3 posts tagged “marin”
So here's a quintessential first-world problem. Greg and I are out on a ride together, heading out from the Peet's in Russian Hill towards the Golden Gate. As we spin through the city streets, I keep hearing this disturbing *clunk* as I go over bumps. I was worried something was about to fall off, so we pulled over.
Turns out my seatbag had moved a bit, and my CO2 cartridge was hitting my carbon-fiber seat post. Now that's the soul of cycling, my friends. Keepin' it real.
Anyway, we got an early start and climbed the Headlands before work yesterday. It was hotter than it ever gets in the City - probably already 85 as we rolled out. Riding past the Marina Green we noticed the big flag hanging perfectly motionless. Climbing up Cozelman, took off my helmet and strapped it to the bars as sweat poured off me. We don't see conditions like that but maybe twice a year.
My stomach was acting weird on the climb back over the hill - maybe the heat, maybe the big plate of fried chicken the night before. We did an extra loop around the Presidio to Sea Cliff and as we turned back for home, I got my legs and felt like riding for the rest of the day. Instead, I sat in an office and omnigraffled.
Le Tour starts in a week. My money has Landis on the podium. Any takers?
I set a pretty simple goal for this summer: cycling to the top of the three infamous climbs in the Bay Area. Yesterday, we rode Mt. Tamalpais to the end of the road at the East Peak. That leaves Diablo and Hamilton for July and August.
Ryan and I left Golden Gate Park at about 9:30, and made it through just under 25 miles and 2500 feet vertical by 11:45. Not bad at all, considering it was the first true climbing I'd done in a while. It was cold and foggy as we crossed the Golden Gate, but we broke through into beautiful sunshine about half way up. Tam is a relatively gentle grade through about 10 miles of climbing. There are a few steep pitches, but lots of chance to recover as you traverse the southern slope of the mountain.
As we left Mill Valley and headed into the state park, we caught the wheel of an older guy (well, a little older than me, at least) sporting the full Euskatel kit - even a team-issue Obera bike. Must be a huge fan, because he didn't look Basque and certainly didn't climb like one. We hung with him for a couple of miles until Ryan got itchy and we pulled away, putting a couple minutes into him by the time we reached the summit.
From the top, everything was covered in low clouds, with hills barely poking out. It looked like the view from a window seat, peafully shrouding the city below. We turned our bikes and rocketted down at 30mph. What took us two hours to climb sped by in 25 minutes. My shoulders ached from crouching out of the wind for that long.
I was surprised how strong I felt, considering the how my work/play balance has been a little disorganized lately. I'm really looking forward to the other climbs this summer. I'm off to London tomorrow and not coming back until Sunday, so no riding for a good long stretch (beyond mindless spinning in a hotel gym).
I climbed the shoulder of Mt. Tam today in the rain, dropping down into the Muir Woods forrest on slick roads. I know that road so well - how to set my line in every corner, where to stay in the big ring over brief rises - I can really fly. I typically share the road with gawking tourists in rented cars creaping through the redwoods as I pass them on the turns.
Coming up from the coast on Highway 1, the clouds opened up. Big splattery drops as I worked back over the climb to Mill Valley. I've been working on my pedal stroke lately based on the Chris Carmichael technique that he worked out with Armstrong. The aim is increasing the length of the power stroke in each revolution, while eliminating as much dead spot as possible. So I've been concentrating on pushing with my toes at the 12 o'clock positon, and scraping my heel at 3 o'clock. It's a pretty remarkable feeling when the stroke evens out - like, really noticable. Right now, though, it's causing soreness in muscles I wasn't effectively using before - like hip flexors. That should work out soon enough.
After the climb, I found a tall guy on a good pace and sucked his wheel all the way to the short steep climb up the bridge. I jumped there and put some time in him, but he came back and we traded wheels across the Golden Gate.
In all, a good strong ride.
Riding music today:
