Cindy dinner and ride reports!

[cindysue]

I woke up Saturday morning to rain rain rain. But it had stopped by the time I started loading the truck with all the LUNA gear. Went to starbucks - got a free extra shot in my Soy Latte, and headed for the parks. I always get excited when I see cars with their bikes on the way to the ride start. There certainly were fewer cars than last year - but I was still very excited to see a line of cars waiting to go into the parks when I arrived at 6:45.

With Michelle McBee's (from the Valley Spokesmen) help, i set up the LUNA tent, then went in and got my pink route sheet, rider #, and pink wristband. It was between 7:30 and 7:45 by the time I headed out. I figured I'd be able to get to the first rest stop (mile 22) then turn around and head back the same way so I could start manning the tent at 11am. I got rained on a few times but not much wind yet. I stopped and helped a gal change her flat tire along the way, then pulled into the rest stop at 9am. Saw a few friends, grabbed some goodies, and headed to the portapotties before turning around to head back to Camp Parks. I can't count the number of times people said "you're going the wrong way." I just smiled and waved "thanks"

The winds had really picked up by now, and I was pedaling hard to get anywhere against the headwinds. I was also almost knocked over several times by all the crosswinds. A little more rain, but not enough to dampen my spirits. I was excited to get back and see all the riders coming in.

Got back to camp parks at 11, but could not figure out how to get back in. The road we had come out of the parks had been gated off, and one of the military guys there sent me off in the wrong direction too. Well finally 1/2 hour later I found my way back into the parks - I ended up going back the same way I had drove in that morning.

My tent had been taken down by the time I arrived. The winds were so bad it was blowing around. Everything I tried to put up got knocked down. Finally a couple of the other vendors helped anchor my tent and other stuff by bungee cording it to their tent.

Apparently only about 1000 women showed up (out of 2800 registered) and not too many people were interested in haging out in the vendor area where it was cold, rainy, and windy. I know if it was me, I'd have got my soup and got the heck out of there!

But I did get a visit from several TE gals including Nancy, Shannon, Cari, Becky, Dita, and Lorri. I didn't see Kim, but someone said she said to say hi. I'm sure there were others but I can't remember at the moment.....

Anyway - all in all a good day, I got in 43 or so miles and was really happy to see some of the gals who had joined our training rides finish the whole ride despite the conditions.

Looking forward to LRRH!

edit: fixed typos

[cindysue]

Dinner

Dinner was GREAT! Nancy picked me up and we headed out with the evening commute. The carpool had ended by that time so no advantage there but it was really nice to have someone to chat with for the ride to the restaurant. We got there just as Dita and her sister arrived. It was great to see Dita again and meet her sister. I was disappointed that spazz couldn't come due to a migraine, but hope to see her soon. There is some talk of a progressive housewarming party that would have dinner at one house and dessert at the other (BikerZ and Spazz). It was so nice to see Francie and Ann again - it had been too long. I really enjoyed catching up with Ann and hearing Francie's stories from biking abroad. It was also great to see Melody again and I think I'm forgetting someone.....

I have to say though that I was quite embarrased that whoever booked the reservation didn't change it once we knew the numbers had dropped off. The eight of us arrived to a table of 20. The look on the waiters face when we said "only eight" was not pretty. And we were late on top of it, so that table must had sat empty for 1/2 hour before we arrived. Poor guy probably lost a lot of money that night. Lesson Learned for next time I guess!

anyway, gotta run to Cinderella #2