t4mv

So a few of us were chatting about doing some low-key flat rides for the folks who just want to kick back and roll some steady miles. This first one has about 50 miles and is pretty flat, or about as flat as the Central Valley has to offer; being low key, it's a no drop ride with regular regroups and a stop at Steady Eddy's in Winters for at least coffee, if not lunch.

The start/finish is at the parking structure for the Mondavi Performing Arts Center on the UC Davis campus, accessed via the main UC Davis exit off I-80.

Route:
https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...o-Lake-Airport

Projected start time: 8:30 AM, PDT.

'Hope to see some of the Vaca/Davis/Sacto BF folks on this ride.


The "I'm in for this ride" list:

overthere
Carolyn - overthere's friend
huytheskigod
Rushfan
Goatbiker
JoelS
bigbossman
Bikingshearer
BentPebbles
Michi
Rob
Thomas
cantdrv55
GiroToGo + friend
Tandem Team Blue Jay (cgallagh & Red Rider ?)
t4mv + 15 YO stoker


The "Maybe I'm interested in this ride" list:

Goatbiker pals from Sacto
Goatbiker pals from East Bay


**Note: There will be another ride that has ~1100 ft elevation involved (Cantelow) featured in another ride in July, listed in a separate thread titled Part II. **

overthere

I'll plan on being there...sounds great! And a nice chance to ride with some BF folks...

x136 

Hmm, that's the same day as the Giro di Peninsula.

As for the other ride, at 1100 feet, that must include every climb in Yolo county!

cantdrv55

How fast is "laid back"? I'm not going to make the Giro as I haven't been riding but I can do a slow, laid back ride.

t4mv

Laid back in Yolo County-speak might loosely be described as "bucolic."

You might as well come out and play, you know you want to..

overthere, we look forward to meeting up with you at last. It'll be fun.

huytheskigod

Yeah...I'll probably be one of the ones leading this ride seeing how it's my route As for speed, there is going to be no drops with regroups and I'll ride with the slowest rider. WooHoo!...leading from the back!

Rushfan

I will probably be the slowest rider assuming my bronchitis doesn't turn into pneumonia (fingers crossed, meds seem to be kicking in).

And yes, there are at least 3 Yolo County style climbs on this ride-two overpasses and a small hill leading to Lake Solano.

Goatbiker

Two Overpasses? God, I hate mountains.

This would give me six organized rides for June AND the Southern California Recumbent Rally.

Oh yeah, I'm in. I'll be so ready for anything called laid-back. Just my speed.

I have also posted this the link to the Recumbent Riders of Sacramento, and the Recumbents of the East Bay sites.

Tom

Goatbiker

By the way, while the few of you were chatting, did you mention a start time?

t4mv

No, we were going to wait until the 11th hour to preserve the exclusivity of this ride.

However, if you'd like to propose a time for the benefit of those interested, now is as good a time as any. What's your preference?

**Edited to add that the real reason there's no time (yet) is because I was trying to get a 1-week forecast for temps out in the Valley. If it's going to be a bazillion degrees out there, we might want to start at 5 AM vs. 9 or 10 AM if it's just going to hang around the 80s, or so.

Goatbiker

Early is good, to avoid the late afternoon heat.

There are several people interested in this ride from Sacramento, and Contra Costa recumbent groups.

As local rides go, this one could prove to be very popular.

Rushfan

Earlier the better to avoid the heat. 9am at the latest is my suggestion.

And it looks like I'll be getting on the bike tomorrow, so I should be good to go by the end of the month.

huytheskigod

In anticipation that it will probably be hot, I say either 7:00am or 8:00am start time. Would 7:00am be too early for some that have to travel? I'll see if I can ride the course before the 28th to figure out rest/regroup points.

Rushfan

8am should be fine as long as it's not 105...

And huy, let me know when you do your pre-ride. I might be up for joining you in a week or two.

t4mv

I'm headed up from the south SFBA so I'm OK with 7-8, as long as we give everyone a chance to get to the start and be ready to go. As long as we're not doing this ride in 107 degree temps under a cloudless sky I'll be happy.

Huy, when you go on your scout ride, can you check on the status of the apricots out there? I'm not sure there're any orchards on the planned route, but they sure were one of the things I looked forward to when we went on those summer rides.

Joe, good to hear you're back on the bike. Maybe one of the future BF bike events will be bicycle soccer.

Goatbiker

There are people traveling, so lets plan for 9:00 am, with the understand that it could move to 8:00 if the forecast warranted it.

Goatbiker

So far, it looks like a 95 degree day in Davis.

Any final thoughts on start time, or is it still too early?


Looking forward to this ride,

Tom

Rushfan

The Monday before will probably be a good date to set the time as the long range forecast will be out by then.

JoelS

That sounds like fun. I might very well be up for that.

GiroToGo

I'm new here. Is everyone a recumbent rider? What's the pace and what does it mean "no drops with regroups"? I hope to be there to meet everyone.

Rushfan

Not everyone is a recumbent rider. I'm not, t4mv isn't (although he might be on a tandem-haven't heard yet), and I think huytheskigod isn't on a 'bent.

Pace from the previous ride I did with t4mv was about 15 mph, on a slightly harder course. I'm guessing we'll be around that this time, with maybe some faster folks and maybe some slightly slower folks possibly breaking up a little.

"No drops" means that no one will be left behind by himself. If someone is going slower, at least one other person will slow down to ride with that person.

"Regroups" means that as people break up into little groups based on speed differences, at certain times on the ride the faster folks will stop and wait for the slower folks, "regrouping."

Post any questions you have and we'll try to answer. Looking forward to meeting you.

Joe

JoelS

Move me from a "Maybe" to an "I'll be there." I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't been riding long (at least this go round), and 50mi will be the longest ride I've done since '98. Looking forward to meeting you!

t4mv

Well, if I was a betting sort of person, I'd guess at next week's ride day temps to be in the high 80s to mid-90s, so how long do y'all want to be riding in somewhat cool temps? I'm thinking 8-ish sounds about right. Even if we were to poke along at a conversational pace (which is sort of the point of this ride), and stopped at Steady Eddy's for a recharge, we'd still get done by around 2-ish, or so, which would keep us out of the worst of the heat if it was a toasty day.

Otherwise, does anyone have good friends along the route with garden hoses we can use?

Rushfan

You just cursed us with 105.

JoelS

Shhhhh! Don't talk about the weather! At least we can be pretty sure it won't rain....