Bay Area riders - help!

[bikerz]

Hi - I'm hoping all you kick-butt Bay Area riders can remember back to the days you were just starting out and can give me a couple of suggestions for Bay Area (East Bay?) rides. I can tell from your postings that you are in a league of your own (Mt Diablo? Mt Tam? Yikes!)

I have only been riding since January, and I am up to riding 25-30 miles (max so far is 38) at an average of 13+ mph (depending on wind!). I regularly ride the bike path from Emeryville to Richmond and back, which is compeletly flat (except for a little bump of a hill behind the race track that I can sprint up) - and I extend it with doubling-back and adding loops. A beautiful, safe ride, but I think I'm ready to try something new... (600+ miles on the bike now, mostly up and down the SF bay trail!)

I've lost a bunch of weight since starting riding, but still am feeling too heavy to try any serious hills; unfortunately (for me), in this area, there are routes with hills a-plenty - but flat-ish routes are harder to find! (I know I need to start tackling hills soon, and there are shorter hilly rides in my neighborhood that cycling friends are anxious to subject me to (they love hills!) - so those are on the agenda for the summer as well...)

So my question now is how to get into 40-50 mile rides that don't involve killer hills. I was planning on just doubling up the Emeryville-Richmond ride to get to 40+, but I'd love to try some other routes. I'm not afraid of early rising to beat the heat - any ideas, or thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

[Trek420]

Bikerz,

Congrats, you're doing real well. I've eyed that trail from the freeway, looks interesting.
Some of my favorite places to ride that are relatively flat are:
* the Bay Trail on t'other side o' the bay starting at Foster City
* Alameda Creek Trail is a favorite and can be hilly or flat as you wish
* Bike Sundays on La Canada road - Velogirls bike club has established a Mello Velo ride on that one now each Sunday
* I haven't done the Iron Horse trail except for the portion that's on the Cinderella but it's on my list of things to do.

Anyone else got ideas? I'm starting to get feeling in my legs again ;-)

Always up for an EZ ride.

Also, you don't have to be a little-tiny-eetsy-bitsy-skinney-thang to excell at hill climbing, fact is your weight could even help as I'm sure much of it especially by this point is muscle. Climbing well I think is partly pure physical strength, but also technique, and psychological. Sometimes you just have to think your way through the climb (see cycling affiramtions thread somewhere here).

I saw plenty of big gals and guys on this last ride flying uphill past riders who looked like they were built to climb hills.

[bikerz]

Trek 420 - thanks for the ideas - I hadn't thought about the bay trail on the west side of the bay - I'll definitely check it out. I'll check the Velogirls site as well (kinda shy still about riding with others...)

About how long are these rides you mentioned (without doubling?)

Yeah - the Emeryville ride is really nice, past dog parks and bird sanctuaries. The evenings are especially nice - great sunsets, and always a decent cross/head/tail wind! I say to myself that if I find it boring, I'm not paying enough attention!

BTW - congrats on competing the ALC4 - I ws glued to Spazz's reports and followed the photos on the site daily - I had friends riding and crewing. Now they're all starting in on me - "Don't you want to do it next year?" I'm not saying anything yet, but I think I'd like to work up to a metric century by the end of the summer or fall , and maybe 100 miles by the new year ? (First time acknowledging these goals - uh oh!)

[aka_kim]

Hi bikerz. It is really difficult to find flat rides in this area, especially if you want a longer ride.

* The Ironhorse Trail which Trek mentioned can probably get you a 40-50 miler; it's not terribly scenic, but it does pass through WC and other areas, so you can easily find spots to stop and/or eat. It also connects to the Contra Costa Canal Trail, which is a little more scenic.

* The Lafayette-Moraga Trail is very pretty, but you'd need to connect it with something in WC, or go out to Canyon, to get more miles.

Check the ride listings for the local clubs too, they might have found some good flat rides. And check with Slinkedog. If we reschedule that Memorial Day ride you'll need to come!

[bikerz]

Hi aka_kim -

Thanks for the tip to check the local bike groups - I know of velogirls and valley spokemen, are there others I should look into?

I have tried the Iron Horse/Canal trail - we started in Moraga, down to Olympic through WC, onto Iron Horse, then Canal to Willow Pass, and back - 38 miles (getting lost is a nice way to add miles!). It was a good long distance, and plenty flat (except for the last 2 miles, which were really hot, uphill, and into the wind - arrgghh!) I think an earlier start on that route, and not from Moraga, would be a good ride for me.

I don't know if I'm ready to ride with you guys! I'd like to get more distance and hills (and less of me!) under my belt first!

- Thanks!

[Veronica]

I don't know if I'm ready to ride with you guys!

What's there to be ready for? I think the best parts of our rides are sitting around eating and talking AFTER the ride. You can do that!

V.

[bikerz]

Also, you don't have to be a little-tiny-eetsy-bitsy-skinney-thang to excell at hill climbing, fact is your weight could even help as I'm sure much of it especially by this point is muscle. Climbing well I think is partly pure physical strength, but also technique, and psychological. Sometimes you just have to think your way through the climb (see cycling affiramtions thread somewhere here).

I saw plenty of big gals and guys on this last ride flying uphill past riders who looked like they were built to climb hills.

Well, that's an encouraging thought - I have gotten better and stronger on my little hill - I think it is just the right height for my current "power to weight" ratio! Saturday I must have been feeling my oats and I blasted up that hill past an old guy spinning his way up on a mtn bike - he yelled out "Wow, you're flying! What'd you eat for breakfast?" Which made me feel great - I was grinning all the way down the hill and halfway back to the car! (I'll admit that passing elderly recreational riders still makes me feel good!)

My worry about hills is that spinning for a long time seems to tire me out more than pushing hard for a short time - I feel like I have heavy legs when I spin, and strong legs when I push - I guess this is where the psychological part comes in...

I'm sure your "EZ ride" would be plenty (too?) challenging for me, but maybe I'll get some courage together and give it a go! The encouragment on this forum is pretty amazing.