Break the Ice: You Never Know

All of this training I put in for the Death Ride left me with this desire to take advantage of a fitness level I may never see again.


At the last minute, I signed up for the Santa Cruz Mountains Challenge -- it's a road bike century ride in the Santa Cruz mountains along the central California coast. The "Challenge" part comes from the fairly significant amount of climbing that's involved.


The 100 mile option has just over 11,000 feet of climbing. For the past two years, they've offered a "Double Metric" or 200k (about 120 mi.) with a total of about 15,000' of climbing.


I opted for the shorter 100 mi., 11k' version.

At the top of the timed Jamison Rd Hill Climb, I connected with an older gentleman I noticed earlier in the day. He looked like a vintage rider from back in the day. What first struck me was that he was not wearing a helmet. I'm not the "helmet police", but I do know that ride organizers usually have a pretty strict policy regarding helmets and I was surprised they hadn't yanked him from the course.


As we talked and recovered from the timed hill climb, I learned that this man was on the US cycling team in 1960 (before I was born) and again in 1964. In 1965, he was the US national champion, and traveled to Europe and raced in Italy. He also once held the US double transcontinental record (Santa Monica - Atlantic City - Santa Monica)
Victor Vincente of America

Victor (Born Michael Hiltner) was also inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1989 for early innovation and promotion of the sport of mountain biking.
MTB Hall of Fame: Victor Vincente
My Friend Sky, who operates Velocult.com, owns one of the supposed 26 Topanga mountain bikes produced by VVA: Topanga!


So anyway... My thoughts are this... You may be surrounded by interesting people and have no idea unless you take the opportunity to break the ice.


There are a lot of folks out there with an interesting story to tell.

Willits Ride!

Beautiful evening ride on my only 29er... Fully rigid Willits 29er Townie built by Wes Williams who was once an Ibis employee back in the company's early Petaluma days.
I always have fun riding this bike.

I'm not sure if Wes is still building Willits bikes, but his website is still up Willits site link

Today's Diet: Dirt and Anchor Steam

All the road bike training in preparation for the Death Ride made me miss dirt. With the Death Ride box checked, and the memory beginning to fade, I can get back to my roots and do something that I really love -- Cruising Mt. Tam on one of my vintage steel relics without a care in the world. I started in Mill Valley with a gentle climb up Railroad Grade to West Point Inn, then onward to the summit. Droping down to Pantol Station, I then grabbed the Coastal View singletrack downhill to the coast.

Northern California coastal beauty at it's finest.

I rolled through the Muir Beach area, then climbed back up to Pantol on Deer Flat fire rd. On the climb up, I ran into an old activist buddy from my younger days -- Mountain Bike Hall of Fame legend Michael Kelly. We chatted for quiet some time as we worked our way back up from Pantol to West Point. Michael is still going strong in the Mtb activist world -- working with IMBA and other national level groups. I can honestly say that mountain bikers would not have the access we currently enjoy if it were not for the efforts of this man.

MTB Hall of Fame - Michael Kelly

 After dropping down Railroad and back into Mill Valley (where all the beautiful people live), I indulged in one of my favorite post Tam ride adventures -- Parking at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and riding into San Francisco to weave in and out of the locals playing in Crissy field and tourists trudging along the Embarcadero. I ended up grabbing a crab sandwich and an Anchor Steam at the wharf. Most awesome carefree day I've had in some time.

Death Ride: Bucket List Gets a Check Mark

Well....July 14, 2012, finally hit.  It was time to step up to the plate.  All the anticipation and anxiety would finally end.  Would I survive?  Would I crash and burn? Would I conquer with great success?

The Tour of the California Alps -- The Death Ride, was upon me.

For the past seven months, every pedal stroke I put toward a bike was for this day.  Planning, training, researching....To fail would be devastation.

Well.. I did it.  I survived, and it was an amazing experience.  Riding over car free roads in some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen.  Mile upon mile of leg burning climbs followed by 50 mph descents.  Surrounded by friends and bike-loving enthusiasts.  With the most perfect weather.  I couldn't have asked for a more prefect experience.
 
The sun rising from the east shedding light on our side of the Sierra as we climb Monitor Pass for the first time.

View south east from the eastern Sierra as we climb up over Monitor Pass for the second time.

 Topaz Lake in the distance to the east as the sun is rising in it's morning arch.

View up the east side of Ebbetts Pass. 

 Advertised as 130 mi. with 15,000' of climbing -- the longest and hardest ride I have completed to date.  12hrs and 20 minutes on the course.  9 hrs and 43 minutes of wheels rolling.

Edit: July 2014
This marks my 3rd anniversary celebrating the Death Ride. Here's are two YouTube videos I shot this year: Monitor Pass and Ebbett's Pass descents.

1987 YETI FRO

One of my all-time favorites:




1987 YETI FRO (For Racing Only)
One of the earlier 1" FROs with a round top tube
(Story is that they would occasionally run out of the oval top tubes and use the standard round tube)
Built with Shimano XT M730 / M732
Black hubs and cantilever brakes
1" Tioga T-Bone quill stem
1" Epoch headset (not shown)

More pics:

YETI F.R.O (1987)

Bicycle Therapy

My name is Joe, and I have a problem....

I have a healthy obsession for bikes and riding.

I plan to periodically add pics of old mountain bikes and stories of bike adventures.  Consider this my personal desktop therapy for the times I'm unable to tinker or ride.

Your clicks help.

Thank you.