This sounds like an all-around great outing. Really nice when all the pieces fall into place like this!
On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 5:22 PM, Anne Paulson <[email protected]>wrote: > Fabulous trip. I rode from my house in Los Altos to the Union City > BART, a good part of the ride in the Baylands. Since I was plenty > early, I had no trouble with bikes not being allowed. Note to other > riders who take the elevator down when they get to the Walnut Creek > BART station: you're supposed to run your ticket through the machine > when you get out. It's not obvious. > > The Google directions from the BART to North Gate Road are correct > (more or less) but difficult to follow. You find yourself on the > Contra Costa Trail, and then at some point Google helpfully says "Turn > right." Um, yeah? There were a lot of chances to turn right. But I > managed to find my way to the bike path by the hospital, which was > delightful, and then to Walnut and North Gate, and up I went, starting > around 4:00. > > At the junction, there were other riders of course, and all they could > talk about was the race. And then just after I left the junction to > continue climbing, as I was stopped to snack or put on a sweater or > something, three other bike tourists passed me, two of them women. I > wondered if they were us, but they were another bike touring party. I > speeded up to try to stay with them, ending up ahead of one of the > women and behind the other, pulling into the campground at around 6:20 > or so. > > I promptly became the laughingstock of the entire campground as I > dithered about trying to pick a campsite that would have flat spots to > camp, and also a place for Manny's hammock. Finally I decided to just > pick one, put up tent and began to cook dinner (what would end up to > be my first dinner. It was good, but as you'll see, it didn't take.) I > was just eating my asparagus and cooking my noodles when along came > Dustin. He didn't like the campsite I had wasted so much time picking, > and by that time neither did I, so we decided to move to a different > spot, the very spot we camped the last time I was with a Riv group. I > ate the rest of my dinner, packed up my tent, noticed that although > the initial campsite I had picked was pretty crummy it had a > spectacular view of the sun just going down in a haze of gold, and > moved to join Dustin. > > We had our flashlights on by the time Manny, Tommy and Bill showed up. > Yay! Time for second dinnner. Dustin cooked us vegetables and some > delicious sausage. Manny, a prince among men, offered us all > bacon-wrapped hotdogs. Bacon-wrapped hotdogs! Yum. If it's good, it's > better with bacon. Or cream. Or both. I shared nothing, but next time > we go camping I'm cooking pancakes and Nutella for breakfast for all. > > There was a gorgeous fire, but I'm still jetlagged from being in Spain > last week (I took one ride in the other Sierra Nevada) so I just went > to my tent to get something, and next thing I knew I was waking up and > it was 2 in the morning or something. > > I got up in time to get the last of Bill's coffee and say goodbye to > him. He asked if he should summit Diablo before he went down to go to > work. Of course, I said stupidly, forgetting that by saying that, I > was committing myself to summiting it later. Now that it was light, I > could see everyone's bike. Dustin's I had already seen, a handsome > Atlantis gorgeously kitted with Saddlesack, front bag and a stylish > tweed handlebar bag. Manny's loaner Hunqa was a beauty as well, also > kitted with a shiny new Saddlesack. I could imagine riding that dandy > loaner, it would be easy to "forget" where Rivendell is, and be, alas, > unable to return the bike Every time I see a Hunqa I have to remind > myself that even though I think the gray/red paint job is the most > beautiful thing going, I have no need for a Hunqa and wouldn't ride > it. > > Quite a bit later the rest of us rode to the top. By that time, I > realized that if I stayed to watch the race, I'd be facing a 75 minute > BART ride and then 30 miles riding at rush hour-- and I wasn't at all > sure I'd be able to avoid the BART rush hour ban, so I decided to just > head home, passing a stream of happy cyclists going up the other way. > At least on North Gate, almost everyone was arriving the proper way, > on bike, though I suppose cars came later. > > One mysterious guy was driving from the junction up to the summit with > a bike on his car. I thought to myself, "What's the bike for, dude?" > but the more apposite comment would be "What's the car for, dude?" > Near the bottom, the race officials were spraypainting every pothole, > a time-consuming job on North Gate Road, which does not appear to have > been beautifully maintained lately. > > I tried to put my ticket in the BART reader in Walnut Creek, but it > didn't work because I hadn't swiped it yesterday. Oh well. The station > agent fixed it all up. Next time I'll know better. > > The Dumbarton Bridge, never a delightful trip, was particularly > challenging today because of a wicked crosswind. Every time a truck > passed, I'd get buffeted. It would have been frightful for a light > rider (but I am not one) on a light bike (but my loaded Atlantis > definitely doesn't qualify). Once over the bridge, I headed home > through the Baylands, with a north wind at my back. Then along the > Stevens Creek trail, and home. > > On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 11:44 AM, William <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dustin did in fact get there, and he got there before Manny, Tommy, and > me. > > Anne was also there, and that made 5. I was the only one to leave > early, > > and I'm back in the office now. It was a delightful S24O. > > > > I BARTed from South Hayward to Macarthur, just in time to see "no bikes" > on > > the trains heading to Walnut Creek. I texted Manny "am I hosed?". Manny > > replied "maybe dude". I didn't get on the first train, but when I saw > three > > bikes get off the next one, I decided to ignore the 'no bikes' flashing > and > > take my chances. I think it changes at 5PM, and it was only a few > minutes > > after 5, so I concluded that my chances were good to not have to contend > > with 'Johnny Law'. The train wasn't even crowded, and that got me out to > > Walnut Creek. > > > > I met up with Manny and Tommy who were waiting there. Manny was on his > > brother's bike, an old Raleigh beater, made famous because it has the > epicly > > crumpled Honjo fender on it. We started off right away through the busy > > streets of Walnut Creek, when "POP" Manny's rear tire blew. It was an > > ancient Ruffy Tuffy, nowhere near used up in treadlife, but the sidewall > was > > long gone. Manny started taking it apart, but I had made up my mind that > > the tire was a total lost cause. Manny said "Yeah, my brother said he > > didn't trust that tire anymore". #facepalm#. Anyway, I looked at our > > location (Ygnacio and N Broadway) and immediately called Riv HQ. It was > > 5:45, well after closing, but of course someone answered, and of course > it > > was Grant, and of course he said come right over. I rode ahead the 2.5 > > blocks while Manny and Tommy walked. Grant and I talked a little about > what > > he needed, and one of the solutions that Grant thought up was "Manny can > > take his new bike". I got to see it. It's an orange and cream 650B > > Hillborne. It's adorable. I resisted the urge to snap a photo of it. > > Manny hadn't seen it (and still hasn't) so I thought that would be > unfair > > of me. > > > > Anyhow, Grant pulled out a tire, and Manny went to fixing it. Perhaps > > foolishly, we went Jack Brown, and sure enough it rubbed on that tattered > > fender. Grant said "forget it, let's put you on a bike". He grabbed > the 48 > > Hunqapillar, a Saddlesack Large and put us to work. I had a couple extra > > zipties so I got the Saddlesack down pretty quickly. Manny started > stuffing > > his stuff from the porteur rack on his brothers bike into the Saddlesack. > > Grant reappeared with a Nitto Mini front and a basket, and we had that > on > > in another few minutes (beeswaxed threads and all). Grant enjoyed > making a > > small wrench joke, he handed me a 10mm box wrench for the centerbolt of > the > > Nitto Mini and said "Here's a 10mm Allen wrench". The brand of the > wrench > > is Allen. Anyway.... > > > > We were totally loaded up. Manny was pretty mortified with guilt that he > > put Grant out, but I was elated that we were able to parlay some good > karma > > back into a really useful upgrade. More than anything I was grateful > that > > Manny's tire failed at the absolute perfect location. On the decent of > > Diablo this afternoon could have been substantially less optimal. > Starting > > towards and up Diablo about an hour late, we were pretty sure it would be > > dusk-to-dark when we arrived. It was a great ride up the mountain, road > > essentially all to ourselves. We saw a pair of EPIC wild turkeys showing > > off their tail feathers to the same hen. There was a moronic family of > > quails that ran away from us by running up the center of the road in a > very > > slight serpentine. > > > > We arrived in camp at about 8, which was pretty good time considering how > > late we started. Dustin and Anne were there. We got out several stoves > and > > feasted on veggies and sausages from Dustin, and bacon wrapped hotdogs > from > > Manny. My pitiful supplies went unopened, but I was happy to help cook > and > > clean. We made a pretty respectable campfire and hit the hay at about > 11. > > Manny rocked the hammock. > > > > I got up around 6 and packed up. Manny and Anne got up and we had > > coffee/tea/oatmeal before I headed off to work. The rest of them are > > presumably watching the race. I did go ahead and summit first. It was a > > lovely morning. > > > > I'll post some pictures later this afternoon. > > > > Bill > > > > > > On Monday, May 14, 2012 2:02:33 PM UTC-7, EastBayGuy wrote: > >> > >> Not getting the Early start I had anticipated. See everyone at the > >> Top..... > >> > >> Dustin G > >> > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To view this discussion on the web visit > > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/jr_f5J_5JJwJ. > > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > > > -- > -- Anne Paulson > > My hovercraft is full of eels > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- Cheers, David Redlands, CA ** “I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.” -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
