Ride Reports, 2006
Ride Reports, 2005
The main double-prep page
The M-pace double-prep page
The curious number 0, and the Monday, were because this was a raindate for the Second Saturday Presto ride scheduled for the Martin Luther King holiday. And rain it did on the Saturday.
Route, as advertised: ASSR Presto Raindate. Meet at Spruce and Grizzly; descend Wildcat Canyon Rd to San Pablo Dam Rd; follow the ASSR Presto Sunol route as we would have done on Saturday, except that we will skip both Orinda BART and Danville Blvd (too flat). An alternate route title would be: Wildcat - Pig Farm - Sunol.
Two alternatives to separate segments of Danville Blvd - San Ramon Blvd were offered. By group consensus, we used only the southern one: Roughly 2 miles south of Danville, turn left off the Blvd onto Greenbrook, cross over the freeway; then Camino Ramon, Crow Canyon; and then Alcosta, Village Parkway south to Dublin. It was less traffic than the Blvd as well as more interesting (admittedly the latter isn't saying much). But at least we were able to ride abreast and chat as much as we liked.
Actual miles on route: 98.2. Average speed: 15.8mph. Average speed up to lunch: 17.1mph. Pacelines help! Flats: 3.
Lunch at the Dublin Rigatoni's, whose praises have been sung before. But previous praises neglected to mention the balsamic vinegar and olive oil with which we drenched our fresh-baked Italian bread. Sure beats liquid maltodextrin for flavor. No other food stops.
Riders: 8 from Berkeley to Dublin; 2 left after lunch; 6 continued on for the Sunol-Palmores-Redwood portion of the ride.
Monday traffic on Niles Canyon Road had several a very large trucks, which we tend not to see on weekends. Guess they weren't honoring the holiday. At least they were professional drivers and passed with care.
Weather: mostly overcast. One hour of sunshine on Palomares which resulted in gorgeous views. Temps: 48 at the beginning; mostly in the 50's; high was 64 in the Palomares sun.
Route, as advertised, and as ridden: Redwood - Diablo Junction - Pig Farm. Meet 8:30am at Rockridge BART for a prompt departure on a prompt ride. Tunnel, Skyline, Redwood, Norris Canyon, Diablo Southgate to Junction, Reliez Valley, Pig Farm, SPDR. Our final portion of the return route was Wildcat, Shasta, Grizzly, descend Claremont.
Actual miles on route: 91. Climbing: Lots - it might have been hilliness "5", not "4". Average speed: 14.0(?) mph. Weather: overcast all day, foggy about 1/4(?) the day. Min temp on ride: 41 degrees. Max: 54(?).
Food stops: #1: Starbucks on Crow Canyon Place in San Ramon (for future reference: next door to El Balazo Taqueria, a Subway, and a real deli). #2: Una Mas at Bancroft/Treat in Walnut Creek.
Riders signed in at BART: 11. About 2/3 GPC regulars & semiregulars, 1/3 I had never seen before. (Number joining en route: 1.) Count leaving Rockridge parking lot: 10. Oops, I didn't notice that 10 does not equal 11 until reaching Castro Valley. Count at return to ride start: 3. Attrition, or what? Well, several people had to be home early and/or ride short. Number presumed lost in the BART parking lot: 1. Sorry - see lesson #1, below. Number outright dropped (after suitable goodbye's): 1. Sorry - see lesson #2.
Lesson #1: Get a map of the parking lot? Or maybe, be ready to ride when it says to be ready . . . and if you must run off after sign-in, tell the leader.
Lesson #2: Don't bring a heavy commute bike with fenders, touring rack, heavy tires, kickstand(!), etc, on your first hilly M-pace ride unless you know you're really strong.
Route, as advertised: Zampa - Benicia. Meet 8:30am at North Berkeley Bart for a prompt departure on a prompt ride. Over the Zampa Bridge and Carquinez Strait to Benicia for lunch. Full disclosure: Only recently has the Zampa made these routes accessible by bike from Berkeley; consequently I have not ridden all the Vallejo roads on this route before now. Nor am I sure of the exact mileage to Benicia. So bring a sense of adventure.
Unfortunately I had a g.i. bug and could not ride that day. Because the Vallejo-Benicia portion of route is new to most of us, I did not want to send the group there without me to blame if people got lost :-). Instead I brought route sheets for the familiar Morgan Territory route, which was scheduled for next week. Jack Joseph agreed to serve as stand-in ride leader.
Riders at North Berkeley Bart: 13. One discovered a wheel problem; 12 left on the ride. Most people didn't do the full ride: Later reports were that 6 people ate lunch at Blackhawk; 5 rode back to Berkeley, but none via Mt Diablo Junction.
Weather: overcast and foggy.
Route, as advertised: Morgan Territory - Diablo Junction. Meet 8:30am at North Berkeley Bart for a prompt departure on a prompt ride. Walnut Creek, Clayton, Morgan Territory, Blackhawk, Diablo Southgate to Junction, and return.
Instead we rode the Zampa-Benicia route which was originally scheduled for Jan 22 but was postponed because I couldn't ride that day.
Route details: North Berkeley Bart, Spruce, Wildcat Canyon and Century North Loop route to the Zampa Bridge bridge in Crockett (mile 26 of the ride). In the North Bay: Columbus Pkwy - Lake Herman - 2nd St loop; lunch in Benicia (mile 45). Return along Benicia waterfront and Bay Trail (great views of the Carquinez Straight from the north), recross Zampa (mile 55). Crockett Bl, Cummings Skyway, Franklin Canyon, Reliez, Lafayette (mile 76), Moraga, Redwood, Skyline, Grizzly. Total: 102 miles, average 14.3mph.
Riders: 11 rode from Berkeley to Benicia. 3 returned directly from the Zampa bridge. 4 more returned via the Bears, with only 4 going for the "full 100" via Lafayette, etc.
Food stops: #1: Kinder's Deli-BBQ at 333 First St, Benicia. They were well able to handle a group of our size (11). Indoor and outdoor seating - the latter in the sun, which was quite welcome on a winter day. Generous size sandwiches, with bbq'd meat the specialty, but vegetarian options as well. Some people said they ate too much. Memo to riders: When sandwiches are large, it's ok to split one with a riding buddy, and the deli line moves faster too. Food stop #2: Lafayette Peet's.
Weather: upper 50's to 60's ... sunnier than expected.
Route, as advertised, and as ridden: Sunol and Zoo. Meet 8:30am at Rockridge BART for a prompt departure on a prompt ride. Pinehurst, Redwood, Norris, Sunol, south on Calaveras a bit for bonus miles; Palomares, Castro Valley; then reverse the Century South Loop past Lake Chabot and the Zoo.
Actual miles on route: 102. Average speed: 15.5mph. It's necessary to go south a bit on Calaveras to get a full 100 miles out of this route, but we rode a mile or so further south on Calaveras than planned. One rider, who was new to that road, liked it so much that he charged on ahead of the group, and we had to send someone else to chase him down.
Food stops: #1: The Sunol convenience store, which is so unmemorable I can never recall its name. #2: The superb Rigatoni's in Castro Valley. This is arguably the best bike lunch spot anywhere. Delicious pasta, cooked perfectly every time, excellent sauce, good coffee, lemon slices for water bottles, and more. All served as promptly, or more so, as most any deli or fast food place. But it digests perfectly to power the final miles home. Ambiance: tablecloths, wine available, lively but not too loud for civilized conversation, and large windows to keep an eye on the bikes.
Riders: 15 started, which is getting to be quite a crowd. Took about 10 minutes just to get everybody signed in. As usual, far fewer finished together. One rode off the front while the rest of the group waited for a flat. Some returned directly from Sunol, skipping Calaveras. Even so, the remaining crowd was enough to occupy 3 tables at Rigatoni's.
Weather: mostly 60's, mostly sunny; excellent for a winter day.
Route, as advertised: Bears - Diablo - Redwood. Meet 8:30am at North Berkeley Bart for a prompt departure on a prompt ride. Wildcat, Bears, Pig Farm, Reliez, Diablo to Junction, Norris, Redwood.
On Friday evening the National Weather Service gave the precipitation probability for the day as 80%, and early Saturday morning they upped it to 90%. As noted above, double-prep policy is that 10% or greater may cancel, shorten, or postpone the ride, depending on specifics. As of 7:45am, Berkeley weather was clear and the forecast and radar both suggested a dry window of perhaps two hours. So it seemed we could do a short ride, such as Grizzly and Skyline, for as far as the weather held.
It started sprinkling at 8:15, just as I left home, but inertia kept me headed towards the ride start. At North Berkeley Bart, 4 riders were waiting and 1 more joined us. Of those, 2 had intended to join Lewis's 8:15 breakfast ride but missed it so joined ours instead. We rode up Spruce and Grizzly to the summit. The sprinkles teasingly stopped twice, but restarted each time. The view from the summit confirmed no improvement in the weather, and most people headed home. We made the right decision, as the rain grew steadily heavier throughout the day.
Ride total (including ride to start): 14 miles.
Route, as advertised, and as ridden: Morgan Territory the Long Way. Meet 8:30am at North Berkeley Bart for a prompt departure on a prompt ride. Wildcat, Bears, Pig Farm, Reliez, Pleasant Hill, Clayton, Morgan Territory, Blackhawk. From Blackhawk, our return route was Blackhawk Rd etc., to Stone Valley Rd.
Then -- instead of Danville Blvd, which I find grows tiresome -- the little-ridden (by GPC) Roundhill-Miranda-Lavender-Rudgear-San Miguel route into Walnut Creek. Although fully suburban, this route has pleasant rollers, excellent surface and sightlines, and much less traffic than Danville Blvd. For much of it we can safely ride three abreast with no inconvenience to other road users. Not many places we can do that. Final return was via Lafayette, Happy Valley, Miner, Wildcat.
Actual miles on route: 100. Average speed: 15.0 mph (for those of us in the middle, anyway).
Food stops: #1: The Noah's and Starbucks at Bancroft/Treat in Walnut Creek. #2: Blackhawk. Big Apple Bagels closed at 2:00pm, just a few minutes before we arrived, so for expedience most of us went to the Subway next door. James and Jack displayed much better taste by heading for a Chinese restaurant about 50 feet away that I had been unaware of. They were served just as quickly as we were, with much tastier food, at about the same price. No stops in Clayton or Lafayette.
Riders: 14 total: 12 left North Berkeley Bart, 2 more joined on Wildcat. Just about the limit of what I can keep track of, especially since at no time were all 14 all together at the same place. 2 turned back after Pig Farm; 12 rode Morgan Territory. After Morgan Territory, 3 rode off the front without waiting for the main group and were never seen again, 1 went to Dublin-Pleasanton Bart because needed to return home early, 2 took Lafayette Bart, 6 rode back to their respective origins.
Weather: Sunny for the first hour of the ride, overcast for the rest of the day. Temps upper 50's to mid 60's.
Route, as advertised, and as (partly) ridden: GPC Century Variation. Meet 8:30am at North Berkeley Bart for a prompt departure on a prompt ride. We'll ride a variation of the Grizzly Peak Century route, with separate north and south loops. North loop goes to Crockett via Franklin Cyn and Crockett Blvd (instead of Pinole and refineries), then returns via McEwen, Pig Farm, Mama Bear, and Happy Valley to lunch in Lafayette. Optional south loop per usual via Oakland Zoo and Castro Valley, but without ride leader as I must be home early that day.
Food stops: #1: The Valona Cafe Market in Crockett. #2: Lafayette Peet's / Noah's / el Balazo / Jamba Juice.
Riders: 11 total. The north loop section was somewhat longer than I had guessed, so I (plus two others) returned to Berkeley directly from the Bears. Most others continued to Lafayette and from there to Moraga and Pinehurst; none did the full south loop as advertised.
Actual miles as I rode it: 68.2. Average speed: 15.4 mph. Miles reported to me for the route via Lafayette, Moraga and Pinehurst Rd down Tunnel Rd to Berkeley: 84.
Weather: Perfect! Clear blue skies and balmy -- the first real spring day of the year. Temps upper 60's, low 70's.
Rained out. The planned route was Livermore via Flynn Road; we rode it on Apr 02 instead.
Route, as advertised, and as ridden: Palomares, Calaveras, Norris. Meet 8:30am at Rockridge Bart for a prompt departure on a prompt ride. Redwood, Palomares, Sunol; then Calaveras full-length out-and-back. Return via Dublin (lunch at Rigatoni's), Norris, Redwood.
Actual miles on route: 118. Average speed: 15.4 mph.
Weather: a classic Bay Area spring day, sunny and clear all day. Reached 60's by mid-morning, never over low 70's.
Riders: 10 of us rode together out of Rockridge Bart. One turned back after we regrouped at Sibley Park (at the top of Tunnel Rd); another turned back after we regrouped at Proctor School (Castro Valley). Of the 8 who continued to Sunol, 5 turned back there. Only Kevin, Scott and I rode the Calaveras out-and-back. It is a gorgeous road, new to both of them, and both were quite agreeably taken by it.
Food stops: #1 (mile ~40): The nondescript convenience store in Sunol. At least they have Kern's nectars, as well as salt-and-nitrate laden sausages to satisfy those with such cravings. #2 (mile 77): Rigatoni's at Dublin, which we reached at mile 77 of the ride. Every bit the equal to its superb counterpart in Castro Valley (see the Feb 5 report); the only difference being that the interior is slightly larger, and the floor is tiled, not carpeted.
On the return, Scott left us at Castro Valley to take Bart home, leaving only Kevin and I to complete the route.
Most of the terrain was not suitable for pacelining, but Niles Canyon from the foot of Palomares to Sunol is perfect for it.
Actual miles on route: 116. Average speed: 16.0 mph.
Riders: 10 of us rode from Rockridge Bart. 4 left us at Danville to go on a shorter ride. 6 continued to Livermore for lunch, with 5 taking the Flynn Rd section. Flynn Rd is a real treat, especially in the spring. Too bad we don't get to ride it more. 5 of us returned to Lafayette; 1 Bart'd home from there. 4 of us (Zach, James, Bruce, and myself) rode Glorietta-Rheem (and poked around Campolindo High School, for reasons well-known to GPC-Century-Planning-Central) then returned home to Alameda and Berkeley respectively.
Coincidence: The Cinderella Metric Century was the same day; we passed hundreds of riders headed the opposite direction, all the way from Blackhawk to the south end of Flynn Rd.
Food stops: #1 (mile ~30) Blackhawk shopping center - Starbucks. #2 (mile ~65) Livermore: the always-satisfying Tequila's Taqueria. Not high on decor, but superb & generous food. No biker has ever complained about eating at Tequila's. For future reference: On the ride I noticed that another Tequila's has opened in east Livermore, on Vasco Rd slightly north of the I-580 ... presumably a branch of the the original. #3 (mile ~95) Lafayette Peet's / Noah's.
Weather and ambience: Another perfect spring day!
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