Ride SUNDAY 8:00am - Great for Beginners

[cindysue]

Rise and Shine! The Luna Chix are foregoing their beauty rest for a good cause. Come train with us for the Bike Against the Odds - a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Fund.

Sunday, 9/4 8:00am. Meet at Lake Merritt - Lakeside Park/ Fairyland parking lot

12 mile route (400 ft of climbing): Light Loop: Starting at Lake Merritt we'll climb Broadway, traverse the lower Oakland hills on Mountain Blvd., and return to the Oakland flats via Park Blvd. Go through Temescal park to Broadway Terrace to continue on the gradual rolling hills of Mountain Blvd through Montclair Village. Make a gradual descent down Park Blvd to return to the lake.

This is the first of a progressive series of training rides leading up to the event on October 9th. www.lunachix.net for more info

send me a PM if you plan to come!

[Trek420]

Just back from this ride, I think we had about 7 people including 1 guy. I got to see Cindy's Orbea, it's puhrty. and we agreed that my Velogirls team vest is a perfect match for the tone of the rear fade of her bike's color. I didn't realise it's sorta a pink to purple fade. I know, sucha girl.

It was perfect weather for a hilly short ride, overcast but not cold. We gathered 8:00 am at childrens fairyland in Oakland and after brief introductions and signing a waver that my heirs won't sue Lunachix club we set off. The ride starts up Broadway with a lot of stop lights but we managed to stick together. Then Cindysue led us uphill to Montclaire.

Just a note, if she ever tells you "the rest is flat and downhill" don't believe her ;-)

We had two mechanicals, chain suck, I was one of them. One Lunachick took a slo mo fall when she stopped to help me with my chain. She's ok, bike's ok. All in all a great ride.

I think it's same time place next week....20 miles

[bikerz]

Hey - sounds like a great ride! I'll be there for next Sunday's ride - 19 miles, including my favorite - OTR!

[cindysue]

Just a note, if she ever tells you "the rest is flat and downhill" don't believe her ;-) ....I think it's same time place next week....20 miles

Thanks Dita!

It certainly was a lovely day. We had a nice group: Angela, Dita, Eileen, Jeanine ("Neen"), Jerome (our star male) Laura, Lee, Stefanie (Lunachick) and myself. Everyone did great and that 400 feet of climbing (so says the event organizers) included a 12% grade - whoo hoo!

Indeed, there was another hill (or two? but not huge) to grind up after my announcement. Hey - at least I had water this time, when I asked if anyone needed water?!

The last little bit of the ride around the lake was nice - each of the training rides will end with that loop around the lake.

Yes, same place, same time, next Sunday (9/11) - I'll post next week's ride shortly.... I plan to go out there saturday and do a pre-ride so there are no surprises....

I'll have LUNA Chix water bottles for Dita and Anne and whomever else shows up!

[bikerz]

Hey CindySue (or Trek, or other locals...)- I'm trying the Pinehurst loop on Wednesday morning (for the first time!) with my neighbor - starting and ending at the intersection of Skyline and Snake - any tips? I want to have tried it at least once, if not a couple of times, before the Lunachix ride in 2 weeks. I'm hoping it won't take more than 2 hours... I'm a *little* nervous!

And what was the 12% grade on yesterday's ride? Inquiring (and anxious!) minds want to know!!

Thanks!

[cindysue]

The 12% grade occured along Broadway Terrace. But I can't remember where exactly?

Are you referring to the ride on the 18th or the 25th?

The 18th - best advice is to be cautious on redwood which is somewhat narrow and a steep descent in my opinion.

The 25th - Wildcat canyon can be a ***** to climb - especially in the beginning. But if you can do the three bears (and certainly Diablo) you can handle Wildcat.

From Snake and Skyline - go down skyline, turn left on redwood, left on pinehurst, then take pinehurst back to skyline (turning right on skyline to get back to snake).

[bikerz]

Well, I'm back from my first time around the Pinehurst loop! Yay! Made it in one piece, without being hit by a car or falling over from going too slow!

We did 15.4 miles from Skyline and Snake - along Skyline to Joaquin Miller to Redwood to Pinehurst and up Pinehurst back to the starting point. I've been terrified of this route for a while, but I have to say it wasn't so bad. I kept my speed down on the descents, trying to be prudent! I made it all the way up all the hills without having to stop at all (yay!). The last little bit to the top of Pinehurst is pretty darn steep!

I made a tactical error on the last stretch - I was coming round a corner and I thought I'd better stop and rest because it must be a ways more before the really steep part, so I geared up getting ready to stop, came around the corner and saw that I was almost there - and there was no way I was going to stop now, so I just had to keep going, but in that higher gear ! Wow - I was going the slowest I have ever gone - 3.5 mph, but I made it!

So the only piece of the BAO ride I haven't done yet is the Lake to Tunnel Rd, which we do on Sunday. Then I'm just going to keep practicing putting all the pieces together between now and the ride.

Whew - it actually seems possible now!

[cindysue]

Great Job Ann! Doesn't it feel great to conquer those hills? You'll do just fine on the Lake to Tunnel Road section.

Personally I hate the redwood descent. it is too narrow and steep for my well being. But with time......

[slinkedog]

You just have to put into practice all those wonderful descending skills that Julia taught us!! LOL! I'm a weenie on descents, so I have no room to talk. Be careful and have fun!