4/18 novice, quick addict RWS2G rider looking to jump in with SF2G NRLB bayway

swami - i have to disagree about the bus.  the shuttle is crowded, hot, teeming with cellphone jabberers, and it dwells on the 101, a wretched hive of scum and villainy if there ever was one.

by contrast, the roads of bayway are sparsely driven, often sans-cars paths, and with some exceptions generally pleasant and fragrant.  further, you will, on your bike, enjoy the pleasing company of a litany of eccentric characters, not the least of which are ksenya the Russian, eric the Vegan, marius the mighty Viking, trinh the Flagellant, space the Vanquisher, lucas the 747-control-panel-on-a-bike-guy, bk Broiler (6' 4" with afro), lorenzo the Uncoldable, and all manner of others, including yours truly, perhaps the weirdest of the bunch.

and the bridge from nowhere to nowhere is cool, you must embrace it.  it's better than the true bridge to nowhere, which is on the marshes of foster city or so and just terminates like a pier.

btw, map is here: http://groups.google.com/group/sf2g/web/the-bayway-40mi-1000

I'd guess RWS is about 25 miles into the ride, so you might expect the SF crew to show up on Twin Dolphin/Marine Pkwy around 8?  something like that?  I bet Lucas knows, he's data-driven, like a decision.

-SC

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 2:05 PM, Ksenya Gusak <wrote:

+1

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 1:51 PM, Alison McGuigan < wrote:

+1 - will be at RR at 6:30.

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 9:05 AM, Elizabeth Windram  wrote:

Yo swami on wheels, I'll pick you up at RWS. 6:30 sharp roll out from
RR - I have no idea what time that puts us at RWS (depending on who
joins assume 2:45-3:00 ride from sf2g). Where should I look for you?

Namaste,
Elizabeth

On 4/16/08, gopi  wrote:
>
> Hello irrational SF2G googlers:
>
> (why else would you ride 50 miles on a bike to work when you could
> ride a comfortable A/C bus with wifi on it)
>
> I did two Redwood Shores to G  Bayway rides and I am addicted to the
> all day rush you experience. My regular partner Nat Criou could not
> make it last Fri and is not available this Friday. If I dont ride two
> weeks in a row (not counting 32 miles with SV Tri club on Sat in the
> Portola valley hills) I am going to start craving that endorphin high
> even more and start doing crazy things like walk the hallways
> muttering to myself and shaking my head in disagreement to nothing.
>
> So, are any of you planning to do the NRLB Bayway on Fridays. If so I
> will jump in at RWS and ride with you or I may start riding ahead
> slowly till you catch up. But I am still not 100% confident of the
> route and a single pinch flat can fell me flat. I am still suspicious
> when my guide rider asks me to go across that bridge from nowhere to
> nowhere. That is a classic civil engineers folly.
>
> "Once you ride the tiger you cant dismount"
>
> Gopi, the Swami on the bike
>

4/10 Skyline 630 Peets

Ride Report:

• "Always ride".  I almost bailed last night, and even this morning just didn't "feel up to it".  I'm glad I did of course.  I'm always glad.  "Always ride".
• Scott and I cruised up at a mellow pace to Cañada where we saw the smoke puffs of the oncoming train.  We did a Uee and did my best to keep ahead of the train, and provide them with a bright orange target to hunt down.  I thought maybe I had maintained the gap, but after the final rise I check my shoulder and there's fixed gear Marius barelling down at 180rpm.  He and Space caught, and descimated this quarry today.
• Panting and puffing, the small lead group slowed up for Officer Ponciarello at one of those ridiculous red octagon things.  Apparently, someone in the back of the pack did not, and I could hear sirens as I got near Bob's market.
• In the interest of schedules, Julian and I had to leave our fallen bretheren behind.  Fast ride from there.  When The Big Brit isn't racing is pretty much the only time I can keep up with him.
• http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=5358736

-- Ryan*PC

On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 10:38 AM, Ryan PC Gibson wrote:

Damn you Trinh.  I thought I could take a day off.  I'll compromise and roll a bit later, missing the TTT.  Planning to leave the plex at 7:10 and cross Foothill and Arastradero at 7:30.  I'll go out and back, so probably run into you around the Woodside market.

Any Southerners care to join for this jolly jaunt?

On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 10:34 AM, Trinh wrote:

Anyone want to ride? will stop to pick up missionites at usual spot.

4/10 CBWYRRR 7:30

Ride report:

Daniel and I met up at 7:20ish at Ritual among ... other people? That's right, it turns out that other people actually know about Ritual if you're there after 6:30. Rolled out at 7:30 and proceeded to Bayway via Cortland. Daniel (on his swanky new Parlee) set the pace for the vast majority of the ride, we me trying to keep up. Stopped once at the halfway point for an energy bar, then kept going. Relatively uneventful ride except for a black cat crossing our path at FCF, but we agreed that it was more brownish and rode on. I was pretty proud of myself for keeping up the pace until the second to last straightaway when Daniel dropped the hammer and pulled 25mph out of somwhere, leaving me to catch up with him at the light. In a bit of perfect timing, we met up with the Skyline crew for the final straightaway, and it turns out that it was matching jersey pairs day. Overall, an awesome ride. Still made it to the plex by 10 with our 7:30 rollout thanks to a blistering average speed of 17.3mph. Woo!

On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 11:38 AM, Sean McBride  wrote:

+1 I love the extra sleep idea! There's always cereal after all...

On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 11:07 AM, Daniel Hobe wrote:

Anyone up for a Civilized BayWay Ritual Roaster Rollout?  I'm planning
to enjoy an extra hour of sleep and leave Ritual at 7:30 sharp,
arriving at the plex around 10.

--

millbway wednesday - 4/2 - civilized - 7:11/7:37 train

Ride report:

Met at 24/m BART as per the plan. 4 bikers: Scott, Pedro (first
time?), Brian (first time!), and myself. Rolled out from Millbrae
around 7:45 and set a fastish/comfortable pace. Blew through the
rest-stop before FCF and kept on going. (In fact, we never stopped
during the entire ride except for lights, and not even then
sometimes.) Othman was somewhere ahead of us but we never caught up to
him. Later on we found out that he had waited for a bit bit the chill
had kept him moving on. The sun never really came out, but the weather
held despite forcasted rain and we rolled into Google right around
9:30 after a push down the last stretch. Brian and I saw Scott and
Pedro riding up for breakfast at No Name. We chose to dine at Moma and
made it in time for breakfast (except for pancakes.) Time = 1:53, Avg
speed = 15.6mph. Not bad for a few first-timers (and a
recently-lazy-bones like myself)! Thanks for the nice ride guys.

On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 11:15 PM, Sean McBride  wrote:
> I'm in and I'm bringing a friend to keep me honest. Brian, my roommate
>  and fellow Googler, has finally caved and started cycling. (But don't
>  worry, he just biked 30m/1400' last Sunday.) Tomorrow, I
>
> will hook him on the sf2g crack. See you guys ~7 on ticket level of
>  24/m!
>
>  That said, a healthy rain will cancel, but I'll text you in that case.
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 3:33 PM, Scott Crosby wrote:
>
> > gents:
>  >
>  > myself and the wacky argentine pedro will be boarding tomorrow's 7:11
>  > millbrae bart (24/m) for 7:37 arrival in millbrae, and thence via bayway to
>  > G, with anticipated <9:30 final arrival.
>  >
>  > the pace will be cordial, so if anyone out there is up for a
>  > intro-pace-but-not-slow-per-se 30 miler, meet at the *ticket level* of 24/m
>  > bart at 7:05 and we'll get on the 7:11.
>  >
>  > -SC
>  >

First RWS2G - Awesome ride

I rode on Fri for the first time to work on the SF2G bayway route by

starting in Redwood Shores and what an exhilarting feeling. Nat Criou
met me in Redwood Shores to help me navigate the route and feel
confident that I would not get hopelessly lost or be stuck with a
mechanical problem. Othman met us around Menlo Park and rode with us.
Brett "the tiger" Crosby was hot tailing us but we did not meet him
and did not know he was behind us as he was non-commital the night
before,

Thank you to the hard core members of this list for introducing me to
and encouraging me to try to ride to work. I felt so totally awesome
all day. If I could make the logistics work (of getting my bike back
home, leaving my car here etc.) and there was an earlier ride group I
would do it every day. Just the sheer energy and endorphins I have
felt all day has been like a drug. I am hooked and I want it every
day. Wow! what a feeling. Thank you for pushing me. Scott's advice of
don't try this alone was accurate. I would have got hopelessly lost.
There was a point where Nat got off the bike, pushed it up a dirt
path, crossed a bridge and went down a sheer 5 foot drop on the other
side. That is when I realized that among the recreational groups at
Google, SF2G has got to be maddest of them all. Who rides 50 miles to
work? Unless of course you have taken the hit. And once you have
ridden the tiger you cant dismount.

Gopi