Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks for posting. Off to the store now for orangina and coke! Just curious--do you remember where you read that? What a recipe!
paul baltimore md On Sunday, June 10, 2018 at 12:33:08 PM UTC-4, Bill Lindsay wrote: > > > > > Last Fall I did the Marin Mountains 200k and speculated that it might be > the hardest 200k brevet the RUSA catalog. Yesterday, San Francisco > Randonneurs hosted La Ruta Loca, and the route owner Carlos (#4841) is > pretty certain this course is harder. It was definitely a monster. "The > Crazy Route" was crazy hard, and crazy fun. The main stats are: 125.3 > miles, ~50 miles of dirt, and 13,051ft of climbing. Here's my Ride with gps > data: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/24131333 > > > The weather report called for ideal temperatures, low 50s in the early > morning, slight general overcast and not many spots even approaching 75 > degrees. According to Rob Hawks, 25 riders gathered in the dense fog at > Crissy Field East Beach. The pavement was very wet, like after a hard > rain. It was only fog, and there were times during the ride where I wished > the fog would come back. The only threatening part of the weather report > called for strong winds from the Northwest. I went with El Cerrito High > School racing kit, along with matching arm warmers, a reflective vest and > that's all. I was chilly to start but it worked out perfectly. The > armwarmers didn't come off until I was back in my van after the finish. > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mUJehyt_WD8/Wx01oHdOuXI/AAAAAAAAD4k/upEogSvzFIE9-Qquynie4so-okix6sDjwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0517.jpg> > > I was trying to travel light as I wasn't bringing a lot of bag-space on my > Black Mountain Monster Cross. The bike's nickname alternates between Green > Meanie and Mean Greenie. I ran a 2x10 drivetrain, 42/26 in front, 11-36 in > back. My 700x43 Bruce Gordon Rock and Roads were about 'average' for the > tires I saw people running. Some of the bikes present were classic > rando-machines with Hetres or similar. Some were fully contemporary 'all > road' bikes with 27.5" Thunder Burts. I only saw one flat bar mountain > bike, but now that I've done the route, I wouldn't hesitate to bring a > light XC mountain bike. At about 5:50AM we gathered for a pre-ride chat, > and the solemn SFR oath promising "not to do stupid stuff". At 6AM sharp we > were off towards the Golden Gate Bridge heading North into Marin County. > > > Unlike most other SFR routes, we didn't have to meander all willy nilly > through Sausalito, Mill Valley, Ross and the other southern Marin towns. > Instead we got right off the bridge and headed straight up into the Marin > headlands and got off-road immediately. The ride ended up being three > distinct sections. Section 1 was an epic 50 mile mountain bike ride, > punctuated with just a few paved connectors. Section 2 would be a basically > flat road ride punctuated by a few gravel stretches. Section 3 would be > another 30 mile mountain bike ride up and over Mount Tam. The first big > dirt climb was Miwok Trail, which started to sort people out, especially on > the descent of Old Springs. There was a broad array of offroad descending > skills on display. Some would bomb the descents 'full-send', while others > were quite timid. I landed somewhere in the middle. Throughout the day, I > would notice tight corners on a soft trail where a skid mark went straight > when the trail curved. The clear indication was that this was caused by a > rider who brought too much speed and not enough tire into that corner. The > clear message was that there was not going to be much long-term grouping up > of riders. It's hard to match skills exactly, and since this course was > going to be hard to finish within the 13:30 limit, waiting around was not a > smart option. I briefly latched on to a strong group up the steep technical > Deer Park climb, led out by Paul on a cyclocross race bike. I let them pace > me up the climb, but gathered pretty quickly that this would be the lead > group, and I would let them go after a while to 'do my own ride' and > conserve my energy. I could tell Paul was serious when he indicated he > saved weight by only filling one full water bottle at the start because he > planned to stop for water at the Pan Toll Ranger Station at the top of Deer > Park. While he did that, I had plenty and went ahead. He passed me shortly > after that on the road climb to the tippy top of Mount Tam and I wouldn't > see him again. That long climb included some paved riding up Pan Toll and > Ridgecrest, but quickly got onto the Lagunitas-RockSprings trail and hit > the highest elevation of the day, about 2200 feet. It felt good to be done > with the longest steady individual climb and to be at the high point of the > route at mile 23. It was just a down-hill century remaining, right? > RIGHT? > > > The Lagunitas-Rock Springs descent is steep and loose and dangerous. It's > not a descent you use to rest and recover. You have to be on high alert to > keep yourself safe. This is the area where disc brakes would have been > most-appropriate, but my CX70 cantilevers did fine. I'd been on this trail > a few times before so it was not as frightening as the first time I did it. > The route dropped down to Lake Lagunitas and meandered around the lake > counter clockwise. I had brought my handheld movie camera as my one packing > indulgence. I told my daughter I'd take a bunch of movie clips so she could > edit together a music video of my ride. I was staging a bridge crossing > shot when Alice passed me. She asked if I was OK. I said "I'm fine, just > setting up a shot". She said "Um, random, OK" and continued on. We'd pass > each other back and forth the rest of the day. The next down and up trail > section included the famous Eldridge Grade. I struggled a bit with > navigation to find Shaver Grade. In the trees, GPS signals are super > unreliable. I was following Carlos' gpx route on my Wahoo, and at times > Carlos' path didn't correspond with THIS trail, even though this trail was > the trail he had followed. I wandered a little bit and wasted some time, > but probably not as much as I would have wasted reading cue sheets, all > told. After climbing Shaver Grade, and Concrete Pipe Road, the route took > Bolinas-Fairfax Road out to the famous Bolinas Ridge Trail. At this hour > we started to see more and more mountain bikers out for a Saturday ride. I > stopped to chat with a group interested at a 'classic bike' out on these > trails. They were impressed that we were out on a 125 mile day and wished > me luck. > > > Bolinas-Ridge Trail looks like the Star Wars movie with the Ewoks. It's > dense redwood forest and the trail is wide and firm but carpeted with > roots. There are no long climbs or descents but the constant small up and > downs, all rooty, all loose, really takes it out of me. It was during this > time I really started to notice how loud the winds were in the tops of the > trees. I rarely felt the winds at all, but I could definitely hear the > trees protecting me from the wind. Bolinas Ridge Trail seemed to go > forever, and was followed by a very steep descent down Randall Trail back > to Highway 1. I was at Mile 48, but more than half of the climbing was > done, and it was time for a road ride. > > > Riding Highway 1 North to Olema and Point Reyes Station, I felt the > headwind that I had heard in the trees. It was pretty fierce, but > fortunately it was down hill and the route only went another 8 miles North > before hitting the northenmost point of the route and returning South with > the wind. I stopped in Olema for my favorite brevet beverage: buy a bottle > of cane-sugar Coke and a bottle of Orangina. Mix them 50/50 in two water > bottles and top off with water. I read about how orange juice and Coke was > what all the Tour de France racers drank in the 1980s and that's where I > picked it up. I lingered for a bit and headed to Point Reyes Station and > paid a short visit to Mike Varley at Black Mountain Cycles. He had seen one > more of his bikes come through already and was happy to look over my build, > and seemed to approve. We chatted for a while, but I resisted getting on > his famous couch and expending too much time. I needed to get some fast > miles in to build a little bit of a cushion to finish on time. The road > route went smoothly and fast, as intended. All my contact points still felt > good on the bike, and I was able to get into a good rhythm to knock out the > miles. The route took the bike trail through Samuel P Taylor park, and then > Sir Francis Drake up White's Hill back to Fairfax and back into Marin. Next > up was a scenic circumnavigation of Tiburon, which I'd never ridden before. > That gave me views of the Bay that I'd never seen. It was really beautiful. > The one and only timed receipt control of the day was at Cafe Acris. I had > to buy something to get a receipt. Unfortunately the service was really > slow, so I ended up spending like 45 minutes just to get a caprese > sandwich, but I got out of there with about 4 hours to do the last 35 > miles. > > > After a short approach to Mount Tam was the last big climb of the day > starting with Railroad Grade out of Mill Valley to the West Point Inn. Even > though it was mile 95 I felt really good. I'd done this climb several times > with the mountain bike team. I decided to push the pace hard and go for a > PR, which I'm pleased to report I did. Top 30% all-time on Strava. I'd feel > that effort on the last couple climbs, but it was worth it. Panoramic > Highway took me back down the other side of Mount Tam, and I blended in > with the crazy weekend traffic. Everybody was out there. It made me > grateful how much of the route was on trails and less-traveled roads. The > last trail section included Miwok, Marincello and Bobcat trails back around > the Marin Headlands. It was really cool to be on dirt facing the Pacific > Ocean but seeing the Golden Gate Bridge towers peeking above the hills. The > trail spit me back out on Conzelman road, the way I had come 12 hours > before. The road that had been deserted in the morning was a parking lot of > sightseers in the early evening. I worked my way back to the Bridge and > back to Crissy field. I finished in 12 hours 36 minutes, which I was happy > with considering the time spent not-riding. I didn't take a bunch of > photos, but I will share a youtube link if we manage to make our music > video. > > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e0nB0Qk369c/Wx1SHjfqrEI/AAAAAAAAD4w/O5Z4xHpYSVQIZyVBTZK8KAAH-gvROCHJgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0519.jpg> > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w3BPD4JY1Jg/Wx1SV7iAcoI/AAAAAAAAD40/7jIkF8Dv1y44Dt_ejFfWWQMiqv_KU3VVwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0521.jpg> > > > > The bike did perfectly, and it was a really great, really memorable day on > the bike. I recommend La Ruta Loca to anybody looking for an epic mixed > terrain adventure. > > > Bill Lindsay > > #6551 > > El Cerrito, CA > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. 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