Wine Country Century 5/6/2006

[maillotpois]

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.)

[jobob]

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! We'll definitely do this ride again next year, maybe even the 100 mile.

[Bike Goddess]

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!

[SadieKate]

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.

[maillotpois]

Man, I just ate and reading Jobob's report makes me hungry again!!!

[SadieKate]

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.

[cindysue]

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?

[SadieKate]

So that's why there wasn't any left! They cleaned the bowl with the person before Bill.

We kept our AV jerseys on so we could be easily spotted. Crud.

[SadieKate]

Quite the excellent weekend all in all! We'll definitely do this ride again next year, maybe even the 100 mile.

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.

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.

[jobob]

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.

Oh, I could do it I suppose, but at this point there's still a bit of a gap between "could" and "want to"

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.

[jobob]

Man, I just ate and reading Jobob's report makes me hungry again!!!

heehee. I'm all about the food !

[Veronica]

heehee. I'm all about the food !

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 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.

[jobob]

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




Gawd I can hardly bear to look at this now

[Veronica]

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.

[jobob]

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