Day From Distance Speed Leave Arrive R.Time T.Time Factor
miles mph h:mm h:mm hours hours %
-1 San Jose 94.3 14.7 7:00 4:45 6.41 9.75 65.8
0 Ripon 59.0 14.4 8:00 2:00 4.10 6.00 68.3
1 Columbia 57.0 12.1 7:30 5:00 4.71 9.50 49.6
2 Jackson 72.2 14.3 8:00 5:45 5.05 9.75 51.8
3 Folsom 67.2 14.3 7:30 4:45 4.70 9.25 50.8
4 Lake Solano 68.7 13.7 7:45 5:55 5.01 10.17 49.3
5 Calistoga 73.0 14.8 8:15 5:15 4.93 9.00 54.8
6 Duncan Mills 68.9 14.0 7:45 4:35 4.92 8.83 55.7
7 Olema 37.4 13.0 7:30 12:45 2.88 5.25 54.8
7+ San Francisco 63.7 14.0 2:10 9:20 4.55 7.17 63.5
San Jose
Totals 663.4 14.03 47.26 84.67 55.8
We all met up at the corner of Branham and Snell, and were ready to roll at 7:00 am sharp, right on schedule. My wife, Diana, also rode her bike over to help see us off.
Pam got the first sprint of the day, the Milpitas city limit sign. She was over the line before I knew what she was doing. I then mentioned to Kim and Ben that I knew where the Fremont city limit sign was. Kim got that second sprint. Sprinting for city limit and county line signs was to continue for the entire tour.
Our first regroup was at the Union 76 station on Mission Blvd near Warm Springs Rd. The owner was so impressed by what we were doing that he came out and gave each of us a complementary phone card for 10 free minutes of calling.
At breakfast in Pleasanton, Ben talked me into doing a "butter shooter" for Pam and Deb, as they would be grossed out by the idea. The butter for our pancakes came in little cups, so when they weren't looking, I switched the butter with some scrambled eggs, then added some ketchup, then downed it in one gulp after I was sure that both Pam and Deb were watching. They were suitably impressed. I mentioned that Ben talked me into it, but still they claimed that it was all my fault, and that I was not to do it again.
The climb up over Corral Hollow Rd and on to the store in Carbona proved to feel much like a death march. It had been record-setting hot days the past few days, and today was cooler but it was still hot. Of my two water bottles, I had one finished soon after the start of the climb, and the other one was warming up fast. I started looking for creeks and water faucets. I found a faucet with easy access, so I stopped to refill, plus dump some over my head. I also filled my 3rd and 4th water bottles, which were hanging off the back of my seat.
The others had gone on ahead, while I hung back to watch over the tailend. I rode the rest of the way into Carbona with Deb, after waiting for what seemed to be a long time to see if Toni or Harold would catch up. They never did. I pushed on ahead anyway, hoping that they were ok, and knowing that I had to get on in to the store. While resting in the shade in Carbona, I was happy to see that both Toni and Harold did finally show up.
Only 20 more miles to go to Ripon. Deb and I were joined by Ken, Miguel, and Guy. We stayed together from then on in. Ken was pulling my trailer for this section. He said he was practicing for if he had any kids later. Heading on towards Ripon Ken was leading and going pretty fast. It seemed that he wanted the Ripon city limit sign, but Miguel and I knew what he was up to so we hung close behind. Once near the sign, it took just a few quick bursts and I was over the line first, proving that it was very hard to sprint while pulling a Burly.
We met the rest of the group at the ice cream shop on the corner, where Pam was buying. I had a rootbeer freeze, which went down very well. Once outside again, I could feel the heat more, now that I had an air-conditioned building to compare it to. It was 100 degrees in Ripon that day.
Finally at the Ripon Motel, we all checked in and cleaned up. Pam had arranged with the owner to reserve the entire motel, all ten rooms of it. Then it was dinner at the adjoining restaurant, also operated by the same man.
After dinner we toured the cemetary. Highlights were 1) a grave with a couple who had both died on the same day (a double homicide perhaps?), 2) a grave with one wife having two husbands, and 3) the oldest grave being from died in 1861. Then it was over to Pam's room for some TV before she sent us all away for the night.
A few more miles along and Miguel asked why my trailer was going side to side. I hadn't yet noticed, but then I saw that one of the tires was flat. My trailer wheel caught a small piece of metal. Luckily, I had a wrench and patches so that Miguel and I soon had the tire fixed. But now the group had dropped us, so we rushed along, seeing if we could regain contact before we got to Knights Ferry. Not quite, but it looked like the others had just gotten there.
On the way out from Knights Ferry, we went over the covered bridge that I had never been over before. Very big and impressive. Then it was on to the start of the climb. For a bit I had thoughts of hanging with the lead group, but then reality began to set in, and I realized that I would be riding on my own as it was just too much work to pull the trailer.
I was glad that I had my 4 water bottles. That let me be free to drink lots of water and to feel free to pour some over my body every so often. I wasn't getting hot and over-heated like I might have been. I ended up stopping a few times to help with Jimmy and Teri's flat tire on their tandem. They ended up getting two flats, so that put us further off of the back. While stopped for a flat, we were joined by Keith Primdahl, who had started in Pleasanton that morning. So we now numbered 20 for the ride up.
Going through Jamestown, we were supposed to regroup, but I didn't see anybody so I just kept going. Afterwards, I found out that they were all at a store on the main side road, but I just stayed on the main road, so I missed them.
I caught up with David and Jackie just as we were supposed to exit towards Sonora. Good thing too, as they were starting to miss the exit. Then we all stayed together all the way into Columbia.
This was the earliest that I ever got into camp. All other years I was always in a hurry to set up camp, take a shower, then get to dinner just in time. I had just set my tent up when I saw Peggy Abelite and Lisa Curran arrive, being driven up by Peggy's George. Peggy and George would be in a hotel, but Lisa was staying with me in camp. Lisa said that she would wait for me, then we would go tour around the town together. That was good to hear. I like Lisa.
After a stop at the bakery in Murphy's, we headed up Sheep ranch Road. Next stop was Mercer Caverns. Here the group split up. Pam and Deb went on ahead, as they didn't want to stop long, then the rest went to take the tour. We then found that some people didn't have good walking shoes, so some waited while the rest of us took the tour. Since this was my 6th time, I didn't see anything new. It was a sight, though, watching Doug Gillison and Harold trying to fit through some of the tighter sections, as they are both about 6'6".
Up and down a few steep hills and we were then at the stream where we stopped during each of the last two years. We met Jeff and Miguel already there, and they said that they met Pam and Deb in the water, but they had already gone, and Ken had gone with them. The stream was dammed up even better that last year, and the water seemed warmer, so it wasn't hard to stay in this time.
After awhile, we realized that Peggy was missing, and I was beginning to think that I might have to go back for her. Just then she appeared. Seems she headed off towards Avery by mistake, but luckily she turned around when she saw there was no stream when there should have been.
Then a car came by and stopped. They informed us that Harold had been hit by a truck and that Toni was with him, and that they were going to go call for help. The accident was all the way back up the hill and down the other side, so we didn't go back, but decided to wait a bit. Finally, when we were ready to leave the swimming hole, and I was contemplating which way I should go, we saw an ambulance approaching. It had both Toni and Harold, and they were going ahead to the hospital in San Andreas. Good, Harold was now in good hands.
After lunch in Mountain Ranch, we finally rejoined the other route in San Andreas. We stopped in at the hospital and found Toni. Soon after JC Henderson with the SAG arrived with Toni's bike. Harold's wife Diane also was there. Toni decided to continue the ride, so we decided to just take Hwy 49 all the way into Jackson, as time was getting late.
By the time we got to camp, the pool was closing, and it was almost time for dinner. But Pam and Deb saved me a spot for my tent, so things were not too bad.
Diane took Harold home after he finished with his tests and xrays. Besides a concussion, Harold also broke his wrist. Seems Harold was going downhill and the pickup was coming uphill. It was a one-lane road on a hairpin curve. Nobody saw the other one coming until it was too late.
Then it was off towards Volcano, along one of the nicer roads of this tour. The Volcano route was a new option this year, although we managed to go this way each of the past two years. We were going to skip the first stream, but then Ken had a flat just about 100 yards before it, so we decided to stop in after all. Again, we met the pools dammed up so that they were extra big. We also met a regular rope swing hanging over the water. More swimming around.
Pam was off the front and made sure that I knew that she took the Volcano sprint, beating out Ken Schwab. The General Store wasn't open for them yet, so after talking to Rosie for awhile, they found out there was a new coffee shop just around the corner.
The Volcano General Store was open by the time that we arrived, so we just hung out there. Then, after a quick stop at the Shoe Tree, we headed up Ram's Horn Grade. I caught up with Toni and hooked her onto the bungee cord for the climb.
Being an official option now, we were able to find JC's SAG stop at the top. It was parked just off the road, in a nice big shady spot. Then it was down Fiddletown Road, another one of the better roads on the tour, through Fiddletown, and on into Plymouth for lunch. We bought lunch at the market, then took it over to the fairgrounds to eat.
After lunch we headed along to the next SAG stop on Latrobe Rd. We were close to an hour late, but Frank was still there with his SAG, waiting especially for us. He closed down just after we left, then joined us up the road for a quick swim in the river before heading on into Folsom. This swim spot was the second best of the tour, only being surpassed by the Lake Berryessa swim still a few days away.
Finally on the road again, we found that we were somehow running out of time, as the showers closed at 6:00 pm. I wasn't worried though, as I planned to go to the "other showers", which was a jump in the American river. Phil, Ray, and Jonathan all joined me. So we didn't miss our shower. But then we almost missed dinner, as by the time we got back in camp we were already late. Phil and I rushed over and managed to get the tail end, while Ray and Jonathon just went out to eat.
Last year, both Lisa and I missed the "night out", as we had just gone off to bed and didn't find out until the next morning that everyone else had gone dancing at a bar. So this time we made sure that we didn't miss it. They all went to the same bar as last year, and it was pretty much the same group of people, but Lisa and I got to suspecting that it had been alot of talk last year, and that they had made things seem more exciting than it really was. We both came to dance and have fun, and here all the others were just sitting around. Pam was the only one from last year who was up dancing with us.
We cruised along, and after about ten miles we came to our usual restroom break. We all stopped, and Lisa mentioned "We're going to go slip into something more comfortable.", but I didn't think anything of it at the time. After awhile, I began to suspect that something was up, as I had gotten wind of "a surprise" a day ago. Just in case, I decided that I had better fill all of my water bottles. If there was going to be a water fight I wanted to be ready. I also had the big water gun of Kim's. We waited and waited. All of the girls were inside, and I almost peeked in to see what was going on. It was awfully quiet.
Then finally, they all walked out. Stunned might have been a good word. All of the women in our group - Pam, Deborah, Kim, Lisa, Peggy, Jackie, Toni, and Kathleen, were all sporting lingerie over their bicycling clothes. I tried to pretend that this was nothing out of the ordinary. I suggested that it might have been better if they had left off the bicycling clothes. Would have had a better affect.
When asked why they were doing this, Pam's reply was "We lost a bet.", but in reality the girls wearing of lingerie was done in retaliation for some of the boys going "commando style" up Coleman Valley Road on last year's tour. But are we now even?
Then we were all back on our bicycles and riding into Sacramento. It seemed that most of the people that we passed had no clue that some of us were dressed funny. It just wasn't that much of an attention getter.
In Sacramento, I got Peggy to loan me her garter, so I joined in with the girls. Some of us practiced standing on the corner, leaning against a light post. I only got one dollar doing this, while Pam was able to make three bucks. Not quite as much as we were hoping for. After Sacramento, only Pam and Deborah remained in their lingerie, and so I had to stay with them to ensure their safety.
The water in Lake Solano was refreshing, or should I say cold. It was worth getting in, as it had been such a hot day coming across the valley, and I did need my creek jumping for the day. This water comes from the bottom of Lake Berryessa, so that might be why it's so cold. It made the cold shower afterwards feel warm.
This was a warm clear night, so both Lisa and I decided to sleep outside our tents. The plan was so that I could wake up and watch the stars. The trouble was that I fell asleep before it got totally dark, and by the time that I did wake up the almost-full moon had already come up, so that it was no longer dark enough to properly view the stars. Lisa later told me that they were fantastic.
Up at Montecello Dam, I started having trouble clicking in and out of my pedals. Something about walking through some mud just after breakfast. I couldn't fix them on the road, though, so I instead decided to just leave my shoes clipped onto my pedals for the rest of the day and so it then took me longer to both stop and start, as I had to first take my feet out of or into my shoes. Later in camp I would overhaul my pedals and get them working again.
At the first stop of Moscowitz Corners, everyone was stopped in. Then a pickup arrived and unloaded Sandra, who had managed to fall down and break her wrist. Luckily both Toni and Kim were on hand to help. They are both nurses. This was Toni's second crash victim to help with. Luckily, the SAG stop was just up the road, so Miguel went up to call it back.
Once Sandra was taken care of, we headed on up the road, turning towards Spanish Flat and Lake Berryessa. We found the swimming spot, but it 's look was changed as there had been a big fire in the area just one week before, and it had burned all the bush. But once we got into the water, it was the same great spot as we had found last year. Again, the girls swam off to the "Girls Camp" across the lake. This year though, Ray Rodriguez swam over to join them. At first the girls tried to swim away, but finally they relented and let Ray be an honorary girl.
On the road again, the fast riders went off the front and the slow riders were dropped off the back, so I was left riding with just Lisa. I didn't mind this one bit, and I don't think Lisa minded it either. Together, we rode on up the hill away from Lake Berryessa and over to the Pope Valley store.
At the store, it was just as we remembered it. It was hot, so we all got ice cream and sodas and sat on the concrete in the shady front. Kim bought a 10 lb bag of ice, so we were going to split it up and put it in all of our water bottles. After Kim had banged it on the ground for a few times, to get it all loosened up, I suggested that we might as well put the bag on Ray's belly while we divided it up, as Ray already happened to be lying down near by. Kim thought that this was a good idea, so she put the bag on Ray, but then couldn't help herself and so started to take some ice and stuff it down the front of Ray's shorts.
We then all finished filling our water bottles with the ice. Then it was up Ink Grade. Toni had gotten a head start, so when I caught up with her I decided to again hook the bungee cord on. By the time that I got the bungee cord ready, the others had gone on ahead, so I was hauling Toni at the back of the pack. Then we came to the small stream where we jumped in 2 years ago, and I didn't plan to stop, but then we see this big line of bikes and hear voices in the bushes. Everyone was already in the creek, so I guess we had to go in also. The pools were all too small so I went a bit down stream and proceeded to dam up my spot. I finally got a pool just big enough for me to lay in and be covered with water.
At the top of Ink Grade we were surprised to find Frank and his SAG stop. The SAG is usually at the bottom of Ink Grade, but we didn't expect to see it this time, as Frank had taken Sandra off to the hospital. It seems that when he was coming back, people told him to set up at the top instead, so we were all glad to see him.
Then, a few more miles up the road, we stopped in for our official lunch at Angwin, with their "shamwiches". All meat is fake in this town. After lunch, Lisa and I were taking turns putting sunscreen on each others backs. While we were doing this, it reminded Miguel of the documentary program with Jane Goodall and her gorillas. Miguel said it reminded him of a family of gorillas grooming each other, so he started the narrative, "The one we call Donny seems to be their leader..."
On the road again, I took everybody on the secret bike trail, which goes around the hill instead of over it. You need to cross over busy Howell Mtn Rd twice to use it, though, so that is why it's not on the route. Then it was left onto the unbusy Howell Mtn Rd and the scenic downhill. This road was bumpy last year was has since been repaved. Then it was 10 miles north on Silverado Trail to Calistoga. I told Kim and Lisa where to look for the city limit sign. Kim got the sprint. I hung back and rode Toni in.
After setting up camp and getting cleaned up, I accompanied Lisa and the rest over to the laundromat. We were met there by the motel people. Afterwards, we all went out to dinner. I had pizza. Lisa bought me dinner. I like Lisa.
Together again at the Jimtown store, we all stopped to buy stuff. Then it was off on the 10 mile Geyserville loop, while the faster riders took a side trip to climb up Geysers Rd and back. I mentioned to Kim and Lisa about the Geyserville city limit, and then was helping to lead them out. We were all on the same team, and our competition was Ray. Well, it turns out that there was no city limit sign, and so all of our plans and strategy were for nothing.
At the Dry Creek General Store, we all bought sandwiches and then we took them across the road to the Dry Creek Winery to eat on the grass. Afterwards, we had our traditional nap on the lawn, working on our belly tans at the same time. This was the life. This is what touring is all about.
On the road again, I was leading the paceline, keeping Peggy in my rearview mirror so that I could adjust the pace to how she was doing. So we were all cruising along, doing what I call "tourist pace" and everyone seemed to be happy. Then one by one, people passed me by and slipped off the front. Then some more followed. Then, finally it was just me, Peggy, and Jonathan, all doing our tourist pace and everyone else was going off ahead. Peggy's comment was "What's with this?!!" I couldn't agree more.
We all stopped in at Frank's SAG stop. He moved it down the road a bit to a much nicer spot. It was off the road, plenty of shade, a nice big open space. When asked why we were all sitting under a "No Loitering" sign, Frank's answer was to show us two more signs - "No Tresspassing" and "No Parking". Good thing these did not apply to us. It was a perfect reststop. Sandra, of the broken wrist, was hanging out with Frank and his SAG. She said that she had heard of me, and so knew right away that she was not able to do my rides, as they were all so long and hard and fast. I had to tell her that there was really no truth to any of that. We were the last ones into camp mostly because we like to enjoy our reststops. She began to see this, as we all hung out there for a very long time.
The fast riders went up over Sweetwater Rd, so I took the others and we were going to take a shortcut on El Nido Rd to get to Armstrong Redwoods. Just after the turn, Ray mentioned to me, a bit too loudly, "Isn't this road a little steep?". Peggy overheard this and so the group stopped to discuss the situation. There were a few neighborhood kids nearby, so once we stopped, they came over to check us and our bikes out. Peggy was friendly and let them each pick up her bike to see how light it was. They were impressed. Peggy then asked the kids about their road. They said, "Sure, we go up it all of the time." So then Peggy figured that if these kids could do it, then she could also, so we were then able to continue on. The road was steep, but only for a 100 yards or so. It was a good shortcut, putting us halfway closer to the redwoods. Just as we were going in, we passed the fast riders coming out, but they didn't join us, they just headed on into camp.
At Casini Ranch on the Russian river, Pam and Deb had saved us spots, so we had space to put up our tents, even though we were late into camp as usual. When Ray went to pick up his bag, he discovered that it weighed about 3 times as much as normal. Looking inside, he found a bunch of rocks. Seems that Casey and Tom were having a little fun with him.
After dinner a large group of us walked across the bridge into Duncan Mills. We ended up in the bar. They had a selection of bongos, rattles, etc, so we all got some and then they put on some music that we could play along with, so we all had a good time. It didn't really sound too bad either. I had a little shaker ball.
Looking over today's route, I realized that we would not have time to do the whole thing plus do all of the stopping that we like so much. Therefore something had to be left out. Last year we did Coleman Valley Rd but then skipped the Cheese Factory, so it was decided that we wanted to do the Cheese Factory this year so we would need to leave out Coleman Valley. Only the faster riders went up Coleman Valley, while the rest of us took the direct route into Occidental for breakfast at Howard's Station. 12 people for breakfast with no waiting. Just as we were finishing, the fast riders arrived, so they weren't too long in catching up after we got going again.
Just as we were pulling into JC's SAG stop on Dillon Beach Rd, here comes a long line of old classic cars coming the other way. Must have been 50 or more of them. All Model T's and such. The best one was an old Police paddy wagon, complete with siren.
We then took time out at the Easter Island statue at the top of Dillon Beach Rd for some group bonding. It was windy and a bit cold, so we found that it was much warmer if we all sat very closely together to block the wind for each other. So we were all "bonded" together. Then it was off to Tomales for another long rest break.
Along Chileno Valley Road I was hanging out at the back, while the others were going along ahead. Once on Marshall-Petaluma Rd though, we started the long climb up what Peggy considers the worst hill of the tour. Ken Kennedy was waiting for me so we started to ride up together. We were mostly going wheel to wheel, side by side. Then I pointed out to Ken where the top of the hill was, and it looked so far away. Soon after, I was able to pull away and dropped Ken in my dust, and also passed up most of the others of the group, even though they got a good head start. I felt good and the hill seemed easy to me.
Frank's SAG stop was at the summit, so we had to stop again. We kept this stop relatively short though, as the Cheese Factory and lunch was not too far away. At the turn on the bottom of the hill we found that Wilson Hill Rd had changed names to Hicks Valley Rd. This was true on both ends of the road. At the Cheese Factory, I timed our reststop this time. It was 1 hour and 10 minutes, and included eating lunch on the grass, some napping on the grass, plus some sunscreen applying. All of the elements of a good reststop.
On the turn towards Nicasio, the group split, with most going the short way. Kim was going to join Ken and Jeff on the long route, so I was going to go that way too. I felt strong, so I did most of the pulling, making sure that I was going Kim pace. We had 20 miles to go before camp, and wanted to get in before it was time to go for dinner, so we kept the stops to nothing. I pointed out the Swing Cafe and the chocolate milkshake store next door, plus the creek jumping spot under the bridge before the final climb over the hill to Olema.
We made it into camp just in time. At dinner I found that Lisa and Peggy had saved me a spot between them, and I had Kim sitting straight across, so I was happy. Lisa gave me her dessert. I like Lisa.
We arrived at the Parkside Cafe just in time to get seated at the outside area. More pancakes. Kim bought mine this time. Climbing up the Panoramic Hwy, we found that this was again the day for the Double DipSea race, but they were already long gone so we didn't actually get to experience the race as we did a few years ago.
Nobody went on up to the top of Mt.Tamalpais today. For two reasons. One, it was sitting inside of a cloud, so you wouldn't have been able to see anything. Two, they told us that the busses were leaving earlier this year and that we had to finish sooner, so we were all rushing to get back.
Back down on the bike trail, we were moving along towards Sausalito. Then we had our last accident on this tour. Another Steve ran wheel first into a pole that he did not see, and then Jonathan clipped the next polewhile trying to avoid Steve. Miguel again went on ahead to call back the SAG, which fortunately wasn't too far away. We left them there and continued on.
Once across the bridge, we headed towards the new finish location at Fort Mason, which proved to be about 3 miles further into the city in the wrong direction. The bike trail was not the safest place to ride.
We got to the finish on time, only to find that the busses were not going to leave early but were pretty much on the same schedule as last year. We were rushing for nothing. I was able to quickly find a ride home for my bag with Valerie Butler. Once I had done that, I was no longer in a hurry. We hung out for quite a while.
When we finally got going it was just me and Guy and Miguel riding together. We made good time, as I felt strong and both Guy and Miguel were also strong riders. Miguel was turning off towards Pacifica and then on to Santa Cruz, so he left us along the way. So it was just me and Guy. When we pulled into the gas station reststop, we saw Doug just heading out. Then when we pulled into Woodside, we met Doug and Deb and Steve. Deb and Steve had a 2 hour head start, while Doug had a 1 hour head start. I was glad that we didn't catch up with them until now, as I was able to ride my own pace up to this point.
From Woodside on in, we decided to stay together. I put Deborah behind me and we just did Deborah pace from then on. Luckily most of the hills were behind us, and Deborah was happy for the pull, so we made pretty decent time for then on. We made a quick side trip to pick up my trailer, then we rode directly to Steve's house, where Deborah was also going to stop. Then Guy and I continued on, spliting up a mile later as I detoured over to Valerie's house to pick up my bag. The last 5 miles were done pulling my trailer and bag. I was home at 9:15, not too long after darkness. It was a long day.
I was home just 5 minutes when I got a knock at the door. It was Kim and Ken out cruising. They didn't want the tour to be over yet either, so we all went out and I had a late dinner while they had ice cream. I was finally home to stay at 11:15 pm.
Great people. Great tour.