LeRoy and I got off to a better start this year. We got our lunches into the #2 bags, instead of the #6 bags like last year, so already we must have been ahead. After Joellyn checked us in, Vladimir noticed that my headset was loose! Fortunately, he was able to tighten it quickly. There was a parade of ACTC members coming through the check-in, most of whom we hardly saw again on the ride, due to their soon being ahead of us. We say Mylo, Art, Donny, Pam, Sue and Alan, Jennie, Karl, Guy, and Patti H. I heard there were 195 people on the ride, but I'm not sure if that was the official number. We met Cathy Switzer at the start, and the three of us headed out together.
We hit the road at 6:20 am - already ahead of schedule! We left the last gate at Alum Rock Park at 7:30. By this time, LeRoy had already broken the zipper on his windbreaker and lost his camelbak mouthpiece - was this to be another tragic ride for him? Cathy left us at the gate, and started her own climb. She had never climbed Mt. Hamilton before. Begrudgingly, I had to let her go. She's an awesome climber, and can leave me in the dust anytime she wants. "Why do I continue to ride with her?", I asked myself in a brief moment of despair. (But the real question is, why does she continue to ride with me?) Like LeRoy, she has done many a ride with me at my pace and never uttered a single complaint. I am so fortunate to have such good friends to ride with!
It was "steady as she goes" up the mountain for me. It did not seem as though so many people were out there this year. Not many people passed me and LeRoy, and we didn't pass many, either. Maybe it was just timing, since we started more than half an hour earlier than last year. I made it to the top (without a rest break, unlike last year) by 10:20! Alas, Cathy had already been there for about half an hour!! (Go girl!) Last year, I thought the weather was perfect, but this year it was turning out even better. It was not as hot on the climb, but not too cold at the top or on the descent, either.
When we got there, most of our fellow club members were just leaving. We ate our lunches. No one wanted my leftover hoho or powdered-sugar donuts, can you believe that? We left the top at 11 am, on the dot.
I thought the descent was fun, but I knew what to expect from last year. Cathy said her hands hurt from being on the brakes the whole time (she likes to descend fast!) Luckily, we all made it down safely. Then we stripped down, and put our extra clothes into our camelbak cases. (LeRoy and I had brought our camelbaks with no water in them, to carry clothes and such, and hold extra water in case it seemed like we needed it, but two large water bottles, with refills, turned out to be plenty for the day.) Shortly after the descent, I got a flat tire. Drat! As I was putting in a new tube, it pinched and flatted, too. Double drat! Cathy offered me yet another tube, and LeRoy pumped it up to max pressure, and we were back on our way. We hit the second rest stop at about 2:20pm. Not great, but not too bad. Again, I made it without further stopping along the way, which I had had to do last year - another improvement.
There was no shade at the rest stop, so it's fortunate that it wasn't too hot. I plopped down in the dust to eat my lunch. Again, no one wanted my leftover hoho and powdered-sugar donuts! After my bad experience with water here last year, I had packed a one-liter bottle of water for this stop - boy did it taste good!
As I was sitting there, in the sun, a large shadow suddenly fell over me. As I looked up, and up, and up, I beheld the broad-shouldered, chiseled-jawed figure of none other than... Booth Hartley! He who makes young girls giggle, grown women swoon, and men become hot-headed and do foolish things. Booth Hartley! The name, alone, hints of a life of adventure that most of us could only dream about. Defender of women, challenger of men, his silver locks curled out from beneath his helmet as he surveyed the surrounding valley, looking for a good deed to do, or an evil to put an end to. He brushed off his mustache, mounted his steed, and rode off into the distance. It just goes to show, you never know who you'll wind up seeing on one of these rides!
(Okay, the real story is there was a fellow there named Booth Hartley, and I thought it was a really neat name.)
As we continued on, LeRoy and I noticed that there were not as many headwinds as last year. That was another improvement. Cathy must have really enjoyed it, because she took off and we didn't see her again until somewhere in Livermore! We made it to the third rest stop by 4:30. Again, no one wanted my leftover... you know what. I had packed a high protein Boost (tm) drink for this rest stop and I think it really helped. At this point, I was worried about making it back without getting swept from the course due to darkness. We had 40 miles still to go, and roughly three hours of daylight. Plus, we had to climb Calaveras, and contend with the much ballyhooed "gale force" headwinds back to Lockheed. However, there were no more rest stops, so it would all be riding time. (My "average speed" on a long ride is usually 10 mph, but that includes rest time.) We headed off together, and I commented to LeRoy and Cathy that they might want to go on ahead at some point if it looked like I wasn't going to make it.
Cathy took off on Calaveras to find some bushes (where was that porta-potty guy this year?), and we didn't see her again until Ed Levin Park. I pushed myself over Calaveras, uttering many a sigh along the way, as we'd turn a corner and see more climbing ahead. Fortunately, I'd ridden this way on Calaveras when I was tired before, so I knew I could do it, and I knew it wouldn't be too bad. Finally we made it! Then it was all flat or downhill, yea! And it looked like I had plenty of time, to boot!
Navigating Montague Expressway on the way back was definitely in the "not fun" category. There were many freeway on- and off-ramps that opened up lanes to our right, forcing fast-moving traffic to cross our path. In addition to that, the sun was low in the sky ahead of us, meaning that vehicles coming up from behind us (such as cars coming off the freeway) might not see us well because the sun would be in their eyes. However, we made it without incident. As we passed Great America, we could hear the roller coaster riders screaming with delight. I felt like screaming, too, as I was finishing up the longest roller coaster ride of my life, the Mt. Hamilton Challenge!
We made it back by 7:45 pm, for a total of about 13.5 hours on the road, and 11 hours in the saddle (completing 130 miles and 8500 feet of climbing). When I checked in at the end of the ride, I was able to reclaim all my leftover hohos from the "excess food" pile, but only half my powdered-sugar donuts showed up, hey!