Rich Freggiaro's Stockton cycling blog

…eventually.  All morning we had light rain, or some heavier rain. Our 9 am start got pushed back to 10, 11, and then after lunch. We ate ham and cheese croissants for lunch and it was still cold and wet.

Finally at 1 PM the sun came out and we hit the road. Our first objective was Faucon, about 10 miles away. There is a pretty 2 mile stretch of mostly uphill road to get to the village.

From here we had lots of options, and we picked the right one. Or maybe the prayer candles did. The sun was gone and there were a few drops, but nothing major yet.

We headed for Mollans on a road that I think we have been on before. But never on our own, without a guide. We arrived thirsty and decided to get a Perrier in the same bar where we usually get coffee.

Our timing was perfect. As soon as we sat down inside with our drinks, the darkening sky opened up with a downpour. The bike got wet but we were nice and dry inside. Another cycling couple was not so fortunate; they arrived about 10 minutes later and they were soaked.

During the Perrier break there were 5 delightful French children ages 4 to 7 or so playing. Their parents were either the bar man and his wife or the customers, or both. The kids were fascinated with our cycling mirrors and with my efforts to use Google Translate to communicate. 

We left Mollans on wet roads but under sunny skies. We decided to extend our ride on the back road to Malaucene via Beaumont. On a little tiny lane of a road we heard oncoming traffic and pulled over to “share the road” with some antique tractors. There has been a show in Malaucene every May we have been here, but this is the first time we’ve met a group on the road. The drivers looked like they were having a blast, and we clapped and waved and smiled. The drivers all smiled and waved back.

After the post ride shower we took a walk and went to look at all the old iron. There were some really classic looking tractors,  some lovingly restored, and others with an original patina. In other words, faded paint and rust. On our way home we decided to have a glass of rosè at a cafe, since it was almost 6:30 and well into the cocktail hour.

We really enjoyed the ride and were happy we stayed dry. The candle providence continues.

Stoker writes: Because of the rainy start, it was really good we waited to ride until after lunch.  But it was a great ride!  Rich says I’m riding much better than I did at home, so I am happy.  And if Stoker isn’t happy, no one is happy. (Old tandem cycling joke.)

About food today…….we would have starved without our favorite bakery.  We had our usual cornflakes and strawberries and raisins and yogurt for breakfast, thinking we would ride and have our usual lunch at one of the great restaurants nearby.  But when we decided to wait to ride…..what would we eat before heading out?  Well, it was ham and cheese croissants that Rich ran down to buy at the bakery.  That was lunch.  We rode and came home starving.  And ate this great pizza bread that Rich had also found at the bakery in the morning.  After a half carafe of rosè downtown at 6 pm, we went home and noshed on fresh bread we bought on the way home….at the bakery…….and cheese, ham, salad, tapenade we had at the house.

Now, watching The Voice (French version), I am ready to eat the dessert we brought home earlier…..from the bakery.  It is a cookie.  Rich is having a strawberry tart.

The ride along the Gorge de la Nesque is one of the best cycling roads in the world. The climb is 10 miles long and is all uphill at 2 to 5%, so it is steady but not steep. The views are spectacular.  Actually that understates it, but ‘spectacular’ will have to do. And there are almost no cars, although bike traffic can get heavy at times.

We rode up the Gorge, descended through lavender fields (not blooming yet, alas; too early) and then climbed the steep hill to Sault, where we enjoyed a cafe creme and a croissant. 

The ride back took us up the gentle 2 mile climb back to the Gorge summit, followed by a 10 mile descent back to the ride start. Very little pedaling necessary, although my hands got tired from steering and braking.

We thought we did pretty well on the 10 mile climb, and Strava confirmed it. Our time was 1:08. Previous times were 1:10, 1:13 and 1:18. Yes, we have done this climb 4 different times on Strava, and another time before I got my Garmin. Once each year since 2015.

Next stop: Chateau Pesquei. We had a picnic here two years ago and started to buy their wine at our local Raley’s. Today we bought 6 bottles at the source. We are going to do some comparative tasting.

Back in Malaucene, lunch at the Terraces confirmed that while the restaurant has new owners the food is at least as good as in previous years. My grilled duck breast was so delicious. I could alternate that with pork cheeks across the street and eat nothing else for lunch.

Grateful for the safe ride with good legs in decent weather, followed by a delightful lunch, we went into the cathedral to light our prayer candles. Days like today make us feel very blessed.

I saw the signs as we started up the Col de la Suzette. “Route Barrèe”. These signs are common on the roads in France, but usually they mean that there might be a small excavation or blockage coming up, and cyclists can almost always just ride around it. Or at worst, walk 50 meters or so before the road is clear.

Not this time. We had finished the Col du Chien, which is a pretty significant climb from Malaucene. We were on a descent before the smaller climb up to Suzette when we had to pull over. First came a truck spraying fresh oil on the pavement. Just behind that came another truck dropping a layer of pea gravel onto the oil. Fresh chip seal, hooray! What a great start to our ride.

There were some nice road workers in a van who smiled at the hapless American tandem team silly enough to ride through a “Route Barrèe” sign. They told us it was 2 km to the end of the road work. At least that is what we thought they said.

The wind was up today. Not a full blown Mistral, but not calm either. Probably sustained at 18 gusting to 28 mph. Pedaling on the fresh chip seal would have been like riding in sand going uphill. And any downhill curves would have been really dicey on any bike, let alone a tandem.

So we hoofed it for 2 km. We had cleat covers, but we got fresh oil on our shoes. Cycling shoes are not meant for walking, so we kind of waddled and tiptoed our way down the hill. Diane was out ahead, and I trailed pushing the tandem. After 2 km of this the road was clear and we could pedal again.

The road they were fixing with chip seal didn’t really seem to need fixing when we rode up it a couple of days ago. It was pretty nice pavement. And now it is awful for cyclists and will be for a couple of months at least.

When we got over the Suzette and down to Beaumas we had a choice. Turn left, head for Caromb and maybe Bedoin on roads we know. Or turn right and head for Vaison on roads we really didn’t know. This was a longer option, but we had a couple of days off the bike coming up, so we chose Vaison. Probably not the best choice.

After Beaumas, the country is rolling open vineyards of the Côte du Rhone. The next 10 miles were almost all slightly uphill, 1 to 3%, occasionally 5%. And right into a headwind, with no trees or hills for cover. And the roads were a little bigger with more cars. It wasn’t terrible, but the wind and the slight uphill drag did make me a bit irritated. The wind was battering and made the ride much more difficult that I expected. I thought we would never get to Vaison.

But we did. At 12:30, time for lunch. We ate at a place we had eaten before. It was good then and it was good today. I had “parmentier du canard”. It turned out to be a base layer of mashed potatoes, then a layer of boneless duck in a brown sauce, then a layer of more mashed potatoes with a melted cheese topping. It was served with more of the brown sauce on the side. It was delicious!

Diane had a glass of rosè but I abstained since I was driving. We both had a coffee to get us back to Malaucene. We were both leg weary so the ride back was a bit of a slog, but at least there wasn’t any headwind to deal with.

Our first “route barrèe” that really was “barrèe”. Another adventure.

But cyclists call it something else. And we use words not appropriate for this G Rated blog.

Riding in windy conditions is really irritating. I would much rather climb cols in calm conditions than ride on flat roads into a stiff breeze. And since we go slower into the wind that we do when it is at our back, we spend more time with it working against us than with us.

But it gets even worse. There are 360 degrees of direction that the wind can blow from relative to the direction you are riding. But only about 40% of those directions actually help a cyclist. Even if the wind is slightly behind you the crosswind component outweighs the pushing component. Once upon a time I took a math course where I learned about ‘resultant vectors’ which is how you determine the ‘apparent wind’. All I know now is that when there is more than about 5 mph of wind, the breeze becomes the enemy, and my irritation grows exponentially with the wind speed.

Crosswinds are even worse riding the tandem. The wind gets between Stoker and me and creates turbulence, aka ‘dirty air’. And steering the tandem in crosswinds is no picnic either. Once in the Canadian Rockies the wind blew so hard from the side that it literally blew us off the road. I think there were 40-50 mph gusts that day. Rather that fight those conditions for another 30 miles we decided to abandon and ride in the tour company’s van. One of our few DNF’s. I felt bad until I learned that one of the guides, who used to be a pro track rider in Europe and had tremendous bike handling skills, also got blown off the pavement. Twice!

Last week we finally had some dry weather, but it was accompanied with some pretty significant winds. Stoker and I are getting our legs ready for a month in France, so we have to ride even if conditions aren’t ideal. On Friday we took our bike to Ione to ride up to Plymouth and back. It was pretty windy in Ione and the forecast was for stronger winds later in the day. I was not real enthusiastic about the prospect.

We rode up Irish Hill Road. This road is a pretty good test for the tandem with some short, steep rollers. Then the rest of the way to Plymouth is slightly uphill until the last 3/4 mile, which is a little steeper. We had pretty good legs and when we got to Plymouth I noted that it only took us 1 hour 24 minutes to do the 20 miles with 1400 feet of climbing. That won’t get us on any Strava Leaderboards, but it is pretty good time for the CoMotion Team.

As we passed the fire station in Plymouth on our way to the coffee stop, I noted that the flag was blowing straight out and the wind was coming from the west. That meant mostly headwind or crosswind conditions on the way back. We were going to take Carbondale Road on our return trip, and there was going to be plenty of pedaling into or across this west wind.

But then something happened that is so rare I had to write this post about it. The wind shifted from W to almost due N, and maybe even a bit NNE. That meant that the feared headwind was going to turn into a helping hand for much of the ride back to Ione. On the flat stretch of Carbondale Road and then on Michigan Bar Road we were heading south with a big wind at our back, instead of the crosswind I had expected.

Favorable wind shifts almost never happen, so we finished our ride with big smiles and a pretty good total time of 2:35 for 40 miles and almost 2000 feet climbed. We rode pretty well, and for once the cycling deities saw fit to give us a break.

SBC Rides 4 Art: Hogan Dam Start

When the most irritating thing that happens to me is a creased crossword puzzle, it had to be a pretty good day.

Sunday was the first time the high temperature rose above 70 degrees since November 12, 2018.  That is 125 days, and I learned from Mark Finan on KCRA that a streak this long hasn’t happened since 1974. It has been a cold and wet winter here, as both my rain gauge and PGE bills can attest.

What better way to spend the first beautiful day in 5 months than on a tandem bike ride with Stoker? We were signed up to do Ride4Art, a fundraiser put on by the Calaveras County Arts Council to raise money for art programs in the public schools. The ride started at the Hogan Reservoir observation area and meandered down to Lake Comanche before returning to a wonderful post ride meal featuring delicious chicken in a barrel and corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day. There was beer and wine and Irish music too!

Stoker stayed off the bike for most of January and February, but over the last couple of weeks we have begun riding in the hills to prepare for our trip to France in May. We are getting a little better and yesterday’s ride went pretty well. 30 miles, 2150 feet of climbing, and some very steep short pitches on Bergsma and Hartkvickson roads (12%+).  The weather was perfect: morning temperatures were in the 60’s and there was very little wind. The hills are incredibly green and both Comanche and Hogan lakes are nearly full and beautifully blue.

First Grilling in 5 Months: Stoker Praised the Result!

After the ride we spent a couple of hours socializing with our fellow Stockton Bicycle Club members during the post ride festivities. Our  Club turnout was pretty large; someone said that between riders and event volunteers there were about 25 of the SBC Faithful, many wearing club jerseys.

There was a raffle for some paintings, and Stoker saw one she really liked, so I purchased a string of tickets and put them all in the bag. And we won! People who have been to our house know there is very little space on the walls for new artwork, but Stoker took one down (donated to the library used book store that she co-manages) and our new piece has a home.

Continuing the nice weather theme I cranked up my bbq for the first time in a LONG time. I grilled steak and asparagus and Stoker pronounced both “Delicious!” She was correct.

The only hitch in an otherwise perfect day was the aforementioned crease in the crossword. I recently started doing crossword puzzles and I am not very adept at them, but the Sunday Record puzzle is usually not terribly hard and I can breeze through some of it. However my rhythm (now there is a word for 12 down!) kept getting interrupted by my pen (erasable of course) catching on the crease. This is not the first time the crossword has possessed ridges and furrows: it seems to happen with some frequency, while the rest of the paper is perfectly smooth. Why can’t the creases inhabit the Opinion section and leave the crossword alone?

If every day could be a bit like yesterday, I’ll take the creases every time.

I bought my Honda Element back in 2006, and on Friday the odometer turned over 100,000 miles. Appropriately, when we reached  six figures Stoker and the CoMotion and I were on our way to Ione in search of some hills to climb. For most of those 100,000 miles there has been a bike, or two, or a bicycle for two stowed inside.

Tandem, Single Bike and Bags for Two: Brumby Road to Kalispell Montana

I chose the Element specifically to haul bikes around, stowed safely inside out of the weather and at least somewhat protected from thieves. With a little creativity it is remarkable how much stuff I could get inside. I could fit our tandem and my single bike, luggage for two and an ice chest with lunch, plus a six pack tote of wine for post ride recovery. Stoker and I did multiple week long tours when we were both younger and more energetic, and the Element got us to the tour starting points, if not in style, at least reliably and economically.

I have driven my Element to Eugene Oregon (twice), Portland, Tuscon, Kalispell Montana, Death Valley and Grand Junction Colorado for bike tours. I have also used it to haul my bike (or sometimes our bike) to Southern California to ride in the Santa Monica Mountains and to Solvang. And two or three times a week I use it to get to the Club ride start in Ione or Wallace or Valley Springs. Occasionally I drive over the Altamont in search of  hills to climb: Mount Diablo, Sierra Road, Mines Road and other favorites.

As is typical for a Honda, over all these miles and 13 years I haven’t had a single problem with the Element. It has a 5 speed manual transmission with a 4 cylinder engine, and it doesn’t have a huge amount of power but it did make it over the Sierras and the Rockies without any problem. The ride is a bit rough, and the body is a bit upright and boxy so it catches some  wind, which adds to the noise level and decreases the mileage, although it regularly gets 25+mpg.  I remember I paid $18,600 plus tax and license, and I certainly think I have gotten my money’s worth.

Craters of the Moon in Idaho on the Way to Montana: All That Stuff is Inside!

We  don’t do week long tandem tours any more. I look back and I am really quite amazed at what we did do. Oregon Coast (6 days, 360 miles, not flat!). Death Valley (4 days 220 tandem miles, not flat and unseasonably hot for March). Logan Pass (elevation 6,700) in Glacier and Highwood Pass (elevation 7,250) in Alberta on a tour of the Canadian Rockies. 270 miles in 6 days around southern Arizona.  Our legs aren’t up to these efforts any more. Or perhaps our legs could do it but our minds are not quite willing to make that kind of multi -day commitment. We still can ride though: for the last two years we have spent a month in France and Stoker has done over 400 miles both times. But we keep the rides shorter and take days off.

Since the Element can’t get us to France, it has spent the last few years close to home instead of ferrying us through the Western United States in search of cycling adventures. I sometimes think about getting a more up to date replacement vehicle, but I probably won’t. For the designated purpose of being a bike box with an engine and wheels, the Element is hard to beat.

Yesterday was the 11th edition of Pedaling Paths to Independence, a charity bike ride to benefit the Community Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The ride is a delightful romp from Linden to Woodward Reservoir and back through Milton on the return. The February weather can be cold, foggy, rainy or brutally windy, but yesterday it was just cold, and wind and wet weren’t an issue.

Joni Bauer is the major domo (doma?) behind this event, and she makes sure that a good time is had by all. The rest stops are well spaced and well stocked, the course markings are clear and easy to follow, and the post ride meal from DeVinci’s in Linden can’t be beat: pesto pasta, roast chicken, salad, focaccia, and desserts. Even though I rode 65 miles I probably gained a pound or two.

Half of the SBC Riders Who 'Pedaled a Path'

Although it seemed the number of riders was down from previous years, the Stockton Bicycle Club rider total was a healthy 24 or so. Most of us started together at 9 am, and most of us opted for the ‘Metric Century’ (100 KM). We more or less stayed together, and when we did get split up we mostly regrouped. One of those regroups caused a bit of confusion: a rider who had been only slightly slower and another rider who chose to hang with him took a shortcut on a gravel road. Since the main peloton, which included me, did not see the detour, we waited for a good long while at the intersection of Jenny Lind Road and Hwy 26. Finally we started again and finished the ride without seeing our two compatriots.

When I saw both of them at the finish already having lunch when our group arrived, I assumed they had sagged in, but no, they had merely cut the course a bit short. And our regrouping delay gave them a big head start, which they used to their advantage and got to the post ride meal before we did. No good deed goes unpunished, especially where regroups are concerned.

I actually had a pretty good day on the bike. Captain Hawk said I pulled the group (i.e. rode in front taking the brunt of the wind and sheltering trailing riders) 80% of the time. That is too high, but I do think I had my nose in the wind for 2/3 of the ride. My average speed was pretty impressive (for me anyway) 17.5 mph for 65 miles with a few rollers. And that includes a very easy roll out for about 4 miles at 14 mph with a tail wind.  We could have been doing 19 to 20 but we rolled easy chatting and warming up. That will bring an overall average speed down a lot.

At the lunch stop at mile 40, I pulled out my smart phone to shoot some video of the large SBC contingent. Alas, my smart phone had decided to be stupid and do a completely unprompted factory reset. That meant that all I could do was make an emergency call unless I could enter my passwords and do a complete new phone set up. That was impossible mid-ride, so I didn’t get any video.

After the ride I got home and contacted Verizon Tech Support. I was able to get my contacts back quickly, but most of my apps had to be downloaded and signed into. I also had to reconfigure all my screens and preferences and options.  I’m still working on this today. I didn’t yell at the tech person on the phone but I did express my frustration. Why should a phone suddenly do a ‘factory reset’ on its own, unprompted? She couldn’t tell me, although she did say I was not the first person with this problem that day.

I was especially frustrated since this phone is a replacement for another phone with issues, and I went through all this reset, reload, reconfigure business just 7 weeks ago. Twice in 2019! And there is no certainty that the bug is a one time thing: it could be that the phone might decide to reset again. Now every time I swipe my finger to unlock it I am relieved when I see my home screen instead of a ‘sign in to Google’ message.

So it was a great day on the bike and a lousy day with the tech. My bicycle doesn’t depend on anything electronic or software dependent to work, just my legs. And yesterday they worked pretty well.

Ed Kohler, aka ‘Big Ed’ is moving to Idaho. The Stockton Bicycle Club is really going to miss him. And those of us who found shelter from the wind riding on his wheel will especially miss him.

Big Ed Says Goodbye

Big Ed is a big guy. He is very fit and can churn away with lots of power for a long time, especially on flat terrain.  So he always had some devoted followers, especially when the ride pointed into the wind.

Ed is a retired Stockton Police Officer, and he is a friendly, outgoing and no nonsense kind of guy. Just a really dependable and strong character. He has been a good friend and riding companion of mine and I was always glad to see him at the start of a ride. I wasn’t alone; Big Ed had a lot of friends.

Lyle Liden hosted a good bye ride, and all the Tuesday/Thursday riders who could attend were there. Ed made a very nice speech, mentioning how much he had enjoyed riding with SBC and all the good times and good friends he had enjoyed interacting with over the years.

He did tell the story of his first club ride, and I recount it because it is typical experience: it certainly was for me my first time. Big Ed had been a bicycle patrol officer, and he came to his SBC club ride thinking he was pretty fit and a  pretty good rider. He was surprised by the difficulty of the hills and the pace of some of the riders, and he was really dragging off the back towards the ride’s end. He says that I stayed behind to escort him home. I don’t remember this, but I know I have done something similar more than once when new riders get dropped. Big Ed quickly became much stronger and better in the hills. These days when the ride is on flat ground I’m the one struggling to hold his wheel. And now that wheel is off to Idaho.

The Club is really going to miss you Big Ed. We wish you all the best in your new home. If/When you come back to visit your kids come join us for a ride. We’ll be happy to see you again!

That phrase is at the very top of our club’s monthly ride schedule. Today’s planned club ride is from Livermore up Mines Road to the Junction, and then possibly up to Mount Hamilton. Looking at the forecast and considering that this ride goes up into some major hills where the odds are it will be colder and wetter than on the valley floor, I’m going to stay home. I certainly think the subject line above describes today’s weather.

Mount Hamilton Last Monday: Not much Better Today

We are enjoying a wonderfully wet and snowy winter in California, with a snow pack well above historical averages. For one year at least we can forget about drought stories in the news. Reservoirs are nearly full and the foothills are green. But several of our club rides have been washed out and our cycling season is off to a slow start. Stoker really does not like cold or wet conditions, so she is in hibernation. My miles are down too. And if I can believe my power meter and heart rate monitor, so is my fitness.

All this wet weather has me reminiscing about the times I have been forced to ride in the rain. I usually try to follow the advice in the subject line, but even so I have been drenched on a number of occasions. There have been some memorable ones: descending the Col des Arivis in 2007 (it was wet in 2018 too, but not as bad). The ‘Waterfall Ride’ though Salt Springs Valley on Hunt Road way back in 2004: It rained so hard that cascading water rolled small stones across the pavement. And last year Stoker and I got soaked riding from Malaucene to Brantes. We even lost our brakes going down a steep and very wet road and I had to drag my foot on the pavement and run the bike onto a soft shoulder to slow us down. No crash and all was well: I’m going to keep lighting those candles and offer a brief prayer for safe cycling every day in France this year.

2007 Drenching in France: Descent to Follow

But I think the most memorable, and potentially dangerous ‘rain event’ was the ‘Ebbets Pass Epic’ back in  late June 2008. The weather forecast for that day was “Chance of a few scattered late afternoon thundershowers NORTH OF I 80. Since Ebbets Pass is well south of that we decided to ride, and the morning weather in Bear Valley was quite warm as we started off. I put a very light wind jacket in my jersey pocket, but I didn’t expect to use it.

Brake Adjustment in Brantes: The Deluge Follows

We rode to Markleville without any trouble, but as we started back up the east side of the pass the wind picked up and the clouds closed in and we got hit by a few drops, but there was nothing major until past Silver Creek Campground (elevation 7,000). Beyond this the rain started, and at about 7700 feet, it started to rain for real. There was thunder and lightning and very gusty winds to contend with. And I still had almost 30 minutes of pedaling to get to the summit!

At the 8000 ft sign, the rain started to sting on my bare arms. It wasn’t hail, since there were no stones on the pavement, but I am pretty sure it was freezing rain or sleet. I had my wind jacket in my jersey pocket, and I wasn’t a bit cold as long as I was climbing, so I left the jacket off, hoping the rain would stop and I could put in on at the top to keep me warm on the descent.

There is a lake at about the 8400 ft level, and here I really started to get scared. It was pouring, it was windy, I was soaked and I could barely see. It was so dark that the cars that passed had their headlights on, and I still had to climb these 6-11% gradients for another 10 minutes or so. Gary Colburn  told me that when he went through here it was so bad he had to stop.

I finally got to the summit at 8700 ft. It was still raining, the wind was whipping around, and it was getting colder. My bike computer said it was 51 degrees and I was soaking wet. BRR! I heard thunder and saw lightning. In front of me were 5 miles of  downhill road averaging 6.6% with steep pitches of over 12%. The pavement was wet and very slick with a glaze of fine sand and grit that I had noticed earlier on the dry climb up Ebbets. I remember thinking that I would have to be careful of that dry sand on the road during the descent, but the wet version was much worse. I was as frightened as I have ever been on a bike.

I could have waited at the top for the weather to clear, but there was no sign of that happening, so I decided to start down before I got hypothermia. It was still raining hard, and windy, and I had to  brake nearly continuously just to  try to keep upright. I made it down to Hermit Valley (eventually) without crashing.  The air was slightly warmer down at 7000 ft.  But when  I stopped at the bench to retrieve the bottle of water I left there earlier, thinking I might need it in the afternoon heat (hah!), I was shivering hard.

The climb up Pacific Grade cured my shivering, and the rain stopped, so I started to think I was going to survive. I was soaking wet and covered in road grit when I finally reached the Bear Valley Store. But safe and grateful for that. This is before I started going to France and lighting prayer candles for safe cycling, but I’m going to give them credit anyway.

So today I stayed home, did a short ride to Linden before any potential afternoon showers, and eliminated any possible rainy ride survival stories. I don’t know if any club members went to Livermore, but I suspect not. The weather really did look like a ‘serious threat’.

Patterson Pass Summit.

and Strava segments.

Yesterday’s club ride started in Tracy and journeyed through the Altamont hills to the Livermore Valley.  Our club rides here a couple of times each year, but in 20 years of club riding this was only the second time I had joined in. After yesterday I am wondering why I have stayed away.

15 riders showed up at the start, which kind of surprised me. I expected a smaller group. I was completely unsure of the route, but Eric Typpo knew his way through the streets of Tracy and guided us.

There are three roads from Tracy to the Livermore Valley (besides I  580, which is not bicycle friendly. Or bicycle legal either). Corral Hollow, Patterson Pass, and Old Altamont (with or without Flynn Road). After some discussion we opted for Patterson Pass over to Livermore, and Old Altamont on the return. I really did not want to do Corral Hollow; there is a lot of traffic on weekends heading to Carnegie RV Park.

We rolled out through the streets of Tracy, mostly on wide and safe bike lanes, then out into the countryside. We could see the hills on our left, and before long we were on the climb. Patterson Pass is 3.9 miles long and climbs over 1,100 feet. Strava says the average gradient is 5% and that it is a Category 2 Climb. What Strava doesn’t tell you is that the climb is very uneven and the gradient bounces between 2% and 10%, with a few short dips to keep the average down. Strava also doesn’t tell you that the steepest part is at the top.  The last 1/3rd mile averages 11%.. And as I neared the summit my Garmin  displayed 17% for almost a minute. It might not be that steep but it sure felt like it.

Patterson Pass is a Strava segment, a stretch of road where these amazing GPS devices record your time and power and heart rate and you can compare your effort to other riders and your past efforts. I decided to ride the climb pretty hard, and I did. 24:59, averaging 233 watts and 143 bpm heart rate. On the steep part I hit 476 watts and a gasping 159 bpm. According to Strava I had the fastest time of our group yesterday, but I was trying hard and I’m sure Eric and Ilia and Jeff could have gone faster if they wanted to. But I am comparing my effort to my physiology and I’m pretty happy with the result.

Of course the climb did not end the ride. We descended to Downtown Livermore, which was hopping on a beautiful Saturday noontime. We had coffee and munchies, and discussed the return route. 10 of us opted for Flynn Road, which added about 2 miles and an extra 600 feet of climbing. Although most of the ride was calm, the Altamont is notoriously windy, and there was enough breeze that some of the wind turbines were spinning. And what wind there was blew in our faces on most of the Flynn Road climb. I had never done this road, so I did not know what to expect. Liem and Ilia set a hard tempo and I stayed with them, usually behind in the draft of the headwind, although I did get out front a bit to help. They finished ahead of me on this one by about 10 seconds and I was pretty gassed at the top.

Flynn Road Strava data: 2.2 miles, 520 feet up, 4% and Category 4. I averaged 217 watts and 136 bpm for 15:21. Not bad, 40 miles into the ride with 3,000 feet of climbing in my legs.

The rest of the ride was almost all downhill and then flat on the run back into Tracy. But some ‘troublemakers’ decided to push the pace, so I was forced to pedal hard with weary legs or get dropped and get lost on unfamiliar streets. I hung on and arrived back at the start without wandering around or pulling out my phone for directions.

Final stats: 54 miles, 3,100 feet of climbing and 3:34 riding time.

The Altamont can be brutally hot in the summer, foggy and cold in the winter, and horribly windy all year. Why do you think the windmills are there? But yesterday it was none of those, and I’m really glad I decided to go. Good roads, good company and reasonably good legs made for a great day.