We bought a bike roof rack for the Accord, but that only solved part of the problem. We had to leave a few things behind, including chairs. Sue and I worked half days on Friday and packed after work and got a late start. We avoided the traffic going south by leaving San Jose via McKean Road to Uvas. We didn't hit the freeway until Gilroy. Cycling teaches you lots of neat back roads.
It was almost dark when we got to the ACTC compound at the Paso Robles fairgrounds. As we were not yet used to the firmness of the sleeping accommodations we didn't sleep that well that night. The next day Sue and Kenneth went on a ride to Atascadero to visit the zoo there. Their ride went well except Kenneth had some problems with his bike and his shoes. It was hot that day.
I rode west. I rode with Don Axtell and the group. It was a great ride!
We went up Highway 46 and went up Santa Rosa Creek Road. The ride up Santa Rosa Creek started pretty mellow. It was a nice ride on a quiet road in the country. Then came the wall. It was pretty steep. I have a VERY low gear on my bike (28x34) so I didn't have to walk and was able to keep my cadence up pretty high, all things considered. A lot of people, mostly those with doubles, were walking. The downhill was awesome. It was around 20 percent and full of switchbacks and potholes. It was an E-ticket ride. My mountain biking skills came in handy more than once as I had to choose lines through the rough parts.
When we hit Cambria our large group overran the Creekside Cafe, a nice little café. The cook(s) did a good job of keeping up with the demand. The food was great!
We then headed south on highway one. We finally saw the ocean near Cayucos. As we approached the ocean the temperature must have gone down 20 degrees in a mile or two. Cayucos is about 4 miles north of Morro Bay. Don and a few people headed south to Morro Bay. Most of us headed east up Old Creek Road.
Old Creek Road is basically one very long, steady and somewhat steep climb up from sea level to the top of the Santa Lucia Range. It was hot. There was not much to do but climb, sweat and talk to your friends. It's only about 10 miles but it seemed longer and some people were walking. That would be a long walk!
There is a creek that parallels the road. I rode a lot with Deborah Lefferts. It sure makes a long climb seem shorter to have a fellow rider to talk to. At one point she, Linda and I stopped. We took turns climbing down to the creek. Even though you couldn't drink the water (of course.) It was cool and refreshing and provided a chance to cool off. We all got wet with creek water then got back on our bikes and started climbing again. We were dry in no time.
After we crested the summit I was hoping for a nice long downhill all the way to the fairgrounds. There was more down than up but it was rollers all the way to Paso Robles. I followed Ben Mandac, a club rider, into town. Then I remembered what other riders said about Ben taking a wrong turn on the ride to GWBR. I kidded Ben about this. We found our way back to the fairgrounds without any problems. I met Sue and Kenneth and we told each other about our rides. After showering we walked over to the main exhibit hall. There was a big swap meet there and the Rivendell people were there. Since I got my new Rivendell earlier this year it was neat to see Grant Petersen, the owner of Rivendell Bikeworks, and all the folks at Rivendell. I introduced Grant to Sue. Grant said thanks to Sue for letting me buy a Rivendell.
That evening there was a wine and cheese reception at the show. There was a lot of bikes on display, including more Rivendells. Petersen even spoke to cyclists about bike fit. Our club hosted the reception. We'd volunteered to help with the cleanup. Sue wasn't feeling well so Ken and I worked until around 11 or so.
The next day we rode together as a family. We rode up to San Miguel and visited the San Miguel Archangel Mission. It was starting to get warm and the weather report said it'd be hotter than the previous day. We then rode to Star Farm where there was a small private artificial lake. Ken swam while Sue and I visited with some other club riders, Valarie Butler and Betty Olsen. There was no food there. Sue and I hadn't packed a lunch thinking we'd eat out.
It was pretty hot when Sue and I started riding back. Ken elected to stay at the lake and ride back later with Valerie Butler. Valerie teaches middle school so she could handle Kenneth. Ken was spending a lot of time with a girl he met there whose family was also at the bike rally.
Sue struggled with the heat. We stopped a couple of times on the way back. One stop was under a big oak tree. Frank and Linda rode by and we visited under the tree for awhile. We stopped again at a lemonade stand and bought 8 lemonades (they were small and cheap). We each drank two and then put the other four in a water bottle. Then a 16 year old girl with a flat came by and asked if I knew how to fix a flat. I fixed her tire for her. The girl was going after the distance cycling record for the event and she didn't know how to fix a flat.
By the time we got into town it was late. We went to the local A&W and had a late lunch and big Root Beer floats. After we got back to camp we showered and visited and Kenneth and Valerie showed up. Kenneth's feet were sunburned.
That evening the club put on its annual GWBR salmon feed. It was great. I normally don't like salmon but I liked this. Again the Sloan family helped with the cleanup. We stayed around the camp and visited with our friends and Kenneth went to the awards ceremony. Since meeting the girl at Star Farm he had a sudden interest in events at the rally.
After we went to bed there was a sudden stirring in the middle of the night. Kenneth said, "there is something alive in my tent." He said, "it's an animal." I said what is it, a rat? He said, "I don't know." Well, I don't do rodents. I had sudden visions of Willard. The kid was gonna be on his own. He said, "do something." I grabbed the flashlight and went out. Sue immediately zipped up our tent cutting off my path of retreat. I informed Kenneth of my fear of wild animals one percent of my size. He said, "unzip my tent and hand me the flashlight." I unzipped it enough to shove the flashlight through. I went back to my tent. Sue said something like, don't you embarrass yourself? I could see a light show played out on the wall of the tent. When it stopped we all went back to sleep.
The next morning I asked Kenneth what he did. He said he grabbed the mouse and threw it out the door. At breakfast one of the club members said she heard what was going on and could tell that kid was going to get no help.
On Monday we did not ride. We loaded up the car and drove over highway 46 to Cambria. We had breakfast at the Creekside Cafe, the same place the cyclists did on Saturday. We looked at the house we are renting for a week in July. We drove down the coast to San Luis Obispo. We went to the train station and watched a freight train leave town. We then drove home and went the back roads to avoid the traffic from Morgan Hill to San Jose.