| date |
miles |
bike |
notes |
| 1-3-2009 | 107 | Kogswell | Marshall Wall loop with Greg and Carlos. 7:30am to 5:30pm. Lowered the saddle 5mm on the Kogswell to good effect. Also tried the old-style 700x35 Paslea TG tires (30mm actual measure) -- these seem to cut down on the shimmy and speed wobble somewhat, but don't carve turns as well as the new-style 700x35s. Consider getting some new-style Pasela 700x32 tires, might be a happy middle ground? Constructed a new battery pack for the dual-Cree LED headlamp, which worked OK for the little bit that I used it, but the power plug popped out of the headlamp jack -- investigate this. Cold temps throughout the day, coupled with my overall lack of recent riding made this a very hard ride. Greg and Carlos dropped me at the Marshall Wall and again on Point Reyes-Petaluma Road. It was all I could do to slog home in low gear. Wool socks and the thin booties were not enough to keep my feet warm -- liner socks might be a good idea, or wear the heavy booties next time. Also a 2nd vest might've been a good idea to help block the wind during those times when a windshell got too hot/sweaty. Overall, however, 107 miles is a great way to kick off the new year! photos ride report |
| 1-10-2009 | 102 | Kogswell | Petaluma Deli Ride with Greg and Robbins. 8:30am to 5pm. Rode the Kogswell with a new set of 700x32 Pasela TG tires (BDBikes only has TG Paselas, unfortunately) -- these definitely helped the bike's cornering prowess as compared to the old-style 700x35 Paselas with the crap tread, but nowhere near as good grip or plushness compared to the new-style 700x35 Paselas. Oh well. Bike still somewhat able to ride no-handed with great effort, but does still speed-wobble if I plant my butt firmly on saddle. Wobble goes away if I unweight saddle slightly. Food consumed on ride: 1 bottle Gatoraide, 1 bottle water, 2 pop tarts, 1 Tagliaferri's chicken-parmesan sandwich (quite good). photos ride report |
| 1-11-2009 | 8 | Kogswell | Rode to Adam's to pick up the Zugster front-bag prototype for beta testing. photos |
| 1-17-2009 | 80 | Kogswell | Solo Nicasio Loop. 6:30am-12:30pm. photos ride report |
| 1-19-2009 | 44 | Fuji | Railroad Grade to West Point Inn and back. 10am to 3pm or so. photos ride report |
| 1-24-2009 | 140 | Kogswell | SFR 200k brevet. Brevet time 7am - 4:40pm (9:40 total); Total ride time, 6:30am - 6:30pm. photos ride report |
| 2-1-2009 | 50 | Bonty | Marin Headlands to Tennessee Valley to Mill Valley to Railroad Grade to West Point Inn and back home. 50 miles, maybe more? 1pm to 6pm or thereabouts. |
| 2-7-2009 | 102 | Kogswell | Gabe's Birthday Ride, 9am to 7pm. South to Pacifica, over "Planet of the Apes" to Half Moon Bay, south on Hwy 1 to Tunitas Creek Road, up to Skyline, down to Woodside via Kings Mtn Rd, Canada Rd to Crystal Springs, Sawyer Camp Trail to Millbrae, Skyline/35 back to SF. Me, Gabe, Jon, Bryan. GREAT day on the bike! photos ride report |
| 2-15-2009 | 25 | ADVN | Traveled up to Santa Rosa over the weekend to watch Cyclofiend and Chico Gino get their bikes muddy during some cyclocross action. Also got to meet Roy, Renee, and Paul, drink some good beer, eat a lot of food, and oh, squeeze a bit of ridin' in during a break in otherwise-constant rain. photos ride report |
| 2-21-2009 | 198 | Kogswell | SFR 300k. 5:15am - 11pm; event time 16 hours. Rode with Gabe, John, Bryan, and Raj from Reno. photos ride report |
| 3-13-2009 | 5 | Nsport | Rode to dentist appointment. |
| 3-14-2009 | 66 | Fuji | Met up with Carlos, Greg, and Robbins to check out a new mixed-terrain route that Greg has charted. Ended up slogging through 66 miles of mixter goodness, from 8am to 5pm. Tried out new 120x40 stem on the Fuji, with good results overall. photos |
| 3-21-2009 | 85 | Kogswell | Carlos and I rode to Point Reyes Station via Nicasio. Hit up the Bovine Bakery for snacks, stopped in at Black Mountain Cycles to say hello to Mike and oogle at some bikes, and then encountered some rain on the return home. 85 miles or so, 8am to 5pm.
photos ride report |
| 3-29-2009 | 103 | Kogswell | Ride to Petaluma w/Gabe. 9am to about 6pm. FIX SQUEALING FRONT BRAKE! photos ride report |
| 4-4-2009 | 10 | Nsport | Rode up to the GGB to spectate at the SFR400 finish. Tested the single-Cree and dyno-Cree lights, both worked really well. |
| 4-11-2009 | 50 | Fuji | Mt Tam mixter loop with Greg, up Railroad Grade, down to Pantoll, down Coastal Trail to Hwy 1, over to Muir Beach, up/over the Marin Headlands back to the GGB and home; 8am-2pm. photos |
| 4-17-2009 | 14 | Nsport | Commuted to work 1 days this week. 14 miles per day. |
| 4-19-2009 | 66 | Kogswell | Met up with Gabe, took BART to Rockridge where we sync'd with Bryan, then we rode up Mt. Diablo. 66 miles, 9am-5pm (including BART trips). HOT HOT HOT! New Zugster Bag and decaleur worked quite well; new Tektro CR-720 brakes seemed OK once the pads wore in a bit. photos |
| 4-25-2009 | 60 | Fuji | Sync'd up with Carlos and Greg for some old-school mixed terrain action on one of our favorite routes. Had a bit of a late start, so I bypassed the first Marin Headlands section and headed directly to the Tennessee Valley trailheads, where I found my friends waiting. The rest of the ride went off smoothly, and we enjoyed the sunny-but-cool day, typical awesome Mt. Tam views, challenging climbs, and rolling double-track. 9am-4pm; 60 miles. photos |
| 5-3-2009 | 20 | Nsport | Berkeley Beergarten Bike Ride. Met up with Bryan and Daniel for a rainy ride up to the Nature Friends house in the Berkeley Hills for some Maifest action in the Berkeley hills. Beer drinkin', brat-eatin', and traditional Bavarian dancing made for an oddly fun-filled afternoon. Did I mention there was beer? No idea how many miles we rode, but I humped my loaded fixie all the way up Tunnel Road from Rockridge BART, and yeah, that kinda hurt. photos |
| 5-6-2009 | 35 | Fuji | Night Mixter Headlands Loop.
Met up with Gabe, John, and Bryan for a little mixter action on a weeknight. Looped up through the Marin Headlands, over Bobcat/Marincello down to Tennessee Valley, and then back through Sausalito. 7:30-10:30pm, about 35 miles. Our route Gabe's photos
photos |
| 5-8-2009 | 50 | Nsport | First ride all the way to work for 2009. Met up with the SF2G gang for a pleasant spin down the peninsula. Met Jimmy from Stanford, and Alex and Andy(?) from Google. 50 miles, 6:30am to 9:50am (3:20 ride time). photos |
| 5-16-2009 | 83 | Fuji | Stinson Beach Mixter Ride. Met up with Greg and Carlos. Marin Headlands, Railroad Grade, Pantoll (Carlos headed back here), Coastal Trail, Hwy 1, Steep Ravine, Stinson Beach, up BoFax to Alpine Dam, cont on BoFax to Fairfax, limp home. New Tektro RL-520 levers on the Fuji, worked great! 6:30am to 5:30pm. photos |
| 5-23-2009 | 86 | Kogswell | Point Reyes Station Loop with Carlos and Robbins. 8am-4pm. photos |
| 5-30-2009 | 10 | Nsport | Rode to GGB @ 5am to volunteer at the starting control of the SFR 600k. The dyno-Cree and Sanyo BB dynamo worked quite well. |
| 6-6-2009 | 45 | Fuji | Mini-Epic Mixter Loop. Railroad Grade to HooKooEKoo to Blithedale Ridge to Camino Alto Ridge. 11am to 5:30pm, rode slowly because my left knee is still problematic. |
| 6-13-2009 | 145 | Kogswell | SFR Davis Night 200k. Riding at night -- cool! Riding ALL night -- not so much! Riding with 8-10 of some of the fastest randonneurs in the club, we left Hercules and got to Davis 70 miles later in just 4.5 hours. The course was fairly flat and we might've had a slight tail wind. After Davis I started hurting bad -- my left knee was again in a bad way, my stomach was quite sour, and I was mentally foggy due to the late hour. I knew I couldn't hang with the fast group any longer, but I didn't want to get dropped and end up alone and lost on the dark country roads. Rob H. graciously recognized the suffering and offered to drop back with me -- he and I and a visiting rider from San Diego (Jaime) splintered off the back for a more relaxed pace. We enjoyed a nice quiet stretch of road, talking and sharing stories. Although I've known Rob for a while, this was actually the first time we'd pedaled together! Later, as we reached the penultimate control, I felt like puking but somehow managed to keep moving. Hot cocoa, a couple No-Doze, and Yet Another Advil did wonders for my mental and physical state. After donning every layer I'd packed in my handlebar bag, we headed back out into the coming dawn for the final push. And push Rob did -- nudging me easily up every hill we encountered when my knee made me wince! In spite of my slower-going on the 2nd leg of this course, this was still one of my fastest brevets: the three of us finished together in about 11 hours, making my overall average speed for the ~145 mile course about 13mph, which is high for me. The fast first half of the course, plus the fact that I didn't linger at any of the controls, are obvious contributors to this. photos |
| 6-27-2009 | 88 | Kogswell | Point Reyes Station Loop with Matt. Hooked up with Matt and rode out through SP Taylor Park to Point Reyes Station for some Bovine Bakery action, then completed the loop via Platform Bridge Road and back home through the park again. First ride after a week-long flu, and a pretty hot day it was! I set up the Kogswell with a front bag only, and the bike didn't feel as balanced/stable as it does when I carry my tool pack in a saddle bag. Still having some knee issues, I've raised the saddle about 0.25" to see if that helps. 8:30am to 5pm, 88 miles overall. photos |
| 7-4-2009 | 75 | Fuji | Carlos, Greg, and I met up once again at the Golden Gate Bridge, pedaled out to Mill Valley where we ascended Mt. Tam via Railroad Grade. After a pause at West Point Inn, we reached the summit, refilled our water bottles, and descended down to Rock Springs - Lagunitas trail, took that to Laurel Dell, which dropped us out onto Seven Sisters. Dropped down to Alpine Dam, then took Kent Pump Rd out to explore Kent Lake, which must be one of the most excellent spots on Tam! From there we backtracked to BoFax Rd, climbed up then dropped down into Fairfax proper for our usual (and needed) pause at Java Hut, and then we trudged back home. 8:30am to 5:30pm, covered about 75 miles. photos |
| 7-11-2009 | 108 | Fuji | LRLR 2009, 108 miles, 6am-6pm. photos |
| 7-18-2009 | 36 | Kogswell | KOG Mixter Ride. Matt, Steve, Lee, Paul, and John joined in for an intro mixter ride through the Marin Headlands out to Tennessee Valley, then back home through Sausalito. Discovered the night before this ride that all the spokes on the SON28 wheel had loosened, so I retightened them -- remember to check their tension again frequently (should be 20-21 on the Park tension-meter). On the return home, the SON28 started vibrating a bit more than usual -- might just be my imagination? photos |
| 7-25-2009 | 37 | Fuji | Headlands loop with Greg and Carlos. Also stopped by Greg's place to check out some handlebars. photos |
| 7-26-2009 | 30 | Fuji | Headlands loop (out Bobcat, back Miwok) with Carlos photos |
| 8-1-2009 | 80 | Kogswell | Solo Nicasio Loop. Tried out the new, non-TG 700x32 Paselas, quite nice. 2pm-8:30pm. photos ride report |
| 8-15-2009 | 65 | Fuji | Loma Alta Mixed Terrain Ride. Explored the connector trail between Fairfax/White's Hill and Lucas Valley Road. Looped back through San Rafael. Carlos' GPS mapphotos ride report |
| 8-29-2009 | 87 | Kogswell | Unofficial SFR Populaire ride. Carlos, Greg, plus Carlos' co-workers. Rode to Pt. Reyes, then Nicasio, then home. Really hot, ~94F in Nicasio. 8am-5pm or thereabouts. photos ride report |
| 9-6-2009 | 103 | Kogswell | Met up with Carlos, Greg, Rob, and Mark to ride to Petaluma via Nicasio, Hicks Valley Road, and Wilson Hill for lunch. We'd planned to stop at the usual deli, but discovered it's closed and will reopen under new ownership, so we visited a nearby burrito joint. Mark gave me a dose of Hammer Enduralites on the return leg, which really seemed to help quell a queasy stomach and improve my overall saltiness -- gotta look into getting my own supply of those! 8am to about 5pm, 103 miles total. photos ride report |
| 9-12-2009 | 127 | Kogswell | SFR Russian River 200k Brevet photos ride report |
| 9-19-2009 | 68 | Fuji | Exploratory mixter ride to try to connect SP Taylor Park with Pine Mtn Fire Road. Took the usual road route out towards Fairfax, rode up and over White's Hill to San Geronimo where we stopped for a quick snack at the store, then hit the trails at Kent Lake across Sir Francis Drake Road from Inkwells Bridge. 8am to 5pm, 68 miles, approx 6200 feet of climbing.
GPS route from Carlos photos ride report |
| 10-3-2009 | 85 | Kogswell | SFR 115k Populaire. Rode with Lee and Mike, started at 8am, finished around 2:50pm, 6:50 overall time. Nice-n-easy pace. Night before the ride, I added a second mounting point to the front fender, at the front rack -- we'll see how that holds up. Still think the front fork might be a touch loose. And I really don't think I'd like a shorter stem on this bike. |
| 10-7-2009 | 14 | Nsport | Commuted to work 1 days this week. 14 miles per day. |
| 10-10-2009 | 126 | Kogswell | San Francisco Randonneurs Winters 200k. Approx 125 miles, in about 9.5 hours. Great day of riding! First ride on the Kogswell with the DT shifters...kinda love/hate 'em -- we'll see how it goes.
photos ride report |
| 10-18-2009 | 85 | RB-1 | Gino's NorCal RBW Ride. To Point Reyes Station and back. |
| 10-24-2009 | 50 | BontyRL | Met up with Carlos, Greg, Robbins, and Keith to ride up Railroad Grade to West Point Inn, drop down to Pantoll, descend on Coast View to Hwy 1, then ride out via Panoramic Hwy to Mill Valley and on towards home. 9am to 2:30pm, approx 50 miles. First ride on the Bonty Race Lite, bike worked great overall but the rear shifting is still a bit touchy. Butt problems ensued after this ride! :(photos |
| 11-14-2009 | 49 | Kogswell | Paradise Valley Loop, to "test the waters" post butt problems. Mostly went OK, no issues the next day. |
| 11-26-2009 | 30 | Fuji | Marin Headlands Mixter Loop with Carlos. Butt problems flared back up the next day -- might've been from Thanksgiving day over-eating as much as from riding. photos |
| 12-24-2009 | 50 | Kogswell | Paradise Valley Loop with Lee and Franklyn. First real ride in about a month, no discomfort or problems! Rode the P/R with the shorter, 100mm stem and it worked well -- no more feeling too stretched out. Front rack/bag had a rattle, which I think I tracked down to a loose rivet on the right-hand L-bracket. Tightened that, we'll see if that fixes it. New Showers Pass Double Century jacket works very well as a wind shell, too. |
| 12-24-2009 | 5 | Nsport | Rode the Nsport with the lofi front rack to the main post office to pick up a package, then met Dawn for lunch, then rode home. |
| 12-31-2009 | 26 | Trek400 | First real ride on the Trek 400. Up Conzelman Road, down the other side, then climbed up Coastal Trail, back down Conzelman, and back home across the GGB. photos |
