Jul 2004
Stockton to Tracy ride
07/17/2004 08:57 PM Filed in: bike
The Newman Bike Club (Chuck & Bill) traveled all
the way to North Stockton for an early 0530
start.
We rode through town to the Calaveras trail and then through UOP and on through the beautiful downtown Stockton. Much to their disappointment, we didn't see a single gang banger (probably because it was too early in the morning). We turned west at French Camp and headed right into a head wind at Mathews / Howard roads. We rotated turns up front but I kept dropping back. I kept promising a rest stop at mile 20 or mile 30 but as we rolled through the twentieth mile with not a damn thing in site other than dirt and road I realized it was 25 or 30. Bill was so distraught over having to ride further than expected to get to the 1st rest stop that he, in anger, tried to take me out of the ride. He clipped my back wheel and bit it hard! Well, of course I'm joking about his intent... he had one hand on the bars and one hand on his water bottle when he looked up and WHAM! Actually it sounded more like, "OH SHIT!!!" and then WHAM! Bill was down hard! Chuck and I stopped and after a couple of minutes we were back on the road again.... Bill suffering a major cut to his arm and probably a deep raspberry on his ass. He'll have to re-tape his bars soon, too.
We finally made our first stop at mile 31 in Tracy (205 & Tracy Blvd) and then headed toward the raging metropolis of Banta. As we crossed 11th street and Grantline Mike text paged me with the results from the Tour (Lance takes the stage and is now 22 seconds behind the Yellow Jersey)!
This ride could be coined as the HEADWIND TOUR because it seems we got it from every direction. Going East on Grantline, South East on Kassoon and North on Airport, it all felt like we were riding right into it!
I kept falling off the pace on Kassoon and Union and Bill and Chuck were gracious enough to allow me to catch up (mostly because they didn't know the way back).
Bill rode extremely tough and I did my best to keep up as much as I did. All in all, ass kicked and all, it felt awesome... plus I knocked 45 minutes off my time from when I did this same ride in April.
We rode through town to the Calaveras trail and then through UOP and on through the beautiful downtown Stockton. Much to their disappointment, we didn't see a single gang banger (probably because it was too early in the morning). We turned west at French Camp and headed right into a head wind at Mathews / Howard roads. We rotated turns up front but I kept dropping back. I kept promising a rest stop at mile 20 or mile 30 but as we rolled through the twentieth mile with not a damn thing in site other than dirt and road I realized it was 25 or 30. Bill was so distraught over having to ride further than expected to get to the 1st rest stop that he, in anger, tried to take me out of the ride. He clipped my back wheel and bit it hard! Well, of course I'm joking about his intent... he had one hand on the bars and one hand on his water bottle when he looked up and WHAM! Actually it sounded more like, "OH SHIT!!!" and then WHAM! Bill was down hard! Chuck and I stopped and after a couple of minutes we were back on the road again.... Bill suffering a major cut to his arm and probably a deep raspberry on his ass. He'll have to re-tape his bars soon, too.
We finally made our first stop at mile 31 in Tracy (205 & Tracy Blvd) and then headed toward the raging metropolis of Banta. As we crossed 11th street and Grantline Mike text paged me with the results from the Tour (Lance takes the stage and is now 22 seconds behind the Yellow Jersey)!
This ride could be coined as the HEADWIND TOUR because it seems we got it from every direction. Going East on Grantline, South East on Kassoon and North on Airport, it all felt like we were riding right into it!
I kept falling off the pace on Kassoon and Union and Bill and Chuck were gracious enough to allow me to catch up (mostly because they didn't know the way back).
Bill rode extremely tough and I did my best to keep up as much as I did. All in all, ass kicked and all, it felt awesome... plus I knocked 45 minutes off my time from when I did this same ride in April.
Vive le Tour
07/03/2004 10:49 PM Filed in: sports
Patterson to Livermore ride
07/03/2004 06:11 PM Filed in: bike
I met Chuck early on Saturday morning in the big city
of Patterson. He promised me an incredible
ride... he promised me a lot of climbing... he
promised me more than 100 miles of lung pounding, leg
screaming roads. Well, once again, the coach
delivered!
The first order of the day was to get over the famed Del Puerto Canyon (after I went back and did the first .75 miles twice because I FORGOT MY WATER BOTTLES) [see 6-12-04 and 9-20-03] which I finally did without a rest! On the way up a guy flew past us like we were standing still. When we approached the wall (the last 1.5 miles, Chuck took off strong, eventually passing that same guy (who, by the way, never made it to the top). We re-grouped and rode to the junction to fill our water bottles with the nasty tank water (this time, we brought plenty of powdered energy mix to kill the taste).
It was now 31 miles to Livermore with more climbing, beautiful views and far more bikes than cars. Chuck caught a swarm of bees in his helmet on a downhill stretch and flung his helmet off... only to realize that his shades went, too. He was able to save his frame and nose piece but he would have to ride the rest of the day without any eye protection because the lens was demolished!
We had lunch at a Subway in Livermore and headed back toward Patterson. The hills were even more brutal on the return trip and it was getting hotter and hotter. Somewhere up Mines Road we stopped where there were three very young girls selling ice cold lemonade for $1 glass! These girls were very entrepreneurial. I said that, given all of the cyclists out, perhaps selling cytomax would be more profitable... Chuck, on the other hand, pointed out that in a few years, when they were all "legal" they would surely sell "A LOT MORE LEMONADE!"
Chuck caught a flat shortly before the Junction on the return trip so we had an unscheduled (but much needed by me) rest stop.
After filling our bottles at the Junction we headed back for town. Chuck made me power over the last couple of little baby climbs (which I still feel today).
Total miles: 112
See y'all on 7/17/04 . . . Stockton, French Camp, Tracy, Manteca...
The first order of the day was to get over the famed Del Puerto Canyon (after I went back and did the first .75 miles twice because I FORGOT MY WATER BOTTLES) [see 6-12-04 and 9-20-03] which I finally did without a rest! On the way up a guy flew past us like we were standing still. When we approached the wall (the last 1.5 miles, Chuck took off strong, eventually passing that same guy (who, by the way, never made it to the top). We re-grouped and rode to the junction to fill our water bottles with the nasty tank water (this time, we brought plenty of powdered energy mix to kill the taste).
It was now 31 miles to Livermore with more climbing, beautiful views and far more bikes than cars. Chuck caught a swarm of bees in his helmet on a downhill stretch and flung his helmet off... only to realize that his shades went, too. He was able to save his frame and nose piece but he would have to ride the rest of the day without any eye protection because the lens was demolished!
We had lunch at a Subway in Livermore and headed back toward Patterson. The hills were even more brutal on the return trip and it was getting hotter and hotter. Somewhere up Mines Road we stopped where there were three very young girls selling ice cold lemonade for $1 glass! These girls were very entrepreneurial. I said that, given all of the cyclists out, perhaps selling cytomax would be more profitable... Chuck, on the other hand, pointed out that in a few years, when they were all "legal" they would surely sell "A LOT MORE LEMONADE!"
Chuck caught a flat shortly before the Junction on the return trip so we had an unscheduled (but much needed by me) rest stop.
After filling our bottles at the Junction we headed back for town. Chuck made me power over the last couple of little baby climbs (which I still feel today).
Total miles: 112
See y'all on 7/17/04 . . . Stockton, French Camp, Tracy, Manteca...