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!

Planet of the Apes

This all started because I wanted to find an alternative route to the west coast of the Peninsula (Half Moon Bay, San Gregorio) without having to go through Skyline and Hwy 92. I had heard about this old road, predating Highway 1 and nicknamed “Planet of the Apes” (its real name: San Pedro Mountain Road) because of the erie feeling you are supposed to get riding it, like you were in a post-holocaust world.

I tried a couple of years ago, but I chickened out a bit after Pacifica and ended up riding Hwy 1 at Devil’s Slide. Oh my. If there was a road hostile to cyclists, that was it. No shoulders, one lane of heavy traffic with drivers just coming out of the freeway part of Hwy 1, on a climb.

So this time, I decide to try it again. I posted the ride the day before, starting from my place. Needless to say, I was not expecting company. So imagine my surprise when I saw no other than Thomas showing up at 10am sharp in front of my garage.

Off we go, the first miles completely uneventful, until we reached the start of the trail. Tony had warned me, but I still felt a bit hesitant when I saw it: it really look like a dirt road with no apparent (even old) pavement. It got better: most of the time, we got to ride on some very old pavement, but pavement nonetheless. The whole road goes over the aforementioned Pedro Mountain, so it climbs for 2 miles. We had to ride so slow anyway, because of the road conditions, that it didn’t feel much of a climb. As a matter of fact, the descent was much more unpleasant, especially since that side of the road was in worse condition. And the weather was not cooperating: we were going through a heavy fog, indistinguishable from a drizzle, and the pavement/dirt was becoming very wet. At one point, my iPhone jumped off my handlebar bag, without me noticing it. Without Thomas, I wouldn’t have realized it before a couple of miles, and it would have been a nightmare trying to find it. Thomas, I owe you big time…

Pedro Mountain Rd

But we finally made it to Hwy 1 and that oh-so-smooth ride to Half Moon Bay, where we enjoyed a nice albeit late lunch. Originally, I had planned to ride back through Tunitas Creek Rd (I know, I know…) but it was so late that we would not have made it on the other side of Skyline before dark. Notwithstanding the fact that it would have probably killed Thomas.

So we had no choice but taking Hwy 92, which I had never ridden eastbound. Well, I probably never will, if I can avoid it. The traffic is awful, and the shoulders inexistent or worse, treacherous. Worse than westbound. But we made it and finish the ride in a light rain towards Millbrae BART station.

I am glad I did this Planet of the Apes, but it’s clearly not a road bike option. On the other hand, with a mountain bike, it’s a peace of cake. Oh, and about this “post end of the world” feeling, I was frankly a bit disappointed: it is just a trail.

Here is the complete route and some photos.

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!

Mt. Hamilton on the Fall, or not

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Up at 6am, I checked the weather forecast, hoping that the radar image would show the rain still heading in a south to north east direction as it was when I went to bed shortly after 9 last night.

Hmm, nope now it’s moving in a more west to east with a slight north track to it. Still too dark to see the Ham cam. The forecasts varied between 10-50% chance of rain or shower for San Jose for most of the day.

Two riders had already cancelled, both for non-weather related reasons. So at 6:30 I sent a cancellation email to the other riders.

At about 9am, I checked the Ham Cams, foggy or misty at the top without a doubt, so hopefully it was a good call.

Perhaps a Mt. Hamiton in the Spring ride for 2011!

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