Fox 'n Hound, Cameron Park

"Chase or be chased" is one of the Cycle Folsom motto's. For this ride, the Peloton group were the sly foxes, and us Performance riders would be the hungry hounds trying to chase them down. I did the math. It would be nearly impossible to catch the foxes with their 30 minute lead over a relatively short route (48 miles) through the foothills. If they averaged 16 mph, the Performance hounds would have to average a full 4 mph faster to get some fox legs for brunch.

This was a tough ride with lots of climbing for a fox 'n hound. First, just to warm up the legs, we headed up Auburn Folsom and then climbed Folsom Lake crossing. Next stop, Beatty, then Serrano I & II to be topped off with a little bit of icing called Hollow Oak. And if that wasn't enough, the road would continue to tilt upwards into Cameron Park, and then skyward on Meder. Now there is new, smooth pavement on Deer Valley, but I'm not sure if it made the climbing any easier. As always, the run in on Green Valley would be the best and fastest part of the ride.

Patrick, Jeremy, & Oz had me on the rivet most of the way. Unfortunately, Luis dropped off our group up Serrano. Us hungry hounds did all we could to try and out fox the Peloton foxes, like skip all the water stops, but we came up relatively empty. We caught Joel on Green Valley right at Salmon Falls, but this was his first ride back in about a month (tough day to get back in the swing of things). We got a little strung out on Green Valley & East Natoma, but by the light at Auburn Folsom Rd, we were gruppo compacto. I thought I got a jump on the group at the Auburn-Folsom Rd sprint, but Jeremy pulled Patrick and Oz up to me and Oz pimped me at the line. Eventually, the Performance hounds would finish about 5 minutes in arrears of the Peloton foxes. The Peloton group stopped for about 10 min for water; the Performance group was attacking through the feed zones for every second! Great ride everyone! I was totally spent.

Performance (Brian) ride stats: 46 miles, 2:34 ride time, 17.7 mph ave, elev. gain 3,900ft.
Peloton (Kevin) ride stats: 46 miles, 2:50 ride time, 16.5 mph ave, elev. gain 3,900 ft.

Coffee Republic route ride

The Cycle Folsom Peloton group set out at 07:30 to ride the Lincoln-Chili Hill-Power House Loop. This set up a perfect "fox & hound" ride for the Performance group. Could the big dogs close down a 1/2 hour gap on the foxes up the road? Oz, Eric and I set out at 08:00 sharp opting for the very similar Coffee Republic ride route that snakes up to Penryn from Folsom, then hits the quick rollers on English Colony, winding through the country roads of Placer County, and climbing the stair-step Ridge Road. Our goal was to catch the Peloton group on the speedy run-in on Auburn-Folsom Road.

The three of us worked well together and kept our small group together, even over Ridge Road. We took a quick water stop at the gas station in Newcastle, then quickly got back to business of hunting some foxes. Once on Auburn-Folsom we got our rotations organized and all of us contributed to the pace. Next thing you know, there were a couple of cyclists up the road; perfect carrot. I could tell that all of us were thinking, "OK, just catch those guys and take it from there." We reeled them in. As we passed, we heard "alright, now we got a tow home." Turns out it was Stan and Chuck from the Peloton group! Foxes caught!

OK, I have to be honest with you. Back at the gas station we decided to drop Indian Hill and hit Powerhouse Road (the Peloton's route). This shortened-up our ride a little. Also, it sounds like the Peloton group had some bad luck with mechanicals and route finding. All in all, it was a great ride for the three of us finishing in about 2 1/2 hours and averaging 18 mph over 46.5 miles with about 2,800 ft of climbing.