11.14.10 CR "refinery ride"

3 hardy souls in attendance: Jason Stone, Bob Freitas and myself. dubbed the 1st CR "refinery ride" by Bob the title didn't disappoint. we started out at the orinda bart station around 10am and admired the cioccs, coopers and masis for a bit then headed north on camino pablo riding alongside san pablo reservoir - this was the traditional scenic part of the ride and was quite nice in the late morning sun. just warming up then we would marvel later at the summer-like temps and lack of water on the route. we hit the bay around rodeo and went through the conoco refinery property - seems like a better use of this land nowadays would be upscale mcmansions with an incredible bay view. after a decent climb down the hill we went trying to pay attention to the road surface but mostly checking out the interesting scenery along the way. we stopped at the vista point overlooking the carquinez straight and learned about the native carquin indians and the 1st bridge built there in 1927. just before rolling into crockett i spied a restaurant named "the dead fish" - gotta keep that in mind for the next time out that way - love a place with a sense of humor... we had a bite at a deli in the thriving metropolis of downtown crockett then were on our way toward the more interesting scenic part of the route: Carquinez Scenic Dr. - this was very different but seemed a lot like the paradise loop ride without the pretense. we found port costa not intentionally, a tiny town with a few closed shops and what looked like the post office and a bar in one hosting several harley riders taking it easy on a sunday afternoon. backtracking a bit we found the closed to car traffic part of the road which was beautiful in it's own way. The section through martinez was pretty nice and i would've liked to check out the downtown area but we were way behind schedule so kept up a brisk pace back to orinda through lafayette partially on the lamorinda trail.

this was the route we took (as far as i could tell):

my pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericm/sets/72157625395838290/

Bob's pics here:

http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/NITROBOBs-GARAGE/Crockett-Martinez/?g2_page=1

Jason's pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21306332@N07/sets/72157625396750798/

'til next time, "Have a Nice Ride"...

L'Eroica 2010

finish of L'Eroica 2010
Originally uploaded by ericm

this is the finish of L'Eroica 2010. I rode the 38km route and experienced all weather types, muddy strada bianca, nice paved roads, nothing much that was flat, a beautiful country and many wonderful people. the ride was amazing in so many ways it is hard to know where to start. my 1972 torpado gt8000 was held in new york's jfk airport for an extra day and delivered to varenna the next evening - thanks american airlines. after assembly it was time for a ride to madonna del ghisallo from bellagio - this was a great all uphill steep and twisty ride with a sense of accomplishment at the end. make sure you have a beer & potato chips at la panorama on your way back down, it has an incredible view of the "crotch" of lago di como. after doing a few short rides around lake como coupled with ferry rides and headset bearing cage repair i rode in verona for a day and covered much ground and discovered you can have any gin you want in italy as long as it's gordons - sometimes you don't need vermouth or a martini glass but lemon rind IS essential... fast forward to gaiole in chianti and checking in at the fantastic cavarchino b&b just a few minutes walk to the center of town but removed enough to be quiet and peaceful in the countryside - the rooms are only 3 yrs. old and look brand new & ultra clean, the breakfast is way more elaborate than any b&b in italy i've ever seen. andrea is the consumate jolly host and extremely helpful in suggesting places of interest and making dinner reservations if you like. he even let me store the bikes in his garage and used his power washer to clean the mud from my bike after the race. i cannot say enough good things about the cavarchino and also vanessa ballerio of bike italia rando - she made all the arrangements for accommodations, race entry and logistics, race support on the course - you name it she did it, with some help from enrico to teach us a little of the italian language. met a few new people: john and sally pergolizzi now living in turin, steve and alan bernstein from ny, mark winikoff from santa barbara and rode the 38km course with dave and linda martinez.

the ride started with a small, cool downhill from the cavarchino into town to sign in around 9am - there was a small queue then off to bormio castle in the cool gray morning. flat for a few km then a slight uphill grade twisty for several km. at madonna di brolio we head up the gray pavement past a wonderful restaurant to the castle where the strada bianca begins. i rode a test of this section to get used to the white roads the day before for about 22 km so confidence was decent if not high. a few kms on the white roads it started to rain and kept up for about 8 km turning the strada bianca to mud - hey, at least it wasn't dusty! the rain stopped and my jacket dried out a few km later actually warming up to short sleeve wool jersey weather. rain, sun or clouds, the scenery and riders were amazing on the 38km course as historic character and utility bikes were only allowed on this short ride. we broke off the main all distance course for a short twisty downhill on pavement to the 38k ristoro where prosciutto, salame, french bread, olive oil, water, melon, pastries, grapes, etc. were being served by folks in historic dress... (to be continued...)

R.I.P. Laurent Fignon

It has been announced that Laurent Fignon, winner of the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984, but perhaps best remembered for finishing second by eight seconds to Greg LeMond in 1989 in the closest ever edition in the race, has lost his battle with cancer. The 50-year-old, nicknamed the Professeur for his studious looks and glasses, who died at 1230 local time today, revealed he was suffering from cancer in his 2009 book, We Were Young and Carefree.

R.I.P. Bob Maitland

From John Crump of the CR list:

Bob Maitland. Rode for the Concorde CC, Solihull CC and as a pro for BSA. Hercules etc rode the Tour of Britian many times and also the TDF. At one time he was a mate and competitor. Passed on at age 86yrs in France a few days ago. John Crump OldbutstllatitBrit. Parker, Co USA

more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Maitland

bespoke - the handbuilt bicycle...

cupertino to san carlos ride 8.22.10

what a beautiful day! i'm thinkin' the best weather so far this summer. made for a nice hard-as-i-could-go ride about 34 miles. started in cupertino then made it to foothill expy. and flew on the masi 3v to los altos for the vette show. those corvettes filled the entire length of main st. must've been every vette in the state was there - ok, maybe only 1/2 of them... after the show it was more hard cranking back on foothill heading north then left on alpine and right on portola valley rd. very nice riding and i notice the stone house is for sale again. wonder how much it is now? oh, listed for 2.3 - shoulda bought it 10 yrs. ago for 1 mil... continuing on i took mtn. home rd. to roberts mkt. since i was starving but didn't see anyone i knew to watch my bike while i got one of those long prosciutto sandwiches. saw reesie heading south on cañada rd. about a mile later but guess i didn't yell loud enough for her to notice - probably hard to hear anything when you're riding eleventy-seven mph. just about the 280 junction i ran into a couple young ladies and their dad selling lemonade at their stand - that was a life saver and got the masi and me the rest of the way home. thx masi and lemonade and a fantastic weather day!

'til next time, "Have a Nice Ride"

can you believe it? the city that once knew how knows how once again!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/transportation/detail?entry_id=69616