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Sierra-to-the-Sea June 15-22, 1996
- 717.2 miles with 39600 ft of climbing
by Don Axtell
Day 0 - Saturday - San Jose to Columbia
152.3 miles, 4800 ft, 17.9mph, B pace
Roy Sueda, Jennie Phillips, and Rick Hodgson met me at my house. We were on
the road by 6:05 and making good time. At the junction of Mission and Niles
Canyon we got there at 7:32 and then stayed until 8:05, waiting for 3 more
riders who were to come across the Dumbarton Bridge. No show, so we continued
on. (We found out later that they came through at 8:10). Our 4:00 PM ETA
slipped away due to our long leisurely reststops, and we finally arrived in
Columbia at 5:30. It got hot on the climb up to Sonora, and the others quickly
got out of sight ahead of me. I went through over 3 of my 4 water bottles,
some of which I poured on my body to keep me cool. Rick and Jennie just came
for the ride up, but were not staying for the tour, and so left after having
dinner with the group. The other 3 riders arrived at about 6:30 and ended up
having dinner before they could shower or change.
Day 1 - Sunday - Columbia to Jackson
71.0 miles, 6540 ft, 11.8mph, M pace
Lucie introduced me to Lieke Vlasveld (Paul's sister), and said that it would
be good if I could ride with her. Lucie told Barry the same thing, so the 3
of us were riding buddies for most of the trip. Lieke warned us that she was
slow and liked to stop and take pictures and "feed the horses", and we said
that was fine. Little did we know ...
At the bridge crossing just down the hill from Columbia, we were passed by
a group of serious riders. I recognized John Hughes and someone else
recognized Muffy Ritz. They were out doing their annual ride from the Mexico
border north to the northern California border. That was the last we saw of
them.
We stopped in at Mercer Cavern, where we were joined by Vladimir and Joellen
and another couple. Together we all took the tour, still just $5.00 .
Afterwards, everyone headed back to Murphys to continue along the route,
except me. I continued downhill on Sheep Ranch Road to explore a new route.
We all managed to meet up again in San Andreas, the lunch stop, and I had
1 mile less and 1000 ft more than they did.
After lunch, it was me, Barry, and Lieke. We were seriously off the back now
and were 2 hours late for the next waterstop. At Pardee Dam we came across
George and Garnetta, and found that it was going to be very close as to who
was going to be the last ones into camp. George and Garnetta are traditionally
always last, but they beat us in this time. We were the last ones in on Day 1.
Day 2 - Monday - Jackson to Folsom
76.8 miles, 5210 ft, 12.3mph, M pace
Again it was me, Barry, and Lieke riding together. It seemed that we were off
to an average start in the morning, but as the day wore on we managed to slip
farther and farther behind. We stopped to feed the emus and also found a few
horses to feed. Lieke brought along carrots just so she could feed the horses,
so we finally figured out what she was talking about that first day. In Coloma
we checked out everything, and ended up spending an hour there, and didn't get
out until 4:30. Barry and I were more conscious of our schedule, and so we
knew that shower time had now slipped away, and that it was now looking like we
had to hurry if we wanted to make it to dinner. I offered to help Lieke carry
some of her stuff up the hill, but she would have none of that. I ended up
stealing her U-lock and a glass jar of pickles (leftover from lunch), and
didn't tell her until after we got back to camp. It did help her to climb
faster. We were the last ones in on Day 2, having to go directly to dinner,
then do without a shower. I managed to get my shower at 1:00 in the morning,
as the sprinklers all came on, and I spent about 10 minutes standing ontop of
a sprinkler so that it would not be able to pop up and spray everything.
Day 3 - Tuesday - Folsom to Winters
61.0 miles, 430 ft, 14.0mph, M- pace
This day was a bad one for me last year, as the miles of riding, the lack of
sleep, and the heat of the valley, all joined together to make me feel tired
and slow. This year was no different. We all slept in, and were the last ones
out of camp at 8:30. The plan was to have breakfast in Old Sacramento, but we
didn't get there until 12:30, so it turned into lunch. Barry and I then toured
the Train Museum while Lieke went shopping. I was very tired while walking
around the Museum, so ended up sitting on the floor while reading some of the
exhibits. We were the last ones in on Day 3, and I just managed to set up my
tent and shower, then I arrived late to dinner.
Day 4 - Wednesday - Winters to Calistoga
86.9 miles, 5760 ft, 13.5mph, M+ pace
I figured that I had enough of being the last ones into camp, so today I made
it a point of not riding with Lieke. It was easy, as I was up and ready and
finished with breakfast before Lieke was even up. I started out with Vladimir
and Joellen, but on the climb up to Montecello Dam and then Cardiac Hill I was
able to bridge up and finally found Lucie and her group of 8 riders just before
the top. I ended up riding with them for the rest of the day.
I had promised Lucie a bungee cord pull up Ink Grade, so she got her wish. The
others got to see what it looked like to pull with a bungee cord. Lucie's
speed on the hill went up from 4.0 to 6.5 mph, so I was really working.
We got into Calistoga at 2:15, quite a change from the other days. It was so
early, in fact, that I didn't know what to do with myself, so I went out
exploring on my bike. I ended up finding a 2000 ft climb heading towards
Middletown, but there was lots of traffic, so I probably won't be doing it
again.
Barry had also slept in, and so rode with Lieke that day. At the bottom of
Ink Grade, Lieke said that Barry could go on ahead, and Barry did. Barry got
in at 3:40, while Lieke arrived at 5:00, again the last one in.
Day 5 - Thursday - Calistoga to Duncan Mills
104.4 miles, 8140 ft, 14.2mph, MB
I had figured out a longer route for today, and talked Barry into doing it
with me. Barry was eager for a "real" ride, as he had been hanging back with
Lieke for most of the time. I knew how he felt.
We started early, but found that there were already many people out on the
route. After 28 miles on the route, it was time to head off on the new route.
We continued north to Lake Sonoma, and then took the Stewarts Point - Skaggs
Springs Road. This route is part of the Terrible Two ride, so Barry and I
called it the "Terrible One", as we were going to get 100 miles today. It
lived up to its name. The sign said "45 miles to Hwy 1", and we knew there was
no water. I had 4 water bottles, while Barry had 2 plus 4 bottles of 16 oz
each (about 4.5 wb total).
Luckily it wasn't a hot day, as the uphills provided very little shade. After
many long uphills and downhills, we arrived at the abandoned town of Las Lomas,
where we stopped to have lunch, which we had carried up over all of these
hills. Barry wondered why he didn't eat his lunch before, so he wouldn't have
had to carry it uphill. The next long downhill proved to be different than the
rest, because it kept an easy grade, and so took up lots of miles before we
got down the hill. We saw a sign that said "9 miles to Stewarts Point", but
wasn't sure if it wasn't supposed to be "19", as it didn't agree with the other
sign. A few miles later, we began the very steep climb that ended with Tin
Barn Road. We now knew where we were. Finally at Stewarts Point, the distance
from Lake Sonoma turned out to be just 35 miles, so that "45 miles" sign was
wrong. It took 5100 ft of climbing to do those 35 miles. I used 3 water
bottles and Barry used 4. Good thing it wasn't any hotter.
We had a nice tailwind coming down the coast, which was a good thing, as we
were both getting tired and it ended up that there was also another 2000 ft
of climbing along this stretch. We got in to camp at about 5:30.
We found that Lieke had already arrived, last again (not counting us). She
said that she didn't even get out of Calistoga until 10:30 that morning.
Day 6 - Friday - Duncan Mills to Olema
59.5 miles, 3430 ft, 12.9mph, M pace
Lieke asked me to wake her up this morning so that she wouldn't oversleep.
I ended up having to wake Barry up also, as he was not moving around by the
time we were up. Lieke and I, along with a few others, left camp to head
off to breakfast, and Barry was expected to join us in Occidental. Barry
only showed up after we had completely finished eating and were ready to
go again. There was some confusion in paying the camping bill from last
night, and so it took longer than expected for Barry to get out of camp.
Leaving Barry to eat his breakfast, Lieke and I headed off for Freestone and
Valley Ford. She wanted to check out some antique shops, so I went along.
We figured that Barry would show up sometime. We managed to find a 6 ft long
steel ant hanging on the wall of a house in Freestone. After the shops, we
headed out towards Dillon Beach. On the way, we came across a giant bull,
outside the fence and on the road. Luckily the bull was completely ignoring
us, as his attention was directed to a nice looking cow on the other side of
the fence. While the bull was facing the fence, Lieke and I quickly and
quietly went around behind him and hurried on our way. Everyone that we met
the rest of the day had a story to tell about meeting that bull.
In Tomales, we hung out with alot of other riders for maybe an hour before
Barry finally arrived. Seems he had gone over Coleman Valley Road, while
we had taken the easy way. Barry was now tired and planned to take the easy
way in to Olema, while I still planned to take Lieke over past the Cheese
Factory. At the Cheese Factory, it was another hour off the bike. We finally
arrived in Olema at 5:45, with a scheduled 6:00 dinner. Just made it.
Last again.
Day 7 - Saturday - Olema to San Francisco
35.3 miles, 2630 ft, 11.5mph, M-
I planned to take Lieke on the unofficial option to Stinson Beach and over
the ridge past Mt.Tamalpais. Richard Holterman decided to join us with his
mountain bike. A few others also took this route, but none were in our little
group. Barry didn't join us as he said he had to get on over to the finish
in San Francisco.
I tried to keep our little group on a schedule to get done by 1:00, and it
worked out pretty well. It turned out to be completely do-able. We were out
of camp at 7:30 and in Stinson Beach for breakfast at 9:00. The climb up
Panoramic Hwy provided great views out towards the ocean. At the Mt.Tam
headquarters, we decided to pass up the extra climb to the summit of Mt.
Tamalpias, and instead headed down to Mill Valley to rejoin the official
route. Even with stops along the way to take pictures of San Francisco
and the Golden Gate Bridge, we made it to the finish by 1:00, right on
schedule.
Day 7+ - Saturday - San Francisco to San Jose
70.0 miles, 2660 ft, 15.5mph, MB
I started out from the finish by about 2:00, now traveling alone. By the
time I got to Burlingame, some other riders from the tour managed to catch
up with me. We all stopped in at the Chevron station reststop and found
that Roy and Janine were already there. We all headed out together.
I got dropped along the way, but then managed to later catch up with Roy and
Janine for the ride along Foothill Expwy. I made it home by 7:20 pm.
It was good to finally be home, but it was also sad to finally be home
as that meant that my great week of bicycling was now finally over.