I did the Three Bears!!

[Trek420]

My sensei swears by Arnica, you can take it internaly, externaly, I found it does not do much for me, but lots in the dojo keep it around all the time. Aikido is an impact sport, sometimes a colision sport...with the ground with all the falls involved. Injuries are rare but the wear and tear adds up...so it seems to help some.

If you feel otherwise decent and Dr says ok, if you can't lean over can you do base miles on a trainer? Always need more of that. But rest up, you'll be better soon and it'll all come back.

One of the what ifs is that if you two weren't in such great shape, willing to bet your injuries would have been worse.

[tomgrrrl]

Wow...I'm so sorry to hear about your accident but am so glad everyone is ok. Sounds like you collected quite a few bruises....take the time to heal and don't push it. As others have said, those hills ain't going anywhere.....but after this I think you deserve some nice level riding for a bit....Pt. Isabelle anyone? Take care and heal quickly.

[cindysue]

So, I think now I can plan a tough route "out the door" from my house - through temescal and up Tunnel rd, skyline to redwood, along canyon, through orinda, onto the "Dam rd", around Alhambra and the 3 bears, up wildcat cayon ( ) then along grizzly, or back through orinda and up pinehurst ( ) , back along skyline and down snake to home. That will be a long ride, with a lot of climbing! One day!

The route you describe above isn't too much different than the longest route of the Bike Against the Odds except of course starting and stopping at lake Merritt. That ride is 65 miles and 6000 feet of climbing. Here's the route:

Starting at Lake Merritt we'll climb Broadway to cross Highway 24 where it picks up Tunnel Road. We'll take Tunnel Road to Skyline, and continue left on Skyline at the intersection of Joaquin Miller. We'll turn left onto Redwood Road for a descent through the Redwood forest. From there, we'll turn left onto Pinehurst Road. There is a one mile climb on Pinehurst before descending to the intersection of Canyon Road. Turn right on Canyon for a short climb and descent into Moraga. Turn left on Moraga Road, which turns into Camino Pablo when the road crosses under highway 24. Continue on Camino Pablo/San Pablo Dam Rd. and ride on gently descending hills into El Sobrante. The route then turns right on Castro Ranch Road and climbs through a residential area and descends to a right turn on Alhambra Valley Road. The next turn is a right on to Bear Creek Road which climbs “the three bears”, and returns to the intersection of Wildcat and San Pablo Dam Road. We'll cross San Pablo Dam Road and climb Wildcat to Inspiration Point in Tilden Park. Continue on Wildcat to a left turn onto South Park for a VERY STEEP climb to Grizzly Peak Blvd. Turn left on Grizzly Peak and stay on it as it climbs through Berkeley into the Oakland Hills. Continue on Grizzly Peak until it ends at a left turn onto Skyline Blvd. Stay on Skyline to Snake and descend into Oakland via Mountain and Park Blvd.

[cindysue]

I'm a conservative downhiller, so everyone catches me. You couldn't tell that I can do decently pointed upward if you saw how slow I go downward.

haha - yeah so she says until I was the last one down the hill of Mt. Hamilton.....

[cindysue]

hope you feel better soon Ann!

[jobob]

Z, poor bunkie !! {hug} I'm really really glad you & yours were not hurt badly.

Like everyone else said, give yourself time to rest & heal up, and don't push yourself too hard when you get back on the bike. Sad but true, it's amazing how fast your hard-won fitness seems goes away even when you're off the bike only a couple of weeks, but the good news is, it seems to come back a lot quicker the second time around (and third, and fourth )

- Jo.

[jobob]

I dunno SK, you seemed to me to be going down Hamilton at a pretty good clip !

There were a lot of blind corners, especially near the top, so it would not have been a good idea to go down that top section at full-throttle (that said, I'm probably glad I didn't witness V's descent )

[bikerz]

but after this I think you deserve some nice level riding for a bit....Pt. Isabelle anyone?

Yeah! But with the wind these days, I think even downhill into it would feel like uphill! It felt like our rof was going to blow off yesterday - it must have been a tough day to be on the bike!

[Veronica]

I dunno SK, you seemed to me to be going down Hamilton at a pretty good clip !

There were a lot of blind corners, especially near the top, so it would not have been a good idea to go down that top section at full-throttle (that said, I'm probably glad I didn't witness V's descent )

I never go out of my own lane. And you have to be really careful on Hamiliton because the middle section has lower pavement for the snowplows. At least I think it's for the snowplows.

I think of myself as a quick, but sensible descender.

V.

[bikerz]

Continue on Wildcat to a left turn onto South Park for a VERY STEEP climb to Grizzly Peak Blvd.

Ummm, I was hoping to avoid the dreaded South Park climb ! (at least this time around!)

[jobob]

There there, V., only kidding - I'm just jealous.

I forgot about those indentations in the center divides - my guess is, they used to contain reflector strips but they might have been dug up by the snowplows so they were all removed and the indentations remained.

That, and the gravel in most of the corners (not to mention the stoopid sightseers who stop their cars in the blind corners - a pox on them !) makes for a tricky descent indeed. It's nicer near the bottom, but then there's more car traffic. Oh well.

[SadieKate]

Those indentations spooked me! Plus the Jeep Wrangler on my side and then the Ja-gu-ar. Please send your best Shakepearean pox to them also, jo!

Gosh, this weekend Bubba told me I was getting faster on the downhills but I thought he was only being a loving hubby.

Thanks, girls, Hugs all around!

[slinkedog]

Ann! Oh no! I don't check the board for a day and look what happens!! I'm so sorry about your accident. Do you have any broken ribs? That might account for the painful sneezing, if it's more than just the bruising causing the pain.

I hope you feel muy, muy better soon and that you're comfortably back on your bike in no time. Your poor thing!!

[Veronica]

There there, V., only kidding - I'm just jealous.

Wow, someone is jealous of me!

You'll get there, if you want to. Like everything else it's practice, practice, practice.

V.

[shadon]

Yikes, I winced as I read your description of your accident. Hope you're beginning to feel better. Take care of yourself!