This weekend was all about mixin' it up, spending time with friends we've neglected since racing season began, and mileage overload.
Saturday, we rode with a teammate and her husband who are moving out of state. They live in Fremont. So, we rode from Fremont to Berkeley. There were lots of new cycling roads in there - Redwood, Pinehurst, Skyline and Tunnel. Lots o' fun. We even caught a glimpse of the rare blue and white Spotted Panda while descending Tunnel into Berkeley. We lunched at Top Dog and then headed back on the BART. This was our warm-up ride for Sunday. 45 miles and 3,900 feet or so.
Sunday, we got up WAY too early to arrive in SF at 7:30 at the Sports Basement. The ride was supposed to be a 70 mile jaunt to Nicasio with a few friends we used to ride with all the time and some of their friends. All in all, there were 13 of us to start the ride. Again, a lot of this route was new to us, except some pieces we've seen on a couple centuries. When we arrived, our friend Erika had forgotten her shoes. So, we had to wait for Sports Basement to open so she could buy a pair. At 8:20 or so, we finally rolled out. The route had been modified to include a loop out to Pt. Reyes. We had a very mixed level of fitness and skill from regular endurance riders and racers to a guy who rides 1 x per year. Therefore, there was a lot of stoppage and regrouppage. All-in-all, I think we had 6 hours of riding time and 9 hours out on the course. It was a really long day and I have a biking hangover for sure. Highlights were the descent between Mill Valley and Larkspur and the whole stretch from Pt. Reyes through Olema and back to Fairfax. Lowlights were losing two of our riders in a crash (no major injuries, thankfully), the whole line of riders getting buzzed and 1 hit by a pickup truck while descending into the town of Nicasio on Nicasio Valley Road (again, thankfully no major injuries), and the ride back through Sausalito and the throngs of tourists on foot, bike and in cars.
10 comments:
how fun!
It was fun to get out and do some longer rides, just wished we could get everyone to ride at a pace comfortable for us :-) Now, onto sleep, eat, quad measurements, and more fun and games!
Imagine my surprise...good to see you!
The riding out there must be great. I am familiar a little of that area and it looks like great riding.
Hey we need to get Chris out here riding these roads. Then he will no longer use the term 'hills' to describe those rollers he rides ;-)
flandria - yes, it was mucho fun! I love exploring new routes and roads.
panda - yes, good seeing you for a fleeting moment.
rick and chris - yeah, we definitely need to get chris out here for some hill training. Isn't there a "client who needs to be called on" or something you need to do in the Bay Area?
sounds fun you guys! You missed SLO for a good reason :-).
Hey, I was there at the Sports Basement, same time, starting with the Northern Exposure and didn't see you guys! Shucks.
Good roads to ride but sorry you had such a long day. Reminds me of missing the turn in the rain and ending up in Bolinas
- but it's all good!
Jackie - how can you miss the Kiwi green box ... I mean Honda Element? Sticks out in the parking lot like a sore thumb.
kim - well, it was a bummer to miss SLO, but good to spend quality cycling time with our friends.
jackie - I actually knew you were leading on Sunday and was keeping my eyes peeled for you. But, maybe we got going before your group gathered in large enough numbers for me to notice. Thanks for the heads-up on the road closure!
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