SF2G is awesome!

Even tho we mostly all kind of suck for hiding from the "rains" today, we do have some redeeming virtues.

1) there were no less than 5 rides called for yesterday, and I think they actually all happened (2 skylines, 2 bayways, 1 hmbayway(!)) It was awesome to have a 15-person paceline for parts of skyline after the 2 groups converged. riders coming the other way were fairly flabbergasted.

I think this means we have reached critical self-sustaining mass, and that this organism will live on despite anyone's departure from god's green peninsula.

2) we are fabulous and popular: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Google-workers-saddle-up-for-daily-commute-84306917.html

3) we are in the SFBC's calendar: http://www.sfbike.org/?chain (scroll down to SF2G FFFF)

so this means we should have a big group for March 5th's FFFF. let's all try and make it for that one, I'll need some help with sweeping. Who's in for that?

4) our Strava club is pretty impressive. check out these mean stats! just imagine if Luddites like Eric actually got Garmins...

we have ridden 69,000 miles as a club, damn! and 2.5 million vertical feet!

http://www.strava.com/clubs/sf2g?page=1

Total Number of Rides 1,973

Total Distance 68,699 mi

Total Elevation Gain 2,499,109 ft

Total Commute Distance 24,281 mi

Total Number of Categorized Climbs 3996

I think we're the #2 club by miles, after Mission Cycling, which has 20 more members. So all ye who have garmins, sign up for the club on strava.

good stuff maynard!

Ride Report: Middle East Way - West Oakland & Coyote Hills Explorations & Some Setbacks

Map and photos from Ammon (truncated showing just the route to Google (46 miles).

I met up with Ammon in car 2 of BART train that departed 16th Street Mission station at 6:12am. We were on the train for a mere 14 minutes and got rolling at 6:30 in West Oakland, which is pretty tranquil at this time of day. We pedaled down 7th Avenue in hopes of taking the tunnel over to Alameda island. Oops!: no bikes allowed (setback #1). Note to selves: we're gonna look into taking the ferry over, because the west and south ends of Alameda look awesome for riding. So we continued down 7th Street, which is probably crazy busy during the day but was chill for us. To get to Alameda via a bridge, we had to head down some unintuitive roads that made it look like we were gonna get on 880 but worked out fine. I'm gonna research the best way from West Oakland to Alameda, because while not too bad, I'm pretty sure what we took wasn't ideal.

Once in Alameda via a cute old bridge, we decided to cut across the island and get on the Bay Trail. Again, I'm not sure we took the most direct route, as we ran into a lot of lights. Once we reached the opposite shore, we were greeted with trail closure signs from the recent oil spill (setback #2). We took our chances and got our first taste of dirt. Ammon squirted ahead with his cross bike. Next up was crossing from Alameda back to mainland via a bicycle drawbridge. How cool is that? This section by the Oakland Airport was surprising very low in traffic. Right past the airport is the easy-to-miss sign for the Bay Trail, which we then hopped on.

A little ways down the trail, we encountered another trail closed sign (setback #3). Apparently they're building a bridge across the creek here. which meant that we had to detour inland and ended up in the wastewater treatment plant with a high fence between us and Davis Road. Huh (setback #4). We looked into hopping the fence but before too long, a vehicle drove out of the facility, opening the gate for us, too. (Sorry, no pictures here.)

After riding through Oyster Bay park, we were finally back on the "familiar" part of Middle East Way and figured we were safe...

Not so! It seems all this Federal stimulus money is going to bicycle infrastructure, so we again encountered trail construction (setback #5). We pleaded with the workers and they kindly let us pass. We did get to hop a fence this time, though.

The rest of the ride was pretty chill. Instead of riding way out of the levees, Ammon rode the ridge of the Coyote Hills as far as he could (setback #6)) and I rode the Bay View trail [video] along the base, where Ammon later joined me. This dumps out right by a scary/cool old mine and at the Dumbarton Bridge Toll Plaza. Bay View trail is a totally valid alternative, with less dirt and slightly more climbing (if you don't ride the ridge). Once past the toll plaza, you ride along 84 on a frontage road with cool foam on the road [video] and and cross the bridge and rejoin Bayway by Sun.

The last treat of the ride was learning about the amphibious (they float!) backhoes that are being used to restore the salt water ponds by East PA.

Many thanks to Ammon for the GPS track and excellent photo documentation, and for being as into finding new routes as I am.

Assessment:

- More riding + less BARTing = good

- Viable as a full-fledged route once they finish the bridge construction (the other construction project is short-term)

- Research a better way to and through Alameda

Your route finder,

Brett Lider

P.S. A couple more videos I took:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwlU9JxCZfA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5aGrvBB7oE

5D5W: 9/17 Skyline 6:30 Peet's

ride report:

it's really someone else's turn to write this, but you are all just as shelled as me it seems, so here you go, a 19% effort to go with my 19% legs.

12 sorry saps staggered into peet's about 06:20, devoured space's latest baking extravaganza (homemade strawberry pop-tarts, of sorts, see attached), and rolled into the mire of golden gate park, where the sinister Trinh awaited.

upon reaching the first hills of skyline, it became abundantly clear that my legs' "muscles" were more akin to waterlogged 50-lb. gunny-sacks of portland cement, mixed with lead shot and ingots of plutonium-238, and attached by heavy iron shackles to the Queen Mary's dual anchors, which weigh over 30 metric tonnes each.

ThEPO, on the other hand, had without question applied not one but two testosterone patches to appropriate places and beer-bonged a 12-pack of CERA and HGH, garnished with ice cubes of his own blood, which had been harvested and concentrated by centrifuge after 30 days of continuous mount everest hill repeats.

other noteworthy events included a surly police officer hurling a torrent of insults at mild-mannered xton, who graciously stopped and chatted while the rest of us escaped to Cañada.

for breakfast, I enjoyed two abandoned and partially burned bagel halves (both bottoms) topped with dessicated lentil paste.  best example of that dish i ever had.

-sc

5D5W: 9/14 Joe Gross 6:30 RRR

Editor's note: Yours truly was remiss in not posting Faye's hilarious & compelling account of Day 1, which is herein presented.

Ride report

Bueno Serra.  Not sure about anyone else, but I didn't sleep a wink
due to excessive consumption of chocolate cake while watching Breaking
Away and, of course, anticipation of the first day of 5 days 5 ways.
I made it to ritual in good time to caffeinate before rolling, and
acted on some strange impulse to get a tea instead of a proper
machiato- inausipicious decision that no doubt contributed to my flats
later on.  Trinh was already present and Brian Kemler and Brett Lider
showed up shortly followed by Ted and maybe Eric.  Everyone else
straggled in later... even later than usual.  Our fearless leader
looked particularly dead with his eyes rolling back in his head as he
consumer his small coffee.  A complicated flat repair was taking place
outside... Mike G. was riding his Felt and went through a good 3 inner
tubes outside of ritual.  I went out to ask if he wanted a coffee, and
encountered Shoumen on his folding bike in sneakers and running
shorts!  This did not stop him from motoring up the grades on Mission
at break neck speed, however.  Space arrived with amazing blondies and
beautifully and individually wrapped protein bars (that I did not
sample due to their healthy sound).  Who would have thought he could
top that salted chocolate layer cake, but the blondies were just
amazing.  Anyway, we started off with 15 riders, I think, including
Scott, Brian, Trinh, Theo, Space, Jim (on fixie), Xton (on fixie),
Eric (on fixie), Brett, Yoyo, Shoumen (on folding bike), Ted, Mike,
Mark, and me (on Creamy, my beautiful creamsicle bike).  I think we
hit about every possible light as we slowly made out way up Mission
and somehow to El Camino.  On the stretch of road before Colma, land
of the dead,  Scott authorized me to "attack" or as I prefer to think
of it,  try to take the pace up a notch.  Just as I thought we were
rolling at a decent clip, I had my first flat.  For anyone who was not
there, on Friday, I got a flat just before the steepest part of
tunitas, so I thought I did my time!  Grr.  Anyway, the flat was
annoying, BUT the scene around it was definitely the highlight of the
ride for me, and I sure wish someone got some photos... as I yelled
out that I had a flat, there was this mass frenzy as no less than
Mark, Ted, Xton, Theo, and Space with encouragement from a few others
rushed to fix it.  It was an impressive scenewith tire levers, pumps
and tubes flying everywhere and I felt like a Very Important Person
with a harem of flat fixers.  I was informed that my tires are crap
and told to get new ones pronto.

Anyway, we continued down El Camino stopping and starting about every
75 meters and with a few stares of wonder and comments of
encouragement or alternatively explicatives from drivers on their way
to work.  Soon after we hit the side streets that Parallel El Camino,
my tire went flat again.  Everyone very dutifully and politefully
waited and I was very grateful.  Xton and Space again fixed the flat,
with Xton transferring a metal splinter from the tire to his finger.
After that I was really paranoid that my tire was flat and kept
touching it to check at every stop sign.  I thought for sure I would
be relegated to the caltrain and 5 days 5 ways would be over before it
began.

The ride continued in the same vein... stopping and starting and
stopping and starting with us hitting about every possible red light.
We rode through the old race track- a wider space with no cars where
the fixies decided to race each other.  Not surprisngly, Xton won that
little sprint.  When the construction noise did not drown it out, I
noticed the impressive noises Mike's bike was making.  The sun was
shining and it was pretty warm, and despite our very late rollout and
my 2 flats, breakfast at No Name remained within reach.

After turning off of Middlefield in PA, we re-grouped to wait for the
folding bike and Yoyo, and debated invoking the 4-k rule on Bayway.
The invocation was overruled and we continued on at a civil pace.
Brett Lider was particularly dilligent in calling out all of the turns
and the moment at which we needed to down shift to make it up the
pedestrian bridge on 101.  The bridge was slippery as hell and I
almost bit it, but I made sure to be  behind everyone so that I could
hide any evidence.  With breakfast in sight and miracle of miracles, no
lights, we cruised at 23ish mph down bayshore, with Shoumen spinning
so fast on the folding bike that he looked like a wind-up toy, but
managing to mostly hang on to Scott/Mike's wheels,  and were rewarded
with victuals and sun at Google.

Having been told repeatedly what crap my tires were, I plotted my
immanent trip to SB to get new ones (done!).  Aside from a couple of
tubes, no casualties that I know of on this ride, and an entertaining
and light hearted start to 5 days 5 ways.

-FF

Re: 5D5W: 9/16 Grand Bayway(R) 6:30 RRR

Lider lollipop?

2009/9/16 Scott Crosby <crosby@google.com>:
> ride report:
> arriving as I did at Ritual in the predawn blackness @ 06:20 to find it
> utterly empty, I at once feared I'd gone to the wrong coffee place.  so I
> ordered an elaborate Clover-made Kenya AA and took my sweet time going over
> the fine points of their sustainable farming practices and roasting.  mmmm.
> anyway, while that was brewing, a swarming hive of riders appeared all at
> once in a mighty torrent, and soon 21 spandexed gladiators jammed the place
> to the gills.  one nameless rider even had the temerity to order a drink at
> 06:35, take it to go, and show everyone how to drink it while riding,
> perform a spectacular endo, fly over the bars, and end up standing/grinning,
> coffee unspilled.  do not try that at home!
> that drama subsided, we made our way down Mission and up the usual Guadalupe
> Canyon road toward the MSB summit.  like clockwork, the powerful M. Gaiman
> launched his attack, and held off his pursuers to the zenith.  frustrated
> and vexed, xton, mark, and ariel launched a rival attack up Radio Rd.
> without waiting for any argument on the subject.
> having never ridden RR, I was personally delighted by the misty,
> fog-shrouded forest, which rained giant drops upon us, and found the
> pavement and grade very satisfactory.
> the view was obscured by swirling mists and fogs, but it was still awesome
> and much recommended.
> the next variation, the burlingame lagoon, was pleasant and sunny, and that
> would have been that if Lorenzo had not attempted a difficult power-slide at
> the bridge entrance, which resulted in wreckage of man & machine.  rear
> wheel destroyed by spoke pulling thru the rim bed, he carried on to a local
> shuttle stop and was checked off as a casualty of the road.
> next was coyote point, which was universally hailed as lovely and
> philosophical.  no wrecks.
> 2 variations were skipped in the interest of time: the san mateo hill detour
> of kinetic sculptures, and the Lider Lollipop.  another day.
> total miles: 50 even.  time: 3 hrs. riding.
> side note: for the 3rd day in a row, another challenged raged -- could Space
> actually bake *another* breakfast treat, even more delicious than the last?
>  the vegas oddsmakers had it at 7:1, considering the
> banana-espresso-chocolate muffins of tuesday, but incredibly this feat was
> accomplished, and today's treats were ravaged well before ride's end.
>  again, all who failed to attend should throw themselves from a bridge and
> end it all, since your lives are unworth living.
> -sc
> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
> SF2G.com -> blog: http://blog.sf2g.com | terms: http://sf2g.com/terms.html |
> bike prep: http://sf2g.com/prep.html | unsub:
> http://groups.google.com/group/sf2g
> -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
>
>

--
Thanks,
Jim
http://phython.blogspot.com