Mike Ellis	Archive

You recently went on your honeymoon to Hawaii. Congratulations! Did you get any riding done?

Not much, but we were on Maui and I did the famous Haleakala descent. My wife was still jetlagged and didn’t want to do the 6:30am departure. But to me this “morning” tour sounded better than the “sunrise” tour, which leaves at 2:30am!!! The organizers take care of everything: the bikes, the food, and even the uphill. All we had to do was coast down the mountain. They kept the group together very well. A lead bicyclist that no one could pass was in the front and a van in the back warned the traffic about the bicyclists on the road. The descent is pretty twisty and we had a lunch break half way down, so we averaged maybe 20 miles per hour. They use Worksman bikes with hub breaks.

The other bike related thing we did was to volunteer at the Ironman triathlon. We were in the transition zone, so we got to see all the bikes from the professionals. That was fun.

Does your wife ride, too?

We did get her a bike, but she is a bit afraid of riding in the street with all the traffic. She may take the Road I class to get more confident.

What kind of riding do you do?

I try to commute regularly. It’s about 10 miles round trip. For the most part it’s nice and I can go through neighborhoods, but I have to go on Cirby for a while. That is not great as parts of it have no bike lane and the outside lane has uneven pavement. I hope that they finish the bike path soon that is marked in the bike map as a future trail. It would go along the creek, north of Cirby. It would provide a connection from Sunrise all the way to Foothills without being on the street.

I also do triathlons and I have done a couple of centuries. I am currently getting in shape for Ironman Arizona, which is in April. My commuting is an integral part of my training program right now as it can give me 40 or 50 miles a week without adding much extra time. I do 40-50+ mile rides on the weekend and a trainer session of 10-20 miles. And I swim at 24 Hour Fitness, so those two disciplines are good. I am currently a bit worried about my running as I started having some knee pain. Hopefully a balanced training will get me past this. I scaled down my initial plan to run the California International Marathon Sacramento in December and instead will do it as a relay with three co-workers.

I have a commuter bike – it’s one of the early hybrids, so it has a fairly sporty geometry, although the position is more upright than on a road bike. I put a rack on it and it has flat handle bars. And my training bike is a road bike with clip-on aero bars and clipless pedals, which I am using for more efficient riding.

Do you ride in the winter?

Some. I am trying to get more consistent at riding again. I do have a car so when it’s really bad I will just use it, but I did get rain gear and my panniers are water-resistant. I also just got a really good light. It’s a 12 and a 20W Halogen light and you can run either one or both. It’s kinda expensive, but it’s a great light and I can be seen very well. I use a blinkie in the back. I also have a reflective stripe on my panniers. I have a reflective triangle that I can tie around my waste. I also have reflective stickers on my frame.

How do you think bikeways could be more attractive?

I think businesses should get more involved. A connection to the Galleria for example would be nice. And it seems hard to know who would actually be using the trails, so there may have to be some forethought to be put in where the trails should be built.

As for Roseville, I feel fairly good about riding here. I don’t really have any incidents. I think part of it is learning how to ride in heavy traffic, which I picked up in San Jose. I had a manager who rode everywhere and he took me under his wings.

I also think visibility is important and my 6’2” frame is no disadvantage in that regard!

How fast do you like to go?

I think my top speed was 42 miles per hour. I usually hit that going down Sierra College Boulevard into Rocklin.

Do you mostly ride in town or do you go out of town as well?

My commuting is of course in town. The Arizona Ironman is fairly flat, so the American River Bikeway is very suited right now for my bike training. Last year I did the Auburn ½ Ironman. That was harder to prepare for – 5,000ft of climbing in 56 miles. I then trained for the hillier course. I would go up to Auburn, and rode the actual course a few times. The Auburn race is very nice, but challenging.

Any comments on the “Tour de Roseville” ride you attended?

I had never been on the Miner’s Ravine trail, so that was neat to discover. I usually don’t ride on that side of town much.

It was also great to meet new people and to see that Roseville has a large cycling community.

It was important that the consultants and the city officials rode with us and they got to see first hand what we are talking about.

Are you aware of the November 28 workshop?

Yes, I am. I saw the email on the list. I think it’s great that the city involves its citizens. I lived in San Jose and Chico for a while and even though Chico is a more bike-friendly town than Roseville I was never aware of similar events.

What you see as the biggest possible improvement the city could do for bicyclists?

I think it’s a pretty good place to ride overall.  But there are some areas that are difficult to ride, such as Cirby between Sunrise and Riverside without an adequate bike lane and uneven surface. And unfortunately right now there is really no viable option.

I think if that trail would be put in, more people would ride. I think there are a number of people who don’t want to cross the freeway and train tracks where they currently would need to do that. But with a separate trail more people may commute to businesses along Foothills, such as hp or NEC.

I have to say that I am fairly confident out on the road and I don’t mind riding in traffic. For those who are more intimidated a separate Class I trail would be a good alternative, though.

Do you use your bike with public transit sometimes?

No, I haven’t done that.

Do you find BikingRoseville helpful?

Yes. I like that it’s local and that I can get information such as the bike assembly on December 9. I hadn’t seen it anywhere else and I probably wouldn’t have known about it.

It’s good that the biking community with its own set of needs has its own medium. It makes it more personal and local than using, for example, Craig’s List.

If you could make a change, what would it be?

Maybe making the yahoo forum part of the web site? A feature on the web site that would definitely be helpful would be sort of a “rider’s match”. So people can post when they ride where and it may be a way of hooking up with others. This could be either someone looking for a buddy to commute with or go on recreational rides on the weekend. I often ride the same time and the same route every week day. So people could for example post a route via gmap-pedometer.com and link it to their profile, though they should be careful not to post it from their exact address – an invitation to burglars!

 I have tried to sign up for the 511 bike buddy (NDLR: http://www.sacregion511.org/bicycling/bikebuddy.cfm), but I am the only one in my area who is signed up for it. I know there are others close to where I live – maybe even BikingRoseville people, but they aren’t signed up for the 511 bike buddy.