Big Rides

[BrutusBuckeye]

I'm looking at getting a cross bike this winter and this would be nice with the dirt route.

I would love to get a cross bike. There are a few gravel grinders that look like a lot of fun. Especially the Crusher in the Tushar and the Oregon Coast Gravel Epic.

[RC Vikings]

I would love to get a cross bike. There are a few gravel grinders that look like a lot of fun. Especially the Crusher in the Tushar and the Oregon Gravel Epic.

I've got some guys in town I ride with and they have directed their focus from Lotoja to the Tushar. They say it's brutal and if you don't have a one to one ratio option for your gearing that's it's almost impossible.

[BrutusBuckeye]

I've got some guys in town I ride with and they have directed their focus from Lotoja to the Tushar. They say it's brutal and if you don't have a one to one ratio option for your gearing that's it's almost impossible.

I would definitely want some easy gearing on the bike for it. Maybe even something closer to where my mountain bike is geared.

[PaloAltoCougar]

We were supposed to do our third (and last) century of the year today, a relatively easy loop out of Davis through the hills by Lake Berryessa. But five days ago I came down with a nasty cold that got into my chest (is that a thing? just a lot of coughing with lots of junk in the windpipe). I didn't go into the office as planned for the first time in years due to illness. But I felt so so today so I drove the missus up to Davis and joined her, her four awesome cycling buddies and went out for the first twenty miles, then I took off on the metric century and watched them disappear in the distance for the full. I was pretty wasted by the time I finished but at least I got 60 in, disappointing though it was.

Meanwhile, Mrs. PAC and the others really cranked, finishing with a 17.6 or so average with over 3,000 feet of climbing. Over the initial 20-mile segment, she's now ranked fifth on Strava among all women going back the past several years. I am, yet again, humbled.

One minor plaudit for me... I achieved my goal of running/riding the distance from Cliff House overlooking the Pacific to Captain Jon's Lobster Boat in Bar Harbor, Maine (3400 miles or so), this year, with weeks to spare. I think I'm going to ease up and focus on eating for a while.

[RC Vikings]

We were supposed to do our third (and last) century of the year today, a relatively easy loop out of Davis through the hills by Lake Berryessa. But five days ago I came down with a nasty cold that got into my chest (is that a thing? just a lot of coughing with lots of junk in the windpipe). I didn't go into the office as planned for the first time in years due to illness. But I felt so so today so I drove the missus up to Davis and joined her, her four awesome cycling buddies and went out for the first twenty miles, then I took off on the metric century and watched them disappear in the distance for the full. I was pretty wasted by the time I finished but at least I got 60 in, disappointing though it was.

Meanwhile, Mrs. PAC and the others really cranked, finishing with a 17.6 or so average with over 3,000 feet of climbing. Over the initial 20-mile segment, she's now ranked fifth on Strava among all women going back the past several years. I am, yet again, humbled.

One minor plaudit for me... I achieved my goal of running/riding the distance from Cliff House overlooking the Pacific to Captain Jon's Lobster Boat in Bar Harbor, Maine (3400 miles or so), this year, with weeks to spare. I think I'm going to ease up and focus on eating for a while.

Nice going PAC, any ride over 20 miles not feeling 100% is tough. Mrs. PAC is amazing. I went over 3000 miles for the year yesterday and like you i'm ready to just belly up to the through prepare for winter.

[ERCougar]

PAC, did you track your progress across the country on some sort of mapping app? The nerdy part of me (ok, pretty much all of me) thinks that sounds kind of fun.

[PaloAltoCougar]

PAC, did you track your progress across the country on some sort of mapping app? The nerdy part of me (ok, pretty much all of me) thinks that sounds kind of fun.

No, I couldn't find such an app, but I'm sure there's one out there. Using Google Maps, I charted the route at the beginning (Cliff House in SF to Bar Harbor, ME). There was surprisingly little difference between selecting "car" or "cycling". Then every week or so I could estimate approximately where I was along that route, but did a specific check (e.g., Cliff House to, say, Davenport, Iowa) to see exactly where I was. Very nerdy, as well as anal retentive. During rides I'd tell Mrs. PAC things like, "Right now I'm riding through Cleveland!" She feigned interest, even though she was already way past me (she's racked up well over 5,000 this year).

[RC Vikings]

I need something to shoot for at the end of summer. Any fall rides down in Cali that you would recommend or I could join you? If BP recommends this one I may have to pass.

http://www.tourofcalifornia.org/2006...challenge.html

[PaloAltoCougar]

I need something to shoot for at the end of summer. Any fall rides down in Cali that you would recommend or I could join you? If BP recommends this one I may have to pass.

http://www.tourofcalifornia.org/2006...challenge.html

I'll start looking around and advise, although we have nothing planned at the moment. We're expecting another grandchild at the end of September so we'll have to work around that...

We're going to ride the Delta Century in less than four weeks. When we first started riding in our early 40s, the Delta was our first century and we were immensely proud of ourselves and our 15.3 average (the course is pancake flat). We're returning to it on the 20th anniversary and, weather permitting, we plan to crank out a PR, despite our advanced years. We could use a pull if you find yourself in California on May 3.

[BigPiney]

I need something to shoot for at the end of summer. Any fall rides down in Cali that you would recommend or I could join you? If BP recommends this one I may have to pass.

http://www.tourofcalifornia.org/2006...challenge.html

How about this one: http://www.fallcentury.org/

I may be doing it / have done it in the past.

[Moliere]

I'm doing a 150 miler (over 2 days) coming up next weekend. It shouldn't be too tough...but then again I'm hobbled by the IT band so it might hurt more than I want.

I noticed that Sunday morning, before we head out for the next day, there is a Catholic Mass scheduled at 5:30am. Most church members avoid this ride because it requires you participate on Sunday...which got me to thinking, I wonder if I can convince the local bishop to give me permission to hold a sacrament meeting that morning. I'd think more members might show up and ride if they knew local leadership was approving of hte event...but I got to thinking, would I rather wake up early to attend sacrament meeting or would I rather sleep for antoher 30-45 more minutes.

I will be wearing my oval Y jersey on the Sunday portion of the ride

[BrutusBuckeye]

I need something to shoot for at the end of summer. Any fall rides down in Cali that you would recommend or I could join you? If BP recommends this one I may have to pass.

http://www.tourofcalifornia.org/2006...challenge.html

Have you thought of the Tour de Park City? I haven't fully committed yet, but that is what I think I'll be aiming for this year. It's on August 15.

[RC Vikings]

I'll start looking around and advise, although we have nothing planned at the moment. We're expecting another grandchild at the end of September so we'll have to work around that...

We're going to ride the Delta Century in less than four weeks. When we first started riding in our early 40s, the Delta was our first century and we were immensely proud of ourselves and our 15.3 average (the course is pancake flat). We're returning to it on the 20th anniversary and, weather permitting, we plan to crank out a PR, despite our advanced years. We could use a pull if you find yourself in California on May 3.

How about this one: http://www.fallcentury.org/

I may be doing it / have done it in the past.

Have you thought of the Tour de Park City? I haven't fully committed yet, but that is what I think I'll be aiming for this year. It's on August 15.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will be looking at them.

[Moliere]

I'm doing a 150 miler (over 2 days) coming up next weekend. It shouldn't be too tough...but then again I'm hobbled by the IT band so it might hurt more than I want.

I noticed that Sunday morning, before we head out for the next day, there is a Catholic Mass scheduled at 5:30am. Most church members avoid this ride because it requires you participate on Sunday...which got me to thinking, I wonder if I can convince the local bishop to give me permission to hold a sacrament meeting that morning. I'd think more members might show up and ride if they knew local leadership was approving of hte event...but I got to thinking, would I rather wake up early to attend sacrament meeting or would I rather sleep for antoher 30-45 more minutes.

I will be wearing my oval Y jersey on the Sunday portion of the ride

Unfortunately, due to weather, day 1 of the event was cancelled. The weather actually wasn't bad on Saturday, however it had rained all week and the campgrounds where the 14,000 riders stay were saturated and unusable. Day 2 was still on, which meant the riders had to drive to La Grange on Sunday morning for the day 2 start. On Saturday monring I decided to at least get in some miles so I went to the LBS and hooked on to a group of 4 riders.

Sunday morning's ride was an adventure. Temps were warmer than I'd have liked and there was a steady 10mph headwind. The route was also packed, and I mean packed. There were at least 10,000 riders that still showed up for day 2 and they had to close down one of the routes (they usually have 2 routes open on day 2) so everyone was packed onto the same roads. The first 15 miles I took very easy as I rode with an old coworker, but once things thinned out a bit I ended up dropping him (at his request). The biggest mistake I made all day was only brining one water bottle. I had to stop at BP2 to fill it up and the BP was crazy. The ground was soaked and there were lines that went on forever for the portojohns. Next year I'll remember to bring a second bottle and skip all BPs except for lunch.

After lunch I had the oddest experience. I didn't really spend much time at BP2 or at the lunch BP, but when I got back out on the roads I found things thinned out a bit but I also was passing people like crazy. This was the only time where I wasn't really impeded by the crowds and the headwind get my speed down around 18mph but I was flying past people. My only sense of it was that they had most likely joined the route further up the road (which I guess many do in this ride) or they blew their wad on the first 35 miles and were just suffering. It was weird. I'd guess I passed at least 300 people over a 10 mile stretch with only a handful passing me. By this time the temps were around 90 and the headwind was getting stronger. This was a tough stretch and I ended up in a makeshift pace line with 2 other guys, both of whom were struggling more than me.

I was saving some strength for the hills just before Austin, which proved to be a flawed strategy. As we approached Austin we ran into stop lights, where we often sat for 3-4 minutes until police waved us through. I guess they wanted a critical mass of cyclists before getting us through. Odd. I at least powered up the hills with ease, only to stop at the next light. After 6-7 more lights I was finally pedaling past what should be renamed "Taysom Hill Stadium" and soon was at the finish line. I took a quick shower and then ran into a couple people (including Nikuman) before heading back to Houston.

This is a fun event and one that would be a fun ride for any local or non-local CSers. Next year, weather permitting, I'll do the full 180 miles. This year, not counting Saturday's makeshift ride, I got in a little over a metric century at 68 miles. The mph was depressing low, which is due somewhat to my 50 miles the day before, the headwind, the crowds, and walking the bike thorugh the massive BPs. Here's the GC data:

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/751572142

[OceanBlue]

Planning on my first 100 on May 2nd here on the Outer Banks. There are three options for the ride, 33 miles, 100 kilo's and 100 miler. The organizers ( local baptist church) provide a breakfast and lunch. Looking forward to this ride though it's on the same day as the local duathlon I had planned to run. My weight is too high for me to race so I'll do the ride.