So long, Crystal Springs Dam bridge

Did you enjoy your ride over the Crystal Springs Dam bridge on Saturday's ride? I hope so, because that might be your last one for quite a long time. The existing bridge is about to be removed and, ultimately, replaced with a new structure that contains bicycle lanes. Until then, however, riders headed up and down the Peninsula via the foothills are, as they say, screwed.

Detours are available, and they're not impossible, but they're mighty inconvenient. From the project description (2MB .pdf):

Detour for bicycle traffic coming from north of the Crystal Springs Dam Bridge either via the terminus of the Sawyer Camp Trail or Skyline Boulevard. Southbound bicycle traffic on Skyline Boulevard or Sawyer Camp Trail will be directed east (left turn or straight respectively) onto Crystal Springs Road. From there, bicycle traffic will be directed southbound (right turn) onto Polhemus Road which then becomes Ralston Avenue near the Highway 92 interchange. Immediately south of the Ralston Avenue/Highway 92 interchange, bicycle traffic will be directed west (right turn) onto the Ralston Recreational Trail (a 1-mile long paved recreational trail) which runs parallel to Highway 92 and connects to Cañada Road via a bicycle/pedestrian bridge that crosses over I-280 south of the construction site. The total bicycle traffic detour length is 4 miles. If crossing over the Crystal Springs Dam Bridge from the Sawyer Camp Trail terminus (at intersection of Crystal Springs Road and Skyline Boulevard immediately north of the bridge) to Cañada Road, the distance is 2.5 miles.

Detour for bicycle traffic coming from south of the bridge from Highway 92. Bicycle traffic traveling in an easterly direction on Highway 92, (coming down from the top of the Highway 92/Skyline Boulevard intersection) will have the option to either make a left turn (northbound) onto Skyline Boulevard at the lighted signal intersection on Highway 92 and Skyline Boulevard (located immediately east of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's [SFPUC] Crystal Springs Reservoir and west of I-280) and continue northbound towards the Bunker Hill Drive detour (right tum) which connects to Polhemus Road or have the option to continue easterly on Highway 92 and make a right turn (southbound) onto Cañada Road and connect to the Ralston Recreational Trail detour described above.

That's a mouthful. The detour in the opposite direction is essentially the same, as shown in the big photo.

The difficulty is that, no matter how you slice it, the detour means at least one extra climb that's somewhat significant. Southbound, you're stuck climbing the Polhemus hill (which we did Saturday). Northbound, you have to climb the Ralston bike path plus Crystal Springs Road. And as for Bunker Hill Drive ... yikes. It's got a grade of between 12% and 20%; uphill is westbound. And downhill, it's got stop signs literally at every intersection.

For me, the ride up and down the Peninsula is plenty difficult as it is; this just makes it more challenging in an I-don't-like-hills sort of way. Those of you who love to climb might actually welcome this detour.

San Mateo County supervisors recently approved the Environmental Impact Report for this project, so construction is set to begin soon. And although I'm not an official ALC anything, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this will affect the Day 1 route of the ride.

As soon as I get a specific date, I'll let you know. In the meantime, if you want to see this scenic spot one last time before the construction gear moves in, I'd head up there during one of the few upcoming clear days.

Cold and wet in Sunnyvale

Today I drove a SAG vehicle for the Sunnyvale training ride. Congratulations to the 12 riders who braved the crappy weather and showed up for today's ride into Stevens Canyon and Saratoga. Here's a short video capturing some of what I saw:

Ride report: Distance Training #4 (2/20/2010)

Go, riders!

We finally got a Saturday that was mostly rain-free. Those scattered sprinkles in the afternoon were a little more than what had been predicted, but that didn't stop our intrepid group of 30 riders from making our 60-mile trip up the Peninsula to the Crystal Springs Dam.

And make no mistake about it -- today's ride was a long ride. With the hills, it's roughly comparable in difficulty to the shorter days of the event in June. This is the threshold where many of your preconceptions about cycling might start to change. Your nutrition requirements become more important, your pacing becomes more important, and your mental state becomes extremely important.

Nutrition is a topic we've talked about before, but now it's vital that you properly fuel your body so that it can handle several hours of cycling. Your body's stored energy can power only about two hours of cycling, so you need to eat healthy foods at every rest stop. Don't overeat and try to take it in all at once; find the foods that work for you, grab 'em, and go. Depending on your weight and your pace, you should try to take in anywhere from about 250 to 400 calories per hour. And while we love those graham cracker PB&J sandwiches that are served on the event, don't forget more traditional food and electrolyte replacement as well. Everyone has different needs and preferences, and this is the time for you to figure out what works best for you.

Pacing is important on long rides -- and it's one of the key secrets to happiness on the event in June. As generally stronger riders, many of us can open it up and haul down the road if we want to. But it's a long way to Los Angeles, and there's no point in burning yourself out after 50, 100, or even 400 miles. Today's ride was the opposite of what we did two weeks ago: We had hills early in the ride, and the last part of the ride was comparably easy. But even with today's glorious tailwinds, if you exerted yourself too strongly on the hills, you might not have had as much energy as you'd like for the last part of the ride. Call it a pace that you can do forever, or call it your "happy gear" ... find your optimum endurance pace, and recognize how that might be different from what you consider your training pace. Even though we're on training rides, they're now long enough that they count as endurance events on their own.

And when rides get long, your mind can start to go to all sorts of amazing and scary places you never dreamed possible. This is one of the toughest aspects of training, and it's one of the things that can ruin your June ride if you don't plan for it. When we spend hours on our bicycle, it's easy to zone out and let the mind wander -- but doing so is dangerous, especially when you're around other riders. Try to stay as focused as you can on the riding that you're doing, while still being aware of all of the other pesky messages your mind is sending you while you pedal. Perhaps it's something about your reasons for riding, perhaps it's something about a special person, perhaps it's a memory from long ago, or perhaps it's just a nagging message of self-doubt. You can't shut out these messages, so embrace them, make them yours, understand what they're saying, and integrate that into your ride. Yes, this sounds all touchy-feely, but training your mind for hours on the bike is just as important as training your body.

Today, our ride leaders saw a few instances of rule-breaking, and that disappoints me. Several riders did not come to complete stops, with one foot on the ground, at stop signs. This is one area where ALC rules are more strict than California law. We require one foot on the ground and no forward motion at every stop sign, without exception, even when no other vehicles are present. Law enforcement was handing out tickets to cyclists along Cañada Road today, and we're lucky that none of our riders were cited. In June, failure to stop can lead to disciplinary action ranging from a warning to being pulled from the ride for a day, and repeat offenders can be ejected from the ride. Moreover, running stop signs makes a bad impression on the dozens of jurisdictions that we pass through, and as I said this morning, we need to stay in their good graces. In June, ALC has roaming safety patrols that are on the lookout for rule-breakers, so don't you be one of them.

Also today, I'm sad to report that we had one injury -- not serious, fortunately. In San Carlos, a rider went down along Alameda de las Pulgas while trying to signal an upcoming stop. No ambulance was needed, but the rider's jacket is more than a little banged up! A reminder that it's OK to just call out your intentions ("slowing!") if you don't feel you can safely remove a hand from your handlebars to make a hand signal. But be sure to use your out-loud voice so that everyone around you can hear it.

What's next? Two weeks from today, we'll head to the East Bay for a picturesque trip around the Calaveras Reservoir and back through Sunol and Niles Canyon. This is a 70-mile ride with only about 2,200 feet of climbing (about 800 feet less than we did today), but there's a devious catch: Almost all of that climbing comes on just one big, glorious climb out of Milpitas. Count on about 2.5 miles of 8% climbing (roughly as steep as Kings Mountain but not as long), but then there's a very short but nasty segment of climbing at grades of up to 20% at the summit. For those of you who did ALC8, it's comparable to the evil Halcyon Road hill south of Pismo Beach. But it's also perfectly OK to walk this short part of the route -- it's over in just a couple of minutes. The reward is a low-traffic, rolling ride around the reservoir with an excellent descent into Sunol, so don't let that one hill keep you from joining us. Details and RSVP are here.

Our meet time next time is an hour earlier, at 8:00 a.m. It's very important that everyone arrive on time so that we can ride out on time and make it back to Mountain View on time, so please make every effort to be here, unpacked, and ready to participate by 8:00. Also, please make sure that you're up to the task of at least a 12 mph pace for several hours.

Special thanks again today to Dennis for his outstanding volunteer SAG service.

Thank you for being part of AIDS/LifeCycle.

Friday night weather update

All clear. The National Weather Service reports that tonight's showers are not making it much farther north than Monterey, and the Bay Area is looking dry throughout the night and all day tomorrow.

There might even be a bit of sunshine! So, because we'll be outside for up to six or more hours, be sure to bring sunscreen. But you'll probably still need a light jacket and leg warmers in the morning as temperatures should be around 50 degrees at ride-out time.

See you at 9:00 a.m. You can still RSVP.

Distance Training #6: Coyote Valley (3/20/2010)

Map for this ride

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Date: Saturday, March 20
Meet time: 7:30 a.m.
Ride-out time: 8:00 a.m.
Meeting place: Three blocks west of the Mountain View Caltrain and VTA station, in the overflow parking lot at the corner of Evelyn Avenue and Franklin Street. (map)
City: Mountain View
Rain policy: Heavy rain cancels
Category: 3 - moderate-fast pace (12-15 mph)
Terrain: 3 - rolling hills with some steep climbs
Miles: 51/80

Description:
We've taken this classic South Bay training ride and added a few extra challenges along the way to give you a good workout as you continue to get ready for ALC9.

From our starting point in downtown Mountain View, we'll first go through Stevens Canyon and then up and over Mount Eden, and then into Saratoga for our first rest stop.

Next, it's off to Los Gatos, where we'll repeat the Shannon/Kennedy hill that we had earlier this season but which many riders skipped due to weather. After descending into San Jose, we'll climb Camden Road for an amazing view of the city and then take our second rest stop along Almaden Expressway.

After that, it's into rural southern Santa Clara County as we slowly climb to the Calero Reservoir. Today, we'll be heading almost to Morgan Hill before turning around and heading back up Santa Teresa Blvd. (strong headwinds are possible) into San Jose for our third rest stop.

Here, 51-mile riders take VTA light rail back to Mountain View. (Bring $2 cash.) Be warned, however: The light rail requires a transfer and is almost as slow as riding the distance yourself.

Then, it's a gentle ride across the southern edge of the city with a short climb on Blossom Hill Road into Los Gatos for our fourth stop. Finally, we take a scenic tour through Monte Sereno and Saratoga and head back to Foothill Expressway for our return to Mountain View.

Total climbing is about 3,400 feet. A SAG vehicle will be on the route to assist with any minor situations that might arise.

Leaders: Chris Thomas, Bob Katz, Linda Kemmer, Paul Vargas, Randy Files, David Gaus, Bruce Der-McLeod, Michael Casas

RSVPs are requested but not required.

Today's skill-testing question

When riding with clipless pedals, can you safely unclip with either foot first? If not, that's an important skill you probably want to acquire, as I learned yesterday.

A little more than halfway into Sunday's 35-mile Sunnyvale training ride, I began to notice that my right pedal stroke was feeling funny. After a couple minutes of this, I decided that I'd try to unclip and reclip to see if that took care of the problem. One problem, though -- when I went to unclip, I couldn't! If you're in motion and can't unclip, it usually doesn't end well.

Fortunately, I kept my cool and unclipped with my other foot. Doing so while in motion was more difficult than I expected, but I did so without incident. I looked for a place to stop where I could lean against something because, as I suspected, even after I stopped, it was darned difficult to unclip the trapped foot. The culprit was a missing bolt, and that had done a good job of getting the cleat lodged in the pedal. (I use SPD cleats.)

Had I done everything properly at the time, I would have slowed before attempting to unclip, and I would have called out to the riders around me to alert them of my possible problem. As it was, nobody else knew I had a problem until after I'd steered the bike right up against a convenient fence for me to lean on. Better to let others know that something bad might happen than to not warn them and be responsible for a crash.

With careful clipping and unclipping and periodically tightening the one remaining bolt, I was able to safely finish my ride.

(Oh, and make sure your cleats are tightly fastened, too.)

Getting to know my $19 video camera

I took the camera to San Francisco today to shoot some footage of the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, and Camino Alto. Especially for those of you who aren't familiar with the Bay Area, I'm eager to show you some of the places we ride while training for AIDS/LifeCycle.

Things started out great. I got about 10 minutes of riding to and across most of the Golden Gate. But, unknown to me at the time, the camera then shut itself off. It had done that before, so I wasn't horribly surprised when I got to the other side and discovered it was no longer recording. So all day long through our 49-mile ride, I'd periodically turn the camera back on, and at the next stop, I'd discover it had shut itself off again.

"Oh, you fool," you're probably thinking by now. "It's the batteries, you fool." Well, no. At least it didn't seem that way! The handy battery-level indicator always showed full or just one notch away from full. And every time I turned the camera back on, I appeared to have plenty of battery power.

My excellent theory (a-HEM!) was that the camera was sensitive to big bumps in the road, and there was some threshold at which the camera would shut itself off.

So when I got home, I decided to do a little testing. I turned it on, started recording, and shook and dropped the camera rather sharply (no moving parts, so no worries). It kept recording. I tried various combinations of leaving the flip-out dispay open and shut. What I learned was that after about 1.5 to 2 minutes, the camera was turning itself off, just like happened on the road. So I tried again, and this time I watched the display. And sure enough, right before it shut off, it displayed the battery-dead icon.

Apparently the battery status goes from "all" to "nothing" rather quickly, which also explains why the first segment I recorded every time seemed to work so well. Looks like it'll be lithium batteries for foolish me.

In the meantime, enjoy most of today's morning ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, before it became packed with tourists on rented bicycles. No audio track this time.