Pray for Snow Ride -- Squaw Valley to Reno

We are up in Tahoe for Thanksgiving but sadly there is no snow to speak of. So of course I brought my bike up (together with some cold weather gear) to try and sneak in a ride. My theory being that if I bring my bike up for some fair weather riding, why then surely it will snow. Kind of like how it only rains right after you finally wash your car.

Well, as you can guess it did not snow. Not even close. But it turned out OK anyway. On the day after "Black Friday", we intended to head down to Reno to do some big box retailing and hit the Patagonia outlet. I decided to ride the bike there and meet Dana and the kids. Although I was about 20 minutes late on my estimated meeting time (due to lots of stoplights up S. Virginia St.), the plan went off without a hitch. The ride was pretty cold starting out around 9am, but I warmed up quickly and it ended up being perfect.

Stats:
Distance: About 60miles
Time: About 3:20
Climbing: Just under 5,000'

Map:
http://www.mtbguru.com/trip/iframe/8030?width=800px&height=600px&type=3


Leaving Squaw Valley

Martis Valley, looking over at Northstar

A good climb up Hwy 267 to Brockway Summit, then a positively SCREAMING downhill to Kings Beach. You go 40mph without even pedalling once over the summit. A bit faster if you are pushing some watts.

At Kings Beach

Up the Mt. Rose Highway

Looking down to Reno. That white dot in the middle is a casino lying around 4,400 vertical feet below. Its all downhill from here.

Had to take it very easy near the top due to potential icy spots. Yikes!

Cool view out to the Washoe Lake area from the Mt. Rose Hwy.

Pescadero - Tunitas Loop

I'm still doing the occasional long ride despite the shorter days. Weather in Northern Cali has been cooperating, though it stinks for skiing. Hence the importance of taking a multi-sport, multi-season approach to life. I ran over a 4 inch screw the other day on my morning commute. Caught it perfectly so it ran up through the tire, tube and blew a big hole in my rim. Major bummer. It looked a lot like this. Great excuse for a new wheelset though. Hello ebay!

Yesterday I hooked up with JG and Steve (reuniting the 2008 Death Ride team) and we rode the Page Mill-Pescadero-Tunitas-Kings loop. Both the weather and the ride were simply outstanding. Weather was quite warm and it was hard to believe Thanksgiving was less than a week away. Steve made it as far as Skyline and then pulled the rip-cord to attend to family duties. JG suffered through the entire loop with me, which was a huge move after being on a long business trip and having not ridden for awhile.

John climbing out of the silicon valley smog on Page Mill Road.

This soon puts you up into the wooded lands and quiet roads.

JG and me at the top of hill #1 (Page Mill @ Skyline). You have to have white shades if you want to ride with me. Extra bonus points if you have Big George's ludicrous Oakleys.

JG descending off the back of Haskins Grade towards Pescadero, which was $$$$ off the top.

Was hard not to stop in here for a bowl of soup.

Stage Road runs parallel to the coast from Pescadero through San Gregorio and ends at Hwy 1. Along the way, there are three nice little mini-climbs, as well as this ultra-cool welded steel contraption that I think is a tribute to our governor at the end of The Terminator.

And what goes up (again) must come down (again). Nice twisty descent on Stage Road.

We filled bottles and I was tempted to have a bud at the San Gregorio Store, where some locals were putting on a show in the back. I freakin' love this place, but don't forget to take your cleats off at the door. The big stove right inside the front door (and some piping hot coffee) saved my life after an ice cold descent off West Alpine last April.

One last hill on Stage Road before hitting the coastal highway.

California has a new hands free cell phone law, but you can still take pictures at 40mph with one hand on the bars At the bottom of this hill we turned right on Tunitas Creek, where Lance and the peleton will be heading during the 2009 Tour of California. This is a great climb from the beach to the ridgetop at around 2,000'. It is shaded beautifully the entire way up and is one of the best rides in the Bay Area.

At the top I turned back down and rode the upper 1/3rd or so until I ran into JG coming up. He was mashing well despite complaining, and we rode back up to Skyline together. I'm starting to get tired here, but all downhill from here.

A standard Woodside moment -- guy on $7,000 bike passing woman on another expensive mode of transport, and 30 seconds later we were buzzed by a Ferrari.

Seven Sisters Photo Op

My friend Matt Dixon has started a new business -- Purple Patch Fitness. He asked a few of us who have suffered through his indoor cycling classes to join him up on Mt. Tam to take some photos for his marketing materials. I'm always willing to pimp myself out and show off my fancy BMC, so of course I volunteered. The weather was simply ridiculous the day we were shooting. The Farallons and Pt. Reyes were seen crystal clear from the Seven Sisters and the late October temps were like a fogless summer day. The results can be seen all over the website and a few here as well. The photog is Martin Sundberg and he's quite good (http://www.martinsundberg.com/).