Anyone doing Primavera?

[Melody]

I guess I'll hopefully see everyone there then. We're planning on getting there as early as we can. Give us plenty of time to finish it.

Mel

[Veronica]

Thom and I just signed up for the 100 K. What time are you all planning on checking in?

V.

[Melody]

Nice and early for us... 6:30. That way we have the most amount of time to complete the ride.

Mel who's slooooooooooow.

PS: I did the most amount of riding, 44+ miles, yesterday! woot! We rode from Mountain View to Milpitas (hubby's parent's place) and then back. Headwind nearly the whole way back.

[aka_kim]

Veronica, are you bringing cookies? If so, exactly what time will you be handing them out? Really, I'm starting to think these cookies are some sort of shared hallucination you and others have, since they're never around when I am (hmm, you're trying to tell me something).

And an fyi on the 100k route - Palomares is hard, at least to my aging legs and hip flexors.

[Veronica]

You didn't have any cookies when we did the Berryessa ride? Sorry about that. I could be persuaded to bring some on Sunday.

What exactly do you mean by hard? Hard like Burma Road or hard like Patterson Pass?

V.

[aka_kim]

What exactly do you mean by hard? Hard like Burma Road or hard like Patterson Pass?

Hard like a good 10% grade for a mile or so, at around mile 50.

[Veronica]

Nothing like a 10% grade to wake you up huh. Is there a good downhill after?

V.

[aka_kim]

There's a really nice downhill on the other side of the climb. It's by a stream, in the shade, not terribly fast, but fun.

[Veronica]

I got an e mail this morning saying that they will be doing Day of registration. So if you have no plans for Sunday... join us!

V.

[SadieKate]

Thanks, ma'am. I'm waiting to hear from Robb before I send a headcount. He's going off to count cog teeth. I'm encouraging him to get an XT cassette with a 34 (mostly so I don't have to listen to him whine).

[SadieKate]

You should e mail Brian (below) so they have a people count.

Just spoke to Sterling and gave him a count of 2. Robb is thinking that a maiden voyage on the southern approach might be best. No confirmation from Petunia. We're going to do our best to be there by 10 in our best imitation of good doobies.

[Veronica]

Thom and I decided not to leave until six so I could get coffee and a danish at the local shop. We arrived at registration around 7. All the lines were long, except the A - D line. The lady (Susan I think?) who signed us in, is a lurker here on TE. Come on out, we don't bite.

It was kind of cold, so I kept my jacket on. It wasn't my normal biking jacket though and was quite soaked by the time we got to the first rest stop at mile 20. I had expected it to be warm like yesterday so wasn't really dressed appropriately.

After the rest stop we headed up Calaveras. It's a stiff climb, but not really long. There's a series of rollers at the top and then a pretty good descent. I really like this road. Once we were down to the flatlands, Thom asked me if my bike was always so noisy. I said it's a little bit noisier than usual. About a mile later, he tells me to pull over so he could look at my rear tire. I had a couple of loose spokes and the tire had been rubbing against the brakes - for who knows how long. Maybe that's why I was so slow up Diablo yesterday. He tightened up the spokes as best he could - yes I actually have a spoke wrench in my tool kit.

We were a couple of miles from the second rest stop at mile 36, which is also the decision point for 70 or 100 K. We decided to do the 70 and get my wheel into the shop. Although it is really his wheel, which I stole about 6 weeks ago when I broke a spoke.

We blew off the second rest stop, since it was only 8 miles from the finish. Route 84 was awful. We had a wind blowing up the canyon, lots of traffic and no shoulder in a lot of places. I drafted Thom for about 5 miles and then we switched. I had the less windy section.

I really enjoyed the ride on Calaveras. I didn't eat much at the first rest stop. Lunch was good. I really liked the salad, bread and strawberries.

Since it wasn't an all day affair, I got to stop at a teacher supply store and get people colored construction paper for an art project. We also went to Home Depot (yuck - the place is too big!) But they didn't have the string trimmer Thom wanted. So that was a bust.

It's been a good day and my gland is almost back to normal.

V.

[Bike Goddess]

Veronica- Now get those miles in the BJ RIGHT NOW (if you haven't already- I think I saw your name when I was posting mine awhile ago)!

Glad to hear your mouth is getting better. Like you said, exercise may help!

Re wheel- you are just plain lucky that nothing else happened. How many times I've heard about broken spokes, etc and the consequences. The gods must be shining on you for all the cookies you bake for the rest of us!

[Veronica]

I'm too practical to have low spoke count wheels. Yeah - they may make me go faster - but what if one of them should break? Same deal with skinny tires. My winter tires are 28s. My summer ones are 23s. No skinny little tires for me.

Heck I did last year's DMD ride with my Hokey Spokes -they are run with AA batteries. That's 11,000 feet I climbed carrying 9 batteries. One of the SAG guys was quite amused. But hey I can be seen in the dark.

V.

[Veronica]

I was passed by a few women today who said nothing. What is up with that? How hard is it to say, "On your left." Or even hi. I can understand it sort of on a climb when you may be working too hard to open your mouth. But on the flats?

V.