Holstein 100 2007

[aka_kim]

Great job, centurions!

I had to try my new camera phone, and although I didn't get any good pictures I still have to post some anyway.

TrekHawk congratulating jobob:


Amie and PABadger after 104 miles and gazillions of feet of climbing:


The redoubtable LeeBob:

[Trekhawk]

Love the pics everyone!!

Had a great day with the gang and really enjoyed riding with Kim and Lee. Its always fun to share the pain. Kim was very patient waiting for Lee and I at the top of all the climbs and then at numerous stops along the way. She denies being a strong rider but IM SORRY KIM YOU ARE and it was sweet of you to wait for us.

I was so proud of the girls for finishing the Century - Deanna included who looked a little too fresh for just finishing a very windy century.

I must also thank two fit looking blokes who chatted to me going up the hill that was about 5 miles before the Marshall Wall. I think without them I might have convinced myself that I needed a little rest on that one.

Oops nearly forgot it was lovely to meet Five one at one of the rest stops.
Hmm she looked annoyingly fresh too.

A lovely ride but next year if you do this I would ask them to put in an order for less wind. LOL you know its a windy ride when you can hear the wind whistling and your stopped.

[five one]

Oops nearly forgot it was lovely to meet Five one at one of the rest stops.
Hmm she looked annoyingly fresh too.

A lovely ride but next year if you do this I would ask them to put in an order for less wind. LOL you know its a windy ride when you can hear the wind whistling and you're stopped.

Annoyingly fresh? That couldn't have been me then . Well, maybe. It WAS before Marshall and the wind! It was nice to meet you and Kim and chat briefly.

This was my second year doing the metric. Last year I recall it being foggy a lot of the day. This year it was clear, but the wind was really something. There were a few times during the descents off the climbs that I thought my wheels were going to come right out from under me . I had somehow buried, in the nether regions of my mind, most of my memories of the Marshall climb. Probably a good thing. I had also forgotten how long the last thirteen or so miles seemed. Never-ending rollers. All I wanted was lunch at that point . We rode with a friend who hadn't done a lot of training lately, though she's an experienced rider. Muscle memory served her well, though we dialed it back a bit. Even still, I was pretty pooped at the end of the ride.

I didn't have a camera on me, so I was glad to see the pictures the rest of you took. Great shots. And congrats to Ellen, John, and Amie on completing their first century - and a tough one at that!

Trying to decide whether to attempt the century next year. Got to do more hill work. Lots more.

[Deanna]

I was so proud of the girls for finishing the Century - Deanna included who looked a little too fresh for just finishing a very windy century.

I think you must be confusing looking fresh with a look of relief. If I looked fresh at all, it was thanks to the tailwind I got for the last mile or two. I doubt I would do this one again, though I'm sure I'll do some of these roads again. If anybody asks, I'd probably recommend the metric route over the full 100 mile route, the metric seemed to spend more time on roads with less traffic.

I wanted to stay to make sure Jo made it in, but I had plans to meet my mom (who lives in Petaluma) for dinner at Dempsey's Alehouse. I had come in about an hour later than I had hoped for (and told her to plan for), and she's the type to WORRY to the point of making alarming phone calls. I'm glad to hear you all made it in and would do it again!

[jobob]

Hey Deanna - glad you had a kind of good ride ...

I knew you were going to Dempsey's afterwards, and I was going to suggest we all head there, but to be honest by that time Lyon's sounded sooo much simpler.

And I was pretty certain we could get milkshakes there.

[jobob]

"Now, where's that turn we missed??"

[Trekhawk]

Hey Deanna - glad you had a kind of good ride ...

I knew you were going to Dempsey's afterwards, and I was going to suggest we all head there, but to be honest by that time Lyon's sounded sooo much simpler.

And I was pretty certain we could get milkshakes there.

Shudup about the milkshakes.

[Deanna]

I was wondering where you got milkshakes. I had to settle for beer (carb-replenishment).

[maillotpois]

Hey Deanna - great seeing you ever so briefly on Whittaker Bluff or whatever that hill I hate is called! I wish I could have (1) actually hung with you on the steep part - how do you do that w/a double?? and (2) chatted a bit more. Had to catch Mike as this was our one and only real "ride" together for some time!

[jobob]

TrekHawk congratulating jobob:

Or, telling me to live long and prosper.

[maillotpois]

Live long and prosper!!!

Great ride reports and rides, everyone! And great pictures!

Wow, congrats to PA Badger and friends on your first century. Huge!!! That's not an easy first century. Huge thumbs up!!

I saw Kim briefly at the start. We got a later start than I wanted, leaving at 7:30. But I think we must have left later than everyone who did the metric, because the roads were deserted, and we were the only folks back at the end. Super weird. We were also the first people to the Walker SAG stop and oh boy were those people desperate to have someone stop and take advantage of their facilities. But we just didn't need a SAG at that point. I needed a therapist.

I was very glad we opted for the metric. The butt lasted about 40 miles before it became horrible. (I've had a nasty case of ischeal bursitis.) I just couldn't get comfortable. So strange. But DH and I had a fun ride together. It always pushes me, but it was a good tune up for the ride we'll do in November. Fast and flat. We had a nice remora hook up with us for basically the entire ride. Wayne from Lodi. You can be a remora if you try to take a pull every once in a while (which he did) and if you're gracious and recognize you're hanging on (which he was).

Amazing baklava at the end. The support for the whole ride was fantastic. Once of the main reasons that is my favorite organized ride in this area.

And 7000 feet is just about what I got from doing the full route in 2005, so I think all your estimates of 7000 feet are right on.

[DrBadger]

Jo, where did your MB post go????? So confused.....

Well, I just went to Motion Based, and the post that had the elevation at 11,000 feet was what it got from my Edge ????? it was really wierd.. I checked it to make sure that it wasn't trying to apply any corrections etc, and it wasn't. Said that it was using GPS and altimeter (ie. not their gravity correction). The thing that is even wierder is that there were 2 or 3 other reports with the full century and the elevations differed by over 2000 ft.. The same thing is true for the people who posted for the metric.

The values I posted in my earlier report were what my Edge gave me in Traning Center, so just what it pulled off my device. Motion Based screwed it up big time. I then tried to import the GPX file into both bikely and SportsTracks to see what they gave me. Bikely gave me about 5500 ft (just what the ride description said, but apparently it is limited to 100 elevation points, so for a 100 mile ride you are going to totally underestimate the true elevation gain) Then SportsTracks gave me 56,000 ft there was OBVIOUSLY an error somewhere in the import I am guessing!

All this makes it really hard to know what to believe, even with what is supposed to be a good barametric altimeter. For now I am going to go with what Training Center gives me right off of the edge, but wierd.

[jobob]

Hee hee, bus-ted

I had posted that someone posted their stats to MotionBased for the century that showed an elevation gain of about 11,800 ft and I ended the post with something like "um ... I don't think so "

and then I looked at the stats more carefully and thought "gee that person took about the same time we did ..."

and then I scrolled down some more and realized "holy **** that was Ellen!"

So I quickly deleted the post and was working on a different version but Dr. Badger was too quick on the draw.

[DrBadger]

Hee hee, bus-ted

I had posted that someone posted their stats to MotionBased for the century that showed an elevation gain of about 11,800 ft and I ended the post with something like "um ... I don't think so "

and then I looked at the stats more carefully and thought "gee that person took about the same time we did ..."

and then I scrolled down some more and realized "holy **** that was Ellen!"

So I quickly deleted the post and was working on a different version but Dr. Badger was too quick on the draw.

OK, way too funny! I am sitting here laughing my a$$ off with this one At lease I am quick with something!

"um ... I don't think so "

That was exactly what I thought when I saw what Motion Based did to my data when I uploaded it. More than anything I like the maps that it creates using Google Maps, and you can even import it into Google Earth.. pretty cool, but I really don't trust their algorithms... I mean come on, how hard is it!

[jobob]

.. pretty cool, but I really don't trust their algorithms... I mean come on, how hard is it!

Yeah, it's not rocket science ! *

(* I was riding with a bunch of geologists and it was a joke we all shared. The biochemist and the rock scientists. Hey, it was a long day. )

... hmm, on second thought, maybe it is ... ?