Author: dagaus190

Foxy’s Fall Century

DSSF members and ALC friends converged on Davis for the Foxy’s Fall metric and century rides this year. It was dark when we parked, and I had to remind myself that it was mid-October. So while we got a later start for the century than I would have liked, all turned out find for a relatively flat (near) century (this years route was modified, and instead of being 102 miles, was down to 95.)

The first 24 miles were relatively flat, quick and and the groups got split up, a stop light or two facilitated some of the split. Eventually Gordon and I caught up with Bob McD, who was again riding on “fire” similar to day two of the Double Bay Double. If I remember correctly, RS# 1 is where the metric route splits, and we left Bob there, and he waited for the rest of the metric group to arrive there. I tried to convince him to join us on the century route, but he held true to sticking with the metric group. I later got a text from him wondering if there were any hills, on the century compared to the metric.

Lunch was at Wooden Valley School at mile 50, with a water stop in between. David’s B and S caught up with us there, and just as we were leaving, so did Nancy. It was warmer out here, and the main climb of the day, Highway 121 on the way to Moscowite Corner was next. An interesting feature on this ride, they have on-the-bike SAG on the route, in addition to the vehicles with bike racks. There was a couple on a tandem, in fact.

Rest stop 3 was at Lake Solano Park, and Gordon and Scott pointed out that this was one of the overnights on Sierra to the Sea, and the reverse climb is called Cardiac Hill. Oh joy, since I am planning to do that next year. The last 22 miles brought us along tree lined roads before the outskirts and neighborhoods on the way to the Veterans Memorial ride start. And to my pleasure, I finished my first century in 6 hours (exactly.) I enjoyed Foxy’s, it being a nice day, a great group and no headwinds! 🙂

http://app.strava.com/runs/1988846/embed/42498b01d28e85459ed4d8e3ed2d158d14200bd4

Old La Honda-Tunitas Redux

While we did not have the wonderful Indian Summer day I had hoped for to redo Chris Thomas’ Double Bay Double training ride to San Gregorio and back, we did get the weather that Karin had hoped for, a bit cloudy and coolish, but not bad at all. We were joined by a fellow ALC TRL and rider, Judy, and the three of us set off from Mountain View to meet up with Nancy Levin, at the start of Old La Honda. We missed Nancy at the bottom of OLH.

Climbing Tunitas Creek was a first for Karin, and she did great, despite my inaccurate description of the climb. In my mind, the 9 mile climb is broken into thirds with the bottom and top each being not that difficult. I’ll remember next time, it’s more like the bottom and top quarter, with the middle 4+ miles being tough. But in all fairness, I did say that the climb is doable with no steep grades. Nancy headed back to her car from Skyline, while Judy, Karin and I did our lunch stop at Roberts Market and then we continued on Chris’ planned route, which included the extra “evilness” of Elena Road. Thanks again Karin, for co-leading with me. It was a fun day, even more so because I was in the minority, nice to see a 3:1 ratio for a change. 🙂

http://app.strava.com/runs/1824661/embed/977dd98d19eeeb6215d102ebe969e1ea0cf22fbe

Amador County Gold Country Weekend

All nine of us arrived in Plymouth on Thursday evening for another fabulous weekend of food, riding and friends in Gold Country.

Friday’s Mt. Aukum Hill Climb proved to be a perfect day, leaving Plymough we headed up Shenadoah Road to Somerset for lunch, we then back tracked to Fairplay and then it’s the warm up rollers on Perry Gulch Road before the five mile climb up Slug Gluch Road (where I’m happy to report that I beat my time from last year by 11 minutes, thank you Strava for making that so easy to compare!) The 9.5 mile climb up Omo Ranch Road to nearly 5,000 feet is a nice climb, and from there it is more or less 25 miles of all downhill, and my favorite part is Shake Ridge Road, it is one of the prettiest stretches of roads I think I’ve done.

http://app.strava.com/runs/1646264/embed/c2c442a88d274e03a905767719fa46af87aaa2bd

Saturday’s ride took all nine of us south from Plymouth to Sutter Creek, with several of those “wake-up” climbs, just to get you going before you are ready. After coffee and a regroup at Thomi’s Coffee & Eatery, it’s another beautiful stretch of road to Volcano, and our lunch stop. Leaving Volcano, the next climb of the day is up Rams Horn Grade, only 800 feet in 2+ miles, and then we head back to Sutter Creek on the lower section of Shake Ridge Road (from yesterday’s route.) From Sutter Creek, we head west towards Ion, and then the ride ends with another lovely stretch of road on Old Sacramento Road back to Plymouth.

http://app.strava.com/runs/1659153/embed/92f6896b271efadfc30f99f7d70017932d70141f

Saddle Challenge 2011 final results…

…are in!

Despite fifteen days of rain in March, Gordon logged an impressive 608 miles or 121 percent of his mileage goal of 500 miles. He was followed by Danni ( with 584 miles, or 116% of her goal) and David Go (with 480 miles or 96% of his goal, so close!)

Gordon rode an equally impressive 25 days too. Even with the rain, there were only two days with no miles logged, the 23rd and 24th of the month.

Last weekend and this past week a lot of catch up miles were put in, with 394 over the weekend and an additional 240 miles with our Spring into Summer weather this week.

The biggest day was March 5 with an impressive 437 miles.

Everyone who joined the challenge and rode during the month is a winner! Overall we completed 2,786 miles of the 3,925 total mileage goal with $210 raised for Project Inform by 9 participants!

Those who pledged money for Project Inform can send your check to the club PO box and they will be send in on the club’s behalf, in memory of Ron Wilmont.

Thanks to all who participated in this year’s Saddle Challenge. Great job everyone!

If anyone is interested in doing this as an ongoing monthly challenge, please contact me!

Saddle Challenge 2011 – Update #2

After more than three weeks into the challenge (and the weather is certainly making this challenging), Gordon Dinsdale has edged out Danni Mestaz, both in miles completed and percent complete. But not by much; with identical mileage goals, 500 miles each, Gordon has logged 412 miles and Danni is on his rear tire at 374 miles. And not far behind them, David Goldsmith has logged 328 miles.

The miles champion for one day goes to Larry L’Italien, with 103.8 miles, with William Bir in second with 100.4 miles. Congratulations to you both, centuries completed in March!

Gordon has also rode the most days, 19 days out of 22.

Other stats:
1993 miles have been ridden so far.
The two biggest days are Saturday the 5th with 438 miles, and Saturday the 12th with 426 miles.

We’ve raised $149 towards our goal of $290.

It still not too late to sign up! Just go to http://dssf.org/dssf_html/sc and enter your first and last name, and the password [ask us], and then you can retroactively enter your miles of the month.

Happy riding!

Saddle Challenge – 1st Update/Two Weeks down

The 2011 Saddle Challenge has just nine participants so far, but that has not kept riders from logging some miles. This update covers the first two weeks of the challenge, but it’s never too late to sign up. Just go to http://dssf.org/dssf_html/sc and enter your first and last name, and the password [ask us], and then you can retroactively enter your miles of the month.

As of yesterday, Danni Mestaz is leading the pack, one of three members with a 500 mile goal for the month! She is at 67% or 335 miles, ahead of everyone, way to go Danni! Great to see both a female AND a new member in the lead. Following closely both in mileage and percent of goal are Gordon Dinsdale, also a new member from Napa, followed by board member, David Goldsmith.

With mileage goals varying from 200 miles for the month (which is 50 miles a week, quite doable), up to 500 miles, the Saddle Challenge makes it easy for any member to participate and not feel like they have to a fast or high mileage rider to compete.

As a reminder, the Saddle Challenge is the club’s annual event in March to challenge each other to get out on our bikes and ride! Choose a goal for yourself: 100 miles, 300 miles, 900 miles…!
Whenever you come back on the SC page, you’ll be able to log your miles, watch your progress and see what other members are doing.

Don’t forget: every mile counts. So, if you commute with your bike, it’s even better!

The Saddle Challenge is also a way for members to raise money for Project Inform where Ron Wilmot, a long time DSSF member who started a fund-raising ride, the Ron Wilmot ride. You can choose to pledge per mile or a lump sum. Of course this part is entirely optional.

Again, just go to http://dssf.org/dssf_html/sc and enter your first and last name, and the password [ask us] to join up.

Other stats: 1,636 miles have been ridden so far. And we’ve raised $149.

Happy riding!

Chasing Legends

Thanks to the heads up from Roger Sayer, he had seen a poster up for this being shown at the Castro, so I checked my schedule, arranged for a place to stay for the night and put it on the DSSF calendar. Sophie, Roger, Doug D and myself met up, Doug O caught up with Jaime and Roy (!). I thoroughly enjoyed it, the scenery, the interviews, and a bit of history thrown in, with a few laughs.

Chasing Legends Synopsis

Every so often a film will grab hold and entertain its audience in a way that leaves them begging for more. Known for their ability to produce such award-winning work, the rag-tag crew known as Gripped Films once again lives up to their name. Independently funded, filmed and produced with as much grit, passion and determination as their subjects, Gripped Films presents Chasing Legends, a feature length documentary following the HTC-Columbia Team through the 2009 Tour De France.
All of cycling is desperate for heroes they can believe in, Gripped Films gives them Team HTC-Columbia like they have never seen, through an intense and personal glimpse inside the most winning professional cycling team as told by the riders, current and past heroes. Included in the film will be commentary from Eddy Merckx, Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen, Jens Voigt, Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Mark Cavendish and many others.

Chasing Legends highlights the greatest heroes in professional cycling with a dramatic show of teamwork and panache from Team HTC-Columbia through the 2009 Tour de France. The film takes viewers on an absolutely epic ride into the race action. Using a multitude of high tech, high def cameras mounted on bikes, motorcycles, helicopters and team cars, Gripped Films will also include historical race footage, artistic travelogue of the European countryside and villages with narration from the voice of cycling for the USA, Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen.

Morgan Territories and Palomares, or not…

Not… for me on the bike anyway. Maybe I was doomed because I did part of this in the spring as an ALC training ride. For whatever reason, I forgot my shoes for this ride. Worse? I was maybe 10 miles from the home when I wondered if I had everything. I quickly dismissed it, I have such a routine now. I grab my shoes, helmet, pump, glasses, gloves all in one pass off of the storage in the garage. The second pass, I grab the floor pump and handlebar bag, then load my bike on the back of the car. Like clockwork. If I had only stopped and checked the back of the car…

11 riders from Concord BART, less me

I provided SAG and photography for the day, though!

Full photo gallery here!