Three weeks ago I was able to start riding with the club again, and celebrated this occasion by joining the Evil Step Sisters ride up Mt. Tam to Alpine Dam. It being early in the season for me, I knew that this ride would present a challenge… but I seldom let such considerations stop me. (I am probably what you might call “headstrong”. Or perhaps, “foolish”. I prefer “willful”, which I’m sure will come as no surprise to those of you who know me. But I digress.)
Full of excitement and optimism I headed out with the club on my new bike, gradually remembering the proverbial lay of the land. The ride started out beautifully but, (skip to the point) I broke a spoke on the Marin bike path just past Mike’s Bikes. I said my teary goodbyes to the club and headed back to Mike’s to wait for them to open. Now, much to my surprise, as soon as Mike’s opened they were able to throw my bike on the rack and repair that busted spoke. And though I knew there was no way I could ever catch up to the club (now and hour ahead of me), I was determined to make the most of the day. After a bit of solo jockeying back on the bike path I fell in with a random group of people and decided that I would ride what they rode. (I’m a bit shy, you see… and have positively no sense of direction on a bicycle for some reason.)

After a while, this nice group of folks decided that they would say hello to me (since I seemed to be stalking them). I introduced myself and explained my situation, and of course they were entirely pleased to have a well groomed, well behaved, and entirely too handsome rider join their paceline. (Ok, I think their exact words were something like, “try to keep up”… but try to read between the lines and you’ll see what I mean.) And then, as if serendipity itself had shined down on me, they informed me that they were headed up to Alpine Dam. And, even better, they were riding the REVERSE loop of the club. I thought, “This might be my chance to re-join the ride!”
So, I followed and rode and made a bit of polite smalltalk like you do. (Ok, not like WE do… but like I’m sure you would do if you’re a bunch of sorta boring straight people riding bikes.) And, lo and behold, I met up with the club on my climb up to Alpine Dam. Hooray!

Now, pay attention to this part because this is a key detail for the rest of the story. I did quite a bit of climbing. In fact, I was sure I must have made almost all the way up to Alpine Dam… and of course that must be the peak elevation of the ride because otherwise you wouldn’t call the ride the “Alpine Damn” ride. (Hey! Stop laughing!)

Fast forward to today where I had the good fortune to join Jeremy for the “i hate my sisters” ride. Finally, I have another shot at this mysterious “Alpine Dam”. The riders included Jeremy, Eric, Topher, Wundersen, a brit we picked up at Cafe Vela Rouge, and me (aka Turbo). It was cold and cloudy, but dry. And we were all ready to ride. Ok spokers… let’s show this dam who’s boss!

The ride started well, and we were cranking along. Through Suasalito, then Larskpur, then into Bolinas and Fairfax… man are we making good time or what! Then the climb began and it was exactly as I remember. It felt great to stretch those legs. And surely the dam isn’t too far. Around the next bend I’m sure. Yep, not far now. Hmmm… where the hell is the dam? Ok, maybe I didn’t climb as much as I thought had on my first excursion. But I’m a trouper and through willful determination I finally made it to the damn. What a beautiful spot! Definitely worth the effort. And boy was I ready for the descent.

And that’s when I noticed something slightly amiss. You see, the road out of the dam goes up hill. Hmmm… that’s odd. So I asked innocently, “So, there’s a bit more climbing then?” And a very kind (and mildly amused) Wundersen clarified the situation: “Honey, the climb is just starting.”

Oh.

Now, I’d like to believe that the color didn’t entirely drain from my quickly applied game face. But those who were there know the truth, and the rest of you will have to do that climb with me to find out.

And, with no further fanfare we were off like a shot. It got colder and foggier, and I relied increasingly on my willful nature. Slow and steady wins the race. One foot and the other… that’s what I always say. It’s not whether you win or lose… it’s how you finish the climb. And though I wasn’t winning any awards for fastest anything, I felt ok about how it was going. It is, after all, early in the season for me. And I’m not my strongest in the cold. And then… the unthinkable happened. And I’m ashamed even to tell you because this is something that has never, ever, ever happened to me before. I was focused intently on the road ahead (all three feet of visibility), and I was keeping my cadence even and smooth, and then I heard a most unusual sound. *pat* *pat* *pat* *pat*. And then I got passed. BY A RUNNER!

Yes, dear spokers, I got passed while riding up Mt. Tam by a man on foot. No bike. Just shoes. Passed.

In my defense, it was very close to the top.

Anyway, I stopped for a moment to have a very quick rest and bite to eat and to see if I had enough cell service to charter a helicopter to come and get my sorry self. Fortunately, no cell service… but the very kind ride leader Jeremy did pull up having turned around to come and check on me. One packet of Jeremy’s goo and one mile later, we were finally on our descent.

For the sake of brevity (as if I were capable of such a thing) I’ll spare you the details of my post-climb cramps, and my resorting to the ferry in sausalio to avoid the climb up to the bridge. Instead I’ll close by sharing with you all that I realized something today. Mt. Tam is my nemesis, and I shall conquer that little mound of a hill this summer. (n.b. I’m willful.) And, to the runner who passed me on the climb, wherever you are: thank you for not laughing… or even snickering. You’re a good egg.

Saturday turned out to be a spectacular riding day in the far East Bay and Jerome, Mark and Jeremy joined me for the Del Puerto Loop century that began in Livermore.  Warm and sunny skies greeted us at the Livermore Civic Center; within minutes we were on the outskirts of town and in another, less familiar wine country.  After a few warm up miles, we were on our way up Tesla Road, past wide open horse pastures, the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreational Area (apparently where all the local young men with dirt bikes go to play on a Saturday morning) and Lawrence Livermore National Labs.  Tesla Road is a gentle, beautful climb up about 1,000 feet from our starting point before a big, beautiful, smooth and little-trafficked descent into the Central Valley town of Tracy.

Jeremy, Mark and I continued into the town proper in search of a cuppa Joe while Jerome continued on the route.  After a refueling of espresso and Girl Scout Tagalongs, we found our way to the California Aqueduct Bike Trail for 15 fast miles with zero traffic (cars, bikes or people for that matter) along the eastern channel.  The road surface along the path was a little bumpy and we did have to debike a few times to get around gates meant to keep the cars and terrorists away.  All in all, though, this was a great way to get in some fast, scenic and carefree miles on the way to Patterson.

It’s easy to spot Patterson because there’s this big ass sign advertising all the fine dining establishments (you know, KFC, Jack in the Box, Denny’s) to the motorists speeding by on I-5.  I think we could see the sign about three miles away along the aqueduct.  We settled on the slightly more sensible choice of Quizno’s and enjoyed a little al fresco dining before starting the second half of our ride.

Just on the other side of I-5 begins a very gentle (3% grade or so) and picturesque 16-mile climb up Del Puerto Canyon to a regional park, but then the road turns steeper for several miles of 10+% grade up to the top of San Antonio Valley Road and the very popular Junction Cafe (and biker bar).  All four of us stopped here for a spell and purchased more fluids.  It was definitely a little toasty and dry out.  I can’t ever recall a ride where I drained my 100-oz Camelback bladder three times!  A few of the motorcycle dudes were intrigued by Jerome’s and Mark’s fetching rainbow jerseys and approached to ask if they ever hang out at the Eagle. 

After the junction, we continued climbing up Mines Road up to about 3,000 feet.  The road at the top was a little treacherous with gravel and sand due to recent cold evenings and the formation of black ice.  We saw lots of warning signs for ice, but none of the real thing since we must have been well into the 70s for temperature.  Once we topped out on Mines Road (for a total of 5,250 feet of climbing for the day), it was time for the final ten miles of steep descent back into lovely Livermore after our little 110-mile excursion.

Everyone rode strong, we had no flats and both Jeremy and Mark completed their longest ever rides.  Well done!  I highly recommend this route, but I wouldn’t advise it in the summertime.  Check out the pics!

WB

The Tam/Stinson ride was a hump for some and a romp for others. We started off with 5 riders at the café.  We headed out with perfect weather and plenty of sunshine. On the descent into Sausalito Eric joined up coming out of nowhere and screamed past us at speeds unimaginable. (I was at 35mph and standing still in comparison) I tried to keep up for a sec but then decided I wasn’t quite ready to die. In Mill Valley we made a quick stop before the big push up Tam. 2 riders opted for an alternate route. On the initial climb Eric of course disappeared into the hills and out of site within seconds. Bill surprised me with a hard spanking me hard on Tam. He even went for some extra miles and still made it to the pan-tol rest stop before me. He’s in awesome shape and is gearing up for a double century in a few weeks. He was also rockin out a very fly kit. Wanderson (a new rider) and I hung together and put up a moderate pace but we were both cashed at the east peak summit. Bill and Eric looked like they had slept for about 12 hours. The summit was a mix of snacks, water, and soda. Then came the 8 mile descent to Stinson beach for lunch. Bill walked through the grass and was mud soaked ankle deep. Eric followed in his footsteps. 2 very fast dirty men. After lunch came the push and pull back up Tam to the pan tol. There I felt fried and I was all out of gu. Luckily Bill had some left in his sack and was kind enough to donate. From there we said goodbye to Eric and Bill and they disappeared towards San Francisco. Wanderson and I commiserated together down Tam and over the bridge. All in all it was a challenging day for all. Some just went a whole lot faster. My calorie counter registered 4095. My scale showed a 3 lb drop. Cha-Ching.

…without even the excuse of watching the Tour 🙂

Sunday’s fall social at Phil Bokovoy’s was an enjoyable day, despite slightly cooler weather than we’ve become accustomed to, and a lower than anticipated turnout of DSSF members and boardies.  Maybe it was the weather, or the end of daylight savings time, or perhaps a surfeit of Halloween parties.

Three rides were organized.  Tim and Jamie mountain biked; a second group rode a relaxing ride to Rosie the Riveter in Richmond.  A third group of seven enjoyed the Berkeley hills and Three Bears Loop.  Stephanie, Denise, Laura, Bart, Mark, Erik and Bill climbed the usual way up Euclid Avenue to Tilden Park and then up Wildcat Canyon Road to Inspiration Point.  By this time, the sun was beginning to peak out of the clouds and it was just another beautiful Bay Area Sunday morning.

The group rode a good C-pace clockwise loop around San Pablo Dam Road and the roads leading to the Bears.  Unfortunately Mark flatted but Stephanie was there to provide conversation and moral support.  On the way back, the boys went via South Park Drive, while the girls opted for a return trip via Wildcat Canyon and Euclid.  South Park, while only 1 1/2 miles long, has some stretches that are at least 15% grade.  A good time was had by Erik, Mark and Bill (i.e., the Conzelman Three) and Bart.  The screaming descent down Claremont back to Phil’s made the work up South Park all the more worth it.  Apparently, we just beat the mating season of some salamander, because South Park is closed to traffic starting November 1 for the winter. 

Back at Phil’s, BBQ turkey and coronas courtesy of Erik were the order of the afternoon.  Rico’s lemon bars and Tim’s beet salad were standouts, but by 2:30 as the sun disappeared from Phil’s backyard, the 15 or so of us there were huddling for warmth between two Weber BBQs. 

Unfortunately, no one brought marshmallows for toasting and s’mores, so everybody went home.

Jerome spins up the mountain; fresh at the finish.

Attacking at mile ten; finish.

A 10.8 mile time trial to the summit of Mt. Diablo, this year’s Challenge hosted a thousand cyclists, most of whom have a secret love for warm, cuddly pain. Not pain from the climb, since Diablo itself is pretty docile – but pain from setting a faster-than-recreational tempo. (Wanna go at some real pain? Try this.)

The event was nicely organized, and the mountain, with its sun-dappled, freshly paved roads, was a treat.

Jerome and I were in the third wave of cyclists, several hundred of us clogging up a very narrow starting lane. There was at least one crash within the first couple-hundred feet, as two handlebars became entangled. However, the tight starting bunches thinned out quickly, and by mile one riders were establishing pace and settling in for the climb ahead.

The winner was Robert Anderson, a Masters racer out of Mill Valley. He finished :47:28 and averaged nearly 14mph. Jerome crossed the finish line at 1:24, and I stopped the clock at 1:04.

Here’s Jerome’s MotionBased log.