Sunday, March 16, 2014

WOW ... what a challenging ride

Distance 62.5mi
Moving Time 4:24:18
Elevation 3,757ft
Avg Speed 14.2mi/h
Max Speed 37.4mi/h
Heartrate 190bpm avg / 247bpm max

What a ride today with Facilitator: Mark Smith and Co-leaders: Mary Beth McSwigan, Kas Neteler, Kathryn Chess, Dan Hertlein, Bob Golden, Anthony Sprauve, George Harrison, and Hugo Sosa. What a group of hubba, hubba riders - EYE CANDY! But I digress ... with the exception of almost freezing my (fill in the blank) this morning (I didn't think I need to dress in layers today - so wrong) the beginning of the ride felt like a piece of cake with the first rest stop at 15 miles at Starbucks in Hercules and then our second stop for lunch at 35.8 miles at R-Rags in Benecia. Mike the Monster had trouble with his front wheel - it was wobbly. Mike's problem got worse after we crossed the Carquinez Bridge and got into Vallejo. Mike made it to Benecia where I (and Mike) learned that some of the spokes had gotten loose, thereby making the wheel imperfect. Heck, who knew, I didn't know that the spokes had a purpose.

So, what kicked my a - -, was the non-stop riding from lunch back to Orinda BART 26.7 miles with a lot of steep climbing. The significant grades came via Alhambra Valley Road to Pig Farm Hill which goes from 165 feet to 830 feet over about 5 miles and then more steep climbing on San Pablo DAM Road. And, to think, I thought before the start of today that I would add 20 more miles to today's training ride by cycling back home over San Pablo DAM Road. I didn't.


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