The Three Bears - Nov. 27
Nancy and I will be riding the three bears Sunday leaving from the Dead Fish Restaurant in Crockett at about 8:30. I've never done this ride before so don't know how far or how hard... but a little mystery is good. Let us know if you're interested in joining us.
V.
A pleasant, but somewhat cold day...
I arrived at our meeting spot a little early. My car said it was 43 degrees out. I figured I would pull Fluffy out and ride across the bridge to meet Nancy so I could warm up a bit before tackling our first climb.
But as I pulled out my bike I discovered that my rear tire was flat. Great. In my haste I had not thrown in the floor pump, just had my mountain morph and of course only one spare tube and my patch kit. I changed the tube - the tire had picked up a staple and I was putting it back on when Nancy and a friend arrived and the Benecia Bike Club.
Our first climb was up Cummings Skyway - which I had just driven down. It really wan't too bad - other than my worry about what I might have done wrong or forgotten in changing my rear tire. This was followed by a really nice, long descent into Martinez where the club stops for coffee and then returns to Benecia. A few of the club members seemed surprised that I was planning on doing the Bears on my "commuter" bike.
After the coffee break, it was just Nancy and I. We headed off to Pig Farm. This is about a three mile climb, fairly gradual, with a good pay off in the descent. We then turned onto Bear Creek Road and did what I believe to be Mama Bear. From this side, a fairly straight climb with a really nice view of the reservoir at the top. Nancy had told me Papa Bear was the last hill and had a false summit and we were going to stop at Briones before for water and bathrooms before doing it. Baby Bear must be one of the rollers between the two because poof we were at Briones.
At first I thought Nancy must have been joking about the false summit because when I got to it, there was a cheese hill sign - in the right direction! Woohoo!!!! I was flying, but alas the road did turn up again, but that brief, steep little downhill was a great break.
We then headed out to El Sobrante (I think) where we went to a bike store and stopped for lunch. I got a new tube at the bike store and they pumped my tire up the rest of the way. I had managed to get it to 60 with my little pump. The diner was pretty crowded and service was a bit slow. The french fries I had were good.
Nancy and I cruised back to our turn and as we started going towards Pig Farm, Fluffy developed some really odd noises. We eventually narrowed most of them down to being my pump bouncing a bit on the rack. But one was certainly a rubbing of something. The climb back to Pig Farm is not really long, but it's pretty steep at the end. I'd guess at least 9%. Next time I'll actually measure it. And everytime I pedaled, I could hear and feel this rubbing and all I could think was, "Something is stealing all my energy." It was kind of demoralizing.
I got to the top of Pig Farm and decided that I would call my best friend to pick me up, rather than tackle going back up Franklin Canyon with a mechanical. we whizzed back down to Martinez. My friend picked me up and we went up Franklin Canyon. Nancy was flying! She is one strong lady. I waited until Nancy arrived at the Dead Fish where she had half a cookie to fortify her for the rest of her trip home.
This is really a very pretty ride, through some nice countryside. In spite of my bad luck, I had a really good time and the company was most excellent! :D
I want to do it again. Thom didn't think it would be very tandem friendly, but the climbs aren't that long. I think we could slog them out.
My task this afternoon is to figure out what is wrong with my bike.
V.