Monday, March 9, 2015

Livermore Asshopper coming Saturday!

Send Roy and email for more info (jeep_royj...A/T...yahoo.com)

When:  Saturday March 14, 2015.  Coffee at Peet's at 6:45ish.  Ride starts at about 7:30AM.

What:  ~52 mile, 4 to 5 hour, non-competitive mixed terrain mini-epic with ~4200 feet of vertical.  Cross tires on a cyclocross/gravel/touring bike would be ideal.  Hard tail 29'er good.  Any mtb totally fine.  Road bike would be suicidal but it would be awesome to watch you try.  Be prepared for typical Livermore dirt (a few 20% grades and one or two short steep hike-a-bike over a mix of gravel and notverytechnical single track).  RAIN will not cancel but will eliminate all singletrack on the ride and shorten it by 5-7 miles.

Where:  Depart from the Livermorium Plaza (that's the little park next door to Peet's on corner of Livermore and First).  Route out of town around Brushy Peak, back through town via roads and bike paths over to Sycamore Grove, over and through Del Valle then back into town ending at Tequila's Taqueria (on the other side of Peet's).  If you don't have time, motivation or fitness for the entire 52ish miles then there are plenty of opportunities to bail or cut the course and rejoin (assuming you know the local routes).  I plan on having cue sheets to hand out at the ride.  

Why:  Because fun, different, free, and all those other reasons you ride a bike.

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March 9, 2015 update:
Here's a few questions no one asked that I've answered...

What should I bring?  This is 100% unsupported.  So bring what you need for a 4-5+ hour mixed terrain ride.  Bonus attaboy from me if you add in a small 1st aid kit.

Where are we going?  Crazy.  Oh, you meant, actual route info?  The previously posted route suggestion (peet's->brushypeak->sycamoregrove->delvalle->tequilas) still stands but the plan is to do Brushy Peak counter-clockwise (see link below but note that BrPk going CW). 
The rough flow of dirt/pavement is:
    ~8 miles road
    ~7 miles dirt
    ~13 miles road/bikepath
    ~16 miles dirt (with a short section of paved bike path)
    ~8 miles road
There's no prize and no one keeping track if you follow the exact suggested route so you can relax about that.  There WILL be a route sheet for guidance.  Bring a pocket-size ziplock baggy with you to keep the paper dry and ink non-runny. 

I absolutely won't have to run out of water or get left behind or pee out in public on the trail will I?  There will be two points on the ride where riders can use bathroom facilities and get water (actually there are several more but these two are the best and most direct.  Brushy Peak is the first and the point in between Sycamore Grove and Del Valle is the second.  Like most of the details on this unorganized ride we'll play the regroups by ear.  If we have large numbers, folks will just do their own thing.  If we have a manageable smaller group, we'll keep track of each other and do regroups.
 
Will I be sharing the trails and yielding to hikers and horses?  This is an important issue to me and mostly why I don't want the ride numbers to get too big.  The trails on this ride are frequented by hikers, joggers, horses etc.  Remember to be ridiculously polite in the face of any attitude encountered and try to follow the IMBA guidelines for yielding to hikers and horses.  The entire route is bike-lega,l to the best of my knowledge, and the best way to keep it that way is by being excellent ambassadors for our sport. 

Have you thought of everything?  Definitely not so be flexible and remember this is a free unofficial and unsupported day of fun.  Unfortunately I just learned that the Badger Cove Half Marathon/5K/10K will be running at Del Valle on Saturday so we're going to be doing a TON of sharing toward the end of the Del Valle portion.  I've been out riding during this event in the past and it was just fine as long as you enjoy the camaraderie of the trails and be a little patient here and there.

Weather:  Ma Nature is doing her job!  If we do get any rain this week it'll be early enough for dry trails on Saturday and the temps are forecast to peak in the mid 70's!