I CAN’T RIDE: 55
I CAN’T RIDE: 55
OH, WAIT YES, I CAN!
ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT!! ALL RIGHT!!!
Last week was a tough week.
Bike accident. Headaches. Getting
yelled at by doctors. Trips to the hospital
for cat-scans. More headaches. Stiff neck.
Oh, and to top it all off it was the last week of the fiscal quarter and
that is always fun. So, why not cap off
a shitty week with something epic, like a 55-mile bike ride with buddy the
Beaver.
Now if you ask that pesky Ole Beav about the ride, he will
tell you that it was only 54.58… Him and his silly Strava app trying to bring
me down, but I don’t think so, nothing could bring me down. Plus, see the Cateye read out below. 55.32 I says it and that is before I road an
extra mile around the block to test out my new bike seat.
It was a long ride.
Things got a little hostile at the end.
Ok, so maybe I got a little hostile at the end. The last 3 miles were rough on me. Not because I was too tired, or because my
legs hurt but after about 5 hours in the saddle my ass hurt. I am not going to lie 48 hours later my ass
still hurt. I think sitting in the
saddle for that long will do it. Pad or no pad.
I think I might have to investigate some of that Chamois butter or as I
always call it Butt Butter. The bite me zone was very close those last few
miles, but hey for a guy who had never gone over fifty miles on a bike, I think
I did pretty freaking good and the Beav would agree with that.
Me being great at developing bike routes, set ride out on
the right tone with a nice climb up Patterson Pass to Cross and then up and
over Cross. For those who don’t remember
Cross is my arch nemesis that I had to walk the first time I tried it. There was no walking this time, for the second
time I climbed it without stopping. Man
coming down Cross is phenomenal. I never
went under 25 mph the whole way down. It
is the best feeling coming down fast like that after working so hard to get to
the top.
After Cross we went to GreenBill Road and road it out to the
end. Did I say GreenBill? I meant Greenville, but since I own that bitch
now, they really should change the name.
Going up the end of Greenville to dead end at the wineries I noticed for
the first time how superior it was to ride with the new cassette they but on my
bike last week. Going from the 25 to the
30 was amazing. The first push up Greenville
wasn’t effortless, but it was easier than I remember. The start and stop climb
from the dead end seemed a little easier as well. Coming down Greenville back to Tesla was
fast. I got up to 37 mph. That is the fastest I have gone on any
downhill that I can remember. So
fun.
From there we pushed up Tesla to the bike path that starts
near Mines Road. It is a good bike
path. Lots of little rolling hills to
practice on. Then we took Arroyo out past
the VA till it ends and flipped around and road it back to bike path. Then it was off to Sycamore Grove to the
water stop and the rest rooms. We took a
rest. I refilled a water bottle and my added
some live saving water to the Camelpak.
Then it was off to Pleasanton via Vineyard. Vineyard is a nice route. I like it.
A good way to get to Pleasanton. Plus,
it took me to a rematch with Bernal.
This time with my new cassette I was ready for all Bernal and it four rolling
hills had to offer me. The first hill
that kicked my ass last week and caused me to walk 50 yards to get started
again was no match for me. I made it to
the top of that steep little fucker. Then
steadily climbed the next three. Bernal
was conquered. Now the question is do we
ride it next week, then turn around and go back the other way. I think the final downhill on Bernal would create
quite the challenge taking it from the other direction. Something to think about since the Beav
mentioned maybe adding more hills to the next ride. I guess climbing nearly 1700 feet just isn’t
enough. Which is what we ended up doing
on Saturday was climbing roughly 1700 feet.
I just like saying that. Make me
feel pretty awesome. By the way did I
say we climbed a total of 1700 feet?
We debated stopping at the fairgrounds. I am not 100% sure what was going on at the
fairgrounds, perhaps the fair, I didn’t notice any rides but there was food
truck galore. It started off smelling
really good but after a little bit then everything just smelled burnt. Plus, I am not 100% sure what fair food would
have done to my tum, and I figured not having diarrhea was probably the best call
for the next 20 miles.
When we got back to downtown Pleasanton, we debated about getting
a sandwich or something. I wasn’t really hungry and the Beav ate some of his snacks
and ended up losing a crown off his tooth.
I think that is the second time the Beav has had some dental issues riding
with me. Next think you know he is going
to start blaming me for that. Instead of getting something to eat we started
the push back to Livermore. I made sure
I didn’t go anywhere near the outlets or the site of my bike accident. I just
didn’t want to deal with. We came back
on Stanley which just happens to also be Sunol and First street, it is all really
confusing.
I really need to call whoever maintains Stanley because there
are so many rocks in the bike lane. It didn’t
matter where you tried to put the bike you were going to hit a pebble. It was really awful. It is almost as bad as Isabelle, in Livermore,
but not quite as bad. At least heading east
on Stanley, you don’t have the rumble strips that Isabelle has. Also, we saw a big ass snake in the bike
lane. I don’t think it was still with us.
I think it had gone to the clearing at the end of the path. I was so close to it, if it was alive, it
surely would have moved. This thing didn’t
move at all. I want to think it was a rattlesnake,
but then again, I am certain that every snake is a rattlesnake these days. I have them on the brain, since I know they
exist in the area.
After getting back to Livermore it was time to transverse
North Livermore and our final climb of the day. Going into the climb I was annoyed. Coming down Livermore I hit ever damn light
on the road, while the Beav got every light on the road. I am not sure why it annoyed me, but it did. I think with a few miles to go, I was
starting to get feel the bite me zone drifting towards me.
The final climb wasn’t a big deal. The between the number of times I have hit it
and road it and the new gear, I was actually able to have a conversation with the
Beav as we went up. Which is much
different from the first time I went up and I cussed everyone I worked with and
everyone that had ever wronged me, while gasping for breath. This time though it was all chatting and
shits and giggles on the way up.
I think that last little effort took more out of me than I
thought. Or it was the cross wind that
hit us after the climb that did it because when we turned for the final stretch
to home, the bite me zone was there.
Wanting to come out. I hit the wall
with three or four miles to go. I didn’t
want to talk anymore; I just wanted my ass to stop hurting. Lol, because by that point it was really soar. So, we have come full circle now started by
talking about my ass and now almost finished still talking about my ass.
It was a great ride.
I am very grateful for the Beaver going out with me. We had a lot of fun. I think going for rides at that distance are
better to go with people. So, El Beav, I
am super grateful, thank you much sir! I
appreciate you and all you do for me.
Now let me know if this freaks you out as much as it does me. The next ride I plan I will be going for 60 miles. Isn’t that insane. How far we have come. I never in a million years though that when I
got on the bike in May, that in August I would be talking about riding 60
miles. It is mind boggling. To some extent I can’t get it out of my head
I road 55. I CAN’T RIDE!!! 55!!!!
I just hear VanHagar singing that.
However, you know what, like I said before, he would be wrong, because I
know now that I can definitely ride: 55!
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