Ride to the Snow

[Veronica]

Ed, Sue, Veronica, Sarah and Bill (we're on a slope, Bill is tall, but not THAT tall)



What an awesome time we had in Placerville yesterday! The scenery was just drop dead gorgeous. The company was outstanding. Sarah's new bike is purty! Mexican food was yummy. Thom enjoyed being outside and relaxing. He read the paper while waiting at various points on the climb. It was nice to not have to lug all our stuff. All in all a good day.

The default on my HRM monitor for altitude is 1000. I should figure out how to change that. This ride started right around 4,000 and went up to just under 7,000 in 17 miles. The average grade was about 3%. There were a couple of places where it kicked up a bit more. I'd guess 7 or 8%.
When I'd find myself breathing really hard (I gotta get out of the flatlands!) I'd just look around. The sky was such a deep clear blue. There were some clouds to make for interesting pictures. Hardly any traffic, since the road was closed when you got to the snow. It wasn't all climbing. There were some rollers in there to give you some relief (and make you work on the descent!)

The descent was rocking - except for those few places where you had to pedal. Nice pavement, no sharp corners.

Just a REALLY nice day.


Thom has to go to work (poor guy). We'll try to get the rest of the pictures up tonight.

V.

[DeniseGoldberg]

Awesome! And amazing seeing you with (what looks like) your skinny-tired bikes posed in the snow.

I must have missed a post though - I think somewhere along the line I saw a comment about Thom being injured. Is he OK?

--- Denise

[Veronica]

Thom broke his arm last Sunday mountain biking. I wrote about it in the Mt. Tam thread under California. He's doing okay. Mornings are the worst.

Don't know what size tires everyone else was using, I have a 25 in the rear, 23 in the front. Remember though it was ride to the snow, not through the snow.

V.

[DeniseGoldberg]

V. -
Thanks for the reference. I just looked at your post, and ouch! Sounds like it was a great ride until Thom's mishap. Please tell him that I'm sending good (and fast) recovery wishes his way.

And I did get that it was a ride to the snow - it just amazes me to see skinny-tired bikes sitting on (or near) th stuff!

--- Denise

[julbee]

Hi Veronica!

Thanks for sharing the picture!

Hi Denise!
Had some time this A.M. to enjoy your site!
Thanks, too, for sharing your pictures!

[SadieKate]

It was a fabulous day on the Iron Mountain Rd Climb. Sue (Yellow) proved that she is trainable and now referred to the steadily increasing climb as "rolling upward" as opposed to the Slug Gulch ride where she said it rolled along. To Kim, Bubba and me, that meant momentum was involved and there would be brief respites from the climb. So, yes, this climb truly did just just roll upwards so it was very enjoyable and meant the altitude didn't slay us completely.

Sue and her fellow monster Pville rider, Ed, paced us along chatting steadily while us flat/lowlanders slowly worked our way upwards. We took lots of opportunity for pictures and SAG stops. It was really nice to have someone (especially a skilled photographer) haul your extra gear, water, V's blueberry scones . . . speaking of which I was supposed to split one with Sue but my half never showed up. Wonder how that happened? The snow stopped us just beyond Silver Fork Rd which is waaaay up in them thar hills. Bubba took me hiking in the area on one of our early dates and I remember thinking I was just about to fall over the edge into Nevada. Well, I'm sure we could see that far yesterday.

After the snow picture, we bundled up and came screaming down the hill. All of us posted over 40 with Ed almost reaching 50. This was one downhill you could really enjoy as long as you missed the rocks - some of which ran off the road . At that speed it's hard to tell whether you're looking at a rock or a squirrel. Magpie, the new bike, just had one heck of a maiden ride. She's at home resting now, one happy girl.

[SadieKate]

we're on a slope, Bill is tall, but not THAT tall)

And, Ed is almost as tall as Bill! This could be a lesson in perspective.

[Veronica]

I'm sorry you didn't get a scone Sarah. We finished them this morning. They're really healthy (a cup of heavy cream, 12 TBS of butter!) And they taste healthy too. Hey anything with fruit must be good for you!

V.

[aka_kim]

Ooh, Iron Mountain looks really fun. When are you doing it again? I wanna come.

[Veronica]

I told Sue that I if I lived there, I'd be doing it all the time. It's just so pretty and smelled good!

V.

[SadieKate]

They're really healthy (a cup of heavy cream, 12 TBS of butter!) And they taste healthy too. Hey anything with fruit must be good for you!

Hey, fruit and dairy - most be good for you! I tell myself every morning that my cup of coffee-flavored half and half is an excellent source of calcium.

Kim, I suspect that this ride is high enough altitude that we could ride it in warmer weather . . . though we'd then pressure ourselves into riding all the way to Highway 88. Ow, ow, ow . . .

[Jo-n-NY]

What an awesome pic V. I also missed the thread about your husband. I will look for it now, however I will say in advance that I hope he will be feeling better soon.

~ JoAnn

[CorsairMac]

Snow!! in June!! are you nuts??? Loved the pixs and the new bike ooolalaaa!!

OT V: my new vintage Trek has 25 in the back and 23 in the front........I saw you had the same setup. May I ask why?......I had never seen that and was wondering what the reason is for when I need to replace the tires (probably sooner rather than later )

[Veronica]

OT V: my new vintage Trek has 25 in the back and 23 in the front........I saw you had the same setup. May I ask why?......I had never seen that and was wondering what the reason is for when I need to replace the tires (probably sooner rather than later )

Ahh... laziness or maybe it's thriftiness.

After all the bad luck I had with tires a few weeks ago, (8 tire changes in a week!) when I got the new wheels I decided I wouldn't buy anymore tires until I decided I like the wheels. Ed told me yesterday though that it should help me corner faster.

V.

[yellow]

Snow!! in June!! are you nuts???

And that's snow in June in Kalifornia! Actually, it's mostly leftover snow from the winter pack, though it did snow there where we were standing on Thursday & Friday of last week! Tad bit unusual but not unheard of. The road probably won't open all the way "through" for a couple of weeks (it is not plowed).

Thanks to V and Thom and SadieKate and Bubba for coming up to ride. Kim, the ride actually stays nice all year as it's generally cooler up there in the heart of summer (though still in the 80s sometimes). When the road opens up all the way through, the traffic picks up but it's still beautiful and smelling of Jeffrey pine bark and crowded with western tanagers, chickarees, and pine grosbeaks. The sky is usually that color of blue up there. I know that I'm very lucky to live where I do. I don't ride that route nearly enough...so many places to ride, so little time.