The 2nd Annual Stevens Creek Irongeek, and the 1st non-annual farewell to Chris
Davis and Mary Rogers took place on Saturday, and a fine time was had by all!
Last year I started a tradition for the day on which the Hawaii Ironman was broadcast
on TV - a ride, run, and eat triathlon, with the eating combined with watching the
Ironman on TV. This year I decided to tap the competitive triathlete spirit by adding
some short races interspersed with the social ride and run. A bunch of people cancelled
at the very last minute, leaving five of us who showed up on an absolutely spectacular
California day (blue sky, weather in the 60's, visibility as clear as a bell) to
do the whole enchilada - Karl Watanable, Chuck Eckel, Lee Rudin, Lars Ericsson (just
recently arrived from Sweden), and me. Those of you who missed it - eat your hearts
out. :-)
We rode together easily out Stevens Canyon, past Stevens Creek Reservoir, and regrouped
just before Montebello Road. We stood for a minute of silence for Jeff Steinwedel,
a 46-year old Cupertino man who had been run over by a truck while riding his bike
on that very road just last week. For myself I vowed to try to be even more careful
than I already am (although Jeff's death was absolutely not due to any carelessness
on his part), and also to appreciate every day that I'm here.
After that sobering note, the fun began anew! The bike race was straight uphill,
2.1 miles and 930 feet of ascent (average grade 9%). The race was handicapped by
sex, age, and weight, and additional handicaps were given to those riding mountain
bikes and those who had never done a triathlon or bike race (or century). Like the
Dipsea, the start was staggered, with the idea that racers would converge at the
finish line. It worked! Chuck had started a minute ahead of me, thanks to his mountain
bike and lack of bike racing experience (I SHOULD have counted the Mt. Diablo challenge,
but forgot about that). Halfway up I caught sight of him, and the lead was down to
about 30 seconds, and I thought I might catch him, but no dice. Shortly thereafter
Lars, who had started a minute behind me, came by. At the finish line, Chuck held
on to his narrow (probably 10 second) lead over Lars, with me another 18 seconds
back, and Karl and Lee arriving a few minutes later.
Just one little problem - Chuck had missed the finish line and kept riding, oblivious
to the fact that no one was following him! So much the better for us, he was just
tiring himself out for the run. :-) We waiting about 10 minutes, well after everyone
had finished, but no Chuck. Finally we said "chuck it" and headed down,
figuring that Chuck was a big boy and would find us eventually. And sure enough,
after we rode a mile down the rode along Stevens Creek to where the run was starting,
just as we were going through "T1" (first transition) by changing into
our running gear, along comes Chuck. :-) So we were together again, joined by Jane
Colman and Don Watson came along later to join us for the run, and also joined by
Debi and our dogs Nicky and Jody who had generously agreed to watch our precious
bikes while we took off on the run (Jody, at least, got her reward, by finding LOTS
of great holes to burrow into while we were out running).
Run handicaps awarded an extra 30 seconds to those who had finished the Cal. Intl.
Marathon the previous weekend, which meant Lee and Karl. Karl, already the fastest
person in the group, took great advantage as he blasted the couse which was a run
of about 1.5 miles and about 600 feet of climbing. Once again, the handicaps worked
fairly effectively, as Lars passed me fairly near the end and finished just 15 seconds
ahead of me (with Karl another 47 seconds ahead), and Chuck not far behind. Alas
for Karl his big margin on the run wasn't enough to erase his deficit from the bike
ride, and steady Lars, second in both events, finished first overall, with Chuck
in second overall on the strength of his bike win and me in third after my two third
place finishes. So we had three different first place finishers (Chuck, Karl, and
Lars), and seven "winners", as we all had a great run.
The view from Maisie's Point, where the race part of the run ended, was incredible,
with San Francisco and Oakland far to the north completely clear. We appreciated
it for a while, and then completed the reservoir loop at a social pace. This loop
is really one of the prettiest around, great views of the Bay Area from the ridge
and then wonderful single track trail through varying terrain for the remainder of
the six or so miles.
After the run we changed back to bike gear and finished the ride back to my house,
for 16 miles total riding (not exactly an Ironman day, but enough to get us in the
mood, anyway). There, we were joined by Lauren Lechner, Karen Wells, and guests of
honor Mary Rogers and Chris "Hulaman" Davis, just about to depart the Bay
Area for Tucson (well, *someone* had to go to make room for Ian). Book prizes were
given to the race victors - Lore of Running for Lars in first, Bicycle Maintenance
Guide for Chuck in second, and Better Runs for Karl in fourth (third place declined
a prize :-) ). Naturally, as in every handicapped race, there was grumbling about
the handicaps, some insisting that women should have gotten a bigger handicap, others
saying that CIM finishers should have gotten extra time on the bike as well as on
the run, and so on. The race committee will give all such suggestions the weight
they deserve at the time of next year's race. ;-)
The food was great, the Ironman show on TV was well done this year and exciting to
boot, and of course best of all was the conversation. We got to hear Chris' stories
from the Ironman, got to see his awesome (literally: inspiring awe) medal, and got
to see the pictures of him riding his bike adorned with leis, and crossing the finish
line wearing his hula skirt (he was forbidden to wear it during all but the last
few hundred yards of the race by the fascist (my word) race organizers). It was interesting
to hear Chris, a San Francisco Bay swimmer, describing the swim in Hawaii as quite
calm, and then hear Mark Allen on TV describing it as the roughest he'd ever seen!
Well, we all knew Allen was a wimp anyway. :-)
Mary and Chris cut the "Au revoir, Chris & Mary" carrot cake, we toasted
them with sparkling cider, and all too soon the party was over and it was time to
go. Those of you who missed it should mark your calendars now for next year; I know
I am!
Aftermath - later that night, and this morning, my shoulders and upper body are REALLY
sore. I do a lot of hill climbing, but it had been a long time since I had raced
my bike uphill for all I was worth. It shows. Boy I'm sore!
Steve "Irongeek" Patt
in Cupertino, CA, through which flows Stevens Creek
Official Results (Duathlon participants only):
Entrant Bike Time Adjusted Bike Time Run Time Adj. Run Total Adj. ------- --------- ------------------ -------- -------- ---------- Lars 16:12 15:42 14:55 14:25 30:07 Chuck 18:02 15:32 15:31 15:01 30:33 Steve 17:30 16:00 16:10 14:40 30:40 Karl 20:03 18:33 14:38 13:38 32:11 Lee 23:26 21:11 22:11 19:26 40:37
For those who want to do this race by themself sometime and see how they do, the
bike course starts at the quarry exit road 10 yards before Montebello Rd., and ends
at the "Montebello School" sign 2.1 miles up Montebello Rd. The run course
starts at the sign behind the bathroom in the Madrone Group Area of Stevens Creek
County Park, and ends at the far end of Maisie's Point (touching the fence). Either
one separately is a tough route; together they make one heck of a workout! If you
do this alone, you have the right to call it the "Stevens Creek Du It Yourself"
A handicap in this system, like at the Dipsea, means a headstart. Handicaps are
identical for ride and run segments (with exceptions as noted):
Chromosome Handicap: Two X Chromosomes - 2:00.
Age Handicap: 0:05/year for every year over the age of 35; an additional 0:05/year
for every year over the age of 50. Age as of race day.
Weight Handicap:
150-170 lbs: 0:30
171-190 lbs: 1:00
190+ lbs: 2:00
Won't tell: 0:00
Slow Bike Handicap (Bike Race Only):
Mountain bike costing less than $1000: 1:00
"Clunky" road bike*: 1:00
Really clunky bike* (e.g., beach cruiser): 2:00
*in the opinion of the judges)
Runner's Handicap (Bike Race Only):
Haven't done a triathlon, bike race, or century ride in the last two years: 1:00
Cal. Intl. Recovery Handicap (Running Race Only):
Finished CIM previous Sunday: 0:30