To get ready for this year's tour, I put together a list of all of the swimming options, complete with maps, that I could think of. Swimming, and/or creek-jumping, has become an important part of touring, and this year I wanted to maximize our oportunities.
Yesterday (Friday) I met Pam's 2-Day group and helped her lead the way through some of the San Jose to Milpitas portion of the route. Afterwards I turned around and rode my bike on into work, sort of envious that their tour had already started but that I still had one more day to wait.
I had 7 people signed up to go on my 1-Day ride. They were LeRoy Rodriguez, Ken Kennedy, Allan Armstrong, and me all of the tour, plus Paul Vlasveld, Dennis Uyeno, and David Hoag, just along for the ride up to Columbia. As late as one week ago I had 10 people signed up, but then I lost all three of my women. Sue Kayser and Deborah Lefferts both had falls which resulted in some broken bones, and Christine Kennedy had a bad cold that she wanted to get rid of.
Deborah, my co-leader for this ride, dropped David off at my house. Deb had a broken finger and lots of road rash, but still wanted to go on the ride. Her plan was to drive ahead to meet the 2-Day ride and then come back and meet up with us along the way. At 5:30 AM David and I got rolling. We met Ken around the corner, so the 3 of us were now underway. 5 Miles later we picked up Dennis, then at mile 12 we picked up LeRoy and Allan. At mile 15 we met Paul. We now had the group all together, so we stopped to sign everybody in.
The group got spread out going along Niles Canyon Road and Sunol-Pleasanton Road, but we all regrouped in Pleasanton. Everybody except David, that is. We figured that David just wanted to go off the front to be able to meet up with Deborah a bit sooner, so we didn't think anything more about it.
The climb over Corral Hollow was much easier than last year's, as last year on the 2-Day ride, it had seemed like a death march, as it was very hot, but you just had to keep going. This year we were early enough that we were beating the heat, and we pulled into the reststop at the Carbona Store without any problem. We were now about half way through the ride.
At the store we all bought sandwiches and then went to the small park at the back of the school across the street. As we left the store, we were met by Margaret and Richard, who happened along just at the right time. They had my route and schedule, and so had planned to meet us here. Good thing that we were still on schedule, too. We had a good lunch together, then they drove on ahead to meet up with Pam's group.
On the road again, it was a quick 20 miles into Ripon, where we decided to skip our stop and just push on another 15 miles to the 7-11 store at the Hwy 120 crossing. It was now finally getting to be hot, so this stop felt good. A few miles before the reststop, I made an unscheduled stop at a sprinkler watering in an orchard and got myself completey soaked. It felt great. My secret to riding in hot water is to stay wet as much as possible.
A few miles more and we were close to Knights Ferry. We met up with Deborah coming back towards us so we stopped to chat. I asked about David, and she told me that he had mistakenly turned onto Mines Road and gone an extra 10 miles, and so was somewhere behind us for most of this day. We rode on into Knights Ferry for more eating and a dip in the river, while Deb drove back along the route to go pick up David. A few minutes later and David and Deb joined us at the reststop.
The group was all split up by this time. The fast group of Allan, Ken, and Paul decided not to stop at all, and so we never saw them again until Columbia. The heat was getting to LeRoy, so he decided to catch a ride with Deb and David and drive on into Columbia. This left just me and Dennis to ride the remaining 27 miles together.
I filled up all 4 of my water bottles and we headed out, first detouring over the covered bridge, as Dennis had not seen it before. We pushed on all the way to Jamestown, 20 miles down the road. It took me 3.5 waterbottles to do this 20 mile stretch, so I was very glad that I was packing extra water, as I would have hated to have to conserve while riding in this heat.
Dennis and I finally pulled into Columbia at 5:30 PM, so it was a 12 hour trip, and an hour behind my schedule, mostly due to the longer reststops because of the heat. The fast group had gotten in at 4:15, but I'm glad that I took the extra time, as I still felt pretty good and had a long week of riding still ahead of me.
We pulled in just in time for the Tour's first meeting to introduce the staff and to make any announcements. I found Lisa Curran and Peggy Abelite and Kim Carr, so I was able to sit with them, trying not to be too sweaty, as I just wanted to go take my shower. After the announcements, it was time for dinner. While everybody was busy standing in line for food, I unpacked my bag and went for my shower. Luckily for me, Lisa and Peggy were good enough to put my tent up for me. I like Lisa and Peggy.
I was last in line for dinner but first in line for dessert. The dinner location was moved into camp this year, so I liked it much better than having to do the long walk into Columbia to go to dinner.
After dinner we did the long walk anyway, going into town to try to find where Pam was staying. We never did find Pam, but we hung out in her hotel's parlor for a long time, just making ourselves at home. I brought Yahtzee along with me so we played half a game, with about 6 people playing. We then went looking for Peggy and George at their hotel, but we never found them either. Somewhat dissapointed, we all returned to camp. Soon after, Peggy and George drove up. They had just finished having drinks with Pam and the others, so we had managed to miss them in town, even though we were almost in the right place.
I never did make it into the campground pool.
My first swimming option of the day was just down the hill. It was too early for the rest, but I felt that I could at least stop in to check it out and then catch up with the others on the long uphill into Murphys. I'm glad that I stopped, as this proved to be an excellent spot. I was able to ride right down to the water on the old road. I was able to see the rest of the group, who were very small dots stopped in the middle of the bridge, so while they were checking out the bridge, I was able to check out the water. The water was a perfect temperature and very clear. I swam around for a bit, but then had to go, as I had many more miles to ride and other places to try out.
The group on the bridge had left by the time I got out of the water, but I was able to catch back up before Murphys, where we had our traditional stop at the bakery.
Instead of going on Sheep Ranch Road this year, we decided to stick to the official route and go down into Angels Camp and then along Dogtown Road. Most of the group had gotten ahead of me by this time, so it was just me and Peggy bringing up the rear. It was getting hot again, and I knew that the stream on Sheep Ranch Road also crossed this road, so I was keeping an eye out at each bridge that we crossed. Finally, a few miles before the SAG stop we crossed over a promising-looking stream, and Peggy and I both decided that it was time to get wet, so we went in. We had warned the others that if they went off the front, then they might miss out on some of the fun that we would have at the back, and we were right. Peggy and I had a good time in the water. I like Peggy.
Finally up at Jack Maki's SAG stop, we met Kim pouring some water over her head. Refreshing, but not nearly as good as jumping in the water like Peggy and me. All of the group was still here. Allan mentioned that he was getting tired of the stops and so wanted to just ride and to push on to the end. Peggy found this statement to be quite contrary to our way of touring, and so she announced, "But we haven't even started stopping!" My little group, with Peggy and Lisa at the core, had all gotten used to my way of touring, which was to spend basicly the whole day out on the road, just enjoying where we were and being in no hurry to get on into camp. Peggy was quite correct in her statement. "We haven't even started stopping!" would be our theme for the week. I like Peggy and Lisa.
Allan managed to talk Ken and Kim into going off with him. Kim's plan was to start with them, but then to wait up for us at the lunch stop in San Andreas. In San Andreas, we saw no sign of Kim, so it was as I had suspected - Kim got sucked into going ahead with Ken all the way to Jackson on the long route. That was her loss.
After lunch, the plan was to go down Gwin Mines Road, as it crossed over the back end of Pardee Reservoir. "Wrench Boy" Phil Weiss said that the bridge had just been repaired, and that there should be good swimming under the bridge. Gwin Mines Road had been on the original S2S route, and peoples' memory of it was that it went very steeply down hill over a very bumpy and sometimes dirt road. This year, I thought that the road wasn't too bad. It was bumpy, much like Tunitas Creek Road, but I don't think it was anything over a 10 percent grade, and we didn't see any dirt sections at all.
The bridge and water at the bottom made Gwin Mines Road well worth the trip. I went into the water the easy way, but many of the others felt that they needed to do the 10 to 15 ft jump off of the bridge. I checked the depth of the water out for them first, and it was very deep. We also found a big log floating in the water, big enough so that we were able to have about 5 people sitting on it and it would still float.
It was time to get going again, so we started the long climb up towards Hwy 49 and Jackson. It turned out that I liked this route very much, as most of the uphill was in the shade, there were almost zero cars, and there weren't any downhills during the climb, so that all of the climbing counted towards getting us to Jackson. Once at Hwy 49, it was only a half mile more to our turn on Broadway and then another half mile into camp at the Saint Sava Mission.
Because we had skipped both Sheep Ranch Road and the tour of Mercer Caverns, we found ourselves getting into Jackson with plenty of time to spare. For once, the pool was still open, so we all hung out there for the next hour. We told Kim about our new-found swimming hole, and she was sorry that she had missed it. We told her that it was her own fault for going off the front with the others.
After dinner, we finished with our usual walk around Jackson, where we again found the 5 bells to ring. One of the highlights here was a cat that lived along the way. The cat saw us coming and just ran out to greet us and then layed down to let us all pet her. A very friendly cat.
I had managed to do all of the swimming options today. I wasn't sure about the Pardee Reservoir stop, but doing Gwin Mines Road turned out to be the best way to go. I think that this would be our route for the next few years.
In Volcano, we arrived an hour before the General Store opened, so instead we all went around the corner to this new place that Pam had found last year. We were there a good half hour. Before we left, I went back around to near the General Store to fill my waterbottles. I met a lady with 3 kids checking if the store was open. I told them that the place around the corner was open, and so they started to walk around. She told me that her son was on this bike tour that would be finishing in San Francisco next Sunday, and I told her that we were on a bike tour also. I didn't make the connection at this time, but I later found out that this lady was Phil's mother, and that the 3 kids were Phil's children. Phil was still at the other store during this time, and as I got back we all started off. Phil had just missed seeing his kids and being able to show them off to the rest of the group.
At the top of the hill we all stopped in at Fran Steel's SAG stop. Next was the great downhill through Fiddletown. Peggy and I were off the back, wondering if the others were seeing as much of the scenery as we were. A quick regroup in Fiddletown and then it was on to Plymouth for lunch. We bought our sandwiches at the store, but then found the fairgrounds to be locked up. Instead, Phil found us a nice patch of grass in the shade of a big tree at the school yard. Towards the end of lunch, Geoff Karna was resting, and a young bird dropped down from the tree and proceeded to walk around on Geoff. The bird then crapped, but managed to just miss Geoff, whew!
Next up was the 5 mile section over to Latrobe Road. I hung back with Kim as the others got a head start. We had a nice ride together, the first chance alone on this tour. It was good to have Kim once again in our group, even though it wasn't to be every day. I like Kim.
We joined the others at Jack's SAG stop. It was very hot now, so Jack was making the day with his ice cold Alhambra water bottles that he was passing out.
Only 2 miles more to our next swimming option, under the bridge at the Consumes River on the county line. We were here the past few years. This year the water was much lower, and so the current that used to be great for a strong swimmer was very now slow. Even I had no problem swimming upstream. The group did manage to find one section where there was a very strong current and they all took turns trying to make it but no one could. We spent a long time at this water option, and it was tough to have to get going again.
Once back on the road, we all warmed up again very quickly. A few miles up, at the Shingle Springs junction, we again stopped in at the old house and helped ourselves to fresh water for our bottles. This felt great for the remaining hot miles into Folsom. We took the old route along White Rock Road and Placerville Road, skipping Green Valley Road altogether.
Once in Folsom, we checked our map to figure out a good shortcut to the new swimming center. A few miles later and we were there. Very impressive. Diving pool at one end, then a long pool for serious lap swimmers, then a 3 ft deep pool for kid-size swimmers, then a 165 ft long water slide, and finally a 1 ft deep pool for little kids at the other end. Phil and Lisa were hoping for the high dive, but it turned out to be closed at 3:00 PM, and so we just missed that pool. We all took a turn on the high water slide, though. Almost too high and fast for me, but I made it down looking good.
Getting close to dinner time, and we still had to go put our tents up, so we finally had to leave the swimming center and roll on into camp. Dinner this night was done behind the main building, not too far away. I liked being outside in a park setting. Very nice.
In the evening we all went out to the Powerhouse Bar for some drinking and dancing. It turned out that we didn't do any dancing this year. I guess we needed to have Pam with the group again. We did find out that Phil was a "chick magnet". While we are all just sitting around, Phil had not one, not two, but 3 women come up to him and ask "Can we meet you?" We figured that this pickup line would work for any woman asking a man, as almost any line would probably work. But for a man asking a woman, almost no pickup line would be successful. It was 12 midnight before we finally got back into camp.
I never did make it into the American River near camp. In past years we would go down to this river to have our "showers", but this year they were provided by a shower truck in camp.
A new swimming option for today was to stop along the river somewhere and go swimming. We found the perfect place, somewhere between mile 11.0 and 10.5 according to the markers on the trail. The water was a bit cold but very nice. Phil made the mistake of announcing how cold the water was after he jumped in, and so I think that this kept many of the others from going in. Most of them only got in knee deep. Next year maybe they'll go all the way in. I'll be stopping here again for sure.
It was 12:00 noon in Old Sacramento, where we found Jack and his cold Alhambra water. We hung out for awhile and then headed off towards Davis for a real lunch. We wanted Thai food, but by the time that we found where we went a few years ago (SE 2nd and E St), it was already closed. Instead we went to a good Chinese restaurant. A bike shop later and we were again going out of town.
Just starting out again, Phil got a flat tire, so Lisa and I laid down on the grass in the shade and proceeded to make the most of our short reststop. I got out my electronic Yahtzee and we played a few games, taking turns. This electronic Yahtzee proved to be a big hit with Lisa, Peggy, and Kim, so I'm glad that I had brought it along on the tour.
A few miles out of town and we stopped at Fran's SAG stop. Lots of cookies and water for us. Since we were again last, we helped Fran pack up her stop when we were ready to go again. A few more miles down the road and I was getting too hot again. I found a sprinkler in an orchard, so decided to stop while the others kept going. Stepping in, both of my feet sank into the mud, and so I ended up taking alot of time to finally clean off my shoes and feet and still be able to keep the water that I got. I found the others waiting for me at the final turn before going into camp.
On the last steep little hill, I had Ray Rodriguez holding on, as I pulled him up the hill. I was holding on with one hand and had a waterbottle in the other. I was spraying this waterbottle over my head to help keep Ray and Peggy cool. Just then, something snapped and I felt like I was riding a bucking bronco. Luckily I was able to come to a stop without crashing. My seat was missing! I broke my seatpost bolt, just like Peggy did last year. People were wondering what I was going to do. Would I have to go in to Davis to get a new part? I did know that I was not going to let this thing mess up my tour. I rode on into camp without the seat, and tried sitting on my bike rack, which seemed to work a little. Once in camp, I raised my rack up to just under the top of the seatpost and was then able to wedge the seat rails between the seatpost and the rack, locking them in place with the use of a bungee cord. My seat was now as good as new. People were impressed.
The last swimming option for today was to jump in the portion of Lake Solano which was near the showers in the campground. I knew the water would be cold, as it comes from the bottom of Lake Berryessa. I managed to swim across and back, but my wrists and ankles were very cold. I was ready to get out, but then Stephanie, the dingy Colorado chick, came and decided to get in, so I stayed in with her. I think I was starting to get numb, as the water didn't seem be feel as cold as when I first got in. It was good to finally meet Stephanie, though. And when I say dingy, I mean that in a good way. Very friendly. I like Stephanie.
Dinner was down in the group area, the same as for the past few years. Very good food, but they ran short of plates. After dinner we decided to walk across the bridge to visit with Ziggy, the zony. We found the gate closed, but we opened it and went through anyway. The owner was friendly before, so we figured it would be okay this time also. A lady came out and wondered who we were, so we explained how we have been coming here once a year for the past 2 years. She said her name was Kay, the new owner, having bought the place just 6 months ago and that it came with all of the animals. It appeared that we might have known more of the history of Ziggy than she did. Ziggy is half zebra and half pony, and is probably about 2 1/2 years old now. We also got a good look at Spring, the camel, as he was up and walking around the field.
Back in camp we started up a game of frisbee, forming a big triangle. Peggy was in one corner and finally a throw hit a nearby tent. Peggy retrieved the frisbee, but got a complaint from the person who was resting inside. Later I took over for Peggy, and soon the frisbee again hit this same tent. I didn't know about the first time, but the tent's owner made it very clear to me that this was the 2nd time and that we should all grow up. I moved over towards Lisa then and we left that other area alone. Then Fran started playing, and little by little she started moving over towards that tent. Fran didn't know about the other 2 hits at this time, but when the frisbee finally hit for a 3rd time, Fran quickly found out. As soon as it hit, both Lisa and I ran behind a nearby tree and hid. The tents owner, this time, actually unzipped his tent and got out and confronted poor Fran. That was the end of our frisbee game. We figured that there might be new rules againt frisbee playing in camp. We also proposed that maybe there sould be frisbees provided in everyone's registration packet.
Stan had a spoke pull through his rim today, so Phil was going to build him up a new wheel. The trouble was that Phil was also busy doing alot of other bike repairs, and so the wheel didn't even get started until late. It was 11:00 PM when Phil finally called it a day and we all went to bed. Phil did the final trueing early the next morning.
On the climb up Cardiac Hill, I was riding with Ray. We passed by Howard and Ray decided to give Howard a push. Ray's was working too hard, though, to last very long, so I decided to give Ray a push also. We managed to keep this 3-man push going for most of the climb, only stopping every so often when a car would come along. I don't think that Howard ever figured out that I was helping. I think he believed that Ray did the whole thing.
Towards the top we met Phil, stopped to look at one guy's bike. His freewheel came apart and Phil said it needed to be taken to Napa to get to a bike shop. Ray was going to call the SAG, but he didn't have his phone, but just then Patrick Hogan's roving SAG drove up. Johnny on the spot.
While we are there with Phil, Kim and Lisa come back along the road to find us. It seems that Peggy had told them that I was waiting for them down at the dam, as I had expected them to be there waiting for us. Luckily for them, I was really just around the corner from where they had all stopped to regroup.
The next reststop was Jack's SAG stop at the junction with the road leading down to Spanish Flat. We made this a quick stop, though, as we all wanted to get on over to the swimming hole, now just 3 miles away.
Finally, we were at the swimming hole, a finger of Lake Berryessa, where we had stopped in for each of the past 2 years. We found the water level to be a few feet lower this year, but it was still plenty deep. We just needed to use different rocks to jump in from, as the old rocks were now too far out of the water. We had a good group of about 7 guys and 4 women. We were all just swimming around at random for awhile, then I asked Peggy to lead us in some synchronized swimming lessons. We had a great time, even though most of us couldn't come near to what both Peggy and Lisa were trying to teach us. I felt that I was doing pretty good just to stay floating. I didn't have much left to be making pretty moves also, but I tried. I like Peggy.
We all made the mistake of leaving our waterbottles on our bikes, as they were all very hot by the time we got going again. We should have had them floating in the lake while we swam. It was only 10 or so miles up to the Pope Valley Store though, so we managed ok. But it was hot. Kim bought the group a bag of ice, and so we all got busy putting ice in our water bottles. While we were at the store Jack drove by and stopped in when he saw us. It seems that we were now late enough that they closed the waterstop up ahead.
Our next swimming option was the small stream half way up Ink Grade. Because of the low water levels at the other places, I didn't hold out too much hope for this place, but when we got there it still had some water. It was all overgrown, and people were anxious to get on up to Angwin for lunch, so it was only Kim and me that stopped. We moved our bikes up off the road and then found a good spot on the creek. We both got busy moving rocks and making a small dam, and before long we had a small pool big enough for 2 people to lay in. It was nice to spend some good quality time with Kim. I like Kim.
At the store in Angwin we met the others still not yet done buying their food. So our extra water stop did not set us back any. Again, we all went across the street to have lunch on the grass under the trees. It was a good lunch.
On the descent down Howell Mountain Road, both Kim and Peggy wanted to do the more direct and faster descent down Deer Run, so we agreed to meet up at the bottom. At the bottom, all together again on Silverado Trail, it was 10 more miles to get to Calistoga.
Miguel Aznar wanted to split into a faster and a slower paceline so I said sure. I was planning to hang back and ride Peggy and Ray into town, but if the others wanted to go off the front, that was fine. The faster group then went off ahead and we settled in for our 10 mile march into a headwind on a very hot day. Very soon, we saw the fast group pull off to the side. It seems that Kim had a flat tire. Since we are now in seperate groups, I felt no obligation to stop, and so our group just rode on by, waving and saying "see you in Calistoga", and off we went. The story of the tortoise and the hare popped into my mind. We were soon joined by Lisa and Geoff, deserters from the fast group, but they were now content to just ride along behind.
Whenever I want to keep the group together, I just stay at the front and do all of the pulling. I keep one eye on my mirror to make sure that whoever is our slow rider at that moment is able to stay on the paceline. Then we just cruise along. Finally in Calistoga, we saw the big Calistoga truck sculpture and noticed that it had real water spraying from its radiator cap. This is a great place to hang out on the grass with this fine mist of water spraying over you. The fast group finally arrived, but we found that they dropped Phil. They claimed that he gave his all for the good of the paceline. Phil claimed that they just dropped him.
All together again, we now cruised on into Calistoga. Kim split off at the Comfort Inn, while the rest of us were staying at the fairgrounds. We set up tents, took our showers, and then headed back in to town to do laundry and hang out at the landromat.
After laundry, it was finally time for dinner, again at Bosco's. Pizza as usual for me.
We never did make it over to Doc Wilkensen's pool to show off what we had learned in our sychronized swimming lessons.
A few miles more and Peggy remembered when she once went to this winery that had a pipe organ. We managed to find it so we all decided to stop in for a look. It's at the Johnson Family Winery. Very impressive.
On the road again, we were nearing Jimtown store, when we met the rest of our group coming back towards us. I guess that they were worried that something had happened. But we were just touring. Kim and Ken plus a few others had already gone on ahead to try out the climb to the Geysers, which we were going to skip. Instead, we all waved goodbye to Geysers Road when we passed by.
In Geyserville, we decided to stop in for a short reststop. Lisa and I sat on the curb and I continued the lessons that I had been giving Lisa for the past few days. Lisa wanted to learn how to flip bottlecaps. I had a supply of about 20 caps, so we got them out and started sending them out into the street, seeing how far we could get. Lisa got a few out over the yellow line, while I managed to put a couple on the sidewalk across the street. We picked all of the caps back up afterwards, so it wasn't really littering.
At the Lambert Bridge, I found that there was plenty of water in the stream, but we were too near our lunch stop, so we kept riding. Maybe next year I'll actually stop here. We saw Jack's SAG at the Dry Creek Deli, where we bought sandwiches. We then carried these over to the Dry Creek Winery, where we had lunch and napped on the grass. This was the first time for the Colorado women to actually see our group in action. Miguel was pointing out to them which one I was, and how I was able to lay on the ground and eat the cornchips stacked up on my stomach. I think that it was still a little more resting than they were used to, as they haven't yet achieved the true touring spirit. They were getting anxious to get riding again.
We stopped in at the junction to Sweetwater Springs Road. I suggested that all of the new riders should try it, while all of the other riders could skip it. Geoff and Jonathan Crockett were both up to the challenge, so off they went. The rest of us continued on, looking for Fran's SAG stop somewhere up ahead. We had a good leisurely stop, with more bottlecap training.
A few more miles up the road, and we arrived at Korbel Winery. We stopped in for a good long rest, along with some french bread and a game of Yahtzee. Next, we decided to take the Rio Nido Road shortcut over to Armstrong Redwoods. We went on into the redwoods, said hello and goodbye to Bullfrog Pond Road, and then checked out the Armstrong Tree. 307 feet tall and 14.6 feet in diameter.
We didn't find anybody from the tour in Armstrong Redwoods, so we just headed on into camp at Casini Ranch, near Duncans Mills on the Russian River. Last ones in again. The wine and cheese party was just finishing, and all the people seemed to be a bit louder/friendlier than usual. We put our tents up then went for showers. Kim was willing to go in the Russian River with me, so we went for a little swim before showering. I like Kim.
After dinner we got a group together and walked the mile over to Duncans Mills across the bridge, to the bar at the Blue Heron. It was probably about 11:30 PM when we finally got back to camp. I went off to bed, but I later learned that Jonathan held a star-gazing show out in the big field. Everyone just laid down on the ground and then Jonathan would use his flashlight to point out all of the different constellations.
We skipped Coleman Valley Road last year, so to make up for it we decided to do it twice this year. We would go down the coast, climb up Coleman Valley Road and stop for breakfast in Occidental. Then after breakfast, we would again take Coleman Valley Road back over to the coast. Some of our group chose to only do Coleman Valley once, so we arranged to meet them in Occidental.
The coast was clear. Only just a little bit hazy. We kept the paceline going all down Hwy 1. Very nice cruising conditions. Tailwind, little twisty rollers, and great views.
It was Kim's first time up Coleman Valley Road from this side, so I stayed at the back with her. The last time that we had come up, Kim was in Ray's SAG van with a broken collar bone, so she had missed out. I was thinking of what I could do to make it up to her today. I like Kim.
At Howards Station Cafe in Occidental, the place was packed with S2S people. However, most of them were getting finished with their meals so we soon had a table. We had to split up, though, so Kim went to one table, but I managed to keep Lisa to sit at my table. I like Lisa.
After a very nice breakfast, it was back up Coleman Valley Road again, this time on a full stomach. We had a huge group along for this stretch. Besides our usual 10 to 12 people, we also had Jeff "Seeks Adventure" Bryan and his wife Fran "What Hill" Bryan. With us also were two of the three Colorado women, Stephanie and Deb, as well as their escorts, Jim and Jeff. It was a very leisurely climb and descent, with lots of stops along the way to let people enjoy the view and take pictures.
The descent down to the ocean was great with lots of good views all around. I was at the back and I asked Kim to be my escort down the hill. She agreed, and Kim had the best view of all.
Together again at the bottom, we all cruised along south on Hwy 1, going through Bodega Bay without stopping (this was a first), then up and over 3 very big rollers, finally arriving in Valley Ford. We stopped for a snack, knowing that Tomales was still an hour away. Lisa bought some french bread and an avocado, and this made the best sandwiches.
After a bit of trouble finding Middle Road, we got going over the next hill. I hung with Stephanie and Deb up the hill, just to check them out. They had appeared to be great hill-climbers, but on closer inspection I found that I could still hang with them. They were respectable hill-climbers, but they were also just normal people.
Arriving in Tomales, a full 8 miles since our last stop and 14 before our next stop, it was time for lunch. We got more snacks and then hung around on the benches for about a half hour. After that we saw Ray laying on the sidewalk, and that looked so good that we all then layed on the sidewalk for another half hour. Kim and I were working on our belly tans, while Lisa was just taking a nap. Peggy, Ray, and Phil were playing their kazoos while lying down. No one was in a hurry to get going again, just as it should be. And people wonder, "Just what do you people do all day?" This was our best stop.
On the road again, we had rollers most of the way down to Marshall. There was supposed to be good BBQ oysters at Tony's in Marshall, so that was our goal. I had the group rolling along together for awhile, but then stopped off the back to pee. When I got going again and started to catch back up, the group was all split apart. But in Marshall we again regrouped and arrived at Tony's together. We found many people from the tour were there already.
Tony's was great, maybe our best meal yet, and we only went there for appetizers, as camp was just 7 miles away. Our waitress asked for and remembered our names. The oysters were very big and delicious. I ordered 4 BBQ oysters, but they were almost more than I could handle. I gave one to Ray. In its place I got a raw oyster from Phil, which went down good and slippery.
A few more rollers and we were passing through Point Reyes Station. Two miles of flat after that and we were at camp in Olema. Not quite time for dinner, but just enough time to put up our tents before we had to go over for the group picture. Most of us made it, but a few had gone to the showers instead, so they missed out on the photo op.
Dinner this year was in camp, which was much more convenient, but was a step down from the high-class meal from years' past. The food was good though. After dinner, Lisa and I strolled over to the Point Reyes Seashore Inn to find Peggy and George's room. They were in, so we visited for awhile. George got hooked on the electronic Yahtzee. Later, Peggy and George had to go off to dinner, so Lisa and I next went to find Jersey Ray's room, where we also found Phil. We were soon joined by Ray, Jonathan, and Geoff, so we had 7 people now.
Jersey Ray (Ray from New Jersey) was a new addition to our group for many of the days. This was his first tour and first time to California. I think it is safe to say that Jersey Ray had a good time this week.
We next decided to check out the bar next door. Just outside the hotel we ran into Kim and Ken, but they were heading back to camp. Inside the bar, we hung out with Cathy Switzer and Fritz. Cathy bought us all drinks to say thanks for having her along with us these past few days. I like Cathy.
Lisa woke up with a kink in her back, looking for Steve Kramer, the massage therapist. I told her that I'd be willing to work on her a bit if she told me just what to do. I had never had a real massage before, so this was new to me. Lisa laid down on my sleeping bag and told me to push on her back. She directed me to move around until I found just the right spot. Then Lisa had me push hard, and then even harder. I told Lisa that I didn't want to damage her, but she assured me that it was alright to push that hard. I'm not sure how much this helped Lisa but it was a good experience for me. I like Lisa.
On the ride down Hwy 1 towards Stinson Beach, Kim felt frisky and so was out leading the pack. I didn't want her to burn herself out, though, so after awhile I came up to the front to set the pace. Kim fell in behind me. The plan was for me to set Kim up for the Dogtown sprint, which we now knew was after a long twisty downhill. I had no chance for this sprint myself, as I am too slow on the downhills, but Kim would have a chance. The plan was for me to keep Kim behind me all the way, then when I saw LeRoy start to come around, I would move out to block him, while Kim would slip through on the inside and get a good jump on the field. The plan didn't quite work that way though, as Allan sprung by me unexpectedly, and Kim also went around me to chase him down. So I almost blocked Kim by mistake. LeRoy also chased.
Off the back now, I cruised on down the hill and saw that the Dogtown city limit sign was further out than I had remembered. I figured that either Allan or LeRoy would have gotten the sprint. Ray was also off the back now, so I hung back and rode on into Stinson Beach with Ray. When Kim saw me, she announced that she had indeed taken the Dogtown Sprint. The sign is hidden behind some bushes and is placed high up in a tree, so the others did not see it quick enough and Kim was able to get the sprint. Way to go, Kim.
The Parkside Cafe in Stinson Beach usually opened their outside patio at 9:00 AM but we somehow got there 20 minutes early. Good thing, too, as it turned out that they wouldn't open it up until 10:00 AM this morning. So we put our reservation in for seating on the inside. It was going to be a long wait, as alot of the other S2S people were already there before us.
I decided to go swim in the ocean at Stinson Beach, since we now had all this extra time. Kim agreed to go along with me. When we got over into the park, we found that this was the day for the Double Dip Sea running race, and they were going to start in about 10 minutes. I still had time for a quick swim, so I hurried out to the ocean. It was very shallow, so I had to run maybe a hundred yards from dry sand to water, and then even further to get enough depth to catch a wave and then come back in. I still made it back in time for us to see the start of the race.
Kim and I got back to the restaurant just in time. Our group was now seated, and Lisa saved both Kim and I places at the table. They had not yet ordered, so we were just in time. Another good meal and then up the hill on a full stomach.
I stopped in at a scenic viewpoint half way up the hill to allow the stragglers to catch up, and we took a few pictures. Kim had kept going along with a few of the others. Kim told me at the top that she got to the top first, followed by Jonathan, and was happy because she also beat Allan on the climb. Way to go Kim.
We next cruised along the ridge on Panoramic Hwy and then dropped down into Mill Valley where we regrouped. We then stayed together along the bike trail and through Sausalito and over to the Golden Gate Bridge. Some of us did a stop in the middle of the bridge to allow for some more picture taking. then it was on the the finish not too far past the Log Cabin. Luckily, there were people stationed at the corners, as we might have gotten a bit lost before we would have found the finish.
At the finish, I went to get some lunch and found Pam cutting a cake. She offered to give me 2 pieces, which I accepted. It was good to see Pam again. She said that her ride back to San Jose went ok, with just her and Jimmy Baker. After a bit, Christine arrived along with Andy Chang and Paul Leuty. They had taken the train up so that they could ride back to San Jose with us. It was good to see Christine again, also. She had finally been able to get rid of the cold that's been bugging her for the past few weeks. I like Pam and Christine.
Lisa had agreed, without even asking her, to bring my bag home, as well as Kim's and Ken's bags. When Lisa had her bike loaded onto the club trailer, they also offered to stow all her bags, so she didn't have to load or unload them, and she didn't have to get them mixed in with the bags on the bus. I like Lisa.
I had 35.6 miles to get to the S2S finish. Kim was now anxious to get going towards San Jose, so by 1:15 we had everyone rounded up and we took off. We had 11 riders total. Me, Kim, Ken, LeRoy, Jeff, Fran, Paul, another Jeff, plus Andy, Paul, and Christine. I decided to change the route, staying off of the Great Hwy because of the wind, and instead going on the usual backroads of 25th, Irving, and 35th streets, to get over to the start of Skyline Blvd.
The one-day riders were still fresh, so they went off the front, while I hung back with Kim at the rear. We regrouped at the start of the bike trail, and then stayed together to the Chevron station reststop after 19 miles. We had a good stop. Fran even layed down on the pavement to soak up some more sun. I told her that she was now finally getting the hang of touring. I told her, as Deborah Lefferts had told me, that the secret to touring was to act like a seal. You should 1) eat alot, 2) swim alot, and 3) lie out in the sun alot.
Then it was onto the freeway, off at the next exit, and along Skyline Blvd all the way south to Hwy 92. Once on Canada Road, we let the others go off the front and I rode on in with Kim. I like Kim.
We all regrouped in Woodside for our next stop at Roberts Store. It was now just 4:00 PM so we were making good time. I think we were here at 5:30 last year. Kim, Ken, and Paul Leuty said that they wanted to keep pushing along, so they went on ahead. Jeff, Fran, and the other Paul also split off here to go their own way. It was now just me, LeRoy, Christine, Andy, and Jeff left in the group.
After our reststop in Woodside, we rode to our next stop at the Chevron at Homestead and Foothill. Here both Jeff and LeRoy split off, leaving just me, Christine and Andy to do the last section. Christine had her car parked at Andy's house, and Andy lived just a half mile from me, so we three stayed together till the end. It was both Andy and Christine's first time to ride down from San Francisco, so it was good that I could show them the route.
We stayed on Stelling, Prospect, Campbell, Dry Creek, Hicks, Curtner, Cherry, and Foxworthy to get across the valley. At the end of Foxworthy, we were able to cross over the new bridge near Almaden Expwy, then continue around on Old Hillsdale and Snell to get to Andy's house. I was home just a few minutes before 7:00 PM, a full 2 hours earlier than last year.
I weighed myself after I got home, and I think that I weigh the same as before I left. That is good, as I often can gain weight on this tour. I ate good all week long, but I also used it up just as fast. After the ride up to Columbia, I didn't worry about packing food on the bike. We always had enough stops during the day to cover any food needs.
I also seem to have slept enough during the trip, as I was never overly sleepy or tired. Even though I was often about the last one to bed at 10:30 to 12:00, and was always awake again by 5:30 the next morning, I seemed to have gotten enough sleep to get by on. I also never had tired legs. I just did "touring pace" all week long, never pushing too hard, and always riding like I still had to save something so that I could ride the next day.
In looking over my list of daily swimming options, I am glad to say that I was able to do almost all of them. I could always find the time to include a swim stop here and there. And I was never in such a hurry as I felt that I had to skip any stop. I can no longer imagine doing a tour without having some swimming stops along the way. And this year, for the first time, I managed to find some place to swim on each of the days, and often stopped even 3 or 4 times. That is as it should be, especially with the hot weather that we had for most of this tour.