Sierra to the Sea 2000, by Peggggy Abelite
("This one time? At bike camp?...")
Sat 6/17
At the pre-appointed time, George and I pick up Lisa, she took our bags up to the check-in on Friday night and picked up our registration packs... Lisa is from Pennsylvania, and she met a group from her home state, and also reports that there is a group from Wisconsin as well !! We keep the top down on the drive to Columbia, as some traditions MUST be honored... On the way, we choose a kazoo song (the theme from "loony tunes") and as usual we can't find the campground on the first try, but eventually we make our entrance. The groups that rode up are just arriving, and it's really hot out !! (Toni-girl, you looked positively MELTED!) George and I get checked in and get a nap in the A/C, dine just outside town and then meet up with some of the gang after dinner (lots of returnees, good to see them all !!) We arrange to meet at breakfast, then "parlor"at the Fallon House with Jimmy, Terri, Pam... We turn in early for a good night's sleep in our little room...
Sun 6/18
Breakfast ! There's an antique sale going on on the street, too. We breakfast with the group and then, time to say 'bye' to George as he is driving up to visit some friends near Grass Valley and will join us in Columbia. We ride out, starting with a loooong downhill, stop for photos on the bridge where George passes us, after the first uphill, Lisa and I head out off the front to try and find Jill's salon in Murhpys. En route, in a surprise sprint (I really never do this) I take the first city limit sign of the tour !! Lisa graciously tells me she didn't see it at first and then tried but couldn't take it... We do brief tour of Murphys, see the salon but it's not open. At the coffee stop, a woman approaches me asking me if I am "the Pegggggy", she has read about me and this tour on the internet (can you imagine :-))) ) We stop at Mercer caverns for the cave tour, then ride miles and miles of amazing roly poly's. After a long climb where I hung with the group, we start downhill and I slow down, suddenly, where are they ??? I keep going uphill but it turns out I missed what (I contend) was an undocumented left turn... I had paused there but it was waaay downhill to turn left and I'd rather go uphill and be wrong than downhill !!!!! After about 1-1/2 miles, I ask some people who are stopped by the side of the road and they haven't seen any cyclists ahead of me... *sigh*... Oh, well, I turn around, have a gorgeous great ridge run and fast downhill, find the gang at the dip in creek, where we hear that Harold crashed behind all of us... Toni is back with him and she's in the ambulance when they pass us... He's OK but hurt and headed to the hospital. We ride on... Hit a great market for lunch and eat on the porch at the closed store across the street, stop at the hospital and pick up Toni and get status on Harold ,who has a broken wrist and concussion... At this point, it's getting late so we bypass the dam and head up hwy 49 through a very cool historic business district. Guy pulls us in, at some point we wait for Jonathan as he's right behind, when we get to the mission we meet up with the group for our entrance to Jackson (yay !!!) After dinner, we talk to the WI people who request we play 'On Wisconsin' on the kazoos (of course Lissssa knows it!!) We make a short walk into town and back and then head to our tents...
Mon 6/19
More WI introductions at breakfast and Zane teaches me the words to 'on my pizza' (to the tune of 'On Wisconsin'), we eventually head out of the mission in a big pack, out the driveway with big crowd as Miguel does tour commentary in the voice of Phil Ligget (I think?), in any case, one of the things that we just MUST have!! Climbing up towards Sutter Creek, I hear a sudden 'CRACK' and my seat is loose...Whoa, my seat post broke ??? Roc'N'Ray, right behind me, comments, "Wow, I can't believe you didn't fall off"!! I get off and realize it was just the bolt that broke, lo and behold, just ahead Lisa has flagged down a van that is part of the tour, he puts my bike in back, Phil tells us how to get to his house. I get in and find out this is Brad from WI, his wife Marilyn and he are taking turns riding and driving, he drops me off at Phil's, who pulls up shortly after and fixed my bike as I pet the dog Aldo, and "mean kitty" Ashes, who is safe to sleep in the street becase this is Sutter Creek... We meet the gang on the corner and head up towards Volcano and what is inarguably the BEST cycling route ever, anywhere.... Stop for a dip in the creek, stop again at the Volcano store for snacks, hear who has come and gone already (Pam, Lucie and Patti, Keith...) Then we say hello to Arona who we know as "Kiwi" from a past tour, then off to climb past the shoe tree, and up the grade (now known as buttercup hill, for we all sang 'build me up buttercup'), found JC's rest stop at the top, and then SMOOTH DOWNHILL FOR AGES into Fiddletown, which may be making a comeback (did I mention this is the BEST cycling route ever ??) We all pick up lunch at the market, then down to the fairgrounds (someday we'll swim at that pool) for a very very leisurely lunch with waaaay too much food as everyone brought some to share. After lunch we stop at the current river, where it takes a pretty strong stroke to stay in place and a decent effort to make any headway upstream... Only the girls can do that, plus Phil and Ray, who both earn the honor of swimming like girrrls :-)) We finish the swim and realize that we don't have very long until the showers close at Fulsom... Miguel pulls me, Lisa and Kim in, riding as hard as I can (I'm on the back, so somehow setting the pace from there, I think), we get in with 15 minutes to go!!! An enthusiastic round of 'For he's a jolly good fellow' on kazoos for Miguel for getting us in on time !!! What a day... Where would I be without my friends on this tour ??? We get our showers in, head across the street for ice cold drinks and then in to dinner... After dinner we get the tents up, Phil wrenches bikes until dark and then, as we have been living this story down for an entire year, head out to the bar we went to last year... Somehow we are all expected to dance, the only problem is we are tired (can't you tell this was a long day?? ) And plus, the music selection could be a LOT more danceable.... Anyways, some dance, some talk and enjoy the pitchers of beer, and a good time is had by all!
Tues 6/20
I'm up pretty early, just in time to see Patti and Lucie off, maybe we'll see them later... Again this year, we have breakfast in Fulsom, must be 15 of us, but the restaurant handles it just fine... We ride out in a pack down the bike trail, Phil and Ray and Ken have us going on hard rock tunes, which is very fun, but a lot of solo instrumentals as these words are difficult !! Partway along the rest of the women, who it turns out have really packed up for this, pull over and drag out lacy lingerie and put it on over the bike clothes (I, for the record, have one rather demure garter over my bike shorts)... The guys seem to like it, but the women seem disapointed that the people we pass don't even notice! We ride into old Sacramento and Phil, Stuart and I go to the candy store and fill BIG BAGS of candy... Walk around some more and then head back to the bikes, where JC has been watching them. I go to put away my sandals and notice somehow eeewwwww, what is this on my sandals? Dog poo?? I wrap them up and put them in Donnys bag (mine is now full of candy). We ride out through West Sac, where Phil discovers that his camelback mouthpiece has been where my sandals were (he blames me, until he finds out way later that his own shoes have it, too)... I am laughing so hard I can hardly ride !!! Until, that is, where I have to chastise Guy for riding barebutted... In any case, we somehow ride to Davis and get ourselves fed, then off down the bike trail to the water stop where Frank is keeping the music rockin'. We ride past graffitti bridge, down the long road where Ray and I and Jonathan discover that Herb Alpert works GREAT on the kazoos, ride and ride and ride unitl we get to that last turn into the campground. Pitch the tents, hit the showers (cold water only but it's really hot out so it's OK), then dinner in the park across the street, trip up to the store, then sit around the bike stand while Phil wrenches and eat waaay too much candy, much of it supplied by Stuart, the dentist (!) from Pennsylvania. And yes, it's true, Phil's wife and children show up to take him home, we try not to cry as his bike goes onto the minvan, but I get a laugh telling the twins about their dad and his dog-poo camelback. Bye, WrenchBoy... (sniff!) It's still really hot out, so I try and sleep out of my tent, but I'm too warm inside my sleeping bag and too exposed out side of it, and besides I can't see the stars when I close my eyes, so I settle for inside my tent but outside my sleeping bag...
Wed 6/21
Breakfast back in the park (oh, Man, did WrenchBoy REALLY leave ??? Bummer... ) Lots of good food, fruit, waffles, YUM ! Then we ride out of the park, knowing we have a big climb up the dam ahead, but first, we must stop and say hello to Ziggy, the zony we met last year. He's just out in the field now, but you can still see his zebra stripes. Then we take off down the road, get some singing going before we climb up 'cardiac hill'. Steve Sloan and I try riding with Toni for awhile, but acutally lose her on a downhill (Toni has gotten more cautious, she used to fly by me on downhills!!). We stop briefly to regroup at the dam itself, then Kim has a flat tire, but we ride on as there is more climbing ahead and she has help (and enough climbing ability to catch us!) Steve and I somehow end up talking geeky work talk to get us up the hill, and before we know it, we're seeing Ken heading back down because he heard about Kim's flat (how sweet!), and we're at the top!! Quick regroup and then down the looooong downhill, in the mostly flat part I am riding with Ray and tell him "I'm not pedaling until we reach the store".... well, I got about a mile without pedaling, then had to resort to a few slow turns. We traded a few kazoo songs and then pulled into the market where we usually stock up on tatoos in the women's room. But better than that, I find Power Bar Perform sports drink in the cooler, buy one, and it's WONDERFUL! Wow, I have to look for this stuff, it really hits the spot !! Soon, we realize that there is a hurt cyclist there, someone crashed and broke her wrist. Toni and Kim, who both happen to be nurses, take care of her until the SHAG wagon comes for her, in the meantime, we look at the map and the clock and Steve and I decide that we will ride to the swimming spot at Lake Berryessa and then probably turn around and head straight for Calistoga instead of going over Ink Grade into Angwin. This is despite the fact that Donny says we'll be in town by 3:30 even if we go the other way.
Once we're done at the market (what, about an hour? :-), we all take off in a beeline, through an area that was burned out by fire less than a week before, and keep going until we find the great swimming spot that we discovered last year. People and bikes down the hill and then aaaaahhh... into the cool water for a wonderful swim. This is the life !!! We finally get out, and Steve and I head back South while the rest of the group heads north... we decide to stop and eat at a deli just down the road and also stock up our bottles on cold water. I haven't ridden this part of the route before, and there is a triangle-shaped detour off of the main highway, so we decide to take it. It turns out to be a bit of a climb (figures!!!), but then a wonderfully smooooth downhill next to a creek. Definitely worth the side trip! By this time, it's really hot out, the cold water is now quite warm in the water bottles, and we just want to get to Calistoga... We get out to Silverado Trail, where there is quite a headwind, and just ride the 10 miles, because of traffic have to go single file, so we just ride to get there.... Steve later described it as a 'death march' and also claimed that he may have been behind me but wasn't drafting... ;-) .
Once in Calistoga, we had dinner plans with Pam and Deborah, plus George was meeting me there, so I headed right for the Comfort Inn, and into the nicely cooled air-conditioned room, which really felt great as it was about 100 degrees outside ! Quick shower and nap, then to the laundromat, where I had to do my own load as Lissssa was still out playing!!! We went across the street to see if we could find Pam to see about what time dinner was, and met up with the Wisconsin folks who had been winetasting... I introduced them to George (got pretty much all of their names mixed up!!), back for the laundry and headed back to change for dinner... On the way to dinner, we see the cyclists just coming in. It's about 6:30, they are all laughing and smiling, but it is just a bit past 3:30, Donny !! Pam had arranged us a table at Brennan's, a really nice restaurant in downtown Calistoga, where we all had cocktails and plenty of wine and food, and then had port in the courtyard afterwards. George and I had the Mustang there, so we gave Steve a ride back to the campground, the top was down, it was a gorgeous night, and, funny, even after all that cycling we were feeling no pain !! :-)
Thurs 6/22
Wake up in a real bed... ahhhhh.... then it's down the road for breakfast at "Sarafornia" (except that's not where we eat, it's down the road a piece). The day before, Steve told me how Calistoga got its name, it seems that it was supposed to be called "Saratoga", but the mayor got smashed at the inauguration and christened it not, "Saratoga, California", but "Calistoga, Sarafornia"!! Hey, where is Steve? Oh, they say he's not feeling well... hm..... maybe he'll be better and catch up with us later. We hit the vending machine for Austin Powers stickers instead of tattoos this time, I end up with "Groovy Baby", and Lisa gets "Oh, Behave!", which are promptly installed on our license plates... We head out after breakfast and soon enough we're climbing again. Lisa and I start a "RocNRay" medly, taking "Rock and Roll" songs and converting them... we keep going until he tells us he's getting misty and then we stop so he doesn't crash!! Lots of folks from the tour are together on the hill, it's really great, we play and joke until we get up to the top and then cruise down in a big pack to the stop sign.... then it's off on the flats, some of the group decide to paceline but Donny says that he and I will hang off the back and watch (fine with me!!!) and Keith decides to join us. This part was sooo scenic, all the vineyards and even a tree arch over the road.
We hit the Jimtown store just as lots of the big group are leaving, but there are still plenty of people there, then we do the loop through some other town (with no city limit sign to sprint for after all), then to another market on the way our winery lunch spot. They also have PowerBar Perform! YAY!! I buy an extra one for Toni who was complaining about a headache this morning... a wonderful lunch and nap on the lawn at Dry Creek, I even buy a poster that I had seen a couple of years ago, so does Stuart and another one of the Pennsylvania guys. Wow, biking and shopping, this IS a good tour !! :-)
We ride on through more beautiful scenery, then leave the wine country and into the Russian River area, where some of the crowd decides to tackle Sweetwater Road again (I did it last year so take the other route!). The pace is pretty quick, so I hang off the back a little, determined to keep it enjoyable and scenic. We come along Frank's water stop, he has the tunes on in the van again (at one point I turn the station because they are giving bay area traffic reports ! UGH!!) We rest for as long as we can and then ride on, over a neat little steep shortcut to Armstrong Redwoods... when we stop to decide if we want to go that way we start a conversation with a couple of boys who want to know all about our bikes, and when they tell me that they ride the hill, I say "let's go"... a quick potty and food stop at the redwoods park and then ride on into the campsite by the river just in time for the wine and cheese party...
That night after dinner at the campsite (which took a long time because they ran out of food and had to get more)... we all walked into the town of Duncan's Mills, over the bridge and down the road a couple of miles. We were with the Wisconsin folks (Dave, Zane, who it turned out are brother and sister, and another sister, her husband, and a friend from Colorado, what a great group!!! ...) We checked out the train depot, and then went into a little bar and ordered something to drink. Before I knew it, I was playing the bongos, and the bartender brought out all kinds of percussion instruments and put on appropriate music. Everyone was jammin'... Hmm. will this night live on in infamy like Fulsom did last year?? :-) When I got back to camp, Pam and Donny were relieved to see me, they hadn't liked splitting up the group when I stayed later than they did.. awwww... what a family we all are !!!
Fri 6/23
Ahhh... lots of options today... I decide I will do one of the big climbs, but not both. For the last 2 years in a row, I've gone to the coast early and came into Occidental over Coleman Valley Road, so this year, I decide to go inland to Occidental and then up over the inland climb. Most of the group agrees, except Miguel, Ken and Jeff do the coastal thing and decide they may or may not make breakfast in Occidental. The rest of us take off.. it's pretty chilly this morning and my legs are tirrrred, this relatively flat route even feels like a lot of climbing ! I take my time, enjoying the woods, and we cruise into Howards' Station and order HUGE breakfasts.... YUM!!! I can't even finish my potatoes, get up to fill water bottles and use the restroom and when I return, Miguel is finishing my breakfast (and everyone else's!!) There were enough leftovers to fuel the climbers, so it all works out perfectly.... We head over the hill, stop by the view of the sea, which Donny calls "Easter Island" and Lisa calls "Super Freak Rock" (we sang the song "super freak" here on the first tour !!) We head downhill into Tomales, eat/rest/visit and then find lots of tour folks at the first water stop. Wait, what's all this? A classic car show rolls by us, at least 40 of them, model T's and all kinds of cool cars..... we just stand by and gape and wave !!! The radio's on here, so Ray and I kazoo along to "Dock of the Bay"... And Kim's bike has trouble, the front derailleurs bad (and no Wrench Boy to help! BUMMER!) The guys put her into a fixed gear and we ride on, Kim is tough!!!
We take off to start the climb.... This is the hardest climb of the tour, (Question for Donny: does this make it the BEST climb or the WORST climb?? ) In any case, it is a totally different kind of scenic, rolling golden hills and oak trees, really amazing that it is soooo unbuilt up. Frank's water stop is waiting at the top, so we rest awhile and then scream downhill and head right for the Cheese Factory.... Great sandwiches, snacks (more Power Bar Perform!), and rest/nap by the pond for about an hour. We then pretty much high-tail it into Olema, tho some of the group take a side trip by the "swing cafe", but they don't stop.... In camp, we find Steve, who lost his handlebar pack along the way, so he heads back out looking for it.
We all dress (it's downright chilly out) and head over to the Olema Inn for a wonderful restaurant, including tablecloths and a choice of sit-down meals ! We fill a table with most of the group we've been riding with all week, and Steve even gets there, having found his pack ! Everyone has wine and lots of conversation over dinner, then we walk back to camp with a quick stop at the store. There's a campfire and guitarist/singer there, Kathleen is passing around Jagermeister tastes, and we all sing and chat for our last night....
Sat 6/24
Wow, our last morning.... pack up the tents and gear for the last time, and head down the coast for Stinson Beach... Ahhh, always cruising on this part, and breakfast in the place outside with the beautiful gardens. We get an L-shaped table so we're all together, and fuel up for the climb up the Panoramic Hwy... I love this climb, it's so scenic. Quick stop at the base of Mt Tam, but nobody decides to ride up it as we are on an hour-earlier schedule this year in SF for some reason. Fly down the hill into Sausalito and then start up the bike path. It's pretty crowded, then suddenly behind me I hear a scream and a crash.. oh, no.... Another Steve and Jonathan and a pole have gotten mixed up. Jonathan has hurt his hand, Steve's bike is not working right.... we arrange to contact the SAG, wait quite awhile, and then, convinced they'll be OK, ride on towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Bummer.... But the ride over the bridge is gorgeous as always, and we navigate all of the turns and traffic to the picnic spot. Lisa and I decide that if we can find a way to get our bikes transported back, we'll bus instead of riding into San Jose, because my knee hurts and we're both tired... We negotiate through Ray and get our bikes on the trailer, then ride home, George meets us at the hotel and we head out in style, with the top down of course !!