Monday, May 25, 2009

Diablo junction x2 - almost

This morning was once again overcast, so I headed out east to find some sunshine. I debated doing a couple of different rides (possibly Morgan Territory) but in the end decided to go back to Mt. Diablo. At this point last year (May 25th in fact) I rode up to the ranger station on Diablo twice, so I figured this would be a good milestone for me to hit this weekend.

The weather was perfect: sunny, warm, slight breeze, just great conditions for a ride. Going up North Gate I tried to push myself a little bit more than I had on Saturday, particularly on the final third with the switchbacks. I ended up making it to the junction in 76 minutes, which is still hella slow but not as epically slow as the 83 minutes it took me on Saturday. I'd like to get that down to 65-70 minutes in the next 6 weeks.

From the junction I headed down South Gate and then turned around at the base and came back up. I didn't quite go all the way back to the ranger station, but rode as far as the Rock City flats before turning around and heading to Danville for a snack. Energy level was ok; I certainly felt fatigued but probably could have made it to the junction. What ended up bothering me was my lower back. So I need to get back into doing some exercises to strengthen my core a bit. Other than that, it was a good ride. I'm feeling a little bit better about my chances for the Death Ride after this weekend's training.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Recovery ride - Orinda/Danville/Lafayette (30 miles)

Today was my recovery day between climbing days, so I just took it easy and did a flat spin from Orinda to Danville and then back to Lafayette to catch BART. About 30 miles total. In Danville, KC and I stopped for lunch at a place called Pete's Brass Rail and Car wash that has neither a brass rail nor a car wash but good burgers and several draft beers. We were the only ones sitting out on the patio, what with the marine layer still hovering all the way out in Danville of all places. When a few other folks did show up they actually turned on the heat lamps. It was cold.

Tomorrow, if the cloud cover is still around, I'm going to skip Mt Tam and head east to find some sunshine.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Diablo to the summit

Today I had planned to go over to Marin and ride up Mt Tam, but I woke up to a thick marine layer, which would mean freezing temps over the Golden Gate bridge and a cold cloudy ride up Tamalpais. No fun. So, change of plans: instead I took BART out to Walnut Creek for a ride up to the summit of Diablo. This was my first ride up to the summit this season, and I felt pretty darn good. Although, I'm riding super slow these days on the Tournado, at least on the initial 6.5 miles up to the junction. Here's the data:

Last year, riding the Dolce:
5/11/08 - Up North Gate to the junction in 72 minutes
5/25/08 - 69 minutes
5/31/08 - 66 minutes
6/7/08 - 63 minutes!
3/8/09 - 72 minutes (ok, a bit slow, but early in the season)
5/23/09 - 83 minutes, a full 20 minutes slower than my best time last year in June

However, my times past the junction up to the summit aren't that bad. They're just a minute or two off my times last year. So I think what's happening is: when I climb I tend to spend a lot of time in my easiest gear, and my easiest gear is a lot slower on the Dahon. So, on the more moderate portion of the Diablo climb, I'm riding slower but probably more relaxed than on the Dolce. On the steeper parts above the junction, I really used to struggle on the Dolce but on the Dahon I can continue riding at a more relaxed pace and use some of the energy I conserved on the first part of the ride. So, all in all, it's not a bad thing. But it means that I may need to account for a slower pace on the Death Ride.

Riding up North Gate it was cold and blustery, but at about 2700 feet I emerged out of the cloud cover and it was sunny and warm the rest of the way up. You can see the marine layer hugging the hills to the west from Juniper campground (3000 feet):



At the summit there were lots of cyclists. One obnoxious guy was loudly telling everyone that he was training for the Death Ride and that it takes a *real commitment* blah blah. Dude, everyone's training for the Death Ride. Yawn. Another guy came over to compliment me on my Tournado. Everyone likes the old school stylings!

Ride Stats
Total miles: 38 miles
Total elevation gain: 3940 feet

Friday, May 22, 2009

Death Ride training

I've really been slacking off on the blog posting this year, mostly because of workload I guess. But that doesn't mean I haven't been riding! I've also been neglecting my mileage stats spreadsheet, which is a shame cause it's kind of like balancing your checkbook. Once it's out of date, you'll never get it back to its original state of accuracy.

Anyhoodle, since the Cinderella way back in April, I did the Wine Country Century with my buddies from NYC, but it was monsoon weather so R and I did the bailout route which still got us to 79 miles for the day. J was a machine and did the full century in the torrential downpour that seems to follow us where ever we ride.

After the WCC, it was time to start training seriously for the Death Ride. The weekend after the Wine Country Century, I did a nice ride up Mt Diablo to Juniper Campground. Last weekend we had a freak heat wave so I had to do a shorter mileage route but still managed to get some good climbing in. This weekend, I'm going to do two rides with some significant climbing:

Tomorrow (Saturday) I'm going to do the Mt. Tam loop, starting in the city and going clockwise. So, up Panoramic Highway to the junction, up to the summit, then heading north past Alpine Dam to Fairfax and then back down through the Marin valley to Sausalito. Should be 50-55 miles and 4500 feet of climbing.

Then on Sunday or possibly Monday, ride up Diablo to the summit.

Only 7 weeks left till the big ride.