Hwy. 84 closure to affect Ride #5

Caltrans reports:

State Route 84 in Niles Canyon, from Old Canyon Road in Fremont to Palomares Road, will be closed for rock slide removal on Saturday, March 5, from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Because we were planning to ride down Niles Canyon from Calaveras that day, I'll have to revise our plans for Distance Training ride #5. Watch for a revised announcement when I figure out what we're going to do.

If you thought Saturday was hilly

Here's a route sheet from deep in my archives: the 2006 Le Tour de Menlo Half-Century. This was without a doubt the most challenging and painful half-century I've ever done, and if you're an advanced cyclist looking for a different local challenge on the Peninsula, this is the one for you. I've not felt the need to repeat this route in the past five years, although some of the pieces will be familiar to Peninsula ALCers.

This route has three very steep climbs that put Westridge to shame, not to mention countless other moderate climbs. In fact, I even had trouble keeping my balance on one of them! It's about 5,000 feet of climbing, so it's roughly like doing the second half of last weekend's ride twice in a row, but even steeper.

Again, this is for advanced cyclists only. If you don't know what you're doing on steep climbs or descents, this route can be dangerous, so be responsible. And because of the Crystal Springs dam closure, you'll need to improvise around the closure -- just go up Bunker Hill (ouch!) and then back down, or skip it entirely.

Here's the link to the route sheet (PDF).

See ... our rides are easy by comparison!

P.S.: For laughs, here's a ride report from that day by another rider, where my third-from-last time on the hill climbs is preserved for all to see for eternity.

Ride report: Distance Training #3 (2/5/2011)

Go, riders!

If this were June, we'd all be amazed that weather for our ride could be so wonderful. But here in February, today's official high of 76 degrees in Mountain View under sunny skies was nothing short of incredible. That brought out the riders, and today's group of 53 riders plus two awesome SAG drivers was by far the largest ALC training ride ever held in Mountain View ... breaking the record set just one week ago!

Perhaps the outstanding weather gave you something to admire while you were chugging up hill after hill after hill after hill after freakin' hill. I said to expect a hilly second half to this ride, and you quickly found out that I wasn't kidding. Westridge is about as tough a hill as I ever put on a training ride (well, almost), and a question that you might be asking is how Westridge compares to Quadbuster, the most notorious hill on AIDS/LifeCycle.

I looked up both climbs on the Strava online ride tracker, and I overlaid the two elevation charts on top of each other, adjusting for the difference in elevation. Purple is Westridge, and green is Quadbuster:



So, Quadbuster is certainly much longer than Westridge (indeed, about twice as long), but it's not as steep. If you didn't figure it out today, the key to happiness on such climbs is to pace yourself and take as many breaks as you feel necessary to keep your body happy ... and don't be afraid to walk (aka "cross-train") part or all of the hill. And if you had trouble with Westridge today, don't worry! It's only February, and the ride is still months away. In fact, use Westridge as a yardstick -- come back later in the season and visit it again on your own. (No more Westridge on this season's training rides from me ... I promise!) There's a lot of value in discovering your limits early in the season so that you'll have something to compare it to in the future.

Of course, Westridge wasn't the only hill in the second half of the ride. They just kept coming and coming! Is there really that much climbing on ALC in June? The answer is no ... not usually. However, the beginning of Day 1 does have this much climbing packed into such a short distance, although most of it isn't as steep as Westridge.

Using the traditional Day 1 route from recent years and allowing for the Crystal Springs dam closure, you're looking at about 2,580 feet of climbing in 23 miles starting at the intersection of John Muir Drive and Skyline Blvd. in San Francisco. By comparison, today we had about 2,100 feet in the last 24 miles of the ride.

On Day 1, however, your adrenaline likely will be in full force, and chances are that you'll find the climbing not nearly as difficult as today's. (You'll also be at the end of your training season.) You'll also be around 2,500 other riders all doing the same thing. And that's a huge psychological edge that you shouldn't dismiss.

When I did Westridge today, it was with many of you. When I did it a few weeks ago on my test ride, I was solo. Today's climb up Westridge felt a whole lot easier for me, even though the numbers say I did only about as well as I did when I was solo. But my mood at the top of the hill was much better. Don't discount the energy that you can receive (and reflect back) from the rest of the group -- it's a powerful force that can help you get to Los Angeles.

The climb up Westridge also came at about the two-hour mark in today's ride for many of us. Two hours also just happens to be the point at which most cyclists' bodies stop being able to run entirely on stored energy. On rides as long as the ones we're now doing, you need to regularly replenish fluids and electrolytes, and you need to take in a steady but manageable stream of calories.

Depending on your body size, a typical day on the ride might require anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 calories or more above your normal daily intake. And this can't be only junk food or pastries from the bakery case at Starbucks (but oooh, they're so good). When your body runs out of energy, you'll start to bonk, and the symptoms can be anywhere from mildly uncomfortable to quite serious and life-threatening. This is the time to be figuring out your body's needs (everyone is different) and learning what foods and liquids work best for you.

ALC is hosting a free workshop on "Nutrition for Endurance Cycling" at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 17, at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's new offices on Market Street. At this workshop, you can learn a lot about what your particular body needs; it's part of the same training that many of our ride leaders get. Find out more and RSVP here.

As I mentioned during our orientation this morning, freeway cycling is a necessary part of getting to Los Angeles. Depending on the route from year to year, about 8% of the distance is on freeways or almost-freeways. Our rides in Mountain View this season won't be going on any actual freeways (in the past, we've gone onto I-280 for short stretches, but the Crystal Springs dam closure has changed some of our training routes), but we will be going back to Central Expressway a few times between now and the end of the season.

Although Central Expressway isn't legally a freeway, the part through Sunnyvale (from Mary Avenue to Lawrence Expressway) is very freeway-esque, complete with off-ramps and on-ramps, and rather high-speed traffic that often exceeds the posted 50 mph speed limit. We've decided this season that the ALC freeway cycling rules will apply on the freeway-esque part of Central Expressway. One of these rules that I mentioned this morning is that cyclists never can cross the white shoulder line to enter a traffic lane to pass other cyclists.

Unfortunately, some of our ride leaders saw this happen a few times this morning. That's bad for several reasons, not the least of which is that mingling with high-speed traffic can be deadly. Even when it seems like there's no traffic nearby, we still don't ever do it. Entering a traffic lane on a freeway is one of the few things that can get you kicked off the ride in June; the rules are so strict because the stakes are so high. Please get in the habit now of being patient on freeways. And if you're a slower rider who's delaying five or more riders on a freeway, it's your obligation to pull over safely at the first safe opportunity so that other riders can pass.

Another obligation of slower riders comes on descents. I'm usually one of those riders; I tend to take descents a lot more slowly than many other riders. I know that some of you live for adrenaline-boosting descents, and there certainly will be plenty of those on the ride in June, including the amazing 9-mile descent from the top of the Evil Twins on Day 4. But if you'd rather take your time like me and savor the descent, you need to stay as far to the right as safely possible so that faster riders can quickly pass you without any doubt as to where you're heading. Again, these situations can be very dangerous when riders (either slower or faster ones) do unexpected things, so ride as predictably as possible.

Also, please don't ride side-by-side except to pass other riders. Even though two-abreast riding on shoulders and in bike lanes is legal in California, it's against ALC rules. We need this rule because of our large group and the need for cyclists to be able to safely pass others without entering traffic. It's a good habit to get into now. (And yes, a few ride leaders were spotted riding two abreast today. The floggings have commenced.)

At the end of the ride today, all 53 riders were accounted for ... which made my afternoon and evening significantly less stressful, so I thank all of you for either signing out or communicating with our ride leaders or SAG drivers.

And I do owe a bit of an apology for the conditions at Rest Stop 1 in Palo Alto today. When I planned these routes a few months ago, I didn't expect to have anywhere near as many riders as we have, and we simply overwhelmed the place today -- especially the restroom. I'll be doing my best to plan rest stops that have better toilet facilities; for instance, the lunch stop on our next ride is in a shopping center with Subway and Starbucks next door to each other, so you'll have a choice ... and more than one restroom.

What about that next ride? Remember, it's in two weeks, as we go back to our every-other-week schedule for the rest of the season. And now that we're all warmed up, the distances start to go up significantly from here; we'll be adding about 10 miles on each ride from here on out. That means our next ride, on February 19, will be about 60 miles, and we'll head up the Peninsula to near the now-demolished Crystal Springs Dam. There's actually a little more climbing than there was today, but it's spread out over the entire day, so it should be much more manageable ... well, except for that one little hill I've got planned. We'll be climbing Alameda de las Pulgas southbound from Hillsdale in San Mateo, which is another 0.7 mile steep climb -- but on average, it's "only" about as steep as Quadbuster. Other than that, it'll be a somewhat mellower ride than we had today. Find out more and RSVP here.

On our "off" weeks, be sure to get out there and ride at least one significant ride. You can do this on your own or as part of any of the various ALC training rides that are offered around the Bay Area. Check the official ALC calendar to find rides in your area. There's considerable benefit in riding in new and unfamiliar territory and with different groups of riders. Our Distance Training rides will get you ready to ride 200 kilometers on May 14, but that's not enough by itself to get you ready to ride to Los Angeles.

Congratulations and thank you for coming to today's ride, and thank you for being part of AIDS/LifeCycle.

Distance Training #4: Crystal Springs (2/19/2011)

Map for this ride

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Date: Saturday, February 19
Meet time: 9:30 a.m.
Ride-out time: 10:00 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: 61

Description:
This time, we head up the Peninsula to the Crystal Springs Reservoir, although the ongoing dam closure has led to a couple of interesting changes in this year's route. We start by heading up through Portola Valley and Woodside to our first rest stop. After that, it's the long but very popular cycling route up Cañada Road to Highway 92, followed by a little bit on lower Skyline Drive to Bunker Hill Drive and a nice, long descent into San Mateo.

That's where it gets interesting. We'll take the part of Alameda de las Pulgas that rarely shows up on training rides. The climb past Hillsdale gets quite steep (we're talking "San Francisco steep") in places, although there are plenty of breaks where you can pull over and catch your breath. The reward is a nice descent into our second rest stop in Belmont, followed by a mostly easy return down Alameda de las Pulgas all the way into Menlo Park, and then along the Bryant Street bike boulevard through Palo Alto and back to Mountain View.

Total climbing for this ride is about 2,400 feet.

Leaders: Chris Thomas, Ally Kemmer, Genevieve Breed, Thomas Fortin, Terri Meier, Amir Barzin, Paul Vargas, Randy Files

RSVPs are requested but not required.

Ride report: Distance Training #2 (1/29/2011)

Go, riders!

Thank you for being part of, yet again, the largest AIDS/LifeCycle training ride ever to be held in Mountain View. Our intrepid group of 43 riders and two SAG drivers encountered a little bit of everything today -- city streets, rural backroads, sun, clouds, and even a few showers. And in the process, we got some excellent previews of what life is like on the ride in June.

There's a reason that our safety speech concludes with an admonition to "practice patience": Having 2,500 riders on the road can make things a bit crowded at times. And we saw today that having even just 43 riders can make a bike lane sometimes feel like the Sunol Grade on a Monday morning commute. I spent much of the early parts of the ride in a group of about 20 riders as we made our way into Saratoga, and while we were moving along at a good pace, there were times when I wanted to go faster but couldn't. (There were also times where folks seemed to speed up when I wasn't ready to follow suit.)

A fact of ride life in June is that you often have to ride in a long line, particularly at the beginning of each day, and especially on Day 1. The ride isn't just about you getting to Los Angeles safely; it's about all of us, as a group, getting to Los Angeles safely. There's no prize or trophy for the first, second, third, or last rider to finish each day; sometimes, it's best just to go with the flow and hang with a group of riders who generally go about the same speed as you.

Don't be in a hurry to pass a long line of riders, especially when you'd have to enter a traffic lane for an extended time. And never, ever, ever pass another rider on the right. One of my trusty ride leaders told me he was passed on the right a few times today -- that's something that can get you pulled from the ride for a day or longer. Don't do it. (We might feel obligated to clear stuff from our noses just as you're passing on the right. Ew.)

Another experience today that doesn't often happen on South Bay rides was that our rest stops started to become a bit crowded. When 2,500 riders are passing through a rest stop in June, there can be lots of crowding ... and, if everyone tried to hang out at the same rest stop, there simply wouldn't be enough room for everyone.

A good skill to practice is getting in and out of rest stops as efficiently and quickly as possible. Get your food and liquid, take care of any restroom needs, stretch a bit, check the route sheet for the next segment, and move on out. This makes space for the next group of riders to arrive -- and it goes a long way toward giving you a time cushion. While you'll have about 12.5 hours to finish most days of the ride in June, your mind will be much more at ease if you have some time in reserve to handle any physical or mechanical issues that might arise.

In June, each rest stop has strictly enforced closing times, and if you miss a closing time, you're done for the day at that point. We've got closing times on our Distance Training rides as well, and while we aren't quite as draconian about them, they're calculated to match approximately the times that you'll encounter in June, so this is a good time to get used to them. (And, for the record, we've all been way ahead of our closing times this season, so nobody has anything to worry about there.)

And finally, the weather threw us a couple of wet surprises today. We weren't supposed to get any rain, but depending on where you were on the route, you might have gotten anything from a few sprinkles to a good-sized brief shower or two. Rain in June along the route is rare, but it certainly can happen, and you need to be prepared for it because we usually ride rain or shine (unless, as happened in 2009, the rain becomes so heavy as to make the route unsafe). Much more common in June is thick, dense fog in the morning that can make you every bit as wet and drippy as a shower.

Wet pavement, even just from fog or a few sprinkles, significantly increases the chances of flat tires, and we had more than a few of those today as well. And it seemed to me that many of the shoulders hadn't been swept in quite a while, leading to more debris than usual. I suspect that, in this era of budget cuts, that's something we'll be facing more of. If you're not already riding on flat-resistant tires, you might want to consider them. The technology has improved considerably just in the past few years, and there's now virtually no weight or firmness penalty in using flat-resistant tires. They do cost more than regular tires, but think of all the money you'll save on tubes! Ask your cyclist representative, any of the ride leaders, or your local bike shop.

What's next? We ride again next Saturday, without a week off this time. This is to get our schedule in sync with the upcoming major ALC events in San Francisco: the Expo (in March) and Day on the Ride (in April). Our next ride is a challenging 49-mile route with an unusual structure: The first half is almost totally flat, but the second half hammers you with a series of short but steep hills ... including Westridge, a hill in Portola Valley that's similar to the infamous Quadbuster of Day 3 in June. (It's a little bit shorter, but it's also a little bit steeper, complete with a false summit just to play with your head.)

Why? Because being able to pace yourself is an essential skill to make your June ride successful. When you see miles of flat road ahead of you, resist the temptation to ride all-out because there's almost always some climbing waiting for you further down the route. When I've offered this ride in the past, even some experienced ALC riders have run into difficulty in the later stages of this ride because it was just way too easy to cruise down Central Expressway at 20+ mph. Also, you'll get to see some parts of Portola Valley and Los Altos Hills that you might not have seen before, and which you can use on your own as part of your individual training.

Beginning with next weekend's ride, our official pace for the Distance Training rides advances from 10-12 mph to 12-15 mph. But don't let this concern you. Everybody on both of the Distance Training rides so far this season is already at Cat-3 pace or higher. You specifically do not need to be a 15 mph rider!

And if the prospect of all those hills scares you, here's an interesting statistic. When I did ride #3 on my own a couple of weeks ago, my average speed for the first half of the route was about 16 mph ... but my pace for the second half was only 9.5 mph. And that includes the descents! Nonetheless, I still finished within the Cat-3 pace, even though I still dislike hills with a passion. Don't worry about being slow on these hills!

Find out more about next week's ride, see the route, and RSVP here.

Thanks to all for a wonderful ride today, and thank you for being part of AIDS/LifeCycle.

Distance Training #3: Westridge and friends (2/5/2011)

Map for this ride

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Date: Saturday, February 5
Meet time: 9:30 a.m.
Ride-out time: 10:00 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: 49

Description:
This is a training ride with a specific message: Pace yourself. Although the first half of this ride is nearly flat, a lot of climbing is packed into the second half, and you'll want to resist the urge to ride all-out during the easy part. This is a skill that will serve you well during the event in June.

We'll begin with a ride down Central Expressway to Santa Clara and then back up Middlefield Road to Palo Alto. After we pass Stanford Shopping Center, we'll begin to climb -- slowly at first, but then more steeply as we tackle Westridge Drive in Portola Valley, a hill that's a lot like the infamous Quadbuster. After that, we'll head into Los Altos Hills and climb Elena Road and Taaffe Road to the top of Altamont Road, where an exciting steep descent awaits. And just for some added fun, we'll return to Mountain View via the Los Altos Hills quarry and golf course.

Total climbing for this ride is about 2,250 feet, but all of it is in the second half.

Beginning with this ride, the Distance Training rides move up to a 12-15 mph pace. But you do NOT need to be a 15 mph rider to do these rides! Our experience has been that many cyclists taking part in Cat-2 training rides actually ride at a Cat-3 pace. And it's perfectly OK if you're at the lower end of the Cat-3 range.

Leaders: Chris Thomas, Kathy Sherman, Thomas Fortin, Bob Katz, Amir Barzin, Larry L'Italien, Paul Vargas, David Gaus, Randy Files, Bruce Der-McLeod

RSVPs are requested but not required.

Ride report: Distance Training #1 (1/15/2011)

Go, riders!

After all the cold and rain of December, it's nothing short of amazing that it was sunny and almost 70 degrees in Mountain View at the end of today's 42-mile Distance Training kickoff ride. And the amazing weather brought lots of you outdoors -- our group of 39 riders and three awesome SAG drivers was the largest ALC training ride ever in Mountain View!

For some of us, today's ride was just another medium-distance, off-season ride. For others, it was a challenge unlike any other so far. And for still others, it was a gentle reminder that even experienced cyclists can get somewhat out of shape in the off season. Whichever you are, there were plenty of lessons to be learned from today's ride.

On the safety front, most folks did well, but I saw a few bad behaviors today. A stop sign in Woodside seemed to be optional for a few of us, and that's a really bad place to blow through a stop sign -- the local law enforcement loves to ticket cyclists. In June, running stop signs is one of the leading sources of complaints as we pass through the more than 50 jurisdictions that have to give us permission to ride. And I saw quite a bit of side-by-side riding. Even in marked bike lanes, where two-abreast riding is legal in California, we don't do it in ALC. This is so that faster riders are able to pass more easily. Save the chit-chat for the rest stops. Now is a good time to start practicing the riding rules that we all have to follow in June.

The second lesson is that the route sheet shouldn't be just a souvenir that gets all wet and folded up in your jersey pocket; it's an essential tool to get you through each training ride. Unlike the main event in June, training ride routes aren't marked with signs or route arrows, so you need the route sheets to guide you through the often-labyrinthine twists and turns of the Bay Area streets and hills. Most training rides have dozens of turns and other notable events, and you need to be able to quickly and easily refer to your route sheet while you are riding. When you don't refer to your route sheet often, it's all too easy to miss a turn or make a wrong turn and go off course, adding "bonus miles" to your day. And it's also very important to see the cautions and other warnings on the route sheet while you're riding.

Many riders use a map holder for route sheets. They're available in various sizes and usually cost only a few dollars. Others use binder clips to attach the route sheet to a brake cable next to the handlebars. And others have large handlebar bags that hold all sorts of stuff and have a slide-in spot on top to hold a route sheet. Using a route sheet is one of the few skills that isn't essential in June but which you need to use on training rides. If you'd like advice on map holders, ask any ride leader or your local bike shop.

Today's third lesson is a reminder to practice healthy nutrition while riding. Because all of our Distance Training rides are longer than two hours (yes, even for our fastest riders), your body cannot make it through the day solely on stored energy. You have to regularly replenish your body's store of nutrients. Everybody is different in this area, so I can't make a recommendation that works for everybody. Especially if you're new to long-distance cycling, this is the time to start experimenting to figure out what works for you.

For me, I often start out well but then don't take in enough during the later parts of a ride. That happened to me today, and while I didn't bonk, I could feel my mood turning sour in the last few miles -- especially on those last devious hills around the golf course in Los Altos Hills. (Who was the idiot who put those hills on the route anyway?) I've learned several times before that I need to continue to take in calories -- not just at rest stops, but while riding or on short breaks. In June, you'll have anywhere between 8 miles and 25 miles between rest stops, so it's likely that you'll need to refuel on your own at least a couple of times. Be sure to carry the foods and liquids that work for you, and be sure to replenish your electrolytes, even in winter.

Although today's ride officially ran at a pace of 10-12 mph, it's no secret that most riders were above (or even far above) that pace. Riding among riders who have such a wide range of speed can be intimidating for almost anyone, regardless of your normal pace, but it's one of the inescapable facts of life in June. Even though I'm a bit faster than I was a few years ago, any hill above about a 4% grade causes my speed to go way down, and everyone who is riding along with me just flies on by. And even though I know in advance it's going to happen, it still frustrates me to hear "On your left!" 10 or 15 times in a row.

Such times are when I remind myself that our training rides, just like the main event in June, are indeed rides and not races -- there is no competition with anyone except yourself, and you are the only person who gets to define the terms of that competition. And yes, I also realize that taking that message to heart is far more easily said than done, even for me.

What's next? We ride again two weeks from today, on Saturday the 29th. Our 45-mile route takes us to Los Gatos and a little bit beyond. Our big climb of the day is Kennedy Road eastbound, but I've got a couple of extra surprises planned as well, including a return to a little hill in Saratoga that we haven't visited for a few years. But overall, the total climbing is only about as much as we did today, so no worries. Find out more and RSVP here.

Along those lines, a small request: Please RSVP for any ride that you're planning on attending, even if you're not 100% sure that you're going to make it. This lets the ride organizers know about how many people to expect, so that we can plan resources such as support and -- importantly for you -- route sheets. Because today's weather was so nice, lots of un-RSVP'd riders showed up, and we just barely had enough route sheets to go around. I bring a few extras, but we got inundated today. I'd rather bring too many route sheets than not enough, so don't be afraid to RSVP. I won't get mad if you don't show up!

And don't forget the official ALC10 Northern California kickoff party next Saturday, the 22nd, in San Francisco. Don't forget to dress in red! Find out more and RSVP here. Word on the street is that it's going to be faaaaaaabulous.

Be sure to follow my blog for information on upcoming rides and other events. It's also where all of these ride reports are posted during the training season. I try to email a ride report to everyone whose email address I can figure out from the sign-in sheet or an earlier RSVP. If you don't get a report in your email, it's because I couldn't read your writing; it's not because I don't like you.

Welcome to our new season, and thank you for being part of AIDS/LifeCycle.

Photos by Dennis Soong