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:
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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!
