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SPECIAL HAPPENINGS Wacko Route – Dale Blanchard My friend, Seth Brandes from Southern California , came to Northern California for events surrounding the Amgen Tour of California. We planned a ride starting at the Sunol Train Station on Saturday February 16, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. For this ride, we had originally planned two alternate routes to take: one called The Wacko Route and one called the Wacko Gonzo Route . We could have decided on the Wacko Gonzo Route . We would follow Calaveras Road out to the T-intersection at the bottom of The Wall (Calaveras and Felter). Then we would turn right, drop down to the four-way stop at Calaveras and Piedmont then turn left. We'd ride the three miles to the foot of Sierra Road, then up and over Sierra and back to the T-intersection at the bottom of The Wall. Then up The Wall and back to Sunol. That route is approximately 45.9 miles with 4,620 feet of elevation gain. As this ride was scheduled on the same day when the King of the Mountain event was held, we decided on the simple Wacko Route . Instead of turning right to go to the bottom of The Wall, we turned left and followed Felter up to Sierra and the Sierra Summit and then turn around and come back. That turned out to be only 42.8 miles with about 3,900 feet of elevation gain. When we were thinking about the Wacko Gonzo route Seth pointed out to me that the climb up Sierra Road was rated as a category 1 climb. I've since verified that. (Category 1 is the lowest, right? Barely discernible?) I think there may be something wrong with that rating, however, because all of the times I've ridden up Sierra, I've had no trouble discerning that I was going up a hill. We did the ride at a moderate pace with some sightseeing along the way. In addition to Seth and me, Amy, Burcu, Chacha, Don, Ken, Mike, and Murat came to enjoy a beautiful day.
At the top of Felter Road/Sierra Road, Ken came dangerously close to fame when he was interviewed by a KTVU reporter. Though he spoke at length, only a two-second segment was spared the cutting room floor. Robert Raburn, EBBC Executive Director, Speaking to FFBC Members Speaker: Robert Raburn, Executive Director of East Bay Bicycle Coalition (ebbc.org) It's is overdue for FFBC to have Robert Raburn fill you in about the goings on of our regional bicyclist advocacy organization. Some of the items he will present are the Alameda County Bicycle Ordinance, Regional Transportation Plan amounting to over $1B, $65M in Measure B funds, and your specific input as to what you want, and where the problem is. Robert is here to hear from you so he can tell local officials what to do. The EBBC receives some funding from FFBC to function as bicyclist advocate allowing us to focus on bicycling. |
