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official web site www.sfgate.com/tourdepeninsula/
Anyways so in the class people mentioned about a 'Tour De Peninsula' @ Redwood city. Most people said they were going to ride. So I decided to do it, as I haven't participated in any races before.
So I fitted my bike with sleek
tires (I wanted to for a long time!) to get ready for the race.
Also broke down and bought a CamelPack backpack too! Again the
people work @ REI are superb. I was doing some shopping after the
bike class and was staring at the hand-pumps section. A tech came
over and explained what should I consider and and why. My
reputation for REI grows every time I shop there!.
Back to races, the thing I immediatly liked about this one is it had 'shortcuts'. The full length of the cource is 33 miles but there were shortcuts for 17 mile & 21 mile. I am fixed on 21 miles, b/c the most I have done previously is around 15 miles at a time. So basically I will skip the Sawyer Camp trail section on the map.
The registration ground was
packed. I managed to get to a clerk in around 2 mins and she was
very surprised to learn my surname (Sivasubramaniyam). I bet that
must have been the longest surname she has ever encountered. I
was given #2102
race started promptly arond 8am as promised. Batches of 10 cyclists at a time were released to even out the jam along roads. There were sections of road 'coned off' just for the race. But in some places the it was too narrow, and people are zipping past in car lanes too!
I was easily climbing on some small hills untill I hit 'Mount
Neverest'. This is a very steep hill going up for about 2miles
(?) in Belmont area! Around half way of
climbing the hill I was out of gas. I just started walking my
bike towards the hill. Even walking it was darn hard as the climb
was streneous. I should practice my climb.
At the top of the hill there was a
rest stop. Very thoughtful!. Jelly Belly beans was giving away
their jelly-beans. Aquafina was busy distributing
water. Pretty much every one stopped for a while at the top of
the hill to catch the breath. Then it was some downslope
fun...
After some time I reached Sawyer
Camp trail head. This is where the 21 mile loop seperated from
the 'default route'. I took the 21 mile loop. 2nd rest stop. And
there were a couple of REI techs helping out the cyclists needing
help. nice. I met a tech who I met during the bicycle class
yesterday. He recognized me and we chatted for some time. He said
the class instructor and couple of other REI techs are also in
the race.
Then we made our way into Canada road. We had to cross (go over) the freeway, and there was lot of traffic. People in automobiles were honking and cheering us (which is quite unusual given Silicon Valley car-cyclist confrontations:-). Canada road as usual was blocked off for vehicle traffic (on Sundays)
Canada road ride was a pleasant
one. The final rest stop was at 'pulgas Temple'. There some
company (can't remember the name) delivered fresh-peeled oranges.
What a treat!
After Canada road, there was Edgewood. It was downhill all the way to the finish line. And that was a very steep downhill. Man, cuising downhill at exhilarating speeds... there are no words to describe it. I was going @ 30 mph all the way!
Finally the finish line! ahhh!
There was music, free food and a giant chronicle 'paper'. There
was a nice 'dirty shirt' for every rider.
My race stats from my GPS
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