Lanceoldstrong

Anyone wanting to skip Sierra Rd. has a super simple option. Look at the maps, and see that you just don't turn right on Sierra. Continue on Piedmont until it crosses Calaveras and then resume the route at that point.

This saves a little over 10 miles and a whole world of pain.

motorider

That may be one way to catch those fast guys.

Ygduf

Skip Sierra? I could give you a ride home...

bayareawheeler

well i got shut down by the wife, she has an early afternoon appointment so it looks like im back to plan A...the easy option. Ride out to HOP and home for a flattish 90 miles. You guys have fun!

MetinUz

I would like to join, but I may be coming down with the flu (or it may be the 10mi run this morning). I will come if I feel OK in the morning.

Britpower

Hey Dan,
I will be out on Mines road on Saturday as there is a Cinderella training ride that I am helping with. Give a shout out when you pass me.
Look forward to seeing you all.

Lanceoldstrong

If you weren't training some Cinderella riders and helping them out,
I know you would be passing me.
I have ridden with you enough to know how strong you are.

bayareawheeler

bayareawheeler

Ygduf

Good ride to all who came out.

The group split pretty quickly (bound to happen on 100-mile climb-ey ride), but everyone seemed to make it in daylight despite all the flats.

I skipped Sierra/Felter because I felt terrible on the backside of Ham and we'd lost an hour to the mechanicals. Pretty sure I'm still feeling the midweek stomach virus I had, that or Keith/Ben beat me up worse than I thought on Mines. Regardless, nice dry (non-scortching day) back there for a change.

Thanks, all.

silentben

According to strava your time up the back side of Ham was 10 minutes faster than mine. I didn't eat enough on Mines road and then overcompensated with the pulled pork sandwich (plus sweet potato fries) at the junction. I didn't feel fully recovered until reaching the top of Ham and drinking a coke.

But overall it was a good ride and nice to see everyone again. Thanks for organizing Dan!

motorider

What a day. The first part of the day features blizzard pace at Niles Canyons Rd, and multiple tire punctures including myselfs. After lunch with Spingineer, we started San Antonio Rd and pulling each other. The headwind was pretty strong. We split up on the first climb and went with our own pace. The road was lonely. I didn't see any cyclist going up Mt Hamilton, and only a handful charging down. I set my own pace so it was not as difficult as I originally thought. At the top of Hamilton, it was pretty chilly. In fact I saw a big chunk of icy in a shaded area near the post office. I waited at the top for about 15 minutes and told myself if I were to try Sierra then I would have to go now. Again, I didn't see any cyclist going down Hamilton on all 18 miles besides myself. When I turned to Sierra Rd, it was already 4:15pm and I was afraid I was not going to make it back to Fremont before dark. After Hamilton, my legs were pretty much gone, and had to wobble up Sierra with my 34x28. 11-32 now looks inevitable for DMD ride. After decenting to Milpitas, I skip Mission San Jose and took Osgood Rd and Paseo Patre Pkwy, and back to Fremont BART just after 6pm.

Thanks all!

motorider

Classic!

Lanceoldstrong

It was really nice to see everybody. I rode with most of you enough at times to chat a bit with almost all of you.
Climbing Hamilton with SilentBen was a life saver. That is a road where some company really helps.

Hooked up with motorider for an extended period down Hamilton and up Sierra.
After Sierra we went back and forth on whether to throw in the Caleveras Wall as an out and back.
That madness was his idea. But you know I love madness, so we did it.
I enjoyed getting to know him.

Feels good that motorider and I rode the whole loop, plus the Caleveras Wall.
Sorry about all the flats guys, that is a drag on an already hard day. I was lucky there.

ahmose

Slight correction Hard to keep up with all the BF/twitter/real handle

ahmose

Thanks Lanceoldstrong for organizing such a great route. Fun ride. I enjoy meeting some new faces.
Sierra was a beast at mile 90, i have no idea how the DMD guys do it at mile 155
Wish i conversed some energy at the beginning, maybe it would've made Sierra more reasonable. I suspect that it will always hurt though.
Glad we added that Caleveras Wall at the end.
I will post some of the pics that i took later.

Ygduf

On DMD I don't get the option to bail on it.

Ygduf

Time isn't representative of how bad I was feeling! I spent a large chunk of this ride sweating but with goosebumps. I stayed too long at lunch and wasn't right after. I know I shouldn't stop for that long, but it's easy to lose track of time thinking about how you'd prefer a car ride home.

bayareawheeler

Great ride guys! Hats off to you double guys @ 100 I wanted off the bike and in a hot shower asap with something with caffiene and whipped cream on top! Such a great weather!! Thx again for your patience while I went through tube after tube, glad I was able to get out there.

motorider

Lol, I was way back...

Ygduf

Keith, you're an animal. The 2 beers at lunch were adding insult to our injured pride!

spingineer

Great ride guys. I think I was the weak link here ... just not a climber, at all! Thanks for hanging in with me motorider ... You are a climber, as evident on how quickly you climbed up the back side. It's probably a good thing I skipped Sierra ... otherwise, I probably wouldn't have made it back till 8 pm. This will be more than enough training for me to complete Solvang in two weeks. At least I got in two consecutive weekends with 100+ mile each. However, I think any thoughts of doing DMD are now shot (was considering worker's ride, but after this, no way).

uspspro

Ron, there was a god deal of hammering early on. If you do it at your own pace, I bet you could still do it. The staff ride has really great people on it (of varying abilities).