Who's up for a rain ride?

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

From today's entry in my almost-daily diary
(www.ChainReaction.com/diary.htm)

12/30/04- AM I THE ONLY PERSON DISAPPOINTED WHEN IT'S NOT POURING FOR A BIKE
RIDE? Once again I was all set for an "epic" ride, and the weather report
certainly indicated there'd be no failing this time. Heavy rain & wind from
midnight-11am, so my 7:30-10am ride seemed to finally qualify for a real
drench & wind-fest. I got everything out the night before (so as not to be
stampeding around the house, waking everyone else up as I look for wool
socks or whatever) and went to bed, secure in the knowledge that the howling
wind and constant rain would be keeping me company in more than just my
dreams.

But dang, once more foiled again! I wake up not to the sound of wind across
my windows or water dripping from the drainspout, but just because it was
time to wake up (I do set an alarm clock, but usually find myself waking up
a couple minutes before it goes off). And when I open the shutters to look
out upon the world, I find it gray, but certainly not scary. Yes, it looks
threatening, and yes, there's a light rain falling. Looking west to the
hills, there's a small glimmer of hope that imminent doom is jus over the
horizon. So I'm hopeful of the worst as I put on wool socks, thermal tights,
heavy drylete base layer, long-sleeve jersey, shorts, waterproof pants,
waterproof jacket, balaclava, shoes, full neoprene booties, helmet,
wind-proof gloves and waterproof glove covers. BRING IT ON!

The roads were certainly a mess, and the volume of water coming off the
bottom of my front fender made me thankful that I got religion (regarding
fenders) a year ago. But it wasn't that cold (about 43 degrees), it wasn't
dumping (only mildly sprinkling), and it was only slightly breezy. Kevin was
out there, of course, although I don't know if he really quite gets into the
laugh-at-the-absurd mentality that makes me want to ride when it's nasty.
But it wasn't nasty, and shortly into the ride I found myself removing the
waterproof pants (the balaclava had already come off earlier) and glove
covers, and we enjoyed a ride over seriously-mucky roads but without any
serious challenge from the elements.

In all seriousness, I do find I feel more comfortable descending on roads
when it's pouring rain, since the traction is more predictable and the oils
are washed away. Today there were several times, particularly descending 84
into Woodside, when it felt like your tires just weren't all that well
connected to the road.

One interesting observation- most cyclists apparently decide the night
before whether they're going to ride or not, based on the weather reports. I
base this on the fact that, on those mornings when it's really not so bad
(but was predicted to be), like this morning, there's absolutely nobody else
out there. Yet on mornings when the weather's much worse, I'll see a number
of other cyclists out there, if the weather report had been somewhat
favorable the night before.

AM I READY FOR MOUNT HAMILTON ON SATURDAY? Absolutely. There's little chance
of a repeat of last year, when I woke up to rain smashing horizontally
against my window in 60mph winds, and wimped out. But, no way am I taking
the rain bike. The Iron Pig stays home this time, even if it means a 100%
disassembly and rebuild of my 5900. That's just the way it is.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

[John Michaels]

When and where are you meeting to ride Hamilton.


Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
> From today's entry in my almost-daily diary
> (www.ChainReaction.com/diary.htm)
>
> 12/30/04- AM I THE ONLY PERSON DISAPPOINTED WHEN IT'S NOT POURING FOR A BIKE
> RIDE? Once again I was all set for an "epic" ride, and the weather report
> certainly indicated there'd be no failing this time. Heavy rain & wind from
> midnight-11am, so my 7:30-10am ride seemed to finally qualify for a real
> drench & wind-fest. I got everything out the night before (so as not to be
> stampeding around the house, waking everyone else up as I look for wool
> socks or whatever) and went to bed, secure in the knowledge that the howling
> wind and constant rain would be keeping me company in more than just my
> dreams.
>
> But dang, once more foiled again! I wake up not to the sound of wind across
> my windows or water dripping from the drainspout, but just because it was
> time to wake up (I do set an alarm clock, but usually find myself waking up
> a couple minutes before it goes off). And when I open the shutters to look
> out upon the world, I find it gray, but certainly not scary. Yes, it looks
> threatening, and yes, there's a light rain falling. Looking west to the
> hills, there's a small glimmer of hope that imminent doom is jus over the
> horizon. So I'm hopeful of the worst as I put on wool socks, thermal tights,
> heavy drylete base layer, long-sleeve jersey, shorts, waterproof pants,
> waterproof jacket, balaclava, shoes, full neoprene booties, helmet,
> wind-proof gloves and waterproof glove covers. BRING IT ON!
>
> The roads were certainly a mess, and the volume of water coming off the
> bottom of my front fender made me thankful that I got religion (regarding
> fenders) a year ago. But it wasn't that cold (about 43 degrees), it wasn't
> dumping (only mildly sprinkling), and it was only slightly breezy. Kevin was
> out there, of course, although I don't know if he really quite gets into the
> laugh-at-the-absurd mentality that makes me want to ride when it's nasty.
> But it wasn't nasty, and shortly into the ride I found myself removing the
> waterproof pants (the balaclava had already come off earlier) and glove
> covers, and we enjoyed a ride over seriously-mucky roads but without any
> serious challenge from the elements.
>
> In all seriousness, I do find I feel more comfortable descending on roads
> when it's pouring rain, since the traction is more predictable and the oils
> are washed away. Today there were several times, particularly descending 84
> into Woodside, when it felt like your tires just weren't all that well
> connected to the road.
>
> One interesting observation- most cyclists apparently decide the night
> before whether they're going to ride or not, based on the weather reports. I
> base this on the fact that, on those mornings when it's really not so bad
> (but was predicted to be), like this morning, there's absolutely nobody else
> out there. Yet on mornings when the weather's much worse, I'll see a number
> of other cyclists out there, if the weather report had been somewhat
> favorable the night before.
>
> AM I READY FOR MOUNT HAMILTON ON SATURDAY? Absolutely. There's little chance
> of a repeat of last year, when I woke up to rain smashing horizontally
> against my window in 60mph winds, and wimped out. But, no way am I taking
> the rain bike. The Iron Pig stays home this time, even if it means a 100%
> disassembly and rebuild of my 5900. That's just the way it is.
>
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
> www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
>
>

[John Michaels]

I found the info on the Chain Reaction web site.

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

> When and where are you meeting to ride Hamilton.

If common sense doesn't prevail, we'll start from the intersection of Mt
Hamilton Road & Alum Rock at 8:45am.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

[Old Roadie]

The NAVTEQ map has a dot called "East Foothills" right by the SJ Country
Club. I hope that's where you mean...

In article >,
"Mike Jacoubowsky" > wrote:

> > When and where are you meeting to ride Hamilton.
>
> If common sense doesn't prevail, we'll start from the intersection of Mt
> Hamilton Road & Alum Rock at 8:45am.
>
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
> www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

[John Michaels]

Old Roadie wrote:
> The NAVTEQ map has a dot called "East Foothills" right by the SJ Country
> Club. I hope that's where you mean...
>
> In article >,
> "Mike Jacoubowsky" > wrote:
>
>
>>>When and where are you meeting to ride Hamilton.
>>
>>If common sense doesn't prevail, we'll start from the intersection of Mt
>>Hamilton Road & Alum Rock at 8:45am.
>>
>>--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
>>www.ChainReactionBicycles.com


A little south of SJ Country Club. Better starting place is the school
on Kirk Ave. You can go to ACTC web site and find a map to it.

[[email protected]]

> If common sense doesn't prevail, we'll start from the intersection
> of Mt Hamilton Road & Alum Rock at 8:45am.

Let's get this more accurately:

The ride:

http://tinyurl.com/2ebeg

The start:

http://tinyurl.com/4ttkv

At the red cursor.

I prefer to park behind the Ocean Market, just off Calaveras road
(HWY237) in Milpitas riding south on Piedmont to turn left on
Penitencia Cr, turning right on Toyon and left on McKee which takes us
to Alum Rock Ave and the base of Mount Hamilton Road (HWY130).
Continuing over the mountain to San Antonio Valley and Mines Rd takes
us to Livermore, from which we ride to Pleasanton and on to Sunol JCT,
from whence we take Calaveras Road back to Milpitas. That's a
beautiful 103 mile (7800ft) ride when the temperature is between 60F
and 90F. I won't bet on 01 Jan 05. I got in a good ride to the
Pacific today and got back just as it started to rain again.

You'll notice that this is an ancient map and that only Old Piedmont
is shown before the land was subdivided and a grid of streets
developed. However, Calaveras Rd is in the upper part of the map and
Penitencia Cr at the bottom. The Cursor is on Old Piedmont.

http://tinyurl.com/6bwt3

Jobst Brandt

[John Michaels]

wrote:

>>If common sense doesn't prevail, we'll start from the intersection
>>of Mt Hamilton Road & Alum Rock at 8:45am.
>
>
> Let's get this more accurately:
>
> The ride:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2ebeg
>
> The start:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/4ttkv
>
> At the red cursor.
>
> I prefer to park behind the Ocean Market, just off Calaveras road
> (HWY237) in Milpitas riding south on Piedmont to turn left on
> Penitencia Cr, turning right on Toyon and left on McKee which takes us
> to Alum Rock Ave and the base of Mount Hamilton Road (HWY130).
> Continuing over the mountain to San Antonio Valley and Mines Rd takes
> us to Livermore, from which we ride to Pleasanton and on to Sunol JCT,
> from whence we take Calaveras Road back to Milpitas. That's a
> beautiful 103 mile (7800ft) ride when the temperature is between 60F
> and 90F. I won't bet on 01 Jan 05. I got in a good ride to the
> Pacific today and got back just as it started to rain again.
>
> You'll notice that this is an ancient map and that only Old Piedmont
> is shown before the land was subdivided and a grid of streets
> developed. However, Calaveras Rd is in the upper part of the map and
> Penitencia Cr at the bottom. The Cursor is on Old Piedmont.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/6bwt3
>
> Jobst Brandt
>

http://bikemaster.home.att.net/routes/lvs_map.htm
This map is a bit more bike friendly.

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

Weather outlook be danged, we had a great ride! I'll get photos up later
tonight; got a few projects I have to take care of while it's daylight. But,
in a nutshell, it was overcast but never nasty on the climb up, with temps
running from 47 to 36 degrees. Everyone spent a fair amount of time inside
the (warm!) observatory which, by the way, does tours... even on New Year's
Day! So I suppose we could have a ride up there and do an observatory tour
as a bonus, such a deal.

We did get rain on the descent during the last 8 miles or so, but by that
time it was a toasty 45 degrees.

Film at 11 (actually, that's about the time I'll be posting the ride on our
website; I'll post the URL in a subsequent message).

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

[Peter]

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
> Weather outlook be danged, we had a great ride! I'll get photos up later
> tonight; got a few projects I have to take care of while it's daylight. But,
> in a nutshell, it was overcast but never nasty on the climb up, with temps
> running from 47 to 36 degrees. Everyone spent a fair amount of time inside
> the (warm!) observatory which, by the way, does tours... even on New Year's
> Day! So I suppose we could have a ride up there and do an observatory tour
> as a bonus, such a deal.
>
> We did get rain on the descent during the last 8 miles or so, but by that
> time it was a toasty 45 degrees.

For those in the East Bay, the ride up Diablo was very nice as well.
However we were stopped at Juniper Camp (3000' level) by a ranger
who indicated the road up was closed due to snow and ice. That was
also about the bottom of the cloud layer so there wasn't much likelihood
of good views farther up. Stopped at the junction where a club
member who opted not to ride was kind enough to meet us with hot
chocolate and coffee and then continued down to the sunshine in
Danville.

[John Michaels]

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

> Weather outlook be danged, we had a great ride! I'll get photos up later
> tonight; got a few projects I have to take care of while it's daylight. But,
> in a nutshell, it was overcast but never nasty on the climb up, with temps
> running from 47 to 36 degrees. Everyone spent a fair amount of time inside
> the (warm!) observatory which, by the way, does tours... even on New Year's
> Day! So I suppose we could have a ride up there and do an observatory tour
> as a bonus, such a deal.
>
> We did get rain on the descent during the last 8 miles or so, but by that
> time it was a toasty 45 degrees.
>
> Film at 11 (actually, that's about the time I'll be posting the ride on our
> website; I'll post the URL in a subsequent message).
>
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
> www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
>
>

That was you that I saw going down as I was foolishly going up. My
timing all day was off as I was delayed by car problems and problems at
the shop. Started off at 12:20. Got going on Hamilton Rd and it
started to rain. It was freezing. Really did do a rain ride.

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

> That was you that I saw going down as I was foolishly going up. My timing
> all day was off as I was delayed by car problems and problems at the shop.
> Started off at 12:20. Got going on Hamilton Rd and it started to rain.
> It was freezing. Really did do a rain ride.

I saw a number of "you" heading up in the hill in the rain. Did it keep up
the entire ride? I was prepared for it, and figured it would be like what
you experienced, but all we got was a bit of cold but really a very nice
morning for a ride.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com