Summer Riding Part Two

More pictures from rides this summer...

7/29  Ride from Danville up to the summit of Mt. Diablo and back.  A small but intrepid group.  Temps were warm but there was a cool breeze for much of it.  Tons of dragonflies at the summit.  My camera is not good enough to get a picture of them, but it was something to see.

View from the summit

Mary A. stretching ballet barre style at the junction.

This guy is telling Mary N. about how hot it was on the mountain last weekend and about another ride he started recently that was so hot they turned back.  (It seems the forecast for where he was going was for over 110 degrees--I wouldn't have even started that ride.)  That's Beth in the background making deer antlers.

8/2 was my final Wednesday ride with Grizzly Peak Cyclists for the summer was to Heart's Desire beach in west Marin.  I started in San Rafael, met the group in Nicasio, continued together to the beach.  Weather at the beach was lovely.

Plenty of folks enjoying the beach today.

We took a group picture after our lunch at the beach.

It was a big group.  I'm in the back with the blue cap on.

The group returned via a stop at Pt. Reyes Station and the Bovine Bakery, but since I had ice cream the night before and plans to visit a friend in Santa Rosa after the ride, I passed on the bakery and returned via the Olema Hill, through Nicasio and back to San Rafael.

On 8/5 the Arthritis Foundation training group went to the South Bay:  Los Gatos to Capitola up Mt. Charlie and back.  It started out pretty warm in Los Gatos at 8:30 am, but it was a pleasant ride out from Alma Dam at the Lexington Reservoir to the Old Santa Cruz Highway.  After the first 2 miles, it was primarily climbing up to Summit Road.  I love the Santa Cruz mountains and today was a gorgeous day.

We had a fast 10 mile down hill into Soquel and break at Gayle's Bakery.  The place is famous and has the crowds to prove it.  From here, we went through town, into Santa Cruz, along the coast and then headed away from the ocean breezes to Scotts Valley.  

We are on a break before the climb up Mt. Charlie.  It was fairly warm, but not too bad, especially in the shade.  Fortunately, the climb had quite a bit of shade.

 Mountain Charlie Road was an early mountain road in the area.  What is left of it is in two segments.  We hit both parts.  As soon as we turned on to it, the road starts climbing.  The lower part isn't so bad, but there are some short, steep segments of up to 18% grade as one goes higher.  Fortunately, some flat sections are also interspersed up to the top.  It is a lightly traveled, narrow one-lane road, sometimes hard to tell it  from the driveways; in fact, I did mistakenly head up someone's driveway when the road turned. The surface is poor, but since we were going at such slow speeds and not one car came by in either direction, it is fairly easy to steer around the worst parts.  Going down hill requires more care, to avoid the worst sections of road.  Also, you have to get on to Summit briefly in order to continue on Mt. Charlie Rd. all the way to Old Santa Cruz Highway, from which we retraced our morning route.

Mt. Charlie Rd. is named for a real person.  A brief summary of his story is at http://www.beal-net.com/hwy17/charlie.html.

Here we are at the end enjoying some cool beverages and watermelon.

 8/12:  Saratoga--Boulder Creek--Big Basin.  This is a big ride.  It was posted on our training site like this, "big redwoods, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, big climbs, and big descents."  All of which are true.  Although a tough ride due to the overall elevation gain of 6,000+ feet, it is beautiful.  We do this ride annual near the end of the training season so that people are ready for the amount of climbing.  This year, the route had to be altered due to a collapse on Skyline (highway 35).

The ride starts with a 7 mile climb up highway 9/Big Basin Rd.  Highway 9 has had a one lane only section controlled by timed signals for the last few years due to road work.  It is still there. 

When cyclists get to the light controlling the one lane section, pushing the button will allow for extra time to get to the other side that if there were only cars.

 At the top of the climb, we crossed over Skyline and headed down highway 9 and continued down hill into the town of Boulder Creek.  Normally, we would take a more circuitous route along Skyline and Bear Creek Rd. but due to the collapse on Skyline, highway 9 is the only way to Boulder Creek.  This shaved off a few miles, but not enough to matter.  After getting really sweaty climbing up 9, the ride down the other side felt really chilly as the fog came in in some places and speeds were high.  I took a brief break and Boulder Creek to pick up a sandwich for later and then we took Big Basin Rd. 

Big Basin Rd. is fairly quiet, mildly winding road that goes all the way to the main entrance of the state park.  The main ranger station is a good place to stop for water refills and the restroom.  Also a great op location with a giant hollowed out tree right there.  Normally, we take a picture there, but not this year as about half the group took the "short cut" back via highway 9 and didn't come this way.

From the park, the road continues similarly with the road getting narrower, only one lane in some places.  It is typically fairly quiet on this section but seemed quite busy today.  Perhaps people are trying to catch a final weekend getaway before kids start school or maybe it is because Skyline does not go through and people are taking an alternate route.  Still a lovely ride. 

At the Big Basin State Park sign as we exit the park.

 After reaching the top of the climb, there is a speedy down hill back to highway 9 and then another climb up highway 9.  Although I came down this road in the morning, it had a whole different look slowly climbing up in the afternoon.  Often this section up to Skyline is quite hot, but we were blessed with a cool breeze and more shade than I remembered.

Once we crossed over Skyline, it was the big pay off, 7 miles all down hill to the car!

Group at the end of ride.

What's coming in the Fall?

Of course I will be on the Arthritis Foundation bike tour in mid-September.  More information is available at http://oregonbikeclassic.kintera.org/.  The site has route details for the tour was well as other information.

If you would like to ride for the Arthritis Foundation, but need something shorter and closer to home, try the one-day ride in Pescadero on October 8.  More information is available at: http://arthritisbikeclassicpescadero.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1169677.  Participants can choose from 4 fully supported, routes: 16, 25, 41 and 63 miles. The 16 mile route has 600+ feet of climbing. This beautiful ride features coastal views, few people, and even fewer cars. Great as an out and back to avoid riding on HWY 1. The 25 and 41 milers will take you through coastal hills, mighty redwood forests and amazing views. The 41 mile route also includes the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. The 61 mile route is a coastal classic. South from Pescadero to the coast, up HWY 1, through Pescadero to Stage Road, onto Tunitas Rad, Skyline, West Highway 84, over Haskins Hill and back to the Harley Goat Farm where a wonderful, organic meal will be waiting for you along with awards, presentations and a goat impersonation contest.

If you missed Pedalfest, you can support Bike East Bay, the Oakland Grand Fondo takes place on October 1.  Tackle the East Bay hills on the 28-, 55-, or 80-mile routes, which feature golden hills, redwood forests, and sweeping bay views. Or ride with the whole family on the 13.5 mile Fun Fondo route along the Oakland Waterfront. Ride proceeds benefit Bike East Bay's <https://bikeeastbay.org/> work to improve your ride through advocacy, education, and fun events.  This is a fully supported ride with a post-ride feast and cycling expo at Jack London Square at the end.

Or try the Mt. Diablo Challenge, put on by Valley Spokesmen also on October 8.  You can race to the top with the competitive riders and vie for a prize or join the recreational riders looking for a challenge.  More information is at http://www.mountdiablochallenge.org/.

The Tour of the Sacramento River Delta, also by Valley Spokesmen, which I mentioned in my fall post will take place October 14 & 15.  More information is available at: http://valleyspokesmen.org/event-2454976

New Cycling Activities this Summer

I have two new activities this summer that also contribute to my training for the fall Arthritis Foundation Tour in September.
 
If you saw the blog entry about spring riding, you will see that I took up riding a tandem with my neighbor, Kit.  She and I took a break in May, but resumed tandem riding in June.  BORP (Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program) at Aquatic Park in Berkeley loans adaptive bikes to those who need something a little special.

Getting ready to take off from BORP for a tandem ride.

View from Yerba Buena Island back toward Bay Bridge.  I took this photo on one of the rides Kit and I have done this summer.  If you didn't know, the Bay Bridge bike path now connects to Yerba Buena Island!

BORP’s Adaptive Cycling Center in Berkeley has the country’s largest and most diverse collection of cycles for use by people with physical disabilities. BORP offers orientation and training to new riders, independent use of our cycles, and group rides.  BORP's mission is to advance the lives of people with physical disabilities through sports and recreational activities.  They provide services for all kinds of sports.

For more information about BORP's cycling program or to become a captain for a rider with a visual impairment, check out their site: http://www.borp.org/programs/adaptive-cycling/

Also this training season I've added spin classes at CycleBar in Berkeley, a new experience for me.  I have enjoyed adding this activity to my regular riding.  No need to be a cyclist to take their classes.  Plenty of people there never hit the road on a bike.  If you have been thinking about trying it, they offer a good package for new students.

With Cycle Bar instructor Cat after a work out

Summer Riding

In mid-May, I took a trip to Paris for a little over a week.  I visited a friend who had taken an apartment there for 6 months to study French.  I missed two weekly Saturday rides and then got sick when I returned, so missed another weekend.  I didn't do any real riding in Paris although they have an excellent short-distance bike rental for people to get from place to place when the bus, metro or walking doesn't suit.  Not many people in Paris own cars.  I thought about using one of these bikes, but in the end, it seemed like navigating would be a challenge since the bikes are meant for locals who know where they are going and not tourists.  I did ride a short amount when I visited Versailles.

Velib rental bikes available throughout Paris.  If you see a seat turned backward, it means there is some kind of mechanical problem.

On the grounds at Versailles.

By late May cyclists were eagerly awaiting the repair of roads that were damaged or destroyed during the winter, but in fact some were just becoming off limits such as the bridge between Moraga and the town of Canyon.  Closed roads included Alhambra Valley, Calaveras, Palomares, Canyon, and Redwood.  For more information about these roads and to get road condition information, the Bike East Bay site is helpful: https://bikeeastbay.org/classic-east-bay-rides-washed-out-winter-rains

 Summer Rides so far:

Training group meeting at Mike's Bikes in Sausalito.

After climbing up through Mill Valley and Panoramic Highway.  We are about to enter Mt. Tam State Park.

View from top of Pan Toll Rd.  Frequently clouds and fog roll in from the beach.

Kim at Alpine Dam.  Just one more climb before arriving in Fairfax.

Road work in process near the top of Pig Farm Hill.  It was open, but traffic was limited to one lane for a short distance.  Temporary signals were controlling the flow of traffic.  This work was to improve sight lines near the top of the hill and reduce collisions, not due to rain.

Picture are Team Also Touch (past and present) and friends.  For many years Dwight and Maria (on the left) have led team Also Touch in honor of their daughter Christiana who died at the age of 10 from complications related to arthritis.  This will be their last year riding for the Arthritis Foundation, but will be involved in other ways to continue to support the cause.  They hosted a ride in early July and then a BBQ following at their house.

Members of the training group plus Dr. Christine, a local rheumatologist and former Olympic cycling champion.  We completed a one-day ride in Marin to support the Arthritis Foundation.  It was a hot day, but much of the route was at or near the coast.  The last 10 miles inland, however, was a doozy.  Good work, Patt, for a successful event.

It is hard to tell, but those are water buffalo behind me.  Their milk is used to make buffalo mozzarella cheese (common in Italy but not so much here).  We had a rest stop at Ramini ranch in Tomales.  Look for their cheese of the same name.

View from our start/end point, Stafford Lake in Novato.  The regional park also has a small pump track with jumps for those who like those kinds of bicycle activities.

Another view at Stafford Lake.

In addition to our training group, I also do rides with the Grizzly Peak cyclists during training season.  I typically go out every Wednesday while I am off duty from work and other weekend rides.

View from a lunch/birthday cake stop on a Wednesday ride in Tiburon.

Also in Tiburon.

Group picture from a recent ride in the Santa Cruz area.  It was a lovely day.  One road that we planned to use was totally out of commission and we had to find a new road to get back on track, which involved some steep climbing followed by a steep descent on a neglected road.

Here is the group doing the longer route taking a break in Corralitos before the long climb up Eureka Valley Rd and Highland Rd.

In support of Bike East Bay (formerly East Bay Bike Coalition) we took a trip to their Pedalfest at Jack London Square in mid-July.  There were lots of interesting bike related booths, demonstrations, performances, and other hard to categorize activities.

Mary trying a cargo bike.

A bike covered in crochet.

Late Winter and Spring Riding

Rain and infrastructure collapsing continued through the winter and into the spring. 

I staffed a table at the women-only Cinderella ride with Patt Baenen from the Arthritis Foundation office in San Francisco to get the word out about the Oregon tour as well as the two one-day events in Marin and Pescadero that Patt organizes.

During spring, I also learned how to ride a tandem.  One of my neighbors, Kit, is blind and was looking for someone to captain a tandem for her to do a ride to support Enchanted Hills camp in Napa.  Enchanted Hills runs camps for blind kids, adults, families, and deaf-blind people and is part of the Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco.

Being the captain of a tandem means that you are the one in the front.  It took some time and practice getting used to being responsible for another person in the back (the stoker), instead of just myself, as well as getting in synchronization with another person.  Tandems are bigger, heavier, and perform differently than a single bike.  When the stoker is blind or low vision, the captain also has to remember to call out all necessary visual information, such as if there are bumps in the road.

From left to right: me, Mary Norton, Patt, Eleanor Bonifacio, and Beth Miller.  Patt and I were inside all day at the table, part of the expo at the end of the Cinderella ride.  Mary, Eleanor and Beth were riders.  It was a wet and wild day and they came in early, as did many of the riders.  Some riders who ventured on to the long route reported hail, too. 

We continued to have quite a bit of rain during April and although it threatened while Mary and I were out on this day, we were able to complete the ride without getting wet.  In this picture, I am at a pull out/view point on Grizzly Peak Blvd.

Caved in pavement on Mines Rd.  Since it didn't go all the way across the road, it was still passable with all traffic sharing one lane.  Fortunately, this country road is not heavily traveled.  It was a beautiful spring day with wild flowers along the way.

Cows near the Valley Ford Store.  This ride went around the Russian River area.

 

 

 

 

 

Small vineyard at the intersection of Bear Creek Rd. and Alhambra Valley Rd.  We were lucky to have a lovely day, even a bit warm,  for this May ride.  Just out of frame is a very sturdy fence to keep people from riding west on Alhambra Valley Rd. where the collapse is.

Kit, my neighbor with whom I rode the tandem, is in the second row, from the front, on the left side.  The photo is of the group from the Lighthouse for the Blind that participated in the Cycle 4 Site fundraising ride.  This is a fully supported one-day ride in Napa with different route lengths to choose from.  The ride also benefits the veteran's home that is in Napa.  A portion of the route goes through the property the home is on.

Members of the arthritis tour training group relaxing after the Wine Country Century.  The Santa Rosa Cycling Club puts on this annual event.  It also offers different route lengths to choose from.  In the past, I have done the 100 mile route, but this year did the 66 mile (100 km) route.  It was a pleasant day and we got in so early the BBQ wasn't even open yet!

Here's the whole training group who participated in the Wine Country Century.  In case you are wondering, the dog, Broccoli, rides in a trailer pulled by Troy (front right).

Fall and Winter Riding

As I mentioned in the "what happened when I got home post," I went on the supported Tour of the Sacramento River Delta, (TOSRD).  You leave on a Saturday morning from Brannen Island and ride along the levee passing  through Isleton, take the Howard Landing cable ferry for a short river crossing, and continue to Delta High School in Clarksburg for lunch.  After lunch you continue through Old Town Sacramento and then a little further to the motel.  We had time to relax, visit the pool and then go out for dinner/visit Old Town.  The next morning we returned on the levee though historic Courtland, the Chinese community of Locke, Walnut Grove, Isleton, and ending at Brannan Island with a barbecue.  We had lovely weather the entire time and very little headwind on the return.  In other years, the headwinds have been bad.  The tour is open to all who want to go; it is not required to be a member of VS.  Information about 2017 tour is at http://valleyspokesmen.org/tosrd
I know I took pictures of this trip, but I can't find any of them.  

The rest of the fall, riding was haphazard due to my mom's health.  I spent quite a bit of time at my parents' house.  Fortunately, they live only a mile and a half from me.  However, as my mom improved and weather permitted, I rode when I could.  

We had an epic amount of rain over the winter on the heels of five years of drought and our infrastructure couldn't handle it.  Thus, even when the weather cooperated, many of the roads I was used to riding were no longer open.

Mountain biking at Tamarancho (before the rains got started).

Alhambra Valley Road collapsed just passed the intersection with Castro Ranch Road.

We rode out to check out the collapse.

Mid- to late winter is a good time to ride Mt. Diablo--not too hot or cold and crowds are less.  The roads in the area didn't suffer any significant damage. Above we are taking a break at the junction at the intersection of the North Gate and South Gate roads.  Many cyclists ride up to the summit on New Year's Day, which our training group did, but it was very, very cold.  Actually, going up wasn't bad, but I put on multiple layers at the top, including ski gloves, and I was still cold enough that I had to stop mid-way down to warm up my hands.

Surfers at Pacifica.  Do you see them? They are all those black dots in the water.  A pleasant mid-winter day allowed for some riding around the peninsula and south bay.

For a video of our day in San Mateo, Pacifica, and Half Moon Bay, check this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXhHua_Q8mEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXhHua_Q8mE.  Filmed and edited by Keith.

At the intersection of Bear Creek Rd/Wildcat Drive and San Pablo Dam Rd.  I'm ready to go up Wildcat to go home.

A Follow Up to 2016 Ride (Or What Happened When I Got Home)

After arriving home from the 2016 tour, I was focused on getting back up to speed at home and work.  Two or  three weeks later, Rita and I did the Tour of the Sacramento River Delta with the Valley Spokesmen club.  It is a lovely weekend ride they do yearly.  However, while I was gone on the trip, my mom went into the hospital.  I found out when I got home.

She went into Richmond Kaiser and then was transferred over to Oakland.  She was released after about five days.  After much testing and treatment, they determined that she now has atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure (in addition to the rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, and late onset asthma).  She came home with new medications, 24/7 oxygen, and feeling weak and stressed.  In addition, she also must maintain a low sodium diet, monitor her weight and heart rate daily as well as other treatments and monitoring that go on at Kaiser.

About a week went by and despite visits by visiting nurses, a traveling physical therapist, and others, she had to return to the ER (again while I was out all day on a Sunday).  Her heart rate was way too high and she couldn't breath well.  She was admitted to the hospital for a few more days.  Medications were changed and more tests and treatments were administered.  When discharged this time, she did not have to use the oxygen, which was a big step forward.  Being on oxygen 24/7 is difficult and requires being hooked up to a giant machine which you are connected to via what seems like miles of tubing so that you can move throughout your house.  Preparing food is also difficult, because the gas stove couldn't be used when she was in the kitchen or nearby.

Five more days passed, but my mom had to return to the ER again.  Fortunately, after testing (and several hours) she was able to return home with antibiotics.  Home visits continued by nurses, home health aides, a PT, and others for a while until the treating team decided that she was stable and/or could receive services at Kaiser rather than home.  Gradually she improved, but the rest of the fall and winter were hard.  She became sick several times and was laid pretty low.  Since mid- to late-spring things have been looking up, but there is a lot more medical intervention in her life than before.

In addition, the arthritis flared up and her medication had to be increased, however, she's at the maximum dosage with that medication and although the increase helped for a short while, it is no longer working very well.  She will need to work with her rheumatologist to change the medication, but she has serious concerns about the side effects of the available medications for an elderly person.  Stay tuned to find out what happens next.