Today I completed the Primavera lowest cost Adobe CS5 Master Collection metric century. That’s 100 kilometers on a bike, about 65 miles. My bike computer clocked in at 63.59 miles to be accurate.

The ride was great, much better than windows 7 pro upgrade cheap expected. I chose this organized ride because it’s close to windows 7 pro upgrade cheap home and the timing worked. No one that I know has windows 7 pro upgrade cheap recommended the Primavera and frankly, their website sucks so I certainly wasn’t turned on by marketing.

At 6:30am I loaded the windows 7 pro upgrade cheap car with my gear, bike, filled water bottles and headed down the windows 7 pro upgrade cheap peninsula to Union City. Arriving at the local high school at 7am, I saw that windows 7 pro upgrade cheap the parking lot was already bustling with over 100 cyclists prepping for windows 7 pro upgrade cheap either a 100 mile or 100k (like me) ride. I’d give the Primavera’s start a B grade, since it wasn’t too confusing, but also not really clear on where windows 7 pro upgrade cheap to go and what to do. After a quick check-in and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap stretch, I mounted my steed and was off.

The Start

The morning was brisk, just around 40 degrees and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap everyone was bundled warmly. I was aiming to perform well and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap starting passing some of the slower cyclists. After mile 6, I was alone and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap popped iPod earbuds in and pressed play on an NPR podcast. I assumed that windows 7 pro upgrade cheap the 4+ hour ride would be windows 7 pro upgrade cheap solo, so why not just go with it and be windows 7 pro upgrade cheap entertained as well. I often ride alone and really enjoy setting my own pace and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap connecting with my podcast hosts.

The Partner

A little bit after mile 10 I met John. He caught my at a windows 7 pro upgrade cheap stop light and leaving that intersection, set a strong pace, leaving me behind. I climbed a windows 7 pro upgrade cheap few small hills and on a descent, found myself with John again. I drafted him for windows 7 pro upgrade cheap a bit and on a flat stuck up a conversation. I soon put the windows 7 pro upgrade cheap iPod away and we stayed together until the finish. As a windows 7 pro upgrade cheap partner, he probably made me finish 20-30 minutes faster than had windows 7 pro upgrade cheap I ride alone. It was nice to have a companion for windows 7 pro upgrade cheap the 4+ hour journey.

Heading to windows 7 pro upgrade cheap the first rest stop, the route wound through residential neighborhoods and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap some country roads. After the first rest stop, we quickly ascended up and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap over a canyon, ending with a steep climb called the “wall”. My legs were warm and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap strong and this climbing felt really good.

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The Reservoir

On the windows 7 pro upgrade cheap other side of the canyon the route followed a quiet rode around the windows 7 pro upgrade cheap Calaveras reservoir. The view was amazing, the rode was well paved and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap the rolling hills made for a very fun 15-ish miles.

The next rest stop was on the Sonol/Pleasanton border, near where windows 7 pro upgrade cheap I regularly ride. We headed north paralleling I-680 and then hung a windows 7 pro upgrade cheap left to follow I-580 to the west. The Dublin Grade was challenging for windows 7 pro upgrade cheap me. I found that while my cardio was holding up, my legs were not. After 35 miles, the windows 7 pro upgrade cheap long, gradual grade wore on me and my quads were not happy. The descent from windows 7 pro upgrade cheap the top of the Dublin Grade was our last rest stop, which I really needed.

The Finish

After replenishing fluids and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap food, I headed out to complete the last 20 miles of the windows 7 pro upgrade cheap Primavera 100k. Glancing at my bike computer, I saw that we had windows 7 pro upgrade cheap climbed only ~2400 of the windows 7 pro upgrade cheap planned 4200 feet, and I knew that there was only one more hill left. I gave this windows 7 pro upgrade cheap information to John who winced at the idea that we’d tackle over 1000 feet of climbing in one sitting. I had windows 7 pro upgrade cheap ridden this area quite a few times and knew what was ahead, which is windows 7 pro upgrade cheap why I think I felt so much better than I did just 30 minutes earlier on unknown terrain. Palomeres Road starts at ~380 feet and end at ~1600. This, over about 8 miles of gradual climbing and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap 2 miles where it really kicks up. Like I said, my legs started cooperating and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap I went up faster than expected, perhaps to show those around me that windows 7 pro upgrade cheap I could.

After summitting Palomares Road I dropped quickly, hitting a windows 7 pro upgrade cheap max speed of 43mph. Palomares dumps you onto the busy Niles Canyon Road which essentially took us back to windows 7 pro upgrade cheap the start. My goal was to finish in 4 hours of moving time, and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap my computer clocked me at 3:56:48. My total time was 4:35:01, with three rest stops and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap numerous stoplight breaks.

The Conclusion

If the windows 7 pro upgrade cheap start of the Primavera gets a grade B, then the finish gets a windows 7 pro upgrade cheap C. At first, there was no sign of anything waiting for windows 7 pro upgrade cheap completed riders. No signs, no greeters, no noise, no nothing. Heading into the windows 7 pro upgrade cheap cafeteria where check-in was held, I found some warmed over lasagne, wilted lettuce salad, cold garlic bread and windows 7 pro upgrade cheap tasty brownies. I’ve been on organized rides with worse start/finish setups, but not many. Marin Century still puts everyone to windows 7 pro upgrade cheap shame in this department.

I really enjoyed this ride and it’s not officially part of my annual ride schedule. I’ll see you at the Primavera 2009!

The Stats

I downloaded someone’s GPS data from the 2007 ride by my bike computer. I “raced” against jaybotelho and beat him by ~11 minutes!

Here’s my stats from MotionBased. Check out the animated player as well.

I live blogged via twitter solidworks educational discount, and apparently wasn’t the only one.