Brief summary of the Old Caz 300km, 8-24-13

[Rob Hawks]

Hello all,

23 riders started (only one no show)

21 riders finished (new high total for this event)

First rider finished in 13:38 (new fastest time)

Last rider in at 19:32

New club record set for most delicious brownies home baked (Thank you Karen Thompson!)  for the finish control. I now hold the club record for most weight gained while working a finish control. You all just *try* and beat that!

Thanks to the following volunteers:

Eric Larson: day of ride contact

Kyle Butt, Point Reyes control

Karen Thompson, Finish control First Shift

Bill Lindsey, Finish control Second Shift

Aaron Little, Finish control, Last Shift

rob hawks

[Rob Hawks]

Just received an update from one of the DNF riders. Mechanical (broken chain) suffered on the Willow Creek climb.

rob

[Eric Larsen]

The Cook bros multi tool with the chain breaker is a really nice tool to cary - my favorite multi-tool.

What would you bring for the Old Caz or other remote/mixed terrain brevet?

E

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[Eric Walstad]

Eric, do you mean one of these?

http://www.crankbrothers.com/tools.php

Looks nice!

Eric.

[Greg Merritt]

I carry a multitool that has a chain breaker, as well as an extra quicklink; getting back on the road just requires chopping off minimum necessary at each end to expose inner links, snapping in the quicklink, and you're set.

This is a relatively common field repair for mountain bikers.

You have to be cautious of shifting to big/big if the repair renders the chain too short.

Of course, this can be a nasty failure, as you can fall off the bike or fall victim to other similar snafus when a chain breaks!

-Greg

[Karen Thompson]

The ever-modest Rob Hawks omits his own contributions (with seemingly boundless alacrity)….at the 5:30 a.m. start and I believe he covered ALL of the finish control shifts (bringing with him the critical containers of hot water as well as all the behind the scenes RBA wizardry….

sometimes we can pay it forward, but i propose buying him a beer (or two or three)  should the chance present itself…

kt

[Rob Hawks]

Sometimes a mechanical issue can stop you when you don't have the tool or the replacement part. Other times, particularly when you are already just making the control times, simply the time alone needed to fix something can put you into DNF territory. It is the latter case that is at play here, and my understanding is that the rider in question fixed his chain and moved on but being out of time to make the next control he called in to say he was not finishing and he then continued on what he termed 'the best bike adventure ... in a long time'.

rob

[Karen Thompson]

Okay,

 

upon reflection i would like to suggest/ask/cajole folks who have been enjoying the bounty of SFR offerings without having had a chance to volunteer this year to figure out how they can step up and fill in a volunteer role in any of the remaining events this year so Rob can sleep in and/or turn in early and otherwise not have to *do* (or seemingly do) everything to make sure events are appropriately and properly covered.

 

I have never talked to Rob about his day job, but I am pretty sure he has one. I believe he enjoys riding, so it would seem that it be nice/appropriate/about time for Rob to have time to do the things that either pay him or that he loves…..

 

You can still buy him a beer before or after volunteering.

 

(Oh, for all you nice folks who have had a chance to volunteer—I would invoke a Rosanna Danna “never mind.” )

 

Okay, stepping off and putting away the soap box. 

 

kt

[Jesse]

That was a wonderful ride. xposting from facebook here:
The Old Cazadero 300k was great. And a real shlep in some parts. Hilights included wading across a creek in the middle of nowhere, eating blackberries off the bramble at the top of a 9mi climb, going way too fast on many potholed roads, and hearing a beach party in the distance on Hwy 1 south of Stinson. Rode with Bryan Kilgore and new friend Eric. They are great riding buddies. We finished in 17.5 hours, which is awesome for a 300k with that much climbing.

Thank you for putting on this event, Rob, Eric, Kyle, Karen, Bill, Aaron, Bill's son (whose name I didn't catch), and of course Max.

Max, we said only nice things about you all day!

My legs hurt, and this is a standing desk, so I'm going back to the couch.

Jesse

[Eric Larsen]

I certainly didn't mean to imply that you were unprepared, I just thought it was good food for thought for us Randos about what kind of tools we bring and why. 

A truly totally unprepared guy on the Crater Lake 1000K broke a spoke on his Krysiums and DNF'ed because no one had the special spoke wrench for his spokes (though he did ride all the way to Klamath Falls after getting jumped 80mi ahead and a new wheel in Astoria).

If I had flatted in the first 24hrs of the cold, driving rain of the Rocky Mountain 1200 I am sure I would have DNF'ed because my hands would not have worked well enough to have been able to fix it. Luckily that didn't happen, but recently I saw an SIR riders supply kit that included 'hot-hands' thermo-chemical hand warmers, which I will bring on my next wet and cold brevet (that we don't have often enough down here).

E

On Sun, Aug 25, 2013 at 11:48 AM, James Wilson <fisho...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have the exact tool you mentioned. And used it just past the Dillon Beach control around 9:30pm; wish it happened earlier... That's the way things go and I had a very memorable and great time regardless. 

Next Year,

James Wilson

[Rob Hawks]

> wet and cold brevet (that we don't have often enough down here).

Be very careful what you (publicly) wish for. ;^)

rob

[C. Duque]

Many times others ask me "what do you have inside the backpack?" well mostly the 100oz water bladder and tools. I ride many mixed terrain rides with other iders but also I do a lot of mixed terrain rides alone. As a minimum for mixed terrain I bring a multi tool that has built in chain tool and two tubes and patch kit. During this year La Ruta Loca 200k my rear shifter cable snapped on a lovely section of the Bolinas Ridge Fire road (I had check it the night before and wrongly assumed it would be ok) Greg M. was riding with me at the time and offered a replacement cable but guess what, I also had one. How many riders do you know carry replacement shifter AND brake cables? :) I was able to replace the broken cable and finish the ride on time. (http://bike.duque.net/2013-sfr-la-ruta-loca-randonnee-mixed-terrain.htm)

A few years ago while scouting La Ruta Loca one of my rear hub sealed bearings disintegrated, I had the tool to remove the cassette and work on it and was able to ride home. I have a lot of stories like that. I lost count of the number of times I have given black duct tape to other riders to fix something on the road, same for zip ties. I do cary extra spokes and my full took kit  most of the time. Here is the contents of my tool kit a wrote and took the photos many years ago but the content remains very similar with just a few additions. I also bring glue less tube patches for those times when the hads are frozen. Be prepared :)

http://bike.duque.net/annotated-toolkit.htm

Another very important thing not many randonnueurs cary is a good first aid kit. IMO as important as a decent tool kit. 

Carlos

On Sun, Aug 25, 2013 at 12:17 PM, Eric Larsen <ciren...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Eric Larsen]

+1 on the 1st aid kit (which I too cary; really just some tape, gause, bandage, asprin & ibuprofin, alcohol wipe)

e

[Greg Merritt]

Le Aug 25, 2013 à 14:30, "C. Duque" <cduq...@gmail.com> a écrit :

> I had the tool to remove the cassette and work on it and was able to ride home.

I carry one of those, too, lol...and also had bandages etc. on LRLR. :)

-Greg

[John Guzik]

I'd add tums, claraton (sic), eye drops and neosporin to that. More than once needed each of these.

John

Sent from my iPhone

[Metin Uz]

I had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day. I rode with Patrick until Cazadero, but knew better than follow him when he set a blistering pace up Old Caz. I figured he would finish an hour ahead, but clearly I underestimated him. I rode solo until Point Reyes Station, then teamed with Gintautas to finish. The Willow Creek Fire Road climb was the highlight of the ride for me. Here are some pictures that fail to capture the beauty of the course:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/113824878830946179439/albums/5916177310335882929

Thanks to all volunteers, especially Rob who worked start and finish controls, and Karen for the best food at finish in recent memory.

--Metin

P.S. I had with me a first aid kit, shift and brake cables, multitool, quick link, duct tape and zip ties.

[C. Duque]

Here is something my wife found a couple years ago at Walgreens when looking for bandages for my bad case of road rash. It is a tube mesh that you slide over the arm or leg and keeps the gauze in place, even over sweating/bloody skin at the elbow or knee. It can be cut to the needed length and is barely a few grams. I keep a 7-10" section rolled in kitchen wrap plastic. It stretches a lot so to cover a 7" section of the arm you'll need just about 4" of the stuff, opposite of what the instructions say.

www.walgreens.com/store/c/curad-hold-tite-tubular-stretch-bandage%2c-large/ID=prod5614089-product

Carlos

[Ernesto Montenero]

YES. Thanks to Rob and all volunteers for coming out and helping out.

Old Caz is a great ride, it was great to see a so many people riding it.

Thanks you

Ernesto

[James Wilson]

I have the exact tool you mentioned. And used it just past the Dillon Beach control around 9:30pm; wish it happened earlier... That's the way things go and I had a very memorable and great time regardless. 

Next Year,

James Wilson

On Aug 25, 2013, at 9:44 AM, Eric Larsen <ciren...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Gintautas Budvytis]

Big thanks to all for putting this ride together.
I also agree that we need to step up in volunteering. Rob should not run each and every ride from start to finish.

It was my first attempt to ride Adventure brevet on a "light touring" bike with skinny tires. Confirmed: it can be done on 28mm "no thread" tires. Not most sane thing to do, but as Barley said "to loose your marbles, first you must have them".
For this ride, I packed extra first aid kit, not needed, even if lost my balance a couple of times on unpaved uphills. I also carry multi-tool and packed an extra tube and a shifter cable (after examining my bike before the ride, I discovered that my rear shifter cable is at the end of its life. BTW, at $3 it's a good deal at REI or $6 for Teflon coated one if you into cooking, I guess). Hi-viz Camelbak (I think Barley designed it) is a standard for me on rides like this (a fewer controls, warm day and lots of sweaty climbs).
As many as 25 riders decided, probably using the same logic as me, that it is a perfect ride to get into more adventurous riding without more specialized equipment. Mostly I saw a group of ten front runners, and I noticed a big delegation of Volagi equipment. I think they were shooting a promotional video or something since they have a dedicated cameraman (you know who you are ;).
My plan was simple, bag as much time as possible until real climbing begins, then take it easy (really easy) until we get back to CA-1 and hopefully tailwinds, and then just finish strong. The group of 10 or so riders, made to the first control in Occidental after regrouping on the downhills. I left with Patrick and Metin, soon to discover, that they came to set new records (of the ride or just personal). My goal was far more simpler, just to finish and finish inside time limit (20hrs).
As soon as Old Caz began, I knew I need to take it easy to enjoy the day. I made to the top and was expecting an "equipment breaking" downhill, Vidas warned me about. For the record, I like riding unpaved terrain (particularly single track on my mountain bike), but this portion was not as enjoyable on a skinny tires. Some downed trees could be a danger, if you too much into it. I made down safe and even crossed the creek without taking my shoes off (as I was planning too before the ride). I'm familiar with the area, and spent several weeks each summer in a scout camp nearby. Uphill was giving me problems, too little traction but too short too really be too annoying.
And then came Fort Ross Rd, "beyond category" climb Ernesto was warning in the morning. Metin passed me quickly, after a short detour to Cazadero for water. Patrick was way ahead, not to be seen again. Ernesto appeared just around flat mid portion and reminded me to taste blackberries, which were in season, as a prize for making to the top of the hardest climb of the day. Very quick descent and then some climbing to Jenner, for a planned lunch break and a piece of "dream" Calzone (my best memories of dreadful Day 2 of SFR 1000K in 2012). Ernesto left soon after, but I took a longer break - the hardest part was over, and I knew I can make a good time, if I refuel myself. John P. showed up, surprising me, but he can ride strong when he is not horsing around, and then the rest of the front group riders.
I really enjoyed the next section - it was a ride highlight for me - Willow Creek Rd. What a nice find. Also appears to be very popular: I saw hikers, dog walkers, a couple on commuter bikes, mountain bikers, and 2 randos racing to the top, Carl A. and Omar. We discussed the info. control briefly, they stayed at the gate, I kept moving and rode the next 40 or so miles alone.
When on familiar roads, and no big climbs left, I was making a good progress. I spotted Ernesto just after Marshall and we arrived to PRS together. At Point Reyes, I reconnected with Metin for a final push towards finish. Thanks Metin for giving me a minute to fill-up bottles and taking amazing pictures (in a low light too). He was also riding touring bike with bar end shifters. Well done!
I knew, if we pass Stinson Beach in a daylight, we will see scores of cars on the road. But the sunset and views were worth every minute. Metin kept a steady pace up Hwy 1 from Muir beach and we had a little fun descending, getting to the GG bridge before 9pm and the west side with not even one tourist on it. We waved to a bridge attendant in a funny vehicle, I think he was driving to the far end to close the west side.
At the finish, I was surprised to see Rob. He also was at the start 16 hours earlier. Karen gave us hot chocolate and a nice selection of home made food. Thanks for volunteering! Patrick finished 1:30 ahead of us - new fastest time. Metin beat his last year's time. Most of the riders also finished in time. Good job everybody and thanks Max for a nice course!

GB
(On a baby blue Sycip)

[Patrick Herlihy]

This was my first official brevet - I've ridden some of these roads before but this route was a masterpiece!

My goal was to ride with a group and learn the ins-and-outs of randonneuring.  Unfortunately, I enjoyed the Old Caz climb way too much and rode the remainder of the ride solo.

I apologize to the former holder of the course record :)

Thanks to all involved in organizing and supporting the ride.  I'm looking forward to many more!

My very long recap of the ride is here or if you would like to just browse the photos, they are here.

Cheers,
Patrick

On Sunday, August 25, 2013 9:27:23 AM UTC-7, rob hawks wrote:

[Bubba]

My son (age 12, 7th grade) is Henry.  He had a very good time.  I coached him up that all finishers of this very impressive ride are worthy of our deep admiration.  He genuinely enjoyed serving the riders.  

[Eric Walstad]

On Sun, Aug 25, 2013 at 9:44 AM, Eric Larsen <ciren...@gmail.com> wrote:

The Cook bros multi tool with the chain breaker is a really nice tool to cary - my favorite multi-tool.

What would you bring for the Old Caz or other remote/mixed terrain brevet?

E

​REI has the crankbrothers multi tools on sale now:

http://www.rei.com/product/746199/crankbrothers-multi-19-tool

http://www.rei.com/product/768257/crankbrothers-multi-17-tool

Eric​

[Massimiliano Poletto]

Hi everyone, my family and I have been traveling for the last several weeks, and I'm still catching up on email. My thoughts on this year's Old Caz:

(1) I'm super-excited that so many people rode and enjoyed the course this year. Thank you for trying it out, and I hope you come back next year (or ride the permanent version).

(2) Patrick, it's great that you beat my old time of 13:48. I've never managed to really ride Old Caz for time (I always end up stopping to take pictures, etc.), but in general if I am the record holder for any particular course, it just means that not enough people have ridden it.

(3) I'm sorry to not have been able to volunteer this year due to our travels. Big thanks to Rob for plugging the gaps. I'll be pre-riding Marin Mountains soon, and volunteering day-of.

Best,

max

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