Continuing my account, here is Day 2, 107 miles from Santa Cruz to King City CA.
Traditionally, everyone is up early. I'm sure it's a combination of the 107 miles we have to ride and newbie nervousness. Handlebar Bill (named for his mustache) and I wake up about 4:45am, pull on our sweat pants, hit the porta-potties and make it to breakfast, in the dark. I go through the express line (just oatmeal, OJ and a banana) and head back to our tent drinking a cup of tea.
We're on our bikes by 6:45, although part of our group isn't there at the appointed time. We will cross paths a number of times throughout the day. It's slo-n-go as we make it out of Santa Cruz and Aptos. One minute I'm riding with two or three people, then 30, caught at a stop light. "The Ugly Mugg" is giving free coffee and disco music to all riders. A party has started on the sidwalk and it's only 7:15.
I got caught behind some slower riders in traffic, but catch Bill, Jim and Pete at Rest Stop 1. The theme there is "bedtime" and all the volunteers are dressed in pajamas. The route opens up into fields of strawberries and lightly rolling hills. These farm roads are a bit rough at times, but the scenery is great. Workers are in the fields doing the back-breaking work that we don't appreciate enough.
Deep fried artichoke hearts. There is a fruit/vegetable stand not far out of Watsonville and just past the overpass on 101 that looks forward to our arrival every year. I can tell because the price of the artichoke hearts has gone from $4.50 to $6.00 over the five years. Handlebar Bill, Pete (not Taxi777) and I roll in, followed not much later by The Other Bill. Also, my son-in-law's group pulls in. Erik cuts in line and offers to buy my $6.00's worth of 'hearts. I'm easy. Riders are sprawled all over the tiny parking lot. Cross-dressing Ginger Brewley is welcoming everyone at the entrance. Typical AIDS/LifeCycle.
We skipped the next rest stop and pulled into lunch in Salinas. Handlebar Bill had forged ahead (he always rides in the big ring) and I rode with The Other Bill. This part of the ride (like most of it) is perfectly flat and usually has a tailwind. We cruise at 18-20, with little effort. There is quite a bit of vehicular traffic, but the shoulder is wide.
The next several miles are again flat and tail-windious. Again, 20 mph is easy to maintain. By this time, I am in a sleeveless jersey and the livin' is easy. Strawberry and artichokes have given way to wine grapes and a cactus farm (aloe, prickle berry or Guava?). At Mile 67 I pull into Rest Stop 3, at Pessagno Winery. I turn around and am greeted by Pete/Taxi777.
The next stop is a water stop at Mission Soledad, known for the availability of Otterpops. Otterpops have no known value except the taste great after 67 miles of riding. Then followed an unfortunate incident. I was just getting back on my bike when I heard a truck in the large dirt parking area. I turned around to a huge cloud of dust thrown up by the truck turning "donuts". The driver had intentionally driven into the mission parking lot to create some havoc. Jerk. Later that night, one of our guys said a pick up had come at him head on while he was stopped at a stop sign. He was unclipped and had to pull his bike off the shoulder. It was near the same spot.
After climbing a little hill beyond "skinny dip bridge", we come upon "The Cookie Lady". She bakes one cookie for each of 2200 riders every year. An oatmeal raison cookie with ice cold milk really hits the spot.
Next follows about 4 miles of a bad side wind until Rest Stop 4, in Greenfield, at mile 93. Two more miles of side wind and then . . . a right turn gives you the best tailwind of the entire seven days. It starts with a nice roller coaster of hills then flatttens out for a total of 10 miles of 25-30 mph riding. I tell you, there is no sound as sweet as the hummmm of 23mm tires on pavement at 25 mph. I left everyone behind and passed a bunch of "kids". I love this section.
I averaged 15.3 mph today, down from 16.1 last year. I'm not sure where the change happened, but I'm guessing it was partly because we were being VERY careful at stop signs and the tailwinds weren't quite as heavy as last year. But, for 107 miles, pretty easy. At the end of the day, I felt great, legs were good, no chafing. I went through the dinner line twice.
DAY 3 kING CITY TO PASO ROBLES
After a full breakfast, we are on the road at 6:50. The big deal today is "Quadbuster", arguably the worst hill on the ride (but we didn't now about a new one on Day 4). We hit it at about mile 10. It's 10-12% for 1.3 miles. It strikes fear into the hearts of the newbies, but it's not that bad. Someone quipped that it "was a site for sore legs". All five of us started up pretty much together. Not surprisingly Handlebar Bill and Jim take the lead. The Other Bill also beats me up the hill, and Pete follows, after dropping his chain at the very start. At the top, tradition has it that everyone stops to cheer others on. We spend several minutes offering words of encouragement, then start down the other side into the Hunter Liggett, a military installation.
The leg between Rest Stop 2 and 3 is not my favorite, but it seems to go by quickly this time. After a brief potty stop at RS3, I charge up a hill and leave everyone else behind. I don't know what got into (or out of) me. I felt great. I soon caught Kim, The Other Bill's 24 yr old room mate, who left RS 3 before me, and pulled her into lunch. Here's me about to pass her.
Lunch is in the town of Bradley, population minimal. They have a fundraising BBQ, wherein most of the riders pay $10-20 for a hamburger. They raise $11,000 this year.
We get a few rain showers before making it to camp. Oh, we stopped at RS4, where everyone was dressed as stewardessess. I may been doing this ride too long. Some of those guys looked pretty good to me.
After the 63 mile ride, I got an A&W Root Beer near camp. And again went through the dinner line twice. I'm getting stronger every day. No pain. No chafing (good shorts) and my bike is working perfectly (Yea, Giant).
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Truth is stranger than reality.
'96 Giant ATX 760 MTB
'01 Bianchi Eros
'05 Giant OCR Llimited Carbon Fiber + upgrades
Last edited by Mojo Slim; 06-11-09 at 09:14 PM.