Rough Riders Rally Reconnaissance #2

On Monday, November 9, 2009 I spent five hours riding the main route for the July 23-25, 2010 Rough Riders Rally with my good friend Ed Levinson. Here are some photos from that adventure today.

Above: That's Mt. Diablo in distance, east across the Bay. I rode there yesterday, as you can see in this self-portrait from the ride up the mountain:
OK, back to the Rough Riders Rally recon pix:

Above: Ascending Green Gulch Trail, with Mt. Tam in the background.

Above: Descending Miwok Trail to Rodeo Beach, Ed met a friendly coyote.
Above: Ed above Rodeo Beach and its WWII era buildings. Bike: 1993 Bridgestone MB-1.
Above: Yours Truly above Rodeo Beach, en route to Battery Townsley. Bike: 1984 Holdsworth (my 1984 SF-LA record bike) with 32mm Ritchey 'cross tyres and 38/28 not-very-low gear.
Above two pix: Dropping down to Rodeo Beach from Battery Townsley.
Parting shot: Ed and Chris, friends since 1987.

The Rough Riders Rally is our new annual mixed-surface (road / trail/ etc) cycling festival based in Marin County which celebrates the "Any Bike, Anywhere" ethos. It promises to be a very fun weekend in an absolutely spectacular cycling paradise. Mark your calendar! (Mountain bikes are welcome, too!)

Click here for a preview slideshow (from the first Rough Riders Rally route recon) and a very rough route sheet of the Saturday route for the 2010 Rough Riders Rally. The route is approximately 45 miles with approximately 5000' of elevation gain and features single track, double track, fire road, gravel road, abandoned paved road, and newly paved road. Some consider this "mountain bike territory," but this route is 99% rideable by an accomplished Rough Rider on a road bike with 32mm cyclocross tyres (or on a cyclocross bike), and perhaps 90-95% rideable on a road bike with 28mm road tyres.

Special thanks to my long-time friend and local guide, Ed Levinson, a Furnace Creek 508 veteran who owned and operated a bike shop in Mill Valley for over ten years. (Our host shop for the Rally will be Mt. Tam Bikes at 357 Miller Avenue, as pictured in the slideshow.

This region offers truly superb cycling, with fantastic views of the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz, the Marin Headlands, Mt. Tamalpais ("Mt. Tam"), Tiburon, Mill Valley, the Bay Bridge, a bit of the Golden Gate Bridge, and dramatic, rugged Northern California coastline. Honestly, this is cycling paradise, a region unparalleled for its beauty, diversity of scenery and riding surfaces, and its cycling-friendly trail signage and local population!

Rough Rider Semi-Epic in the Santa Monica Mountains Planned for November 21: YOU are invited!

Both shots above: That's the view across to Stunt Road and Saddle Peak, the final major climb of this ride. We didn't make it that far back in May, but this time we will!

All are invited to this no-host semi-epic dirt/road ride starting at 26th and San Vicente (the border between Santa Monica and Brentwood. Zip Code 90049). Meet at 8am; Ride Start time 815am, to allow time for cross-towners to ride to the start.

PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS RIDE! Tell your friends, post to your blogs, forward to your email groups, and such. Thanks!

Route will head up Mandeville Canyon, Dirt Mulholland, The Hub, Trippet Ranch, Topanga Canyon, two unnamed, semi-secret fire roads, eventually cross the top of Old Topanga, drop onto Stunt Rd., ascend Stunt (the first paved road of the whole ride), down little known trails to the coast, then back on PCH to San Vicente for a pavement finish. Figure about 5 hours and 50 miles, but I can't say for sure. A few bail-out options exist for those in over their head. Pace will be medium-to-high, but stops will be made for scenic overlooks and photos.

We rode this route back on May 17, 2009, but we didn't do the absolute, entire route because it was so hot and we were low on water. That abbreviated route was 40 miles with 4850' of elevation gain, though 4500' of the elevation gain was in the first 25 miles. This time we plan to do the whole thing, which will be about 50-55 miles with perhaps 5500' of elevation gain.

Here's the write-up from May 17 and here are the photos from May 17 (a few samples are here on this page). But that was then and this is now. Come be part of history!

Most Rough Riders would probably want to ride a "mountain bike" on this route, or at least tyres in the 40mm or wider range. (There's a decent amount or loose, rocky stuff.) Definitely bring three bottles, two tubes, patch kit, etc. There is essentially nowhere to buy anything along the route. Be prepared. (I rode a road bike with 32mm tyres on May 17 and may do so again, but most riders would find that inadequate or uncomfortable.)

Trust me, this is a fantastic route in a wondrous area. I LOVE riding these mountains!

Feel free to RSVP by posting a Comment below this page on the blog, but it's not necessary.

Note: This ride is unhosted, unsupported, and everyone who shows up is on their own. Neither we, nor anybody else, is responsible for anyone who rides. If you ride, YOU are responsible for YOU and YOUR bike. This is not an "event" - it is just a ride on dirt roads for like-minded people.

(Remember, we Rough Riders enjoy getting "out there" by riding roads, dirt roads, trails, and paths on whatever bike we happen to be on or have handy. Sometimes the pavement's long gone and we're still on our "road bikes" or some bike that would be commonly considered inadequate for the job - and that's just fine by us! Rough Riding is not defined by the type of bicycle or type of riding surface. Rough Riding is a state of mind, a riding style with limitless freedom and an all-pervasive sense of adventure.)

See you out there!

Here's the ride report and slideshow, posted after the ride.

Rough Riding on 21bikes.com

Check out the latest addition to 21Bikes.com!

That's yours truly with my 1984 Holdsworth, as featured many times on this blog in various Rough Riding reports.

The concept of the site is simple. You upload a photo of you and your bicycle. If they like it, they will post it to the site within one of their 21 bike-specific categories. Then, once the picture goes live, it gets voted on and shared by our users.

You can submit a photo no matter what type of bike you ride, how old you are, where you live in the world, or what you look like. The only requirement is that the photo you submit include both YOU and YOUR BICYCLE. That means no pictures of random people cycling past you. The photo you submit has to be of you and your trusty steed. The better the picture, the better your chances of it being posted to the site.

Check it out (click the "Thanks" with a number link in the top right if you like it )- and post your Rough Riding bikes (with you!). Maybe they will add a 22nd category for Rough Riding bikes!

Rough Riders News: September 8, 2009

Hello, fellow Rough Riders!

We have a bunch of exciting news to report, so this is more of a newsletter than a single feature story.

MORE ON RIVENDELL
• BikeRadar's "First Ride: Rivendell Bombadil"
"Riding a bicycle loaded "Grapes of Wrath" style up and around the foothills of Mt Diablo in Walnut Creek, California has always been a pleasure, and the new Rivendell Bombadil, a double top-tubed steel 650B mountain bike model, is more than ideal for this and other two-wheeled exploits."

• BikeRadar's "Grant Petersen Interview"
"There's no stopping the technological advancement of the bicycle. Yet no one seems to have reminded Rivendell Bicycle Works founder and president Grant Petersen of this fact, and apparently that suits him just fine. Petersen clings to his beliefs like a mother to her infant child. Petersen believes strongly in what the cycling days of old conjure up, not only in the mind, but in the simplicity and beauty of a curved, cast lug. His passion goes beyond the aesthetic, though. At Rivendell, there's a focus on practicality beyond anything in our ragtag industry, and this has been enough to keep the company afloat since 1994, the year Petersen started it in the back office of his home in Walnut Creek, California."

• My Interview with Grant Petersen, back in August, 1992.

MORE ON MOUNT LAGUNA
Our friends at Velo Cult bike shop in San Diego recently cycled and camp edon Mt. Laguna, one of our favorite places in the world. It's a great rough riding, and road biking, locale and will be the awesome venue for our new Mount Laguna Bicycle Classic in April. Check out Velo Cult's spectacular black and white photos of their recent adventure there: Click here. Here's a sneak peak at one of the shots:LOCAL GIRL MAKES GOOD
That's the cute headline which "Cyclotourist" used to describe Elizabeth's appearance on the back cover of the Rough Stuff Journal, the fun and always interested publication of the UK's Rough Stuff Fellowship. RSF was founded in 1955, long before "mountain bikes," and dedicated to cyclists who wanted "to get away from roads and cycle on tracks and byways," i.e. off-road—our kind of people! Links: This pic in Cyclotourist's Flickr Photo Stream and Rough Stuff Fellowship

ROUGH RIDERS AT D2R2
Next year we really hope to participate in the Deerfield Dirt Road Randonnée. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy the photos, including this shot of one of our Rough Riders jerseys in action. More about R2D2.

ROUGH RIDING THE SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS The Southern California Rivendell Appreciation Society enjoyed an outing on some of our favorite dirt roads over Labor Day Weekend. You can see photos here. Here is their Flickr Group home page.

Thanks for your support and enthusiasm, everyone!

Rough Riding with Rivendell's Grant Petersen

Above: Chris Kostman, left, with Grant Petersen

On August 10, 2009, after spending several days in Marin County to prepare for the July 23-25, 2010 Rough Riders Rally, I joined the legendary Grant Petersen of Rivendell Bicycles for a ride on and around Mt. Diablo in Walnut Creek, CA. I rode one of Rivendell's newest models, the Bombadil. Grant rode one, too, though his was a prototype. Of course, we went "Rivendell style" with "street clothes" and Keen sandal shoes: no bike clothes, no bike shoes, not even attached to the pedals. It all worked perfectly and comfortably! Really, it was just a wonderful ride in a spectacular setting. I'd argue that part of Rivendell's success can be attributed to their location next to this fantastic mountain and its hundreds of miles of trails, fire roads, and even paved roads.

I've known Grant since I interviewed him for an article for California Bicyclist in 1992 and have respected and admired him ever since. It was an honor and a pleasure that Grant - as head of marketing, bike design, etc at Bridgestone Cycle USA - sponsored me in 1992-1994. There were just four of us on Team Bridgestone. When Grant started Rivendell Bicycles in 1994, the least I could do was to sign on as one of his first members and customers. It's been fun and enlightening to keep track of Grant and his cohorts' efforts there in Walnut Creek for the past 15 years. Everything they do comes from the heart, and from their experience out there in the real world of multi-surface cycling.

In our Flickr gallery are some photos of various bikes at Rivendell, followed by shots from our ride together on and around Mt. Diablo (this page just has a few of the highlights). Grant insisted on shooting several shots of me at one of his favorite photogenic spots along the trail. He then honored me by adding one of the shots of me to the rotation of images which display on the http://www.rivbike.com website, so you can see that here as the final image of this collection (or on the Rivendell website).

Above: Photo of Chris Kostman by Grant Petersen

About the bike I rode, I have to say it was one of the very most amazing rides of my life. I'm still stunned at how beautifully it handled everything we threw at it, especially the winding and often steep single-track. I have ridden drop bars off-road plenty, but generally on road bikes in a traditional roadie position. This was my first time with the drop bars high and close (short stem, that is) and it handled perfectly while feeling extremely comfortable. My hands naturally gripped the brake hoods and the balance was absolutely superb. I had absolute control, but hardly needed any; the bike just knew what to do; very little input from me was needed. Practically auto-pilot, you might say! if I were in the market for a "mountain bike," this is the ONLY bike I would even consider; it's that good and that much of a winner. It has no competitors as far as I know. Kudos to Grant and his colleagues for this amazing design. More on the bike below. Meanwhile, be sure to peruse the rest of this blog here at http://www.XO-1.org for more about this type of cycling! Also be sure to join us for the Rough Riders Rally in Marin County in 2010!

According to the Rivendell website, "The BOMBADIL is a stout-tubed mountain bike for rough riding and heavy loads. It's not Dutch-heavy, but by contemporary standards of expensive, fine bicycles, it's out there on the edge. The tubes are about extra strong, reinforced, and there's a second top tube to create a small strong triangle even on bigger frames. It's a MOUNTAIN bike, and not a frilly-techy one for gram counters who race in their minds but not in the world. It's not for racing, period. It is a modern mountain bike in the spirit of a 1983 model. Maybe '84."

Links:
Flickr gallery of all the images of this ride: Click
July 23-25, 2010 Rough Riders Rally: Click
Rivendell Bicycles: Click
Racing on Team Bridgestone at the 24 Hours of Canaan: Click
My 1992 interview with Grant Petersen: Click