Wine Country Century/200k 5/3?

[maillotpois]

Anyone else doing this ride?

Deanna are you working the ride again?

Our TNT team will be doing the 200k. Starting quite early... :rolleyes:

[Trekhawk]

Anyone else doing this ride?

Deanna are you working the ride again?

Our TNT team will be doing the 200k. Starting quite early... :rolleyes:

Have fun MP!!

Is that with your Aussie guys or is that another ride?
If so give them hell.:D

[maillotpois]

With some of the Aussies. We're training them for the Death Ride, so the 200k is a training ride for that.

There are a couple of the Aussie guys I keep riding with. Then I start thinking to myself with an Aussie accent. :rolleyes: Yesterday, we descended down the Marshall Wall at about mile 80 of a 90 miler, and the guy I was riding with said: "If we have to climb back out of what we just came down, you and I are ovah!! I will be sending you formal notice that this relationship is terminated!" They're really funny!

[Bike Goddess]

Yep! A bunch of us from Benicia will also be doing the 200K. However, I doubt that I will do that last loop after the lunch stop. I did it a couple of years ago and it was just OK. However, since you all are in "serious training" , that's a different matter.

The "big dawgs" of our club will probably finish early so you'll most likely see them at the end. I'll probably be a little later.

Look forward to seeing you if only in the distance! :)

[maillotpois]

We'll be in the distance because we'll be starting so early. :p

I expect many of us will wear the blue/black finisher jerseys from last year's Death Ride.

[Trekhawk]

With some of the Aussies. We're training them for the Death Ride, so the 200k is a training ride for that.

There are a couple of the Aussie guys I keep riding with. Then I start thinking to myself with an Aussie accent. :rolleyes: Yesterday, we descended down the Marshall Wall at about mile 80 of a 90 miler, and the guy I was riding with said: "If we have to climb back out of what we just came down, you and I are ovah!! I will be sending you formal notice that this relationship is terminated!" They're really funny!

LOL - glad to hear they are giving their coach some laughs along the way.:D
Is the Marshall Wall the thing I snailed up at the Holstein ride with Kim waiting patiently for me at the top?
Its nice to be able to visualize some parts of the rides you are doing.

[maillotpois]

I am sure that's it. We did the side from Hwy 1 which I always find harder. It's steeper and you gain more altitude. (Not that the other way is a piece of cake, but we really like to work these guys.) It was a lovely ride overall.

[cindysue]

Ill be doing the 100 (wearing luna blue).

Also consider joining me on a recovery :p hill climb the next day;

Up Old La Honda, Down Kings Mtn., Up Kings, Down 84 (~35 miles, 4400' ^)

or

Up Old La Honda, Down Kings Mtn. (~19 miles, 2400' ^)

[maillotpois]

Is there one that's just down?

[cindysue]

Is there one that's just down?

in the Bay Area?! :D

[RolliePollie]

I'm doing the 100K. Well, only if my bike is fixed. One of my shifters broke this morning and the poor thing is in the shop. But they promised me it will be ready by Friday!

Looks like the weather is going to be great!

[Bike Goddess]

Yes, the weather should be a bit warmer and less windy than what we've seen around here this past week. Am looking forward to this ride. I'll look for you all at the end.:):)

[RolliePollie]

How did everyone's rides go?

We had a great day. Everything went smoothly and the strawberries at all the rest stops were SO YUMMY! I've never done this ride before (this is only my second organized ride ever) and I was impressed by the level of organization, support, and by the food. We finished in just over 4 hours. That big hill at the end was a little tough because I was tired, but I made it up no problem. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was just about perfect (except for the wind).

The one thing I'd change next year is that I wouldn't drive down and back home in one day. We left at 4:00 am and got home at about 6:30 pm. Santa Rosa is about a 3 hour drive from home so it made for a really long day. I got home, took a shower, had a snack, went to bed and slept 13 hours!

[jennrod12]

I did the 100 mile route. Two years ago I did the 100k route and really liked it. However, the 100 mile route started out with LOTS of crappy pavement. One person in my party went down before the first rest stop and had to go home and go to urgent care (no broken bones, fortunately). At least one person went down at the bottom of a hill (requiring ambulance response), I think it was Green Valley Road. My husband has done this ride three years in a row and said someone has gone down there every time he's done it.

I don't intend to do this ride again (not the 100 mile option, anyway). The pavement was just too bad. If you are riding alone you can pick your line better, but there wasn't even really a good line to pick in many parts. Riding that bad a surface with 2000 other riders is just a recipe for disaster, in my opinion. Also, it beats you up a lot, which I find unneccessary because I can ride a perfectly fun 100 mile ride right out my front door without getting all beat up. Add to that a 2 hour drive each way, and it isn't worth it.

However, the weather was beautiful and all the participants seemed really nice! I had a great time in spite of the pavement, and the support was excellent (although I didn't really care for the food at the end).

Jenn

[RolliePollie]

Jenn - I was unimpressed with the pavement on several parts of the metric course too. I guess maybe it didn't bother me as much because it reminded me of the crappy roads I ride on here at home. I'm used to avoiding potholes, cruddy pavement, bad patches, and other hazards. I feel like I'm getting a special treat if I ever get to ride on decent pavement!

What a shame about all the folks who crashed! Did the milers come back into the finish on the same route as the metrics? The pavement on those last several miles was just atrocious. I would imagine there has to be a better route back into town than those horrendous roads.

[maillotpois]

Did the 200k route - saw the Bike Goddess out there a few times. It was a great ride, and I was so happy about the rides the folks we coached had.

I agree the pavement is not the best in some places. Unfortunately, that's a trade off. The route this ride takes is VERY lightly traveled by cars. Trade off? The pavement is going to be cruddy. It's just an unfortunate budgetary reality. Counties put their money where the cars are. I was a bit slower on the descents than I would have been otherwise. That's ok. These are rural roads. I'd rather be a little more cautious on the pavement than deal with a lot of traffic. (Kudos to the CHP and SRCC for the key intersection controls as well!)

The support on the ride was amazing. As always. I LOVE love the guys at the Monte Rio stop in the chefs' hats making the PB&banans & M&Ms. And the warm tortillas!!

Great ride.

[Trekhawk]

Glad to hear you all had a good ride.:)

Sara I found it helped to stay somewhere the night before and then you only have the trip home after the ride to contend with. Grass Valley was probably a little closer than where you are to some of the rides but hmm well you ride a lot faster than me so it probably works out about the same.:D

[jennrod12]

Hi Sara (hey, that's my middle name!),

The 100-milers rode the same route back to the start after lunch. Those roads weren't great, but the roads along the beginning of the 100 mile route were about twice as bad!

Oh well, at least we both had a good time, in spite of it!

Jenn

[RolliePollie]

My riding buddy wasn't a big fan of the bumpy roads at the end. He hit a bump wrong and ummm....smashed one of his "boys". Sorry, too much information. I am going to continue to tease him about this incident well into the future.

I agree with Sarah though...I'd rather be on bumpy roads with less traffic than on pristine roads with heavy traffic. And I'm still thinking about all those yummy strawberries.

By the way, was there ride photography someplace that we missed? We got to the end and realized there was no photographer along the route. Actually, I'm rather relieved since 99% of pictures of me are horrible!

[Deanna]

Glad you all had a good time. I couldn't work it this year--it was my mom's birthday and I was going to be out of town for Mother's Day--can't miss both of those without a lifetime of guilt.