All posts by Lucas

Davis Day Two

Today was a different kind of ride than yesterday. Today we took the Davis Bike Loop, a quite well-signed and mostly separated 12 mile loop around the city of Davis.

Ordinarily, 12 miles of flat would be pretty boring. We jazzed it up by riding it with 4.5 year old Ruth taking her own bike.

I was worried about the ride going into it. The route is mostly bike path, but parts are on roads, which Ruth had never ridden on before. 12 miles is also a long way. We certainly didn’t set any speed records, but it went really well.

The plan was for Anne to go first with Max in the trailer. Ruth would follow, with instructions to stay behind and follow Mommy. I would go behind, coaching Ruth on lane position, watching for obstacles and traffic, and generally keeping things moving.

We checked out of the hotel and pulled out of the parking lot to start out on road. Ruth did a good job of following and keeping her position. After half a mile or so, we were on the path.

Davis being a college town during a holiday weekend, the path was pretty quiet. We meandered through, cutting through parks and gardens. Anne tended to get a bit ahead, which meant Ruth could be a bit inconsistent with speed. I wanted to follow pretty close, which meant I needed to match her. It was never too fast, but I sure needed to keep my hand on the brakes.

We stopped at a playground at about the halfway point to let the kids run around. Ruth said she was having fun, but also using up her energy. That didn’t stop her from chasing Max around the playground, of course. She seemed excited about finishing the ride, so we got moving again.

There were several bike overpasses. Sometimes, Ruth would power up them. Sometimes she’d need to walk the bike a bit. After all, she’s on a single speed cruiser. At the top, she’d cheerfully hop back on and coast down the hill.

She did well on the road, although I think she got tired of my reminders about positioning. “I know, Daddy.” “I know you know, but i have to say it anyways.” Only once did she veer too far to the left, but a stem reminder corrected things.

We got to a stoplight which turned yellow after Anne passed through. Ruth followed my directions to stop, and we went through at the next one.

At one point, Ruth thought it would be fun to sneak up on Mommy. That was kind of fun, but “tiptoeing” up involved going slowly. I tried to encourage fast tiptoeing, but only with partial success.

We passed through some community gardens, growing all sorts of veggies. Anne was jealous.

As the ride wore on, I could tell Ruth was wearing out. She wanted to stop for water more often. She would stop on the uphills a little sooner. She’d also straight up say she was getting tired, although that she would see if she would finish. I told her I thought she would.

The last bit had some overlap with the end of yesterday’s ride, although we took a slightly different route through the campus. Finally, we made it back to the hotel, were we had left the car. Ruth had ridden the whole thing!

We packed up and got lunch, where Ruth enjoyed a much deserved cookie.

Davis Day One

As a now biannual tradition, we’re spending the weekend after Thanksgiving doing a little mini bike tour. Two years ago, we did an overnight loop between Napa and Sonoma valleys. Last year, Max was five months old, so there wasn’t much biking. This year, we’re in Davis, doing two days of rides. Much like Sutter Creek in the summer, we’re doing it as two one day loops, operating out of a single hotel.

Today was the long day – 56 miles and a pretty gentle 1000 feet of climbing.

By the time we were ready to roll out of the hotel, it was almost 10 am. So much for an early start. It was still cold, though, around 42 degrees. We bundled up Max in a jacket and under a blanket in the enclosed Chariot trailer. Ruth is pretty exposed in the Hase, so we got her in a regular jacket, her rain jacket, and rain pants.

After we got out of town, Ruth started comparing about her face and hands being cold. We got her hood up, which seemed enough to keep her face warm. We didn’t have any gloves for her, though. We spent some time trying to get Anne’s extra fingered gloves on Ruth, but she wasn’t having it. Eventually we convinced her to pull her hands into her sleeves if she was cold.

The morning was spent biking through orchards and the occasional vineyard. We had a pretty steady tailwind for a while, but then we’d turn, and it’d became a crosswind. Suddenly that nice speed boost would be an instrument of chill. Then we’d turn back, and it would be nice again.

We stopped for lunch just as the climbing started. We had an audience of wild turkeys and cows, which the kids enjoyed mooing at in between bites. By this point it has warmed up a bit, so we could put away some of the gear, and get onto the climbing.

The climbing section was through some foothills to get to the valley before the big hills. It was short, mostly pretty mild climbs, with some small downhill in the middle. I was a bit anxious about losing control while climbing slowly, like on our last ride around Mt Diablo. On one bit, I freaked myself out at a switchback and had to walk. When I saw Anne just power up, I knew I could do it. Ruth helped pedal, too, and it was just a bit more to the summit for the day.

The descent was nice, although it had too many blind corners to be able to really open up. There were nice views of the next set of grander hills, and the valley below. It was pretty short, but that was really all that we had earned.

Then it was back out the valley and through more orchards and ranches. We saw lots of cows, horses, even llamas, a few sheep, and some chickens. And some dogs, which were fortunately effectively fenced in.

One downside to riding in late November is that the days aren’t really very long. It started to get cold again, and dark. We put on some more clothes, turned on the lights, and kept going.

There was a nice sunset on the hills, but it was behind us, so we really didn’t get to see it. At one point, the angles were right so that the sun was lighting up all the retro reflective stuff on Anne’s jacket, backpack, and the trailer. It’s nice to see it working.

As we got close to the Davis city limits, our route put us on a bike path that ran parallel to the road. It was nice, although it randomly switched which side of the road it was on. Fortunately, traffic was light enough that it was easy to cross.

Finally, we cut through the UC Davis campus, went over I-80, and back to the hotel to find dinner.

Devil Mountain Sacrifice

We decided to go for a bike ride in the morning and afternoon today, before taking Ruth trick-or-treating in the evening. We decided to do a loop around Mount Diablo. We’ve done this a couple of times, both with and without the trailer. Anne picked out a route with a few new segments, but mostly familiar roads.

As usual, the ride went much later than we planned, even after the blood sacrifice we gave the Devil Mountain.

The first 15 miles or so wind through Danville and Walnut Creek, with a combination of streets and multi-use trails. This section is okay, but doesn’t really do much for me. We stopped for lunch at Newhall Community Park in Walnut Creek, which had a nice playground for the kids to run around in.

After lunch we cut over to Marsh Creek, where it gets a bit more rural, although with a golf course and country club. Ruth had me stop. She told me that her sunglasses had been by her feet, and then disappeared. She was unable to tell me how her sunglasses got by her feet, or give an idea as to how long they had been missing. I had Anne stay with the kids while I walked back along the road, looking for sunglasses. Just as I was about to give up, I saw them sitting in the shoulder. Daddy saves the day.

We also saw three recently dead deer in the shoulder within a mile. Ruth was very interested, especially the last one, where “I can see the bones poking out!”. After, she told me to be on the lookout for both alive and dead animals.

Finally, we turned on Morgan Territory and things started to really get interesting. There’s a nine mile climb (with a few short descents to keep things lively) to the summit, where there’s a parking lot with bathrooms, water, and some trailheads. Most of the road is a single lane for both directions, although traffic is pretty light. The climb varies from moderate to challenging, with some pretty steep switchbacks.

I just swapped my cassette from 11-34T to 11-36T, and I was eager to try my new lower gear. It turned out to be pretty difficult to use, even before I got to the lowest gear. I had a hard time keeping the front wheel from lifting off on the steepest sections. That made it even harder to navigate the switchbacks. When we tour, I expect to have front bags, which should help. I’ll just need to avoid the lowest gears when my front wheel is naked.

We were climbing up the last few dozen feet of the hill, Anne pulling Max, with me and Ruth a few feet behind her. Suddenly, I hear Anne curse, veer sharply to the right, then fall over perpendicular to the road. My way was completely blocked, so I also turned sharply right to avoid hitting her, while braking. I burned off what little speed I had to begin with, but couldn’t get my foot down and keep my balance, so I fell over too. I grabbed my bike to keep the trailer from pulling it down the hill, and saw that Anne’s bike was staying put.

We stood ourselves up, brushed each other off, and did a quick check for major injuries. We decided to walk up the last little bit and get to the parking lot, where we could more thoroughly check for damage, either to the bikes or our bodies.

Ruth was very excited about the whole thing. She said that we need training wheels. We all acknowledged that the fall was a little scary, but that we were all okay, and that both trailers did a good job of staying flat on the ground even when the bikes fell (yay good hitches).

We got to the top, and checked everything out. Anne’s elbow had a small cut, her brake lever seems a bit wonky, her seatpost got twisted, and her bottom bottle cage was bent. My elbow was scraped up pretty good and bleeding and I bit my upper lip, but the bike seemed unscathed. We inspected both helmets for signs of impact, but it looked like they didn’t end up making contact. I suspect we’ll both have pretty nice bruises on our hips in the morning.

We cleaned the cuts and scraps, and adjusted Anne’s seat back. We used the restroom, refilled water bottles, and generally took a breather. We talked a little about our options. We decided that even though we were a little shaken, we were still in shape to complete the ride.

By the time we left the lot it was about 6. We had hoped to be home by then, and the sun was about to set. The descent down Morgan Territory was lovely, the golden hills beautifully lit from the side.

Then there was just the final 15 mile segment back to the car. The first bit was less than awesome, with a very small shoulder, quite a bit of traffic, and fading light. Even with the reflectors and lights, it can be nerve wracking. I was worried about how it would work when it got fully dark. There were a lot of deer around, including quite a few hopping across the road tempting fate.

Fortunately, by the time that happened, the road opened up and gave us a really nice, wide bike lane. It was also slightly downhill, making for a fast return to the car. Still, it was almost 8 once the car was loaded.

We decided to get dinner right away. The kids were behaving like champs, but it was way past their bedtime, so we were on borrowed time. First we tried the Black Bear Cafe across the street, but it was still being build (last time we were there it was a Denny’s). Next, we tried a Chipotle, but they had a huge line due to their Halloween promotion. We started to go to the Togo’s in the same shopping center, but they closed at 7. I knew Anne was hungry because she suggested we go to McDonald’s. It was perfect — fast and salty.

We got home at 9:15, just as trick-or-treating was dying down. Anne managed to promise Ruth some special alternative for the next day, but we gave out a little candy while unloading the car. Anne took Ruth to a few neighbors before they shutdown for the night.

Even though the day was a lot longer than we planned, and we took some battle damage, I think we all had a good day.