Judy Barnes and I hooked up with Don Axtell at 6:15 am, and departed shortly there after. Off we went into the unknown. Unknown because of our lack of training miles, and saddle time that the foul weather of winter had dictated. We are fair weather riders, I hate to admit. We had plenty of food, plenty of warm clothes, and a fair amount of daylight, so off we went. Immediately getting off course ...
We went the standard route, but due to road construction, the course was slightly different. Didn't take long, though, and we were back on course and cruising toward the Big Hill.
The climb up Hamilton was uneventful. A little on the cool side, though. The views were spectacular on the way up. The wind had been blowing for two days prior, so the air was nice and clear. Excellant view of San Fransisco as we got close to the top. A totally awesome view of the snow covered Sierra Nevada greeted us from one of the very last turns at the top. Then we were there - the top of Mt Hamilton.
Happy as clams to have made it in a reasonable time. It was a good climb made even more enjoyable by Don's antics. He would ride for a while and stop for a sandwich, catch up to us, and stop to change clothes. Ride for a while, stop for a Three Musketeers (that's an Axtell Power Bar). Ride, stop, catch up. Ride, stop, catch up. All the way to the top.
We saw Big Alan Kayser, and Pete Klein at the top. They both said they were freezing. It didn't seem that cold to me. We had just gotten there and were still warm from the ride up, so it didn't take long. With that wind blowing and the tempeture at 40.1 degrees, it got real chilly, real fast! Alan and Pete were gone in a flash. That would be the last time we saw Big Al all day. More on Pete later. So we sat and enjoyed our snacks and tried to find some warmth. Then we gathered up ourselves for the gnarly descent down the backside.
Off we went. Lots of sand! Lots and lots of sand! Must have been from all that snow they got up there this year. We're pretty conservative on the downhill, so this situation made us even more cautious. If you have never been down the back on your single bike, let me tell you it is a real handful on a tandem. Always thankful for the Arai drumbrake! That puppy was smokin' hot by the time we got to Isabel Creek. Don was basking in the sunshine when we arrived.
I peeled off some clothes, and then down the road we go. It still has not gotten very warm yet. I have my vest, arm warmers, and leg warmers on . Don is riding with a t-shirt and shorts. I think all that climbing has made him a bit loony!
We're cruising along and we see Pete standing by the side of the road. We ask if things are okay. He says "No. My rear wheel was hungry and it ate my derailler. It tore the darn thing right off." Didn't break the hanger, but it was sure bent. We said we had some tools and we could fix it so he could ride on. He declined our offer and said he wasn't into mega-miles on a fixed gear bike. I really can't blame him. There are lots of ups and downs back there. So we bid our fairwells and off we go again.
The wild flowers were out in force. Beautiful, spectacular, fields. The scenery was a nice distraction from the anticipated torture of riding into the wind that was blowing pretty good by now. The ride was pretty lean on people this year, because you can usally count on getting passed by quite a few packs of hammerheads. But there were none on this day. Just Judy and me and Don.
In anticipation of the climb up Mt Mocho, which I affectionatly call Mt Blowcho!, we did a Power Gel and drank some water and cruised on. Soon we found ourselves at the Mocho reststop, only to see Pete lounging like a lizard in the sun. This is as far as the sag wagon had taken him. We figured we would probably get back before he did, so we did our best to console him.
Lots of bird watching people out there. Doing what they do best. Looking through the binoculars. All you had to do was point and the whole group would look. Funny.
We snagged our bag of grub and sat down for a feast. After a quick fuel stop we're ready to go. Down the road we go through numerous creek crossings and debris slides. At the Alameda county line it was portage time. Don rode across but we opted for the conservative option. The feet got a little wet but thats about it. A direct headwind slowed our progress now. Time to play the Game. Go only hard enough to make good progress, but not so hard you fry like bacon! We have had lot of practice at this game so we play it very well! Onward toward the flats and Pleasanton.
It finally happens; we get passed by a three-man hammerpack. Judy spots them in her mirror and says "You are going to let them go, aren't you ?" They were cookin' and I knew if we tried to hang, then that's what would happen to us. So off they went with their afterburners raging.
We hit Pleasanton and it was down right comfortable! Nice shady park to relax and eat our third lunch. A group of about 20 riders even sang Happy Birthday to a little boy lucky enough to be having a party there. Don tried to weezle some cake but it didn't work. We saw Paul Vlasveld and Lou Mason come in and visited with them for a few, then and off we went to grind up the long grinding Calaveras Rd.
This is why we were being so conservative all day. It does no good to fly all day if you can't finish with a smile. Calaveras can knock the wind out of even the most inflated sails. As far as climbs go it wasn't too bad, just long and grindy. The reservoir was full and the hills were a vibrant green so we had lots to distract us. Before we knew it we were done and sailing downhill. What a relief it was to not suffer severly on that climb. We were still speaking, so we must have done it right.
Down, down, down, we went into the flats of Milpitas. Dreading the 20 mph gale that would greet us, we conserved. The true blaster head wind never came. More like a severe cross wind. We did make a few short traverses directly into it, and it was blowing hard. We picked up Larry, a new club member, near the bottom of Calaveras. He seemed pretty pleased to have found some people to ride with. We had conserved all day and it was now time to get the ride over with. A major case of finishites always seems to show up about 5 miles from the end, and this year was no different. We blasted to the end, knowing we had put in an excellant effort to ride smart all day.
It took us 11 hours on the nose, slightly longer then last year, but we had no help from anyone this year. I think the group karma thing is good when the group is all willing to participate. With no one to ride with, I think this year's Mt Hamilton was more rewarding.
It's always a blast to ride the tandem. It's even more fun to do a difficult ride on the tandem. People often say "You did that on a tandem!", and I think "yeah we did !". Tandem riding is about being flexable and atune to your partner. I think Judy and I are very compatable tandem riders. We always have fun. I think that is something that is getting lost of late. Relax. Enjoy. Cycling is supposed to be fun. The Mt Hamilton Challenge is definitely tandem doable. Just be prepared, be conservative, and ride smart. You'll finish fine. And that is all that matters.