Bay Area ride Sunday - 30-35 miles?

[bikerz]

Melissam and I are planning a 30-35 mile ride on Sunday - something not too hilly, not too hot (if possible), mostly to get a some distance in. (Sorry Cindy-Sue - I'm not ready for Diablo yet! )

One idea we had was to do the Calaveras loop (whichever direction lets us come DOWN "the wall"!).

Anyone want to come along?

Anyone have any other ideas for routes? East Bay? Marin? Peninsula?

[jobob]

I'd love to join you, and I'll bet I could talk LeeBob into it as well. He'd really like to see the new Seven.

We could start in Sunol and ride most of Calaveras and turn around before we reach the wall, and head back into Sunol. That would be roughly 30 miles and about 1200 ft of climbing. For apres-ride snacks there's a little coffee shop in Sunol, or the general store has an excellent selection of Haagen-Dasz bars. In a way I prefer the latter, hanging out on the porch of the store enjoying my ice cream & watching the world go by.

Or, if you'd like to do a longer loop, we could start from the Niles Staging Area & head up Niles Canyon Blvd. to Sunol, then head over Calaveras then go down the wall, pass Ed Levin Park, then hang a right and follow a moderately flat route (er, except for some slogs up Warren & Misson Blv.). At the top of Mission we could reward ourselves w. smoothies at Mission Coffee and then roll downhill the remaining 4-5 miles back to the staging area. All together that would be about 38 miles and about 1800 ft of climbing.

[cindysue]

Dependent on when you finish maybe I could join you for the after-ride party. Would love to see you all and that sexy new bike BikerZ - it's been way too long!!

[bikerz]

Wow - that sounds great - I just got back from the Bears, take 2 - and it was better than last week's (thank goodness! - 8.5 minutes faster, and an average mph improvement of .7 mph. I think it is mostly heat-related.)

So - tomorrow -

I'm leaning towards option 1 - head to the wall and then back. Ice cream on the porch sounds nice, and an extra treat if Cindy Sue can join us!

The main thing is the heat factor - What do you guys think abuot heat and start times?

We have to go back to the LBS shortly so I can get new pedals, cleats, and shoes (and pay fro the new bike!) - I'll check in later this afternoon and we can firm up plans.

[jobob]

Excellent ! That'll be a nice ride. If the weather is anything like it was today, heat won't be an issue.

Today I did a loop up Palomares, over Crow Canyon & Norris Canyon, and down San Ramon & Foothill Rds. into Sunol. It was pretty chilly up until I reached San Ramon. As a public service, I checked on the Haagen-Dazs & Ben & Jerry's ice cream bar supply at the store in Sunol, and I'm happy to report that they're very well stocked! ... er, sans one H-D vanilla w. dark chocolate coating

While I was hanging out in Sunol I was talking with a guy from my club who was doing an out & back over Calaveras. He had a nice Seven Axiom, which he bought from Robinson WW!

He told me that there's a bald eagle(!) nesting in an old electrical tower that's no longer in use, which you can see off of Calaveras. Evidently a lot of people have been heading out there with their cameras w telephoto lenses to try to snap pixs of the eagle from the road. So we can keep our eyes peeled for photographers along the route and perhaps even see a bald eagle if we're lucky.

Well well, lookie what I found http://www.pbase.com/tgrey/image/77988640

[jobob]

By the way, the best place to park in Sunol would be the lot in front of the Sunol Glen School, which is on the corner of Main St. & Bond St. in Sunol. A lot of rides start from there.

While there aren't any 'facilities' there, there are several well maintained porta-potties at the far end of the lot at the Sunol Train Station, which is at the corner of Main St. and Kilkare Rd., about 1/2 mile away from the school.

[cindysue]

Well well, lookie what I found http://www.pbase.com/tgrey/image/77988640

neato!!

Hey - weren't you signed up for LRRH?