Alameda Runners – Get After It!

Alameda Runners recently caught up with Selle Italia, a well known cycling saddle maker, in an effort to figure out if purchasing a quality saddle really matters.

It’s clear that having a good quality bike saddle is necessary for comfort while riding, but many people never bother to upgrade from the stock saddle. When it finally comes time to see what’s out there, it can be extremely difficult to make the right choice when shopping around.

Here is a tip from Selle Italia about choosing the right saddle (maybe even cost effective?) for casual riders:

“A saddle with a long rail and flexible base but with a synthetic cover is acceptable for someone that is going to ride an hour but may find the same saddle not adequate for rides of 2 hours or longer. SELLE ITALIA is offering a lower priced saddle assortment using their high end technology under the SPORTOURER brand. The product assortment is focused on those riders that want a little more “flex/padding” and are quite comfortable for casual cyclist. Retail for the SPORTOURER brand is between $40 and $90 (w/leather cover).”

Also of note, the Selle Italia representative that helped us also shared his own commuting tale:

“I ride the SPORTOURER ZOO GEL FLOW on my commuter bike and find it comfortable for the 3.5 mile jaunt from home to work. Many people find the FLX series (men and lady specific) to be very comfortable because it has a lot of padding but I find it has too much padding for my riding. Note – SPORTOURER saddles are not lightweight using FeC Alloy (high carbon steel) rails, elastomer suspension and lots padding that all add weight to the saddle.”

Alameda Runners will have a full interview with Selle Italia posted soon, with a stronger focus on saddles for road, mountain and triathlon bikes.

It’s time to clean off your bike that has collected dust all winter, and get back into the swing of things now that we have warmer weather.

The City of Alameda has miles of amazing streets, bike lanes and trails, and more of you are getting out there, but there is still a major concern that must be addressed (as always). Bike safety is important but is unfortunately overlooked by many people riding on two wheels.

I see adults and kids alike — parents can’t teach children safe riding if they don’t know the laws — riding around Alameda in a dangerous manner.  Careless, speeding drivers on small roads mixed with reckless bike riders can lead to disaster that should be easily avoidable.

A recent post on Alameda Patch discusses the importance of bike safety classes in the SF East Bay. Besides wearing a helmet and bright colors, there is something else that is overlooked that is easy enough to help incorporate into your riding skillset.

“Even more simply said, it’s ‘be predictable and be visible,'” said Bonnie Wehmann, a local Bay Area bike advocacy expert. “If people narrow it down to being predictable and being visible that will be their best defense for avoiding crashes.”

The East Bay Bicycle Coalition and Bike Alameda typically handle the bike classes in the area.  The blog post published on Alameda Patch can be found here.

Just like we have before, Alameda Runners plans to continue preaching safety.  We love the outdoors.  We are fortunate enough to have people love us.  It is our responsibility to return to them safely.

Alameda Runners obviously has a focus on running, cycling and general outdoors content, but we try to keep things lively around here. We focus on companies that make products for active people, and today want to chat about the Clif Family Winery & Farm.

I’m no wine expert, but a Clif-owned winery seems to fall within scope for the blog, so let’s see what they have to say about their wares.

“Clif Family Winery was started by Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford, founders and owners of Clif Bar & Co.,” said a Clif Family Winery & Farm representative. “We have been making wines from the Napa Valley and Northern California since 2004. The wines that you will most often see available are our Climber Wines – a Zinfandel blend and a Sauvignon Blanc. Our goal is to over deliver quality in every bottle of wine. We also have a focus on sourcing sustainably farmed and organically farmed fruit.”

The new Velo Vino wine tasting room in St. Helena gives visitors the chance to taste wines and enjoy scenic views. Here is a bit more about the Velo Vino tasting room:

“It is the home of both Clif Bar and Clif Family Winery. It’s a truly unique experience that brings together food, wine and adventure. You can taste our wines, enjoy an espresso on the patio, purchase Luna Sport apparel clothing, sample our Gary & Kit’s Gourmet food products and Clif Bars and start and end a cycling adventure.”

As expected from newer wineries, the Clif winery also includes a tasting room that includes wine and food available.

“The connection between food and wine is a natural for Gary and Kit. They have always wanted to create a line of gourmet food products and our Gary & Kit’s Gourmet Mountain Mix was made to pair with specific wine varietals. We offer a food and wine pairing in our tasting room.”

(For clarification purposes: a ‘varietal’ is a term used for wines made predominantly from a single grape, such as a fine California zinfandel wine.)

Boxed wine — or anything found in a container besides a traditional wine bottle — often is overlooked as cheap, low-quality wine. However, Clif recently introduced a new “Climber Pouch” wine that is more portable, eco-friendly, and should taste better than your average grocery store jug wine.

“The Climber Pouch wines were introduced in Spring 2011 as an alternative to glass bottles. Each pouch is the equivalent of two 750ml bottles of wine and the packaging produces 90% less waste and 80% lower carbon emissions than the glass equivalent. It’s a convenient, portable package with great quality wine.”

All wines from the Clif Family Winery & Farm can be found at Velo Vino and online — with a store finder available on Grappos.com — as the winery continues to add to their wine-making resume.

*Editors note: He better follow this up with an article about organic milk supplied from another vendor.

Today was the big day for Alameda and See Jane Run Sports. There was a huge turnout for the participants but not many spectators along the course.  I write the Alameda running blog and I barely heard about the event.  Perhaps I will work with the event organizers next year to help get the word out.

I rode my bike along the course to see it well laid out with lots of port-o-potty’s.   There were not enough.  The toilet lines at the start line were huge.  The bag check line was even longer.  I also heard a lot of complaints about the timing chips not being available with bibs for early bag pick up.

The people arriving early had no problems with parking, check in and toilet lines.  The volunteers were all nice to speak with and friendly with everyone who came by.  The race started with a pre-race warm with a few classic 80’s aerobic workout songs and two out of sync group leaders.  It did not matter, everyone was having fun.  The race started on time!  The start line looked big upon arrival, one hour before start time.  When 2,000 people were lined up for the start of the race, it looked small.  I rode my bike with a couple of ladies who started 5 minutes late and were planning on completing the race with a finishing time of 1:50.  It seemed like a good plan until we turned the corner to a long 1.5 mile straight road that was full of runners.  I left them to deal with the crowd.  I wonder how they made out.

It was a very good event with a few problems at the start line.  There was a big group of runners but course was configured for the crowds.  The police at the street crossings did an excellent job keeping the runners moving.  We had one lost driver complaining about the lack of detour signs to the airport for Bay Farm residents.  Bay Farm is a small Island attached to Alameda proper by a bridge.  It has about 5 square miles of populated areas with 4 roads leading off the Island.  Three of them go to the airport, one was closed.  The event organizers get a pass on this complaint.

Ted rates See Jane Run, Alameda a huge success.  Maybe, I will carry my 2:15 pace sign next year.  Probably not, it would just feel awkward joining a women’s event.

Pictures can be found here.

I remember riding my bike past a group of women running a half marathon four or five years ago wondering what was going on.  It was a small race around Alameda that I obviously missed hearing about.  That sure has changed in a hurry.  We saw the poor ladies in the back of the pack catch a draw bridge near the end of their race.  It was amusing for most of them but some of the impatient runners were quite upset about losing five minutes waiting for a draw bridge.  I guess they were about 2:30 minutes into the race with 3 miles to go.  I quietly watched them thinking about I never have my camera when a picture-perfect moment occurs.

The half marathon course is a really popular training route for people training for half marathon and longer races.  The course starts off in Washington Park which is a park I just run past while I stick to the water front route.  Most of this course is on a multi-use trail that goes along the water.  There are a couple of street crossings but they won’t be a problem on race day.  On a typical day, you will really get to experience micro climates while running this route.  At 8:00 am, it is usually cool and overcast at Washington Park.

The course is slightly downhill for the first 3 miles.  It is amazing how the little hill leading over the draw bridge can hurt legs that are accustomed running on a flat road.  You will cross the bridge and turn left on to a nice little half mile stretch along the San Leandro Bay until you cross Doolittle drive.  Then comes my least favorite part of the course, Harbor Bay Parkway to Ron Cowan Parkway.  I love the sights but there is something about this stretch that does me in.  Fortunately it is only 1.5 miles long.   Then you get some dog legs through the corporate parks to add a mile to the course.  The loop drives house SemiFreddi’s bakery.  Hope they are not baking cinnamon bread the day you run by.  You are now half way done with the hardest part behind you.

The next three miles are on the trail along the SF bay heading back to the draw bridge.  Depending on your state, you may or may not hope for bridge opening.  You run through a neighborhood for about a mile then back to the coastal trail.  You will have nice views with the wind at your back for the last 2 miles.  It is long and straight.  You get some bends near the end of the course.  You know the end is near when you see your car in the parking lot.  Crab Cove is a very popular park where I always see people walking their dogs and geese walking around.  Be careful where you sit.

This is a wonderful course that can be really fast or really windy.  I am happy to see so many people coming out to Alameda to run.  Good luck everyone and have fun.

This time of year has Memorial Day and National Running Day serving as two significant events able to get Americans (and athletes) out and about in local, state and federal parks. It’s a great experience to be able to visit a properly-funded, well-maintained park available for us, but it’s a joy we may soon miss out on.

State parks are under fire by Gov. Jerry Brown, but a federal issue related to funding was awarded to the State of California like a contract. Since the money and contract are both related to the land deeds, Gov. Brown could be in a breach of contract. It’s an interesting roadblock that I’m sure the suits in Sacramento will look to circumvent in whatever manner they can this summer.

I think it’s a tragedy Gov. Brown wants to shut down state parks, though can’t say I’m really surprised. Local and national politicians are trying their best to waste money while keeping money flowing into their own pockets, so expect more park funding issues later.

Meanwhile, Pres. Obama is folding under continued political pressure to stop millions of acres of land from receiving federal support. It’s an interesting issue when millions of dollars and lots of public land is at risk of being severely mismanaged in the near future.