It was neat to see all the ACTC’ers at the train station already. There ended up being 11 of us on the train, Harold Legore, Jeanne Fabricus, Ruth Konluski, Anthony and Clarissa Chang, John Zidak, Don Axtell, Deborah Lefferts, Doug Gillison, John Bailey, and myself. Only Dana Edwards and Toni Rango did not ride the train up with us. Dana met us at the station, while Toni met the group that was riding the ferry over from Pier 39 to Larkspur. John Zidak was leading the LM riders. Deb and I would be the ride leaders of the M paced group.
It was already decided that we would stop in Sausalito at the same place as last year for breakfast. This was fast becoming a tradition. We had only gone about 12 miles so far, but I knew we were on schedule since we didn’t have Miguel with us taking his morning meditation in the men’s room. I didn’t want anyone complaining of being hungry. I didn’t want anyone complaining period. Dana said he wasn’t used to stopping so much. I told him he could turn around and go home. Deb was nicer, she told him he could take a route sheet and ride ahead. No really, I was just kidding. I did explain to him what the L,M,B,and S paces are supposed to mean in ACTC. We did have a lot of stops on the way up,tho. We stopped for a quick bathroom break at Samuel Taylor Redwood Park, then at Olema for fluid replacement, also at Tomales and Occidental. (I had also wanted to stop for oysters along the coast, but we had just stopped in Olema.)
Dana tried to lead us astray at Pt.Reyes, asking if we should take a left off Hwy 1. This would have put us out on the peninsula for a long detour. Although I was momentarily confused, Deb and I did not fall for it. Don had hung back in Olema to finish his Coke. Dana was telling Deb and I about George Bush’s speech, where he had repeatedly slammed the Democrats. Dana said he was going to get to camp and proclaim... "They have not lead..." Comparing Deb and I to Clinton/Gore. It was explained to him that we were only rookie ride leaders, that Donny was the experienced one and he wasn’t with us at the moment.
I had a feeling no one was going to want to stop for oysters in Marshall only 10 miles from Olema. Probably for the better anyway. We saw Harold just outside of Marshall, the others would not be far ahead. We found them waiting on the side of the road. Everyone ended up in Tomales at the bakery.
I was hoping to meet up with Pam, Ben, Ken, and possibly Miguel after that, since I had told them our intended route, but no such luck. We altered our route anyway, from Tomales, since there was a detour off Hwy 1 going down Middle Road. So instead we took Dillon Beach Road. It turned out Miguel did his own ride and loop. Pam did other things. Ben and Ken were stuck in traffic. Later Ken told Pat Stenstrom it took 4 1/2 hours to ride up to RRR, when he was hoping to do it in 2. She thought he meant on his bicycle. She thought to herself... "Who does he think he is?"
Got into camp at 4:45 pm. Pam told us we were 15 minutes late. I told her we were 1 hour and 15 minutes early. We had plenty of time to shower and set up camp prior to the wine and cheese party. My good friend, Ray Rodriguez had done an excellent job organizing the rally. But Debbie and I did miss him on the ride up.
It was nice to see more of my cycling friends once we were in camp. Too many names to mention everyone, but especially nice to see Pat and Mylo Stenstrom, Margaret Barnes, and Steve Kramer. Since Steve is a massage therapist, I had just been thinking about him... my neck was hurting from riding, and my butt muscles were sore, for some reason. But Steve was on vacation and wasn’t giving massages.
On the way in to Occidental, Pam started sneaking ahead. Don told me she was going for the Camp Meeker sign. So I sped up myself. Turned out... Ben got the sign.
The climb up Coleman Valley was a pleasant one. I told Ray, out of sympathy I would not use my granny gear, since he did not have one. The climb wasn’t too bad. Up at the top we stopped and yakked for awhile. Deb had blackberries from the side of the road. And Don shared his Oreo cookies.
The first place we stopped in Bodega Bay was very touristy. The oysters were very small but tasty. Don seems to have led a sheltered life, this was another first for him. He hadn’t eaten oysters before, nor been to Bodega Bay. I made sure Don had some. Ben had not gotten his fill of oysters, so down the road we stopped again for some big fat BBQ’ed ones. They were good, too. But it seems the oysters in California are alot more expensive than the ones in Louisiana.
The return home was up Joy Road. It had some steep climbing. We got back to camp in time to go in the Russian River. I was pleasantly surprised at the water temperature. It was perfect for swimming. I had just enough time to get a shower and go to Safeway in Guerneville to pick something up for the potluck. (Guerneville was full of gay men. What a waste.) There was plenty of good food at the potluck. Paul Vlasveld had made this scrumptious cheesecake that Pam had hidden for our private stash. So we all got a piece of it. It was gone in about 2 minutes. Lucky for us it wasn’t chocolate or Donny would have eatten it all.
I felt pretty good today. I had not been riding too hard the last couple of days. Much better than last year. I could tell Ken was pretty tired today... He had ridden the Terrible One the day before. Deb got to the top of the hill on Gericke Rd. first, getting the Marin County sign. I found out later Donny had given her some help.
The ride inland was nice and warm, just like I remembered it last year. We stopped at the Cheese Factory for lunch. The geese there came around to get left over bread. One was very brave. He was picking the bread off Donny. I thought he would jump over Don to get the bread, but his neck was too long so he did pick the bread off Don’s shorts. He was so fast, Don didn’t even flinch. Or maybe he wasn’t scared of the goose pecking his pecker. We stayed an hour here. Too short of a time to get a nap. After the climb and descent onto Sir Francis Drake, Don had told me there were city limit signs about every mile, so I had my eagle eyes on. I was riding along with Dana and Ken when I spotted one of the first. I just kicked it in, and went right on past them before they knew what was happening. Perfect timing. I got a few more before Dana wised up and was off the front, to get a few signs on his own. I never did see the Ross city limit sign. Turns out it was Kentfield. I think Deb got that one.
Don mentioned that he wanted to stop at the public rest rooms in Sausilito, so I told Ken that was going to be a pit stop. Ken had wanted to catch the 4 o’clock train, but we had not cut our lunch stop short enough, and now we were stopping again. I was sticking to my original plan to catch the 5 o'clock train. I did not want to rush thru San Francisco with all the tourists. Last year I had eaten a curb doing that.
Dana did attempt to catch the 4 o’clock train, missing it by 3-4 minutes. We got to CalTrain around 4:30. Debbie nearly had a run in with a car and then some jaywalkers. Dana showed up right before the train pulled out. We had thought he was long gone. Ken was really tired; he passed out on the train.
Back in San Jose, Don, Deb and I got to ride about 6 miles home. We all live pretty close to each other. Deb’s son was cooking dinner for her. I showered, then went and picked up Don in my car, and got mine and Ken’s clothes at Ben’s house. Then Don and I went and had some late dinner.
I was not disappointed. It was a great weekend! The Russian River Rally is a great way to spend the weekend riding with friends. No better way to live. I love the Bay Area. So many fun things to do. Too bad we all have to work!