There's gold in them hills! Ride report from Davis 600, May 3 - 4

Davis 600, May 3rd 2013

After a storming time on the Davis 400, we knew we had our work cut out for the 600. Still no news from Santana / Crank2 of when we would receive Katina back from repairs, but never mind, we were settling into a comfortable pattern of surprising ourselves by how much fun we could have riding our "heavy" touring tandem on this brevet series. Being on a flat handlebar bike for such distances does take its toll on my wrists and shoulders, but the combination of aerobars and dual bar ends, plus the portable pilot-massage attachment all good tandem teams carry (aka Emma) meant I'd got this far without any complaint.

The bigger challenge of the 600 was it was back into more mountainous terrain, climbing a good way into the Sierra Nevadas for a 1500m altitude half-way point, and also an unconventional 8pm start time, guaranteeing awkward sleep patterns. As if that's not enough, I also was planning to go straight from the end-line to SFO airport and get on a flight to London. At least, I should sleep well on the flight!

The first 50km we spent with a group of fast guys -- not The fast guys, who were off the front chasing down a slick yellow Velomachine (fully faired trike recumbent) that had shot off into the night making short work of the North-Eastern almost head wind that had blustered up against us from nowhere -- but certainly fast enough. Somehow our echelon riding was even worse than the fortnight before, with me completely misreading the wind direction and failing to pick the right line when we turned off the main roads and onto the never-ending "Reclamation Road", nt doubt annoying some other riders about the tandem not performing the quality of "pull" expected of it; too bad! Shortly after the pace seemed to rise further with some groups quite sensibly wanting to break off what had become an unwieldy large pack, and we had no interest in playing along with the "attacks" so we sat up to see who else might fall off the back with us, but as it turned out the the whole lot disappear into a line of red lights dissolving into night across the paddy fields. Not a problem - on a tandem we have our own company built in ☺

The fastest guys were leaving the first control as we approached, and the rest of the group left while we were there. So we spent the second stage on our own too, plugging away at the miles in the darkness, and to one of he more unusual controls I've seen, hosted in a motel in Oroville. The next stage proved a shake up to the rhythm, as here we hit the first big climb past Feather river West branch and onto the North branch, which would be our companion for most of the coming day (Saturday). The drop down to the river proper was exhilarating in the dark, and seemed to go on for far too long (knowing it was all altitude we needed to climb back over on the return half!). Had it been daylight and I'd been able to see the precipitous drop to the right (near) side of the road all the way down, I might have taken it a shade more gently too...

The gradual drag up the Feather river seemed to go on forever in the dark, so we were both really glad to see the 200km control at Tobin resort welcoming us just as the distant blue of dawn was building in the sky. The freshly cooked waffles were a real welcome comfort here, although I struggled to drink the very strong coffee at that point in my messed up metabolism. As we'd not got in any proper rest on Friday afternoon, with my coming straight to the start from work, we were now feeling the effects of riding right through the night. As were others: we saw the Velomachine parked up on arrival, and still there when we set off into the daybreak.

Seeing sunlight hitting the sheer canyon walls above our heads was tantalizing, as we experienced the coldest part of the night just below it! In an effort to cut weight for this day of climbing I'd left my nighttime cooler-condition clothing at the control. Eventually we turned off the picturesque Highway 70 and onto the even more charming Indian Creek road. A fellow cyclist asked if we'd rather be enjoying the downhill return leg, and at that point I had to say no I was genuinely enjoying the amazing scenery and being able to take it all in as we trundled up, in a way you really can't when piloting a tandem downhill.

The organiser Dan was the man at the control at Tayersville, and again we enjoyed his cheery company while also enjoying his great hospitality - soup, cooked to order omelets and a couple sandwiches. He was a little concerned about one rider, Kaley who had been riding ahead of us by half a stage all night, but had not yet been seen at Taylorsville. So Dan was sure she'd missed the turn and would now be well on her way to Quincy.

The last stage to the turn around point I found fairly brutal. While not yet the hottest part of the day, and the heat reduced by being in the mountains, but still the remote and dusty situation somehow got into me, not to mention this was the steepest sustained climb of the whole event. At 270km in this was probably the toughest point for me -- if doing an evening start again we must remember to get a couple hours lie down before, as indeed we did on previous 2 night start long distance rides. Eventually we got to Antelope lake and what an amazing setting it is... quickly blowing away any grumpiness! On the way up we'd spotted Kaley heading back down, so at least solved that conundrum (she'd just missed the control).

The next 150km was downhill tandeming heaven. And, the only part of the ride with a tail wind to boot. Sailed through Taylorsville, narrowly resisting more omelets but still enjoying great food, and down to Tobin where we were reunited with our "bag drop" bags for another change of shorts and to pick up the cooler weather clothes. The climb back over to Oroville was tough, but not unexpected so easy to pace, and the descent the other side, with a spectacular late evening sunset laid out infront of us across the wide Central Valley really left us in awe. I could have stopped at the vista point and watched the sunset right through, but we had a pressing engagement to meet in Oroville - hoping to get there for 8pm and squeeze in 4.5hours sleep in the motel room we'd booked. Of course brevet plans are always subject to change, this time being a really fierce side wind that like ius, was falling off the Sierras in the setting sun, and wanted to do all it could to knock us off during those final 10 miles into the town. By the time we got there, we knew we couldn't sleep so long, as if that wind kept up we'd need more time in hand for the remaining 150km in the morning. Still, sleep, in a proper bed, is an amazing thing on a 600km ride, in any quantity - and so our 3 hours was truly restorative.

Alarms just after midnight, we were back rolling before 1am, enjoying the quiet of the night. In the distant Sierras to our left we could see lightning flashing around, so were glad to have left that weather in the mountains, and hoped it would not be joining us up the road.

Reclamation Road eventually came around again - this time we could see just how flat and bleak that area is. By now the sun was rising once more, and with it was returning the Easterly wind that we'd mostly avoided by striking back out in the middle of the night. This got pretty weary riding, so we had to stop and hide out behind a barn for 20mins to eat sandwiches and get a breather. Along with a prior bonus service station stop, and then a Starbucks stop 20 miles from the arrivée, we managed to turn a 2 stage ride into 5 stages on that Sunday morning. We later heard that Reclamation Road is variously now as Redemption or Revelations Road by the local cyclists; all very appropriate names for the emotions you dig on in that flat and shelterless lands.

After our sneaky Starbucks stop, we cruised into the Davis outskirts feeling pretty good and with 3 hours in hand. We could see the storm cloud now brewing on the nearer side of Sacramento, so were very happy when the road finally swung south and then west back into the park and ride and the end line. And after a well earned 2 hours extra snooze in the car we secured an enormous brunch in a local diner.

Mojo lost? Mojo found!

Davis 400, April 20

Having successfully completed the Davis 300 on Dobbin we weren't too concerned about the thought of undertaking an even longer ride on our touring tandem - even though this would be twice the distance of anything we'd put him through prior to this season. Perhaps bearing more on our minds was that this was the longest ride we'd done in quite a while - since Easter last year in fact, when we'd made a failed (non-validated) attempt at a team "arrow" to York. With the distractions of moving house (and continent) in the second half of last year we'd fallen right out of practice in the whole long-distance part of randonneuring. So in ways entering a 400 felt once again like the longest ride we'd done since PBP in 2011.

As with the 300, we decided to stay over in Davis both before and after the ride, so as to make the 6am start a litte more agreeable, not to mention to avoid the need to drive in the small hours.

The ride started promptly, and soon we were battling our way out East once more, through the same Northerly cross wind as 4 weeks before. Thankfully it was not quite so strong this time (or, maybe we were becoming accustomed to it), but equally we failed to make quite such an effective rotation of riders so by the time we reached Putah creek just East of Winters we were ready to sit up and ride our own pace for a bit, even with the tail wind. This was also a good chance for a stop to remove arm warmers and swap to dark glasses, as already by 8am it was starting to heat up into a warm day.

It made a very welcome change to skirt south around the Lake Berryessa mountains rather than right over them, instead visiting the 'burbs of Fairfield and then heading North up Wooden valley. Here we repeatedly passed and were passed by a large group of Leukemia Trust cyclists out on a training ride. We softly chuckled about the three rest & refreshment stations we saw setup for them along this 40km stretch, quietly thinking to ourselves how we'd already done 60km before meeting them and had yet to reach our first refuel station -- not to mention the 300km we'd still have remaining to ride after parting company. Part we did, as we turned onto familiar roads that lead up and past Lake Hennessy and then drop into the Napa valley, Silverado trail.

The Northerly wind had abated somewhat by now, so we really able to enjoy the scenery as we cruised to Calistoga, passing by many sights we'd enjoyed a fortnight before while touring the area with my brother and his family.

The Calistoga control marked 160 km of the ride, but somehow felt further -- the turn around point at Lake Sonoma now seemed well within striking distance, and everything was feeling great.

The heat of the day was really starting to get going as we skirted around what felt like 3 sides of Healdsburg and found the county road to our lunch stop. This is a beautiful part of the area we'd not seen before, somewhere worth spending time in "Wine Country" without quite the maddening crowds (and continuous bachelorette limousines) of Napa county. We took our time at the control, really enjoying the third fully catered rest stop laid on by Dan Shadoan and his excellent team that are the backbone of the Davis brevet series.

The return trip started very slow, even on flat lands and with the wind technically (if not noticeably) behind us, we were full of food and feeling the mid-afternoon furnace. What a difference 6 months makes though - last time we experienced this extreme heat, I really suffered, but this time we were well stocked with drinks and better protected with white clothing, so taking it steady, just keeping on moving, and eventually we were on the climb back out of the Alexander valley and into Calistoga.

The next stage had a couple of climbs, back to Lake Hennessy, and "past the winery" as we've come to know it, and would also see dusk, so we kitted up for night riding and welcomed the relative cool of the evening. By Moscowite corner several of the other riders we'd be riding around the same pace of, and enjoying company of in each control, were looking a bit sleepy, and indeed a bit of a lie down and even a small beer was welcomed by several as we enjoyed the comfort of the first indoor control of the ride, and perhaps since moving to California! Emma and I were still feeling pretty good at this point, so pressed on without too long a stop, eager to get to and beyond the final control point. I don't think either of us realized at this point we still had our best cycling legs to come though! As real darkness fell, the indomitable climb to Cardiac Pass seemed, well, a little more domitable than usual, and so soon we were screaming down the other side enjoying the biggest decent of the ride.

So we surprised ourselves by rolling into the 7-11 corner shop in Vacaville just about midnight. A hot cup of coffee or chocolate and a snack later, and we were soon heading out on the final stretch, with the words of the store keeper still in our ears: "you'll do well to get to Davis by 4am"!

The climb from Vacaville came as something of a surprise as the area looks so flat when you pass through on the Freeway, but soon we were back onto the plains of the valley floor and pushing out a very respectable pace, back down now very familiar roads. After hours of remote lands, the traffic lights in Davis twinkling up the road are always a welcome sight, and as we approached the crossing back over the I-80 Emma mentioned it was 5 minutes to two am! The lights were all in our favour, and suddenly we both had an unspoken goal - beat the clock to the finish line. We stood as we climbed the freeway bridge, plummeting down the North side I could see the gazebo faithfully stood in the Park and Ride lot below us; around the corner and double back to it, we shot up to the sleepy-looking helpers slamming on the brakes and shouting "2am?"! On the second time of asking they understood and agreed we could have that :-)

So looking back this was the strongest finish we'd made in a while, and it felt just great to get to the end of the ride with enough in the tank for a (very short) sprint, and generally feeling like yeah - we could probably cycle a bit further than that. A relatively flat route, great weather, pacing ourselves in the hottest parts of the day, and mostly enjoying our time on the bike, all helped to make it feel like we were really back and riding strongly again - if not quite at the same level as 2010 then certainly back where we were entering PBP, and that's a great feeling.

Catching Up

Well, it’s been awhile since we posted anything. We haven’t been touring at all, but we’ve been getting the miles in while randonneuring, as well and taking some non-bike(!) holidays. We’ve also been breaking tandems -- more on that later.

Since the last blog post, we’ve experienced Californian winter. Compared to the UK it was very short (especially compared to the one that the UK has experienced this year). It started by raining in December, for what seemed like the whole of December. It was heavy, and sometimes accompanied by strong winds. Very few people cycle in the rain here, but as long as it’s not too windy or cold, it was quite pleasant. New Years Eve was spent riding a very fast 200 from Davis (Last Chance Brevet), mostly in company (including a tandem). The route included a large section of the American River Bike Trail. It was lovely and quiet, but you could imagine that the trail would be very busy for much of the year. January arrived with frost, lots of it. Apparently we had the longest cold snap on record for the area. I had thought that we wouldn’t need all our UK winter cycling gear when we moved, but was very glad we brought it with us! We managed another fairly quick 200km brevet from Healdsburg courtesy of the Santa Rosa Cycling Club the weekend before my parents arrived for a three week visit. We spent much of the ride on our own due to setting off without water bottles, and having forgotten to top up the tyre pressure. The main field were long gone by the time we went back to the car to sort everything out. We also managed a first by snapping the drive chain. I’d put a new chain on a couple of days before, and it had initially been skipping, before settling down after about 10km. It was then quite happy until it snapped about 30km from the end. We always carry a chain tool, and spare pins/quick links, so it was a quick repair and sandwich before heading to the brew pub finish location. We didn’t get to do much cycling while my parents were here, but did a fair amount of walking instead. We also spent a week in Canyon Country visiting Red Rock Valley (spectacular colours), Zion Canyon (beautiful waterfalls), Bryce Canyon (amazing views with the orange hoodoos, white snow and blue sky), Monument Valley (very photogenic) and the Grand Canyon (big. very, very big), interspersed with Dam tours, museums and lots of food. Immediately after my parent left, we had another week holiday. This time it was skiing by Lake Tahoe with friends from various parts around the globe. Again, more food was eaten than could really be justified by the exercise.

Having completed brevets in both December and January, we were keen to do one in February to keep the run going. With the logistics of holidays and visitors, the only time we could find was the Monday following our return from skiing. We chose a flat 200km permanent starting in Sunnyvale, meaning we could cycle from home. Having not been on a bike much for a month, it was always going to be a tough ride. The weather (damp), didn’t really help either. Still we managed it, although in contrast to our previous two brevets it was one of the slowest 200km rides we’ve ever done. We’ve also learnt that while a sit down and rest is good for a lunch stop, authentic mexican food probably isn’t the best option for us.

March was a much more normal cycling month, with two 300km brevets planned. The first was the San Francisco Randonneurs 300 starting at the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and riding up to Healdsburg before returning via the coast. This had one of the largest fields for a 300 we’ve seen, with 120 entries (and 105 finishers on the day). There were some great headwinds on some of the outbound sections of the ride, which made the tandem popular with riders wanting to draft. Unlike many rides, we were thanked profusely and frequently for the shelter. There was also chatter when conditions allowed, which was nice. Apart from the wind the weather was wonderful. Cycling under blue sky going south along highway 1, with the noise of the Pacific waves crashing in on cliffs and beaches was stunning.

Towards the end of the ride, we noticed a creak whenever we stood up for climbing. This sort of sound is normally from a saddle (the combination of titanium railed saddle and a bagman is rarely a silent one), or occasionally the eccentric bottom bracket working loose. A quick check confirmed it was neither of these, so an investigation was booked for the cleaning she was due sometime the following week. As I was cleaning the rear of the bike, I noticed the lacquer on the join between the right chainstay and the chainstay bridge had lifted. After removing the rear mudguard and some of the lacquer to get a closer look, the likely source of the creak was apparent. It was clear that the weld between the chainstay bridge and the the right chainstay had cracked, and then extended into the chainstay top and bottom. Not good. Still, we were planning on getting Kat serviced sometime prior to the 1200km ride planned for June, so we combined stripping the bike for shipping with the maintenance work. Being in the US has made sending it back to Santana a lot easier (and cheaper), than from the UK too, as they’re conveniently based in South California.

Typically, I’d discovered the crack just after having posted a $200 cheque for ride entries, including the Davis 300 just over a week away. It was time for Dobbin to come to the rescue. Having seen the elevation profile for the Davis 300, it was clear that we were going to need to lose some of Dobbin’s excess touring weight. Off came the mudguards, racks, etc and the Marathon+ tyres were swapped for some lighter Pacelas. A quick (ha ha!) trip to Pescardero indicated that while we weren’t going to be breaking any records while climbing, we wouldn’t be too slow on the 300.

The five minute cycle from the overnight motel to the start of the ride indicated that it was going to be an interesting first stage. There was a very strong wind that would be a headwind or sidewind for around 50km until we reached the shelter of the (up)hills. While we proved it was possible to ride in echelons with a tandem / solo mix, it was hard work! We found a few riders to work with though, which helped quite a bit, but the normally easy going on the flat lands was nowhere in sight. After just over 100km, the first control was very welcome. So welcome in fact that a number of cyclists who weren’t on the brevet turned up thinking that it was their rest stop (which was just next door). The turn around point was at Cobb mountain elementary school at a little over 800m elevation. The rolling hills through pristine vineyard estates and past near derelict ranches showed where the money was being made in the area. One of the more unusual sights was Litto's Hubcap Ranch. The climb to the control started gently, but had some really steep sections. Dobbin has very low gears, and even though we had no touring luggage, we made use of them! At the start of one of the steep sections we were greeted with a strange sight; a randonneuring fixed-gear rider descending at speed and sounding like she was having a lot of fun! It’s always comforting to know that American randonneurs are as mad as their British counterparts. The control was worth the climb, with plenty of food (including freshly cooked pasta). The return leg to Davis started with a very fast descent off the mountain, and all seemed to be going smoothly until we hit the hills around Lake Berryessa when I noticed that the rear wheel was wobbling. A quick stop indicated that the cassette had worked loose, and some play had developed in the hub. We didn’t have cone spanners to hand, but we couldn’t move the lockring without them, so we just tightened the cassette, and carried on keeping a watchfull eye on it. Unfortunately, there was no tailwind to blow us back to Davis once we reached the flat lands, but compared to the morning the going was much easier. We spotted bike tail lights in the distance, about a mile in front, and made them our target. We eventually caught them just before the final info control, and so had a bit of company into the arrivée.

Dobbin’s rear wheel took a visit to the bike shop, where we learnt that we’d broken the cassette holder (or more precisely, some of the internals of the cassette holder). This was the second such breakage that the bike shop had seen in a few days. It seems that the Shimano tandem hub (or the cassette holder for it), is becoming known for breaking under high torque. It’s a shame, as in all other aspects it’s bombproof. It was fortunate that we hadn’t got any randonnees booked over the last couple of weeks, as we’d have been tandemless! Instead we’ve had lovely visitors in Joth’s brother and family.

We are getting a little bit better known by other randonneurs here, and it’s good to see familiar faces when riding. Next up is the Davis 400km brevet. Fingers crossed that we don’t break anything else on the bike!

Giving thanks for touring

Thanksgiving weekend is a big deal in the US. A time to be with families, and to give thanks for everything you have. We got back from our first trip back from the UK since moving, to find that it was only a couple of weeks away. After failing to get out of bed to do a permanent 200 randonnee the previous weekend, we started to work out what to do over the four day weekend. It seemed like the ideal opportunity to take out the new ExtraWheel trailer on Dobbin for a bit of touring. We originally planned to do a loop of the bay area, but a couple of days before, had a change of plan and decided to cut it a bit shorter. After a minor house maintenance problem we set out just gone 11am Thanksgiving Thursday, on quiet roads heading towards Joseph D Grant County Park. A mere 25 miles as the crow flies, but about 500m higher than our house. It lies about a third of the way up Mount Hamilton, a climb we had yet to try - we haven’t spent much time exploring the hills in the East Bay, as generally it means cycling through San Jose first whereas the Santa Cruz mountains and Los Altos hills are on our doorstep. Cycling through American suburbia we could smell roast turkey, roast potatoes, and all the other delights of the traditional Thanksgiving meal. It was a beautiful day though, and we were just glad to be out cycling in shorts and short sleeve tops in late November. We soon came to the base of the climb and started seeing some of the cyclists who had ridden the last of this year’s low key hill climbs descending back to the start. We soon settled into a rhythm, spinning very slowly up towards the campsite, towing trailer and camping kit as we climbed. The views across the south bay soon opened up beside us beneath the clear blue sky. For someone who used to hate climbing hills, it’s surprising how much I enjoy this sort of climb while touring. No time pressure, a wonderful view to enjoy, a peaceful road. Although the gate at the entrance to the park was unmanned, and the campground hosts seemed to have left for the season, we managed to find a ranger and buy a box of wood to be delivered to our site. We had a small walk out to Grant lake before the sun went down. There seems to be a number of nice trails in the park, to explore another time. The air was very cool out of the sun, and with the clear sky it was going to be a cold night. Well wrapped up in jumpers and hats, we sat and watched the fire while eating our unconventional Thanksgiving supper of pasta and sauce with crunchy vegetables (I didn't plan them that way, we just didn't want to wait any longer as it was cold and the stove was nearly out of gas). The only turkeys in sight were the wild ones roaming the park. Even though we were only a few miles from a huge conurbation, with the park in a dip over the first ridge line it was very quiet, and the stars were out in force with a gibbous moon.

Friday morning dawned cold and with a heavy dew. We had both woken up before dawn with eerie howling echoing around the valley - from coyotes I presume. Despite being close to San Jose, the park has an abundance of wildlife. On our way out of the park to continue our climb up Mount Hamilton we surprised a wild boar rooting by the side of the road. I’m not sure who was more shocked, it or us! After our enjoyable climb the day before we decided to change our original plan of heading back down to the valley and along to the base of Mount Diablo, and instead to climb over Mount Hamilton and see where we ended up. One of the best bits of touring is the ability to change plans and go wherever the road leads you. The day had yet to warm up, and view across the valley was very clear. After a couple hours of climb the road started to get busier, with a number of motorbikes passing us and also enjoying the open roads. At the top of the climb is the Lick Observatory are a number of telescopes belonging to the University of California. The view is pretty amazing. We hadn't researched this route at all, so weren't sure what to expect on the road down the other side. It turned out to be a pretty good decent, but relatively technical on a fully loaded tandem with trailer, although the trailer made very little impact on the handling of the bike. After about 14km, the road flattened out in a remote feeling valley. Even though there has been a fair amount of rain in the last few weeks in the bay area, the creeks and ponds were mostly dry here. After a while, the road turned north into another valley. We were surprised to find ourselves passing the end of Del Puerto Canyon road, and realised that we were now on the route of the permanent randonnee we hadn’t started the week before. I vaguely recalled that there were a couple of small climbs before we started the main descent into the Tri Valley, but they were a little larger than I recalled - the first was around 200m ascent. The main descent was shallow, but enabled us to keep up a good pace. We had realised that there was no way that we were going to make it up Mount Diablo that day, and decided to just head into Livermore and find a motel. The base of the valley was signalled with many vineyards and seemed to us to have a very French feel. With France in mind, our thoughts turned to food. Plates of thin bloody steak with hot crispy fries were appealing, but we were hungry enough to just go to a chinese takeaway close to the motel. They did a family deal, which was too much of a challenge for two hungry cyclists to refuse. It turned out to be too much even for us for one meal. Fortunately the motel room had a fridge and a microwave so the leftover chow mein, chilly beef, pepper chicken etc was eaten for breakfast.

With our original touring plans in tatters, we set out for a gentle ride to Anthony Chabot regional park. Once more, we decided to avoid the worst of the holiday traffic and take the scenic route via San Ramon. Having not originally planned to stay at this campsite, we weren’t sure how to approach it. The vehicle park entrance was some way out of Castro Valley, and there were a number of bikes trails along the lake which also had access. While looking for one of these trails, a local out walking stopped to ask if we needed directions. It turned out that the park entrance was at the top of a climb, and the campsite was significantly higher than the lake. After a climb which seemed to go on for a lot longer the promised mile, and having been passed multiple times by the same motorbike who seemed to be enjoying racing up and down it, we reached the turnoff for the campground. We were surprised to find that the road kept to the ridgeline for a couple of miles before finally dropping down a couple hundred meters to the campsite. While it was much busier than the Joseph Grant campground, there was still plenty of space and we soon found a spot which wasn’t too exposed, and had a nice flat area for the tent. Many spaces seemed to be more suitable for RV’s, with not enough flat ground to make it good for tents. We had stopped in San Ramon to buy our supper - rib-eye steak, and a bottle of red wine. With the black beans and mashed potatoes we already had in our panniers, we were in for a feast. The campfire was soon burning in preparation for for a pair of steaks. For a cycle camping meal, it has to have been our most decadent, and highly enjoyable. As we were at a lower altitude and nearer the bay, it wasn’t too cold outside which meant we could watch the fire burn low. There were lights from a number of bay settlements visible from our picnic bench, and while there was some traffic noise. It was a good campground nonetheless.

Sunday morning was arrived with the shock sounds of rain: first time in the tour! Turned out just to be that a SF bay mist had creeped in overnight, and condensing on the trees was enough to send drops down onto our tent.
The day’s journey began with a steep dirt trail down to Lake Chabot shoreline. Again, the trailer worked excellently, following behind faithfully on the slippery mud and rock trail.
The rest of the morning consisted of winding through East bay suburbs of Hayward and Union City, before reaching the ponds before Dumbarton bridge. It felt somewhat bleak there, halfway out into the bay in the mist, but once across the bridge and heading into Palo Alto, we soon saw our first glimpses of the sun for the day, and by the time we reached the sign welcoming us home to Sunnyvale, waterproofs had fully given way to short sleeves and sunshades once more!
All in all, a wonderful tour and a great reminder of all we love about cycle touring.

East shoreline trail

Riding to Winters, and planning winter riding

Having enjoyed the Davis 200 three weeks ago, we realised that it was time to get back to regularly riding longer distances. A perusal of the RUSA calendar allowed us to pick the Winters 200 ride which is run by the San Francisco Randonneurs. So on Saturday morning, we once again found ourselves at dawn, in a dimly lit car park full of cycles and cyclists, preparing for a fun day out. We completed the SF Rando’s traditional raising of hands and pledging not to do anything stupid, and then just as we were mounting up to set-off Joth noticed one of the two other tandem teams looked familiar. It was JoAnn and Spencer Frink who we met on the SF Randonneur Brevet Populaire which we rode while visiting the area last year. There was no time for chatting however, as it was time to leave. No count down to the start, only a plea from the organiser (who was riding), not to set off until he was on his bike too.

Unlike the Davis brevet, there were a few nice lumps to warm up on in the first few km. Climbing out of Vallejo, we soon realised however, that we needed to stop. Firstly, I’d forgotten to pump up the tyres the day before and the front wheel was making that squelching noise on corners indicting it needed some air, and secondly, the front brakes were rubbing. A quick stop and pump and adjustment and we set off again, with most of the field ahead of us - something to chase. As we passed Lake Herman and onto Fairfield, we kept catching tantalising glimpses of riders ahead of us, which we finally caught at the traffic lights by the first control. A quick snack, and it was back on the bike on the road to Winters for lunch. It was mainly flat, a nice temperature, and we were both going well. It was fun! Tandem country.
The Winters control was in a car park where volunteers had produced huge tri-tip sandwiches, tasty hummus and olive rice crackers and delicious chocolate brownies. We were aware of the climb which we were approaching, so didn’t dare eat too much though! We had ridden the next stage as part of the Davis 200, and enjoyed seeing it again in slightly cooler weather. There was significantly less traffic than three weeks ago, and very few boats being towed. The next control was at the shop which had been closed on the Davis ride. We discovered that the owner had recently died, which provided a sad explanation. There was no need to resort to dodgy taps for water today however, as we were met by a volunteer who provided iced water.
The highlight of the next stage was the Wooden Valley Road. A great gradual descent through the wooded valley on a good road. It seemed no time at all before we rejoined the outbound route and made a quick stop at the market which was once again a control point. We were on the homeward stretch! Having chatted to JoAnn and Spencer at several controls, we actually got to ride with them for some of this stretch, which was nice. The traffic lights through Vallejo still didn’t like us on the return journey, causing us to stop at almost all of them. The rail tracks caused us more problems though, as we managed to jump the sync chain off of the chain rings as we bumped over one level crossing! to be honest, we had noted that the eccentric bottom bracket needed adjusting the previous weekend, but hadn’t done anything about it. Oops! We were soon back on board, and flying to the end where our computer rolled over to read 200.00km just as we reached the car park - no overdistance on this ride!
It felt great to finish a 200km ride and not feel completely destroyed by it. So good in fact, that it’s made us decide to go for another Randonneur Round The Year, or R12 as they call it on this side of the pond. In celebration of a new AUK points year (which now starts from October), we joined RUSA this morning and are now planning out our next few rides. Californian summer was extremely hot, but otherwise kind of like what we know summer to be. Californian winter maybe more unfamiliar to our expectations, but hopefully in a way that will work in favour of keeping out R12 hopes going through to spring.

Davis 200 -- Cycling through a furnace

Having not been on a brevet since April - and we failed to even get that one validated - we’d been thinking for a while it was time to give it another go. We’ve had a few niggly injuries, and so been slowly building up distances, cycling from our home over to the Pacific, and a fortnight ago taking a 3 day tour in the south bay mountains over Labor Day weekend.

So Friday night we packed up the car, with Katina on the roof, and headed to Davis, near Sacramento, to make an early start Saturday morning on the Davis 200.

A short ride from our Motel on the east side of the town got us to the start in plenty of time, despite Google Maps’ best efforts to lose us in the bike-paths of several parks along the way. The town is clearly very keen on cycling heritage, not only does the round town loop have the town’s penny farthing logo depicting the way, but many shops display it too, and even the MacDonalds holds a fullsize chrome Penny!

At the start we were warmly welcomed by Dan and Jonathan and several other of the club regulars. A quick cup of tea in Peet’s Tea & Coffee, and then it was time to go. (First ride I’ve done with full 1 minute, 30 second, 15 second countdown to the start time!)

The first 25km heading due west out of town is fairly flat, and as we were warmed up from the cycle to the start we got ourselves onto the back of a faster group that included another Tandem (a Habanero, not seen them before). As we approached the foothills of the first - and main - climb of the day, we ‘took our turn’ on the front and just then rounded into a small canyon with a blustering strong wind. Promptly our group speed plummeted from a steady 36km to a variable 28 as we battled with the wind and rollers. We dropped off as we turned past the Berryessa dam, and settled into a more relaxed tandem hillclimbing pace. We had a nice chat with Deb Banks who introduced herself and the club. Just over the top, we had a slow deflation from a thorn in the front tyre, so saw most of the rest of the riders come through as we tended to that. This doubled as a good opportunity to pack away arm warmers (the cool of morning most definitely now replaced by strong sun), and grab a snack (some “Sloth” flapjack).

This is a straight out-and-back ride, with only one control at the turn around point, unusual to us used to windy AUK routes sometimes with 4 controls per 200km. The way out is three parts: flat/mountain/flat, and the way back the same (but in reverse!). Once over the climbs, we then dropped down onto the Silverado Trail, in the northern part of the Napa valley heading up to Calistoga. This was a narrow and busy road by local standards, heavy with tourist and group minibuses visiting the hundreds of wineries along the way, but not too bad compared to an average UK B-road. We got to the turnaround point in high spirits, and bought lots of drinks and snacks in the store before discovering the “Taco Truck” parked around the back, so called by there to pick up a veggi Burrito and a couple beef tacos too.

Emma enjoying Mexican lunch in the Sun

After enjoying this birthday treat, and welcoming the final few riders in, we set off back the way we came. Navigating the bike paths back down the Silverado trail was a little more tricky this way -- while the tour buses had reduced (being lunch time) we were cycling against the flow of a fun run which also used the shoulder, so had to negotiate our way into the traffic and around runners at numerous points. I was happy to see the turning onto the state highway 128 to cut back across the mountains, as that is a quieter road.

While the roads then became a bit easier, it was now gone 2pm and the intense midday heat had turned the valley of the climb into the proverbial oven. We’ve done our share of cycling in hot weather, and considered ourselves relatively good at coping with the heat, but this was something else. I seemed to suffer in particular, first sweating profusely (as told by salt tide marks on my clothing) but later drying right out and not sweating at all. At that point, I also felt the strength just leave my legs. It was not just the heat, but the desert-dry nature of the heat, combined with dry-dry wind, that seemed to suck all the moisture from our bodies. We hauled ourselves through to the midway point (where we’d seen a shop and refreshments for the 100km riders’ on their turn-around stop) but were devastated to find it deserted, and the shops firmly closed. We hid out in the shade for 30mins, and tried a couple taps on the outsides of the buildings before finding one very disused one that surprisingly worked so filled up bottles and added plenty of Nuun electrolyte tablets.

20km more in the mountains, and then we’d be in the home-straights. After the final big descent, we spotted some public loos so stopped there. Once stopped though, I just had to find some shade so we hid out there for another 30+ mins! There was a pleasantly cool stream running by (the loos being for the benefit of picnickers and fishermen) so we went to visit that; Emma cooling her feet, and me washing my jersey and enjoying the ice-cold feel of it on my shoulders.

It was now 5pm and heat becoming more bearable so we pushed on for the final flat drag to the end. We split this up with one more stop in a roadside bar to get more water and some fizzy drinks (and enjoy sitting right under the air-conditioning until we started to shiver!) and then rolled back to the Arrivée at about 6.30pm. Without the extra shade-stops this would have been a 9 hour brevet - blistering by our standards, especially considering we’d not been riding so much this year, but 10h30 is still a pretty decent time given the 13h20 limit we thought. Yet, by local standards this is lets say on the slow side. We were last-but-one back, and the organizer had actually started to worry that maybe we had gotten lost or had some other mishap when so much time passed between the previous rider and us arriving back! A nice reminder that, unlike the UK where randonneuring grew as a branch off of the cycling touring tradition, over here it tend to be more closely aligned with cycle racing clubs: taking the place that cycle Sportives and to an extent “charity endurance races” have recently grown to fill in the UK. So we’ll either need to get faster (and moreover, learn how to deal with the dry heat), or just get ourselves used to coming home as lanterne rouge and being known as a couple event organizer worryers!

Tandem: Davis 200 by tandemthing2 at Garmin Connect - Details

Back in the saddle at last

So, it's been a while. We've been a bit quiet since PBP as we've been:
  injured
and
  moving continent.

We are now settled in Sunnyvale, California.

We heard a week or two ago that our friends Peli and Woolly (http://www.woollypigs.com/) would be almost passing by our door, so we hatched a mad plan to spend a few days cycling with them. Initially it looked as though we would need to hire bikes as our shipment from the UK would not arrive in time. At the last minute, and with a little plan change by Peli and Woolly, we were able to cycle with them with our own bikes to Monterey.

So on last Saturday morning, and with some trepidation, we set off. We had thought that we would set off early to try and get most of the big climb of the day over before it got too hot, but there was no chance of us leaving while the Tour de France stage was still in progress. Seeing Chris Froome win was definitely worth it! While the first couple of miles are flat, when cycling west from our house, it doesn't take too long before you hit the Santa Cruz mountains. As the ACA pacific coast route runs to the west of the mountains, we needed to cross them. Somehow in the route planning process we had decided to not only cross at one of the highest points, but also take the steepest route to get there! Note: when climbing mountains (even mini ones), sometimes taking the 'short cut' isn't the best plan. As we planned on getting the bus back from Monterey, we couldn't take Dobbin but had to ride solos. I don't have a proper touring bike so was riding my light tourer (Nemo - the Thorn Brevet). As we only had one spare rack with us, we fitted that to Denise (Joth's bike, a Thorn Raven Sport), and I let him carry the 4 panniers. I only had a saddlebag, and so to balance the load up I also hitched up and pulled Woolly's extra wheel trailer for the trip. We've been thinking about buying a trailer for a while (ever since our trip in South America), and this one has been on the short list. Getting to try it out for real, albeit on a solo instead of a tandem, was a great plan.
Whilst climbing, it soon became clear that while I had the lightest load, I also had the highest granny gear. This did result in me walking for a bit :-( There is always one good bit about climbing though, and that's the descent. While descending is fun, I must admit that I'm not very good at it, so adding a trailer into the mix was going to be exciting. The extra wheel is great though, really, really great. I'd forgot I was towing it half the time. Joth rode behind me, and was impressed with the way it tracked the rear wheel. I think there'll be a trailer addition to the stable before too long!

The rest of the day was mostly downhill, and after an icecream and a shopping trip we made it to our campsite for the night, the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Which was full. Fortunately, we knew this was one of the state park campsites which have a hiker/biker area, and they will always find a spot for those people arriving under their own steam.

Day two was planned to be a short day, and so an early start was not called for. After a short decent into Santa Cruz, we inspected the pier and the board walk and ate the largest ("Texas") doughnuts we'd ever seen. Pootling along a little further bought us to that days supermarket, where we noticed that Woolly had broken another spoke or two. As they were both non-drive side they were replaced in short order by his well practiced hand, and we were on our way again. It was clear that we had hit the agricultural part of California, as we cycled through hundreds of acres of strawberry fields. I don't really like strawberries, but the strong sweet smell of them was really enticing. They definitely seemed to flourish in the climate here. The Sunset Beach campsite was also full, but had a great hiker/biker area next to a huge field of strawberries. Some members of the party needed to apply considerable will power not to go and raid it!

Day three started with an adventure. Both Joth and Woolly had found evidence that there was a trail down by the beach which enabled us to get back to the main road without back tracking. Unfortunately, while it looked like there used to be a way through, we weren't going to heave fully loaded touring bikes over a gate and along a very overgrown trail to find out! It was time to climb the hill back to the campsite, before climbing to get to the main road. There's nothing like a bit of an adventure to start the day, which is why we all like cycle touring! As we were heading straight for the bus in Monterey we had already transferred the trailer back to Woolly, so the poor chap had to pull all of his six panniers back up to the road, while all I had was a saddlebag. The rest of the journey was smooth going, and included some lovely quiet trails. We were definitively in farm land, as we passed many more strawberry, artichoke, salad and cabbage fields. There must of been other crops around, as the roads were full of billboards for farm shops offering things like 7 avocados for a dollar, or 7 heads of corns for a dollar. Yum! We still haven't worked out why we didn't stop to buy avocados. Joth and I have been known to eat avocado at all three meals in a day, especially when touring. So goodness knows why we didn't buy any! Monterey arrived in time for us to enjoy a late lunch before boarding our bus. We were boarding at it's departure point, and we thought the bus had space for three bikes, so initially we weren't too concerned that there was another touring cyclist waiting for the bus. As it turned out, there was only two bike spaces. As the bus was fairly quiet, the driver allowed me to take Nemo on board however. Phew! A successful end to a highly enjoyable trip. 

Thanks to Peli & Woolly for a wonderful trip!

Some photos from the Track World Cup Finals

Just upload some of the many photos we took today at the new London Velodrome.

A colleague was very kind in lending me his fancy DSLR camera, which made some great pictures, but I may have gone a bit trigger-happy using it!



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