Cycling in California

Just got home from a whirlwind bike trip down to Marin County and Carmel.  We drove down to Fairfax last Wednesday, then Thursday followed a 75 mile route posted by the Marin Cycling Club starting at the post office.  This is one of the prettiest rides I have ever done.  I was amazed by the lack of traffic so close to San Francisco.  We met two guys that rode in from SF, taking the Golden Gate bridge to Mill Valley up to Fairfax, following our route until we parted on Hwy 1 to take a little side trip into the not so friendly, hard to find, town of Bolinas.   The weather cooperated with sunny skies although a stiff headwind made the 'wall' of Hicks Road that much harder.  Turning south at Marshall we had a good tailwind and almost missed our turn to Bolinas Fairfax road had the SF guys not passed us yelling, "you missed your turn!" One can easily do 75-100 miles without support here.  There are many small towns to stop at, including Marshal where had it not been 10:30 am, we would have shucked some oysters at Hog Island Oyster Company.  They supply you with a glove and you shuck you own, sitting at charming picnic tables on the bay.

Hicks Road

Hog Island Oyster Company

We stopped for some tasty baked goods and coffee at the Bovine Bakery in Point Reyes.   Lunch was a turkey sandwich made at a small grocery store in Bolinas.

Bolinas

Good thing we ate lunch as the climb up to Mt. Tam is about 6 miles averaging an 11-14% grade.  After Mt. Tam, we descended to the Alpine Lake dam followed by a little more climbing into Fairfax.  The wind picked up again and at the Meadow Club golf course I was nearly blown off my bike.  75 miles, 5500 feet of gain.

Mt. Tam

We drove down Thursday evening to Carmel and stayed at the Carmel Mission Inn, a very nice, affordable place to stay when down there.  We were up at 6:00 am for breakfast and departed at 7:30 for our ride 92 miles south on Hwy 1.  Clear skies again with tailwinds that built during the day.  This is another good ride one can do unsupported.  92 miles, 6500 feet of gain, the last 20 or so miles one can fly in to San Simeon with a stiff tailwind.  This particular ride is organized for 'friends' by Jack from SF, and has escalated from 25 riders on the first ride, to over 100 riders this year.

Schematic prepared by Jack, our ride organizer

We stayed in the Cavalier in San Simeon.  Last time we did this ride, two years ago, we had a room facing the beach, but were too late to enjoy the deck and views (Allan broke a spoke 10 miles out of Carmel, got it fixed in Monterey and we got in at 8 pm! see post 5/10/10).  This year we got in early but forgot to request one of those more charming rooms.  The next day we took a bus back to Carmel that Jack reserves (60 people max, the bikes go back in a van) and got back at about 1:30 pm.  Off to Portland -- got back at 2 am!

Bob, Ron & Dennis at the start

Me, Craig and VA

Dennis, Bixby Bridge

Craig, VA and me at Bixby Bridge

Big Sur Bakery stop

VA at Nepenthe

Blueberry pie at Gorda

I gotta teach my dog how to ride a bike!

Fast pacing the MCR

A lot of Portland Velo members rode the relatively flat Monster Cookie Ride yesterday.  62 fast miles hanging in a chaotic pace line for the first 52 miles.  At Mission Hill, I got separated due to some bad strategic planning on my part.  I couldn't catch up with the front pace line and got dropped.  Six guys reportedly circle paced to the finish at about 26-27 mph.  VA and I made it in 2:45, average pace about 22 mph.  Fun and fast.  VA said her "brain was fried".  This kind of riding requires constant vigilance; watching the tire in front, people coming in-between on a double pace line, passing riders on the right......nothing compared to a video, Serious Drafting, of a bike drafting behind a 18 wheeler!

Single track MTB (not my thing!)

Today I went with a group of women to the Jones Creek Trailhead off the Wilson River to try single track mountain biking.  Shari, a bike coach, has been talking about taking a group of 'women only' for a ride.  She even sent me a little video of her riding up there:

Looked scary, but fun, and she assured me that I don't have to ride that fast!  Today was the day.  Only four other women showed and none were beginners.  I knew from the start I was sunk, especially as one woman flew up an incline, over rocks and roots and yelled "don't be afraid to hold onto trees so you don't fall!"  Huh???  Suffice it to say, all four were out of my sight in about two minutes and I was alone.  I simply could not get back on my bike on even the slightest incline, not to mention there were creeks to cross, rocks to hop, cliffs down to the river, all on a trail that can't be more than a foot wide - hence the name single track I guess.  Well, this is something I don't think I will try again which is too bad.  The forest setting is right up my alley!

It'd be one thing to have a 19 lb cross bike to carry over and around obstacles, but these full suspension MTB's are another matter.  This is similar to the 28+ lb Specialized Stumpjumper behemoth I rented:

Tomorrow the PV folks are riding the 60 mile Monster Cookie ride down in Salem.  I think I can handle that.

Ronde PDX

Sadly I did not ride it this year.  Can I blame my old Bianchi for right knee complaints?  Getting better, but had to ride a different route yesterday.  55 miles out to Rocky Point, down Johnson, up Beck, then home via Hwy 30.  A lot less gain than the Ronde.  We had beautiful weather yesterday, near 80 degrees.

Dave Roth Photos has posted pictures of the ride this year and I found my friend, Mark as he was going up Saltzman.  He said he's pretty tired today!

Had to add this one of a team coming up Saltzman.  

neighborhood food stand

Liège-Bastogne-Liège/RondePDX

Sunday, April 22 is the last race of the Ardennes Classics, the Liége-Bastogne-Liége.  Portland has it's 'unorganized' RondePDX and the paint of the lions marking the course was refreshed a couple of weeks ago.  The Oregonian has a cool article about it in today's paper.  Finally some press other than the old video from Oregon Field Guide in 2009, or my personal favorite, a video from 2007 (more typical rainy riding conditions for Portland!)

The start out of NW POrtland
BikePortland.org

So, what to do....The Cherry of a Ride up in The Dalles is this Sunday too!  Last year it was one of my favorites, plus the weather up in the gorge is forecasted to be in the 80's!  The RondePDX is more fun to do with a group however - the neighbors last year manned volunteer rest stops.  Kids had cookie and lemonade stands.  Plus the weather is going to be dry and the first climb up Saltzman shouldn't trash my bike too much.  The NW's ride season has started and our calender is full!

The Lion of Flanders

Biking in LA

Bike Kitchen, LA

I just got back from Los Angeles, actually Irvine, where my daughter is living and working....for the time being.  She just accepted an amazing offer as a digital traffic manager at Ogilvy in Culver City, a pretty darn neat advertising agency with offices in New York, London and of course, West LA.

Ogilvy, Culver City

I was amazed to see lots of road bikers out on the roads Saturday.  Seems like team rides are popular down here.  A quick google search turned up Southern California Cycling web page, listing all the clubs along with info about group rides.

Sunday we drove into LA, our first destination, breakfast at Square One, a popular restaurant in the Little Armenia section.

We drove around Little Armenia and then up to Silver Lake, where Andy eventually wants to live.  I was amazed to see lots of bikers; from groups of riders on road bikes, to a large group of about 50 venturing out on upright cruisers.  Apparently, LA had they had their Bike Film Festival last fall and a quick search on the net revealed some interesting info, including a blog by an Oregonian who moved to Hollywood, Hollywood Newbie.

This place reminds me a bit of inner SE Portland with patrons to match, but .....what's with all the bikes? Turns out this Sunday was a ciclovias, first started in Bogotá, Colombia where streets are closed down every Sunday.  In LA, they call them, of course, CicLAvia and 10 miles of streets are car free from 10 am to 1 pm, no small feat for this populated city.  April 14th was LA's fourth and I was lucky enough to see some riders. Mostly cruisers in Little Armenia, but lots of road bikers elsewhere.  Hey, even Mexico City has a version, called Muevete en Bici.  Close to where we ate in Little Armenia, and a few blocks south there is a section deemed Bike District, off Melrose and Heliotrope.

I wanted to go over to Bicycle Kitchen, a non-profit repair educational organization,  but we still had scouting to do.  Check out their cool website.  Reminds me of Portland's Community Cycling Center on Alberta where VA volunteers every Tuesday night.

Want more LA bike info?  Go to LADOT Bicycle Services for more than you want to know about bikes and LA.

Back to Sunday breakfast - We met a charming young couple who lived down the street, originally from Coos Bay, Oregon.  Occupations; she is a dancer, trying to get established, he an accomplished pianist.  Both work different jobs to support themselves while pursuing their dreams. Nice kids.

Charming house in Silver Lake complete with Bougainvillea

Back to soggy Oregon yesterday.

My happy kid at breakfast.  We both love to eat!