Cracker Swamp bike shakedown

Team Ramen haunts a new spot

Spooky Page Mill

La Honda Creek OSP

Above the clouds and tarantulas

Mother Nature noticed me up past my bedtime and aggressively asserted I was to return southwest from whence I had come. But moooommmm! I'm not at a save point! Let me just finish this one ride and then I'll go to bed! She was having none of it and gave me her typical "try me" look. Her seeming disregard for my feelings made me a touch rebellious so I proceeded with my plans.

Validation photos: 

*** Table of contents ***
* Prelude *
* Ride report *
- East wind
- A questionable strategy

*** Prelude ***

After surviving the milk famine, I finally ran out of bike food. I only had enough to ride during the week or do a weekend ride, and I much prefer a weekend ride. As for which weekend ride, the choice was obvious. After doing this route the week prior, I had noted several wild furnitures that required proper documentation. The half-life for these is about a week, so I knew that if I didn't go out this week I would miss out on several of them permanently.

I registered for the ride on Thursday, and route owner Kitty notified me that I should expect some heavy winds. "Whatever," I thought, "it can be as bad as the bomb cyclone last October." In retrospect, I was correct, however I most certainly misjudged how bad the wind would be. I don't have a great track record for picking dates to do this route. Oh well.

Since I didn't have anyone to ride with this time, that meant I could take advantage of the San Jose start location and start Friday evening with the benefit of getting home at a nice time on Sunday to promptly draft up and report and publish my ride to Strava. It means a significant sleep disadvantage since I basically work a full day and then jump straight into a 400-mile ride, but due to all of the time I have available and due to starting in San Jose, I can take as many ditch naps as I want and not be hurting for time or for anxiously making the last BART train. Another obvious choice.

*** Ride report ***

* East wind *

I finished up work and left home shortly after 6:00 p.m. to start my slow commute towards San Jose. It is an awful time to make that commute, and I accepted that I would spend quite a deal of time sitting at traffic lights. No big deal, I have all weekend.

There was a little bit of excitement during my commute. First, as I was turning onto Morse Ave at a T-intersection where I had the right-of-way, a car waiting for me at the bottom of the T ignored the fact that I was making a left turn and started pulling out once I got close. It was now blocking my turn, and I refused to continue in front of the car because it already demonstrated poor judgment. I came to a stop since the car's intentions were unclear, and eventually I turned my bike around and then completed my turn behind the car on the wrong side of the street. Whatever.

Later on Capitol Ave, I waited at a stoplight while a woman got a green crosswalk light and proceeded past the median. A car making a left turn did not pay attention to this woman, and I saw it pull out once it got a green and nearly run her over. I am pretty sure the car at least gave her a light shove, but it did not knock her over. Suffice to say she was pissed and stood in the intersection giving the car a good what-for until my direction finally got a green and everyone cleared the intersection.

I started the official SR route Friday at 7:42pm, which was sorta helpful since I could benchmark my progress and make projections based on the speed run I did with Kevin from an ~8pm start in November. Not that I would expect this ride to be anywhere close! Right out of the gate I headed over to the first undocumented wild furniture location from 4.5 days prior. It was already gone. :( Undocumented chair #2 was a success as 2.3 miles before the Grandview Restaurant control. It would have been impossible to find naturally in the dark, as I had to dismount and shine a headlight off into an embankment where I knew to expect it. Undocumented folding chair #3 was a bust at the base of Sierra Rd. :(

My first noticeable encounter with the monster east wind was on Sierra Rd. The curvy nature of the climb meant alternating between a pleasant ascent vs getting blasted after going around a curve. I was reminded of Greg's experience from years ago where he got alternating headwinds/tailwinds as he made his way up the ascent. I've never experienced such winds on Sierra Rd, and the gusts kept trying to shove me off the side of the road. Fun.

Fortunately the Felter descent wasn't too bad, but then things got interesting again on Calaveras. Here's a road where you're changing directions all the time, and you're totally exposed to the east wind for the entire 10 miles of your out-and-back. Once again the wind kept interfering with my line and continually attempted to shove me off the road. Still I was able to maintain control of my bike while avoiding any potential debris that the wind may have thrown into the road. The descent into Milpitas was fine, but surprisingly I got some extraordinary sustained winds even on some of the lower elevation commuting roads that followed, particularly Warren Ave and Mission Blvd. Just wow. I considered getting some video clips but decided I'd already wasted enough phone battery taking a zillion photos of the moon on Sierra and Calaveras. And I don't really want more video haunting me with October's bomb cyclone ride still hanging over me.

Niles Canyon, Palomares, and Castro Valley Blvd were fairly uneventful. Things got interesting once again on Redwood Rd. Conditions were very inconsistent through all the road's ups and downs, clockwises and counterclockwises. Sometimes it was fairly peaceful and the road surface pristine. Other times the surrounding trees were doing their best to wriggle free from the earth and launch toward outer space, sending all sorts of debris to the ground during their struggle. Some trees maye have already made it to outer space, but it was too dark to know for sure. Descents required extra vigilance because I'd periodically come to sections of road packed from fog line to fog line with twigs, sticks, and branches, and no way to pass other than by coming to a stop and lifting my bike.

I took my first nap of the ride in a gravel lot with a huge clearing off of Redwood Rd. It was well past my bedtime and I wasn't in any particular hurry, so I may as well get in a nap while there's nobody around to disturb me. The gravel lot was surrounded by a forest of trees on all sides, and the wind was furiously howling. These were not your typical rustling leaves noises. It was more comparable to being on the high seas during a storm. I attempted a half hour worth of sleep and figured I'd top off my phone battery while I did so. Ruh roh. I couldn't get the phone to charge! Most likely I had taken a bad USB cable with me, so I'd be doing this entire ride on a single charge. If I remained in airplane mode the whole time I could probably do it, but I was bummed that I wouldn't be able to check email, Strava, or text some photos along my ride. Oh well.

After freezing for the first 15 minutes of my nap (more due to the wind blowing away my body heat than the pleasant temperature), I decided to put on my layers for the night. I also tried out a wool neck gaiter for the first time, and I must say, those things are OP. I stretched it over my face and it did an amazing job of blocking out the moonlight and keeping me warm. I'll be making plenty use of it in future rides! I woke up from my nap feeling refreshed (I guess) and had more of the same riding through the end of Redwood and Pinehurst.

Things got creepy when I descended into the neighborhood of Montclair in Oakland Hills. The town immediately greeted me with a massive gust of wind that forced me off my bike. I waited for an opening and then gunned it (I guess) toward the control in the middle of town. It was 5:10 a.m. on Saturday and the town was pleasantly lit with street lights and building signs. Suddenly, the town experienced a power outage and all the light immediately disappeared around me. All that remained was howling wind noises and creepy banging noises from a massive loose object hitting what I guessed was a garage door or metal fence. A loud building alarm sounded nearby and remained for the duration of my stay. As I took my control photo, the only vehicle in town drove up to the corner where I was standing and someone started to get out of the back of the vehicle. In my creeped out state I figured this was surely a pair of robbers who were going to brandish a weapon and take my bike from me, causing me to DNF my SR600. Instead, a woman finished stepping out from the back and silently waited a few seconds before wandering off into the darkness. A favorable outcome. Still unstabbed and with bike, I continued on my journey.

I've come to expect Grizzly Peak Blvd to be a total mess whenever there's any weather. This time I found an enormous tree had given up on its flight into space and splattered into the road resulting in a huge pile of tree pieces. Or maybe it slid down the hill neighboring the road. You decide. Either way, it was an impressive sight and I had to sneak by cautiously. There was no way through for cars, so that was a marginal benefit for me.

Sunrise in the Berkeley hills was magical. Vibrant colors in the sky overlooking the city lights, bay, and bridges. Just awesome. I had hoped to have completed my city riding by daylight, but it was worth it to experience the sunrise. I also got to see the Marin Ave fountain lights with some daylight mixed in, so that was neat. I tossed in a penny and wished for Dan to successfully complete his 10 SR challenge. I had a flyby with a guy in an SFR jersey about a mile from the end of Wildcat Canyon. We certainly knew each other, but my brain was not firing fast enough to figure out who it was. I still don't know. Hello, though! Undocumented wild furniture spot #4 was a success, half a mile from the end of Wildcat Canyon. :)

The winds had generally improved by now, but Mt Diablo remained much gustier than I expected. I saw a handful of cyclists walking their bikes down because they didn't feel safe descending in that wind. A bit disconcerting as I continued up. After slowly battling the wind for upwards of 200K by this point, I decided a ditch nap was in order. I found a hidden spot off the road with a beautiful view that my eyelids would sadly block from sight. The annoying winds didn't cause any material problems for the remaining ascent or subsequent descent.

After turning onto Blackhawk Rd, I made a tragic discovery. One of my headlights was missing! I already lost 2 of my best headlights last year and hadn't replaced them yet after the new year. I was down to my only 2 headlights, and now one was gone. It could be anywhere on Mt Diablo, and who knows if I'd even find it if I backtracked. Maybe it was where I took the ditch nap, or maybe it wasn't properly mounted and flew off when I hit a bump. This wasn't ride-ending, but it was going to hurt. I would be riding through some towns before night, but a bike shop search on my phone would jeopardize running out of battery and prevent me from taking the required control photos. My remaining light would have enough battery to get through a night, but the problem that came to mind was the Del Puerto Canyon descent. IMO it's a terrible idea to do that descent at night without superb lighting, and generally I run 2 headlights on their max beam for the sketchiest part of that. I kept pedaling and spent my remaining daylight working out a strategy.

Sunset came around the Mountain House bar control. Whereas I had enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures the night before, soon they plummeted to something more like what you'd expect of a January night near Central Valley. I used the remaining daylight to layer up and shuffle things around my bike while it was still convenient.

Later on my approach to Patterson Pass I recalled that I had removed a USB cable from a handlebar bag at the Mountain House control in preparation to keep my headlight charged while riding. Now I discovered I no longer had it with me! Now I was down to one headlight and one USB cable. I wouldn't be able to charge my Wahoo and my headlight at the same time. Not a deal breaker, but certainly more of an annoyance than before. Plus, this was a proprietary USB cable for my L&M Rando 500! I no longer have a functioning Rando 500, but I'll surely acquire another and it's useful to have these cables. Drat! Distracted from my USB cable loss, I added to my woes by failing to document 2 wild furniture spots from a week ago. Whoops. Guess I'll need to come back next week?

There was one redeeming beacon of good news though. Thanks to approaching Patterson Pass after sunset, I got a unique vantage that I'd never had before. I saw that the windmills in the distance had blinking red lights on them that blinked on and off in unison. I had solved the mystery of the blinking red lights! On several rides in the past I had observed these lights at night from Del Valle and always wondered what they were. Mystery solved. Windmill lights!

* A questionable strategy *

Entering the second night, it was time to execute the lighting strategy I'd pieced together during the day. The problem: a sketchy Del Puerto Canyon descent with my lone headlight. My solution: burn an absurd amount of time before Del Puerto Canyon in order to descend it at daybreak. And what's the logical way to burn an absurd amount of time at night? Copious ditch naps, obviously!

I was pleased to find the Tracy McDonald's open when I arrived shortly past 8:30 p.m. May as well stay there until they close up at 9. I got a couple extra McChickens to fuel me to Patterson. As I left Tracy I figured this pleasant 42°F would be as warm as I'd experience before arriving in Patterson half a day in the future. Better take as long of a nap as I can before leaving town! Tracy isn't too bike-friendly in my experience, so finding a good spot is important. Arguably I did not find a good spot. As I approached the outskirts of town I decided my remaining option would be a plot of grass at the edge of someone's property. I saw a car in front of their house and crossed my fingers that they were already home and wouldn't bother going outside the rest of the night. I successfully took a half hour nap there and decided I may as well try for another half hour. That second half hour was not quite so successful. With about 10 minutes remaining I heard a car slowly pull up and stop. I was sure they'd noticed me, and I certainly had no good reason to be there. I played possum, wondering with great curiosity what was going to happen. The car started creeping forward again, and I lowered my neck gaiter to sneak some glances. How should someone react when there's a cyclist taking a nap in their front yard? Well this person just left their vehicle and went inside. I did not stick around to see what would happen next!

Sure enough, the temperature dropped to around freezing as I got further away from Tracy. This would make ditch naps difficult, since I know from experience that extended ditch naps are not possible without taking extra measures to stay warm, such as using a bivy bag. It takes about 10-15 minutes for me to lose enough body heat that my body causes me to shiver uncontrollably so that I don't die. Fair enough body, but please remember I'm trying to burn a bunch of time, alright? This was still workable, but it meant alternating between 15 minutes off the bike losing all my body heat and then another stretch of riding to get all that heat back.

In a spooky coincidence, I had another creepy 5:10 a.m. experience. As I plodded along Mines Rd, I heard a scraping noise in the lane next to me. I looked over and saw I had passed the silhouette of a large animal. If it weren't for the scraping noise I wouldn't even have noticed it! My first thought was that it sure looked like a bear standing on all fours. Um, what the hell? There's no way that's a bear. Well, there's no way to know for sure unless I stop and turn around so I can shine my headlight in its face and get a good look. This procedure rewarded me with a good look at a cow. Oh, a cow. Yes, a cow makes sense. Hello there, cow. I'm glad you're not a bear, cow.

I lost track of how many ditch naps I took, but it was a lot. A whole lot. More than I've ever taken on a ride before. The temperature on Mines Rd continued to drop, and it was jarring how much difference a week made. The sustained temperature got as low as 21°F before I received my long-awaited daylight and got to warm up once again. In total I estimate I burned about 4 hours getting chilly ditch naps. But hooray, my plan had worked! I now had beautiful daylight, and the beautiful daylight even showed me neat things like frost accumulation on all the miscellaneous canyon plants. I've never seen that here!

You never know what to expect on Del Puerto Canyon. I've ridden several out-and-backs on it where the road condition was noticeably different on the return. I was happy to descend it in the daylight, and the steep, technical, and sketchy parts were a breeze. The descent into Patterson was not without excitement though. At mile 8, one of the few cars I had seen that morning approached from the opposite direction. Between me and the car, a boulder was bouldering down the cliff with a trajectory directly onto the oncoming car. The car swerved toward me in a partially successful attempt to avoid the boulder, but it still managed to hit the boulder with its front-left tire. I had nowhere to go, and I now had an oncoming car aimed at me, and I had no idea what to expect. Was the car about to flip over and squash me? Hopefully not, as that would almost certainly mean a DNF. The car stabilized and I imagine we both breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I reached the Patterson control at an outrageous 9:21 a.m. with plenty of remaining daylight and only 100K to go. As I entered the store I was surprised when a warm "Charlie!" greeted me. Mary was back! She changed jobs after the store ownership changed last year, but now she was back and making an extra $1/hr. Good job, Mary! We spent a good while catching up and I told her about the recent boulder experience on the way into town. It's a thing of beauty seeing Mary talk about Del Puerto Canyon. She used to live on the road and knows it in and out. She can describe it just as well as I can describe Page Mill or Bohlman. When I mentioned "mile 8" she described the spot to me with immaculate precision and recounted stories about other crazy things that have happened on that road.

Smooth sailing for the rest of the ride. I got my finish control photo at 4:08 p.m. for an elapsed time of 44h26m. Longer than usual for a solo ride, but happily it left me with plenty of time remaining in the weekend. Florian caught me on Tasman Rd or Great Mall Pkwy on my way home, making the remainder of my commute much more enjoyable.

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Charlie Martin

East Wind Super Randonnee

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Cracker Swamp bike shakedown

Team Ramen haunts a new spot

Spooky Page Mill

La Honda Creek OSP

Above the clouds and tarantulas

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