ALC/LifeCycle 5 - Day Seven (June 10, 2006)
My last morning waking up at the crack of "pre-dawn" in awhile. It's a 60ish mile day, mostly along PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) with Saturday beach traffic. Most people were not in a huge hurry to 
get out of camp today. Our group was no different. I didn't really see anyone until we got to our bikes. I was there a little early... for the first time! There was a little gift on our seats from The Chicken Lady. Jeero got to ours first! Little sneak! It had a nice poem in there. I can't remember off hand what it said... but maybe I'll do an addendum with it. (= We rode out at an easy pace and just hung together. It was nice. There were some good rolling hills along the way. I hadn't done the 2-day Santa Barbara ride so this section of PCH was new to me. I couldn't really believe how hilly it was. They just kept coming at us! lol One of the rest stops was on a climb but the rest stop itself was down a very steep driveway. I kept expecting to see someone with road shoes slide down the thing. But it never happened! Damn! (= Nothing special about what I did at the rest stop! lol It's all routine by now. But one of them was very cute with a Martha Stewart theme! They offered only one color of Gatorade because too much color is BAD! ha! One of the roadies looked awesome in his capris, short sweater, and polo shirt. Good hair too! (= At some point we also passed through a military base! There was an ambulance at the entrance playing the theme to Top Gun over their speakers! lol That was cool! They have actually done that for us at the top of random climbs throughout the ride. Unfortunately I had forgotten about them until now! Oops! On the way out, there was a second ambulance playing, "It's getting hot in here... so take off all your clothes...." so Kenny and I began to disrobe. It was 2 guys in the ambulance so we had to debate which of us they were interested in seeing actually take the clothes off! lol With these tan lines... NEITHER!! The support just keeps on comin'! Got to lunch and really took our time! We found a table to eat at together and that was nice. Not sitting on the ground can be a very good thing! There were 5 of us and room for 6 at the table. So we had rotating guests! The Russian guy (Joe) who had done a comedy routine sat with us for a little bit. He was quite funny in that situation as well! (= Chicken Lady came in eventually and got a huge round of applause for all her support. She started to cry! Aww! Very sweet! I think she's an every year participant... along with Ginger Brewlay. As a rider or roadie or something every year. Amazing! About 15 miles remained after lunch. We took our sweet time getting out of there. But then it just seemed like we needed to. So off we went. We got onto the back of a HUGE paceline.... going way too slowly. But we were behaving. I heard Suzann behind me say, "NO!" lol I turned around so she could hear me, "That's why I'm in the middle, so you all can help me behave!" I did know it was dangerous and I wanted to be safe... but I get a little antsy behind people who are scared to descend. Nothing wrong with being a little scared... but I want to be in front of them. (= Nothing wrong with that either. Eventually Kenny found an opening and off we went. It wasn't quite so tight so it seemed quite a bit safer. Suzann was with us so I knew it had to be safe. (= She's a nurse! So she sees the outcome of the dangerous stuff. I get that! That's why I waited... and that's why I was glad she was with us! We got onto a beach path eventually and then had to cross under the road into what I think was Brentwood... we were close to the end. We climbed one last hill with "Mom and Dad" at the end with their M&Ms. Awesome! And 
then we rolled into Brentwood and stopped for Starbucks/Boba and to root for the riders behind us. That was fun!! The Boba was good too! Jeero enjoyed the Boba... the vitamin water was getting a little old by then! (= We stayed there for about 30-45 minutes then decided to roll in. There were people all along the streets, signs on most of the trees, and people in cars yelling at us. I will miss the cheering next time I ride!! We get closer and closer... there's another slight climb and we all bitch! We let Kenny lead us up the hill since he's been last on every other one! hehe O= And into the park we go. There is cheering and waving and everything. The Viagra man is there to high five us (he had been seen along the road wearing a pill outfit that said, "YOU are my viagra!!" lol). Everyone recognized him immediately!. We parked our bikes. Kenny's husband found him, Khoa's friends finally found him. Eventually Suzann's family found her... after we had lined up for the ceremony. It was just a big hug fest! I was relieved and happy... and I admit a little sad that no one was there to greet me. That was difficult with all the reunions happening around me. I had friends coming to pick me up later... with my dog!! So that made me happy. But in the moment, it was a little lonely! We went to get our finishing t-shirts and all chose yellow. It was hard to choose because Kenny had a couple colors, Suzann had one, and Khoa had a couple. So yellow it was! (= The closing ceremony was a lot of cheering, holding
up our bikes, more cheering, some crying, and a lot of HOPE! The most emotional I got was when they brought the roadies into the middle. The riders had come in and separated into two groups each on one side of an empty fenced-in space. The roadies filled that empty space... just as they have done all week. I just can't express the gratitude and emotion I feel when I think about the support and energy they have expended just to keep each of us on the road this week. Takes a very special kind of person to use her/his vacation time that way! So the middle, the core, is definitely where they belonged! I know it sounds sappy... but if you've had the experience, you know exactly what I mean! And that was that. It was over. Guess what I did next!? The first thing I always do when I get into camp... went to the gear truck to find my bag! On my day of lasts... that was the last time I would go hunting for my humongous bag! Emily and Sidney came and picked me up with Emma Blue... took me directly to California Pizza Kitchen for pasta and a COKE!! Yes! Probably the last time in a very long time I'll crave pasta... and the coke, woo did that taste good! Then home... not quite back to normal.... but home nonetheless. An incredible experience!
get out of camp today. Our group was no different. I didn't really see anyone until we got to our bikes. I was there a little early... for the first time! There was a little gift on our seats from The Chicken Lady. Jeero got to ours first! Little sneak! It had a nice poem in there. I can't remember off hand what it said... but maybe I'll do an addendum with it. (= We rode out at an easy pace and just hung together. It was nice. There were some good rolling hills along the way. I hadn't done the 2-day Santa Barbara ride so this section of PCH was new to me. I couldn't really believe how hilly it was. They just kept coming at us! lol One of the rest stops was on a climb but the rest stop itself was down a very steep driveway. I kept expecting to see someone with road shoes slide down the thing. But it never happened! Damn! (= Nothing special about what I did at the rest stop! lol It's all routine by now. But one of them was very cute with a Martha Stewart theme! They offered only one color of Gatorade because too much color is BAD! ha! One of the roadies looked awesome in his capris, short sweater, and polo shirt. Good hair too! (= At some point we also passed through a military base! There was an ambulance at the entrance playing the theme to Top Gun over their speakers! lol That was cool! They have actually done that for us at the top of random climbs throughout the ride. Unfortunately I had forgotten about them until now! Oops! On the way out, there was a second ambulance playing, "It's getting hot in here... so take off all your clothes...." so Kenny and I began to disrobe. It was 2 guys in the ambulance so we had to debate which of us they were interested in seeing actually take the clothes off! lol With these tan lines... NEITHER!! The support just keeps on comin'! Got to lunch and really took our time! We found a table to eat at together and that was nice. Not sitting on the ground can be a very good thing! There were 5 of us and room for 6 at the table. So we had rotating guests! The Russian guy (Joe) who had done a comedy routine sat with us for a little bit. He was quite funny in that situation as well! (= Chicken Lady came in eventually and got a huge round of applause for all her support. She started to cry! Aww! Very sweet! I think she's an every year participant... along with Ginger Brewlay. As a rider or roadie or something every year. Amazing! About 15 miles remained after lunch. We took our sweet time getting out of there. But then it just seemed like we needed to. So off we went. We got onto the back of a HUGE paceline.... going way too slowly. But we were behaving. I heard Suzann behind me say, "NO!" lol I turned around so she could hear me, "That's why I'm in the middle, so you all can help me behave!" I did know it was dangerous and I wanted to be safe... but I get a little antsy behind people who are scared to descend. Nothing wrong with being a little scared... but I want to be in front of them. (= Nothing wrong with that either. Eventually Kenny found an opening and off we went. It wasn't quite so tight so it seemed quite a bit safer. Suzann was with us so I knew it had to be safe. (= She's a nurse! So she sees the outcome of the dangerous stuff. I get that! That's why I waited... and that's why I was glad she was with us! We got onto a beach path eventually and then had to cross under the road into what I think was Brentwood... we were close to the end. We climbed one last hill with "Mom and Dad" at the end with their M&Ms. Awesome! And 
then we rolled into Brentwood and stopped for Starbucks/Boba and to root for the riders behind us. That was fun!! The Boba was good too! Jeero enjoyed the Boba... the vitamin water was getting a little old by then! (= We stayed there for about 30-45 minutes then decided to roll in. There were people all along the streets, signs on most of the trees, and people in cars yelling at us. I will miss the cheering next time I ride!! We get closer and closer... there's another slight climb and we all bitch! We let Kenny lead us up the hill since he's been last on every other one! hehe O= And into the park we go. There is cheering and waving and everything. The Viagra man is there to high five us (he had been seen along the road wearing a pill outfit that said, "YOU are my viagra!!" lol). Everyone recognized him immediately!. We parked our bikes. Kenny's husband found him, Khoa's friends finally found him. Eventually Suzann's family found her... after we had lined up for the ceremony. It was just a big hug fest! I was relieved and happy... and I admit a little sad that no one was there to greet me. That was difficult with all the reunions happening around me. I had friends coming to pick me up later... with my dog!! So that made me happy. But in the moment, it was a little lonely! We went to get our finishing t-shirts and all chose yellow. It was hard to choose because Kenny had a couple colors, Suzann had one, and Khoa had a couple. So yellow it was! (= The closing ceremony was a lot of cheering, holding
up our bikes, more cheering, some crying, and a lot of HOPE! The most emotional I got was when they brought the roadies into the middle. The riders had come in and separated into two groups each on one side of an empty fenced-in space. The roadies filled that empty space... just as they have done all week. I just can't express the gratitude and emotion I feel when I think about the support and energy they have expended just to keep each of us on the road this week. Takes a very special kind of person to use her/his vacation time that way! So the middle, the core, is definitely where they belonged! I know it sounds sappy... but if you've had the experience, you know exactly what I mean! And that was that. It was over. Guess what I did next!? The first thing I always do when I get into camp... went to the gear truck to find my bag! On my day of lasts... that was the last time I would go hunting for my humongous bag! Emily and Sidney came and picked me up with Emma Blue... took me directly to California Pizza Kitchen for pasta and a COKE!! Yes! Probably the last time in a very long time I'll crave pasta... and the coke, woo did that taste good! Then home... not quite back to normal.... but home nonetheless. An incredible experience!
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