Outside of Pleasanton we happened to see Jackie and David Cedarbaum parked along side the road. They were cycling up to the junction. So we stopped to say hello and chat for a bit.
It was also nice to ride with Jimmy Baker again, who I hadn't seen in ages. At the top of the Corral Hollow climb, there was writing on the road . In big red letters it said "BITE ME PAM". I guess we will never know who put that there!!
The same guy is still running the Blue Lite Motel in Ripon. We had dinner at his restaurant there. We reminisced about last years ride.
Pam got the Fremont and Ripon city limit sprints.
There was extreme heat on the highway to Jamestown, 107 degrees. We stopped at a store and iced down. I used Pam's secret weapon... packing ice cubes into my top.
First stop was at the bridge where we all stopped and took a group picture without Donny. (His mission this year was to go in every swimming hole. By the end of the week he will have accomplished his mission.) here at New Melones Bridge Phil said, "Look there's Donny down by the water. You can see his orange tank top and black shorts." All I could see was a ripple in the water...
Next we stopped in Murphy's at the coffee shop. Our group broke up a little after this on Dogtown road to the first SAG. There was a girl who had a lemonade stand for us outside of her house, a few miles before the SAG stop. So we stopped for a tiny cup of lemonade also. No charge, but we tipped her!
After the SAG stop I went off with Ken, Allan, and Miguel to do the Pardee Dam loop. While Donnnny, Peggggy, Lissssa, Wrong Way Paul, Wrench Boy, Geoff and Jonathan took a short cut to a swimming hole.
We passed up the turn off to Pardee Dam. After several miles we ran into some other riders who were confused also. Turns out our "Routes Chair" had goofed on the route sheet!! Miguel corrected his mistake by back-tracking and telling everyone on the long route where to make the turn. This was my first interaction with the "Colorado chicks" Deb, Linda and Stephanie.
Ken and I went by the Pardee Dam Market without stopping. Bad mistake, as it was really HOT at this time and I had to ration my water. That meant no water on my body.
I was much happier when we were done. I was still not in a good mood when we got into camp, until I got to hang out, cool off and swim at the pool in Jackson. Even Donny and the gang got into camp in time to take a dip in the pool and play several games of electronic yahtzee.
Dinner was excellent. Lots of protein and carbs and sorbet for dessert. We walked thru town after dinner and went shopping at Safeway, where I got some cheap sunglasses.
I started out riding pretty hard. Somehow Phil managed to get all the city limit signs in his home town (and even the whole county.) I was riding with Allan, Ken, Jeff and Miguel. Before Volcano, I turned around to make sure I didn't miss the spot to stop for the creek. As it turned out the water level was low, and no one except Don wanted to get in the water yet. The air temperature was perfect this time of the morning. The water at this spot was very cold.
In Volcano, we had a long stop at the coffee shop. Rosie was nowhere around. Don, Peggy, Lisa and I had several games of Yatzee. After that, there was a big group of us hanging together on Ram's Horn Grade. I kept waiting for the mega medley of musical hits, but it never really got off the ground. It would have to wait until some of us got our Kazoos a few days later.
We had another stop at the top with Jack, our gracious SAG driver, waiting with gallons of cold water, cookies and fruit. Miguel had promised to back track, and he kept his word. Ken, Allan and Jeff were long gone.
The highlights of the day were the two swim spots.
1) After lunch there is a spot we hide our bikes under a bridge, and go down to the river. The water temperature is perfect here. Probably 78-80 degrees. It was getting really hot this day also. I had alot of fun floating downstream and swimming upstream. I could even see fish in the water.Dinner again gets an A+. After awhile, Roc-n-Ray, Jersey Ray, Geoff, Wrong Way Paul, Jonathan, Peggggy, Lissssa, Donnnny, Wrench Boy, Ken and I took a walk down the bike path to the PUB. Allan met us coming down the path and joined us. We were very loud and rowdy at the pub. Wrench Boy got another nickname at this time, "Chick Magnet". (I tried to tell the girls that came up, wanting to meet him, that he had just gotten out of Folsom State Prison.) We were talking and listening to tunes on the Juke Box.2) The Folsom Swim Center has 4 pools. Some of our group went off the slide. (This was the last time I saw my camera.) Jonathan and I swam laps in the lap pool. This was a great spot also. I think the air temperature was over 100 degrees here.
Back at camp around 11:30, and then Allan was blowing up his air mattress!!
It turns out I didn't see them at all this day. I was having too much fun riding with Jeff, Miguel, Allan, Ken, Deb, Stephanie and Linda.
After Old Sac., some of us decided to do the long option into Davis. We had a great paceline going. Miguel got the Woodland city limit sign. Jeff got the Davis sign. I was feeling good. In Davis we again hooked up with the rest of the group for lunch.
After lunch, Ken, Allan and I had a good session. We rode hard. At the campground, Ken and I decided to do another 20 miles. I wanted to take a dip in Lake Berryessa. So Ken and I rolled in and out of camp to go climb Cardiac Hill.
I got the County sign! We stopped at Markley Cove and I took a few dives off the boat launch. The water was very refreshing. So, I decided to continue the climb to the top. I caught Ken on his way down. He accompanied me on the way back up to the top of the climb. It was again very hot!!
On the way down, we stopped at our own private swimming hole. (Thanks to Troy Stenstrom for this suggestion.) On the climb out of the water, back to our bikes, Ken managed to get his socks all full of mud.
Dinner was again A+. A great salad, and the best ribs I've ever had. After dinner, a group of us strolled over to see Ziggy, the Zony. Ziggy is half pony, half zebra, by artificial incimination, of course. You can see the stripes. Poor thing is sort of wild, tho. Easily spooked.
This evening we hung around watching Allan and Phil build a wheel. One of the Georgia couples thought we were making too much noise, so we moved the shop over by the van. Wild peacocks meowed this night.
At Lake Berryessa, we all got a synchronized swim lesson from Peggy and Lisa. What a HOOT! The afternoon was again very hot.
The climb on Ink Grade was were the singing really gets going. That is where Phil broke out into the "Tighten it Up" jam session. Don and I were the only ones to stop at the creek on Ink Grade. The water was very cool and clean. We immediately built ourselves a bathtub by moving rocks and building a dam. We had ourselves a cold water jacuzzi, and layed around for about 20 minutes. It was beautiful here, but we had to get to Angwin.
The descent from Angwin to Silverado Trail was SWEET. Smooth pavement and fast.
On Silverado Trail, some of us decided to break off into a faster paceline. Just then my tire blew. I told Miguel and Phil to "Go ahead" and pulled off to the side of the road to fix my flat. And Don, my good riding buddy and tire changer extrordinare, rolled on by and said "Bye-bye Kimmy". Miguel and Phil then decided to come back and help me change my tire. (Or rather changed my tire for me.) I like Phil and Miguel.
On down the road we saw Lisa, Don, Peggy, Jonathan, and Geoff under the Calistoga spring water steam train. The train was blowing mist into the air, and everyone was getting a shower.
The side roads out of Calistoga are nice. This was our wine country touring day. Lisa, Jonathan, Paul, and I got into a paceline to Jimstown store. At the store I got a Kazoo. So now I could join the band.
After the store, some of us decided to do the 5 mile climb up to the Geysers. Big Jim was making Ken and Jeff work hard to catch him. Then Deb, Jonathan, and I. The rest of the group did not go to the top.
After lunch at Dry Creek Winery, Ken, Jeff, Paul, and I climbed Sweetwater. On the decent, close to the top, I stopped at the scene of my accident two years ago. I remembered the exact site, and curve in the road.
In Armstrong Redwoods Park we ran into Allan, who had gone to Santa Rosa that day to fix his bike. Ken, Paul, and Allan climbed Bullfrog Pond, while Jeff and I were content to sit and chat and wait for them. The Colorado girls and Geoff and Jonathan soon came along. But still no sign of Don.
Later on in camp, there was a wine and cheese party. I also took a dip in the Russian River (with Don of course).
Then the ride was back over Coleman Valley Road toward the ocean again. There was a large group of about 15 of us. We got to a spot where everyone stopped to look at the view. Jersey Ray took pictures. After everyone took off again, it was just Ray, Jonathan, Don and I. Ray and Jonathan took off and it was just Don and I. I got to laughing and giggling the rest of the way down the hill.
Today we did alot of eating. We stopped in Valley Ford at the Market. (Phil got the sign here.) Then we stopped at the bakery in Tomales, then we stopped and ate Oysters at Tony's in Marshall. I was with my friends and having a good time.
At the bakery, we layed on the sidewalk and sunbathed, and blew our Kazoos like sirens.
In Olema, the showers were the best. Nice and Hot. Then there was a group picture. Dinner as usual was A+ again.
Breakfast was in Stinson Beach. The restaurant wait was 25 minutes for our party of 10. So I decided to accompany Don to the beach, where he jumped in the ocean. The Double Dipsea was starting at 9 am, so we watched the start of the race. When we got back to the restaurant our party was seated. Breakfast took about 2 hours- that was OK, because we only had about 15 miles to go before the Golden Gate bridge and the official end of the tour.
At the Presidio there was a nice spread of sandwiches and fruit. Pam was serving cake. Margaret, our ACTC president was there also.
We left the Presidio at 1:15. Chris Kennedy, Paul Leuty, and Andy Chang had joined us at this point. The route was pretty direct with no major climbs. Ken and I spllit off from the rest of the group at Woodside, where Paul Leuty was kind enough to "tow" us home. I like Paul.
Turns out Don was not far behind. He actually picked up Ken and my bags from Lisa's house and brought them over. I like Don and Lisa.
After Don dropped our bags off, we all went out for a hamburger, french fries and a malt! I still felt pretty good at this point.
I can honestly say this was THE BEST Sierra to the Sea so far. Thanks to all the old and new friends that made the trip so memorable. I look forward to seeing you all next year!!