Georgetown

Preview
Counter clockwise; we'll be heading out Green Valley & return on Salmon Falls with Prospector's Grade thrown in for good measure. RSVP via Meetup.
Route map: RideWithGPS or MapMyRide
Meet location: Parking lot across from Karen's Bakery/Bicycles Plus
Leave time: 8:00 am
Distance: 70 miles
Climbing: Yup, its all climbing heading out. About 6,000-7,000 feet.

Ride Report
My ride stats: 71.5 miles in 4:20 ride time for an average speed of 16.5 mph and 6,200 ft of climbing.

The weather was great for cycling. The sky was little overcast in the morning keeping it cool enough for some to wear arm warmers, and comfortable descending the foothills later when it warmed up. Phil, Dave, Gary, and I left downtown Folsom, and then met up with Oz on Green Valley. The rolling climbs on Green Valley got everyone warmed up and ready for the climbs to come. I ended up getting a flat on Starbuck, but this allowed Bicycles Plus riders Jeff & Steve to join up with our group. We were all totally surprised to see that Deer Valley had fresh, smooth tarmac and some couldn't help from attacking on the big rollers to Rescue.

After our water stop at the Rescue Fire Dept, Gary headed out on his own through Cameron Park and the rest of us headed for Lotus. Oz set a fierce tempo up over the climb on Lotus Road, whereas Phil and I were more interested in bombing the downhill side. We all made our way over to Prospector's Grade; the wise climber knowing that this was only mile 28 of a 70 mile ride with another 6 miles of steady climbing to go, opted to settle into a an easy tempo and not race for the top. Of course, if you're turning around at the top to head home early, I guess you can push the pace. Steve took the KOM and then headed back home due to time constraints. The rest of us, Phil, Oz, Dave, Jeff, & I, forged on to Georgetown.

After knocking back some fuel in Georgetown (for me that was 2 snickers and a Coca-Cola), we tore out of Georgetown looking forward to some descending. I was able to get a gap off the front at first, but then Phil resorted to drafting off some cars to catch my wheel. Oz caught up to us when we starting hitting some of the rollers and the 3 of us worked together to keep the pace going. We were almost to Cool when Oz couldn't ride his flattening tire anymore. After pulling out a couple of thorns and slapping in a new tube, we were all gruppo compacto when we rolled into Cool. Phil did all the hard work on the slight descent (but into a head wind) from Cool to Pilot Hill; the rest of us were more than willing to free-wheel it in his draft.

After a little bit of climbing from Hwy 49 to the "rhino" on Salmon Falls, the downhill attacks started coming; first Jeff, then Phil. I was just happy to catch their wheels as they went blowing past. Me, I was waiting for the last two little climbs on Salmon Falls and then the roll-out to Green Valley. Phil, Jeff, & I crossed the South Fork bridge together and starting grinding up the first climb. The cumulative climbing for the day could be felt, and felt good; I was just on the edge of cramping. I made it over the top first and within sight of Phil. I tried to descend fast, but rest my legs a little for the next climb up to Falcon Crest. I made it up to Falcon Crest and couldn't see Phil or Jeff and was feeling good for the run-out to Green Valley. I had a good tempo going, but I was expecting Phil & Jeff to ride up on me at any moment. I was surprised to make it to Green Valley without them in sight.

I made it back to downtown Folsom and chatted with Dave when he rolled in little bit latter. Oz, Phil, & Jeff had all headed on home while rolling into Folsom. It was a great day of riding!

Tuesday Climbing Ride

There was more challenges tonight than just the tarmac tilting upwards. The mercury was topped out around 95 and the flags were saluting a 10+ mph wind. Colleen and I were up for the challenge & opted for all the climbs with a short break at the park. My Garmin logged 29.6 miles in 1:50 with an average speed of 16.0 mph and 2,300 feet of climbing. Folsom Tuesday climbing ride, regular route.

Holiday Disco Dance

Since the 4th of July fell on a Sunday this year, some of us with Monday as a holiday decided to ride down to Discovery Park and back from Folsom. Kevin, Joel, John and myself were joined by Graham (Gram?), a rider new-to-Cycle Folsom. We did the trail dance with a few thousand other cyclists that had the same idea as us. The plan was to ride a mellow recovery pace. Everyone cooperated at the front and we completed the 57.5 mile ride in just about 3 hours, averaging about 18.5 mph (a little faster than I was expecting). Great ride guys!

Coffee Republic route ride

The Cycle Folsom Peloton group set out at 07:30 to ride the Lincoln-Chili Hill-Power House Loop. This set up a perfect "fox & hound" ride for the Performance group. Could the big dogs close down a 1/2 hour gap on the foxes up the road? Oz, Eric and I set out at 08:00 sharp opting for the very similar Coffee Republic ride route that snakes up to Penryn from Folsom, then hits the quick rollers on English Colony, winding through the country roads of Placer County, and climbing the stair-step Ridge Road. Our goal was to catch the Peloton group on the speedy run-in on Auburn-Folsom Road.

The three of us worked well together and kept our small group together, even over Ridge Road. We took a quick water stop at the gas station in Newcastle, then quickly got back to business of hunting some foxes. Once on Auburn-Folsom we got our rotations organized and all of us contributed to the pace. Next thing you know, there were a couple of cyclists up the road; perfect carrot. I could tell that all of us were thinking, "OK, just catch those guys and take it from there." We reeled them in. As we passed, we heard "alright, now we got a tow home." Turns out it was Stan and Chuck from the Peloton group! Foxes caught!

OK, I have to be honest with you. Back at the gas station we decided to drop Indian Hill and hit Powerhouse Road (the Peloton's route). This shortened-up our ride a little. Also, it sounds like the Peloton group had some bad luck with mechanicals and route finding. All in all, it was a great ride for the three of us finishing in about 2 1/2 hours and averaging 18 mph over 46.5 miles with about 2,800 ft of climbing.