Looking Ahead

Looking at the weather for the upcoming weekend and beyond, and it doesn't look good:  chance of rain on Saturday, and chance of showers on Sunday.  I need to get serious and start prepping for the Chico Wildflower, and the rain won't help.  I can ride in the rain, but it's not too enjoyable, it's hard on the equipment, and I really don't want to fall.  Things heal a lot slower now than they did when I was twenty. 
Upcoming organized rides:

• April 2:  Santa Clarita Century (I'll ride the metric)
• April 10:  Gran Fondo Colnago San Diego (again, I'll ride the metric.  I rode it last year during the monsoon.  An epic day.)
• May 1:  Chico Wildflower (planning to try the century, may end up doing the metric if the knees don't cooperate)
• May 14:  My Kiwanis club is hosting its annual ride:  The Hungry Buzzard Century.  I'm the event organizer this year.  WooHoo.

Reedley Blossom Ride and Solvang Century: A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way...

On Saturday, March 5, I took part in the Reedley Blossom Ride for the first time.  I rode the metric, and had a great ride.  I understood that the route was a challenging one, and it turned out to be all that, but also one of the prettiest and most fun rides I've had in a long time.  The ride started out with a small mass start at 7:30 in Reedley, wound through the local orchards, and then headed into Wonder Valley for the first rest stop: good food, great staff, and a pleasant location.

After the stop, the focal point of the ride occurred, the climb up Ellwood Road--which started at the funkiest pig farm I've ever seen.  The climb was long and challenging, and was followed by one of the most fun descents I've ridden in a long time:  smooth, fast, and swoopy.  I rode with a couple guys from the Kern Wheelmen for a few miles and had a great conversation that just made things better.

Dorky me.

I understand that the route was run in the opposite direction from previous years, and also that it was perhaps a bit more challenging than in the past.  All in all, a fun and well supported ride that I will make an annual event. Mrs. SockMonkey rode the 25 mile route, and had a great time as well. 

Mrs. SockMonkey in her official Sock Monkey Cycling Club jersey.  She's in the car because it's warm there.  I'm outside in the cold because I'm stupid and getting ready for the ride.

The numbers:
5:45 total time from start to finish
4:44 total ride time
2529' of climbing
61.97 miles
13.10 avg speed



On Saturday, March 12, I rode the metric route for the Solvang Century.  I rode the 50 mile route last year, and swore at that time that I'd never ride Solvang again--the wind was particularly brutal that day, and I struggled mightily to finish the ride.  A couple weeks ago, though, my sister invited Mrs. SockMonkey to bake and decorate cookies at her home in Santa Barbara.  With Solvang just a bit up the road, I decided to give the ride another shot.

This time, I rode the 70 mile route.  I thought it was a 61 mile route--at least, that's what the ride website said it was.  I didn't figure out that the ride was longer until I got to the rest stop at mile 51 and saw that I had 19 more miles to go....

A bit of pre-ride drama:  I was having problems with inconsistent shifting, and my chain gauge said it was time to replace my chain, so I did so the night before heading to Santa Barbara. (I know--not a smart thing to make a component change before a major ride without going for at least a short ride to make sure things work properly, but it fixed the shifting problem and I didn't have any issues at all.  I'm just that kind of daredevil.)  In putting my bike in my workstand, I took off my seat bag--and forgot to replace it when I was done.  Soooooo.....sitting in my sister's living room, looking at my bike the night before the ride, I discovered that I didn't have my seat bag/security blanket full of tubes and tools.  Major threat to ride confidence.

The event festival included a tent for a vendor that happened to be open at 6:30, when I arrived at the start area, and I was able to buy a new seat bag, a couple tubes, some tire levers, and a CO2 inflator.  Good to go!

This is what $45 looks like at 6:30 in the morning in Solvang.

The ride started out cool and clear.  I struggled to figure out what to wear, and ended up with a long sleeve shirt, a jersey, and my yellow jacket.  A complete Fred uniform.  The sun popped out pretty early in the ride, but spots on the ride were still pretty chilly, so the jacket stayed on for about third of the ride, and the sleeves came off at the last stop. 

With 4000 riders, the rest stops were pretty busy.  This is the first stop.  Food was good, and the kids who helped out did a great job.  (They were from Grizzly Academy, which is a great local program for at-risk kids.)   A couple minutes after I arrived, some knucklehead started yelling and working up to a fight with another rider in his group.  A little Rodney Dangerfield was in order, it seems:  "I went to a bike ride the other day, and a hockey game broke out."

The wind was not a factor at all for the first half of the ride, and I really enjoyed the trip down Santa Rosa road and the spin uphill to Vandenberg AFB. 

I didn't get much sleep before the ride, and didn't really eat right that morning, so I started to fade.  I had strong thoughts about riding the century, but at mile 35 my knees were starting to hurt, and I knew that, while I might be able to do the distance, the climbing would kill me, especially if the wind kicked up.

Judging my daring:
Deep in thought at the turnoff from the century to the metric.
In this instance, logic rightfully overcame emotion.

So I took the turn for the metric century, and, in retrospect, it was absolutely the right decision.  The ride took us down some pretty roads with some truly crappy surfaces.  I know that it is the hallmark of the novice to complain about the condition of roads, but I'll take advantage of that status to openly bitch about the rotten roads.  These are farm roads, and, clearly, they are used by heavy farm equipment.  Suffice to say that the prostate got a thorough massage for the second half of the ride.  I do know that rough roads are part of the deal.  Some roads, like Foxen Canyon Road on the Solvang Prelude, are rough for a mile or two, and then improve; it seemed that these roads, however, had crappy surfaces that went on forever.

Shortly after the last rest stop, when I discovered that the ride was 70 miles and not 61, the last and most significant climb started.  Drum Canyon was, as a guy who passed me said, "a cruel climb:" a lengthy, consistent climb that ranged from 5 to 10%.  Challenging, but certainly do-able, but my knees were sore and at one point I had to walk about 100 feet up a short, steep section.  Pretty pissed about that; it was the first time that I've had to walk my road bike up a hill.  (I walk my mountain bike up just about every hill, but that's a different story.)  At least I was able to unclip and avoided falling down.

The downhill on the far side of Drum Canyon should have been an exhilarating ride:  it was pretty, steep, and swoopy.  The surface was about as rough as I've ridden, and it didn't get better until I got to Highway 246.  Wrists hurt, knees hurt, and cussing all the way.  Thankfully, the last few miles were on the smooth shoulder of the highway. 

If I had posted this right after the ride, it would have been filled with #$%!ing and a promise to never ride Solvang again.  I've lightened up a bit on that, but this event is clearly not at the top of my fun list.  I would like to conquer this century, but I'm gonna need a bit more training and zen to do so.  And I would think that with 4000 riders who paid what they did for the ride, someone could put a couple bucks into paving the roads.

On the plus side, the support from local law enforcement at major intersections was superb.  Thanks to those folks for making the ride safer and more fun.

And, on the way out of town, the Solvang Traffic Jam!

The numbers:
6:05 total time from start to finish
5:27 total ride time
3315' of climbing
70.82 miles
12.90 avg speed

So, a tale of two cities:  A great little ride close to home, and an frustrating big ride that had potential but really didn't pan out.

It never rains in California...

I had hoped to ride Pedaling Paths to Independence in Linden on Saturday, but the crappy weather reports, which included rain and possible snow, kept me at home.  I'm more than a little disappointed that I didn't go; the metric would have been a good training ride and the weather reports later in the day implied that the ride would have been do-able.  Next weekend I'm signed up for the Kings River Blossom Ride metric, which should help prep me for the Solvang Century (which will probably be the Solvang Metric for me) the following weekend, because I've been a slacker of sorts recently. 

This weekend, I rode just once, a 40-mile spin from Woodward Park in Fresno up toward Prather.  Not too climb-y, but a bit windy, which was hard on my knees.  The cold (it was 36 degrees when I started the ride) resulted in a runny nose that was a bit of a pain, but it was a sunny day and the ride was pretty and a good one, if also fairly tame.

Last weekend, I rode from Exeter up Yokohl Valley Road, which is a very popular route with local cyclists.  I set a personal best for distance and climbing for this route, making 40 miles and over 2000' of climbing.  I was set to go farther, but it started to rain and I turned around at the old fire station at Milo.  Recent rains had made the road conditions a bit dicey, with lots of dirt/clay washing across the road, so discretion was certainly in order.  Here's a couple shots of what the road looks like. 

Looking ahead...

With the Tour de Palm Springs in the history book, I'm looking forward to upcoming two rides.  The Reedley Blossom Bike Ride is scheduled for Saturday, March 5.  The long ride is a metric, and I understand that it has a couple short but challenging climbs.  I've not ridden this one before, and I'm looking forward to a good training ride on a new route that's only a bit up the road. 

The other ride I'm looking forward to in the next few weeks is the Solvang Century.  I've signed up for the metric, and they've got two versions of that ride available this year:  an "easier" and a "harder" version.  I'm thinking that the harder metric is probably the ride I'll attempt, since it's got a stated 2,566' of climbing, which has been about how much my old knees can handle.  The century is temptting, though, with a stated 3,400' total climb.  MapMyRide typically underreports climbing, relative to my VDO odometer/altimeter (or maybe my VDO overreports--whichever you prefer), probably to the tune of 3-400' or so for a ride of this length, so it would be a personal best for climbing if I completed it.  There are two other concerns, and the first is the wind:  I rode the Solvang metric last year, and the headwind on the outbound leg was really hard on my knees.  The second concern is that all of the significant climbing happens at the end of the ride.  As far as I can figure, though, the harder metric and the century share the same route for the first twenty miles or so, so I see how the day unfolds before making a final decision.  Mrs. SockMonkey will be making cookies with my sister in Santa Barbara on the day of the Solvang ride, so another reason to make it to the finish in good form and good time...

2011 Tour de Palm Springs

My first century of the 2011 cycling year is done:  I completed the full route for the Tour de Palm Springs on Saturday.  The day was a good one, generally.  The morning started at a crisp 44 degrees, but warmed up rapidly.  The organizers allowed riders to start in waves of a few hundred at a time.  This is what it looked like at about 7:10 am: 

 

 

A lot of riders didn't go through the formal start and got on the street without waiting.  That was kind of a pisser, but it was probably all for the best:  We were told that there were over 11,000 riders for the event--up from 7,800 last year--which meant that if everyone went through the start area as they should have, it would have taken forever to get rolling.  Further, we were told that there were over 7,000 riders on the century, let alone the metric or the other rides. 

 

The first miles were a very sluggish stop-and-go through Palm Springs.  After crossing the I-10, things opened up a bit and the ride became more fun.  Here's what it looked like riding through the windmills along the 10:

 

 

 

With thousands of riders on the course, the first two rest stops were gigantic messes.  I left the start at 7:30 (the course opened officially at 8:00, but there were tons of folks who left much earlier), and when I got to the first rest stop, it was badly backed up. 

 

 

The second rest stop was pretty much the same.  These photos really don't do the mass of humanity at these stops justice.  Think of feeding time at the biggest koi pond you've ever seen, and then multiply it by a thousand. 

 

 

The route was pretty easy, with all the notable climbing done before the first rest stop.  Cycle traffic was a problem for the first quarter of the ride, and I saw three riders being tended to by ambulance crews.  These folks seemed to be on the ground as a result of crashes, which were probably the result of the huge number of riders. 

 

The longest stretch of the ride was along Dillon Road, which is a long, undulating strip of pavement through an attractive stretch of desert with picturesque mountains in the distance.  This was far and away my favorite part of the ride.  After turning off Dillon, the route became more urban, and somewhat less interesting.  The route had a bailout for century riders, which would turn the cenntury into a 65-mile ride.  prior to the ride, I was reasonably certain that I'd complete the full century, but I wasn't completely confident, so when the turnoff came up at about mile 35 and I felt okay, I got a boost of sorts.  But by the time I arrived at the third rest stop, I was dragging pretty badly.  The rest stop at mile 51 had ham & cheese sandwiches and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, which was a vast improvement over the earlier stops, which had bananas, oranges, peanuts and M&M's--pretty sparse fare for a rest stop.  The ham & cheese sandwich I ate helped pick me up enormously.  The pack had thinned out, too, and the rest stop was less crowded than the three previous ones.

 

 

 

Here's my 51 mile face....

 

 

 

I was feeling pretty good, and, after the 75-mile stop, I was considering riding straight through to the end.  Then I dropped like a rock about 5 miles before the 91-mile rest stop.  I had been drinking regularly, and also taking regular blobs of Hammer gel throughout the ride, but I just ran out of gas and struggled to get to the stop.  They had run out of jelly and also ham, so I had a cheese sandwich and some horrifically sweet energy drink stuff (like liquid PEZ), the combination of which got me to the end of the ride. 

 

 

 

I'm slow, so the ride took me all day.  I rolled into the finish line at 4:55, as the sun had just set behind the mountains to the west of Palm Springs.  It was a good and an enjoyable ride.  Of the three centuries that I've completed to date, this was clearly the easiest for a beginner:  all of the sustained climbing was done early, none of the climbing was hard, the route was very well marked, and the rest stops were located logically.

 

Positives: 

• The route was interesting and fun to ride, with the desert scenery during the first half of the ride quite striking visually. 
• All the climbing (and there were no tough climbs) was in the first quarter of the ride--so no struggling to climb when exhausted.
• Route was well marked.
• Event staff were very positive and friendly.

 

Negatives:

• Waaaaay too many riders, at least for the first quarter of the ride.
• First two rest stops were overrun with riders.
• A better variety of food at the rest stops would have helped.  Maybe there was more and I arrived after the locusts had descended.
• Roads in this area were a mixed bag; some were great, and some clearly needed maintenance. 

 



 

The numbers:
9:35 total time from start to finish
8:13 total ride time
3265' of climbing
105.1 miles (I got lost a couple times during the last ten miles of the ride--my fault for not watching what I was doing)
12.70 avg speed

 

All data taken from my trusty VDO MC 1.0+ cycling computer.

And so it begins.....

I ride a bicycle.  I'm not very fast, not very strong, and not very good at it, but I like it a lot, so I ride between 50 and 75 miles a weekend, year-round.  I am a recreational rider, and have been riding regularly about a year and a half.    Stated simiply, I do it because it's fun.

Why a blog?  Three reasons, beyond a touch of narcissism.  First, I want to force myself to keep a record of the organized rides that I'm going to attempt this year.  I'm thinking that going public (and also incorporating a bit of technology) will make me keep current. 

Second, I have a goal of completing five centuries this year.  Being old and slow on two wheels, this is a big deal.  Last year, I completed two centuries:  the Lighthouse Century (flat edition) and Foxy's Fall Century.
 
Third, I have gained a great deal of information and confidence in my cycling from reading a number of other blogs, including Kristen Keeping Up and Samantha Cycles, which helped prep me for Foxy's, and also Declan's Blog, which is helping me get set mentally for this weekend's Tour de Palm Springs.  I'd like to think that, maybe, someone might gain similar insight from something that I may post about a ride. 

So:  This weekend, I begin my organized cycling event year by attempting the Tour de Palm Springs century.  By November, I hope to have five centuries and a fistful of metrics completed.  We'll see how it goes....

Mr. Sock Monkey, fearlessly hanging out on the back of my bike...