Great reports! I frankly think Snap may have had the most fun. A doggie fashion show??? That's fantastic. (My favorite is the hula wear-clad yellow lab.)
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Great reports! I frankly think Snap may have had the most fun. A doggie fashion show??? That's fantastic. (My favorite is the hula wear-clad yellow lab.)
We drove up Friday evening and checked in at the Holiday Inn Express, one exit on 101 south from the Burbank Center. Since we planned to bike to the start the next morning, the first thing we did after we checked in was to drive the route I worked out from my Krebs map. It looked fine and dandy, and we realized as we approached the Burbank Center that it was about 6:03 so we decided may as well check in.
Check-in was very well run and it was a very easy in & out. We had the opportunity to look at the routes for the 100K and the 100 mi and saw that unfortunately they parted only a couple of miles into the route, so we made the decision then and there to stick to the original plan and do the 100K.
We then headed into downtown Santa Rosa to find some dinner. We were walking along 4th street and passed an Italian Restaurant just as the door opened and some people stepped out. The smell emanating from it was simply marvelous. We stopped, looked at the menu in the window, and went in. It was early enough there was only a short wait for a table. And Oh. My. God. I had paparadelle with wild boar sausage and mushrooms that was transcendent. Lee's shrimp pasta in tomato sauce was glorious. This place is a keeper. Best Italian place we've been to in ages. We Shall Return. It's called LoCoco's, and we'll be there again next year, either the evening before or after the ride. We have us a new tradition.
The following morning we headed out bright & early and reached the Burbank Center at around 6:45. We briefly wandered around the parking lot and the registration area on the off chance we'd see anyone, and then just decided to head on out. Cindy - I'm sorry I missed your call! It was a bit chilly so I started out with my sleeveless AV jersey under a bolero and a vest. I eventually shed the vest but the bolero stayed on.
It was such a great ride! The weather was perfect (once it warmed up a touch) and like SK said the support was outstanding. We gave the first stop (the one at the bridge) a pass since it was only about 10 miles into the 100K route, and we reached the "lunch" stop at the dam at about 9:15, but that's fine because I was hungry. :) I don't think I've ever seen such an assortment of food at a rest stop. At the third rest stop, I made a beeline for the oreo cookies. I usually make a pig of myself with oreos so I never buy them anymore. I made up for lost oreo time by inhaling four of them. As we were going up Chalk Hill, the one and only climb on the 100K route (neener) I was thinking I probably could have done without that 4th oreo...
I was feeling really good through the whole ride, but by the time we finished I was still glad we only opted for the 100K. I wasn't sure if I had another 40 miles and all that additional climbing in me. Our ride came out to 1860 ft of climbing, and we did it at an avg speed 14.5 mph (which is really good for me). And I felt waaay better than I did at Party Pardee. Progress!
We finished a couple of minutes before noon, and then wandered around hoping to find snap & Cindy, but no luck. (Cindy, were you still wearing your Lunachix jersey?). Around 2:00 we decided to pack it in, since we figured the 200 K folks might still be another couple of hours.
We rode back to the hotel, showered, used the jacuzzi tub in our room (we splurged), went to the Starbucks next door for Restorative Beverages, then Lee took a nap while I read by the pool for a bit. Then later we rounded up snap for an enjoyable dinner at Cattlemen's because we all had a hankerin' for beeeef.
This morning Lee & I went to the Luther Burbank house but took a pass on the Shultz Museum, it was just too nice a day to be indoors. We headed for home, unloaded the car, and went for a ride which, it just occurred to me, was the exact same AC Trail / Mission Coffee ride we did with the TE girls a couple of weeks ago (todays fruit freeze flavors were raspberry banana for me & mango/peach for Lee).
Quite the excellent weekend all in all! :cool: We'll definitely do this ride again next year, maybe even the 100 mile.
For me, it was a great ride! I was psyched out about the hills on Coleman Valley Road, but most were short so it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. By the time I got there the sun was out so that helped.
Although I started out with my club, I took a few moments here and there to remove clothes so I never spent much time riding with them. Instead, I rode most of the route on my own. Somewhere before the lunch stop at Warm Springs Dam, I passed SadieKate and Bubba- the back of the Amici Veloci jerseys is easy to spot. After that, it was a dovetail effect. I had some foot issues, so I had to stop a couple of times to handle my shoes. Nevertheless, I finished 8hrs35min. The last part after Chalk Hill was the toughest- strong headwinds the whole way ( lost 2/10 mile on my over MPH there!)
Don't let Ms SadieKate fool you! She's one strong rider, despite her concerns about training this year.
This was my first century ride two years ago, so it was an opportunity to see how much progress I had made in my riding. (This year, I opted for the double metric) I felt much stronger on the hills, and was able to keep up a faster pace as well. And, I did enjoy the all of the rest stops, the scenery, and the riders. I will do this ride again!
I'm giggling over the images of Cindy "pouting off" from Starbucks and jobob "making up for lost oreo time." They both look about 4 years old in my head.
"I had paparadelle with wild boar sausage and mushrooms that was transcendent." Without me? I need to do a better job of following you around.:)
Man, I just ate and reading Jobob's report makes me hungry again!!! :D
Cindy, where were you sitting at dinner time? We were probably in line for the yummy grilled turkey about 5:20-ish and stayed around for another 20 mins. Found the one oreo that jobob missed and then headed for Sonoma.
I musta checked the faces 3 times looking for you.
we were sitting in the grass. i was dilligently watching folks come in knowing you would be in a little later than the century riders with 130+ miles under your belt, but didn't see you. That potato salad was yummy, wasn't it?
So that's why there wasn't any left!:p They cleaned the bowl with the person before Bill.
We kept our AV jerseys on so we could be easily spotted. Crud.
Jo, if you can convince yourself to do the climb over Coleman (I know you can do it), the ride out to the coast is spectacular. If I wanted to do a shorter ride, I'd start the 200k route, ride out to the Monte Rio rest stop, up to Guerneville and then head back to Santa Rosa via Green Valley (cutting across on Guerneville Rd) or figure out how to return via the 50k route. In other words, do the southern half of the 200K where all the scenery is.Quote:
Originally Posted by jobob
A bunch of the Benicia Club riders did that. Deanna could probably tell us the best way to do that. I think I emailed you MP's 200K map file so you could see what I'm confusedly trying to convey.
That would probably be the ideal ride, in my humble opinion.
Oh, I could do it I suppose, but at this point there's still a bit of a gap between "could" and "want to" :DQuote:
Originally Posted by SadieKate
That sounds like a great idea.
I meant to pick up maps for the other routes for future reference, but forgot. Wouldja mind hanging on to yours, or making a scan for me? Thankyee kindly.
heehee. I'm all about the food ! :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by maillotpois
Quote:
Originally Posted by jobob
Yeah and you look great in sptie of the oreos. Maybe that's the secret to looking terrific - eating oreos.
Sounds like everyone had an awesome ride. Good thing I didn't go since I trashed my front derailleur on Sunday. Proof I'm not becoming a total weight weenie... the bike shop had both a Dura-Ace and an Ultegra derailleur. I thought the Dura-Ace one was ugly :p and got the Ultegra.
But SK I can't tell from your write up why you don't want to do another 200K.
V.
PS There is nothing wrong with watching the weight on your bike. I just prefer to keep my bike as pretty as possible. And remember.., beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
V., you're a sweetheart {hug}
But this is what LeeBob and I looked like back in my oreo days. This is also back when we considered a pint box of Ben & Jerry's to be a single serving size :p :p
http://i1.tinypic.com/xgb1uv.jpg
Gawd I can hardly bear to look at this now :D
Isn't it amazing how a healthy lifestyle just makes you feel better about everything? It's kind of a no brainer it seems, but so many people haven't figured that out.
I have a crappy day at work - I ride my bike.
I think Lee gets my award for making the biggest changes out of all teh folks I personally know. How much did he use to smoke? I don't think it's easy to quit smoking and eat better and ride your bike up mountains.
V.
Lee quit smoking waaay before he put on all that weight. But he smoked like a freakin' chimney.
Yeah, I'm really proud of what he's done for himself. The biking made a huge impact. He first got a hybrid and would toodle around the AC trail with me - I remember when he would DIE going up the little rollers around Coyote Hills park. But he stuck with it, and after a while he was lusting after a Rivendell Romulus but he was hesitant because of how much it cost. It seemed like he was really enjoying biking so I urged him to get it. He did, he loved it, and a few weeks later I was toodling around with him on his new Romulus and me on my hybrid and I asked him if I could give his bike a try. I wouldn't give it back until I got one of my own.
And now you know the rest of the story :)
Wow - Jo - you guys are hardly recognizable in that photo! I was scrolling quickly through the thread and thought - hmm - I wonder who that is in that photo...
I feel like all the photos I have of myself from the last 10 years are my "before" pictures - anything current is a "during," and someday soon there will be some "after" pictures! In the meantime, the riding is fun! Thanks for the inspiration!
Wow - great story on Lee. Sounds a little like "Mr. MP" who got sick of his wife dropping him on all the climbs after 2 years and got mad and lost 35 pounds!
Well, I just learned that one of my friends who did WCC double metric (a fellow TNT coach and one of the folks who did some of the doubles with us) crashed on one of the last descents yesterday (Green Valley) and broke her collarbone and ended up in the hospital overnight. :mad: Huge bummer. This is one of the most lovely, cheery women you could hope to know. I expect she's off the bike for a while.
Ah, so she was the one. LeeBob and I spent some of the time waiting for Snap & Cindy to materialize (harrumph) sitting a a bench near the entrance where the radio tent was set up. We heard snippets of conversations between the guy at the tent and the SAG vehicles. There was a woman involved in a crash and they were dispatching an ambulance to the scene, but I couldn't make out what route she was on.Quote:
Originally Posted by maillotpois
I have to admit I was relieved once I found out all my girlfriends were present and accounted for. :)
Best wishes for her speedy recovery!
I'll do you one better. Go to the club's website and click on current rides. May 7th was the WCC worker's ride and all the route files are posted in pdf. The route revision I suggest looks like it would be a 100k with about 3,500 ft of climbing and it's all early in the ride (but with plenty of easy warm-up). Anyone who has climbed the summit of Diablo can do Colemen, no problem, far easier.Quote:
Originally Posted by jobob
http://www.srcc.com/
Because I want to mountain bike. Completing a 200k was a nice milestone but it doesn't make my heart sing the way mtbiking does. If we can ever get you to the singletrack in Bend, you'll see why. I believe yellow's comment as we were descending the Sisters Trail was something about you having the downhill on Diablo and me having Sisters. Slalom-tight singletrack heaven.Quote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
I'm glad you all had a great time on our ride! I got up for the volunteers ride on the 7th with the good intentions of doing a modification of the 100 mile route. Only one man who I've never met was doing the 100 miles, most of the folks doing that started even earlier, so I was easily talked out of my plan. We (meaning the WCC riders and the volunteer riders) were certainly blessed by the weather gods, as all during the previous week the sun waited until the afternoons to come out.
Deanna- I came by the clothes table asking about posters (they were all sold out!) Were you the one I spoke to???? (I haven't met you so I apologize if that was you!)
Is the club going to make anymore? I loved the framed one I saw. Fabulous!
Glad you got a ride in yesterday. Another glorious day for riding!
You may have spoken with me, as I was there all day except for lunch. I've told the power that be that we should make more. I'm not sure who framed the one we had on display, but they did an awesome job.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bike Goddess
Well, it sure sounds like you all had great adventures. I think this one is going to go on the calendar for next year for sure. Thanks for the link to the route sheets, SK. Maybe Blaine and I can do one of them for our anniversary this year!! :)
I was in the LBS here in Salt Lake yesterday and one of the shop boys was talking about this ride. Guess he had just returned from his trip abroad (translation: abroad is anywhere out of Utah). He said it was the best ride he'd ever done and waxed poetic about the scenery and weather. That's quite a compliment. Pass it on, Deanna!
I just realized we hadn't heard from kjay. Kjay, whassup? How'd you do?
Hi, SadieKate . . . I've been hesitant to write, but I really appreciate your asking me, so I will report, although it's not the greatest report, but at least I finished my 35-miler.
Anyway, I rode my steel hybrid and everyone in the world passed me, plus I had to walk up a few hills, but that was okay. I loved the ride, the scenery, the animals along the way (even stopped at Honkey's Donkeys), and fed some grass to a few mama horses with their little foals. However, when I arrived at the Wells Fargo Center, I couldn't find the parking lot where my hubby was parked, so I took a shortcut on a dirt path covered with hay in order to get to two guys so that I could ask them the whereabouts of the main parking lot. It was at this time that my wheel got caught in a 5-inch-deep rut, and I took a hard fall. I either cracked or bruised some ribs, but am doing fine and am raring to go biking again. Nothing that a few Advil and Vicodin couldn't handle.
It took me 5 hours to complete 35 miles, but I had a grand time.
Thank you so much for asking. :)
Oh kjay! I hope you're doing okay! Take care of yourself!
Yeow! Kind of sorry I asked but I did want to know. It sounds like 99.9% of the ride was fun.
Honkey's Donkey's? This must not have been on our mutual route. Darn.
I pass the Honky Donkey farm on a couple of routes and have never stopped there (what is it about local attractions that we don't seem to make the time to visit). Isn't there a bird thing at the same place (maybe it's down the street)?
Thank you, Slinkedog and SadieKate! I'm doing okay. I believe I only bruised some ribs . . . nothing broken.
Yes, Deanna, there are exotic birds at Honkey's Donkeys, which, by the way, is located on Porter Road.