Red Rider

A BF NorCal member put together a century ride for the Folsom/Rocklin/Auburn area. We made last-minute plans to ride with the group, since we've been riding with pretty much each other on the tandem for the last 5 wks. or so.

It was a beautiful day and we were prepared the night before, so getting out of the house for the 45 min. drive to the start was easy. We were a little cold but knew that would pass. After a time the rest of the group showed up: Curtis and Tricia (cccorlew & MyLilPony), Tom (Spiduhman), Joel & Bess (Joel S., the organizer), Eric (Allez We Go), Nico (nasv), Todd, Victor & Walter (too young for this forum & whose screen names I've forgotten) and Joyce, a friend of Tricia's. I think that's everyone, and I apologize if I've forgotten anyone.

We left from Hagen Park onto the American River Bike Trail and rode along with joggers, walkers, and many other cyclists until Curtis had his 1st & 2nd flats. While he, Chris and others were fixing them, Bess and I helped clear the MUP for this parade to cross, on their way to the river:


We rode on to the fish hatchery, over/under/around/through Nimbus Dam and onto some major thoroughfares. I was pretty much on edge during the first 20-30 miles because I hadn't ridden with anyone but Chris on the tandem since my accident March 14th, we don't ride in heavy traffic often, and we were riding with some folks whose riding abilities were unknown to us. Being forced to ride outside of my comfort zone proved to be a good thing later, but at the moment I was wondering WTH I was doing there.

Parenthetically, this is what Chris did to modify the bullhorns so I could ride with a cast. If not for him and his creativity and skill I'd be on the trainer all the time, and you can imagine how much that sucks during this part of the year.


That's a set of clip-on aerobars he cannibalized, with some conduit he bent, electrical tape, nuts and bolts, bar tape, and a dash of duct tape. Not necessarily pretty, but very comfortable and functional.

Curtis had more flats before lunch, so there was plenty of recovery from the hills Joel had chosen. We've avoided hills because I can't stand -- can't put weight on my left wrist and those nifty arm rests get in the way of my knees -- so we appreciated the rests. We reached the lunch stop at about mile 41.

Tom (Spiduhman) and his newest fans. Note their nifty bike:


Shortly after lunch Curtis had another flat...and another...and another...without riding anywhere. He and Chris figured out how make a boot and air up the tire with no further incidents. A couple riders had bailed but these folks posed for my camera:


Then Curtis decided to excite the group by stripping. I didn't account for this and my heart rate went off the charts. I can attest to this man's studliness; I had the vapors just taking the picture.


We had some climbing in rural areas, lots of stawberry fields (forevah), a pasture with huge hullking rodeo bulls, horses, McMansions, wrecked cars lined in front yards like trophies. On Chili Hill we stopped because Chris was blinded by sweat and I had a stomach cramp. Chili Hill was scenic but deadly: sustained 15%, occasional 18%, over 1-1/2 miles, 410' altitude. I was ready to hang it up and walk to the top, but Chris appealed to my sense of teamwork and I got back on the tandem and we spun the last 1/3rd of the climb to the top. That was huge for me.

We saw a lot of this:


I saw a lot of this:


At the end we had some posing from someone who had the most flats on a NorCal BF ride to date:


A good time was had by all, even those who bailed early, and we who stayed enjoyed pizza and beer. I failed to document the occasion with photos, so you'll have to imagine 7 adults who rode a century + 2 kids to assess the damage we did to 2 humongous pizzas and 2 pitchers of cold beer. Life's great!

jungovox

wonderful picts and story - thanks for sharing this ride.

Timtruro

Nice pictures, looks like a fine ride, where was the pie?

doctor j

Great report and pics, Red Rider. Glad to hear you are back on the bike and rolling. Perhaps there should be a 50+ CCC trophy for most flats in a day!

rdtompki

Red Rider,
Great ride report, great pics. A bit OT, but are there any tandem-centric rides in your area? My wife and I have returned to bicycling after 20 years, bought a tandem, definitely 50+ and looking for an occasional tandem-rich experience. Will be another 3-4 months before we want to try a century, but anything up to 100K works for us. The tandem is such a blast!

cranky old dude

Excellent photo documentary, the kind of report that inspires me to go out right now for a ride. Thank you so much for sharing.

wobblyoldgeezer

What a great ride report and pictures - Thanks for posting

What on earth caused all those punctures? Just random, or anything systemic?

And if we stick to plan A, which was to do a 5 year gig in Bahrain March 05 to March 10 and then to go back to Spouseland N Calif, can we come ride with you?

Boudicca

Doesn't pizza count as pie?

Especially when accompanied by beer.

Mojo Slim

Hey! I've been on those roads. I think I was at the Barton/Brace corner about two weeks ago. Chili is a bear. It's part of our annual Tour de Lincoln. Next time you ride up this way, let me know. I will join you for a few hundred feet. I think you guys are all out of my league. Nice post.

jppe

Great ride report!!