How's it looking for Party Pardee

[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.

[snapdragen]

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.

Carefull there jobob, you're starting to sound like me....

snap "lazybones" dragen

[Veronica]

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.

Are you having fun? Enjoying the ride? Because really that is all that matters.

Nice write up BTW.

V.

[jobob]

Are you having fun? Enjoying the ride?

Ab-solutely!

And the Witches Britches you sold me were great, they were just perfect for those in-beween temperatures.

[tprevost]

What a great report Jobob! Sounds like a fabulous day and certainly made me wish I were there. AND, I realized as I was reading your report that I am one of those people that don't do the rollers right... so, I even learned something too! Whoo Hooo!

Thanks again for the great report!

Tracy

[jobob]

Anytime, Tracy!

Harnessing your momentum to go over rollers was one of the things I learned from the road riding academy my club puts on.

When I'm rolling up and down hills, it's so tempting to coast down a hill and up into the beginning of the next hill, putting off the inevitable and only starting to pedal again once I start slowing down on the uphill grade.

It was a real surprise when I learned that if I started pedalling before I reached the bottom of the hill, I would often have enough momentum to carry me well up the next hill, sometimes even clear to the top, with a minimum of effort. Sometimes if the next hill isn't too steep or long and if I time it right I don't even have to downshift. Whee!

[tprevost]

Jobob,

are you talking about ACTC (I think I have the initials wrong!) I belonged to that club eons ago when I was up in the bay area and I meant to go to that darned riding academy.... Dang, and I've spent all this time makin' things hard on myself!!! ... figures!

Thanks again - maybe I can get more tips out of you at the LRRH or ???

Tracy

[jobob]

Yep, ACTC. Snapdragen was one of our instructors when LeeBob and I took it. Lee & I were then assistant instructors for the following session, and for part of the session after that.

We're on "sabbatical" right now, it's nice to have our Saturdays free so we can go on rides with our friends and to participate in organized rides like Party Pardee.

We'll be working our club ride again this year, the Tierra Bella. I'm going to be the Official Skeleton (afternoon shift) standing before the descent on Canada road, after Gilroy Hot Springs. (It can be a dicey descent, a bit steep, windey and often gravelley, so the skeleton sort of reinforces the concept of Slow Down or Die )

So if anyone is riding the 100K route on the TB, say hi to the skeleton after the Gilroy Hot Springs rest stop - that'll be me !

[tprevost]

how funny, I'd forgotten what the route was for that ride. I lived off of Roop Road when I was growing up and used to sneak my dad's truck out and drive around the lake and hot springs road (less likely to be busted!) and out Canada.

I sure do get homesick for Norcal when I read these posts!

Trac'

[aka_kim]

You know, the skeleton is probably a good idea, but I've found when doing TB that I'm focusing on the skeleton as I start the descent, instead of the road. I think last year the skeleton was waving around a sign that it took me several seconds to read and process, and I really wasn't going too fast (my brain obviously wasn't going too fast ).

But I do think it's very cool you're helping your club - just try not to startle or distract the riders.

[SadieKate]

I sure do get homesick for Norcal when I read these posts!

Trac'

I finally looked up Canyon Valley. You are a ways a way from us! It'll be fun to finally meet. Thanks for the nice post on BJ.