Flat Tires...I hate them.....Well first let me say that the absence was not my fault. You see Blogger took it upon themselves to take this blog down for being SPAM. They eventually believed me that I do not sell processed meat on the internet and blamed it on some robot. That was a week ago and when it finally came online I was very busy with work for the Observer/Guardian and the British Heart Foundation. So while I had time to ride during this busy time I did not have time to Blog until now.
Anyway It's a great ride to the top of Mt Tamale from San Francisco which begans with crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, which is always nice, give or take the tourist who can't see you coming even though you are whistling, waving your arms, shouting and finally nudging his big ass with your front tire. After that you go through Sausalito, home to a great bike shop called "A Bicycle Odyssey", supposedly where Robin Williams buys his bikes and the reason for his latest divorce. After Sausalito we started climbing . Its a tougher climb than Diablo but shorter.
Like Diablo, its a beautiful ride and as it was my third attempt I was really determined to enjoy it and reach the top. We stopped a few times, mostly it was Kurt waiting for Alyosha and me.The rise is great in that it gives stunning views of both the San Francisco bay and the Pacific Ocean. Like Diablo, it has a very short & steep ending which I seemed better prepared for. Tamale was a tougher climb in that I was still a little tired from Diablo and Kurt and Alyosha kept a much higher pace. Both climbs were about half of what Ventoux is and I was well aware that both rides had nowhere near the 100 miles I will do before climbing the Provence Beast.
I think Alyosha is pointing at my ass but I am not sure...
So enough of that..Let's re-cap January.
229 Miles of riding.
47 Miles, 5 Hours on my Trainer.
18,548 ft. of climbing. (5653 Meters)
2 Pounds lost...Oh Dear.....
The highlight of January was the weekend I climbed 2 mountains I have always wanted to climb. Mt. Tamalpais and Mt. Diablo, the highest peaks in the San Francisco Bay Area. I HAD a love/hate relationship with Tamalpais, which by the way I call Tamale. Last year I along with my brother in law Alyosha, tried to climb Mt. Tamale but we ran out of time before we reached the summit. By out of time, I mean our wives and mother in law kept calling us when we were coming home. So we gave up. On January 2, 2009 we tried again.
But it was a rainy day and I broke one of my rules, which is never have a wet start to a ride. "It'll stop" said Alyosha but it didn't...it just kept on raining and after reaching 1592 ft we finally gave up the fight against the wet and turned around. We were so cold.
The only real surprise came at the end when the last bit suddenly turned into a 16% grade and after being exhausted from the climb it was a huge effort not to topple over before finally getting to the top.So on January 10th I climbed Mt. Diablo. It was such a wonderful climb with very little traffic. A very steady 6-7% grade most of the way with a few nasties along the way. It was a beautiful day and I made just one stop at the Junction Ranger Station .
The next day I set off with Alyosha and his friend Kurt Gartnet. Kurt is about 30 years younger than us. He is a natural athlete that excels in everything he does. The week before he had been skiing, snow shoe-ing, Cross Country skiing in the nude, running a half marathon and boxing Kangaroos. He is so strong that he showed up with the oldest road bike I have ever seen not behind museum glass. Its a misnomer to say he rode with us, What he really did was scout the road ahead for us. He would have reached the summit before us on a tricycle. The photos below are his..he had plenty of time for photography waiting for us.
Anyway It's a great ride to the top of Mt Tamale from San Francisco which begans with crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, which is always nice, give or take the tourist who can't see you coming even though you are whistling, waving your arms, shouting and finally nudging his big ass with your front tire. After that you go through Sausalito, home to a great bike shop called "A Bicycle Odyssey", supposedly where Robin Williams buys his bikes and the reason for his latest divorce. After Sausalito we started climbing . Its a tougher climb than Diablo but shorter.
Like Diablo, its a beautiful ride and as it was my third attempt I was really determined to enjoy it and reach the top. We stopped a few times, mostly it was Kurt waiting for Alyosha and me.The rise is great in that it gives stunning views of both the San Francisco bay and the Pacific Ocean. Like Diablo, it has a very short & steep ending which I seemed better prepared for. Tamale was a tougher climb in that I was still a little tired from Diablo and Kurt and Alyosha kept a much higher pace. Both climbs were about half of what Ventoux is and I was well aware that both rides had nowhere near the 100 miles I will do before climbing the Provence Beast.On the descent down we said our goodbyes to Kurt. he took a nice snap of me and Alyosha before he headed back to San Francisco while we continued to to Point Reyes.
I think Alyosha is pointing at my ass but I am not sure...
Dear Enchilada,
ReplyDeleteI was going to post nothing but porn words and the names of dodgy pharmaceuticals so as to get you kicked off blogspot again, but I'll desist. Did you get the Viagra I sent you? Seriously, when I climbed Kili some of the Americans were taking it for Acute Mountain Sickness instead of Diamox which can be hard to get hold of. It has the same effect on the capillaries. (Don't worry, they were far too cold and knackered to be thinking about sex. )
Congrats on beating some big hills while you were away but they're in America so they don't count.
My devious plan to step in and take a cut-price place on the Etape when you have a cardiac and need to sell your spot has come to a miserable end. I fell off my bike on Saturday whilst on the Col de Bostal and broke my thumb. I was doing zero mph, circling in the road to see if Mrs Norfolk was coming up behind and (once again) failed to get out of my cleats. In fact, because I was circling in the road, I think my bike computer shows I was doing minus 1mph. One scaphoid fracture; one dinted pride; one hand in a cast for 6 weeks. If I can work out a way to pull my brake lever with my teeth or by clenching my buttocks, I may be able to get back on the bike sooner. My Bianchi ('He that Layeth Low the Mountains and Unto the Valleys of East Sussex') is back on its wall mount.
Talking of Mrs Norfolk, she's just taken delivery of a cute little Condor in black and pink. In tiny letters on the inside of the front fork where you'd never notice it, is a great potted history of Condor bikes. Very nice
And that picture of you and Alyosha; can you keep wearing your hat on the back of your head like that please. That way, when you smash into a lampost with your face, you won't damage the helmet's resale price.
All the best
Simon