April 9 – The Dam Corners and Valleys Road Loop

[SadieKate]

It was gorgeous in SF today! I spent the day digging out pitch and oakum from the poop deck and putting in new oakum and pitch.

V.

Did you use the poop shield bottle? Hee-hee-hee.

[aka_kim]

Poop? Pitch? Oakum? Sounds like one of those radio quizzes - "in what profession will you find the following terms?". I hope you were talking about boats (or are they called ships, or yachts, or water vessels?) If not, I don't want to hear any more.

Baseball over biking? Never! I agreed to go to this game a few weeks ago, and now looking at tomorrow's weather report do kinda regret it. I'll just have to drink beer and eat garlic fries all afternoon.

[SadieKate]

Mmmm, garlic. The BubbaMeister is making me shrimp fettucine in a garlic-white wine sauce with aspergrass. I'm drooling.

[Veronica]

Yep - talking boats.

V.

[SadieKate]

Yellow (the HillMeister) drove down from Placerville and Nancy up from Benecia, then our friend Sue join us (trying to convert her to the TE forum). I think everyone had a good time. The temp was perfect, lots of flowers, not a huge amount of traffic, lots of turkeys and even a peacock. The Vespa Thugs made a late appearance.

After all these years of hearing everyone talk about climbing over the Dam and Cardiac Hill, I gotta say that either those folks either are intimidated by hills or they're not on V's and Yellow's hill training program. My book shows the Dam has about a half mile at an avg of 5.9%. Yes, you have to work but it's very short! Then Cardiac . . . well it's not easy but it's not horrible either. Just under 2 miles at an avg of 6.3%. Very doable if you just settle back and use headology. The challenge with it was just length. Since the day was getting warmer, you'd think "I really need to get rid of these armers, but the hill will be done in just a bit." Then, you'd have that thought again and again and again until the hill topped out here in the picture.

Left to right, Sue, Nancy, Sue (Yellow) and Bubba.

We then kept our armers on and headed for a lot of zippy rollers and fast downhill runs, a stop for smoothies and one last run north throught the aptly named "Pleasants Valley." I feel really good about how well I'm climbing the hills and can put another notch on my belt, even if it is a bit smaller than the Diablo notch. Sorry, some of you couldn't join us.

HillSlug, I kept an eye out for your group but saw nary a Team-In-Training Jersey.

[snapdragen]

sadie-is that the Cardiac Hill in Foxy's Fall Century?

Ohh! another ride we could plan for - it's in October

[SadieKate]

Yes'm, but it is only on the 100 mile route (or at least used to be). It wasn't bad at all . . . just long. I did it easily in a 30x26 gear and I don't have the hills you Bay Area girls have on which to train.

[SadieKate]

Ohh! another ride we could plan for - it's in October

I would be more than happy to host a ride up here following the 100k route if we don't have a SAG. I would recommend we do it at a prettier time of year with less iffy wind conditions. The Foxy Fall is always fun, but it isn't the prettiest time of year here. There are ton of flat, flat miles where that wind can drill right into you. We could do this route again -- 55 really nice miles with the only two "big" hills in the 1st 10 miles. We'd just want to do it before/after boating season.

For those coming from way far away, I could even put up a few of you - 1 hideabed, 1 squishy sofa, and lots of floor space with thermarests.

Editing this to say that the route we did today was the really pretty part of the Foxy Fall. The remaining 45 are just the flat stuff between Davis and Winters. The part that is windy, not so scenic and just burns energy before the hills.

[CorsairMac]

The part that is windy, not so scenic and just burns energy before the hills.

or culls the herd maybe?

[Hill Slug]

HillSlug, I kept an eye out for your group but saw nary a Team-In-Training Jersey.

Did you go out on Saturday or Sunday?? We were out there on Saturday morning. From Davis to Winters then to Cantaloew Road from Lake Solano. There were mainly rollers till a very steep short Cantelew climb. Not sure of the grade, but as I am a slug, it was steep. I got up most of it, but did have to walk part if it too.....The rest was pretty much down hill through Pleasants Valley Road then to Allendale, then the flat AND windy Putah Creek back to Davis for 55 miles... One of the other mentors and I were riding with an asthmatic rider, who couldn't accelerate much without coughing, and we did have to stop a few times so she could use here inhaler.....Unfortunately at about mile 3, she was following the other mentor too closely and fell...Then I tried to react and get out of the way, but on a busy road, the only place I could go was down..The knee was bloodied up pretty good, through tights, but nothing ibuprofen, ice, elevation, and pizza & beer wouldn't cure. It's very sore today, but oh well...It was a beautiful day otherwise!!!!

[SadieKate]

Hillslug, that's right we changed to Sunday. I'm sorry about your fall. Hope it doesn't set back your training. I'm confused about your route. Pleasants Valley Rd is on the west so you probably rode south on it (uphill), left on Cantelow and did the wicked steep side, with a long downhill run on Cantelow to Allendale which is on the east side of the ridge. You truly did ride the nasty side of Cantelow so good for you making it as far as you did. The insides of those switchbacks make the last tidbit of Diablo look almost tame. Then, back to Davis . . . you can vouch for me when I say it is flat, flat, flat and windy between Winters and Davis!

Once I get my Polar set up, I'll have to do the elevation profile of Cantelow but I'll probably do it from the other side . We'll still get a reading of the grade.

Hope to catch you on another ride.

[Bike Goddess]

I can also put people up at my place in Benicia

RE Cardiac Hill- its a bit tough if you aren't warmed up (I wasn't and I didn't know it was CH so I kept a lower profile as SK and Y wizzed past me- Almost caught SK, but Y was far and away the STAR )

Next time, we shall see!