Mount Hamilton Revisited

聖誕假期那天才想起今個聖誕沒安排甚麼特別節目，那實在不成樣子呀！思前想後，一個人最有成就感的事莫過於「上高峰」，灣區三大峰以Mount Hamilton最近我家，又不需事先下載地圖（一條路直上），也沒有特別難上的路段，七年前Spring Break上去的記憶還有一點點，今天天氣又好得不得了！所以我決定再上Mount Hamilton；滋滋油油拖到差不多早上十時才離家，去到Joseph D Grant County Park，記得是要付費才能進入的，果然閘口有一部只收信用咭的機，不過壞了，浪費了我五分鐘時間，除了那裡實在不知何處可停車，亂兜了一會，竟然在較近山那邊發現了一個完全無人的停車場，那裡原來也是Joseph D Grant County Park某條行山徑的入口，雖然不知有沒有問題但不停那裡也沒有其他選擇，之後就戰戰兢兢地上路，皆因已有好幾年沒有獨自踩「荒山野嶺」，開始時實在不見有其他車或單車上落，年紀越大膽子越小！幸好想起Hana別再怕的歌詞：

不祈求 不知緣由 隨著我直覺走不停留 不想回頭 橫越海角宇宙晴陽就在雨後 晦暗迎來白晝命運的詛咒 未攔住我伴著你走
敢愛是別再怕 誰又會怕 懸崖邊往上爬感覺來自剎那 不花不假 我願誠實面對它相愛時沒有怕 多麼瀟洒 忘了記憶所有傷勢結疤哪怕任何代價

部份太陽照不到的路段的確還殘留著昨日未乾的雨水，當真就是晴陽就在雨後。而Sitting和Fever那段感人的愛情，加上三兄弟手足情深，及Hana的歌聲，都像在鼓勵我不要膽怯退縮！聽完Hana十八首歌後，已可見峰頂兩個圓圓白白的「波波」（即Lick Observatory兩支大型天文望遠境）其實到中午時份已陸續見到有單車友下山及汽車友上山，最難頂的反而是低溫和強風，下山時猶覺明顯，那只有「頂硬落」了，結果無驚無險回到起點，那時停車場已經全滿！可見該公園頗受歡迎（我以為十時半到已遲，原來一般遊人更遲來，可能是平安夜玩得夜吧）

Create Routes or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide

Fat biking in Tahoe

As I mentioned in my previous post I really wanna try fat biking, in particular, on snow and I did it today! After dropping off the rest of the family at Boreal for skiing, I made it to the Alder Creek Adventure Center at Tahoe Donner ~10am, which gave me about an hour to ride before the trails were closed to biking (by that time your bike got much less traction. It won't be that fun to ride) The Surly Wednesday fat bike I rented was actually in very good condition. To maneuver up and down (and across) the snow, you pretty much ride it like a mountain bike (of which the skill I surely lack :P) The cross-country skiing area at Tahoe Donner is actually very big and I have only explored a very small area within it (close to the starting point, i.e., the adventure center.) They allowed bikes on all dog trails and that's what I rode on. The "cup of tea" and "piece of cake" trails were just like what their names indicated: they were easy, and very suitable to get started on snow biking. I have also tried other steeper trails connected to them. Overall, I had a fun morning ride. The route:

Create Routes or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide

If I get a chance to visit further south, I should give Bear Valley a try.
For more info and hooking up with other folks that do fat biking in Tahoe, check out this FB group.

Biking on snow

The family just did a ski trip in Tahoe/Reno last month. Really not my type of activity. However, I have always been curious about riding a fat bike on the trails in the area and have been googling for the past few years. There are bits and pieces of info out there but this time I actually went in person to one of the places where one can rent a bike and ride: the Alder Creek Adventure Center for Cross Country Skiing at Tahoe Donner.  Too bad the snow condition on the trails were not suitable for fat biking when I was there as the snow cannot be too soft. The lady at the counter was very helpful and gave me this number to call (in the morning before you go): 530-587-9484 (or check the Grooming Report online) The cost is reasonable too: $19 for a day trail pass + $34 2 hour bike rental (if you don't have your own) Alternatively, if you have 2 or more people, you could join this tour which included instructions for snow biking skills for $90 per person. Both of them are in North Tahoe. I will try to find some info for South Tahoe and post it here. Most bike rental/tour shops mentioned they would reopen in the Spring. I think that's the popular time. I am looking forward to a snow biking trip some day.

Tour of the Big Island

I have a few days all by myself this March and I decided I need to bike somewhere. For some reason, I have my mind set on Hawaii's Big Island, probably because it was more do-able than Taiwan (which I hope I could ride around some day) I googled and found (surprise surprise!) Big Island Bike Tours (the first non-ad search result) I like the description of their "Circumnavigate the Big Island" multi-day tour and the tour days look good so I wrote them an email. No reply (found that it went to Spam for no reason) so I called and it was answered by Alex Candelario, the owner. He also sent me more details. I gotta admit I didn't see his bio on their website but instinctively I feel that name seems to be somebody so I googled him and indeed, he has just retired from professional cycling! And I immediately felt more confident about joining their tour. And I was lucky! Alex actually suffered from back injuries for the last few months and wasn't able to ride with the tours until ours. (Side-story: he drove the van on the previous tour and got bitten by a black widow in the middle of the 2nd night and suffered through the next few days of that tour. Poor Alex.) Riding with a former pro was definitely a super-cool thing to do. For one thing, Alex DO knows all these different routes all around the world. He even raced in Hong Kong (and knows the most famous cyclist from Hong Kong) With his experience riding Tour of California (I must have seen him in the peloton from the times I watch the tour in person or on TV), he is familiar with my usual routes like Old La Honda and the most challenging ones like Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Diablo and Tunitas Creek. On the first ride he told me to draft behind him so that we could catch the leaders of the group. During the whole tour he kept urging me to get the basics right: ride with high cadence and smooth strokes, including "pulling up" the pedal, and change the positions (between sit-down and standing) It's also cool to hear his opinions on PED users. (Big dislike!) Finally, he gave me some good tips on controlling my weight: snack with apple or baby carrot instead of junk food. For me, this tour is not cheap (spent a total of ~$5k) but I felt that it's worth every penny. In addition to the invaluable advices, Alex certainly didn't go cheap on the food and lodging (yes, even free beer!) I will break down the tour day-by-day (scroll down for stage 1.)

Tour of the Big Island: Stage 7

Create Routes or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide

This route covered another part of the Ironman biking course, i.e, Hwy 19 (aka "Queen K") between Hapuna and the Kona airport. And I rode all by myself, like a time trail. According to Alex, a lot of athletes came to the Big Island just to ride this course for training and nowhere else. Man, they don't know what they have missed. I did see a lot of riders that day. Even though it looked flat, for the 54 mile I covered, there were actually ~2000ft of elevation gain. The 2 free bottles of water from the hotel was definitely not enough. Fortunately I found this Blue Hawaiian Helicopter airport with 9 miles to go selling bottled water (and for $1 only. They certainly don't try to milk the tourists)  I was more tired than I thought by the time I returned to the hotel, which was around 11am. I was thinking about sneaking in a round of golf in the afternoon but I quickly nixed that thought (BTW, the green fee was $95, which was actually quite reasonable but I also need $55 for club rental) Instead, I took my sweet time for a good bowl of cobb salad for lunch next to the beach. Then swam a bit in the ocean and looked at the tropical fishes (some are big, longer than 1 foot!) The beach of Hapuna Hotel was one of the best according to the locals. Many spent time here to enjoy Easter. Then I took a hot sauna and a shower at the fitness center in the Golf course club house, courtesy of the hotel (I've already checked out) Sipped a Mai Tai while listening to the awesome guitarist/singer and enjoying the view of Sunset at the beach as well as the Hula dancer. After finishing my fish burger and strawberry shortcake, Jeremy from the tour drove me to the airport to end this wonderful trip. I ended up riding a total of 270 miles. And coincidentally the length of the Big Island coast line is about the same. So even though we didn't always ride along the coast, I pretty much did the equivalent of actually circumnavigate the Big Island :P

Tour of the Big Island: Stage 6

Create Routes or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide

This route covered the other side of the Volcano, the East side of the island. The starting point was where the newest lava from the Volcano flow through. After a short Cat-4 climb, we went back down to the sea level and rode along the coastline. Then detour to the intersection of Hwy 132 and 137 and back to the geothermal hot pond/tidal pool in Ahalanui Park for a refreshing after-ride dip in the pool. I was able to see tropical fishes swimming in it. Next the van took us to Hilo, the big town on the East side where the government is located and we had dinner at Hilo Bay Cafe, which has a good view of the beautiful bay. The seafood curry I had was delicious too. So was the cheesecake. Then the van drove us back to the Hapuna Prince hotel along the North East and North coast in counter-clockwise fashion and thus complete the circumnavigation of the whole island! This was also the last day of riding with Alex and the group. It was so hard to say goodbye :(

At the Hilo Bay Cafe

Tour of the Big Island: Stage 5

Create Routes or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide

Create Routes or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide

This 2-part route covered roughly the South east part of the island. The 1st-part was the long Cat-1 Mauna Loa climb (yes, it's the same name as the famous macadamia nut brand) and the 2nd part descend from the volcano down the Chain of Crater Road, took a detour to a lookout point and then climb out of it (a Cat-2) and finally a super-long and winding descend (but not too steep) to the South east coast, which was full of lava rocks. We took the van back up to the Volcano and stayed at the Volcano house for the night. Had a good steak at the restaurant there, which had a view to the fire. In fact, you could see the volcano from each room. What an awesome hotel!

6 mile into the Mauna Loa Cat-1 climb

Me and the tour provided Giants Defy bike at the South East coast