2806.3; 100.8 miles!
Sometimes in crossword puzzles, they have the clue "century plant" and the answer is "agave." Very near to halfway through my ride today, I saw an agave plant.
Well, I got started, and I just kept goin'! Lunch at the Dry Creek Store is becoming a popular destination for me. Started north on Dry Creek Road, but ran out of shoulder and came back to Lambert Bridge Road and cut over to West Dry Creek, SO much nicer. At Yoakim Bridge Rd., no choice but to take it over to (East) Dry Creek, but the shoulder wasn't bad from there, and traffic fairly light.
Then, Dutcher Creek Road, a pretty substantial climb in mid-afternoon heat, and then a long cruise downhill to find myself in Cloverdale with over 45 miles on the meter!
Ice Cream! Couldn't find the drive-in/walk-up ice cream stand I had imagined I'd seen before in C'dale, and had to settle for a vanilla bar with chocolate coating from the freezer at a Mexican deli. Ate about half of it.
Decided the known evil was better than the un, so back over Dutcher Creek Road I went. I followed the same route back to the Dry Creek Store, by which time I was ready to eat the second half of my sandwich and refill my hydration pack. Then back through Healdsburg, Eastside (I hit 75 miles at the Riverfront Regional Park--another new favorite stop), Laguna, bike path, the usual, but I saw that I was gonna be about three miles short of 100, so I took a half-mile detour into Santa Rosa and then rode south out of Sebastopol til I had 99 and headed for home. All told, about 11 hours, including two lunch stops, ice cream, various rest stops.
Again didn't really hit the wall until about 60 or more. Oddly, no leg pain. Quite a lot of butt pain, and a bit of shoulder soreness, and I'm sure my leg muscles will be sore tomorrow (and the next day....), but I have my 120 for the week (137, actually), and less than 200 miles now to go to 3000!
Now that I've done a century, what next? Well, there's always 110! Seriously, I think I'd rather settle in to a good routine, and I don't really see a need to do more than 60 miles at a time, except for special occasions.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Burnside Burn
2705.5; 21.0 miles
I started out with a much longer ride in mind, and noticed about three miles out that my odometer wasn't working. On closer inspection, it appeared the cable-tie holding the sensor on the fork had been sheared off by my loading of my bike with another on the car rack yesterday. Miles the odometer doesn't see? They don't exist. So about 6 "ghost miles" back to the bike shop (West County Revolution), where they kindly affixed TWO cable-ties. By then I was rethinking my ride, not sure where I wanted to go, but no longer in the mood for 50+. I gravitated toward the mighty, fearsome Burnside Road ("English Hill" on this map, if it shows terrain as selected):
View Larger Map
I'd never before climbed this hill without at least two stops. It gains about 1000 feet in about 4 miles, all told. Today, I found I couldn't get into the lowest front gear without a derailleur adjustment that requires a phillips screwdriver, which my not-so-handy bike tool doesn't have!), so climbed it in 2-1 at best, and WITHOUT STOPPING, in about 40 minutes. Whoo-hoo! (It's a spectacular view up there, one of the best in the county!)
The other side could easily lead to 40mph+, except it's so badly potted and, in some places, slick, so I was seldom much over 30 mph, and riding the brakes for most of it. All in all, a slow start on my week, but I'm still easily in the running for a 3000-mile year.
I drove it later and filmed the climb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiN8zFlZq6g
I started out with a much longer ride in mind, and noticed about three miles out that my odometer wasn't working. On closer inspection, it appeared the cable-tie holding the sensor on the fork had been sheared off by my loading of my bike with another on the car rack yesterday. Miles the odometer doesn't see? They don't exist. So about 6 "ghost miles" back to the bike shop (West County Revolution), where they kindly affixed TWO cable-ties. By then I was rethinking my ride, not sure where I wanted to go, but no longer in the mood for 50+. I gravitated toward the mighty, fearsome Burnside Road ("English Hill" on this map, if it shows terrain as selected):
View Larger Map
I'd never before climbed this hill without at least two stops. It gains about 1000 feet in about 4 miles, all told. Today, I found I couldn't get into the lowest front gear without a derailleur adjustment that requires a phillips screwdriver, which my not-so-handy bike tool doesn't have!), so climbed it in 2-1 at best, and WITHOUT STOPPING, in about 40 minutes. Whoo-hoo! (It's a spectacular view up there, one of the best in the county!)
The other side could easily lead to 40mph+, except it's so badly potted and, in some places, slick, so I was seldom much over 30 mph, and riding the brakes for most of it. All in all, a slow start on my week, but I'm still easily in the running for a 3000-mile year.
I drove it later and filmed the climb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiN8zFlZq6g
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Swimming in Place
2668.7; 31.5:
Just trying to get my 120 on the week without aggravating the hip/knee soreness from Tuesday's epic ride, I squeezed by (124.2 if I don't ride any more this week--probably will try to get another 16 tomorrow). This is already my biggest month ever; will wait till the end of the month to post that mileage.
Uneventful. Early start; the usual Forestville run, and then back to the start for the Santa Rosa round trip, allowing for decent miles without getting too far from home. Got farther without leg pain, and found it going away after rest stops; so I think that'll be okay.
Trader Joe's macadamia, cranberries, almonds, and ginger is a good trail snack. Add some of those tart montmorency dried cherries next time!
Just trying to get my 120 on the week without aggravating the hip/knee soreness from Tuesday's epic ride, I squeezed by (124.2 if I don't ride any more this week--probably will try to get another 16 tomorrow). This is already my biggest month ever; will wait till the end of the month to post that mileage.
Uneventful. Early start; the usual Forestville run, and then back to the start for the Santa Rosa round trip, allowing for decent miles without getting too far from home. Got farther without leg pain, and found it going away after rest stops; so I think that'll be okay.
Trader Joe's macadamia, cranberries, almonds, and ginger is a good trail snack. Add some of those tart montmorency dried cherries next time!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
West Best
2620.5; 76.0
New record, one that I hope won't stand for too long. Left a little late for a "longish" ride--had no definite plans other than to check out West Dry Creek Rd., which continues north beyond Healdsburg from Westside Rd., and probably figures into any century I might do this summer. Home by 6:40, so almost exactly 10mph average... obviously, need to leave a bit earlier if I want to do a century!
West Dry Creek is about another 11 miles of rolling hills among vineyards (Raymond Burr is for sale...), really pleasant with quite a lot of shade interspersed with sun, a slight upgrade, I think, and an eventual dead end so there's not much traffic (and that upgrade means a downgrade on the return trip).
Then I cut over on the Yoakim Bridge Rd to (non-West) Dry Creek Rd.--a MUCH less pleasant proposition, with 50mph limit and slim shoulder. Had lunch at the Dry Creek Store, a really nice stop (note: that's included in my total time and ~10 mph avg). I ate half a Pannini with turkey and cheese--still have the other half. I also ate three graham crackers, about 10 cherries, and a small package of trail mix at various stops on this ride.
Had enough of Dry Creek and decided to cut over on Lytton Springs and Chiquita Rds., which turned out to include a pretty big climb with seemingly no reward, just a big vista and the Healdsburg airport at the top and seemingly almost no downgrade into Healdsburg. Then Eastside, Trenton-Healdsburg, Laguna, Guerneville, Willowside, and the bike path.
I did NOT hit the usual wall at 35 miles--felt I was just getting started then! I made sure to stop and rest regularly, drink lots of water, and just enjoy the ride. It wasn't till around 60 miles that I started feeling tired and slow (and sore! left hip and knee, and hands going numb), but I kept pushing on with reasonable rest stops and actually started to come out of it near the end, at around 70.
Saw a jackrabbit before it saw me, and got as close as maybe 20 feet before it saw/heard me and took off. Red-shouldered hawks still screaming everywhere--I'm guessing they're juves still trying to get food from the parents, but maybe the just like to scream. One notable red-tail; no other hawks. Looking forward to migration time soon, cooler weather and more big birds.
In these cases at least, West is Best: Westside Road more pleasant than Eastside, and West Dry Creek far better than Dry Creek. I could've come back down West Dry Creek and crossed over to the store on the Lambert Bridge Road.
Not a bad ride!
New record, one that I hope won't stand for too long. Left a little late for a "longish" ride--had no definite plans other than to check out West Dry Creek Rd., which continues north beyond Healdsburg from Westside Rd., and probably figures into any century I might do this summer. Home by 6:40, so almost exactly 10mph average... obviously, need to leave a bit earlier if I want to do a century!
West Dry Creek is about another 11 miles of rolling hills among vineyards (Raymond Burr is for sale...), really pleasant with quite a lot of shade interspersed with sun, a slight upgrade, I think, and an eventual dead end so there's not much traffic (and that upgrade means a downgrade on the return trip).
Then I cut over on the Yoakim Bridge Rd to (non-West) Dry Creek Rd.--a MUCH less pleasant proposition, with 50mph limit and slim shoulder. Had lunch at the Dry Creek Store, a really nice stop (note: that's included in my total time and ~10 mph avg). I ate half a Pannini with turkey and cheese--still have the other half. I also ate three graham crackers, about 10 cherries, and a small package of trail mix at various stops on this ride.
Had enough of Dry Creek and decided to cut over on Lytton Springs and Chiquita Rds., which turned out to include a pretty big climb with seemingly no reward, just a big vista and the Healdsburg airport at the top and seemingly almost no downgrade into Healdsburg. Then Eastside, Trenton-Healdsburg, Laguna, Guerneville, Willowside, and the bike path.
I did NOT hit the usual wall at 35 miles--felt I was just getting started then! I made sure to stop and rest regularly, drink lots of water, and just enjoy the ride. It wasn't till around 60 miles that I started feeling tired and slow (and sore! left hip and knee, and hands going numb), but I kept pushing on with reasonable rest stops and actually started to come out of it near the end, at around 70.
Saw a jackrabbit before it saw me, and got as close as maybe 20 feet before it saw/heard me and took off. Red-shouldered hawks still screaming everywhere--I'm guessing they're juves still trying to get food from the parents, but maybe the just like to scream. One notable red-tail; no other hawks. Looking forward to migration time soon, cooler weather and more big birds.
In these cases at least, West is Best: Westside Road more pleasant than Eastside, and West Dry Creek far better than Dry Creek. I could've come back down West Dry Creek and crossed over to the store on the Lambert Bridge Road.
Not a bad ride!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Starr and other astronomical problems
2544.5; 39.6
Lots of energy today for powering into sun and wind, wanting to get a sizeable chunk of the roughly 500 I need to get to 3000 miles on the odometer in the next 30 days. Also wanted to get 125, if possible, on the week--not to difficult with 87 already logged--just a question of which route to take. So I did the usual start out to Forestville and decided to widen the 30-mile loop a bit via Windsor, and come bak via Fulton Rd., and I could decide at the bike path whether I wanted to loop through Santa Rosa for 10 miles or cut across 12 for about 5. Before that, though, there was a matter of a flat tire and tube replacement, conveniently occurring next to the Fulton Youth Park, with shade and a nice rock wall to sit on. Done & done, quick buzz home from there, and we're looking good.
Lots of energy today for powering into sun and wind, wanting to get a sizeable chunk of the roughly 500 I need to get to 3000 miles on the odometer in the next 30 days. Also wanted to get 125, if possible, on the week--not to difficult with 87 already logged--just a question of which route to take. So I did the usual start out to Forestville and decided to widen the 30-mile loop a bit via Windsor, and come bak via Fulton Rd., and I could decide at the bike path whether I wanted to loop through Santa Rosa for 10 miles or cut across 12 for about 5. Before that, though, there was a matter of a flat tire and tube replacement, conveniently occurring next to the Fulton Youth Park, with shade and a nice rock wall to sit on. Done & done, quick buzz home from there, and we're looking good.
Monday, July 13, 2009
At 29 You Get Ice Cream
2458.4; 40.9
And I'm on the home stretch of a year owning this bike, trying for a little over 100 miles a week for the next four weeks to put it up near 3000 miles (any bets?).
I scouted Sweetwater Springs Road on Friday. It's an eight-mile back road with some pretty serious climbs, twists and turns, one-lane stretches, and a lot of cow gratings. Very little traffic, as it's mostly vineyards, ranches, and lumber mills. I decide today to just try to get to the top of the first big hill and not go too far down the other side (though it goes through to Armstrong Woods near Guerneville, the roads from there back home aren't very safe, as far as I've seen, so any hill I go down, I gotta come back up). About 2-1/2 miles in I reached one such pass and so turned around maybe a little earlier tan I'd've liked. That was 18 miles into the ride, so I still had other hills to climb. I stopped at the Wohler Bridge and looked at the map and decided to try a new way back. So instead of crossing Wohler bridge again, I went back to Westside Road and followed it to the end on River Rd. It was quite warm by now and I was "feeling the burn" from a weekend of no exercise, so I stopped at a little store I've visited one before on River Rd, now 29 miles into the ride. I was willing to pay 89 cents for a banana, because I was a little worried about cramping up. Also willing to buy a plastic bottle of water to somewhat refill my pack, and a Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia bar, just because I could (actually only ate half of that, but it WAS delicious). So from here, I didn't want to stay on River Rd., which has flocks of drunken teens driving 60mph with no shoulders (on the road, not the teens), and a guy I like to call "Inky" out there driving somewhere, who bought a 12-pack of Miller Genuine Draft, and whose tattoos ran all the way up his neck to his chin--won't HE be interesting if/when he's 65 and the jowls fall! So I found Martinelli Rd. on my handy SCBC BikeSonoma Map (and it IS a nice map and I'm glad to finally have one with me on these rides!
Martinelli Road was very pleasant after the frantic rush of River Road, but it delivered me onto a short uphill stretch of frantic, rushing Hwy 116, which ALSO had almost no shoulder and cars zooming by at 55-60mph. And "Inky" could well be coming up behind me at any moment, four of five beers into that 12-pack by now. But it was short, and soon I was back on the familiar bike path and home. So, almost 41 miles--it really felt like 50, given the heat and the climbing. And I'm certainly in good shape for a 100-mile week.
And I'm on the home stretch of a year owning this bike, trying for a little over 100 miles a week for the next four weeks to put it up near 3000 miles (any bets?).
I scouted Sweetwater Springs Road on Friday. It's an eight-mile back road with some pretty serious climbs, twists and turns, one-lane stretches, and a lot of cow gratings. Very little traffic, as it's mostly vineyards, ranches, and lumber mills. I decide today to just try to get to the top of the first big hill and not go too far down the other side (though it goes through to Armstrong Woods near Guerneville, the roads from there back home aren't very safe, as far as I've seen, so any hill I go down, I gotta come back up). About 2-1/2 miles in I reached one such pass and so turned around maybe a little earlier tan I'd've liked. That was 18 miles into the ride, so I still had other hills to climb. I stopped at the Wohler Bridge and looked at the map and decided to try a new way back. So instead of crossing Wohler bridge again, I went back to Westside Road and followed it to the end on River Rd. It was quite warm by now and I was "feeling the burn" from a weekend of no exercise, so I stopped at a little store I've visited one before on River Rd, now 29 miles into the ride. I was willing to pay 89 cents for a banana, because I was a little worried about cramping up. Also willing to buy a plastic bottle of water to somewhat refill my pack, and a Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia bar, just because I could (actually only ate half of that, but it WAS delicious). So from here, I didn't want to stay on River Rd., which has flocks of drunken teens driving 60mph with no shoulders (on the road, not the teens), and a guy I like to call "Inky" out there driving somewhere, who bought a 12-pack of Miller Genuine Draft, and whose tattoos ran all the way up his neck to his chin--won't HE be interesting if/when he's 65 and the jowls fall! So I found Martinelli Rd. on my handy SCBC BikeSonoma Map (and it IS a nice map and I'm glad to finally have one with me on these rides!
Martinelli Road was very pleasant after the frantic rush of River Road, but it delivered me onto a short uphill stretch of frantic, rushing Hwy 116, which ALSO had almost no shoulder and cars zooming by at 55-60mph. And "Inky" could well be coming up behind me at any moment, four of five beers into that 12-pack by now. But it was short, and soon I was back on the familiar bike path and home. So, almost 41 miles--it really felt like 50, given the heat and the climbing. And I'm certainly in good shape for a 100-mile week.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Westside, Eastside, Northside, Southside
2310.3; 52.2. Yeah, longest ride so far, but only by about half a mile. Really tried to keep the energy up, via 8-mile rests and small snacks. STILL got sluggish around 35 miles, but did manage to continue for (evidently) 17 more, stopping more often, but pressing onward. Man that WIND! It seemed particularly bad on the last stretch, the westbound Rodota trail. Stopped in at the shop to make appt for tune-up and ask about tire life. He says (a) if you're not getting regular flats, you probably have some mileage to go (b) the "tread" (really just angled grooves in the basically smooth tire) still has some depth, and you could probably keep going even when it doesn't (unlike a car), (c) If the tire spilts, you can use a dollar bill (?) for a temporary repair, or electrical tape you have ready by winding it e.g. around the seatpost.
Is a century doable? Jeeze, that's a tough call. It's basically two of this, but the second one a LOT harder, I'd imagine. I'm looking at Cloverdale as a probably round-trip destination for it. Lunch in Cloverdale, definitely. With an early start, on a good day, I think I could make it. Need to map out 60, 75, 80, 90-mile rides first, maybe, but I might also just get on the bike one day and go for it...
Is a century doable? Jeeze, that's a tough call. It's basically two of this, but the second one a LOT harder, I'd imagine. I'm looking at Cloverdale as a probably round-trip destination for it. Lunch in Cloverdale, definitely. With an early start, on a good day, I think I could make it. Need to map out 60, 75, 80, 90-mile rides first, maybe, but I might also just get on the bike one day and go for it...
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