Today we did the Tierra Bella Century ride on our tandem. This was a unique experience because both of us took pictures of the event while riding.

See my photography blog for more information about what we learned from a photographic aspect.

See my family blog for more information about the century ride.

The family that cycles together stays together …. especially if they are on a tandem.

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Yesterday Ann had an appointment in Monterey to have her eyes checked so we decided to take our bikes with us and bike afterwards. We parked in the Park N Ride which has the bike trail go right by it. After making our way through all the pedestrians around Fisherman’s Warf we went on the road and headed toward the 17 mile drive. It was a sunny and beautiful day.

I had brought the camera along but after I took this first picture it showed the batteries were dead. We biked for much of the 17 mile drive to Pebble Beach where stopped at the market to buy some AA batteries and also a drink and cookie. We fresh batteries in the camera I took a couple more pictures.

We then continued on our way towards Carmel. After passing Ocean Street we rode along the road that passes along the ocean.

We rode all way until we reached Highway 1 and then turned back and rode through the city of Carmel and then back along the 17 mile drive. We stopped at the Lone Cypruss viewpoint and Ann took a phone call.

Then it was back to Monterey. I grabbed some photos while riding the bike.

We found a great place to stop and setup the camera for a self timed shot of the two of us.

When we made it back to the car we had logged 39 miles. It was a lot of fun.

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It is Tuesday so that means two rides, with the first ride with two people. Around 11:30 am, Ann and I headed out on the Tandem up north. We first went up Mantelli, then to Watsonville Road to Uvas. We took Uvas all the way until we bailed out at Bailey, I mean turned right at Baily.

Ann thought we were kind of dogging it today, she said we were not going as fast as we were on Saturday on Uvas. I guess I was a bit tired, at least until I saw a Specialized rider ahead of us about 5 miles before we hit Bailey. I knew we could catch him, which we did. He followed us on the Bailey turn and was closing the gap as we were climbing the short section before the decent. So, I had Ann stand with me as we powered over the short climb. I looked in my rear view mirror and see we had dropped him big time.

I guess I was being conservative on the decent because he nearly caught us. I thought at least he would not turn right on Santa Teressa as we would, but I was wrong. We had a tail wind now so we cranked it up to 24-25 mph. He could not close the gap. I was thinking if he was able to ever close the gap, he might be shocked to see a couple of senior citizens on the tandem.

I had plenty of reserve so I knew we could stay ahead of him all the way to Morgan Hill, that was until some city bus passed us an then cut right in front of us to make it’s stop. I had to almost come to a stop. The Specialized rider was back far enough that he swung out around the bus and got ahead. No fair I thought.

Well that was enough, we both needed food and drink because it was hot, about 95 degrees. We stopped at Erik’s Deli in Morgan Hill and split a sandwich and bowl of soup (our typical lunch there). Then it was back straight home, for a total of 44 miles, averaging 17.1 mph. Not so slow I thought.

I had about 1 hour before I headed with bike and car to Morgan Hill to ride the Metcalf Mauler from there. It was 101 degrees on the car thermometer as I arrived in Morgan Hill at the trail head. Good thing the heat does not bother me that much. I felt fresh a the beginning of the official ride in San Jose and hammered down Santa Teressa, this time South to Bailey where we turn left. I was the first one up Metcalf but my time was no PR, about 14 minutes. No one challenged me, I guess because of the heat. After the official ride I biked back on the bike trail to the trail head. I ended the day with 92 miles total.

Categories: Cycling, Cycling Group Rides, Cycling with Family
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This was our last chance to get in a bike ride this visit to Utah so we got up early. Well, I guess if you call 8 am early. It was a bit overcast but shortly after we started to bike, it became sunny. It was beautiful weather, just the right temperature as we headed up Provo Canyon bike trail with the plan of cycling up to Sundance. We stopped part way up for these photos by the Provo River.

After we turned off the highway toward Sundance it became a steeper climb, but Ann knew what to expect having done this same route last Tuesday. We really enjoy the Sundance area and spent some time up there taking pictures and eating a sandwich.

After some restful time up at Sundance we made our way back home. Since Ann had some errands to run and the 25 miles we had biked was not quite what I wanted, I headed up the canyon again, this time going up Squaw Peak. That is a 5 mile, 1600 vertical feet climb. I was disappointed that I didn’t see anyone else on the hill to race against. I stopped briefly at the Outlook Point to take a photo.

On the way down I came upon another rider headed up the hill. Good, I thought. So after going past him a bit, I turned around and chased him down. He was about 40 years old but not that great of a climber so I easily passed him. We met again at the bottom of the hill because he came down faster than I did. He asked my name and where I was from, commenting how good of condition I was in. I just said that I climb a lot of hills in California. So all together I got in about 45 miles, a good recovery day after last Saturday’s fast paced century ride.

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The days have definitely warmed up and it was already in the high 60’s as we left on a bike ride to do the Canada Loop. With the predicted high of over 90 degrees, we decided to climb the Canada side and finish most of the climbing before it got too hot. It was Ann’s first time to climb that hill but she seemed to have no problems. She commented that she had anticipated a steeper hill than it turned out to be. I guess she is ready for Metcalf now!

After reaching the CDF fire station where Canada and Roop roads intersect, we turned right and headed up to Gilroy Hotsprings. It was Ann’s first time up that road and we commented it would have been great to know about all these places when the kids were younger so we could have taken on some hikes. We have lived in Gilroy nearly 30 yeas (less the 13 years in Japan) and it was not until I got into biking and rode with bike groups that I learned about so many neat roads right in my backyard.

After finishing the in and out to the hot springs , we continued on the loop until we reached the turn off for Coyote Lake. About 3 miles into that road we found a nice picnic table in the shade where we stopped and enjoy the gourmet lunch I had carried (peanut butter sandwiches, granola bar and water). It was peaceful up there without all the people you see on a weekend.

After lunch we climbed back up to Roop road and then headed down to Leavsley and back home. As we finished the ride, it was getting a lot warmer, now nearly 90 degrees. The total miles ended up to be about 35 with some good climbing.

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Today I slept until 9 am, which is late considering I went to bed at 10 pm. I guess I was still recovering from the Devil Mountain Double on Saturday. Ann and I decided to go on a bike ride. It was very nice weather when we left, around 10:30 this morning. We headed up Hecker Pass Highway and then turned right at Burchill over to Watsonville road, left at Uvas and around the reservoir, turning right at Oak Glen. We then climbed over Willow Springs to Hale Ave, down Hale for a ways then a climb back over Llagas to Oak Glen. We then turned left down to Morgan Hill for a nice lunch at Erik’s deli.

After enjoying a nice lunch on their patio area, with absolutely wonderful weather, we made our way back to Santa Teresa. The wind was real strong now, and it was a tail wind. With the straight, flat road and the strong tail wind, we were flying. Ann stayed right with me as I took the speed up to 22 mph. Then I wanted to see what I could do and got down in the aerobars and really hammered, reaching eventually 32 mph for a brief spell.

We rode Santa Teresa all the way to Thomas Road, then back home on the bike trail for a total of 42 miles. Our average speed was nearly 15 mph hour, which was great. We had a total climb of 1,300 feet. It was a very fun bike ride and I am sure Ann enjoyed it also. She will definitely be ready for the Tour de Cure ride on June 9th.

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