I’m feeling strangely awake even though exhausted, so, a report on today’s ride:

Stats: 68 mi (daily total — the ride was 66 and Menlo-Atherton HS is about 1 mi from my house).
AVS: 13.1mph
MXS: 34.1mph (Crystal Springs Rd, also the first time I have violated a set speed limit because one section has a 25 mph limit)
Ride time: 5:12
Total time: The total time engaged in riding activities was from around 8am to 3:45 pm, or 6:45. Some of that was going to the ride and registering and that sort of thing, some was lunch, some was the rest stops and minibreaks we took.

This ride was really, really tough. I didn’t expect anything else, knowing that the climbing included both Edgewood and Stevens Canyon (plus Montebello up to the lunch stop) as well as a variety of other smaller hills, and that the total distance was 20 more miles than I had ever ridden in one day before. But it was still tougher than I had really imagined.

You can see the route on the site, but they don’t seem to offer a route profile. The climbs included Edgewood, Polhemus, rolling hills on Canada and Portola, Arastradero, Purissima, Elena, Summerhill (short), Stevens Canyon, and Montebello.

I was quite annoyed to discover that the lunch stop was not until nearly mile 50 by my computer (we missed one turn and backtracked — the route was not terribly well marked, with missing route arrows and sometimes a confusion with route arrows from previous rides). Aside from the annoying lunch stop placement and the lack of signage, the route was well-designed, with a nice combination of looping and backtracking, and a reasonable amount of time to recover from most of the hills. It helped that between me and my riding partner we were familiar with most of the roads that we covered, with the exception of Stevens Canyon which I had only been up in a car before.

The climb up Monte Bello to lunch was only 1/2 mile, but it was terribly steep, well exceeding the critical threshold for me. I had to walk substantial portions of the climb in the end, but I got up under my own power. On the way down, my riding partner and I got a ride down to the intersection with Stevens Canyon. Both of us felt nervous about such a steep, curvy descent on wobbly legs, and also felt that failing to descend that very short segment did not in any way compromise our sense of completion of the ride, in a way that failing to ascend it would have.

Lunch was better than I’ve had at other rides, but nothing particularly special — sandwiches, fruit, cookies, etc., even though they advertise as an attraction of the ride that the food is good. So that was a bit of a disappointment as well. The winery place is nifty, though I didn’t have much chance to look around, being more focused on giving myself food, water, and rest. They had a real restroom there (not a portapotty), which was awesome.

One of the best moments was up on Elena (a route through Los Altos Hills) with a stunning and unexpected view of the whole enchilada, right over to the bay and the East Bay hills. It may be a brutal hill to climb but at least it brings rewards. Today was also my first time on 92, Skyline, and Crystal Springs, and I enjoyed those quite a bit. Cañada is always nice, of course.

In general, the ride was really pleasant in the earlier part of the day, up to about the end of Elena. Then it started to get hot and tiring. It was pretty boiling by the time we got to Stevens Canyon, and the ride back was just a long slog back up Foothill.

It was a LOT of climbing. A lot. I don’t think it’s even as much as Waves to Wine either. I just can’t comprehend what W2W is going to be like. But at least I can see that distance-wise I can do it (though I’m still wondering about the second day — I have no reserves left today and will not be on bike tomorrow). I was only seven miles from hitting 75 today — a distance that would have been almost incomprehensible to me a few short weeks ago when a weekend of a 34-mile ride and a 15-mile ride (with plenty of climbing, but still less than this) tired me out to the point of deep exhaustion that affected me negatively for the next three days.

I had a lot of funky feelings in my feet and seat, but avoided chafing with copious reapplication of chamois cream, and overall am feeling sore in a lot of muscles I knew I had and some I didn’t, but I’m definitely still functioning and am, quite frankly, extremely proud of myself.