Santa Cruz to King City
Distance - 47.51 (supposed to be 109.2)
Time - 3.48.40
Avg Speed - 12.4 mph
Max SPeed 31.0 mph
Ahh Day Two! Started out a little chilly with a 30% chance of rain. Yeah right! Well... yeah. Right! Almost as soon as we left, it started to drizzle. I was wearing shorts and a light windbreaker. Not nearly enough clothing for the brisk day. By the time we made it to the second Rest Stop at about 40 miles, it was a full on rain. People were shivering and choosing to stop for the day as it was too dangerous for them to keep going. Good choices I would say! Though wet, I felt pretty good. Maybe my Minnesota blood was kicking in! I was riding with Khoa and Aaron after that Rest Stop and we just put our heads down and rode. The road was pretty good though there was some mud at places since we were in farmland. Lunch was only about 8 miles away and we had been told that it wasn't raining at lunch so I think that motivated us to keep it moving. I did stop at one point to get a photo of the seals along the way. But it was a quick stop. When we got to lunch Khoa was shivering pretty uncontrollably so I ran around and got him a garbage bag then mylar while pushing him to eat his lunch. He and Aaron decided to SAG it since there was no way Khoa could ride safely in his state.
I got my own mylar blanket and went into the port-a-potty to arrange it under my jacket. Then a garbage bag to top off the ensemble and I was ready to go. My hands were cold, my feet were squishing around in my wet shoes, and if you don't already know what a drenched chamois feels like, I hope you never find out! But my core was warm and I was ready to head out. As I was getting on my bike, the moto crew came along and said they were closing the route and not allowing anyone who wasn't already out to leave. Darn! I saw a few people try to sneak past Moto but Moto is on top of their sh*t so as far as I know, no one got out. And I wasn't about to try to do something against instructions and risk being kicked off the ride. So I stood around getting cold. lol
Eventually Hartnell College opened their Student Center for us so we would have some warmth. This turned into a Mylar Fashion Show and lots of skin showing as people shed their wet clothes. Kenny showed up in the building at some point so it was nice to see a familiar face. Buses started showing up to take us to camp, which took about an hour. Along the way, we saw a few lonely souls pedaling away still on the route. I was both jealous of them and feeling sorry for them. I really wanted to be out there doing all the miles but I also knew it was totally miserable. Turned out that about 800 people made the entire route, including most of Team Sacramento! I thought that was VERY cool!!
Camp was at San Lorenzo County Park in King City... and was TOTALLY sunny and dry. Hmmph!
Showing posts with label Santa Cruz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Santa Cruz. Show all posts
Monday, June 04, 2012
Sunday, June 03, 2012
AIDS/LifeCycle 11 - Day One
Cow Palace in San Francisco to Santa Cruz
Had a difficult time getting started this morning. Surprise! Eventually we figured out it would be more efficient for Bozo to go to Denny's to get my breakfast instead of planning to sit and eat it there. I just could not get moving.
We did make it to the Cow Palace with plenty of time. I turned in my gear bag. This is always scary the first time as I haven't gotten my system down just yet and it's more likely that I'll forget something imperative. I didn't forget anything and didn't bring anything unneeded. Phew!
Into the Cow Palace, I had wanted to leave some stuff by my bike and pump the tires. But we weren't allowed in until after Opening Ceremonies. So we went into the main area for the ceremony. It was fun, emotional, touching, exciting, and motivating all at the same time. The energy was palpable as people wanted to be in the moment for the ceremony but our minds were also out on the road and we were twitching to get started. They shortened the ceremony from past years apparently and we were soon released to get our bicycles.
Last time I did the ride, we all lined up and went out at the same time. Seemed like a cluster to me! Now they open the doors and let people go when they're ready. It spreads things out on the road a little fast and I think makes it safer as well. I needed to air up my tires so I got out after much of the first rush. That was good because I actually got to see Bozo along the side of the road. I'm not sure I would have if I'd gotten out with the big antsy group.
Lots of people falling in that first bit through the city as they got used to their clips. Mostly at stop lights where they just didn't clip out soon enough. None were injured and they all got up laughing and being teased by their friends. The energy was so good. Lots of stop lights, up and down, around for about 19 miles before the first Rest Stop. I ran into Kenny and Khoa from The Misfits (my unoffical team at ALC 5) at the Rest Stop and we rode much of the day together after that. Lunch was at San Gregorio State Beach again and it was just beautiful. Except the view of the climb we would have right out of lunch. It's not so much the climb but feeling full of food and also being able to see it the entire time we're sitting there that make it seem difficult.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and I believe we had a tailwind much of the afternoon. We rolled into the traffic of Santa Cruz, which always seems to be a struggle. I would think they are bike friendly being a beach town but they really aren't. Fortunately we have great Roadies who direct traffic very well!
Being the first time into camp for the ride, it takes some time to figure out the system. Pick up your gear bag. My tentmate had the tent chip so I didn't get a tent right away. But when I got to our spot, there was no tent. So I went back and was given a tent to set up. I ended up with my own tent that night, which was very cool! Especially with my big ass hockey bag in tow! Once the tent was up, it was time for a shower. Off to find the shower trailers. Hey! No wait!! That's very cool! Back to organize the tent and then off to dinner. This is basically the system that works for me and seems pretty similar to others as well.
Dinner, evening program, then bed. I had trouble getting to sleep with no earplugs and lots of snoring around me. Bummer!
Distance - 82.53
Time Riding- 6.10.04
Actual Time w/ Rests - 9.42.35
Avg Speed - 13.3 mph
Max Speed - 45.0 mph
Had a difficult time getting started this morning. Surprise! Eventually we figured out it would be more efficient for Bozo to go to Denny's to get my breakfast instead of planning to sit and eat it there. I just could not get moving.
We did make it to the Cow Palace with plenty of time. I turned in my gear bag. This is always scary the first time as I haven't gotten my system down just yet and it's more likely that I'll forget something imperative. I didn't forget anything and didn't bring anything unneeded. Phew!
Into the Cow Palace, I had wanted to leave some stuff by my bike and pump the tires. But we weren't allowed in until after Opening Ceremonies. So we went into the main area for the ceremony. It was fun, emotional, touching, exciting, and motivating all at the same time. The energy was palpable as people wanted to be in the moment for the ceremony but our minds were also out on the road and we were twitching to get started. They shortened the ceremony from past years apparently and we were soon released to get our bicycles.
Last time I did the ride, we all lined up and went out at the same time. Seemed like a cluster to me! Now they open the doors and let people go when they're ready. It spreads things out on the road a little fast and I think makes it safer as well. I needed to air up my tires so I got out after much of the first rush. That was good because I actually got to see Bozo along the side of the road. I'm not sure I would have if I'd gotten out with the big antsy group.
Lots of people falling in that first bit through the city as they got used to their clips. Mostly at stop lights where they just didn't clip out soon enough. None were injured and they all got up laughing and being teased by their friends. The energy was so good. Lots of stop lights, up and down, around for about 19 miles before the first Rest Stop. I ran into Kenny and Khoa from The Misfits (my unoffical team at ALC 5) at the Rest Stop and we rode much of the day together after that. Lunch was at San Gregorio State Beach again and it was just beautiful. Except the view of the climb we would have right out of lunch. It's not so much the climb but feeling full of food and also being able to see it the entire time we're sitting there that make it seem difficult.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and I believe we had a tailwind much of the afternoon. We rolled into the traffic of Santa Cruz, which always seems to be a struggle. I would think they are bike friendly being a beach town but they really aren't. Fortunately we have great Roadies who direct traffic very well!
Being the first time into camp for the ride, it takes some time to figure out the system. Pick up your gear bag. My tentmate had the tent chip so I didn't get a tent right away. But when I got to our spot, there was no tent. So I went back and was given a tent to set up. I ended up with my own tent that night, which was very cool! Especially with my big ass hockey bag in tow! Once the tent was up, it was time for a shower. Off to find the shower trailers. Hey! No wait!! That's very cool! Back to organize the tent and then off to dinner. This is basically the system that works for me and seems pretty similar to others as well.
Dinner, evening program, then bed. I had trouble getting to sleep with no earplugs and lots of snoring around me. Bummer!
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