# RoadBikeReview group ride - July 6th - 9am, Palo Alto VA



## thien

Watch Stage 2 of the Tour, then come on down to the VA to ride with RoadBikeReview! 

We'll be giving away one Amgen Tour of California jersey to a lucky rider post ride! Via raffle, random drawing, or if we just like the color of your bike (we haven't decided yet)... 

Same meeting place (Palo Alto VA parking lot), Same meeting time (9 am).

Same general route. Francois will lead the 'A' group through Huddert while the rest of the ride goes through the maze and get a head start on Canada.

The ride usually breaks up into two groups (possibly three depending on riders) with multiple regroups.


*Refreshments post ride*
I'll bring the cooler with the main ingredients for some sandwiches again...  

Here's the map of the VA parking lot and where to meet.










Last month's Group Shot courtesy of KWC


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## comptechgsr

Hi guys, I'm new on this board - just came over from bikeforums where a friend told me to check out this Northern CA section.

It's great!

I was able to check out the older posts about this specific ride; do you mind reposting the non-A bike route/maze portion please.

I just started riding, so it would be great to learn more =). Also, great to hear that there is another fixed gear rider here in this group =).


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## thien

welcome comptechgsr,

here's a map of the route.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/RBR-4-3-2-08

There'll be a faster A group that will do an extra climb (not shown on that map), but we'll all regroup again at the top of Canada.


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## airrix

I should be in for this ride. Will there be a C-group?


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## thien

A, B and C


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## sometimerider

thien said:


> here's a map of the route.
> 
> http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/RBR-4-3-2-08


That route has some errors in it (which helps to explain why I (who drew the maps) got lost last time - FAIL).

This one, http://www.bikely.com/cuesheet/route/RBR-II-4-6-08 is better.

If someone explains the Huddert extension to me, I will add that in (or maybe just make another map).


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## Dr_John

I'm really disappointed I'm going to have to miss this one. I have to attend an all day wedding that starts at 9 am. 

Including the Huddart loop for the A group is a great idea. It allows the B and maybe C groups to be the resting groups a bit for the regroup at Olive Hill and Cañada. I've only done it once. Francois will have to provide the details. I could re-do it if I was there, but really couldn't reconstruct it with Google maps due to the dense cover in the area, part is on a service road, etc. I believe it was something like this:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2019102 

I couldn't trace out the route from Greer over to Huddart Park Road, so this is an approximation.

Any ways, have fun all.


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## thien

Dr_John said:


> I'm really disappointed I'm going to have to miss this one. I have to attend an all day wedding that starts at 9 am.


Dang, a RoadBikeReview ride without Dr John? Is there such a thing? You haven't missed a single one right?


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## Dr_John

I've only missed the very first one, because I got lost riding to it. But I did try to catch you all, so I was there in spirit.


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## sometimerider

Dr_John said:


> Including the Huddart loop for the A group is a great idea.  It allows the B and maybe C groups to be the resting groups a bit for the regroup at Olive Hill and Cañada. I've only done it once. Francois will have to provide the details. I could re-do it if I was there, but really couldn't reconstruct it with Google maps due to the dense cover in the area, part is on a service road, etc. I believe it was something like this:
> 
> http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2019102
> 
> I couldn't trace out the route from Greer over to Huddart Park Road, so this is an approximation.


Thanks, that allows me to take a stab at it. And here it is: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/RBR-Palo-Alto-with-Huddart-extension If anyone has any corrections, let me know here or via a PM.

It seems to add a 500 foot climb. Have fun, A guys.

Here is the elevation profile, with the Huddart extension occurring between 12 and 15 miles:

View attachment 130152


In summary, we now have 2 routes:

The B/C route (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/RBR-II-4-6-08), 36 miles, 1800 feet of climbing.

The A route (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/RBR-Palo-Alto-with-Huddart-extension), 39 miles, 2300 feet of climbing.


Cue sheets are available on each map under Show, Cue Sheet.


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## gregg

I call dibs on sweeping the C ride. Unless the CLX comes in before then....then I'll sweep for the Bs.

-g


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## thien

hmm... You think a CLX is going to step you up from a C to a B? :thumbsup:


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## thien

**UPDATE**

<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Due to some scheduling conflicts and it being the holiday weekend, we're moving this to the following week. This ride will take place on July 13th now.</span>


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## Dr_John

Hah! So I won't miss it.


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## Gee3

I'm out... I'll be in Tahoe that weekend! 

I guess no socks or stickers for me!!


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## velogirl

bummer.....


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## comptechgsr

im still going to try it out if anyone is game (i live closeby so might as well =)).


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## thien

OK, so we're back on for the 6th! Sorry for the back and forth everyone... we have leaders for all three paces now. *So we'll see everyone on the 6th!
*


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## Gee3

I might still be out for the 6th...  It depends if the boss will let me out to play. that and if we'll be in Fairfield that day.

Plus I'll be going to the Stevie Wonder concert on the 5th!


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## thien

Gee3 said:


> I might still be out for the 6th...


You're coming. And your buddy too...


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## Squidward

thien said:


> You're coming. And your buddy too...


Gary, do you need me to go over there and pick you up that morning?


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## thien

So Gary, Gary's Friend, and Ninh are in...

Who else is coming out for the fun this Sunday?  

*Remember*, we are going to be giving out a brand new 2008 Amgen Tour of California Jersey! It could be you! Winner has to be present to enter and claim prize.


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## CrankyMonkey

I need to get the OK from my boss too... but I'm probably in.


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## thien

Is your co-worker going to come out and join us this time Chris?


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## CrankyMonkey

I'm not sure if I want to miss the ride again... :|


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## Gee3

Sorry guys... I wish I could go but if i want to ride again I need to keep the wife happy and do the family thing this weekend. And my buddy Eric is out of town as well so he's out. :17: 

Sometimes in a marriage you need to take one step backwards to be able to take two steps forward... or in my case, be able to ride again! Doh!

Next time for sure though!! 

Gary


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## thinkcooper

Our plans are looking good for the ride. We'll both be on review bikes.


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## CrankyMonkey

I got approval last night from the boss... Looks like I will be in attendance! Not sure which group I'm riding for.


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## thien

Another reminder, we're giving away one of these... 

Also, we're bringing munchies - sandwiches and maybe some chips. If anyone else wants to bring anything we do have a cooler with ice.


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## airrix

OH.. pretty! I want!:arf: 

Hey Thein,

It was nice meeting you and Carol on Saturday. I would really love to go on this ride but seeing that I'll be in LA that won't be possible. 

On another note: I also sent you an email per Gary's question.


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## CrankyMonkey

Wasn't that suppose to be the prize for my Awesome Toronto Ride Report?


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## thien

CrankyMonkey said:


> Wasn't that suppose to be the prize for my Awesome Toronto Ride Report?


You didn't get your prize? I could have sworn we put it in the mail.


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## Squidward

I'm out. No one but me to watch my kids but me. You'll probably catch me out on Cañada Road with my kids but I'll be on my FS mountain bike.


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## Gee3

thien said:


> Another reminder, we're giving away one of these...
> 
> Also, we're bringing munchies - sandwiches and maybe some chips. If anyone else wants to bring anything we do have a cooler with ice.


Nice... he's flashing the "You're #1" salute!


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## thien

Gee3 said:


> Nice... he's flashing the "You're #1" salute!


I was wondering how no one noticed that. That's gregg for ya...


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## CrankyMonkey

I've become immune to the middle finger.  

I've trained too many hours to even notice it now!


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## bikerbert

*Like we do on the fat tire side of life at MTBR, roll call for Sunday's Ride?*

I'm in, and hoping to bring my wife and some other friends.


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## Leopold Porkstacker

I am seriously considering burning petroleum products in the name of getting from San Jose to the VA hopsittal for this ride. Not 100% decided yet, really depends on how much booze is consumed on Saturday evening.


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## Leopold Porkstacker

thien said:


> Another reminder, we're giving away one of these...
> 
> Also, we're bringing munchies - sandwiches and maybe some chips. If anyone else wants to bring anything we do have a cooler with ice.


Get an LCD monitor, you environmental criminal!!!

:hand: rrr: :crazy:


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## Leopold Porkstacker

I can confirm with 50% certainty that I’ll be there. Trivial details surely (and surly) to follow.


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## thien

Leopold Porkstacker said:


> Get an LCD monitor, you environmental criminal!!!
> 
> :hand: rrr: :crazy:


That's not me... and yes, i've told him it's time to let go of the CRT's and move on.


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## bikerbert

I'm in and hopefully my wife too!


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## SCBianchista

I'm in and coming with Cooper and Karen--would be great to have more women riding!


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## Aeryn

I'm interested, but I'm afraid I might be too slow, especially going up hill. I think I can do 10-11 mph average on the ride. Am I too slow, I don't want to hold everyone up? If so, no dramas. I'll ride more and aim to get faster for the next one.


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## Leopold Porkstacker

Well, I’ve got the approval of my wife, just have to lay off the hard stuff tonight and stick with the Belgian ale instead. Going to burn a few gallons of premium unleaded and pollute the atmosphere in order to get to the starting location, unless some south bay person wants to carpool with me—I drive a wagon, plenty of room for two bikes inside with the rear seats folded down.


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## thien

Aeryn said:


> I'm interested, but I'm afraid I might be too slow, especially going up hill. I think I can do 10-11 mph average on the ride. Am I too slow, I don't want to hold everyone up? If so, no dramas. I'll ride more and aim to get faster for the next one.


There's no such thing as being too slow for the RBR ride! We have 3 groups and a sweep, so come on out. This is a casual NO DROP ride. :thumbsup:


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## CoLiKe20

yeah, Thien's right... my GF was really slow last time we rode. The faster riders were very gracious in waiting.


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## CoLiKe20

oh.... and...baring any emergency, I should be there.



thien said:


> So Gary, Gary's Friend, and Ninh are in...


what? you have ESP or something?


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## CrankyMonkey

You should go! 

We have several groups for every speed and level of rider. This is a "No Drop" ride so nobody is too slow. You can also start with us and then drop off and take a shorter route if you don't feel like you can keep up the pace.


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## Francis Cebedo

I can't make it as I'm still up here in Seattle, making my way down from Whistler, BC. Just as well as I might launch my roadbike from all this DH riding.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=429324

fc


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## kwc

I brought back some cold nasties from the east coast so no riding for me today -- have fun!


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## Cruzer2424

francois said:


> I can't make it as I'm still up here in Seattle, making my way down from Whistler, BC. Just as well as I might launch my roadbike from all this DH riding.
> 
> http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=429324
> 
> fc


WHAT? That's AWESOME. I'm SO jealous! I bet the exchange rate hurt though, huh? 

Tomorrow, I'm headed up to UT/CO for some XC type racing for a while (was supposed to leave today, but I got REALLY sick yesterday). Nice to have some inspiration. haha.

P.S. Darcy is cute. :wink:


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## CoLiKe20

it was good meeting all of you.
good ride today.

I learned also never to step on a cat.


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## Rojo Neck

Hey guys (and girls), thanks for a fun ride. Good crew out there...special thanks to Cooper/Thor the mega-monster, that was big fun going out Cañada. Nice to meet everyone and I will try to make this ride a habit 

Josh
"one of those Webcor guys"


p.s. missed ya out there bikerbert...Martin was calling out the sprints, even told me a new one that I didn't know about...


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## Leopold Porkstacker

That ride was great fun. I enjoyed meeting you all, as well as riding with you, except for the part when I was trying to keep up with Thor “Diesel” Cooper up the hills. Let’s do it again some day soon! Oh, and Cooper, you’re CRAZY but that’s perfectly fine by me! Oh yeah, and the sammiches and refreshments at the end of the ride surely were welcomed!


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## thien

Awesome ride you all... here's the morning's group shot. I'll have to go through the rest and post them a little later.


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## thinkcooper

What a blast. Thanks to Thien, Greg and Derek from RBR for hosting a great ride. It's fantastic to have an A, B and C group on that loop. That way, my wife and her girl squad can have fun at their pace, while I can get into diesel mode without feeling guilty.

oh yeah - great to meet some new faces as well, and thanks for all the solid DR advice.

Cheers!

Coop


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## sirkrameroy

Great ride! Perfect pace for scratching that TdF inspired racing itch. 

It was nice meeting some new folks, and seeing familiar faces in a different guise (I swear Derek has been doping or something; he's never that fast on MTBR rides!  ).

Looking forward to the next one!

Alex (the guy on the blue Soma)


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## bikerbert

I hope the ride was great! I came down with an acute case of road rash-itis yesterday, and spent the day wanting to kill the makers of Bactine. "Pain free soothes on contact" my butt!


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## thien

Photos!

At the first regroup at Portola & Alpine









Gregg heading through the maze.. Aeryn & Craig in tow.









Martin, Josh, and Coop after the Canada regroup, heading back...









Mark and Brett


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## thien

Derek and group bombing down Whiskey









Our "gold" jersey winner of the day, Aeryn for coming out on her first group ride evar!









Thanks to everyone that came out and made it an awesome ride. Sorry I didn't get photos of everyone. More reason to come out and join us again in August! :thumbsup:


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## thien

sirkrameroy said:


> Alex (the guy on the blue Soma)


Alex, the blue Soma is very nice. I like the paint a lot.


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## eddy

Excellent ride! I had a great time feeling the road under my wheels in the heat.

Thanks to Coop, Thien, and Gregg for personally inviting me to join the ride and then dropping my slowass on Mile 1. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-hahahahahahahaha! :thumbsup: In my defense, I did stop to fix my computer on Old Page Mill because it was not registering anything. Or maybe I was really going 0.0 MPH? 

Seriously, though, I did have a great ride and was motivated to ride farther and higher than I would have on my own. The mileage and elevation are not my problem, I just have an entirely different perspective when it comes to speed. 

Thank you, Thien, for the waterbottle. And thanks for the refreshments, RBR. The sandwich I ate at the end was the best thing ever. The yellow jacket I almost ate was not. 

Next time out we should all try Gregg's technique and switch to single speed half way through the ride. There is a special place on the road for those of us who carry chain tools. It's right in front of an 80-year-old lady's horn-blaring Mercedes Benz.  

See you next month!


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## thien

eddy said:


> Thanks to Coop, Thien, and Gregg for personally inviting me to join the ride and then dropping my slowass on Mile 1.


Hey, that was Gregg!  Once I relieved him of his duties as sweep, sweeper brought *everyone* to the finish line together.


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## eddy

thien said:


> Hey, that was Gregg!  Once I relieved him of his duties as sweep, sweeper brought *everyone* to the finish line together.


LOL, just teasing.  Thanks for sweeping me down the road for a strong finish, Thien. :thumbsup:


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## Aeryn

What a great ride. I had a blast!  It was my first real group ride and I couldn’t have picked a better one. It was very nice meeting all of you. What an awesome group of people. I really appreciate everyone’s patience at the regroup points. I’ve done most of my riding by myself, so being part of a group was definitely motivating me to go as fast as I could. I’d like to especially thank Thien, Gregg, and Craig for riding with me and for support along the way. You were very generous to a newbie. I hope to get many more miles under my belt before the next ride and I have a cool new jersey to do them in. Thanks!  I've read about previous rides, but now I know first hand why people keep coming out for the RBR rides – they’re great fun! :thumbsup:


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## gregg

Hey good to meet you too, Aeryn (and Leo, and the Webcor guys...and Karen's friends).

Many thanks to Karen and her awesome chain tool! Woulda been in a world of hurt without it. I will be carrying a chain tool of my own, from now on.

Good ride, good weather, and good people! All makes for a great time.

-g


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## CrankyMonkey

Good ride everyone... I learned a tough lesson in rotational weight and acceleration trying to keep up with the Group A riders on Canada Rd. Just wait till I get me one of them Carbon Fiber contraptions... :thumbsup:


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## Dr_John

So Aeryn got the well-deserved yellow jersey, but who got the green jersey (the drag race down Cañada)? 

I see several there - Cooper, Derek, Josh, and Mark, and probably others that I'm missing, that I'd bet on.


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## thinkcooper

Dr_John said:


> So Aeryn got the well-deserved yellow jersey, but who got the green jersey (the drag race down Cañada)?
> 
> I see several there - Cooper, Derek, Josh, and Mark, and probably others that I'm missing, that I'd bet on.


There was a drag race down Cañada? 

Dang. Someday I'll figure this ride out.


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## thien

one more photo...


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## Dr_John

Actually I was admiring the Colnago in the photo more.  Gregg's?


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## thinkcooper

Dr_John said:


> Actually I was admiring the Colnago in the photo more.  Gregg's?


It's not captioned "Killer Mercedes" cause Thien was impressed with it. Details here.  

The Colnago is really nice. And it helped drive the point across to my wife Karen, that paying a little more for her bike tool cause it has a chain breaker was not a waste of money. :thumbsup:


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## thien

Colnago is on loan from Ernesto...


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## Rojo Neck

Dr_John said:


> So Aeryn got the well-deserved yellow jersey, but who got the green jersey (the drag race down Cañada)?
> 
> I see several there - Cooper, Derek, Josh, and Mark, and probably others that I'm missing, that I'd bet on.


Technically, I am pretty sure I nipped Martin (the _other_ Webcor guy) at the line by less than a bike length; however, I suspect if Cooper had known and decided to participate, that we both would've been eating his dust:cryin:. Plus he did most of the pulling all the way out to the 92 intersection, *and* back. He's Army Strong!


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## Dr_John

> It's not captioned "Killer Mercedes" cause Thien was impressed with it.


Ah, got it.



> Colnago is on loan from Ernesto...


It's gorgeous.



> suspect if Cooper had known and decided to participate, that we both would've been eating his dust. Plus he did most of the pulling all the way out to the 92 intersection, *and* back. He's Army Strong!


Yeah, he's great to draft because, well, he's really fast, and really big. LOL...  Let's not tell him about the KOM run on the SVCC RBR ride either.


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## Rojo Neck

thinkcooper said:


> Dang. Someday I'll figure this ride out.


Common sprint locations that we encountered on this line were, in order:

Woodside Town Limits sign on Portola Road (just before the Old La Honda turn) (any town limits sign is fair game)
Top of Huddart (OK, maybe not a "sprint" but still...)
The bump at the end of the maze (Albion/Olive Hill)
Cañada Road/92 intersection (the "line" may vary depending on the ride)
The seam in the pavement just before Page Mill Road along Foothill (going south) (this one was a new one on me but Martin assures me it's for real).

There are tons of other informal sprint locations all over the place, some are "standards" but some are ride-specific. When the chatter stops and people start clicking up gears and hands go down into the drops, it's a good sign that a sprint is coming up. Of course, the element of surprise is half of the battle so it may be hard to detect that "it's on" until it's far too late to react.


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## thinkcooper

Dr_John said:


> Yeah, he's great to draft because, well, he's really fast, and really big. LOL...  Let's not tell him about the KOM run on the SVCC RBR ride either.


IOW, strong like bull, smart like tractor.


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## Leopold Porkstacker

I guess I’m going to have to make a regular thing of going to all the local RBR rides. I had so much fun on the VA Hospital ride that I think I can justify driving all the way from San Joserville in a vehicle that gets no better than 26MPG combined fuel “efficiency”. Coop’s got it made with his Santa Cruz econobreadbox thingy from Japan.


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## Rojo Neck

It's not infeasible to just ride your bike to the VA, do the ride, and ride back. Or drive only partway there. 

Depending upon which part of SJ you're in, it will add about 30-40 (mostly flat) miles total. If I don't have to be back (kids...) I usually ride to the start of rides up that way. After hard efforts such as we saw on Sunday, the ride home becomes a soft-pedal affair  But riding to the start is a really good warmup, and the extra miles + not burning gas don't hurt anything.

Where in SJ are you? I'm on the West side near San Tomas and Hamilton. It's about 16 miles one way to the VA.


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## CoLiKe20

Rojo Neck said:


> It's not infeasible to just ride your bike to the VA, do the ride, and ride back. Or drive only partway there.
> 
> Depending upon which part of SJ you're in, it will add about 30-40 (mostly flat) miles total. If I don't have to be back (kids...) I usually ride to the start of rides up that way. After hard efforts such as we saw on Sunday, the ride home becomes a soft-pedal affair  But riding to the start is a really good warmup, and the extra miles + not burning gas don't hurt anything.
> 
> Where in SJ are you? I'm on the West side near San Tomas and Hamilton. It's about 16 miles one way to the VA.


you can also caltrain.
I rode to and back from the ride. This time, I got paged when the ride almost ended. I just turn around and rode home. Couldn't quite finish the ride.


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## Leopold Porkstacker

Rojo Neck said:


> It's not infeasible to just ride your bike to the VA, do the ride, and ride back. Or drive only partway there.
> 
> Depending upon which part of SJ you're in, it will add about 30-40 (mostly flat) miles total. If I don't have to be back (kids...) I usually ride to the start of rides up that way. After hard efforts such as we saw on Sunday, the ride home becomes a soft-pedal affair  But riding to the start is a really good warmup, and the extra miles + not burning gas don't hurt anything.
> 
> Where in SJ are you? I'm on the West side near San Tomas and Hamilton. It's about 16 miles one way to the VA.


I’m at the Blossom Hill/Blossom Valley/Almaden Valley/Santa Teresa crossroads area.

Sixteen miles to the VA??? Surely it’s got to be a bit more than that. Anyhow, fortunately the total cost per mile on my vehicle could surpass that of my wife’s 2005 Prius soon (she has 28,000 miles on it, I have almost 274,000 on my Swedish Iron™, and I paid $1000 for it back in 2004).

I did ride to the Matt Peterson/Kristy Gough memorial ride much earlier this year, and had a CONSTANT HEADWIND the entire distance from San Jose. By the time I got there, I really just wanted to head back home. I believe the gusts reported were in the neighbourhood of 20MPH. I had just gotten over a stomach flu two days prior, so I was in jacked-up condition I suppose. Naturally the ride back home was pretty much tailwind though.

Part of the excitement of riding is being up there with the “A” group guys, just before being dropped, and of course riding those extra miles before the ride (assuredly headwind riding) could make me or break me, depending on how much commuting I do during the week.

Hope to see you south bay fellows/ladies for the SVCC ride coming up.


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## Rojo Neck

It's 16 from my house. Where you are is more like 20-something depending on the route so yeah maybe that gets a bit more than you want  To cut off some, you could drive up to Lawrence/Homestead (big shopping center + a Starbuck's there) and ride from there.


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