76.6

 

76.6

 

 

9/9/2023 

 

Hard riding on the 9th.  It wasn’t so much the 76.6 miles but a combination of not being as well rested as I would have liked, being a little hotter than I like, and only having one ride last week due to travel.  

 

I was excited to try out my new big feet jersey and socks!  I finally found a pair of Bigfoot socks worthy, and I found it at the same time I bought my second big foot jersey.  

 

I took Kona to doggy daycare on Saturday.  That was a first.  The taking her on Saturday, not the day care.  My Angel is spoiled rotten and goes to daycare pretty much every weekday.  I love that they make such a fuss over her at camp.  They raced up front to see which one could take her back and ended up keeping her upfront with them for a while. I knew Saturday was going to be a long ride, and I was nervous about having her be alone for 8 hours so, I decided daycare was her best option and one that put my mind at ease.  

 

David and I left for the ride around 9 and we wouldn’t get home until 5:30. So, it was a very long day.  The 76.6 miles was also a new long for me.  

 

The ride started out like all my rides looping around the neighborhood once and then making a larger loop around the outskirts of the neighborhood.  Then we pushed out to Manning Road.  Manning will never truly be easy but riding each week has made it easier.   

 

On our way to the top of Manning we took the Highland bypass and headed out towards Camino Tassajara.  As normal climbing out past Manning, Carneal, and CCR I struggled with the climb and was slow.  However, eventually, I passed caught up to David and passed him.  I think he was waiting for me.  As we started to head down on Highland and I do mean going downhill, David came up on my left and told me going downhill he was on my left and he was passing.  

 

However, gravity as normal pulled me down the hill faster than David.  I am always faster going downhill than most people because there is more of me to pull down.  David was not able to pass me going downhill.  At this point, I took off, I just felt good, I am strong and in good shape.  There was a group of riders ahead of us and I was going to take each one of them.

 

There were seven riders in total.  Three groups of two and one solo rider up in front.  I was in a zone, and I just started reeling them in.  I felt great and I took them one by one.  I was very courteous passing them and let them know that I was on their left.  I was cranking hard and one by one I took them down.  It didn’t matter if we were going up or down or on flat land, I was in control and passing each rider when I caught them.  I was annoyed that as I was passing the last rider that David who came around with me took the opportunity to pass me while I was trying to merge over to the side of the road and going down a hill because it made sit on my breaks and drop back and lose my momentum, but it happens.  I was still really proud of myself for taking down 7 riders and keeping up a great pace no matter if it was uphill or downhill.  

 

We went right at Camino Tassajara and headed out towards Blackhawk and our first stop of the day or Chevron 1.  If we stop at a gas station, we stop at a Chevron.  First, there are a ton of Chevron’s in this area and second their water is cheaper than other gas stations.  Especially, the Valero’s, they price gouge on the water.  David and I are quickly becoming pricing experts on bottles of water in the area.  I ended up drinking 7 or 8 liters of water yesterday.  I am sipping pretty much the entire ride. 

 

After stop one we snaked our way through several roads and went from Blackhawk all the way to Walnut Creek.  It was technically only the second time I had ever been to Walnut Creek. It was good riding.  Not a lot of traffic.  We went from Blackhawk, to Diablo, Diablo to Green Valley, Green Valley to Stone Canyon or Valley, I can’t remember.  From there we turned off on Miranda.  Miranda took us to Livorna, then we turned off on to Lavender.  Then we took Lavender to Rudgear and then finally right onto Broadway.  Broadway took us to Newell and that took us through Walnut Creek.  We then took Lilac to Lancaster to Castle Hill.  This road runs us into Danville Road and then it is time to head back towards home.

 

Danville Road takes us all the way back into Dublin, but the road changes names several times along the way.  We then zig-zag through Dublin and head back to San Ramon.  Riding to San Ramon was challenging.  It was just a long slow grind.  We were getting close to 50 miles, and we were getting tired.  Plus, I knew in my mind that soon as we got to San Ramon, we would do some long slow climbing. 

 

Windemere going west to east is a long slow climb.  It is a pretty easy climb as far as climbs go, but at 55 miles any climb is a climb.  I love climbing it.  I really do.  It is a nice relaxing climb.  Plus, there is a good place for a water stop and a nice place to rest.  

 

David and I took a nice rest at the dog park at the top of Windemere.  We had a sandwich.  We reloaded our water bottles and chilled out for a while.  We talked a little bit about perhaps re-routing the ride.  It sucks crossing over 580 and we thought about bypassing that.  However, we decided to stay the course.  We weren’t sure how climbing backup Highland would treat us.  The route home was much flatter the way I had planned.

 

It was a great long ride, and there is only one more long ride until race day!  We are like 5 weeks out from the Century!

 

Ride Stats:

 

Distance: 76.56 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,585 ft

Moving Time: 6:38:24

Average Speed: 11.5 Mph

Avg Power: 195 W