The Countdown!




Well here it is, less than a month from the Death Ride (and more than a month since my last post!) Time to start getting a little nervous. So, what have I been doing? Uhhh, riding my bike! Oh, you want to know where?!! We've done some great rides. We spent a day down on the peninsula, riding in and out of Big Basin, with some of the steepest climbs around. I've been up Mt. Diablo a few times (try 12, with 3 of those in one day this week). I've ridden around Morgan Territory again, and we went camping up near Markleeville so we could ride the actual passes. Of course, I have some pics and more descriptions below!

Big Basin 5/17

This is a great ride - one I didn't get to do last year. We were riding some truly remarkable roads out on the Pensinsula south of SF, getting all the way down close to Santa Cruz. Sadly, some of the area we rode is on fire right now - last I heard, they hadn't contained any of the fire near Bonny Doon, and had evacuated hundreds of people. It's a shame - some really beautiful coastal woodlands are there, with some magnificent redwoods.

This was one tough ride - especially since this was right after the Tour of the Unknown Coast. There are two notoriously tough climbs pretty early in the ride - Redwood Gulch and Jamison Creek. Both are steep - over 10%, with sections up to 20%. Both lead into another section of more climbing (but thankfully not as steep). Redwood Gulch comes first, soon after leaving the urban area around Silicon Valley. Steep, but since it's not that long and your legs are fresh, ultimately not too bad. This is followed by a several mile climb up Rte. 9, and then a super-fun descent into Big Basin, a beautiful state park with lots of spectacular scenery and redwoods.

Big Basin is a very descriptive name - and now we were down in the bottom of that basin. That's right - we had to climb out. That's where Jamison Creek comes in. The infamous "Billy Goat List" rates this as one of the hardest climbs in the Bay Area, with 1,500 feet of climbing in just 3 miles. Yup, it's steep. And 3 miles is a long time to be climbing something that steep. However, I took my time and actually felt pretty good at this point. After that was a rolling section along Empire Grade and another wonderful descent, this one through Bonny Doon all the way to the ocean. Spectacular, fast and fun.

Riding along the ocean we got the rather predictable headwind for about 10 miles. It was strong enough to slow us down, but not as bad as it has been on other rides. Then we rolled into the beautiful and wacky little town of Pescadero for lunch. At this point we were around 70 miles, and still had 2 climbs to go. The first, Pescadero, isn't that long and isn't that steep - but with tired legs, it sure felt tougher than I think any of us expected. After that was Alpine. This one is both long (more than 7 miles) and has some pretty steep sections - nothing like Redwood Gulch or Jamison Creek, but still steep enough to make you notice. At this point of a ride, there's nothing for it but to grind your way up that hill. After that was a final fast descent to our starting point - fun, and we were all pretty happy the climbing was over. 110 miles, 10,600 feet of climbing.

Weekends off - 5/24 and 5/31

I was suffering from a cold that had me coughing and dealing with a sinus infection. No team rides planned, so I took the weekend off and rode SAG for the Tahoe and Seattle to Portland Team in Training teams instead. The rest helped - I was mostly off the bike for more than a week, and it was what I needed.

I actually rode Mt. Diablo and Morgan Territory the following weekend, but it was a miserable day - I was slow and suffering all day long. A break from riding for a few more days got me over the worst of it.


Altitude Camp! 6/6 - 6/8

Camping is fun! Especially when you're camping with close to 30 friends all there for the same reason - to get some experience riding the passes from the Death Ride! Of course, I'm not a big camper - this was the 2nd time camping in my life! Still, tents are simple to pitch now, there are all kinds of mattress pads that make sleeping more comfortable, and we had the wonderful TnT SAG team providing dinner. My car was thoroughly over-packed - 3 of us, each with a bike (all fit on the roof rack) plus bags, coolers, spare wheels, etc. etc. etc.




We also had a potluck happy hour and the coaches walked us through strategy for maximizing our chance of finishing the event. Notice the spread to the left - who says you have to rough it when you are camping?!!









The riding was spectacular. There's nothing like the Sierras - and there was still snow along the sides of the road at the summits of the passes! The riding temps. were around 75 degrees, so I don't think it will be there much longer.







Ebbets is very scenic, with lots of tall pines and a beautiful lake 1 mile from the summit.











































Monitor feels entirely different (just 10 miles away), with almost no trees (none at all on the East side), and a much more wide open feel.











Riding in altitude is a bit different, but I think the difference is often overstated. It is dry, so we have to drink more. I didn't notice a huge difference with my heart rate and breathing, but some others who were complaining about it were pushing harder (probably because of sleeping on the ground, my back was bothering me all weekend - built in excuse!).



This was a great experience, especially since now we'll know the roads on event day. So what does that ride day look like? It looks like 129 miles with more than 15,000 feet of climbing.

Double click to see the full resolution version of any picture.





D-Peats

This is our nickname for when we do Mt. Diablo repeats. It's a sure sign that I'm much stronger than last year that I've been doing D-Peats for several weeks, although the most I'd done up to now was 2 1/2. Remember, this is a 10.5 mile, 3,200 foot climb - not so easy to go up, back down and then convince yourself to turn around and go right back up! Well, on Weds. our coaches figured we should do at least 3, with some aiming for 4 or even 5. I couldn't start first thing - I had a morning meeting I couldn't get out of. So, I started right after noon, and was very happy that I did 3 by 7pm. That meant that I'm getting faster (even though I really don't feel like I am) and have built the endurance to keep going at a healthy pace without blowing up. Big improvement from last year!

Don't forget the fund-raising!

OK, folks, the fund-raising deadline is upon us. June 26th is it. We've raised just under $2,500 so far, which is great! However, my goal was $5,000 - plus I've already ridden almost 4,000 miles. Remember you all were going to make sure I rode more than I wanted to, since I'd pledged to ride a mile for every $ donated? You've got some work to do!

Seriously, thanks for all the support - we're raising money for a great cause. And of course my fund-raising website is here.

JB