{"id":684,"date":"2015-02-08T12:41:21","date_gmt":"2015-02-08T20:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/?p=684"},"modified":"2015-03-01T14:54:17","modified_gmt":"2015-03-01T22:54:17","slug":"windy-mauler-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/?p=684","title":{"rendered":"Windy Mauler"},"content":{"rendered":"

Windy Mauler, 12\/30\/14<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a ride report for the Melcalf Mauler ride of December 30, 2014.\u00c2\u00a0 It was so windy that day that the ride leaders who met us at Metcalf Park, Joan Freed, Art Cruz, and Donny Axtell decided not to ride. Don asked Lisa Curran to be the leader, but after starting-up Metcalf Road, Lisa also gave-it-up.\u00c2\u00a0 I became the default leader and created this report as an email message to the riders.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks for co-leading the afternoon Mauler again today, Donny.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably a good thing that Joan & you didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try to ride today.\u00c2\u00a0 The windstorm was too much for everyone.\u00c2\u00a0 Minh and Paul did the backside but didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do Hassler.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m the only one who did the whole thing, including Hassler. But it was a struggle.<\/p>\n

I ask you and I ask Lisa, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Should we cancel this ride?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d No one says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Art joins us on the bikepath and we start chugging to the 101 overpass.\u00c2\u00a0 We could feel that it was a whippersnappin northeasterly.\u00c2\u00a0 As we approach the viaduct, Lisa decides to scratch.\u00c2\u00a0 She turns-around right there.\u00c2\u00a0 A good idea.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s galeforce sidewind on the viaduct.\u00c2\u00a0 Minh & Paul are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Woeing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on the tandem.\u00c2\u00a0 Jimbo Williams slices-across there.\u00c2\u00a0 He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shaped like a bladed spoke from the side.<\/p>\n

Art has had enough at the trail to Basking Ridge.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going up there\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, he shouts to me.\u00c2\u00a0 So it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just Jim, the tandem & Muy.\u00c2\u00a0 I thought that the hill would provide a windbreak but \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctisn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t so. Wind is pouring right-down the ramps, steady 20 mph, gusting to 35. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost as tough as a Summer Mauler when it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 90+ degrees.\u00c2\u00a0 I hang-back with Minh & Paul to see if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll bail.\u00c2\u00a0 Minh stands-up to stoke.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Man you crank this thing really hard and nothing happens.\u00c2\u00a0 It just won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go like my single bike. So you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re here to coach us, Guy?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, Minh, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not trying to push you guys.\u00c2\u00a0 I just want you to know that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s OK to cancel this ride at any moment.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How long does it take you to do this climb?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asks Minh.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Twenty minutes.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, Guy.\u00c2\u00a0 What is a REASONABLE time?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, asks Paul. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You guys should be able to do it in 24 minutes on a normal day.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0Minh comments, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to ride home after this ride. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bring lights. So we may just turn-around at the summit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

We drift apart.\u00c2\u00a0 Jim continues to the summit, turns-around and passes me as he returns to Morgan Hill.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m at the summit by 3:10 PM.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 30 minutes for my Mauler time today.\u00c2\u00a0 Twenty minutes of hill and ten minutes of wind.<\/p>\n

I realize that no one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to continue this ride unless I do so. I recall a conversation I had with Alison Chaiken yesterday.\u00c2\u00a0 We were doing Jerome\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s east hills goatgetter ride. Alison did San Felipe and Metcalf.\u00c2\u00a0 She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been living\/travelling in Germany and Holland for most of the year. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rented\/ridden bikes across a lot of country.\u00c2\u00a0 She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been blogging her adventuresome & scenic rides.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wonderful to return to this area and do these hills.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so beautiful right here.\u00c2\u00a0 Just going out on the Metcalf loop brings you to some of the prettiest places on the Planet.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy to be back and am looking forward to showing-up on Club rides.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a joy to ride around right here.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

OK, here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Muy,feeling the joy right here, ready to plunge down the backside of Metcalf.\u00c2\u00a0 This ride is not completely canceled.\u00c2\u00a0 There are small tree branches slithering in the road.\u00c2\u00a0 Watch for trees down.\u00c2\u00a0 Two PG&E trucks are flashing along a curve of the road past the rocket factory.\u00c2\u00a0 The trucks have a stake-out near a blue oak tree that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leaning toward the power lines.\u00c2\u00a0 Branches of laurel trees are bobbing, swaying, and switching with the wicked gusts.\u00c2\u00a0 The bay leaves switch-about in unison, like a swarm of minnows, all turning at once. There is some shelter from the wind as you go up to the eucalyptus grove at the summit of San Felipe.<\/p>\n

The scene at the grove is frightening.\u00c2\u00a0 The branches of the giant eucalyptus trees are waving like pom-poms and making the sound of crashing waves.\u00c2\u00a0 No large limbs are down but the road is littered with small branches, eucalyptus corns and scrolls of bark. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It could be worse\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, Muy tells himself. He was caught in a hailstorm at this spot once. It was a Tierra Bella Workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ride several years ago.\u00c2\u00a0 Supercooled hailstones stuck to his long-sleeve black jersey.\u00c2\u00a0 Muy was pokadotted with white pea-sized stones.\u00c2\u00a0 No windbreaker, no gloves.\u00c2\u00a0 He had to race down the arroyo to minimize the exposure to lightening and freezing rain.<\/p>\n

Chuting the arroyo is a challenge.\u00c2\u00a0 You have to slalom around the small branches and litter. Sure enough, a small branch whaps into the front crown of the helmet and a twig scratches the chin. \u00c2\u00a0Dropping-down this canyon is scary-enough without having the feeling that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a crazy third hand on the handlebars, trying to hornswoggle the bike.\u00c2\u00a0 Good thing this ride is cancelled.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m able to continue on the regular route through the hills and up Hassler hill.\u00c2\u00a0 As you near the summit of Hassler you get a magical feeling of ease. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re enjoying the force of the surging easterly tailwind.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe you could coast-up this hill. Major forces whip the bike as it careens down Hassler toward highway 101. Hassler turns and rolls-out onto a section where you are fairly close to the highway. The sun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so low on December 30 that you ride into the shadows of semi trucks headed North on 101. More rage and wonder.<\/p>\n

Returning on Hellyer Ave. is very wind-aided.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanks to your careful planning, Donny, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to go north, into this wind.\u00c2\u00a0 If we did, I would have dropped-out of this ride too.\u00c2\u00a0 Home by 4:30. I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to dust-off the bike for a while.\u00c2\u00a0 See you on the Hicks ride on New Years\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Windy Mauler, 12\/30\/14 This is a ride report for the Melcalf Mauler ride of December 30, 2014.\u00c2\u00a0 It was so windy that day that the ride leaders who met us at Metcalf Park, Joan Freed, Art Cruz, and Donny Axtell decided not to ride. Don asked Lisa Curran to be the leader, but after starting-up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=684"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":687,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684\/revisions\/687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}