August 7, 2005 Tour de Peninsula

[This page represents a bit of an experiment, as it actually resides at a different web address than our main site (www.ChainReactionPhotos.com instead of www.ChainReaction.com). This is because we were running out of space & bandwidth at our original site (literally too popular!), so we're moving some of it off the overloaded computers. Hopefully it will all work out! --Mike--]

This event's been going on for years, yet this was the first time I rode it. A definite conflict with the Mt. Shasta Century (which I really wanted to ride, with it's 17,000 feet of climbing in 130 miles), but it was an opportunity to get my 12-year-old out on another 30-ish mile bike ride, so I couldn't pass it up.

The organization was very good, with exceptional cooperation from local authorities (both Police and Highway Patrol). My only complaint would be with the rest stops which, while frequent enough (there were 5 of them), tended to have little besides water, not even the watered-down lemonade common at most club-run centuries. And even the water seemed somewhat rationed, coming out of individual 16oz plastic containers, making you feel a bit guilty filling up your water bottle with them! A ride like this, attracting a whole lot of newcomers, ought to have cokes & cookies. "Comfort food" as they say. If that means charging an extra $5, so be it.

Click on any of the photos for a much-larger version.
About 8am and my 12-year old (Kevin) and 16-year-old Nephew (Ed) head into Sequoia High School, the start of the Tour de Peninsula. Did we tell you about a bazillion people do this ride? This is a small number of them, waiting for the 8:30 mass start. Well, sorta mass start.
They actually release about 100 at a time, to control congestion. Finally on our way, first up Brewster to Alameda, the north towards Belmont. Pretty happy campers at the moment, with just a few small bumps on Alameda.
Pretty extensive traffic control, with coned-off lanes & Police Officers at every major intersection. That combined with the sheer number of cyclists, and you felt pretty safe on this ride. Of course, safe is relative, and nobody was safe from Ralston, the first and most-dreaded climb of the ride. In fact, shortly after starting up the hill a young kid in a car yelled out "You won't make it!"
One of many of our customers at the rest stop at the top of Ralston. Cruising along Polhemus and Crystal Springs Road, on our way towards the rest stop just under the bridge, prior to Sawyer Camp Trail. A bit of a climb again towards the end, as you near Crystal Springs dam. 
Riders entering & leaving the rest stop. Unfortunately, the rest stops were pretty much water and little else. Even watered-down lemonade might have been nice, although I suspect many people new to cycling would have killed for a coke! No stores along the way to buy anything either. My 12-year-old was  not a happy camper by this time! By the time we got to Sawyer Camp Trail, the faster riders were returning from the loop at the far end.
If you haven't experienced Sawyer Camp Trail; if you thought Bicycle Sunday was the quintessential away-from-cars cycling experience, think again!
Sawyer Camp Trail is about the same length (3 miles) as Canada Road, but completely secluded from any trappings of the modern, hectic world, with the exception of the 6-foot-wide paved ribbon running through the San Francisco Watershed's property. And only one minor hill, at the very end!
Someone had Ed, our first-time roadie, take a picture on the dam at the end of Sawyer Camp Trail. Sawyer Camp Trail ends at 280 way high above the SF Airport, about 17 miles into the ride (just over halfway). This was a much-needed rest stop for many, but unfortunately they ran out of water right as we left. The long, rolling cruise along Skyline (the section north of 92). Not too hard, but...
...there were a few who had just had too much of any hill by this point! Eventually what's been up must come down, and Skyline (finally) descends back down towards the the Crystal Springs Dam, where a bit earlier you'd turned onto Sawyer Camp Trail.
The weather was actually pretty darned nice, although it probably did reach the lower-90s about this point (Crystal Springs Dam rest stop) as Kevin showed that water's not just for drinking. The run across the top of the Crystal Springs Dam, as we head south towards Canada Road. The photographer wanted my name as we passed, but as Kevin was moving again at decent speed, I wasn't about to stop.
Sadly, Kevin spotted a couple of discarded C02 cartridges at the side of the road, which we retrieved. Things are finally looking familiar for Bicycle Sunday veterans, as Canada comes into view in the distance! At last, really familiar turf as we hit Canada Road, where the crowds have begun to thin out quite a bit, the faster riders having finished the ride some time ago. 
Still trying to master that over-the-shoulder shot as we descend towards the Pulgas Water Temple. Kevin's now a happier camper, since they had a couple bananas at the final rest stop (Pulgas Water Temple). This was the first time we'd visited the Pulgas Water Temple since it had been reopened, so we had to take a look down into the grate where, instead of seeing rushing waters, we saw... a lizard!
Back on the move again, looking forward to that final hill. Kevin didn't even ride up the easy part of Edgewood (nor did many others). But, with the camera rolling, he did get back on the bike and ride the last part over the top. Quite a few were resting in the shade of the overpass.
The climbing's over, just the big descent on Edgewood into Redwood City, with a silly flashing warning sign telling you not to use your front brake. Bad advice. Use both! The final run down Brewster, but Kevin's not celebrating until he's within mere feet of the moment he gets to step off the bike... ...and that moment's coming up shortly! 33 miles, about 2,000 feet of climbing, several bottles of water, and a couple banana halves. Kevin's Victory Salute as he's finally off the bike. His first 30+ miler (Delta Century) has about 100ft of climbing, his second (Sunnyvale) about 900ft, and this one 2,000ft. What's next?
One of many Chain Reaction bikes we saw on the ride. Our customers and their bikes were everywhere! But that makes sense, as this ride is in our hometown.    
       
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