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.

[Trek420]

what Veronica sed

"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!"

c'mon we're not that intimidating and ask bike goddess, I'm *not* fast. BG is fast! Each night she had the tent set up, the luggage put away and the tent decorated in complimentary colors, showered, ate, solved the problems of the world including Global Warming and the prevelance of reality TV, biked into town and got tent stakes, waxed and polished her bike .... all before i had arrived.

I just get there is all.

Usually at the back of the pack of any ride and always willing to hang back for others. Fact is doing slow rides and working on form is one way I got better this year.

You can train for the AIDS ride with short rides, between the demands on my time of my work, and my dog it's hard to get away to do a lot of long rides. You'll need to do some centuries and metrics for the experience to know both how your body, nuitrition and equipment responds to the demands so that you can make adjustments.

But your day to day training can be short rides even use your commute it just has to be intense on occaision I think; include hills, headwinds.

You can do this! You're off to a great start and I think I can speak for the other BA riders we'd love to be part of that.

also does anyone know how Annerol & amondala did? I ran into amondala, well that is she recognised me as she flew past me on a hill. We stopped and took a picture and I'm sorry I didn't meet up with Annerol (that i know of). Howdja do gals?

[aka_kim]

Ditto Zippy V and Trek -- all our rides are no-drop, and most of us aren't exactly racers. If you can eat, and have a bike, you should join us.

A few more local clubs - Grizzly Peak Cyclists, Oakland Yellowjackets, Diablo Cyclists... they all love to focus on hills, of course, but usually also have longer/flatter rides in their route libraries or schedules.

[bikerz]

Wow - thanks for all the encouragement! I can eat, and I do have a bike, so...

I'll keep my eye peeled for your ride announcements, then, and probably become the "newbie caboose"! Are they usually on this forum?

I'll also check the clubs you mentioned, aka_kim, and see what routes I can find to explore.

I'm planning on doing my 25 mile Emeryville-Richmond ride hopefully Thursday evening, but definitely on Sunday morning (maybe I'll double it - just to get ready!) I feel so inspired, and my bike's getting a tuneup today to stop the chain rubbing, which will be nice! And maybe my new terry shorts will be here by then...

[Trek420]

bikerz sez "I'll keep my eye peeled for your ride announcements, then, and probably become the "newbie caboose"! Are they usually on this forum?"

yep usually right here in the CA section of your supermarket.

"I'm planning on doing my 25 mile Emeryville-Richmond ride hopefully Thursday evening, but definitely on Sunday morning"

Though I hear there's a chance of rain Thursday, if you want company either might work for me. I should be able to feel my legs by then ;-) Anyone else?

[bikerz]

What's with this weather - rain in June!!

I just saw Sunday shows a chance of rain, but Thursday just says "partly cloudy", which is also partly sunny, right?

Given that info, I'll ride Thursday eve unless it's actually precipitating, and keep my fingers crossed for Sunday. I usually park in an office parking lot (used for Chevy's overflow parking after 5:00) in Emeryville and try to get started by about 5:30 or 6... (if anyone wants to meet there, let me know and I'll post directions and we can determine an exact time).

By the way, you all may already know about these two links, but I find them extremely useful in getting a visual sense of the weather over the next couple of hours (in addition to the regular weather sites). I check both of these before every ride, just to see what I'm in for - the wind one is especially helpful (gotta love those breezes!)

webcam of the view from Lawrence hall of science:
http://sv.berkeley.edu/view/

real-time wind speeds and directions for SF bay:
http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/w...gi?x=159&y=245

[Trek420]

sounds like a plan, as long as there's no Tsunami.

[aka_kim]

I usually park in an office parking lot (used for Chevy's overflow parking after 5:00) in Emeryville and try to get started by about 5:30 or 6... (if anyone wants to meet there, let me know and I'll post directions and we can determine an exact time).

On Wednesdays I work in Emeryville, just a few blocks from the Chevy's. If you want to try a Wed evening ride some time, just holler.

[bikerz]

So sounds like Thursday is on, at least for Trek and me...

Here's where I usually park -



(I hope this works - I can't quite see how to embed this image instead of having it as a link... )

I'll shoot to arrive around 5:30 pm, and be ready to ride by 5:45 pm or so. Does that work for you? I'm flexible, if later or earlier is better. I usually park right where the arrow ends, facing the bay.

Is there a specific protocol for exchanging phone numbers in case of last minute changes? PM? Email? (Sorry to be so clueless - this is the only forum I have ever been involved in - don't yet know the drill!)

Looking forward to it,
- Ann

P.S. aka_kim - Some Wednesday evening would be great too - the more often I ride the better, as far as I am concerned!