Neal took a redeye back to Boston, I was on a late flight yesterday to Portland, Andy, well, we all rode to his house and had a beer, then devoured a plate of chocolate chip cookies that Andy's wife made. Marc lives way up in the Oakland hills, so we didn't feel bad that he took an Uber home, drove down to pick up his bike, and then back up to his house.
So 5 days straight of riding, averaging 45 miles/day, but man those Marin/Sonoma climbs take it out of your legs. We were all bushed by the end.
Some thoughts:
Mechanicals
The Usual Suspects (a club that is growing) have had good luck over the years. This tour we ran into some challenges. First, Mssr. Singer's Singer french bottom bracket came loose. It was a vintage Edco bottom bracket loosened up on Day 2 - it has adjustable cups on both sides to fine tune a chain line, and it was constantly backing out every 5-10 miles. As shown earlier,
obrentharris used a 10 lb rock and a small screwdriver to get it back working. The general store in Tomales had a hammer we borrowed to get it as tight as possible, which lasted until near the end of the Day 3 ride.
SwimmerMike had driven up to Bodega Bay to ride with us for a couple of days, and not only brought the proper lock ring tool, but a folding bike stand as well.
My mud flap off the rear fender kept flapping up and getting caught between wheel and fender. After Day 1 the rain was gone, by Day 4 I just cut it off. Outside of that the Zero Bike performed perfectly.
Starting at Day 5, Neal's rear bag support decided it was time to break, shearing off the one bolt that was holding it onto his saddle rails.
BoltBreaker had a spare strap to tie it all up. I think it was an approvement, IMO.
We had one flat, I think, but forgot who had it.
gaucho777 Jack Taylor's NDS crank came loose, he already mentioned that Andy's pliers got him to Fairfax where a proper bike shop tool was applied. Those same pliers helped with Mssr. Singer's BB issues. Many of us decided it was a good tool to add to our kit.
It's German, so of course it's good
Despite his BF handle,
BoltBreaker had no mechanical issues.