Answering their call…
Answering their call…
I knew it was only a matter of time before the sweet songs
of the Sirens called me home. For weeks
or has it been months they have called to me.
Asking me to come. Ever since,
the first time I took my car up Altamont Pass Road and went right on Carroll
Road and crossed over 580 on Flynn Road those Sirens have called to me. They have asked me to come forth and present
myself, to come to them and stand true and ready. Those damn sirens and there sweet, sweet songs,
calling to me, telling to come, come and climb. To test my endurance and stamina. Come to us Billy b and climb us, climb the
hills of the Altamont Pass.
The combination to answer the call of the Sirens came
together this week. First, when I was
able to ride all of Greenville Road without going using all my gears, and a
corporate mental health day on Friday September 23. It was the right mix of time and confidence I
needed to test my climbing skills out once again. The ride on Monday gave me so much
confidence. Mental health day gave me
the time I needed. Hi, Sirens, it’s
Billy b and I am coming!
The dream two nights ago of me being a superhero on the Avengers
probably didn’t hurt my confidence. I have
no idea what my superpower was, I just know I was in hiding with all the other superheroes
because the world had turned against us.
I also knew that part of my powers included me riding a bike. If you will picture this in your minds
eye. In the back of a semi-truck, being
smuggled out of San Francisco. All your
favorite sups: Hulk, Ant-Man, Captain America, Spider-man and me and my
bike. They were all worried about how they
can get out of this mess, I was worried about finding the best way to ride back
to San Francisco and doing so while not having to climb lots of hills. I didn’t worry about the part about trying to
dodge hills, I just focused on the part where I was a superhero.
I had planned all week on wearing my neon yellow bike shirt
up into he hills for safety, however, as soon as I got up this a.m., I knew
there was only one bike kit that I could possibly wear. That kit of course was my alien jersey
complete with alien socks. I mean after
all if I were to get abducted by aliens, then I figured the most likely place
this would happen would be while I was riding up around the windmills. I am not sure why that made sense to me, but
it completely did. Kona and I discussed
it on the way to taking her to day care.
The conversation went like they normally do with her. I talked, she hung
her head out the window and didn’t respond.
I think Kona knows when I am riding a ride that I am excited
about but not 100% comfortable with. I
was not 100% comfortable with riding Flynn Road. It is narrow.
It is winding. Also, people drive
it, and people are assholes. They have no
respect for bike riders. There is always
a little part of me the pats my St. Christopher meddle a little more on these
days and I always pet Kona extra and tell her how much I love her just in
case. I know that is a terribly morbid
thought, but big hill riding, and back road winding road riding can be
dangerous and not matter how vigilant I am, drivers generally aren’t. See comment above about people being
assholes. However, there is a just a
little part of me that worries, most of me was excited and couldn’t wait to get
out there and finally answer their call.
I felt good when I pushed off. I settle into a nice easy pace. My cadence meter popped up and I was driving
towards the hills with good cadence. I
never got really nervous heading out to Altamont Pass or towards Carroll. I just took it as a matter of course. This was the next challenge, and I was ready
for it. Hell, I was excited for it.
I started commentating my blog as I pushed out Northfront to
where it becomes Altamont Pass. The
title had formed in my mind a few days ago. I have talked about the Sirens
calls so often, that I knew that when I finally went out and answered them,
that the title practically wrote itself.
I stayed pretty steady in my middle gears as I pushed up
Altamont Pass towards Carroll. I knew the real challenge was Carroll Road and I
wanted to save Granny Gear and Mountain Climbing Gear for that big ugly
bastard. Let’s make no mistake Carroll Road is one big
ugly bastard too. I think the total climb
is only about 300 feet, but it comes across a much shorter distance than the
climb at Del Valle.
The minute you turn off Altamont Pass onto Carroll you know
that you have gone from the minor leagues to the majors. There was something about turning onto that
road that made my knees shake a little bit and the fear start to grip me. I hadn’t been worried riding out there, but
now that I was there, I knew I was in for a fight. It was a little under a mile of solid climbing
of the 300. Parts of the road took on an
11% grade. I fought it, and I kept
fighting it.
My legs were on fire. They followed my motto slow and steady. However, slow and steady I went, Carroll was
a mean bastard and it hit me back repeatedly and just kept going up and
up. My lungs burned like my lungs hadn’t
burned in years. I thought my right lung
was going to explode. I was wheezing
like an old goat. I was at 900 feet,
about 100 feet from the top of this first push and with my legs burning and my
lungs exploding, I stop and put my foot down.
I leaned over the handlebars and gasped for my breath. I stayed like that for about 30 or 40 seconds. I looked up and saw a truck coming down. I
would let it pass and then, I would continue on my way.
As the truck was coming down and passing me, I thought about
following it. I looked down the way I
had come and thought, I wasn’t ready. I
shouldn’t be here. It is to much. I am not good enough and strong enough. I tried to push up and get back on the bike
but trying to start up again going up hill doesn’t work very well, so I
remembered what Mark told me and I weaved across the hill once I made sure no
traffic was coming. I even headed a
little down hill and turned around and started climbing back up once
again.
I locked my hands on my grips and I pushed up. I was seeing the freeway come into full
view. I was doing it. I was climbing up the Pass and I was making
it. I am not sure where that voice who
had told me to go down because I couldn’t do it had come from because I was
doing it.
I took another page out of Mark’s book and starting to zig-zag
up the rest of Carroll Road. Using the entire
shoulder as my path. Weaving to just get
a little extra grip on the road. I pushed
up further and further. It hurt to take
in big breathes because that right lung was hurting. I came even with the free and I had to stop
again, not because I was tired or anything like but because I wanted to take a couple
of photos of where I had come from, where I was going and the freeway because I
was level with the Altamont Pass and I had done it. I could ride back down Carroll and say and
tell anyone who would listen about how I climbed the Altamont Pass, but there
was no riding back down. I had business
on the other side of 580 and it was business I intended to finish.
I think I said before that Carroll Road was the real
challenge. It was. I was happy when I left that bastard behind
me. However, I had thought Flynn was
just a few rollers. I thought once I got
to the other side of the freeway few rollers, and a nice long down hill and it
was all gravy.
Flynn Sucks! Well, it
doesn’t suck, I really like riding Flynn, but it is hilly, and it is hard. You gain another 200 feet of climbing going
up Flynn and get to the highest point on the crossing Altamont Pass on Flynn,
not on Carroll. I also didn’t know that
until I lived it. Flynn is while a fun
and challenging ride, is also scary because the road is so narrow. There was more traffic on it then I would
have liked as well. You are basically on
a very narrow country road, riding up around the Livermore Windmills and the
giant Livermore Cross in the side of the hill.
It is cool to ride up in the Windmills.
I could have hopped off my bike and ran up the hill and touched one, but
I had not desire to run in that grass. I
know it is rattle snake infested land. I
saw no less than three dead rattlers today.
Ewww… Anyway, Flynn is a
challenge. It snakes around sharp
corners, it is gets narrow, and it goes up and down.
When Flynn decides to go down, it does so in style. It is a snaking and fast decent coming out off the hill. My brakes were really put to the test. It curves so much, I that I didn’t want to get to fast going down. I kept my speed around 15 MPH, let it go up to 20 a few times, but to many curves to come down like a bat out of hell. However, I have never been so happy to be coming down. I felt like a champion. I wish the truck that passed me when I was coming down would have taken a picture of me. The smile that split my face was probably one of the biggest and most radiant of my life.
I had worked my ass off going up and over the Altamont Pass. I had answered the Sirens call and road in
their lovely hills. I had seen the beauty
of the hills. They had punched me, and I
punched back. I am not going to lie; I
think I love those damn Sirens. I think
next to climbing Del Valle this might be my greatest accomplishment on the
bike.
An hour an 1:10 minutes on the bike, 1,000 feet of climbing and just under 10 miles and I stood at the revered corner of Flynn and Patterson Pass and I stepped off the bike to take a picture with the sign.
Our story doesn’t end there though. Maybe, I should have turned for home when I
got to GreenBill and Patterson Pass.
That would have perhaps been the smart thing to do. No one ever accused me of being smart though
and well, it was a mental health day at work, and I had another 24 miles of
riding planned for the day. I just put
the really hard part at the front of the ride.
So, I went left on GreenBill and headed up GreenBill #1.
I didn’t try to mess with keeping my gears going up and over
GreenBill #1. I immediately went to
Granny Gear and Mountain Climbing Gear.
My legs were already pushed to the limits going up Carroll. No reason to torture myself. After all I am not sadistic.
Once over GreenBill #1 we raced down Tesla and I did race
down it. I cranked at over 90 RPM and around
20 MPH. I wanted to catch this couple
riding in front of me. Just to see if I
could do it. I could and I did. I told the guy to put a helmet on. I am not sure what he said back to me but
riding without a helmet is stupid. It is
just really, stupid. Helmets save lives.
I know my helmet saved my life in July.
From Tesla, I took Concannon Road to Holmes. From Holmes I went to Murietta and from there
to Los Positas. See I had more climbing to
do, about 300 feet of climbing to be exact.
So, I head to one of my favorite climbs the Collier Canyon. It is a longer climb but it isn’t too steep,
and it is a just a nice ride out in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t need to get 1600 feet of climbing in
today, but I really wanted to. Perhaps I
am a little sadistic? I love climbing
Collier Canyon, the only thing better than climbing it, is going down it. I did start to get tired towards the end of
the Collier Canyon and the final little push up and over Corneal to Manning was
rougher than I wanted it to be, it wasn’t bad, but I knew I was tired, I just
didn’t know yet how tired I was. Coming
down Manning to North Livermore is fast and fun. Little effort is needed. I was just over 30 miles, and I was sore and ready
to relax. All the hard stuff was behind
me.
Then I turned onto May School Road. So, when I turned East onto May School Road and
its perfect flatness, I expected to be able to coast home. The Wind God had other ideas for me, because
turning on May School I was greeted with a relentless head wind. There had been little to no wind all day
long. So, where in the fuck was this
coming from. Damn you Wind GOD! DAMN YOU!
I changed gears, I pushed through the wind. I sat up, I leaned down, I changed gears
trying to get through the damn wind. I
never remember May School Road being so long, but it seem to go on forever, and
the wind, the damn wind just kept coming.
This is when I broke and realized just how hard I had worked
and just how tired I was. I started
screaming at the wind and more specifically the Wind God. All, I remember other than constantly yelling
that this wasn’t fair, that I shouldn’t have to ride into this wind was knowing
that I called the Wind God the C word on multiple occasions. No under my breath either. No, I was screaming like a freaking loon on
my bike riding into a head wind that was beating the shit out of me, and
swearing that I was in my own personal hell because the end of the road was
never going to come and the wind was just going to get stronger and I just kept
telling the Wind God that is was the C word.
If I had any good karma banked up, I lost it all in the last mile ride down
May School Road.
It didn’t matter that when I turned, and I was coasting downhill
that I apologized over and over to the Wind God. No, it didn’t matter at all. I had put all my good will into a trash can, covered
it gasoline and tossed a match in. Apologies
meant nothing at this point, you can’t call the Wind God a C word, and expect
there not to be repercussions.
I could only laugh when I turned East onto Raymond and the
head wind hit me again. It hit me hard
too. I just put my head down and kept
peddling. I deserved it. I had talked trash to the wind and the wind
was putting this little spec of dust in its place. I realize that I hit the wall turning onto
May School Road and I was just exhausted.
The rest of the ride home was good but a grind, because of how tired I
was. When I 8 blocks form home and
turning into the neighborhood I knew Wind God wasn’t done with me because in
all the miles I have logged this summer, I never have felt a head wind on Meadow
Drive, but when I got on there today it beat the living shit out of me. I just
knew that was my old friend Wind God letting me know that she hadn’t forgotten
about me and no matter how many pagan rituals I did or how many apologies she’d
be there to blow in my face every chance she got. The bite me zone is a very real thing and
when I go there, I go in headfirst. So,
I hit the wall hard at mile 32, it was bad.
With all the cussing and wall hitting though, I am so proud
of myself. I climbed the Altamont Pass. I road Carroll like a champ and came out on
the other side of Flynn and Patterson pass.
WOW! I am so very proud. What a great ride and what a great day, even
the end of it, you take the good with the bad.
Fantastic!
Next Weekend is Bike the Bridges!!!!
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