding riders, etc. I was on the sharp end of it in Markleeville once or twice, glad it isn't just me! She's great to ride with though, damn strong. One guy whose name I never caught just kept taking monster pulls. Probably pulled 4 miles through Livermore in the mid 20s. Riding a steel Lemond from probably the late 80s?? When did 1 inch threaded headsets go from standard to obsolete? Any bike historians care to comment?

Right before Palomares, some kids had set up a lemonade stand. I think I was about the only one who stopped in all day, and they were so darn excited that I got a little adrenaline boost for the climb. I pulled in and said "hope you guys have some change" and they assured me: "No, it's all free!" Lemonade, water, strawberries... total race support was awesome.



Lowlights? Loren ending up in a bush was a little unnerving. I think he was looking back waiting for me to catch up, and when he looked forward again there was a dead raccoon and a sewer grate in his path. He went down in slow motion, his fall broken by some significant shrubbery on the side of the road. I think he's OK, save some ripped shorts. Without the shrubs it would've been bad, it was a steep embankment. The raccoon though... still dead.


Besides that, great day. I felt pretty strong, and though I need to keep working on climbing I felt better overall than my only century last year. Not sure what the next one will be.

The bike was great also. I put on the aero bars to give me a few more positions, and while I wasn't in them a lot they were very handy in the windy sections and when leading the pull. and like I said, the flipped stem is both more comfortable and more stable...

Totals (approximate)

102 miles

16.5 MPH average

43.3 Top

4.0 Low

~6,000 feet climbed

~ 168 ounces of fluid consumed