Best. Bike. Shop. Ever.

Three miles to my car, my left pedal broke. I have been using this Quattro Crank Brothers pedals for about a year and a half now I think and it has served me well. I was surprised that a small section of the spring broke.

Riding clipped to just one foot was very irritating.

So I said to myself, I have plenty of time to replace it. Monday it will be.

I picked up my son from boy scouts. Got something to eat. Took a nap.

Then I got a text from Tani. "hey, do you want to ride tomorrow?"

Sure!

Half an hour later, at 5:20, I realized - Crud. My pedal is broken.

Maybe I'll use my tank of a bike. The Terry perhaps? Transfer pedals - which I attempted for like - 2 minutes. Was it lefty loosy, righty tighty?

Tani is fast so there is no way I can keep up with her with a bike other than the Ruby. Especially after herding the cats on today's ride.

My ride is almost ruined!

So I called Kinetic Cycles and Bruce Kaiser answered. {relief} He told me they close at 5 pm. {big sigh} It was already 5:30. He asked me what the problem was and I told him. Bruce said - come on in. I'll take care of it. {OMG}

And he sure did!

Bruce at work!

Now, that is what I call great service!! You won't find it anywhere else....

Thank you Bruce for saving my ride. Kinetic Cycles rock!

Foxy's Fall Century 2011

I have been riding this event for the past 3 years and still each ride is markedly different from the previous.

This century is hosted by the Davis Bike Club. As part of their atonement for making us ride 106 in the past (110 last year because we got lost), this year, they changed the route to 96 miles. Hallelujah!!

The prior routes made us loop through Elmira Rd for the first rest stop at a school. This year, the first rest stop was at mile 25 at a fire station, eliminating the annoying out and back.

It was generally a flat course. I think anything under 3500 ft of elevation in 100 miles is generally flat anyway. This is one reason why they dub Foxy as a great century for newbies. Of course, they always fail to mention that climbing starts at mile 45sh and serious climbing starts after lunch at mile 52 and does not end until mile 68. Don't forget the wind! Let us not forget the wind please.

But overall, Foxy is a great starter century. It is a good event to end the cycling season for me.

DBC excelled in hosting this event this year. Rest stops were fully stocked, lots more choices in food, saw SAG several times, route was MUCH better than last year. The volunteers at the end serving food were awesome. Pasta, soda, and don't forget the ice cream.

Ride recap:

We rolled pretty early - 7:06. I loved that. No waiting, we just met and rolled.

Flat as pancakes for the first 25 miles till the first rest stop. Samantha and I were lucky to be able to draft behind a couple so we just breezed through to the rest stop. I pulled for several miles to help them out. That was hard work!

Sunrise....

The flat roads seem to never end....

Acres and acres of this stuff...

The infamous Graffiti bridge. We cross this bridge again at the end. It's my sign that the end is near....

First rest stop. Since we were there pretty early, we avoided the mob invasion.

Major improvement from previous years is the water stop between the first rest stop and lunch stop. Mile 37sh. Last year was at the corner of Lyon Rd. Between the auto and bike traffic plus people lined up for the port potties, that was a nightmare. This year, Rolling Hills park, so much more manageable and not so congested.

Then the rollers start. Somewhere before the lunch stop, some minor climbing happens.

At the top of the first minor climb (if there is such a thing as minor climbing).

I made it to the lunch stop pretty early. 11sh I think and decided to wait for Samantha. Glad I did. I didn't eat a lot, knowing the major hills are right up ahead of me.

Lots of bikes parked everywhere at the lunch rest stop. I miss the Gran Fondo bike parking.

Then the real meat of the climbing begins.

This is my 3rd year riding this and I still can't remember the hills. I kept asking people "Is this the top?". They say yes, then later say "Sorry, we lied!" They are so fired!

So, as a reminder for myself next year, there are 5 total climbs before the last rest stop at mile 75. The last climb peaks at mile 68.5 so forget about asking anyone whether it's the last hill. Until you see mile 68.5, you are not done with all the climbing yet.

The 1st and the 4th climbs are the hardest and they are all quite long. Don't pay attention to folks who tell you they are quite short. If you are not used to climbing, if you can't see the top, they are long! I had to stop at the peak of the first one because sweat was pouring over my eyes and I can't see. This year, at almost 80F, it was getting hot.

A guy in a steel single speed bike and a loaded backpack passed me up when I was climbing Cardiac Hill. WTH! Then at the top, he started circling around waiting for his partner.

Here's the view at the top of Cardiac Hill (I think it's Cardiac. All the hills looked the same to me - up).

This is the first time I was able to take pictures.

Here's Lake Berryessa.

I knew it was hotter than normal because I finished 2 water bottles between lunch stop and the final rest stop. At mile 71, I was down to maybe 2 more sips and that is it. I remember thinking - well, I think I can make it another 2 miles if I ran out of water.

I was at the last rest stop way before 2 pm. I thought the wheat bread and cream cheese sandwiches were the best! They also added a carpet around the water station so our cleats don't get as muddy.

Kick ass women at the last rest stop!

It was nice to know that I only have 20sh more miles to go. And as always, the last 10 were a drag.

As we rolled along, we came upon a couple - guy was on a touring bike and the girl was on a cruiser. I asked her if she did the century on her cruiser and she said yes. It was a humbling experience to draft them. I also pulled for a couple of miles to help out.

I saw the couple arrive at the VMC and the husband said "My wife rocked it!". Well, she sure did! A century on a cruiser? I'd probably die if I tried that.

I filled my mountain feed bag with wheat thins to snack on during the last leg of the ride. Yuck. They tasted like sawdust, caking and yucky while eating. Reminded me so much of those Perpetuum tablets. Yuck again!

A watched pot never boils. So does a watched Garmin computer. The miles slowly ticked by as I was trying to get through the last 10, then 5, then 2. Headwinds. Always the headwinds at the end. I hit mile 95 and wait.... the route sheet said stop at 95. WTH? One more mile before I pulled in at the VMC.

I packed my bike, lined up for food, then had a great time rehashing the ride with Katryna and the girls.

Overall, Foxy is almost a rite of passage for me to end the season. I was more relaxed riding it this year and still made great time. The hills were, well, still there but nothing that difficult. I questioned my sanity again when trying to get through the last 10 miles. Why did I do this again? And swore I won't ride this again next year. But that was what I told myself last year.

Next year, I'm working on my flat and sprint speed. So I hope to ride for time next year.


Wait... didn't I say I won't ride this next year? Oh yeah.... I can't. I have the Nike Women's Half next year!! Oh well.

Levi Gran Fondo 2011

I can summarize this event in 3 short words.

BEST. RIDE. EVER.

My desire to ride this event goes back to 2009 when a co-rider Deven was telling me about this "gran fondo" ride and this guy named Levi who passed him up on the ride yelling "Go go, big guy!" Back then, I can barely manage to climb 2500 ft in one ride and 36 miles was epic in my books.

Who is this dude named Levi? Well, he's only a 3-time Amgen Tour of Ca winner, fellow teammate of Lance Armstrong on Radioshack, etc.

What is more awesome is that it is a charitable event which benefits Livestrong, Forget Me Not Farm, Velostreet Community Giving Program and Santa Rosa Community. This year, the event managed to raise almost $250,000 for these charities. Amazing.

At the beginning of the year, when the registration for Levi's Gran Fondo event opened, I diligently registered the minute it opened. The server (Levi's) crashed several times. But I did get in.

Yesterday, I rode it. It was the MOST. GORGEOUS. RIDE. EVER.

My goal for this event is to just plain enjoy it. We decided not to rush it, take our time, enjoy the views, take lots of pictures and talk to people. I'm glad we did. We were no slouches on the ride either. The climbs were very manageable, almost all anyway.

I have never been on a ride that was so well supported, where riders were almost pampered, where the views were so breathtaking and the encouragement of the community so uplifting.

With 7,499 other riders, somehow, Levi and the organizing committee managed to make everything so seamless.

Registration was a breeze the night before. They gave us these cool bag, a special edition Bike Monkey magazine and a lot of numbers to put on your bike.

Not knowing what to expect, we arrived at the Finley Community Center at 6:15 to be able to get decent parking. The ride doesn't start until 8 so we have a lot of waiting to do.

As people started arriving and lining up, I started getting a sense of how big this event really is. Folks from all over the world came to ride.

Washington, DC, Chile, Philippines, and No, I didn't hear any Tennessee, John, so you should come next year.

Everyone, 30 mile riders (Piccolo), 100k riders (Medio), and 100m riders (Gran) all start out at 8 am. Everyone has front license plates that contain chips which record start and end times as you cross the start and finish line (just like run events). That was a first for me.

The slow walk/ride to get to the start line was unnerving - with a lot of other riders on all sides. But we made it.

The first 4 or so miles were around town, closed roads, with a lot of cheers from the community. Also, riding with everyone was nerve-wracking - cyclist or bicycle riders who do not know cycling etiquette, pulling right in front of you, or staying on the left side while riding slow. M & I passed out hundreds of riders as we tried to gain speed and avoid crashing at the same time.

The first climb was up Graton Rd. Not so bad, 3 miles with only about 11% max grade. Very doable. What was scary was all the other riders on the road - weaving, slow folks riding on the left, would not move over, fast folks passing on the left with warning. As we do our descent, we had to stop and walk a section due to a crash. The road was narrow, twisting, steep and surrounded by trees. Poor folks.

After Graton Rd, the descent was one of the best I have ever experienced. Just plain beautiful. Nice, sweeping, smooth descent on Bohemian Hwy into Camp Meeker.

A bridge before the first rest stop. I think this is the Russian River. Not quite sure. But it was very serene. By this point, the Medio riders have separated from the Gran and Picollo. Much more manageable crowd.

First rest stop.

At each rest stop, there were signs telling you where the next rest stop will be.

Only 9 miles tell me that there is some climbing up ahead.

Well, not so much as climbing as headwinds AND climbing around the beautiful 101 coast. Very serene - that is if you can call cross winds and nice rollers - along the highway serene. To me, the smell of the ocean, the view of the rocks and beaches, overcast skies = zen moments on a bike. It was a very overcast day with strong winds. And yet, I didn't feel cold at all. It must be the hard work of climbing and managing the cross winds. I remember pedaling hard on the descents to be able to manage 16 mph.

After being passed by countless Harleys, passing another crash (crashed into the bushes-must be doing a very high speed descent), we approached the 2nd rest stop.

I got a kick out of this sign.

Cheerers!

I remember thinking... hmmmm.... 6 and 12 miles. Must be some serious climbing to have rest stops every 6 miles. I know that Coleman Valley Rd is up.

Well, Coleman Valley Rd was indeed UP! As in, it goes way way up. For those familiar with El Dorado Hills and Newcastle, imagine Beatty Dr at the beginning then a longer and steeper version of Shirland Tract (constant 18% gradient) to top it off then tapers off to a longer version of Chili Hill. Did you feel my pain? As I started climbing, I was thinking to myself... not bad.. not bad. Hard but doable. I looked down at my Garmin and the gradient reached all the way up to 22% at a very short section. So it was a continuous 11-15% for maybe 1/2 to 3/4 miles. There were many riders already walking at that point. So, it is quite a feat to manage the bike and the crowd and the cattle guards. Just as it cleared, I saw this wall ahead of me. My HR was already at it's highest and I really needed to bring it down. That or collapse. I managed the climb up to the Wall. Then stopped dead. Dang. Second hill I had to walk in my entire life. So, I have a bone to pick next year with this road.

Walking the Wall. I see a lot of hill repeats at Beatty in my future.

The course map at the reststop at the top of Coleman Valley Rd. Big sigh. One more major climbing to go.

One of the things I love about this event is their course signage. No such thing as looking for a little arrow on the road. Nope. There were BIG arrows as in maybe 2 x 2 signs on the side of the road. Plus, course marshals and cops holding up traffic so you can turn. Plus, warnings on steep descents. I felt comfortable going at my comfort level speeds and being cautious depending on the sign.

During the Coleman Valley Descent, M & I were keeping on the right so the fast and crazy folks can descend at 40+ mph. I heard someone yell "Good job, you guys!" as a team of cyclists decked out in Radioshack Team kits, followed by 2 motorcycles and 1 SRAM team car. Wow. It was Levi. I was awed. A fellow cyclist got a better deal. If I had known McDreamy was doing the metric, I would have been content to just follow him.

There were very few flat sections. The last 10 miles were. We turned to Santa Rosa Creek trail. Quite a nice trail. In all these events, the last 10 miles was the hardest and longest. This one was no different.

After finishing, we parked our bikes. Check out this valet bike parking!

Festival at the end. You get to choose what you want to eat. Paella, burritos, BBQ, Indian Cuisine and more.

And there is no such thing as free coffee. Fake sign to lure you to the other side where you buy coffee.

Overall, I loved this event. Levi and the community of Santa Rosa really know how to stage an almost perfect ride. I will be back next year.

This gets 11 stars in my books.

62 miles
4300 ft of climbing
Gorgeous Views.
Incredible feeling.
Amazing ride.
No mechanicals.
Tired legs.