Weekly Longest, Fastest and Highest Rides for June 14-20

Longest Rides (Women)

1. May Woo on RTR 6 – Pagosa Springs to Alamosa, Pagosa Springs, CO – 92.0 miles
2. Kathryn Aaker on RTR Day 5 – Durango to Pagosa Springs, Durango, CO – 87.0 miles
3. Alissa Douglas on 06/19/10 SF -> Point Reyes, San Francisco, CA – 82.2 miles
4. Kathryn Corro on 06/19/10 San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA – 71.2 miles
5. Ashley Drum on Pre-death Ride- The day my Garmin failed…, Markleeville, CA – 70.0 miles

Longest Rides (Men)

1. bashar Haddadin on Tirreble Two Double Century, Sebastopol, CA – 201.2 miles
2. Bo Hebenstreit on 06/19/10 Terrible Two Sebastopol, CA, Sebastopol, CA – 200.1 miles
3. Kley Cardona on Terrible Two, 2010 (Not on at start), Santa Rosa, CA – 194.2 miles
4. Jerald Cook on 06/19/10 Coronado, CA, Coronado, CA – 187.7 miles
5. Cort Cramer on 06/19/10 Boston, MA Harpoon Brewery B2B, Boston, MA – 148.2 miles

Longest Commutes (Women)

1. Michelle Cheng on SF2G Bayway, San Francisco, CA – 38.8 miles
2. Amy Kirkham on 06/18/10 Vancouver, BC, Vancouver, BC – 12.8 miles
3. Buzzy McLaughlin on To CK from Home, Somerville, MA – 8.9 miles
4. Sarah Hagstrom on 06/15/10 Larkspur, CA, Larkspur, CA – 7.7 miles
5. Jennifer Gile on 06/14/10 Santa Clara, CA, Santa Clara, CA – 5.5 miles

Longest Commutes (Men)

1. Jason Thorpe on SF2G(2A) Graveyard Bayway, San Francisco, CA – 57.4 miles
2. Derek Crovo on Flat on Whiskey Hill, San Francisco, CA – 50.7 miles
3. David Muller on 06/16/10 Hartland, VT, Hartland, VT – 50.0 miles
4. John Halverson on 06/20/10 San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA – 49.9 miles
5. John Murphy on 06/15/10 San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA – 49.2 miles

Fastest Rides (Women)

1. Elle Anderson on Menomonie Road Race – NVGP, Menomonie, WI – 64.1 miles – 20.6 mph
2. Bobbi Jo Price on 06/19/10 Pescadero RR return, La Honda, CA – 9.0 miles – 19.2 mph
3. Kathryn Aaker on RTR Day 7 – Alamosa to Salida, Alamosa, CO – 84.0 miles – 18.1 mph
4. Amy Kirkham on 06/15/10 Vancouver, BC, Vancouver, BC – 38.2 miles – 17.8 mph
5. Marlene McDonald on 06/20/10 Narragansett, RI, Narragansett, RI – 13.2 miles – 16.1 mph

Fastest Rides (Men)

1. Joe Skipper on Belgium kermesse 2, Keerbergen, Vlaams Gewest – 72.4 miles – 26.8mph
2. satoshi ueda on 06/15/10 Joondanna, WA, Australia, Joondanna, WA – 26.8 miles – 26.8mph
3. Paul Krebsbach on Pacific Raceway – Flats,Points, Kent, WA – 28.2 miles – 25.7mph
4. Michael Rea on 06/16/10 East Thetford, VT, East Thetford, VT – 10.1 miles – 25.6mph
5. Asbjørn L. Johansen on 06/16/10 Sandnes, Rogaland, Norway, Sandnes, Rogaland – 23.9 miles – 25.1mph

Most Elevation Gain (Women)

1. Kathryn Aaker on RTR Day 4 – Ouray to Durango, Ouray, CO – 73.5 miles – 6,755.2 feet
2. May Woo on RTR 4 – Ouray to Durango, Ouray, CO – 72.6 miles – 6,565.5 feet
3. Linda Jackson on 06/19/10 San Gregorio, CA, San Gregorio, CA – 58.2 miles – 5,591.9 feet
4. Kathryn Corro on 06/19/10 San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA – 71.2 miles – 5,055.8 feet
5. Christine Fox on Col de la Core, Orgibet, Midi-Pyrénées – 48.7 miles – 5,054.2 feet

Most Elevation Gain (Men)

1. Bo Hebenstreit on 06/19/10 Terrible Two Sebastopol, CA, Sebastopol, CA – 200.1 miles – 19,057.4 feet
2. bashar Haddadin on Tirreble Two Double Century, Sebastopol, CA – 201.2 miles – 18,798.6 feet
3. Kley Cardona on Terrible Two, 2010 (Not on at start), Santa Rosa, CA – 194.2 miles – 17,294.6 feet
4. Tom McAleer on 06/19/10 Glendora, CA, Glendora, CA – 73.2 miles – 15,156.2 feet
5. Jerald Cook on 06/19/10 Coronado, CA, Coronado, CA – 187.7 miles – 12,917.3 feet

Strava Segments and Safety

Strava launched in beta just over one year ago with the mission to build a platform to provide fun and motivation for avid cyclists everywhere. Though we are not done yet, we believe we have been successful in delivering on that mission with the functionality we have built in Strava to-date.

One of several features that has set Strava apart from its competitors is the ability for users to create public segments from their rides and thereby show comparisons based on efforts by all users who have ridden (or run, or hiked, etc. ) the segment, including their own subsequent efforts. We provide the platform; users create the segments and provide the rides that result in the comparisons. We get emails from users daily telling us how much they enjoy this function and that it makes Strava something they want to use and keep using.

We now have thousands of public segments in Strava from nearly every US State and from dozens of countries. Strava provides segment creation and publication as a service to its users but the content is user-generated and not edited or monitored by Strava. The basic starting point for using Strava is that safety while riding (or running, or hiking, etc.) is every user’s responsibility – which includes observing all the applicable traffic laws. Recent online discussions concerning the tragic accident on South Park Drive in Berkeley, California have made it clear to us that users would benefit from additional methods to self-regulate their behavior on Strava.

Therefore, with today’s release Strava users have the ability to eliminate comparative rankings on segments where they believe competition would be hazardous. We hope that allowing our users to share their own experience with, and knowledge of, the segments they create and ride will help everyone remember that safety should always be their first priority.

As with all new features on Strava, we are not done. We will undoubtedly refine this, and expect that Strava users everywhere will be vocal in providing suggestions for improvement.

Find a Ride & Hazard Flag for Segments

Today we’ve released two helpful features that we hope will further improve your experience using Strava — Find a Ride search and user flagging for segments they feel are hazardous.

Find a Ride

The new Find a Ride feature lets you search for rides in your area (or any area you designate) by specifying certain criteria, such as total ride distance, duration of ride (in hours), and total elevation gain. If you’re looking for a ride that includes a particular climb, you can also add segment names to your search filter to find a ride that includes that climb or segment. The search results are displayed with the rides closest to your start location first, up to 50 miles away.

Strava Find a Ride Feature

Hazard Warning for Segments

Strava believes in safe and responsible riding (and running, hiking, skiing, etc.). Today we are releasing measures that we hope will continue to help our users remember that safety should always be their first priority whenever they are on the road or trail. Strava members have created thousands of segments on Strava, and every day more are being created. Riding, running, hiking, and other activities on roads and trails can be dangerous for numerous reasons, including excessive speed, traffic, and poor road or trail conditions. Users now have the capability to designate a Strava segment they have ridden (or run, or hiked…) as hazardous, and thereby remove the comparative rankings of segment results. Individuals will still be able to see their own personal results on these segments.

To designate a segment as hazardous, a member clicks on the “flag” link on the segment page and then chooses the “hazard” option in the pop-up box. This action is anonymous, meaning that no other Strava member sees who made the hazard designation for a segment. The person flagging the segment needs to have recorded an effort on it prior to designating it as hazardous for the comparative rankings to be removed. Any Strava member who feels a hazard designation has been made in error can notify Strava Support using the “report abuse” link.

Let us know what you think about the new features — we plan on continuing to improve them as we get feedback from the cycling community.

Tour de France Cyclotourism — Tackling the Tourmalet

The Col du Tourmalet is a whopper. 6900 feet at the summit, after 4500 feet of climbing from the village of Luz-Saint-Sauveur. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Tourmalet’s debut in the Tour de France — in honor of the occasion, the Tour goes over the climb from both directions on separate days (stage 16 and a summit finish in stage 17).

The whole group (Julie, Jess, Ryan, Jeremiah, Christine and I) was assembled for this climb, which was the main event of La Pyrénéenne cyclosportif. We got to the start of the ride in Bagnères-de-Bigorre not sure what to expect. I was imagining a jolly crowd of cyclists out for a leisurely loop in the Hautes-Pyrénées. Instead, as we rolled in just minutes before the start, we found hard-core cyclists of all ages, with the common thread being their serious looks and their carbon fiber bikes.

Julie, Christine, Jeremiah and Ryan discussing tactics at the start of La Pyrénéenne

We had just enough time to pick up our La Pyrénéenne jerseys and affix a timing chip to our bikes before the gun went off, and the crowd of 500 or so set out on a counterclockwise, 100km loop. Ryan went in front to mix it up with the faster riders, while Julie, Jeremiah, Christine, Jess and I established our rightful position at the back of the peloton. The first 25k or so went over rolling foothills and farmland between Bagnères-de-Bigorre and Lourdes. We thought were moving along at a good clip, but started to notice as we went around round-abouts that the volunteers giving directions were dismantling their signs right after we went by. After Lourdes, we turned onto the Avenue des Pyrénées, heading southwest to Argelès-Gazost and Saint Savin.

We stopped for a pastry in Luz Saint-Saveur, but quickly got back on our bikes when La Pyrénéenne’s sag wagon drove by. We didn’t want the race to pass us by, so we picked up the pace up the D918 to the base of the climb.

Jeremiah refueling, French style

Jess and Christine at the start of the climb - only 1364 meters of climbing to go!

The climb starts in the cleft of a steep valley, climbing directly up the fall line to the village of Barèges, a small resort town which marks the western edge of the Domaine Du Tourmalet — a ski resort which straddles the Tourmalet summit. After Barèges, we stopped at the final feed station for La Pyrénéenne, gratefully picking up ham and cheese sandwiches and cans of Coke. The weather was still quite pleasant, although up above we could see huge clouds looming over the summit.

Shortly after the feed stop, we broke out of the valley into a grand, open expanse of high moorland. A summit house was barely visible at the very top, far in the distance. At this point my wife Christine and I had settled into a steady climbing tempo. I attempted to make some small talk – “look Christine, some goats!” Christine responded efficiently – “yup,” “looks nice” – and then informed me that she wasn’t going to speak for a while to concentrate her energies on the task at hand. “A while” turned out to be 90 minutes. We ground up the massive switchbacks one at a time, carefully staying on our side of the road to avoid the dozens of cyclists, cars, and vans on their way down.

Finally, after 2 hours and 20 minutes of climbing, we ascended into the clouds at the summit. The top of the climb is a carnival of cyclists, hikers, support vans, and tourists in cars, all clustered around a lively restaurant. Christine slowly dismounted her bike, and we stumbled into the restaurant for a drink.

Restaurant at the top of the Tourmalet

Statue at the summit of the Tourmalet

If our non-existent sag wagon could have been summoned, we would have stayed for a couple hours, enjoying the warmth and chatter, and downing a couple bowls of cassoulet. As it was, we needed to get off this mountain without freezing, so we headed out into the cold fog to start the descent. The way down was otherworldly — the top was shrouded in such deep fog that I couldn’t see more that 20 feet in front of me. We shivered down through the La Mongie ski resort, and finally broke through the fog on the lower half of the descent. The final stretch down the D935 to Bagnères-de-Bigorre was a joy — I could finally take my cramped hands off the brakes and let my bike go a bit on the gentle descent.

We skipped out on the celebratory lunch to get back to Ore, where more World Cup awaited. We had climbed, we had suffered, but we had survived the mighty Tourmalet.

Tour de France Cyclotourism — Up the Port de Balès

• 1,755 meters high
• 18.87 kilometers long
• 1,185 meters of climbing
• 147 cows
• 3 riders
• 1 Port de Balès — the final HC climb in Stage 15 of this year’s Tour de France

Sign describing what we are in for on the Port de Balès

Ore, France. Three courageous, intrepid, foolish… American cyclists set off across the mighty Garrone towards the French hamlet of Mauléon-Barousse. From there, they will meet the Port de Balès. Three cyclists, three friends. Here’s how it went down:

Four hours of HC climbing is exactly what Van De Bobke – Team Vertical Pandas’ Directeur Sportif (fictional) – would recommend as the appropriate taper for the following day’s journey up the Col de Tourmalet. Some had their doubts, but not the cyclists three. For them, today was not about getting ready for tomorrow, not about the famous Col, the lore and legend.  Rather today was about one climb – the Port de Balès. When the Tourmalet shouts “History!” “Tradition!”  the Port de Balès whispers “doubt,” “pain,” “triumph.”  What the Port de Balès lacks in name recognition it makes up in size. Its big – end of story.

Riding three abreast, the cyclists wandered up the road looking back rather than forward. They were being followed! A red euro car crept behind the three, spare bike on the roof.

Team BMC support car - Cadel Evans' bikes on top

Eventually the car passed, but then pulled to the side of the road (damn, I wish the driver gave a euro beedee beedee honk while passing). It was team BMC with the spare bike on the roof unmistakably displaying “the” rainbow bands. Ryan asked the gentleman in the team-issued polo “where’s the champ?” A slight smirk and a reply “He’s coming… in the big ring.” Oh la la …the cyclist’s spidey senses started to tingle. Their minds raced in anticipation of riding “with” Cadel Evans. What would they say and in what language? Would they attack? They continued to ride at the leisurely pace, looking back to see if the champ was closing the gap.

An impressive home looms over the river in Mauleon-Barousse

Soon, the cyclists three reached Mauléon-Barousse — a town literally straddling a river. The town’s charm lured the three’s attention away from the chasing champion for a moment until the motorcade with the champ roared by.

Cadel Evans (the champ) passing us in Mauleon-Barousse

“Allez! Allez! Chapeau at the Giro!” The champ gave them a Mur de Huy celebratory flick and then as fast as he appeared he was gone. Somewhere over the rainbow (come on, sing this part — you know the tune)… the cyclist three would climb alone.

Leaving Mauleon Barousse at the start of the Port de Balès climb

Cows on the road on the upper half of the Port de Balès

Jeremiah, in Strava gear, climbing with the cows

The climb itself was long, but steady. It pitched at 7% for the first kilometer, but then mellowed out until picking back up to 10% at 9 kilometers in. Leaving the tree line, the road entered pastures, mixing the gradients between 7-10% averages for the final 8 kilometers. Around the next bend, cow bells. A shelter and more cows. If you want more facts and figures, keep noodling on the internet and you will find them. If you want more words then read this: the climb was beautiful.

The start of the high meadow marking the finale of the Port de Bayès

Looking down the valley from the high meadow at the finale of the Port de Balès

Jeremiah on the last pitch of the Port de Balès

Some considerate French yeoman, or perhaps a lonely Basque shepherd, marked the final two kilometers of pavement (averaging 8%). Counting down… 1000m…. 500m… 300m… almost there, now push… 200 meters… 100 meters…

Ryan and Jeremiah at the summit of the Port de Balès

Start of the downhill from the summit of Port de Balès to Luchon

No café on top, just smooth pastureland and trailheads. Mountain flowers and clouds. The cyclists paused and donned what extra layers they had for the descent. The descent was technical at first and it was cold. Cold and wet. After the first switchback – rain. Then the next switchback – hail. Although the cold persisted, working deep into the cyclist’s bodies, the switchbacks soon gave way to hamlets that provided some warmth to their souls. Sure it was bitter and wet, but if you opened your mouth and let the water mix with sweat, then breathed out, you’d smile. Listen to the song, breathe, and come down from the mountain to find your lady.

Luchon is no stranger to cyclists, having welcomed La Grande Boucle more than 50 times. Seeking refuge, the cyclist three shivered into town and stopped at Café Manu. Chris ordered three hot chocolates. Jeremiah ordered an Armagnac. Make that two, Ryan would need one.

While warming up, World Cup on the screen, Chris informed the patrons of Chez Manu that no, they were not professional cyclists despite the largeness of their legs (Jeremiah’s measure forty centimeters), but in fact were just a trio of wet Americans enjoying the bucolic French countryside. The cyclists paid their tab – which had grown from the original tally – and headed north to meet their sag wagon, drink some wine, watch some more World Cup and then do it all over again. Next up, the Tourmalet!

Check out The Port de Balès (with café stop) on Strava!