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Before there was a Team Bikeaholics, there was the lunchtime loop.
My introduction to this loop was innocent enough; I was talking to lisaa during the first LDTSG ride in 1994 and mentioned that I should do more mid-week riding to get into better shape. She told me that a group of Western Wheelers met at the circle at Syntex (now Roche) on Wednesday for a ride through Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.
Little did I know at the time where that innocent conversation would lead. At first, Lisa and her friends appeared to be relatively normal people. However, nine years of close association with the people who were to become Team Bikeaholics has permanantly altered my perception of what "normal" bike riding is, to the point where I am planning to ride PBP this August because "everybody else is doing it". But I digress...
The original ride was about 3 miles shorter than its current incarnation. As riders got faster and started looking for more of a challenge (and determined just how far they could stretch their lunch hour), the climb up La Cresta was added to the start, and the loop around the golf course was added to the end.
The original name of the loop has been lost to time; In written records, I've been calling it the A-Loop for the past 7 years. There are those who say that what I call the "A-Loop" was really the B-Loop, or maybe even the "C-Loop", but apparently I was never part of the inner cabal allowed to know all of the true names and routes.
Now starting my tenth year using the Bikeaholic training route henceforth known as "The A-loop", I reveal this route to the public for the first time, and present this photo gallery for your viewing pleasure.
PHOTOS: http://gallery.bikeaholics.org/gallery/album15
Don Bennett
Team Bikeaholics Sargent-At-Arms/WebMaster/Cartographer