"cel" <cel@nospam.net> wrote in message news:sZudnVl7baEWSQXYnZ2dnUVZ_qyjnZ2d@comcast.com... >I would agree 100% with Mike J. I think less than 5% of active bike riders > could do the Milpitas-Hamilton-Livermore-Sunol-Milpitas loop without any > food, or water without ill effects. Most wouldn't make it, others would be > ill! > > I remember doing this ride on a hot summer day at 113F and seeing the > buzzards overhead. I thought if I was riding along and ran out of water I > would just be buzzard bait! That said, in the winter would be the best > time > if you had to ride it without water. > > Jobst's DNA must be related to camels. Fortunately, it was a beautiful, if slightly cool, day for the ride. I saw more people on the hill than I have in many years, possibly the most ever. As usual though, there's something about the conditions at the very top that make it seem much colder than it actually is, such that people were huddled inside the area where they have the bathrooms and vending machines. Vending machines which do, by the way, now take dollar bills! Unfortunately, it appears they only like *dry* dollar bills, so best to keep them in a plastic baggie. As I finished slightly before noon, I saw just a few stragglers just starting up, one of whom was in a very large gear pedaling very slowly and not making much progress. Hopefully he'll make it before daylight runs out! Most people started around 9am, with a few hardy souls returning as we were heading up (they might have been doing the "watch the sunrise from the top" routine, something that's never appealed much to me, being not-a-morning-person). Looked like the last large groups of riders probably started out around 10am or so. Unfortunately, it was cool enough that I was wearing my thicker gloves, which made using my camera very inconvenient, so not too many photos this year. Darn. The problem was that I couldn't depress the slightly-recessed on/off switch. Might have to glue a little something onto the glove. --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <mikej1@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message news:tifmh.24698$QU1.1999@newssvr22.news.prodigy.net... > "cel" <cel@nospam.net> wrote in message > news:sZudnVl7baEWSQXYnZ2dnUVZ_qyjnZ2d@comcast.com... >>I would agree 100% with Mike J. I think less than 5% of active bike riders >> could do the Milpitas-Hamilton-Livermore-Sunol-Milpitas loop without any >> food, or water without ill effects. Most wouldn't make it, others would >> be >> ill! >> >> I remember doing this ride on a hot summer day at 113F and seeing the >> buzzards overhead. I thought if I was riding along and ran out of water I >> would just be buzzard bait! That said, in the winter would be the best >> time >> if you had to ride it without water. >> >> Jobst's DNA must be related to camels. > > > Fortunately, it was a beautiful, if slightly cool, day for the ride. I saw > more people on the hill than I have in many years, possibly the most ever. > As usual though, there's something about the conditions at the very top > that make it seem much colder than it actually is, such that people were > huddled inside the area where they have the bathrooms and vending > machines. > > Vending machines which do, by the way, now take dollar bills! > Unfortunately, it appears they only like *dry* dollar bills, so best to > keep them in a plastic baggie. > > As I finished slightly before noon, I saw just a few stragglers just > starting up, one of whom was in a very large gear pedaling very slowly and > not making much progress. Hopefully he'll make it before daylight runs > out! Most people started around 9am, with a few hardy souls returning as > we were heading up (they might have been doing the "watch the sunrise from > the top" routine, something that's never appealed much to me, being > not-a-morning-person). Looked like the last large groups of riders > probably started out around 10am or so. > > Unfortunately, it was cool enough that I was wearing my thicker gloves, > which made using my camera very inconvenient, so not too many photos this > year. Darn. The problem was that I couldn't depress the slightly-recessed > on/off switch. Might have to glue a little something onto the glove. > > --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles > www.ChainReactionBicycles.com > I started up about 9:30 and was back down about 12:45. I was hoping to see you or your group but guess I missed it. There were still riders leaving about 12. There were quite a collection of folks climbing the mountain. By 9:15 most of the parking at Alum Rock was gone. I went down to the school which is where I normally start anyway. The only downside was the wind kicked up. About 6 miles from the top, it started to blow Made the descent a bit colder than I was expecting. By Grant's Ranch, it had warmed up. The wind did knock me around a bit, in particular coming out of some of the turns. For those going up later, I think the ride will be a bit rougher coming down. I think the wind will be a bit worse.

Does anyone know the name of the rider taken away by helicopter on Mt. Hamilton? On the descent, we were held up for maybe a half hour while the injured rider got flown to hospital. It happened on the second descent, after the first little climb. I heard he hit his head and was knocked out for a while, but he was sitting up after a while. We couldn't see what was going on, as they wanted room on the road to land the helicopter. -- terry morse - Undiscovered Country Tours - http://www.udctours.com/

> Does anyone know the name of the rider taken away by helicopter on > Mt. Hamilton? On the descent, we were held up for maybe a half hour > while the injured rider got flown to hospital. > > It happened on the second descent, after the first little climb. I > heard he hit his head and was knocked out for a while, but he was > sitting up after a while. We couldn't see what was going on, as they > wanted room on the road to land the helicopter. Ouch! What time was that? I arrived at the bottom right about noon. Glad to hear he was sitting up. The gravel didn't seem any worse than usual, maybe even a bit better this year. Haven't gotten any emails yet from others I know who were out there that day. --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReactionBicycles.com "Terry Morse" <tmorse@spamcop.net> wrote in message news:tmorse-46479C.18205201012007@news.covad.net... > Does anyone know the name of the rider taken away by helicopter on > Mt. Hamilton? On the descent, we were held up for maybe a half hour > while the injured rider got flown to hospital. > > It happened on the second descent, after the first little climb. I > heard he hit his head and was knocked out for a while, but he was > sitting up after a while. We couldn't see what was going on, as they > wanted room on the road to land the helicopter. > -- > terry morse - Undiscovered Country Tours - http://www.udctours.com/