Solvang Double Century done!!

This is an updated post with pictures to replace the blackberry post I put up right after the event.

On Sat 3/27/2010 Lisa and I tackled the Planet Ultra Solvang Double Century (200 miles)... which took us from Buellton through Solvang, up to Morro Bay and back again. Along the way we climbed beautiful Foxen Canyon (in the early morning) and Drum Canyon (in the early evening).

We took off at 5:10am and rode through the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley. Temperature was about 45F to start, so we had cold feet by the time we made it to the first rest stop at mile 41.

Once the sun rose, the temperatures started to climb (into the low 70's eventually) but so so did the wind. The wind started as a bit of a tail wind into Morro Bay, but then became a stronger headwind in to San Luis Obispo - and eventually a tail wind into Los Alamos.

At the final rest stop (177mi) in Los Alamos they served hot cup-a-soup... yum! just what we needed before Drum Canyon.

We were lucky to make it over the 3+ mile Drum Canyon Climb during daylight hours - since the descent is very steep, and twisting with terrible pavement- we only turned the lights on a couple of miles out from the finish line.

So the final numbers:

12hr 20min on the bike.
14hr 27min total time
Average speed 15.6 mph
~7500' climbing
So we bettered the on-bike
time of our first double by
1 hour and 10 min..
We reduced the overall time
by 40 min.

On Sunday we drove back up though Morrow Bay State Park and took a couple of pictures of the flowers - nature in all its glory!

Hope you had a great weekend too!

R & L

Countdown to Solvang Double

Well we have 4 days till Lisa and I tackle the second of our goal of 3 double centuries this season - the Solvang Double Century - from Solvang to Morro Bay Ca, passing through Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach etc. At this time of year we will be blessed with lots of wildflowers ( especially the California poppies) and lush greenery, and nice mild temperatures.

Weather forecasts suggest we will start at 47F and hit a high around 67F with NNW winds at 10 - 12mph ( a blessing as we head home southward along the coast).

The route will hurt at either end with some long 10-20 mile climbs including Drum Canyon at about mi 170 with grades that Topo suggests may be up to 20%. We will try to make it over Drum canyon in the light since the road is poor and very curvy and steep descending...it will be good to have the supper bright mountain biking headlights for that section.

The bikes are in at the bike shop getting tuned up and we are collecting all of our supplies so we look good to go.

We will let you know how it goes:)

R & L

Folsom-Rescue-Cameron Park Loop

Ah! the first day of spring... time for some biking in the hills around Folsom!

With that goal in mind, we rode from Roseville down to Folsom to join the Cycle Folsom Peleton and Performance groups for a 40+ mile ride up into the Rescue/Cameron Park/ El Dorado Hills area. The Performance group joined us for the warm-up over the Folsom Dam Crossing and then split off to tackle their own ride.

I took off 10 minutes in front of the main peloton in order to try to catch some frontal photos of the group passing (instead of the usual shots from behind)... as a result I had some chasing to do:)

I also did not take Deer Valley Road but instead climbed Green Valley to Rescue - which shaved 1.6 miles off my route so I could get ahead of the peloton for some more shots.

One of the group, Danny, was sharing his wealth of knowledge on training and climbing with the group as well as cruising back and forth up the paceline encouraging everyone. The ride included a spirited climb up to Beal's Point as well before the return to Folsom.

We also managed to drop in on Folsom Bike shop (a nice new shop at Auburn Folsom Rd and the Folsom Dam Crossing) and they took a look at Lisa's derailleurs, which had been causing trouble on the hills for the last few rides. Since she still had the mountain bike rear derailleur it was decided that now was the time to put the standard DuraAce road one back on. On Sunday we brought the bikes back in for a full tune-up overhaul in advance of our Solvang Double 200 mi event next Saturday.

All told we did about 62 miles with around 3000 feet of climbing at an average speed just under 17mph

Hope your Saturday was a good one as well :)

CRUD Road Racer Fenders

I suppose it might be getting a bit late in the season for this little product introduction but I just got them and installed them on my bike and wanted to let you know about them. Lisa has a set as well

They are called the Road Racer Mud Guards from CRUD products ( more known for their original mountain biking fenders. Unlike their MTB cousins these are very light and almost unnoticeable on the bike... they attached to sound plastic eye loops placed on your fork or seat stay with a couple of O rings and a removable zip tie - so they can be fairly quickly removed although there is almost no reason to... I road both Sunday's 3P century with them and the Fox and Hound ride out to Ione and never really noticed them. When off the bike the little eyelets can be left on the bike.

The fender is just slightly larger than the width of a 25mm tire and run 3- 5 mm above the tire.

They are made by CRUD Products www.crudproducts.com . They cost about 30$ and will keep you back and front dry and most of the splatter off your bike.

A couple of pictures are attached and a link to a review if interested:)

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/just-in-crud-roadracer-22881/

Maybe I will not need them too much for the next month till the rains stop... we will see...

See ya out there...

The Story of the 3P Century

It was a rather cold and windy day but no rain so that was nice.

We left from Las Trampas Regional Park near Danville and after 1.4 miles (of nice downhill) Ron realized he had left his bottles in the car - DOH! so a nice climb back to the car - while Lisa was good enough to wait while our peloton left without us.

We rode over to Livermore where after a brief stop at a Starbucks we headed over the Altamont pass - well actually sort of beside it - as we were spared the climb that the highway takes. There was a good little North wind developing which was mostly a side wind.

We turned and started to head back west climbing Patterson pass....Ouch! This 6 or 7 mile climb has some stair-stepping sections of 15% or more and a couple of false flats that make you think it is over - but is isn't:) see the pic attached

Lauren was a very welcome sight after descending from Patterson pass - with banannas, water, peanut butter sandwiches... THANK YOU LAUREN!!

After that the wind picked up and Lisa and I pacelined to the next stop in Sonol -where we caught the Peloton that we had been chasing most of the day.

Next up was the climb up Palomares - a steady 6 mile climb and then the 4 mile climb along Hwy 580 into Dublin.

Finally a 12 mile grind back up to Las Trampas into the wind ( we had some help from two young lady riders who helped pull in a paceline for a few miles.)

Back at the car we reviewed the numbers... not bad at all considering the wind and basically riding just the two of almost the whole day:

Distance 98.8mi Lisa (101.6 for Ron due to the waterbottle issue :)
Climbing: 5500 ft
Time on Bike: 6hr 55min
Total time: 7hr 39min

We did a ride with Cycle Folsom on Sunday out to Ione...
but I will leave that story for Stan S. of Cycle Folsom to tell on his blog http://cyclefolsompeloton.blogspot.com

Cheers

Midweek Training Ride - Folsom S. Canal

We had a great time with 7 of us from Cycle Folsom. Some started at Karen's Bakery and others from the Hatchery and we tried out the Folsom South Canal Bike trail.

Many of us, like me had never been on the trail so it was a pleasant surprise, as we had the trail almost to ourselves and could ride for most of 10 miles with only 2 stops.

We practiced the single rotating paceline and averaged about 18.5 or so.

Near the end 3 or 4 powered out of the group which was doing about 23mph.


A great training ride and a lot of fun and a nice alternative to the American River trail for some fast paceline riding!

Cheers

R & L

Google Maps now Features Bike Routes!

New feature started today can be used to pinpoint bicycling trails in more than 150 cities

ref:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35799063/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

" MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Google Inc.is adding a bike lane with its latest online mapping option.

The new bicycling directions available on Google Maps starting Wednesday supplement the guidance already provided to motorists and pedestrians. The biking directions initially will be available only for the United States.

Google spent the past six months tweaking its mapping service so it could recommend routes that would steer bicyclists away from big hills and heavily congested streets. The feature can be used to pinpoint bicycling trails in more than 150 cities."

It looks from a quick look that it is capturing Bike lanes as well as bike paths

have fun!

Getting ready for the 3 P Century on Sat

So ... Just looking over the profile for the 3P Century in the East Bay this coming Saturday...and may I just say ...Yikes :)
We have got some serious climbing in store with some 15 and 18 % grades to deal with (at least according to the Delorme TOPO program) and something like 6 or 7000 feet of climbing.

Check it out and decide for yourself....
There is still time to join us!!

Have a great week
:)

Great ride on a perfect day

We were blessed with a beautiful spring day - Light winds, sun and highs in the upper 60's. Every where the grass was green, the trees where in fabulous bloom and the wild flowers were just plain showing off :)

After a 9 mile ride from Roseville to Folsom we headed out with the Cycle Folsom Peleton group we headed up into the foot hills passing Granite bay, Loomis, Penryn, Newcastle, and Auburn ( with Shirland Tract thrown in) before we returned to Folsom and then back to Roseville

All told - about 59 miles, ~3000 feet of climbing...

A beautiful day - hope you had an enjoyable one as well :)

R and L

Evening with Jim Felt - of Felt Bicycles

Tonight- together with Lisa and some other Cycle Folsom riders we were privledged to attend a reception at Folsom Bike with Jim Felt.

Jim answered questions about Felt Bikes, His company and his plans as well as told stories about how he came to create the company.

There was food and wine from Peloton Cellars of San Luis Obispo ( very nice:)

Finally at the end Jim signed the Felt bicycles of owners that had come to see him..

Now we ride!

Challenging ride with Cycle Folsom Groups

Sunday Feb 28 was the make up day after the heavy rains on Saturday the 27th and the Cycle Folsom Peloton, Performance and some Endurance riders met in Folsom to ride to Discovery Park.

Lisa and I rode down from Roseville for a bit of a warm-up (9 miles) to prepare for the hammer that was sure to be dropped by the performance group... which it did... just after Hazel. I was not paying attention and ended up with the performance guys for a couple of miles at 24mph or 25... till I had to say I will not make the 75miles of our day at that pace and I dropped back to find the peloton group.

I suffered a flat at about mile 35 and stopped to change it while the group went on... Unfortunately I had failed to put tire levers back in my seat bag after the double century - doh!... I pumped the flat up enough to get to Performance Bike but they were closed... Luckily the manager let me in and gave me some levers - Thanks!!! and I was back in business. I caught up with the group returning from Discovery park at about Northgate and turned around and latched on.

Eventually at about mile 60 the pace got the better of me and Lisa and I slowed it down to about 18 for the rest of the ride back to Roseville. Average pace for the 75 mi 17.7 mph, 1100 ft climbing

All in all a good training ride - although with the weather improving, and more and more folks on the trail I feel that our days on the trail are numbered in large groups and high speeds...it's just not safe... Time to head for the open back roads... maybe Old sac to Winters? or ride down to Walnut Creek and through the Vineyards? or into the foothills.

Unfortunately Lisa and I will miss this Saturday's ride as I am in the recording studios in Emeryville and Lisa will be climbing Mount Diablo!

Maybe a Sunday long ride along the Sacramento River is in order?

Stay safe!