matjam
Crusty old UNIX engineer
This ride is for newbies & inexperienced riders who are looking to get some more miles under them without having to worry about lots of traffic.
If you're new to riding, and want to go on a ride with a group of people with a similar skill level, then this is the ride for you. The pace will be set so that it will be comfortable for new riders.
Experienced riders are welcome, but note that I will put you to work marking corners! If we have a bunch of people, it's handy having some experienced people in the field so the newbies have some good lines to follow. We won't be having an "A" pace group.
Note that it still will be chilly. Gear up appropriately!
This is the route:
Start Location: The Tower Mart gas station @ 4155 Suisun Valley Road, Suisun City, CA 94534
Start Time: Be there before 9:45am sharp. KSU @ 10am. Come earlier if you want to eat, I will be at Valley Cafe just down the road. You will need to be at the Valley Cafe at 8:30am if you want to have time to order, and eat. If you're late, grab a snack from the Tower Mart.
Date: Saturday, 28th of January, 2017.
The start point 45 minutes from San Francisco. Go over the Bay Bridge, follow the signs to Sacramento on the I-80, and take the Suisun Valley Road/Pittman Road exit from the I-80. Turn left at the traffic light, and it's straight down the road for about 5 minutes, the Gas Station is on the left, on the corner.
We will ride to Calistoga via Berryessa then do the 29 up to Middletown to have lunch at Perry's - this place is well known by riders and has a lot of excellent food and plenty of seating.
Once finished, we will continue the loop, riding through Middletown, grabbing some gas then heading to Lake Berryessa via Butts Canyon Road, and then onward back to where we started.
Make sure:
Corner Marking - The Australian Way
I didn't explain this last time, so I'll explain it here. We do this back in oz, this way, because many of the groups we ran people would always get lost and until we started doing this, there was always drama. Last time I did a newbie ride here, we had some people get lost ... so I'm doing it this way.
Assuming we have a decent number of people coming, I will nominate 3 people to be a "Corner Monkey". There will also be a "Tail End Charlie". (You guys call them "Sweepers".)
The TEC and Corner Monkeys will be wearing a sexy hi-viz vests over their gear, so they should be easy to spot. Corner Monkeys need to hang behind the lead rider as much as possible. TEC will always be at the back.
When the lead bike (probably me, also wearing hi-viz) points at a corner, the corner monkey marks the corner. It is up to them to pick the best position for this, it needs to be at the most logically visible place so that people coming up to the corner can see you. Park the bike pointing in the direction of travel.
The Corner Monkey does not leave his spot until he sees the Tail End Charlie. Even if it feels like a long time, stay there. I will eventually send someone back to see whats going on. Usually what happens is someone falls off and needs 10-15 minutes to get back on and going, assuming it's not serious.
Once the TEC arrives he will wait for the Corner Monkey to get moving and then the Corner Monkey should do his best so "safely" catch up to the front.
If you are an experienced rider and would like to help out, those of you with comms units are especially welcome, as it makes it a lot easier to get in touch when shit happens.
Please confirm in this thread that you intend to come. It doesn't have to be a firm commitment right now as obviously the dates are dependent on weather, but if you are able to pencil this in for one of those two days, and we'll try to figure out the best day to do it as we get closer to the date and the weather forecast becomes firmer.
In:
matjam
adobeamd
donglee
atoyf
alemeno214
Smash Allen
crispietogu
thinkabootit
annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnie +1 or 2
outta control + 4
cg_ops
Son-of-Ricardo
therealavi (98.273662837% sure)
KoMoDo
Madsen203
jkmfp20
elliomax
Gun.Lab.Jeep
mfisch707
Phil!
Kalen
If you're new to riding, and want to go on a ride with a group of people with a similar skill level, then this is the ride for you. The pace will be set so that it will be comfortable for new riders.
Experienced riders are welcome, but note that I will put you to work marking corners! If we have a bunch of people, it's handy having some experienced people in the field so the newbies have some good lines to follow. We won't be having an "A" pace group.
Note that it still will be chilly. Gear up appropriately!
This is the route:
Start Location: The Tower Mart gas station @ 4155 Suisun Valley Road, Suisun City, CA 94534
Start Time: Be there before 9:45am sharp. KSU @ 10am. Come earlier if you want to eat, I will be at Valley Cafe just down the road. You will need to be at the Valley Cafe at 8:30am if you want to have time to order, and eat. If you're late, grab a snack from the Tower Mart.
Date: Saturday, 28th of January, 2017.
The start point 45 minutes from San Francisco. Go over the Bay Bridge, follow the signs to Sacramento on the I-80, and take the Suisun Valley Road/Pittman Road exit from the I-80. Turn left at the traffic light, and it's straight down the road for about 5 minutes, the Gas Station is on the left, on the corner.
We will ride to Calistoga via Berryessa then do the 29 up to Middletown to have lunch at Perry's - this place is well known by riders and has a lot of excellent food and plenty of seating.
Once finished, we will continue the loop, riding through Middletown, grabbing some gas then heading to Lake Berryessa via Butts Canyon Road, and then onward back to where we started.
Make sure:
- Your bike is in good condition. Tires, chain, brake pads, etc.
- You are hydrated.
- You visit the crapper before you leave home.
- You fuel up when you arrive.
- You leave home with plenty of time to arrive at the starting point.
- You are wearing appropriate gear
Corner Marking - The Australian Way
I didn't explain this last time, so I'll explain it here. We do this back in oz, this way, because many of the groups we ran people would always get lost and until we started doing this, there was always drama. Last time I did a newbie ride here, we had some people get lost ... so I'm doing it this way.
Assuming we have a decent number of people coming, I will nominate 3 people to be a "Corner Monkey". There will also be a "Tail End Charlie". (You guys call them "Sweepers".)
The TEC and Corner Monkeys will be wearing a sexy hi-viz vests over their gear, so they should be easy to spot. Corner Monkeys need to hang behind the lead rider as much as possible. TEC will always be at the back.
When the lead bike (probably me, also wearing hi-viz) points at a corner, the corner monkey marks the corner. It is up to them to pick the best position for this, it needs to be at the most logically visible place so that people coming up to the corner can see you. Park the bike pointing in the direction of travel.
The Corner Monkey does not leave his spot until he sees the Tail End Charlie. Even if it feels like a long time, stay there. I will eventually send someone back to see whats going on. Usually what happens is someone falls off and needs 10-15 minutes to get back on and going, assuming it's not serious.
Once the TEC arrives he will wait for the Corner Monkey to get moving and then the Corner Monkey should do his best so "safely" catch up to the front.
If you are an experienced rider and would like to help out, those of you with comms units are especially welcome, as it makes it a lot easier to get in touch when shit happens.
Please confirm in this thread that you intend to come. It doesn't have to be a firm commitment right now as obviously the dates are dependent on weather, but if you are able to pencil this in for one of those two days, and we'll try to figure out the best day to do it as we get closer to the date and the weather forecast becomes firmer.
In:
matjam
adobeamd
donglee
atoyf
alemeno214
Smash Allen
crispietogu
thinkabootit
annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnie +1 or 2
outta control + 4
cg_ops
Son-of-Ricardo
therealavi (98.273662837% sure)
KoMoDo
Madsen203
jkmfp20
elliomax
Gun.Lab.Jeep
mfisch707
Phil!
Kalen
Last edited:
