I've been looking forward to the King City overnighter for the past few weeks. I was planning to carpool to the start with my two Donnettes, Megan and Heather. Others that were planning to go were Pam and Kim and Debbie, so this was going to be a good weekend. And I'd already gotten permission from Diana.

Then both Megan and Heather bailed on me. I was disapointed, but figured that it would still be an ok weekend as I still had the others. Then I looked at the weather report and it had the temperature predictions going down from 90F the week before to about 55F for our weekend. With lows in the 30s, brrr. So I figured that I'd need to pack all of my winter clothes and I'd manage ok. Then it decided to rain on Friday, but that was ok as the weather forecast predicted that, and said that it would again be clear for Saturday and Sunday. The weather prediction proved to be correct.

Saturday morning came and the weather was just perfect. Yesterday's rain made the air seem cleaner today. It wasn't really that cold, being about 50F to start off. I carried all of my winter clothing, but didn't bother to wear any of it. Instead, I was in my usual tanktop and shorts and I was comfortable. This would be a good day.

Our group consisted of alot of people. There was me, our leader Pam Downs, Teri Duffy, Debbie Wade, Vince Cummings, Jerry Schonewille, Doug Sourbeer, Mike and Karen McGeough, Richard Brunner, and our SAG driver Margaret Barnes. Doug Gillison overslept and would join us later. Kim Carr and Ken Kennedy were starting out on their own from San Martin and join us along the way. We also had a selection of day-riders who just came along for the first part of the ride and would turn back at the Pinnacles. They were Art Cruz, Ken Koach, Tracy and Sharon Tyrffingsson and their friend. Jimmy Baker would also join the group this evening, driving down on his new motorcycle.

Margaret and Richard would stay and wait for Doug, so the rest of the group got started. It was amazing but the 14 of us all just cruised along in tight formation all of the way past Paicines. Pam won the Paicines city limit sign without even trying.No one was eager to go off the front like they usually do. I don't really like crowded conditions too much so I hung at the back.

Nobody stopped at Paicines, but I wasn't carrying any food so I stopped off to get a sandwich to eat later. Also, this would allow me the road space to just cruise along and slowly catch back up. Also, I knew that Kim and Ken were still behind me, so I was partly hanging back hoping to see them coming up the road. At Paicines store, there was a very friendly cat that came and greeted me as soon as I arrived and then sat on the railing near my bike while I was packing up to leave. He was probably looking for some food but all that I gave him were a few friendly pats on the back.

On the road again I soon detoured over onto Cienega Road and then onto Old Airline Hwy, which just parallels Hwy 25 for a few miles before joining up again. Back on Hwy 25 I could see a few dots way up the road. They could be bicyclists but I couldn't yet tell. I slowly gained and the dots turned out to be Pam and Teri at the back and Jerry just ahead of them.

I rode along with Pam and Teri for a bit and then climbed the long hill before the Pinnacles catching Jerry just at the top. From here I decided to go back and see if Kim and Ken were close by yet, so back down the hill I went. Then I went some more, and then some more. Finally I noticed 2 spots ahead which turned out to be Kim and Ken. I had backtracked about 5 miles to find them.

By the time we got back to the top of the hill we were 45 minutes behind Pam and Teri. At Pinnacles Junction we met Art and Ken Koach coming out from the Pinnacles. They said no one else was back there. Since we were stopped, I decided that here was a good place to eat my sandwich, so we all had something to eat. Then Tracy and Sharon came along on Hwy 25 and met us having lunch. They said the SAG had been waiting at the top of the next hill.

Rolling along again, I figured that Pam was now about 20 minutes ahead of us and we might be able to catch up by the top of the Bitterwater climb. I was still feeling fresh and strong, so I was able to keep up with Kim and Ken with no problem. They had a few more miles than me so they were a little more tired, and that was fine with me, as it let me keep up without having to suffer.

In Bitterwater, it was only 1:00 PM and it would be less than an hour to get to King City. I was thinking our rooms might not be ready if we got in too early. We were all feeling fine, so I suggested we extend the ride a bit and continue down Hwy 25 to Loneoak Road, thereby adding about 10 miles. So off we went. Soon after, we were riding along and a ground squirrel came running across the road and straight into my rear wheel. I couldn't do anything, and I heard and felt a big thud. That was the end of that squirrel. There were then many other squirrels that came running across the road just as we would get there, so we had to be on the lookout for them. Stupid squirrels and their suicide missions.

Just before the Loneoak Road junction we cross the county line. Then on Loneoak we cross the line two more times. Each line has a nice green sign, so this makes three good sprint opportunities in just a few miles. We all tried for each of the sprints. I think each of us got one win. Good fun. Then we climb up over a small hill and drop down the hill to King City. The downhill would have been faster, but we also had to fight a bit of headwind here. I took the lead since I had the aerobars, and so I brought Kim and Ken all of the way into town. We arrived at Keefers just before 2:30. I had 78 miles and they had 90. Doing the normal route from Hollister to King City, with no backtracking, was 60 miles for the others.

My room was upstairs but on the end closest to the pool so that was ok. After showering I found Mike and Karen in the hottub so I joined them there. We wondered where everyone else was. Afterwards, we found the party going on in Margaret and Richards room. People sitting around talking and having snacks.

For dinner, it was decided on going over to Round Table and having pizza. This worked out good and I came away stuffed. Back at the motel it was only 8:00 PM, so I decided to start the jigsaw puzzle that I had brought along. I left my room door open so that I could see who might be walking by and invite them in. Soon Kim and Ken arrived, bringing ice cream with them. Kim called up Pam and she came over and joined us. Kim helped me with the puzzle while Ken and Pam watched TV. About 9:30 they all decided to go off to bed, and I stayed up to work on the puzzle a bit more. I finally got tired and went to bed about 10:00.

About 4:30 I woke up and couldn't sleep, so I got up and finished the puzzle. By 5:30 the puzzle was finished and I was back in bed and slept till 7:00. I went over to the restaurant at 7:20 and found most everybody already there. They had already told the waitress that I would be ordering the choclate chip pancakes, and so that is what I ordered, without even looking at the menu. They were very good, but it was way too much food, as I got the full stack of 3, and each one was plate-size and very thick. After breakfast, Kim and Ken came in to eat, so I stayed and sat with them while they had their meal.

It was now time to pack up and get ready to leave. Again we were right on time, as it was a scheduled 9:00 AM departure. Most of the people just started out as they got ready, so it was me, Kim, and Ken taking up the rear. Not a problem, though, as we figured we could easily catch back up. The thermometer on the office wall said 45F this morning, but it was nice and sunny and didn't feel that cold to me at all. This morning I packed away all of my winter clothes and didn't carry them with me. I only kept my windbreaker, but it was in my panniers. Again I had just my tanktop and shorts and felt comfortable.

Today's ride started out flat for a few miles and then gradually went up hill, finally getting to the Bitterwater Summit at mile 13. We found the SAG waiting there for us, so I turned back and dropped down the last steeper section of hill, noticing that the last of our riders wasn't very far behind at all. Then I turned around and climbed back up to the summit, getting a bit more of a good workout.

The next section started with a nice one mile downhill, joining Hwy 25 in Bitterwater. Then we turned left and headed north on Hwy 25, up over another small hill and then more easy downhill. Ken had gone off the front a ways, and Kim slipped in behind me because we were getting some headwind. I got down on my aerobars and we cruised along. I was sort of trying to catch back up with Ken, but he was moving right along, and I could see Kim behind me in my mirror, so I wasn't really in any hurry to catch back up. The road was just very easy rollers, and we kept this position for the next ten miles. Kim and I finally caught back up with Ken just before a long climb. Kim took over here and was the first one up the hill. We found the SAG waiting for us on top so we all stopped and had a break and to wait for the others.

The next section, Kim and Ken got going with Debbie and Vince, while I delayed a bit to start with the others. Finally, after just a few minutes delay I decided that I'd give chase to Kim and Ken, so off I went. I went down the hill and past the Pinnacles Junction. Then it was up the long easy hill to the CDF station. I thought that I might have the others in sight by the top of this hill but that didn't happen. I then had a long downhill, so I knew that I would lose a bit of time here as they would have descended faster than me. Then I had to stop and pee, so that would put me further behind. I still felt strong, though, so I just stayed on my aerobars and cruised. We had a headwind, and so I figured that this was to my advantage as they would be slowed down more than me. Finally I got down into a very long straight section and could see a dot very far ahead. I marked its location and then timed myself. I was 5 minutes behind. Then I marked their location again and timed myself up to that mark. I was now 4 minutes behind. Good, I was gaining. By Paicines I was about 3 minutes behind. I looked at the store but saw no bikes so I kept going. The road was more twisty now so I often could not see the dot in front of me. Approaching the fairgrounds I was now 2 minutes behind and at the Tres Pinos city limit sign I was 1 minute behind. I had them in full view at the market and they stopped in just 30 seconds ahead of me.

In Tres Pinos we waited and waited. I bought and ate a big ice cream but still no riders. Finally we decided to get going and I took us on the scenic backroad to Hollister, instead of going straight in on Hwy 25. When we finally arrived back at the cars, we were there for maybe one minute when Pam and Teri showed up, followed closely by the others. So they must have been very close when we left Tres Pinos, and then they caught back up during my scenic detour route. We finished at 2:00, so it was about the same time that it took them yesterday. Today was 60 miles for everybody.

Before heading home, Debbie, Vince, Kim, Ken, and I stopped in for a bite at Super Tacarrea. I then gave Kim and Ken a lift back to their car in San Martin. They were happy not to have to ride that last 20 miles.

This was a great weekend for everybody. Hwy 25 always makes for terrific cycling, at any time of the year. It could have been too hot out there last week, but both of these days were just perfect weather, with highs of about 60F and sunny. Thank you Pam for putting this weekend together. You rode just fine, getting back-to-back days of riding. I'm sure you might be sore the next day, so it's good that you have planned ahead and scheduled yourself a massage.

-Donny