Here is a link to a great cross loop out of Forestville. It ended up being around 47 miles with some sweet single track right in the middle. Loop

– Posted by Chaz

It is winter time, so time to go a little slower and be a little more adventurous.  Claire and I have been riding our tandem on road and off road for over 20 years, and we love to share that with other tandemist.  Last week we took out our friends Bill and Debbie and showed them a couple of our favorite roads around the West County.  Last Tuesday we started by parking in Duncans Mills and doing the Duncan Road/Old Caz loop.  This loop is the inner loop of the first Grasshopper Race out of Occidental which takes place in late January.  We were able to get across Austin Creek without getting our feet wet which was a first.  There have been times in the past where the water has been almost up to our waists.

Today we drove out to Point Reyes Station and did a 40 mile loop that included about 12 miles of dirt along the Bolinas Ridge.  It was a tough 40 miles taking almost 4 hours.  Bill and Debbie were very excited about the dirt, I think they are addicted now.  Here is a link to that loop.  By the end of the ride we were all pretty knackered.  At one point, about 5 miles from the finish, we could smell something burning, when Bill commented on the smell, Claire pointed out that it was just her legs.  We really missed having Aaron and Melinda along on both of these rides.

I’m looking for two individuals who are interested in participating in the 2012 Full Vineman Triathlon on July 28, 2012.  The Vineman offers a “3 for the price of 2” discount if people sign up together.  Instead of $350 per person, it would be $233 per person.  Please let me know before Dec. 31.  You can email me at shop@thehubcyclery.com.  Thank you for spreading the word.

We are just outside of the town of Mojave getting ready to head into California City. Our friend Debbie is doing it solo this year and we are crewing for her. We are at the 70 mile mark.

– Posted by Chaz

On paper this seemed like a pretty easy ride.  In retrospect, I should have known that if you have to climb Willow Creek Road, Coleman Valley Road, Bay Hill Road, and JOY Road, it is not going to be easy.  I had set up the course on my Garmin, and it had shown 2800 feet of climbing.  It ended up being 4200 feet of climbing, and that is after the initial very flat 20 miles.

The day started off pleasantly enough with a late breakfast at Howard Station in Occidental.  We left from there and dropped down Bohemian Hwy. and headed out towards Jenner.  We did the first 20 miles in under an hour and that was taking it easy.  That was when the real fun started.  Willow Creek Road was a little wet in sections, but beautiful as ever.  We cleaned the two sisters, slow but steady.  Coleman Valley Road was B-E-A-utiful with awesome views of the ocean from the top.  We stopped at one of these lookouts and shared Claire’s leftover buttermilk biscuit with some jam on it before plummeting down to Hwy. 1.  Bay Hill Road was a doozy.  I won’t bore you with the rest, but suffice to say that Joy Road seems to get steeper every time we do it.  Luckily we got to almost coast the rest of the way back to the car after that.

Descending Pescadero Road (A1 & Melinda are up ahead)

 

This was a fantastic loop that Claire came up with. We were joined by Jimmy Neutron, Aaron, and Melinda. It was not the warmest of days, but the sun was shining almost the entire time. After heading down hwy. 1 for about 8 miles, we turned on Stage Road. I would have to rate Stage Road as one if the nicest stretches of pavement I have ever ridden on, at least in the top 20.

Jimmy Neutron

The ride ended up being almost exactly 62 miles with around 6200 feet of climbing. That is the perfect formula for a bike ride, 100 feet of climbing per mile. I would strongly recommend this loop, it was worth the drive to Half Moon Bay.

We CONSUMED DEVOURED a loaf of artichoke/herb bread in Pescadero

Saturday evening run at Annadel 

Claire kept us motivated after a day at the shop.  I was ready to head home and make some pizza and drink a couple of homebrews, which we eventually did, but Claire got us up there for an hour.  Beautiful evening, and except for the fact that only 1 person out of 15 said “hi” to me after I greeted them on the trail, it was a great run.  Seems like they have been smoothing out Rough Go trail a tiny bit.  That is a great trail to run up, but running down Cobblestone was a bit of a challenge.  I felt pretty good considering I hadn’t run in quite a while.  Not to much soreness the next morning.

Lefty Guts

Claire, Aaron, and I went out for this little loop before work this morning.  This is one of our old favorites that we hadn’t done in a couple of years.  Sonoma Mountain Road hasn’t changed very much over the years, which is a good thing.  I love the bumpiness and the narrow roads.  Here is a link to the loop.

Bogg’s 8 hour race (reduced to 7) by hubster43 at Garmin Connect – Details

I know thus happened quite awhile ago, but better late than never. I did this race on my Cannondale Singlespeed 29’er. I had no expectations what-so-ever, so I was pleasantly happy with how things went. It ended up being a 4 mile loop on fire trails, which was pretty repetitive by the end. Claire came out and fed me some good food during the ride. I think she was hoping for a relaxing day, but since I came through every 20 minutes or so, she was up and down all day long. By the end I was pretty knackered.

Eureka Canyon Loop by hubster43 at Garmin Connect – Details

Claire and I did this loop on our tandem. Claire came up with a slightly different way of making our way over to eureka canyon which made the loop better than last time.