2010 Ride Results and Notes
| Date | Ride | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Jan 2010 | SF Point Reyes Lighthouse 200K | 7:37 | Showers and sunshine made for spectacular rainbows over Olema. On Point Reyes, huge surf curled and broke against the beach in apparent slow motion, and birds hovered motionless in the wind. Russ Fairles and I stuck together for the entirety of this gorgeous day. |
| 6 Feb 2010 | SF Valley Ford 200K | 7:39 | This one was supposed to be easier and faster than Point Reyes, but it was not. Morning rain was blown away by strong westerly winds. I suffered a flat between Valley Ford and Tomales, and bonked on the climb to Nicasio. Thanks to Aron Mason, Peter Morrissey, and Russ for sticking with me. |
| 20 Mar 2010 | Davis 300K | 10:25 | Russ, Peter, and I rode hard at the front for the entire day. They climbed faster than me to the top of Cobb Mountain, but I spent almost no time at the summit checkpoint and found myself at the front heading back to Davis. Near Dixon we were caught by a large group that included Peter Burnett, Graham Pollock, and several other madmen. We hammered the last ten miles at 25mph into a strong sidewind, our double echelon spanning the entire roadway. Somehow at the finish Graham still had the oomph for a final sprint. |
| 27 Mar 2010 | SF Hopland 400K | 15:40 | Blue skies, mild temperatures, and sixteen hours in the fine company of Bob Buntrock, Peter, and Russ. All of us almost went down trying to avoid a squirrel on Westside Road near Healdsburg. Despite tough headwinds on the return leg, we managed to stick to Russ' ambitious schedule and remained in the running for an R60. It was also my personal best time on the distance, a couple minutes faster than Boston '06. When I got home, I discovered the reason for that oddly sluggish drive train in the last dozen or so miles: the bearings in my lower derailleur pulley had failed, and I had been dragging the chain over a stuck pulley. |
| 24 Apr 2010 | Devil Mountain Double | 13:56 | Wildflowers on Mount Hamilton were at their
peak—an astonishing display. My only goal for the day was to not
get too tired before the Davis 600K: I rode at my own pace the whole
day, well below the red zone until Sierra Road (mile 155). Then, with
a good finish time in sight, I pushed hard the last 50 miles. The
strategy paid dividends, and I completed the course more than two
hours faster than in my sub-par attempt last year, enough for a top
10% finish. It was not until the next day, by email, that I learned that Tom Milton, a fellow rider, had died of a heart attack on the east slope of Mount Hamilton. I was speechless. I don't think I will ever climb that road again without thinking of him. |
| 30 Apr 2010 | Davis 600K | 23:15 | Five years ago I would not have guessed that I had a sub-24-hour 600K in me. It definitely qualifies as an “epic” ride. I wrote a ride port. |
| 28 8Aug 2010 | Old Cazadero 300K | 14:12 | A ton of climbing, dirt roads, a river crossing, nice weather. It doesn't get much better. |