I didn’t try to get into the Death Ride this year but was planning to do the Climb to Kaiser. With the high fuel costs and other things I lost interest in doing CTK and decided to try to do something equivalent with a club ride. There was a long distance training ride posted for Saturday, June 28th, led by Dave Zajac, that looked just right. ACTC is special amongst bike clubs because of the weekly rides that are often over 100 miles with a lot of climbing.

The group met at the Park N Ride in Los Gatos for a 7:30 start. Brian C. grabbed a quick picture before we departed.

I moved out to the front for the gradual ascent along highway 9 from the parking lot. Suddenly David H. went whizzing by. So fast so soon? I pushed on and was able to catch him as the road leveled off and where his pace also leveled off. But that was enough to leave the rest of the riders behind so the two of us rode together until Russ S. met up with us on Foothill. The three of us climbed Page Mill for our first climb of the day. After reaching the top of Page Mill, David went his own way so Russ and I rode together for the rest of the ride.

When our family lived in Japan we noticed that they never sold things like tableware in groups of four but always in groups of five. We later learned why. In Japan the numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky. The number four is pronounced “Shi“. The word for death in Japanese is “Shin“, which sounds similar. So the thought came to me if I wanted something like the Death Ride we needed to do four of something and what better thing to do than climb four billy goats that had a rating of “6″, the most difficult rating. Page Mill is only rated a “5″ so that would not count towards this goal.

Our first two rating “6″ climbs were on the route, Jamison Creek followed by Alba. Jamison Creek was no problem but when we hit Alba that was a different story. I had brought my bike with a double crank and the climb up Alba with a 39/27 was killing me (appropriate for our taste of death ride). After descending back down Jamison Creek, we did the climb up China Grade. That gave us three “6’s”. At the beginning of the ride I had thought about doing Bolhman at the end to get the climbing on the ride that would be similar to doing the Death Ride. But the climb up Alba gave me second thoughts. I have climbed Bolhman before with my double but that was when I was a bit more fresh. Russ and I discussed it and each was hoping the other would bring some reason into the decision. So we took the easy way out (if there is such a thing on such a ride) and climbed Sanborn for our fourth “6″ rated billy goat. I think that is the first time for me to do four “6’s” on one ride. I am sure others in the club may have done even more.

I ended up with 113 miles and 12,500 feet of climbing. The Death Ride is about 12 miles longer and another 2,000 feet of climbing so I would call this a taste of death ride. No drive to Markleville was needed and no entry fee required. Where else, other than ACTC, can you do such a club ride?

This shows the profile for the ride and the 6 billy goats we did. Click to enlarge.

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Because of our trip to San Diego last week, I needed to get in a good long training ride today, especially considering the Devil Mountain Double is coming up in 2 weeks. There was no scheduled ride that had both the miles and the feet of climbing that I wanted so I ended up combing parts of one ride with another. At 5:30 am, I started biking in the dark (and a bit cold) to meet up with the Tierra Bella worker’s ride. They were doing the 200K route. Initially I was just going to do that ride but it was too short on miles (only 122) and the climbs were not tough enough for what I wanted. But I rode with them up Uvas, then down Bailey and back to Morgan Hill. The timing worked out great because I arrived in Morgan Hill just on time for a Nightriders ride that started at 8:00 from there. We planned to do a triple crown ride and four other riders joined me for that.

We biked up the bike path, then climbed Metcalf. After going down the backside and then San Felipe, we made our way over to Quimby for our second major climb. It was now getting much warmer and I could feel the heat as we were nearing the top of Quimby. Quimby is a very steep hill and with only a double crankshaft, I was really torquing my leg muscles. Doug and I got to the top quick enough to have time to go down the East side and climb back up to the summit. Two of the guys had done a mega mountain bike ride the day before and it was too much for one of them, who headed back after reaching the summit. The four of us then descended down the East side and then up Mt. Hamilton Road to the summit. It was getting very hot now.

Only two days earlier I had climbed Mt. Hamilton with John, but today it seemed much more difficult. I was glad to reach the summit where we had a break for awhile. Since the summit is over 4,000 feet, the temperature there was pleasant, but still warm.

As we descended back down, we could feel the heat and as we climbed back up the East side of Quimby it was getting into the 90’s. We were lucky to have a tail wind on the way back, but I couldn’t seem to keep hydrated enough. Drinking hot water is not something I am anxious to do. By the time we got back to Morgan Hill I was very tired. Chuck gave us something to eat at his house and then I jumped back on the bike to return home. I ended up with 138 miles total and over 10,000 feet of climbing. In many ways I felt worse than after the recent Solvang Double Century. I guess it was the heat, which hit the mid 90’s during the later part of the ride.

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Yesterday in the morning I rode on the tandem with Ann for about 36 miles. I needed to get in more riding since I am in double century training so as soon as I returned home I jumped on my single bike and headed up to the trail head in Morgan Hill to catch the Henry Coe ride. I had stuff headwinds all the way up for the 15 miles so I spend much of the time in the aero bars.

Several people showed up for the ride, including Jim W. and Doug R. I was a bit weak since I climbed Henry Coe twice yesterday and this was my fourth climb up the hill this week. But I pushed hard, trying to keep ahead of the other guys. Doug was running circles around me, however.

This chart shows the part of the climb that is timed for the San Jose Bicycle club race. Look for the splits 1 and 2, which mark the start and end points. I included the table with the splits. The chart is plotted against time so the elevation change should look linear if I am climbing at a constant number of feet per minute. It took me 43:30, which was about 5 minutes slower than I did in the real race condition. Even so I had to keep my heart rate up to average 160. This first chart show yesterday’s climb (click charts to enlarge).

This next chart is from last October when I did the race over the same course. Look for the split No. 1 which was the end of the race. My actual race time was recorded as 37:34, although my watch showed slightly less. During the race I had to average 169 on my heart rate, quite a bit higher than today’s climb.  Click chart to enlarge.

I was very tired when I got home yesterday.

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Today was one of the long distance training rides with the bike club. Since the route came down south near the end, I planned to bike to the start. But that meant biking in the dark. I got up a 5 am and looked outside to see if it was raining, as the forecast showed. Nope, it was dry as a bone and when I looked up into the night sky it looked like patchy clouds.

I jumped on the bike at 6:15 am (sunrise was 7:18 am today). I met Gary F. on route and we headed up Santa Teresa. I thought I was so smart getting in the stretch from Gilroy to San Jose while it was dry. At least until we were approaching Bailey where we had quite a downpour. I realized that I would have wet and cold feet for the whole ride.

On Coleman Ave., Gary had a flat so I rode ahead and met the riders that were just coming up Meridian to let them know. We circled back to pickup Gary and headed on the route. Opps, Gary had another flat on Shannon. He decided to head back home so I gave him one of my tubes. He was the smart one, I think.

The weather cleared and as we started to climb Highway 9. It became sunny with blue skies. I thought I had brought too many clothes with me and was way over dressed for what looked then like a fine day. David had already gone ahead so it was now just four of us, Joe F, Peter, Kley and myself. By the time we reached the summit the temperature was now down to 40 degrees, but it was still sunny.

We headed up Skyline and I watched the temperature drop to 36 degrees and it started to get cloudy again. The descent down was super cold. I realized I had under dressed. Then on Summit we had a hail storm. My own thought was just to try to make it to the Summit Store. But by the time we got there it was sunny again.

On the way down Soquel San Jose it started to rain again but by the time we reached Soquel it had stopped. We finally made it to Corralitos where we were going to eat lunch. I was starved, having biked nearly 90 miles by that point. After we ate, we all decided to take the “short” option and after doing Hazel Dell we went up Mt. Madonna. Hey, I don’t remember it being that steep. Since we had wet roads for the past few hours we figured going down Redwood Retreat would be too muddy but when we reached the summit it was dry so that is how we made our way down. It was now dry and sunny (my wife told me it never did rain in Gilroy today). I rode a bit with the other 3 and as they headed back to the start before I biked home. I ended up with 112 miles total.  That brings me to 2600 miles so far this year.  That is a lot for the middle of March. This chart shows the comparision with prior years in terms of accumulated miles cycling.

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I was finally able to get my time to climb Metcalf down below 14:30. I had to take my heart rate up above 170. I guess it was chasing Joe Farinha that I needed to get me to push so hard. (click graph to enlarge).

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Today was a long distance training ride with the bike club. Four of us went off the published route after going up Metcalf. We climbed up Quimby West, then up Mt. Hamilton to the summit. Three of us then went down the backside of Mt. Hamilton and out the junction cafe.

This chart show the climbs for the entire route. They are plotted against time so the slope should be a constant if I am climbing at an even rate in terms of feet per minute. You can see my heart rate never went that high because I was holding back on the climbs due to the long distance. Click the graph to enlarge.

When I finally made it home just before dark I had logged 140 miles and 12,700 feet of climbing. That is about as much as many ultra distance events like Climb to Kaiser that has 155 miles and 13,500 feet of climbing. With this ride I went over 400 miles for the week cycling. I feel my training for the Devil Mountain Double event at the end of April is on track.

Here are the updated charts. All graphs show the current year compared with last year and against my training program. Click each chart to view enlarged.

The first two charts show accumulated miles and feet of climbing since the first of the year.

The next two charts show weekly numbers, for the long ride of the week and the weekly total of feet of climbing.

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With the varying weather I was wondering if anyone would show up for the Long Distance Training Ride scheduled for Saturday, February 2nd. I really didn’t want to miss doing a long ride on Saturday so decided to drive up to the ride start at Landess and Morril.

I was a bit surprised that there were 16 riders who also showed up.

We all headed out at 8 am under cloudy, but dry, conditions. It was a good opportunity to do the new Old Calaveras Billy Goat.

David took off in his normal fast fashion while I was struggling to keep up. The a new rider, by the name of Mike, came up by me. Later I found out he was the fellow who was taking pictures at the Pet the Goat spot on the Devil Mountain Double last year.

We then headed up Calaveras and it was David and myself. We were moving fast, up to 27 mph on the flatter sections. Mike caught us after we passed Welch Creek road and then we saw Craig. The four of us plowed on but I was feeling the pain of the fast pace. David them mentioned that he was cutting the ride short and was going to turn around at about 25 miles. I thought, gee I should have let him do ALL the pulling.

After David turned back I tried to keep up with Mike and Craig for awhile but after another 5 miles I decided I needed to back off. I was then caught in no man’s land, riding by myself for the rest of the ride.

There was some rain, but nothing real heavy, as I was going over the Altamont Pass. Then it cleared while I went up Patterson Pass.

On the way back I was biking into a strong headwind, which explained the fast pace on the way out. I kept thinking it would be nice to draft behind big Mike M. but I was not sure how far back the rest of the riders were and I was worried about getting caught in the rain, so I plugged on. It was all bringing back memories of the Devil Mountain Double, but the weather was much cooler this time.

On the way back over Calavares it seemed twice as long as on the way out. I finally made it back to the ride start at 3:30, not long before many other riders were returning. I should have waited longer for the train to catch me so I could have drafted with the headwind. Oh well, it was good training, I guess. I ended up with 98 miles and 6,000 feet of climbing.

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Earlier this week I read this posting of a mountain bike ride with the Night Riders: “Yes, we are having a Halloween Full Moon Night ride this Friday. Bats and howling Coyotes guaranteed. We will however attempt to limit sacrifices to the crash-gods. Meet 7:00pm at Hunting Hollow.”

It sounded like a lot of fun so I decided to join. Maybe it was because I showed up at Witching Hallow, instead of Hunting Hallow, that only one other person showed up, Thom. We waited for about 30 minutes thinking that maybe there might be another brave soul who would venture off into the dark with us during Halloween. But no one else showed so we decided to head out.

As we were climbing I noticed more frogs than I had ever seen before. They were darting back and forth as I made my way up the hill. What could cause all these frogs to cross our path. Then I suddenly saw a BIG frog right in the middle of the road, staring up at me. I had been careful to not run over any of the frogs, but this one was almost tempting me to run over it. Maybe that might release the curse from some prince, or maybe a monster. I decided to make a quick turn and avoid collision.

We had climbed for over an hour when I noticed up the road what look like 2 eyes reflecting back from the spot light on helmet. I stopped and paused to figure out what it might be but it was too dark to see. The full moon was hiding much of it’s face behind clouds, casting a creepy shadow on the earth. I started to ride on and then this creature darted off. It looked like it was flying but I was not sure. Could a bird’s eye shine back like that?

Up around the next bend, I saw it again and as I proceeded it darted off again and this time I was sure it was flying. Then a third time I saw the eyes off in the distance in the middle of the road. Thom said there were two of us and we bigger so we should go ahead. I followed behind him, peaking around his bike, and noticed once again it flew away. Then I remember we had been guaranteed bats on this ride.

I had turned my light on dim to save battery power as we were going up a rather steep section. All of a sudden my handle bars began to sway back and forth, like a divining rod. I nearly went over due to the force. I quickly turned my trusty BR Light on to bright and then my handle bars settled down.

After about 8 miles of climbing we decided that we had enough of the creepy creatures so we headed back down. I was a bit concerned as we approached the area where that flying creature was lurking. As I went around a bend, something flew up right in front of me, almost hitting my face. Thom saw it and can vouch that I am not exaggerating. It was an owl, or a bat, or some creature that only comes out on Halloween.

The air was turning cold but I was not about to stop to put on my jacket. We hammered down the hill and my heart rate only settled down when we reached the cars. It really was a Halloween Ride.

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You can tell that fall is in the air. Not the real cool temperatures as some parts of the country, but much still cooler than the long and warm summer we have enjoyed. We decided to go on one of the club rides on our tandem that started in Paicines, about a 25 mile drive from our home. The route took us on a beautiful Panoche road with very little traffic. Panoche Rd. was originally a stage coach route used by many of the early California pioneers in particular those people that were doing business with the nearby, New Idria (Quicksilver) mine.

Jime and Eric take off but we are able to hange with them on the tandem for awhile.

The first 10 miles is mostly flat, with some rollers, then there is about 7 miles of climbing, nothing real steep but it all adds up. Then it is down to the valley and a strong tail wind that took us at speeds in excess of 30 mph to the Panoche Inn. This Inn is about the only thing out in this area. No fall colors to see, unless the sagebrush can be counted.

A check of the flag at the Inn showed the strong tail wind we had enjoyed so far.

With 27 miles already in, we had the option to ride out to New Idria or Mercey Hot Springs. I rode the New Idria route in August and the road is real rough. The group we were with decided on the later option so we headed out the 8 miles to Mercey Hot Springs. The Hot Springs was known about by native Indians and was shown to a man “John N. Merci” who acquired the land for the purpose of raising sheep. Merci, who had his name changed to “Mercy” to be more Americanized, sold the property in 1912 to Frederick Bourn, a San Francisco based real estate developer who is responsible for the construction of many of the building still existing today and now being renovated by the current owners.

Some of the guys from the south county that I ride with for both road and mountain bikes were with us so Ann took this photo of our group. Where is Chuck?

Paul, my team mate for the Furance Creek 508 was also there.

We then headed back to the Panoche Inn were be bought lunch.

It is an interesting Inn inside. There must be about a thousand one dollar bills that people have signed and pinned to the wall and ceiling.

The strong tailwind we had enjoyed on the way out meant a strong headwind returning. Going into a headwind on the tandem is not quite as hard as on a single bike because you have the power of two to fight against the wind but the wind drag of only one person.

We ended up with 71 miles by the time we finished. It was a very nice ride.

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We usually climb Henry Coe each Wednesday evening, starting at 5:15 pm. Now that the days are getting shorter, than means we need to use lights to come back down the hill. It was rather warm today so Jim emailed me and suggested we ride earlier. I called and said I could do a 4 pm start. Jim, Doug and myself all met on Dunne Ave. at the bottom of the climb. The next race in the Winter Series is going to be a hill climb up Henry Coe, so wanted to get some benchmark.

Doug is a very good climber, faster than I am. We rode together during much of the climb but he went ahead toward the end. Using the start/end locations that the San Jose Bicycle club uses for a 6.77 mile hill climb, my first time was 42:17, with an average heart rate of 158 and a maximum of 170 (while chasing Doug at the end). Here is the heart rate curve (click it to enlarge).

I never went into the red zone, except at the very end, but was pushing close to my lactage threshold. I think I can possibly take enough time off in a race to break 40 minutes. I timed the second climb and it took 45:40, with an average heart rate of 153. However for this time I stopped at the regular regroup location and waited for the rest of the riders so it is not quite an accurate measurement.

It was geting dark before we reach the summit (my second time) and the temperature was dropping, as expected. At the top I added more clothes and waited for the rest of the riders. Jim and Doug had decided to not go up a second time becasue they did not bring lights, as I had done.

We all seem to have much better lights than last year and during the decent the road was lit up like a car was driving down. Kley has a BR light as I do. Todd was borrowing a light from Chuck because the one he ordered had not yet arrived. Both Chuck and Todd were having problems with the mounting of their lights because they were trying to attach them to the aerobars. My BR LIght worked great. I am really sold on the new LED technology. Todd has ordered a HID light so I am curious to see how much brighter it is. I like the LED light design because it can be more robust and it is easy to have different power settings to achieve extended battery life on a charge. I am quite happy with the BR light I bought.

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