How's it looking for Party Pardee

[tprevost]

Trekhawk,

I'm sorry you aren't riding, for some reason I was really looking forward to reading your ride report !

I hope you at least get a chance to ride between showers! Let me know if your kids liked the movie!

Tracy

ps. Hope you're havin' fun caulkin' Yellow! Been there, done that... this week its sanding and staining... probably just as much fun

[SadieKate]

Crud! It was a simply stunning day! Bubba and I located Jobob and Leebob at the last rest stop just as they were leaving. Bubba and I chose to sleep in a tad while the Bobs luxuriated in hotel comfort only 15 mins from the ride start so our start times were a tad different. I never saw Kim and by the time I thought to call there was no cell phone service. I'm soooo disappointed.

Since we didn't know what TrekHawk looked like we kept designing ways of getting people to talk. Figured she stick out like a sore thumb amongst all the "Mercans. We gotta better coordinate the BAB ride, like maybe I could put her phone number in my cell phone so I would have some kind of tracking device.

It did rain on us during the drive to the ride, but the ride itself was gloriously clear with beautiful puffy clouds, wind and lots of flooded meadows. Geez, will it ever stop raining! Please, somebody.

We may have to wait for Jo's ride report as they decided that their change was too heavy and, rather than carry it home, they could deposit it in the Jackson Casino's slot machines

[aka_kim]

It was a simply stunning day!

Of course - I never gauge the weather correctly! The Pilot decided last night, while it was raining, as it had been all afternoon, that he wasn't riding. I wasn't real keen on driving 85 miles each way to ride in what I expected to be "unsettled" conditions. Then I bailed on CindySue's ride too, since it was raining this morning, and ya know I'm whiny when wet.

I'm glad everyone had a good ride. I really enjoyed the ride last year and love that area. Will have to try again next year.

[SadieKate]

And, you didn't think to call for reservations in the Bike Bus? Hurrumph.

[aka_kim]

And, you didn't think to call for reservations in the Bike Bus? Hurrumph.

I did think about the Bike Bus, but didn't want to impose. Really. You two will be hauling my bike to Utah soon, I can't call on you every time I need a lift.

[SadieKate]

I did think about the Bike Bus, but didn't want to impose. Really. You two will be hauling my bike to Utah soon, I can't call on you every time I need a lift.

Huh? We were going anyway. We're driving to Utah anyway. We don't get your company that frequently and it is so much easier to visit in the car than chasing you up the hills.

TrekHawk - no more rain talk. Don't tempt it. I can't believe how little mountain biking I got in this year.

[Trekhawk]

Glad to hear you had a good ride. I knew if if I didnt go it would be lovely.

Im going to BOB even if it looks like flood conditions (and from what I read on the weather site that could be possible).

Definitely have to work out a plan for that one so I get to meet you all.

[cindysue]

Crud! It was a simply stunning day!

and? Tell us more! At least somebody is getting some riding in!!!

I can't wait for graduation. Seven weeks away!

[jobob]

I had a really long week at work and Friday was no exception, and I didn't get home until around 8. Since it was already so late, we discussed maybe bagging the hotel and just going to bed early and setting out in the wee hours, but Lee preferred driving the night before rather than the morning of. So we hit the road around 8:30 pm, stopped for dinner en route at the In-N-Out Burger in Lathrop near I-5 (double-double with grilled onions and fries well done, yuuum), and then continued on past Stockton and points east. We rolled into the Holiday Inn Express in Jackson around 11-ish and lights were out soon thereafter.

We arrived bright & early at Howard Park in Ione. You could tell we were coming in from the opposite direction of most everyone else, there was a huge line of cars coming in from the north (the direction of Sacramento) waiting in line to make the left into the park, while we just pulled up and made the right turn from our direction. Hee.

After all the recent rain the paking areas were very muddy, but parking was very nicely orgainzed. Poor Lee had to park over a puddle on the drivers side but he made the best of it.

The weather was unexpectedly promising, it was a bit overcast but the clouds didn't look menacing at all. We had assumed it would rain so Lee kept the fenders on his Romulus and I brought my Romulus, Pokey, my official "rain bike" with fenders and wider Pasella Tourguard tires. In retrospect I wish I had Dusty, which is set up a bit lighter & has no fenders, but who knew?

The check-in was very well organized, it took us all of 5 minutes apiece. After we checked in I realized I actually had a cell phone signal right where I was standing, so I gave SadieKate a call. She and Bubba were en route and just passing thru Sacramento, where it was pouring rain. I assured them that the weather looked fine out here. Even though they would start the ride a good hour or so after us, I assumed they would catch up to us before the end (which they did !)

Lee & I set off at a happy clip (partly to keep warm, brrr). The roads were for the most part very good, with lovely scenery, mostly farmlands and pastures. Every now & then we'd see a "flooded" sign along the road but by and large whatever flooding they had was pretty much gone by then, even though we did have to ride across a couple of miniature lakes in the road. People would often comment about how smart were to have fenders. All in all I was feeling pretty good and I attacked the smallish hills with my version of vim & vigor.

After the 2nd rest stop at around mi 30, we encountered a bunch of rollers and I although I was eating and drinking sufficiently, I started to feel achey and sluggish, and around mi 35-38 I was wondering if I would even be able to finish! I took a couple of Ibuprophen (2 X 200 mg if it matters to anyone), slowed down considerably and shifted to my lowest gears on the hills more often than not. I eventually started feeling better, not great, but better. It helped that the countryside was really beautiful, so I went into full-on cyclotourist mode and did a lot of sightseeing. And the sun was out by then, which really helped pick up my spirits.

I felt much better by the 3rd rest stop at around mi 50, which featured make-your-own sandwiches at a nice little park. We took a good long time at that rest stop, it was very early afternoon, the ride was nearly over, and the sun was out and it was soooo nice to sit out in the sun and strech our legs. My body was reminding me that I hadn't been on this long of a ride with so many hills and rollers in ages.

Our dawdling paid off, since just as we were about to set out again, along came SadiKate & Bubba! It was great to see them but I figured it would be best if we got moving again, so after chatting for a few moments Lee & I set off, with plans to meet up with them again at the after-ride feast.

The last part of the ride featured a couple of good climbs, but in reality the longer climbs seemed almost easier for me than the constant up & down of the rollers. Go figure. Part of that would be because I would invariably encounter people who didn't know how to ride rollers, or more specifically, didn't know enought to use the momentum from the downhill to help propel them up the next hill. So I'd get to the bottom of one hill and be cranking along as the road sloped up again, and I'd catch up to someone who would start pedalling only when they started slowing down on the uphill. By then their forward momentum would be shot, and they'd often be in the wrong gear, so they'd slow down even more searching for the right gear. Meanwhile there I am bearing up on them at considerable speed (er, comparatively) and sometimes I'd be able to pass and keep moving, but sometimes I wouldn't be able to pass right away for one reason or another, so I'd have to slow down which made that hill harder than it needed to be. Oddly enough, I'd see that very often often in riders that otherwise seemed fairly strong and experienced.

Oh, and don't get me going on pacelines ! I just started going down one particularly nice-looking descent as a long paceline started to pass me (the guy in front kindly informed me that he was at the front of a long line, which I appreciated). So we start going down this hill and by the time the second or third person passed me it was clear that I could go down that hill much faster than they were going. But what to do? If I turned on the gas (it wouldn't have taken much) I would have been passing them on the right which I do *not* do, and they were still in a line so I didn't want to cut into it. So instead I sat up and feathered my brakes a bit and grumbled to myself over the lost screamin' downhill opportunity. Oh, and had to plod up the next hill since said paceline came to a near halt once they started going up again. Gah.

But there were plenty of other fun descents along the ride to to make up for that missed one.

So, we got back to Howard Park - I was on my second (maybe fourth?) wind by then and feeling good, still my body was glad it was over. We loaded up the bikes and got back to the party area when SK and Bubba rolled in. We had the feast and some caaaake and chatted for a bit, it was great to see them. (I passed on the Bud Lite ).

Like SK said, Lee and I went to check out the scene at the nearby Jackson Rancheria casino, but instead we wandered around there a little bit and decided we'd rather drive home and have a nice dinner and an early night. So we drove home, feasted on beef ribs at a nearby Cattleman's and turned in early - and I slept like a proverbial rock !

Here's the route profile from my computer (please ignore the avg speed ):

[cindysue]

thanks for the report - and it's always nice to see the profile. Hope to see you all soon!

[Trekhawk]

Sounds like you had a good ride. Love the stats and your average speed for 100kms looks pretty good to me. See when they say there is always someone faster well yep there is always someone slower too (that would be me).

[jobob]

Sorry, I get self-concious about my speed or lack thereof sometimes ... it seems I've hit a plateau, my speed hasn't improved in ages.

I suppose if I really wanted to improve, I could, but it would involve getting out a lot more or hooking my bike up to a stationary trainer and start doing those evil Coach Troy workouts (yech!). And that all sounds like too much effort at the moment.