After eight years of trying to convince Spokers at least to try this ride, which IMO is one of the most interesting I know, finally they came. What makes Mt Hamilton Challenge nice is the fact that most of the route is in very remote scenery. Notwithstanding those silly first (and last) miles visiting Silicon Valley. Otherwise, at least 70 miles of the rote are spent in areas where no developments have taken place.
Yet.

As usual I have put the GPS information on GPXchange so you can get the exact route.

One of the drawbacks of this century is that it starts by a long climb, which tends to spread apart any group that may start together. Which might explain the absence of any spokers in my photos.
In other words, I was by far the slowest and never catch up with the rest of the group.
Joe was already turning the corner from the start with Doug when I arrived, so he must have finished when I had lunch. His boyfriend Mark left after me but quickly passed me to catch up with him, which was even more impressive. Bart and Bill left us at the beginning of the climb and I kept up with them for time to time only because they had decided to make the most of the rest stops (and even off the rest stops, since they decided to enjoy Junction Cafe). How they manage to stay together is a mystery that I will leave to People’s readers.

So, most of the pictures I have taken were pretty cyclist-less. But the views were beautiful, especially the last part of Hamilton, riding above the clouds and amongst the wildflowers , an exceptional sight on San Antonio valley, due to the heavy rains these last months.

There is a variant of the ride, the Mt Hamilton ascent, which consist in clibing to the top and getting back by retracing your steps. That the option that Doug and David chose. How reasonable.

The only thing that bugged me was running (twice) into other cyclists doing the Devil Double Mountain.
You dont’ want to know.
All right…
It is a double century including Mt Diablo, Morgan Territory, Altamont, Mines Rd, the back side of Hamilton, Sierra Rd and Palomares. I told you, you asked for it.

I felt like such a slacker…

Four Spokers – Jeff P., Raymond P., Rico N., and Patrick H. – rode the Jersey Ride route from McLaren Lodge today. With the great weather, it felt like the first official ride of spring. Even before the ride started, legwarmers and jackets were removed. At the bridge, we met the huge group of people who were marching to draw attention to the conflict in Darfur. Many cyclists on the bridge. We decided to do Conzleman early rather than later to avoid the afternoon car traffic.

On through Sausalito and up and over Camino Alto, then up and over Paradise. Those on the Jersey Ride a couple weeks ago saw the eroded hillside that had reduced Paradise to one lane but was still passable by car. Now, the road is completely closed to car traffic near the slide on either side, permitting cyclists to ride a little more freely without having to share the road with cars.

We stopped for a brief break at the usual corner spot in Tiburon. (Patrick thinks that café has the best pineapple-bran muffins.) Instead of sitting at the tables, we enjoyed the view of the sailboats, the bay, and the SF skyline from the benches. The fence along the water has slats that resemble a bike rack, and Raymond was wondering if the design was intentional, or if it is coincidence that the slats make prefect bike holders. A bumblebee flew into Jeff’s chest and stung Mr. Pekrul on his left pec.

Back through Sausalito and then we exited Alexander at Fort Baker. Patrick prefers this way to get to the bridge. It is maybe a little longer, but there is next to no traffic (especially on the portion under the bridge which is closed to traffic.) If you’re unfamiliar with this route, on the way to Sausalito, from the west-end of the parking lot at the north end of the bridge, you go downhill for a 1/2 mile or so, and you come to Fort Baker and the Discovery Museum. The road connects with Alexander. On the way back to SF, take a right following the sign for Fort Baker. It is a nice alternative and you get an interesting view of the bridge from underneath.

On the way back, the bridge was a bit chaotic with the slower tourists on the rental bikes being leap-frogged by the faster roadies. Rico left us at Cabrillo to go home, and Jeff went home via the road by the tennis courts. Raymond and Patrick continued through the park, then to La Playa and Sloat where they split up to go separate ways to their homes.

It was a perfect day for the Alpine Dam Loop. Cool and overcast. Knowing how hot in can be over Ridgecrest, it is good to do this ride on a relatively cool day. At the start, we had Dave G., Michael Schmu, Patrick H., Michael Suss., Rob V, Dale, Tina P, Les. Bill B. joined us at the Bridge . We left at 9 sharp trying to roll out before a large ALC training ride.

Early on, the group decided to change the original route from the “hard” way to the “easy” way. We started out as nine but plans changed quickly. Tina decided that she was more in the mood for the Tib Loop. Rob and Patrick turned back before the top of Mt Tam (Patrick was having chain problems). The day was cool with intermittent clouds and that meant that people kept on their windbreakers even during the climbs. It was the first ADL for both Michael Suss and Les and they climbed like champs! We didn’t linger at the dam — deciding it would be better to have a leisurely lunch in Fairfax. We hit Fairfax about 1pm.

We had a nice long lunch in Fairfax which was overtaken by cyclists — LOTS of ALC riders. On our way through San Anselmo we passed Liz, Anne and Chris headed north. They had done the Tib Loop, considered heading to China Camp but there was too much traffic. Instead, they decided to combine miles with java and head to Fairfax. Before we got to Camino Alto, we lost Michael Suss. He made a U-turn and started heading north. He waved liked he was OK. After waiting a while, we figure he headed for the Larkspur ferry.

We the remaining five us crossed the bride about 3:15pm. It was a great group.

from left: Les, Patrick, Michael Sch, Dave, Michael Suss, Tina, Rob, Dale. (Not pictured: Bill B)

I think this was a very nice ride. And nobody will contradict me, because nobody else showed up 🙂

I am talking about the “SF to Pescadero Hills” ride posted here.
Granted, it was a bit wet up until Hwy 92, but nothing any decent rain gear would be unable to manage, and once I had gone over Skyline on the coast side, the weather was cloudy but quite pleasant. I guess those wimpy Californians need much more to get out of their beds!

As I had posted, it was rather hilly: 8735 feet of climbing for 85 miles. My favorite climb might have beeen Higgins Canyon, but Stage Road was nice too, especially when all the scenery around is so green! Of course, not to forget the main course of this menu, West Alpine Road which, associated with Pescadero Hills, makes for a 3000-foot climb. Here is a glimpse of what my GPS showed me:

Other details on gpxchange.com

Finally, the best reward was coming down Page Mill Rd. It is generally pretty, with views over the South bay and the Valley. But this time there was one of the most spectacular rainbow I had seen in a long time, staying there all along my descent. Quite a finish for a DSSF ride!

My real regret is not to have been able to share those moments with any other Spokers. But I am still hopeful, I’ll post and lead it again soon!

After unrelenting rain, the teeming masses are craving ride time! So much so that a gang of five (Wly, Mark, Eric, Patrick and Chris C) joined me for the first Marin Headlands after work ride of the season. Not too shabby for a Flash Ride! just added to the calendar on Tuesday…

Braving roads littered with drunken pedestrians and motorists after the Giants home opener, we departed from the Ferry Building at 6pm for a relatively brisk ride around the Embarcadero. We dodged yuppy joggers through the Marina Green, German tourists on the wrong side of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the intense glare coming from Wly’s Pink Flamingo Socks along the 22 mile round trip.

Once across, we had just enough daylight for one ascent up our favorite local hill. As the days continue to get longer, hopefully we will be able to get two (or more!) climbs in before darkness falls.

Anyone else besides me think we should make this Thursday ride a regular feature on our calendar for the season? I am game, but unfortunately can’t commit to leading it every week, so who else is game?

While the Evil Step Sisters ride was rescheduled to Sunday, the club still had a presence at the Cinderella Classic, despite the weather.

From Sharon Lum:

This year’s Cinderella Classic has to be the windiest one I’ve ever ridden and I’ve ridden about 15 of them.

Despite the lousy weather, I was amazed at the number of women who showed up for the ride. The Valley Spokesmen were well prepared for them as well too with what seemed like a lot more sag vehicles than I have seen in the past.

Started off at 8:20am. Didn’t see anyone I knew so started off on my own. No rain when I started, but the roads were pretty wet, so I put on all my rain gear as I didn’t want to spend the day in wet clothes from spattered rain puddles. Heavy winds from the west already and continued that way throughout the day.

Lots of folks fixing flats on the side of the road on my way to the first reststop. Fortunately no flats for me all day.

Spent a lot of time at the first reststop deciding if I should remove some of my rain clothes or not.

Nice ride out to the Flynn Road and the lovely climb through there, away from all of the suburbia in the area. Nice green hills, but no wildflowers. This was the furthest east we travel, so for most of the rest of the way back we had to battle fierce headwinds.

Got to lunch at noon and met up with Spoker Rachel G in the lunch line. We decided to ride together for the rest of the ride. Right when we were about to leave, a former Spoker, Susan H shows up and we decide to wait for her to eat and for the three of us to leave together. During lunch we discuss various options to avoid having to deal with the wind.

As we were about to leave, we noticed dark rain clouds in the direction we were going to have to ride in. We decided to wait for the thunderstorm to pass and continue on our way, which was to do Lemondrop Hill and then bypass Blackhawk and San Ramon and make a beeline down Camino Tassajara back to the start, cutting off about 8 miles of the ride. By the time we left, I had spent two hours at lunch.

As expected we had very strong headwinds on our way to and up Lemondrop Hill. The winds were so strong that we had to pedal every mile DOWN the hill too. This was the only part that I got rained on, and it was a very light rain.

Headed back to the finish down Camino Tassajara and noticed many sag wagons filled with bikes going our way too. Talked to a friend yesterday who lives in Livermore and she said she noticed many Cinderella riders avoiding Lemondrop Hill entirely and taking Livermore and Stanley Roads back.

Finished around 4:30pm and many more riders were still coming in. Normally things are starting to wind down by now.

Overall a fun, but challenging Cinderella Classic.

And from Mary Anne Reno:
Well, I think the worst was the headwinds. I hit a couple of patches of rain (2-3 minutes each – not very hard), but I quickly dried out. However, I turned onto Patterson Pass Road and stopped for water and to adjust my route sheet; at which point I was hailed on for 2 painful minutes OUCH!!!.

Like, Sharon I saw alot of cyclists bail out after the last rest stop and take the sag back to the start. I, however, did the entire ride and then went home and took a hot bath.

Thanks for the photos, Sharon. And thanks for the tales from the road, Sharon & Mary Anne!

In typical March 2006 style, the weather proved to be the step mother for this ball; Friday afternoon as the forecast continued to look grim for Saturday, there was enough interest in doing the ride Sunday, that we just rescheduled it. From the initial reports from those doing the Cinderella Classic on Saturday (Headwinds! Hail! Headwinds! Rain! Headwinds! Crosswinds!) this definitely was a good choice.

Sunday morning seven hearty soles met at Peet’s for the annual Evil Step Sisters ride, which takes you for a climb up Mt. Tam and then along Panoramic Highway for some gorgeous views, followed by a long steep downhill to break at the Alpine Dam. David G., Scott S., Michael S., Jeff P., Erik L. were joined by newcomers Dino G & Raymond P., as we headed across the city to face Mt. Tam.

We regrouped at the usual spots along the way, nearly missed the turn onto Miller, but proceeded safely thru Mill Valley, carefully stopping at all stop signs so as not to repeat last years run in with the law.

At the ranger station, Dino & Raymond announced that they would be skipping the snack stop at Alpin Dam, something about needing to be home or else they might be in “trouble” for having riden both days.

We had a nice snack break at Alpine Dam before continuing on and climbing up Fairfax-Bolinas Road before descending back down to Fairfax, where we stopped as usual (ride to eat or eat to ride?)

The five of us continued on through the various Marin townships on to Camino Alto. I recall someone mentioning that it seemed easier, maybe because we had already climbed over 3,000 feet? Crossing the flats to Sausalito was amazingly wind free and a pleasure, making that climb to the Golden Gate Bridge just a bit easier. Jeff turned off to head home, and the remaining four headed back to Peets to finish the afternoon.

Another great ride!

Thanks Jeff, for leading us on a fabulous Sunday afternoon ride down the coast. Ten of us, including several of the elusive she-wolves, joined Jeff on this ride. Riders included David G., Erik L., Patrick H., Bill B., Liz A., Anne Z., Chris R. and Scott S.

We started at the southern end of Half Moon Bay at the fire station, heading south to do a 20 mile stretch of Highway 1, on a wonderfully clear morning with a nice tail wind.

This stretch of the coastline is fairly flat, with a few short climbs, one as we passed by San Gregorio State Beach. We continued on down the coast, past Pompano and Pescadero State Beaches and turned onto Gazos Creek Road.

This led us inland where we hope to be protected from that nice NW tail wind that carried us down, sections were protected, but we had a bit of wind and most of the climbing is in the 30+ mile return to Half Moon Bay. Nothing to terribly difficult, but then looking at this Klimb profile after a ride it does look impressive!

We stopped in Pescadero and had lunch, before continuing on Stage Road to San Gregorio. We jumped back on Highway 1 for a brief stretch till Tunitas Creek Road.

We did not take this all the way to Skyline, but turned and took the Lobitos Creek Cutoff back to Highway 1 for a quick jaunt, and then again we turned off the highway onto Verde to catch Purisma Creek Road and our final climb of the day, before a nice downhill back to the fire station in Half Moon Bay.

Thanks again, Jeff. Looking forward to that next ride!