The Winter Solstice ride was originally a Double (aka 200 miler) but for the past few years most of the riders have been doing the abbreviated 110 mile version. The next incarnation of this event will be led by Deb & David Hoag from Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy on December 17, 2011, rolling at 7:30AM.
Photos from the last time I rode this are here.
This is a link to the RideWithGPS route.
This is a link to the Excel Route Sheet
This is a link to the GPX file (you may need to right-click to download the file)
If you need a TCX file let me know (lane_parker@yahoo.com)
This is an age-old ACTC route from the Almaden Coffee Roasting Company to Santa Cruz via Los Gatos and back through Scotts Valley. Jon Kaplan is leading this 100 miler on September 3rd, 2011.
This is a link to the RideWithGPS route
This is a link to the Excel Route Sheet
This is a link to the GPX file
If you need a TCX file let me know (lane_parker@yahoo.com)
One of my favorite things to do is ride up to Half Moon Bay for lunch at San Benito House. The homemade bread is mouth watering. I’m leading this ride again October 29, 2011. We roll at 7:30 AM.
Photos from the last time I led a ride to Half Moon Bay are here - the route we’re following (below) is different from the one in the pictures.
This is a link to the RideWithGPS route
This is a link to the Excel Route Sheet
This is a link to the GPX file
If you need a TCX file let me know (lane_parker@yahoo.com)
The route starts at the Los Gatos Park N Ride then up Hwy 9 to Skyline. We travel up Skyline to Alpine and down a great descent to Pescadero then over to Stage and north. There are several places to get water along the way in Pescadero and San Gregorio. We continue north up to Tunitas Creek and inland through the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve then to the coast for lunch at San Benito House. The trip back to Los Gatos takes us up Tunitas Creek and down Kings Mountain through Woodside, Redwood City, Los Altos, and others back to Hwy 9 and the Park N Ride.
This was my first long ride since November, too much time away. This was an ACTC ride led by my good buddy Jon Kaplan. After the first few miles I realized I wasn’t going to be able to hold the pace with the folks out front so stayed in the back and did my best to keep up with Sheila and Tina who were having a leisurely ride with lots of chit and chat.
Even at their casual pace I was struggling after about mile 40 but I trudged on. One of my other good friends (Kryia Adams) dropped back to shepherd me for awhile and that was great for me but a slow go for him.
It was great to see the level of the Morgan Hill reservoirs up so high. We’ve had lots of rain in the Bay Area lately so the creeks & streams are flowing well and the reservoirs are brimming which is rare.
At mile 50 Guy, Kryia, Sheila, Tina, and I stopped at the Dunneville Market for a re-fill on fluids and a bite to eat. While we were there David and Christin rolled up and then Jon, Michael, and Nick came by. The others had stopped a few miles back for a nature break and we passed them. After a short stop the group of us took off for Hollister and the climb up Lone Tree.
At the start of the climb I let everyone take off ahead of me since I still had 60 miles to get back home and didn’t think I had the legs to keep up with them and still make it back home. About three miles from the top I decided that was enough and headed back home. I should have ridden to the top but just didn’t have the motivation.
On the way back I shoveled down a burrito at the Country Market then trudged back home. It was miserable heading north to San Jose in the afternoon, as usual. The winds were typically strong so the ride home alone was a struggle but I was glad to make it back and actually felt strong the last 20 miles.
My photos from the ride are here and my GPS results are here.
My 52 centuries a year quest was stopped by an injury to my left leg so I was only able to complete 46 centuries this year. Hopefully, I’ll be back on the bike soon.
On nearly all my rides I capture the route on my GPS (currently an Edge 705) and I take pictures of the participants and a few scenery shots. Most of the albums are at my Picasa albums page but some are in the Almaden Cycle Touring club gallery on SmugMug.
Below is a brief summary of each of my 2010 centuries with the most recent ride at the top:
#46 on 14-Nov – Part of the Hollister Permanent with Ken Emerson. Photos of this 119-mile ride at this link.
#45 on 30-Oct – Old Tierra Bella – 105 miles led by yours truly. Photos at this link.
# 44 on 23-Oct – Skyline Ramble 200K – 125 miles with my good buddy, Ken Emerson. This is the 11th month in a row where Ken is riding a randonneuring event toward his R-12 Award. I’m happy I was able to accompany him on part of his journey. And this only represents about 25% of his riding for the year. This ride started in Santa Cruz went to Freedom up to Los Gatos through Corralitos then up to Skylonda for lunch followed by a screaming descent down Hwy 84 to San Gregorio. From there it rained all the way back south to Santa Cruz as we rode through Pescadero and Davenport. There weren’t many other cyclists out there but we did run into Andrea Symons as she was heading north just outside Pescadero on the Pizza Century. I only took a few photos due to all the rain.
# 43 on 16-Oct – Reverse Mt Hamilton – 123 miles led by yours truly with photos here This was one of the toughest of the year with 10,500 feet of climbing. On top of that I’ve gotten into a bad habit of not doing a lot on my bike between the centuries so conditioning is not where it should be. By the time I got to the back side of Mt Hamilton I was gassed but had to trudge my way to the top. Paul Metz had been with me for the prior 30 miles but I told him not to wait on me since my legs were feelin’ it. I was really happy to make it to the Lick Observatory at the top to take some photos and grab a candy bar and a coke.
After a great Solvang Century in 20
08 I thought I could make an even better go of it. In 2008 I completed the ride in 6 hours, 30 minutes; 5:50 in the saddle. A combination of less power in my legs this year and strong headwinds it took me over 7 hours total time and 6:18 in the saddle. Shows I need to rev up the training rides as much as I have the distance rides.
Millie and I drove to Lompoc Friday afternoon for a night’s stay in the Day’s Inn. The hotels in Solvang were nearly fully booked several months ago with the only rooms being much more expensive than they were worth. After arriving in Lompoc I drove the 20 miles to Solvang to pick up my registration packet. The crowds were huge with at least 3000 of the 4000 people arriving at about the same time. However, it was very smooth and fast. I spent a few minutes checking out all the booths of the cycle stores, health food vendors, and a variety of other interesting cycle-related businesses.
After I failed to complete the Devil Mountain Double back in 2007 I decided that super long rides were not for me. So, the 300K (188 miles) seemed out of the question but I’ve been doing so well this year with distances up to 150 miles that I felt like the 300K would be tough but doable. And there’s something different about the brevets, at least for me. There seems to be so much comradarie among the riders than on other organized rides. In the past, I would start getting frustrated after about mile 120 and mad at myself after about mile 150 for signing up for such a distance. Saturday, I never felt that way. It was a great day.
Now for the 300K. My good buddy Ken Emerson picked me up at 4:20 and it was off to the Golden Gate Bridge for a pep talk from Rob Hawks followed by 188 miles in the saddle. Sometimes I wonder what the hell I’m doing on a bicycle at 6AM. It had been raining most of the night but by the time we rolled we just had wet roads and, as usual, I forgot something important: this time it was my fenders. I’m sure the people following me like Russ & Sheila Stevens weren’t too happy about that. Sorry.
This was almost a no-go for me since it had been raining all night and most of the drive up to the Golden Gate Bridge. (I hate riding in the rain). The rain subsided just long enough for the 83 riders to register. And then it rained for the next few hours, all the way up to Petaluma. We were soaked by the time we arrived at the first check point on the road. I hate that!
Back to the beginning…as usual I didn’t sleep well the night before a big ride and the sleep was disturbed by rain pounding on our house. I couldn’t stop imagining myself soaking wet on the bike. Time finally came for me to drive over to Ken’s house so we could load the bikes into his big white van…at 5AM!! We parked at Crissy Field at 6:15 in time for registration at 6:45 and launch at 7:00.
While waiting for launch, Ken checked out Barley’s fancy little fixie. I can’t believe he can ride something like that and keep up with people on real bikes. Barley is the man.
Rob Hawks gave his usual inspiring speech and imploring us yet again not to do anything stupid. I did some stupid things during the ride but I don’t think anyone noticed, thankfully. After the invocation, we were off to points north just as the rain picked up again.
After completing three 100+ mile rides over the past three week-ends I felt ready to tackle the first brevet of the 2010 season. I’ve ridden on the roads north of the Golden Gate Bridge a few times and was a little concerned about Highway 1 with its narrow shoulders but I felt safe all day although a few drivers did come a bit close during the course of the ride.
The day started too early with an alarming sound from my Blackberry at 4:15. And then an even more alarming sound, rain pounding on the house. I hate riding in the rain and my bike seems to hate it more than I do. But, I was committed and my buddy Clyde would be riding with me so I couldn’t bail out.
It rained most of the way up to the Golden Gate Bridge but it stopped shortly before we arrived. Thankfully. Clyde and I unloaded our bikes then rode the short trip up to the start point at the Joseph Strauss Statue. That guy designed the bridge! It was great to see some good friends from my ride club (ACTC), other riders I’ve seen before, and others who are just crazy enough to ride 126 miles in January. After some speechifying by Rob Hawks we headed out across the Golden Gate Bridge on time at 7AM, still a bit dark.
Check out my photos but Brian Chun took even more and better snaps as usual.
My goal was to feel good all day so I started at a much slower pace I normally do and it paid off. My first mistake of the day was losing track of Clyde. I thought he was behind me so I slowed even more as many of the 119 riders passed me. Fortunately, he stopped to make a few adjustments about five miles from the start so we were able to stick together most of the way out to the first check point at Pt Reyes Lighthouse where Bobbe cheerfully greeted us and I was able to have a quick chat with Steve and Ken before they took off toward the Marshall Store for check point 2.
After the brief respite at the lighthouse I took off ahead of Clyde to see if I could catch up to Ken and Steve. On the way to Marshall I passed the tandemaniacs (Russ & Sheila and Dave & Deb) for the second time and by then they were probably an hour ahead of me and they were taking it easy, oh well.
I wasn’t able to catch up to Ken & Steve on the road but they were still chowing down when I pulled in for my favorite ride meal: clam chowder and it was great! Ken and Steve waited around for me but when Clyde arrived I decided to ride back with him. As they left the store I could hear them muttering about “waiting on the bum” and wishing they had taken off with Jason who had already rolled out on his fixie.
Clyde and I stuck together most of the way back to the Bridge, the temperature warmed up a bit, there were a few sprinkles but most of the climbing was done so it was a nice ride back to the start. I was climbing strong so attacked most of the hills and Clyde who usually outclimbs me took it easy to reduce the knee pain he was having. We rolled in a few minutes apart and we both felt good with more miles in our legs but glad to be off the bikes.
I’m really looking forward to the next 200K on February 6th. Brevets are fun, especially the short ones. The San Francisco Randonneurs are great folks and Rob Hawks is The Man!
Russ and Sheila, outstanding members of the Almaden Cycle Touring Club, lead a 2-day ride around the San Francisco Bay at least once every year. Since I was riding Levi’s Gran Fondo on day 1, I met them in Novato to ride with them and 25 other club members down to San Jose on Sunday, day 2. The group of us had dinner at the restaurant attached to the hotel and I had my favorite pre-ride meal again: spaghetti & meatballs.
After another restless night at the luxurious EconoLodge of Novato, we had a great breakfast thanks to Russ. The night before he bought various cereals, milk, bread, yogurt, breakfast pastries, and other tasty goodies. Joanne, the queen of rider support, said to meet at 6:15 in her room so my roomate, Ben, and I were there at 6:13. I’m sure she appreciated the promptness.
Following breakfast we hit the road at 7:15 to see some beautiful California scenery while we churned out 100 miles back home in the South Bay. The ride was casual which was good for me after the 100 miles the day before. Joanne did a great job supporting the ride and swapping off with other riders driving her fully stocked truck so she could put in some miles on her bike, too.
As usual, Russ and Sheila ensured that everyone had a fun ride and made it home safely. There were mechanical problems here and there with loose lights and flat tires but all were resolved quickly so we could keep working our way south.
By the time we made it to mile 80, my legs were feeling the 180 miles and we were hitting the toughest part of the ride: the 10-mile climb up Calaveras. Russ and Sheila kept me company as I suffered through every stroke of my pedals. I was so glad to see the top of that climb. My knees were both hurting more than normal for some reason. Ouch.
At about mile 95 I parted ways with the remaining crew as they headed back to Russ’s and Sheila’s house for sundaes and their cars. I gingerly pedaled the remaining 10 miles home and was glad to finally make it back.
A few photos from the ride here.