Andy's words » California

Penumbra of Climbing

andy — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:16:06 +0000

On Saturday I did Terrible Two and with that completed California Triple Crown Stage Race.

Here is a recap:

Mulholland Double ~ 208 miles, 16,470+ feet of climbing
Devil Mountain Double ~ 206 miles, 18,600+ feet of climbing
Terrible Two ~ 200 miles, 16,480+ feet of climbing

It was totally awesome; I recommend to everybody.

As for the individual doubles I did so far, here are my comments:

Solvang Double ~ great first double. It is relatively mild and the scenery is great.
Davis Double ~ looking at the profile it would seem easy, but it is really hard because of 100+F all day. Make sure to start early, get those flat miles in as quickly as possible and have insulated water bottles.
Mt. Tam Double ~ lots of climbing, but you do it early in the ride. I recommend this one to everybody.
Knoxville Double ~ shares a lot of roads with Davis Double. When I did it it was not nearly as hot and it was still hardly bearable.
Mulholland Double ~ absolutely mind blowing scenery. It is a lot of climbing with one of the longest climb towards the end.
Devil Mountain Double ~ unlike Mulholland, which has relatively mild climbs, this one is in your face climbing. Just when you recover from one climb, there comes the next one. The toughest climb is Sierra road at 160 miles. And to hit you again, there is another climb at 200 miles.
Terrible Two ~ pretty nice scenery of Napa and Sonoma. That said, Sonoma county has in my opinion the worse roads in the area. Be prepared for some serious potholes, gravel, non-paved roads, etc.

From organization stand point, anything organized by cycling clubs is best. Knoxville Double and Devil Mountain Double trump everything else. Their organizers go above and beyond. Mt Tam, Terrible Two, and Davis come close behind. Lots of quality doubles, for example Mt Tam and Terrible Two, will have valet bike service at the rest stop. This way you can go grab some food, while they take care of your water bottles and your bike. Solvang and Mulholland on the other hand are organized by Planet Ultra, which for some reason has some serious organizational problems. They do rides on awesome roads, but they do beginner mistakes, such as forgetting water, running out of food, no sunscreen, etc.

But hey, go out and ride!

Sedulous Hours on the Bike

andy — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:47:50 +0000

On Saturday, I did it… I completed my third double century. This one was Mt Tam Double in Marin county. Check out its route. Unfortunately because of California’s budget problems, they closed Mt. Tam, so we rode around it, but it was just as fun.

Here are some stats:

* 200 miles
* 14:20 hours
* 14,500 feet of climbing
* Over 10000 calories lost
* 12 hours of huge grin on my face
* About 8000 calories lost by running my mouth
* Spending gorgeous Sunday outside… priceless!!

This was by far my favorite double century. The roads were nice, scenery was outstanding, and provided food was exactly what I needed. The only drawback that I can imagine was the wind. There was a lot of head wind.

But, just for the record, with this one I completed California Triple Crown. California Triple Crown is an award given to every rider who completes three qualified 200 mile bike rides (double centuries) in one calendar year. I did the following three double centuries:

* 3/28/2009 ~ Solvang Spring Double ~ 7,200 feet of climbing
* 5/16/2009 ~ Davis Double ~ 8,400 feet of climbing (at 100 F)
* 8/1/2009 ~ Mt Tam Duble ~ 14,500 feet of climbing

Solvang was fairly easy. Davis was hard because of the high temperatures. The interesting thing is that last year it was supposedly even more hot. The high heat makes sure that water you are drinking is warm and not refreshing.

So, what next? Well, there are still several double centuries before the end of the year. Perhaps I could get 1000 miles in. Or, maybe I will focus on something else. So many things to do, but so little time. No matter what, I think I will do some biking.

Doughty Descents

andy — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:29:49 +0000

One more year, one more Death Ride. This time JC and I came to Tahoe area a bit early and camp on top of Ebbetts Pass. There is a lot of things to do there. Like most people we did some riding, but in addition to that, we did some other fun stuff. On top of Ebbetts Pass, there is a little lake and I did take a medium sized log for a joy-ride around that lake. I had to build an oar, but a little duct tape and some sticks and I had a great oar.

One funny story about the tent. The first night we came at 3 AM, so we quickly put the tent up and start getting ready to sleep. But, when we came back to the tent site, the tent was gone. Turns out there was a gust of wind that rolled the tent into the bushes. So, the tent was placed back and some extra stakes were placed to hold it in place.

But what I wanted to talk about is Death Ride. Last year I did not complete. But this year… I guess all those double centuries payed off. Not only that I finished, but I finished in style. The whole thing started in the middle of the night (3:30 AM), when the alarm went off and soon afterwards the marching band started making a huge noise around the campground. Where do you find a marching band these days?

We started riding not that long after and got in the middle of Monitor Pass when the sun came up. Bombing down the back of the Monitor pass was fun as always. I got speeds of close to 52 miles per hour there. Climbing back up was not a problem either. Especially with a bunch of volunteers running and refilling people’s water bottles. Of course I also got speeds of over 50 miles per hour on the front side of Monitor.

Ebetts Pass was more fun for climbing and we also completed it with no problem. On the back side of Ebbetts, some beginner rider pretty much stopped in front of me, as I was flying down at 45 miles per hour, so I had to break. My bike fishtailed, but fortunately I was able to regain control without accident. After completing the back side of Ebbetts, we stopped at the lunch stop. At lunch, there were some racers that were previously bragging about how they will dominate the ride, but now they were sitting there complaining about how hard the ride is. Karma…

Finally after Ebbetts Pass, we continued pass the start to climb Carson Pass. This one is the easiest and hardest depending on how you look. It is the last one, so you are pretty tired by then. But, it is also fairly easy slope, so it is easy. Then again, there was a head wind most of the way, so it is hard. However, there was a rest stop half the way, so you can take a break. And so on. In any case, we completed Carson Pass and got the deserved icecream. Oh, and we signed the 2009 Death Ride poster.

After hanging out at the top of Carson Pass for some time, we rode down towards the finish. The good thing about the Carson descent is that it is about 15 miles long and steep enough, so you actually gain enormous speed. We were flying down this thing at over 50 miles per hour, passing cars, other cyclists, and time itself. The ride finished with a little bit of rolling hills with some refreshing rain. We completed the day with some long deserved dinner, where we met some other friends that also did the ride.

So, Death Ride? Well, took me two tries, but I got it. I think camping on Ebbetts Pass helped. Also, eating proper food and being with friends added to a overall fantastic experience. I am looking forward to the next year’s Death Ride.

Tyro Running The Relay

andy — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:14:57 +0000

This weekend I joined team Solar City to run 199 mile (in reality it was probably more than 200 miles, since there was at least one detour) relay called “The Relay” from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. Our team had 11 people in two vans. Each van did six legs then we rotated the vans and we did this so that each van did three sets. Here is our team:

The weather was rainy, but since you get pretty hot when running, the rain actually felt really good.

Each member of the team was supposed to run 3 legs, but since we were one runner short, we had to run some extra legs. Below are the four legs I ran. To see the pages, please signup to and add me as a friend.

Leg 7

Distance: 6.9 miles, Pace: 7:09 minute/mile

Leg 13

This is the extra leg I ran.
Distance: 6 miles, Pace: 7:15 minute/mile

Leg 19

This leg started at 1:30 in the morning, so I was running with lights and reflective vest.

Distance: 7.1 miles, Pace: 8:05 minute/mile

Leg 31

Distance: 6.2 miles, Pace: 6:05 minute/mile

Finally, we all got medals.

Propinquity to the Glorious Finish

andy — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:55:45 +0000

I finally completed my first double century: Solvang Double. Here are some highlights.

Double century is actually not that much harder than a regular century, provided that you eat and drink all the time and don’t stop too much
I wish I asked the organizers about the food, so I wouldn’t have to drag stuff with me. Turned out that they had enough vegan options.
I should have a small tube of sunscreen with me, just in case. On the first rest stop, they did not have sunscreen, so I borrowed some from another rider. Of course I did not apply enough of it, so now I have some funny tans.
I wish I didn’t spend that much time on the rest stops. I should really just have a quick snack, quick bathroom break, and go.
I got to get a smaller camera, so I can take it for the rides with me
I wish I dropped my clothing somewhere around Saint Luis Obispo and pick it up next day.
Either I have to get a better GPS that lasts longer or I have to finish the ride in less time. The GPS ran out of juice after about 12 hours, so I only have 190 miles recorded.
Two more and I have the California Triple Crown.
I will still call this one as a part of Century a Month.

Propinquity to the Finish

andy — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:06:29 +0000

I finally completed my first double century: Solvang Double. Here are some highlights.

Double century is actually not that much harder than a regular century, provided that you eat and drink all the time and don’t stop too much
I wish I asked the organizers about the food, so I wouldn’t have to drag stuff with me. Turned out that they had enough vegan options.
I should have a small tube of sunscreen with me, just in case. On the first rest stop, they did not have sunscreen, so I borrowed some from another rider. Of course I did not apply enough of it, so now I have some funny tans.
I wish I didn’t spend that much time on the rest stops. I should really just have a quick snack, quick bathroom break, and go.
I got to get a smaller camera, so I can take it for the rides with me
I wish I dropped my clothing somewhere around Saint Luis Obispo and pick it up next day.
Either I have to get a better GPS that lasts longer or I have to finish the ride in less time. The GPS ran out of juice after about 12 hours, so I only have 190 miles recorded.
Two more and I have the California Triple Crown.
I will still call this one as a part of Century a Month.

Eclectic Bike Parade

andy — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:46:56 +0000

I attended a San Jose Bike Party ~ Mardi Gras on Wheels! It was an awesome and crazy time biking through the busy sections of Campbell, Santa Clara, and San Jose. JC and I spend most time riding behind GM who was on a tandem bike dragging a full size couch.

Footless Measures

andy — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:44:11 +0000

Let me start by expressing my sincere disappointment with several proposals that passed across USA. They have to do with amending the state constitution to add a clear discrimination. This is understandable for the random bigot states, but it is really incredible that something like this happened in California. California is probably the most progressive state in the US, but looks like there is a large enough number of homophobic and discriminating people that something like this can pass. Unbelievable.

But, let me ask you something else. Regardless if you believe with discriminating proposals or not, how can the state constitution be modified by a simple and actually weak majority? By weak, I mean less than 50% of voters. In California there are over 17 million voters and only something over 5 million voted for this proposal. I usually associate a modification of constitution with a two third majority.

Now, this is where it gets weird. There was a “measure B” on the ballot, which has to do with a specific improvement of public transportation around the city of San Jose. It does not matter if you agree with it or not, but here is the interesting part. In order to pass this measure, you need a two third majority. And since only 66.41% people voted yes, the measure lost. By .25%.

Ok, now, let’s compare these two referendums. The amending of constitution requires a simple majority, while the referendum on spending some money requires two third majority. Think about this one for a second. Constitution versus spending money. Human rights… Money… Now you know where the priorities are. Think about this as you are contemplating a 850 billion dollar bailout for the financial industry without a referendum.

Human rights should always be protected. Any constitutional change that limits human rights should be passed extremely carefully. At least two thirds majority if not a two thirds of all the registered voters. On the other hand, financial conservancy is a good thing, but it if spending large amounts of money to bail out car companies and spend enormous amount of money to build roads without any referendums, it is interesting that this require two thirds majority.

Addle Elections

andy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:18:04 +0000

Today is an election day in USA. Here in California, people will most likely elect the “that guy” as opposed to “that other guy”. In any case, make sure to
GO OUT AND VOTE! and HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

I don’t really want to tell you who to vote or what other measures and propositions to vote yes or no on. I would like to ask you something though. Either vote for something, that you believe it, even if that is a candidate that does not stand a chance, or if you vote for the least bad, make sure to keep them accountable.

Most people talk about keeping politicians accountable, but they don’t really act on it. For example, a recent minority party suddenly become a majority claiming that they will do a sweeping changes that people want. Once they came in power they actually supported most of the extremely bad policies. Some of them were so bad that the previous majority did not managed to pass. And there is no accountability, since the same new majority will probably be even stronger this time around. Their excuse is that they do not have big enough majority and that the president will veto things. But, what I really think is that they are afraid of losing their precious money from their supporters. Remember, it is not the people who elect a candidate but their financial supporters.

So, if you are a USA citizen, do your civic duty and vote. Then, make sure to get your vote counted. And I don’t mean by taking photos of ballots or doing all this other things to prevent voting fraud. Make sure your vote is counted, by making sure the things you are voting for actually do happen. Vote based on issues and not a person.

Finally, I heard of this and I think everybody should join the Million Mad March. It is a

one million angry people to gather with us in the streets of their state capitals and march in protest of the direction that our country has taken, and the dissection of the people’s role, towards what seems to be our eventual removal from the political system meant to protect and represent us.

So, one more timemake sure to
GO OUT AND VOTE! and HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Why Misprize Different People?

andy — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:56:26 +0000

I love “I’m a Mac…” commercials. So, I was super happy when I saw those:

Make sure to see other ones too:

And make sure if you are in California to vote No on Prop 8. And when voting, make sure to vote Yes on Prop 1a and Yes on Prop 2.

Divagate From the Pack

andy — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:07:30 +0000

EC and I attended a road bike race on Sunday in Benicia, California. This was my first road race and it showed. I did several rookie mistakes, but I finished the race and I was not the last. And hey, sustaining close to 25 miles per hour for 30 minutes with lots of turns is actually pretty good. After about two thirds of the race, the pack dropped us and a small group of us was trying to finish the race. That meant no real drafting, no real pace line. We were all over the place. But all said and done, we were not the last.

Couple of things for the next time:

Practice taking corners at hight speed. One time in the corner 4 I hit the road with my pedal, which freaked me out for every turn from there on. That slowed me down significantly.
Get warmed up before the race. Starting racing with a cold body may work for 10 minutes but not for 30 minutes
Eat after being warmed up not on a cold stomach.

Comity of Society

andy — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:37:54 +0000

Beleaguered by Drivers

andy — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:40:10 +0000

I am consistently harassed by car drivers when I ride bike to work or back home. Most of them seem to be annoyed by the fact that I am on the road where they think only cars should be. But according to CA Department of Motor Vehicles, I have all right to be there:

Permitted Movements from Bicycle Lanes

21208. (a) Whenever a bicycle lane has been established on a roadway pursuant to Section 21207, any person operating a bicycle upon the roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride within the bicycle lane, except that the person may move out of the lane under any of the following situations:

(1) When overtaking and passing another bicycle, vehicle, or pedestrian within the lane or about to enter the lane if the overtaking and passing cannot be done safely within the lane.

(2) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

(3) When reasonably necessary to leave the bicycle lane to avoid debris or other hazardous conditions.

(4) When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.

(b) No person operating a bicycle shall leave a bicycle lane until the movement can be made with reasonable safety and then only after giving an appropriate signal in the manner provided in Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 22100) in the event that any vehicle may be affected by the movement.
Amended Sec. 5, Ch. 674, Stats. 1996. Effective January 1, 1997.

In other words, if there is no bike lane, and this is not a freeway, I have a right to be on the road. Also, if there is potentially damaging stuff or some other obstacle on the bike lane, I can go on the road.

Insensate Elections

andy — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:34:08 +0000

As you are probably aware if you live in US there will be some minor elections this fall. There are several interesting propositions on those elections. Here are some that I have a strong opinion about:

Proposition 1: Build a high speed train between the San Francisco and Los Angeles area. The major opposition falls into three major camps. There are people who say that since California cannot pay for education and health care, why spend money on this. Second argument is that it would never really be complete and it is a waste of money. Finally, the third argument is that it would have a huge environmental impact. Since I am not a finance person, I will ignore the first two. I assume somebody did the math. The only thing to add is that the money will be saved by people not having to drive or fly there. Also, since less people would drive, there would be substantial positive impact on the environment.

Proposition 2: This one has to do with the ethical treatment of farm animals. Though I don’t agree with people abusing farm animals in any way especially not for food production, I think baby steps can help sometimes. That said, baby steps when they really do something, not like a recent PETA fiasco with the Canadian KFC, where now PETA is promoting KFC. But hey, opposition says that the cost of eggs will go up. That is a good thing, isn’t it. So, I would say opposition to any animal cruelty is a great thing. Especially when it involves words such as “Go Vegan!“.

Proposition 4: Requires parents to be notified and consent to the abortion on a minor. Though in general I agree that the parents should be involved with the life of their children, unnecessary delaying potentially harmful pregnancy on a minor can be extremely serious. In addition this law would increase the underground abortion sites which are generally extremely unsafe, unsanitary and dangerous, compared to the abortion in the proper medical setting. Finally, I see this proposition to be a stepping stone towards making abortion illegal.

Proposition 8: Constitutional amendment with text “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” To quote a famous philosopher Wanda Sykes: “if you don’t believe in same sex marriage, then don’t marry somebody of the same sex.” But in general the message that people should get into their thick head is that this one does not affect them at all! Environment, diet, exercise, financial decisions, etc.. will all affect them, but letting same sex people to marry will not. For more information, check out Let California Ring. Also, check out the arguments against same sex marriage.

Let’s all work together to make this world a happy place. Let’s not bicker about who can associate with who, who has a right to live and who does not, who has access to prosperity and who does not. We are here together and let’s work together to make everybody’s life happy. That includes your life, my life, cats lives, chickens lives, and even lives of people that you do not agree with. And finally, let’s make the lives of our children happy, buy not destroying the environment they will be forced to live in, but protect our precious planet for our children, cats children, chickens children, and anybody else they will share it with.

Riding With Cupidity

andy — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:02:44 +0000

On Saturday I was riding the famous Tour of The California Alps: The Death Ride. It is a 130 mile bike ride with 15,000 feet of climbing on which you go over five passes. Well, you really go over three passes, but you go over two of them twice.

Let’s see, where to start. I loved the terrain. I so want to go back and do it again. Overall the ride was relatively easy. Yeah, there was a lot of climbing and hot, but the climbs were relatively mild and the views were spectacular. The toughest climbs were in the 10% grade, but most of it was around 6-7%. It was also great to see so many riders. The organizers closed most of the roads, so cyclists were uninterrupted by the drivers.

I finished the first part of the ride without any effort. Riding over Monitor pass was great and bombing down the back side was super fast. I was getting speeds of 50 miles per hour. The views were out of this world. Also, the road was super smooth. It was a bit tricky to pass slower riders and at the same time avoid riders coming up on the other side of the road. But I came to the bottom without any issues.

Ebbetts pass was a bit trickier, since it has more turns and the road is not in as good of a shape as the Monitor pass. However, it was just as enjoyable. From the Monitor pass, the views were mostly of the valley, where as from the Ebbetts pass, the views were of the canyon and trees. Again, I did not have any problems going up Ebbetts pass, but I did feel slight stomach discomfort. Since it was nothing bad, I ignored it.

Unfortunately that is where the fun stops. On the ride down Ebbetts pass, I started having serious problems with my stomach and, well, think of a waterfall but while riding. At the lunch spot, I sit there until my stomach calmed down and then I continued the ride. Unfortunately my stomach was acting up for the rest of the ride. At the bottom of Carson’s pass, they had showers for the riders, which felt really good, but in retrospect was a bad idea. I continued the ride up Carson, but got caught in a hail at the Picket’s junction. This together with me being cold at this point and not being able to ride fast to warm up because of my stomach, pretty much put a kibosh on the ride. I stayed there hiding under the trash can cover and a in the warm van until the hail and rain stopped and then hitched a ride part of the way down the mountain. I had an ok time that evening but I started getting sick again next day and the day after.

So, what caused all this mess? Who knows. It may have been Subway or cantelope that I usually don’t eat. I also tested a bunch of goodies at the expo. Perhaps it was the pasta dinner. Or maybe something I had during the ride. It might have also been elevation, heat, rapid decent, rapid ascent… Or finally it could be a combination of all those factors.

However, taking all this into account, I would still not miss it for the world! The sights are phenomenal, the roads are great, and support was out of this world. Looking forward to finishing this next year.

Rejoinder to a Wish One Year Ago

andy — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:07:53 +0000

Last year on June 9th, I entered California. On today’s day I started working here.

Bye New York

Happy Anniversary California!

Joined the California Cavalcade

andy — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 01:22:07 +0000

As you probably noticed, my recent posts are all from California. Yes, it is true. On June 11th, I moved here. Why you will ask? Well, why not… Let’s see, weather here is super great, more people than in upstate NY, people are actually happy, and of course, this is a great place for biking.

When I moved here, first I did not know where to bike, so I tag along with some other riders. Soon, I discovered Canada road, Skyline Road, and all the climbs from the valley to the Santa Cruz mountains. And let me tell you, this place rocks. You can go on a short or a long ride from the apartment.

Even in NY, I enjoyed a climb or two while riding. But it wasn’t until I moved here that I started working on improving my climbing performance. Doing that, I did several local rides that include climbing. These climbs include Old La Honda Road, Kings Mountain Rd, Montebello Rd, Redwood Gulch rd, Hicks Rd, Mt. Hamilton front and back, etc. I am using Old La Honda road as a benchmark of my performance. My latest climb on Old La Honda took 23 minutes 15 seconds.

With riding here, I am meeting more and more cool people, but I will also miss my upstate NY biking buddies. I guess I will have to join a new cavalcade here in California

Some more cute photos: