The day Mt. Hamilton almost blew away

wrote:

I felt a lot safer fighting 100mph gusts riding up Lee Vining Canyon
where there are no trees to fall on my head. That was exciting riding
and an entirely east slope phenomenon

No trees, but Lee Vining Canyon has risk of rock falls in Spring and
avalanches in the Winter. I've seen some really big boulders come
down when the snow melts in late Spring, and I've almost been shoved
off the road by an avalanche in Winter.

I'll take trees over snow.

I felt a lot safer fighting 100mph gusts riding up Lee Vining Canyon
where there are no trees to fall on my head. That was exciting riding
and an entirely east slope phenomenon

No trees, but Lee Vining Canyon has risk of rock falls in Spring and
avalanches in the Winter. I've seen some really big boulders come
down when the snow melts in late Spring, and I've almost been shoved
off the road by an avalanche in Winter.

I'll take trees over snow. (Terry Morse)

On a completely different note, what's your cycling goal this year? How many
feet of climbing? Or do you need to go for "quality" climbing rather than
"quantity?" Say, no more junk grades below 5%?

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

"Terry Morse" wrote in message
...
wrote:

I felt a lot safer fighting 100mph gusts riding up Lee Vining Canyon
where there are no trees to fall on my head. That was exciting riding
and an entirely east slope phenomenon

No trees, but Lee Vining Canyon has risk of rock falls in Spring and
avalanches in the Winter. I've seen some really big boulders come
down when the snow melts in late Spring, and I've almost been shoved
off the road by an avalanche in Winter.

I'll take trees over snow.

Bill Bushnell writes:

So on Wednesday I visited the storm surf on our coast instead of
trying a Mt Hamilton ride and was amazed at the high tide, huge
waves and lack of beach sand. Ocean waves were breaking on the
inland side of Pescadero Creek highway bridge similarly to those
breaking inland of the RR bridge in Santa Cruz.

I was at the mouth of Pescadero Creek on New Year's Eve at what must
have been low tide, or close to it. It's amazing all the junk that
gets washed down the creek to be deposited on the beach. I could
see that the high water line extended under the bridge into the
estuary. While Pescadero Creek was running at a furious volume, the
weather was warm, clear, and calm with no hint of the windy storm
that would hit the next day.

Here's a picture of what the beach looked like at low tide.

http://tinyurl.com/auykm

Interesting to me is that until the rains came, the creek did not
connect to the ocean but merely seeped through a high sand bar while
the cave in your picture was full to the top with sand. Even odder
for those who have never seen it, at times in late spring the entire
creek flows exclusively through that cave. When you see it full of
sand, or the raging torrent in your picture it is hard to imagine.

Jobst Brandt

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

On a completely different note, what's your cycling goal this year? How many
feet of climbing? Or do you need to go for "quality" climbing rather than
"quantity?" Say, no more junk grades below 5%?

No major cycling goals for 2006 for me. I would like to complete
Climb to Kaiser in less than 10 hours, but that's about all I'm
planning to focus on. My wife was starting to show cyclist widow
tendencies.

My focus this year is helping other riders enjoy cycling in
California. I've launched a bike touring operation that focuses
exclusively on California:

http://www.udctours.com/

Of course, there will be a few climbing trips. As many as people
will tolerate.

Hey Mike, I have some flyers. Would you like to put some in your
shop?
--
terry

Jerry wrote:
"Mike Jacoubowsky" wrote in
http://www.chainreaction.com/mtham06.htm for stories from various
You need to let them know that there are times when it is too dangerous
to venture out.

I feel Mike J's stories of his rides is just fine. Some of his rides are
simply too tough for average rider. Have you read his yearly reports of
Sonora Pass ?

Basically, i think the cyclists reading these or any ride reports should
use their own judgement of what they are capable of before attempting
anything they have only read about. OTOH, club rides are different -
because the club specifies the difficulty of the rides.

I think the main intent of any ride story is to give the reader a
feeling of being there and doing it. And including the exact situations
in the report is key. And knowing how that situation was handled is an
added learning experience.

my 2cents,
+ravi

On a completely different note, what's your cycling goal this year? How
many
feet of climbing? Or do you need to go for "quality" climbing rather than
"quantity?" Say, no more junk grades below 5%?

No major cycling goals for 2006 for me. I would like to complete
Climb to Kaiser in less than 10 hours, but that's about all I'm
planning to focus on. My wife was starting to show cyclist widow
tendencies.

My focus this year is helping other riders enjoy cycling in
California. I've launched a bike touring operation that focuses
exclusively on California:

http://www.udctours.com/

Of course, there will be a few climbing trips. As many as people
will tolerate.

Hey Mike, I have some flyers. Would you like to put some in your
shop?
--
terry

Sure, you can drop flyers off, no problem. But what got you into the bicycle
touring business? Have you suddenly become independently wealthy and needed
a challenging new way to use your free time?

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

http://www.chainreaction.com/mtham06.htm for stories from various
You need to let them know that there are times when it is too dangerous
to venture out.

I feel Mike J's stories of his rides is just fine. Some of his rides are
simply too tough for average rider. Have you read his yearly reports of
Sonora Pass ?

Basically, i think the cyclists reading these or any ride reports should
use their own judgement of what they are capable of before attempting
anything they have only read about. OTOH, club rides are different -
because the club specifies the difficulty of the rides.

I think the main intent of any ride story is to give the reader a feeling
of being there and doing it. And including the exact situations in the
report is key. And knowing how that situation was handled is an added
learning experience.

my 2cents,
+ravi

Ravi: I feel terribly guilty about selling that bike to you. Look what it's
done to you!!! You once had a future, and now you're a crazed cycling
lunatic. I should feel ashamed. How do I sleep at night? :)

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
...what got you into the bicycle
touring business? Have you suddenly become independently wealthy and needed
a challenging new way to use your free time?

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Like Terry, I got into the bike touring business too (Agile Compass
cycling tours, www.agile-compass.com, France and Italy). Got burned out
on hi-tech after 20+ years, the dotcom bust + offshoring was a good
time to do something different, it's more healthful than sitting in
front of a glowing screen under artificial lighting and recirculated
air, and it gets me back to my early days -- getting paid for something
I have fun doing!

If I were independently wealthy, I probably wouldn't choose to be a
bike tour operator. Even though it's enjoyable, it's a lot of hard work
coupled with a lot of uncertainty (at least for the first few years).
Instead, I'd probably just ride my bike.

Michael Khaw