Dart Populaire

I rode my first Dart Populaire last Sunday. This is one third of a Fleche so it's 120km and you have eight hours to complete it. Other than that it has all the weird Fleche rules. It was hosted by the San Diego Randonneurs. There was only one team and it consisted of...

Myself
Kerin Huber
David Danovsky
Hector Maytorena
Keith Olsen

We started in Dana Point and rode along the coast towards Torrey Pines, then mercifully headed inland. Hector originally planned to finish at the top of a gratuitous climb called Mt Helix. I said "screw that" and he changed the end to a brewhouse.

The first control was at the southmost Angelos in Oceanside where I had a pineapple sculpin beer and a breakfast burrito the size of my head. Fortunately the pineapple dominated and you could hardly taste the sculpin at all. We lounged around here for quite a while but eventually had to move on.

Heading down the coast with a tailwind and a strong wind we made much better time than you are supposed to on a team event. I was pleased to ride on the Hwy 56 bike path, which the San Diegan riders user frequently, but I had never experienced. It's always nice to discover a new bike path. We also had to climb up a road called "Montezuma". I still haven't found a hill called "Montezuma" that I liked. For some reason I'm always going the wrong way.

We were soon at our next control which was a Shell gas station. We didn't really do much here because we had an enforced control (25km within the last two hours) within a few miles.

The 25km-to-go control was at a Carls Jr. I had DNFed at my 600k the prior weekend because of a nutritional error (too much protein and fat, not enough good carbs) so I was focused on eating carbs today. I was carrying two Trader Joe's scones which really hit the spot. I think I'll be using Perpetuum, Endurolytes, and scones on Willie's 400k in two weeks.

We covered the last 25km in 90 minutes to arrive at BJ's brewhouse at 4:30pm.

It was crazy busy so David got all our bikes into the back of his F250 which reminded me of Willie except not quite so "homemade". He drove us through nasty traffic back to the start of the ride and we all ate at Habit burger. Damn that's a good burger, especially after 80 miles of riding. Sorry, I was too hungry to get a photo of it.

Weather was great, route was great, good riding buddies - nice day.

Of Helmets and Wigs

I just finished reading a lengthy and interesting article in the Guardian newspaper online at https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/21/bike-helmet-cyclists-safe-urban-warfare-wheels. It's well worth the read and the plug at the end for the book https://bookshop.theguardian.com/bike-nation.html makes me want to buy it.

But the funniest part was the professor who measured how close drivers got while he was
1) Not wearing a helmet
2) Wearing a helmet
3) Wearing a woman's wig

It seems drivers give you wider berth if you're not wearing a helmet, perhaps because you look like you don't know what you're doing and might be less predictable. They give you an even wider berth if they think you're a woman (same reason?). It seems to me the safest headgear is a woman's wig that conceals a bike helmet.

Where can I get a reflective vest that says "POLICE: CAMERA CYCLIST"?

600k staff ride

Amber and I rode the Orange 600k staff ride last weekend but I flamed out at mile 170. It was a nutritional error compounded by sickness. We ended up with 210 miles and at least we succeeded in confirming that Amber will be able to ride the Million Meters of Milk ride in July. Her new 32mm tires relieved the pain in she had been experiencing in her wrists.

One thing I noticed is that the repeated sections of the route between the bike path and the hotel confused my GPS system. I have broken the route down into the three 200k loops that can be started individually each time you leave the hotel.

300k riders can continue to use the existing gps file
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18166171

400k riders can use
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19700350
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19695146

600k riders can use
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19700350
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19695146
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19695158

Note the gps files posted on the website are still valid - just not as convenient.

At this time there are no detours, road closures, road works, control closures or anything affecting the route. Of course we all know that CalTrans can and will close roads with absolutely no warning at all.

I want to remind you there will be no day-of-the-ride registration. I will post my room number on this Google group Friday evening as soon as I get to the hotel. Please come see me before 9pm to register and/or get your brevet cards. Please be sure to bring your applications, signed waivers, and cue sheets with you. I will have spares but not enough for everyone.

I will be in the hotel parking lot at the far end from the road at 4:30am to hand out brevet cards to riders who didn't get them on Friday. There will be a bike and reflective gear check.

If you didn't pre-register and couldn't get to me on Friday I will be able to register you after the other riders have started.

I will have water available in the room and pizza and soda from lunch onward. I will also make a trip to the Korean bakery because I know you guys like that stuff.

I hope you all have the same weather we did - it was perfect. Your long-range weather forecast is superb.

PS. Mark pointed out a discrepancy in the location of control #4. I will accept receipts from Shoreline Village OR Termino/Ocean.

Wind, Mud, Daughter

Last Thursday I took the day off so I could ride my Four Rivers 200k together. It was her first 200k for about 18 months because she has been so busy with her Masters and with work. She's hoping to ride Michele Brougher's 1000k in July so she needs to get some saddle time in. My Four Rivers is one of the easiest 200k brevets - normally.

The day before the weather forecast had predicted 8-10 mph winds but overnight they changed their minds and correctly predicted 20 mph winds from the North.

We had the usual onshore flow as we headed towards Huntington Beach and then even stronger headwinds as we headed North towards Sunset Beach. We rode on the beach path as we were barely able to hold 12 mph anyway. The beach was quiet which doesn't surprise me as the wind chill factor was 43F.

I was trying out my new GoPro Session 4 mounted on the end of my aerobars. The hardware is good but their software lets them down badly.

We continued inland on the San Gabriel River Trail with a strong side/head wind. One problem, of course, with strong side winds is that you expend energy not being blown off the road. Here's some video showing the turn onto the San Gabriel river trail. To be honest, the swaying of my bike makes me a little sea-sick. I think I need to invest in a helmet mount.

We headed inland to Montebello and had a nice subway sandwich in relatively calm conditions. Heading back there was still a head wind! This is the effect of a strong side wind.

Even though Stacey had warned me that there was copious mud on the Rio Hondo bike path, I decided to see if it could be ridden, especially as a mountain biker coming the other way said it was open. The first stretch had been cleaned but afterwards was a stretch of dirty water which I thought we could ride slowly to avoid splashing. I was wrong, it was sticky mud, the consistency of clay, with a sheen of water on top. The mud clung to our tires and rapidly enveloped the entire bicycle.

Listen to Stacey

We got to Shoreline village and ate at Tequila Jacks. We shared a chicken quesadilla and churros with ice cream. Very nice!

We had a very strong tailwind as we headed back to Huntington Beach.

As soon as we headed inland on the SART we had a side/head wind again. We had about 15 miles of tailwind and 110 miles of powerful head/side winds. So much for Amber getting an easy 200k.

I was wondering if there would be a way to mount an anemometer to the bike and integrate the wind velocity over time to get the total distance of air passed through. I bet this ride would have clocked 250km easily.

Fat tires on the road

Since my daughter bought her new Ti bicycle a couple of years ago she has had numbness in her hands at the 300km distance and beyond. We have tried double-wrapping the handlebars and buying new gel gloves but that hasn't worked completely.

I have read several articles over the years that say the size of your tires has more effect on comfort than either frame or fork material. My daughter's bicycle can handle up to 40mm tires or 34mm with mudguards. She recently bought some 32mm Schwalbe Durano tires from Amazon and mounted just the front tire.

We went for a 50 mile evening ride yesterday and she can really feel the difference. She is going to mount the rear tire too and I'm hoping we can find a day of good weather to ride my Four Rivers 200k permanent. Doesn't look like it's going to happen this weekend.

Michelle Brougher recommended "supple wall" tires from Compass. I can only mount 28mm tires on my bike so I might give these a try when the Gatorskins wear out. I really like Gatorskins, though.

2017 Five Rivers 300k Brevet

No plan survives contact with CalTrans
(paraphrasing Helmuth von Moltke the Elder)

Event results can be seen here. The results will be posted to RUSA within a few days.

February the 4th saw the 2017 edition of the Five Rivers 300k Brevet. I rode the staff ride the weekend before, I even drove the last five miles of the route on the prior evening. But CalTrans decided to shut down Serfas Club Drive late Friday night with no warning - the main connection between north and south Corona for cyclists - again. I really hate CalTrans.

However, that was about the only problem we had on this ride. It rained on Friday and on Sunday but on Saturday eighteen riders left the Best Western, Corona at 6am under dry skies but on damp roads. David and Doug had wisely messaged me that they would be late so I returned to my hotel room and they hit the road forty minutes after the rest of the pack for a total of twenty riders.

Our only casualty was Boris who broke his carbon seatpost about halfway through the ride and had to call his wife to pick him up. Fortunately he was unharmed.

While waiting for the riders to return I went to my grand daughter's first birthday party

and also drove over to a Korean bakery called "85 Degrees" and bought a bunch of pastries.

Sun Wei flew around the route and completed it in 11:18 - a new course record. This was my cue to order pizza. As the other riders arrived they were treated to pizza (of varying freshness), Korean pastries, and cokes. When half the riders were in I ordered more pizza and Lisa and her group timed their arrival perfectly to coincide with the fresh pizza. It wasn't as good as Greg's but the riders didn't seem to mind too much. The pastries were very popular and I will be doing the same thing for the Orange ride on April 1st.

Steve, knowing he would be the lantern rouge, texted me as he reached the later controls which was much appreciated. I was able to text him directions around CalTrans. He arrived safely at 12:45am

We had only a couple of light sprinkles and the normal headwind into Long Beach. Considering the weather we have been having in the area lately, we were incredibly lucky.

I had a total of 21 riders and 20 finishers. Congratulations to all of you and commiserations to Boris. I hope that seatpost wasn't too expensive.

2017 Five Rivers 300k Staff Ride

Yesterday I rode the Five Rivers 300k Staff Ride. I had a great time.

Before we get to the meat of the ride report, there are three things you should know.

1. East-bound Pomona Road is closed about a mile from the end of the ride. There is an easy detour on Railroad. The map at https://ridewithgps.com/routes/5726294 has been updated. The final cue sheet will be posted on the pchrandos.com website asap.

2. There is some light to moderate sand/gravel in some dips on the bike paths from the recent storms. I had no problems riding over it with 28mm tires. There will probably be less when you ride the course.

3. The Huntington Beach half marathon is scheduled for the day after the Five Rivers 300k. They may close the beach path while they set up for the run but PCH will be open.

I started my ride at 4am in 55F temperatures and very strong winds of 20-25 mph. Fortunately they were tailwinds, but that just meant I would have headwinds towards the end of the ride. As I sped towards the coast the temperature dropped to 52F. I spent a lot of time travelling at 25mph in the dark and admiring my Luxos U's ability to highlight sand, gravel, and fallen branches in time for me to deal with them. When properly adjusted, the Luxos' beam is second to none in terms of width and evenly illuminating the road up to 100 feet ahead. Its ability to push the beam further up the road when I was travelling at high speed was a true blessing.

I stopped at the first control and, unlike last year, I had decided to really enjoy the ride so I actually sat down at the Starbucks there and had a proper meal while watching the sun come up.

Second Breakfast

I continued north west, still with a slight tailwind until I turned inland expecting a massive headwind. But all I had was a slight 10 mph side wind and even that died down almost completely by 8am.

The climb over Santa Fe dam was as hard as ever but the view of the snow covered mountains from the top was spectacular. I live at the top of the one in the middle.

Snow covered mountains from a distance

Snow covered mountains up close.

Even at the next control in Duarte there was almost no wind. It was still 52F but 52 in the sun feels very different from 52 in the dark. I had a massive Italian sub and another coffee at the VIP dining facility at the 7-11. Fast riders will be limited to the 7-11 here, but slower riders will be rewarded with the option of pizza next door.

The 7-11 VIP dining facility

The next segment back to the coast nearly always has a headwind but today the wind was on my side for a change. I had a light tailwind until I got within ten miles of the coast and then I had a strong tailwind. Crazy but true. I made amazing time through this section.

It had warmed up to about 75F and it was the most beautiful day for a bike ride I can imagine. I had a leisurely lunch at Tequila Jacks and enjoyed a chicken quesadilla and a small beer while looking over the harbor. The yellow building on the left in the picture below is Twisters and Coffee which is a good option if you are in a hurry. One thing I tried today that worked is to ask for the bill when you get the food. That way you can pay and leave much more quickly.

Shoreline Village - yes, it was that pretty. No, that isn't my bike.

The beach path from Long Beach to Little Italy was surprisingly clear. According to the electronic counter next to the bike path I was only cyclist #431 for the day. I had a mild tailwind all the way to the turn off from PCH up to Castaway park - not that I'm gloating or anything :-)

If you look at the cue sheet there is a right turn at mile 147.3 onto San Diego Creek Trail. You can see the hard right after the bridge in the photograph below. Hopefully you won't miss the turn now.

Hard right onto San Diego Creek Trail. Yes, that is my bike.

I followed the trail all the way inland to the last receipt control at the Crossroads Center. I had another relaxed meal at the Ha Long Vietnamese Restaurant. It was all very civilized. There wasn't even enough wind to blow the straw wrapper off the table. That didn't last long.

Bahn Mi, boba, and a bucket o' caffeine.

Now I continued back inland towards Corona. Somewhere around the info control at mile 168 I realized I had picked up a headwind which quickly freshened into a 20-25 mph sufferfest. I couldn't really complain as I has been so lucky for most of the ride. I crawled up Green River road hill in my granny gear at about 4 mph into the teeth of a gale.

As I rode along Pomona Road I saw a sign saying "Road Closed". It looked pretty open to me so I rode over some dirt and onto the "closed" road. About a mile later there was a huge hole in the ground that I couldn't get over or around. I had to backtrack and find an alternative route. I guess they were right all along. At least you won't have to backtrack.

 The last 20 miles took me over two hours and I rolled into the hotel at 18:17 for a 14:17 ride time. I was 80 minutes slower than last year, but most of that was at the controls. My actual ride time was about the same.

The weather forecast for the 4th is cool and dry, but with mild, normal winds. See you soon.