Mar 24 & 25: East Bay "rides du jour..."

[melissam]

I'm waffling as usual. I am **clueless* about my new shifters. Maybe I should cruise the neighborhood until I know how to use them...

Awwww, come on Snap -- join us!

I have a new rear derailleur and cassette, AND I haven't ridden for a good month and a half. I think the Alameda Creek Trail will be perfect for the maiden voyage.

If worse comes to worst, then we can always bail on the ride and have an afternoon of Kamikazes. Or Lemon Drops.

You know you don't want a boring ride around the neighborhood....

See ya tomorrow!

-- Melissa

[roguedog]

hmm.... this sounds intriguing but i promised a co-worker i'd take him out. how hard is this ride and how much climbing .. and is it ok if a guy joins?

[bikerz]

Roguedog,

It'd be great to have you join us! It's a really scenic route and 100% flat, unless you choose to ride Jobob's Nemesis Hill.

And it's fine with us if you bring a guy.

Hope to see you there!

-- Ann

PS: PM me if you want my cell phone #.

[spazzdog]

Anybody know the grade of that puppy?

Jobob??

I'm trying to get some point of reference as I try to interpret the EBBC bike maps... i.e. 4 little arrows mean 9% or more (huff-puff-swear).

I'm soooo not familiar with guestimating route difficulty here.

spazz

[bikerz]

These are Jobob's stats, and she oughtta know!

[ side trip: If anyone would like to do a side trip up my nemesis hill, which is about a half-mile total, with a gradient of 8-12% followed by 3-5% followed by 10-14% followed by 0% and then a final kick of about 8-10%, you're welcome to give it a try but it's competely optional. ]

OK - time to get ready to go!

[spazzdog]

OK... thanks bikerz.

That "splains a lot" to this Lucy. How does one figure out "gradient" (if there's a thread, excuse this drift)?

Y'all have a good ride today.

spazz

[spazzdog]

Am waiting for the gloom to glow and the temps to rise... hopefully by noon. If that happens, I'm off for a ride.

Plan is to ride from my place in Oakland to Lafayette. The route, approx 15.7 miles, ?? feets of climbing:

East (??) on Piedmont to Pleasant Valley.
Right on Pleasant Valley
Left on Moraga Ave
Moraga becomes Mountain BLvd
Left onto Snake (though the map indicates Merced which runs into Snake)
At fork of Snake and Shepherd Canyon, stay straight-ish onto Shepherd
Left onto Skyline
Right onto Pinehurst - twist and turn through that, then
Left onto Canyon Rd
Canyon Rd becomes Moraga Rd
Right onto St. Mary's
Right onto Hope Ln

Call friends in Lafayette to come retreive my body

I suppose if this works out and I get fitter, this could become an "out and back" for a 30+ mi route.

How crazy is this one girls?

spazz-o-directionally-impaired