2001 Top Hat Classic Ride Report (Saturday, April 28 in Pleasanton, CA)

I arrived at the start at PeopleSoft Plaza in Pleasanton around 7:00'ish after a brief detour into a different PeopleSoft building (the security guard set me straight in short order), got registered at the team table, and waited for my riding companion Guy to show up, which he did shortly thereafter. We didn't see any other SunSpots around, and nobody identified themselves as one upon seeing my Sun jersey, so around 7:30, we hit the road. I think most of the SunSpots were doing the 25mi route, with one other doing the 75mi route, which I would have liked to do, but I was riding in the Chico Wildflower Century the following day, so I wanted to save my legs.

The ride started with a gentle climb up Dublin Canyon Road along I580, a gentle descent on the same, and on to the first rest stop in Castro Valley. Not my favorite part of the route, especially since I ride that same stretch of road once a week after work.

After the rest stop, we went up Redwood Rd., a lovely climb up above Upper San Leandro Res. (I think) followed by a fun, twisty descent into the redwoods, a beautiful climb up Pinehurst, and a short, fast descent on Pinehurst then out to the second rest stop on Canyon Rd. in Moraga.

We then rode out to the lunch stop in either Moraga or Lafayette (not sure which :), ate a bit, and continued back to Pleasanton into a "nice" headwind. This last part of the ride wasn't particularly memorable, but was pleasant enough.

A police officer made us ride on the sidewalk and use a crosswalk on one street, presumably because there wasn't much shoulder on it. Later I heard (on virtually every cycling newsgroup and email alias I read) that a number of people got ticketed for running stopsigns in Pleasanton. One person apparently complained to the officer "but we're on a charity ride" as if somehow that allows us to break the law - hrmmph, I say! I don't stop at every stop sign if there's nobody around, but rather treat them like a yield sign, but I'm quite prepared to pay the ticket if an officer desires to give me one. I'll save my traffic rant for another day, though.

Overall this was a very pleasant ride, the weather was great, and the people friendly.

Ride Stats:

Distance: 56.6mi

Total Time: 5h 34m

On-bike Time: 4h 11m

Average Speed: 13.5mph

Maximum Speed: 41.2mph

Total Climbing: ~3000 ft

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