How I spent my vacation - Sierra to the Sea 1997

How I spent my vacation - Sierra to the Sea 1997
by Peggy Abelite, "peggggy@VNET.IBM.COM"

Some Background....

The Sierra to the Sea ride has caught my eye in the ACTC newsletter for several years. This year, I was very tempted to sign up, but some other pending vacation plans stopped me. I happened to mention this to my friend Lisa, who told me that she, my friend Sue, and lots of her other friends were going. So I got myself on the waiting list in early April, thinking I didn't have much chance on getting in. I did warn my manager that I might be telling him last minute that I'd be gone for a week. Well, sure enough the Wednesday before the ride, I picked up a message on my machine at 9pm saying there was an opening. Thursday morning, I was still quite undecided and talked to Lisa about it. She was VERY encouraging, said she'd give me a ride to the bus, my very supportive and spontaneous friends Dave and Larry offered to lend me camping equipment, so I decided to go for it, despite a serious lack of miles on the bike the last 2 years. I figured all the running and swimming, plus many base bike miles from previous years would just have to suffice... Here's how things went:

Travel Day : San Jose to Columbia State Park...

Lisa comes to pick me up (I'm ALMOST ready), we pile the bike box in her open convertible (so what it's only 7am!) and head to the Radisson... lots of waiting around, meeting some people, signing in. Everyone's nervous/excited. I'm busy checking out who seems like they might ride with me... Meet Judy, and her sister Barb and Barb's hubby Bob, from Chicago. Introduced to Casey, our truck driver, controller of our gear bags for the week, and beer-meister for the campsites...

Load up the bus to Columbia, strike up a conversation with some folks from South Dakota and Southern Cal behind us (a brother-sister connection there). Nice people from Hayward, Wisconsin right in front of us. Pretty ride to Columbia, where we stake out our postage-stamp sized campsites on loose dirt ground, surrounding the Ryder truck, which will come to symbolize the 'town square' all week... put the bike back together out of the bike box, have the resident mechanic check it out (who will become our dear friend 'Wrench Boy' by the end of the week).

At this point, I'm very excited and nervous. I don't know what to expect, from the ride, from the camping stuff (all borrowed), which is already looking really DIRTY, if I'll even be able to sleep amongst all these very close tents... But everyone seems very nice and very friendly. Lisa and I mosey the mile or so into the town, poke in and out of the shops, climb on some really cool rock formations, then stop for a frosty-mug beer and snack in a saloon... Lots of the townies seem right out of the gold rush days, there is even a very touristy gold-panning place. In the saloon, we meet up with James from TX, Pasadena Sue, and Larry from So Cal. And these end up being people I pretty much hang with all week. Dinner that night is in a restaurant banquet hall, meet the riders who did the 130 miles up there (like this week won't be enough??), wander back to the campsite and pretty much crash by 9pm. Someone was nice enough to cover up my bike with a tarp since there is a light rain falling. Cool...

Day 1: Columbia to Jackson

OK, I'm wide awake by 5am, lots of LOUD ziiiiiip sounds on site! Plenty of time to get myself ready, agree to start the ride with James, Pasadena Sue, and Barb and Bob. Breakfast is in the same banquet hall, pancakes with pitchers of syrup, oatmeal, juice, coffee. And I STILL don't know what to expect from the ride. I've already almost left my gloves behind, but James prevented that catastrophe... We all start out pretty much together, slight climb then screaming downhill with a gorgeous view of the Stanislaus bridge/river at the bottom. Wait a minute, this downhill is a little TOO screaming... Hey, my back tire's rubbing! Stop, adjust, seems OK. What's the deal, didn't that mechanic check my bike?? (This turns out to be the only thing that even remotely resembles bike trouble ALL week!!) But now everyone's in front... But I soon catch several people, start a climb up, soon enough there's a coffee shop, and look, here is Lisa, Don, Sue, Alan, having food/drink, sitting down, relaxing... Now THIS I can get into! The rest of the day is great, lots of climbing, kinda hot, we stop for lunch in San Andreas and then tour the gold mining museum. It's pretty cool, and out back is an old jail (famous for having housed 'Black Bart' who used to hold up Wells Fargo stagecoaches!) The surrounding courtyard was actually used for hangings... We drop James with a flat on a busy road (hwy 12), then wait and wait and wait (turns out he had 3 flats!) It's getting hot so we take off, especially since we've been warned about an 8-mile climb at the end of the 70 miles... I ride most of the rest of the way with Ed from Illinois, hit the Pardee Dam Rec area (which is gorgeous!) People are all sprawled out, many are drinking root beer floats in prep for that big climb. And in rolls James... From the top of the ridge, we see thunderheads, another small jewel of a lake, just beautiful. We finish the ride in Jackson, and tonight we're staying on the grounds of a mission, with a gorgeous pool. People swim, regroup, get tents pitched, hey - they're selling beers in the kitchen! Hang out by the mechanic's stand and watch him fix bikes. He's having a beer, seems to have a good sense of humor. Uh-oh, two people have had heat-related problems, one of whom ends up making a trip to the hospital... but both recover fine and ride the next day. I'm very impressed that the strongest riders take the time to care for him, replace fluids, check out his bike. Gosh, this is a nice group! So what if people have started getting me confused with Pasadena Sue... I'm sure that will straighten out as the week goes on. (Ha! it never does! All week long I joke about ruining her reputation.) Dinner is Roast Beef, salad, veggies. After dinner we take a walk through Jackson, very cute town. Don knows of 3 big bells in town we can ring, but we show him and find 5!

Day 2: Jackson to Folsom

Three riding options today, but Don (who knows a LOT about these routes) recommends against the short one, because of nasty logging trucks. Fortunately, we don't have to decide too soon. Ride into town for breakfast at Denny's... The real hammerheads are not with us from the start, they are doing an extra-long option. For me, that bike seat started out a bit on the hard side! Lots of great rolling hills in the morning, legs a bit on the tired side, tho. Stopped for lunch, caught up with everyone at the deli. It seems like the group is splitting on the middle/long option, I plan to ride with SuzieQ, Brian and Judy, Neville (the 57 mile option). James decides to go on the longer (80 miles) with Don's group -- wow, he really is a strong rider! We start all together for the first few miles, do some pacelining and rollers as a group -- it's been a LONG time since I've done this! My legs are feeling MUCH better... ride the 20 miles or so to Fulsom, where we're camping in a high school football field. Lots more room to spread out. Showers are in a city hall building up the hill -- kind of inconvenient but not too bad. Fulsom prison is up on a hill overlooking us. We're in early, so hang out, eating CircleK snacks, get a 15-minute leg massage from the massage guy travelling with us ($10 -- not a bad deal!) Before dinner at the community center, head over the the bar across the street -- the bartender is a real icon. Could be anywhere from 35 to 55 years old, tells bad jokes. Lots of cyclists there, hang at the bar with Casey, Neville, Ruth until dinner. Catch up with Don's group - they had LOTS more climbing, and they even took a dip in a river they had to cross... This was the first of many "pop tent" setup infomercials that Lisa gave -- ask her for a demo! She even had guest performers... That night people hung around the football field bleachers, talking, some having beers (some, like Greg the tall guy, having more beers than they should, he told us he had a REALLY tough time riding the next day...)

Day 3: Folsom to Winters

Billed as a pretty easy day, about 30 of the 67 miles is along the American River bike path. We're right down by the river, it's very pretty. End up riding together as a big group, very fun, very friendly. Get to talk to Miguel, Phil, Don, Lisa, and Phil/Wrench Boy a lot on the ride... Stop in Old Sacramento for fruit/breakfast, I'm STARVING by now! Have a GREAT breakfast, all as a big group of 2 tables, then hit a terrific candy store (where I become 'Candy Chick' to Wrench Boy...) hit the shops and kick around the town awhile, then take off for a pretty hard hammer to Davis (more paceline, I'm falling off the back and Wrench Boy comes back and pulls me in again...) Davis is MORE eating, hanging out, talking, shopping (new cleats and covers). I manage to buy in 2 bike shops and finagle a 10% discount because our group just SO much fun for the town, taking over the sidewalk tables... I found this day to be a big 'bonding' day for the group! The rest of the ride is still flat... Don rides me in most of the way to Winters, as I wasn't as fast as the rest. He entertains me with lots of Davis Double Century stories, since we're in that area. Our campground is really nice, right along Lake Solano. I hung out for a beer by the Ryder truck and find out where the 'secret' showers were that weren't crowded and still have hot water. Cool! James has decided to change his Texas gearing for something more California-appropriate, so people sit around and watch wrench-boy work... Make a couple of walks down to see the lake/river after a GREAT dinner in the woods of beef ribs, salad, beans, and cake (it's SuzieQ's birthday and everyone sings...) I decide to try and ride with Don's group the next day, long option, but don't really have to decide this until mile 24 or so, after the first big climb out... Excellent day.

Day 4: Winters to Calistoga

Have to get up and be pretty organized, as some stuff stays on the truck and some will get dropped of at our hotels in Calistoga... breakfast is in the same beautiful woods, lots of great fruit, waffles, etc. I start off a little earlier than the stronger riders, as this is a BIG climb up to Monticello Dam, then up 'Cardiac Hill' above Lake Berryessa. Stop in the middle for a rest and photo op. I see lots of my buddies go by, then start off again. Nice chat with Miguel on the way up, he rides me up to where everyone is waiting. Now a GREAT downhill, marred only by my camera flying out of my handlebar bag! Oops, turn around, climb back up and snag it in between the rapidly descending cyclists... check it out at our Store Stop, put in batteries, and it seems to click OK! Ride a few miles to a water stop, and there it won't work. (Hopefully the photos in there will turn out!) I decide to go for the longer option (63 miles) because otherwise I would miss Hubcap City and Ted's water stop... It's amazing how Don's logic makes such sense when the endorphins are flowing! Hubcap City turns out to be a ranch where the owner collected hubcaps and hung them on his fence for 30 years. There's a California historical marker which declares it 'an outstanding example of American Folk Art' How can I argue with that? Ted fills us up at his water stop, and we start the climb up Ink Grade. I figured I'd be dropped on the big climb, but I didn't figure on all the singing... Somehow, Lisa, me and the two Phils sang our way up this grade, at the top of our lungs, anything to which we remembered the words. It's hard to explain it, but this was really the turning point of our rides... We grabbed lunch at a store in Angwin and giggled our way through eating it in a shady spot across the street. Then it was off to hammer our way into Calistoga down Silverado trail, after a gorgeous descent with the whole valley open in front of us. Don kept the paceline down to exactly what was MY top all-out speed... ("Is Peggy On ?") Fun, fun fun, probably my all-time best bike day ever! Calistoga brought the to Comfort Inn, a tough split-up (guess we missed the town square of the Ryder Truck??), but we all met again at the Laundromat for a delicious picnic and cherry pit-spit while we re-generated our wardrobes...

Then we were off to the hotel pool where we entertained the rest of the guests with our water-ballet moves (Don, Miguel, and WrenchBoy framed by me and Lisa -- we were a sight to behold... Must have REALLY been some endorphins flowing that day!!) Calistoga brought the opportunity to stay 'cushy', my friend George joined me up there and took me out for a very nice dinner, including a ride in a CAR (a tough adjustment, I kept muttering things like 'slowing!' and 'car right!'), we then wandered into a bar with open mike night for the local musical talent. After a bit, who should show up but Casey and WrenchBoy! I'm not actually sure if it was a good thing or not to have actual people attached to the stories I'd been telling George... But it was certainly more colorful this way, and I felt so happy to seem them... Now, is Phil(Wrench Boy) REALLY going to do Don's 100-mile option the next day?? Not me...

Day 5: Calistoga to Duncan Mills

This day started off QUITE different than the others... No tent to take down, no ziiiiip! chorus sounds in the morning. We met up in the lobby of the hotel, quick intro of George to SuzieQ/Alan/Brian/Judy/Lisa... then Ooops, didn't figure on how we would coordinate going to breakfast, ended up saying a quick goodbye to George so I could catch the cyclists as they took off... had these HUGE pancakes at the Train Depot restaurant, then started on our way. I got dropped at the first big climb, and had a very mellow, very happy ride, saying hello to those I passed, and then (surpise!) catching up with James, Pasadena Sue and Doug... James had decided not to hammerhead that day after all! I realized we were covering much of the same terrain as we had on a wine country ride the previous fall (now, where was that place with the pipe organ??) We stopped and had our picnic lunch on the grounds of Madrona Manor, where we had dined last September. A very scenic 60-mile ride through wine country, on through the Russian River area (several miles on busy hwy 116, where James had another series of flats), with a very cool side trip to the Armstrong Redwood Grove. What a great place. A lot like Big Basin, and very fun to see all of the out-of-state-ers reactions to the BIG trees. On to camp, at Casini Ranch on the Russian River. This night there was a wine and cheese party, lots of nice wines to taste, then a very crowded/cozy bus ride, where I found out, among other things, that WrenchBoy actually shaves his legs... we headed to a local golf course (um... what's golf again??) for a fine dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes (or veggie noodles), more singing with the whole group... back to the campsite for a fairly mellow evening. Miguel started a late bonfire, I had a long talk with Casey, who had hurt his knee badly in Calistoga the night before.

Day 6: Duncan Mills to Olema

Our last shot at a long ride! Woke up to a very damp morning, the mist coming off of the river made me look twice for the Loch Ness Monster... Part of the group took off for a long coastal ride and climb into Occidental for Breakfast, the rest of us took the cool, wooded river route, a quck peek at the town of Duncans Mills, then a very nice ride to Occidental. The breakfast place, Howard's Station, was terrific (do you get the impression there is no lack of food on this trip??). I decided to stick with Don's group from then on (70 miles), headed out after breakfast for some fast rollers, then after the water stop did a gorgeous climb up to where we could finally see the Ocean! A beautiful chorus of 'Please Mister Please (don't play B-17)'... followed by a screaming downhill, for me puncuated by the sounds of 'Super Freak (she's super freaky)' into Tomales and found lots of the other cyclists. We went into a deli where I managed to walk out without paying for the gatorade I had helped myself to... if it weren't for Lisa, I'd probably have been arrested (I was getting blonder as the week went on). Are these people really eating AGAIN? I decided to wait until we hit the Petaluma French Cheese factory in a few more miles ;-). There were 3 big climbs today, and Don actually pulled Toni up them with a bungee cord between them... truly an amazing sight. Some of us could NOT get over this one, Don is such a strong rider and such an amazingly nice guy and good tour leader. Wow. After the cheese factory, and the Swing cafe (with real swings outside), we hit a beautiful bike trail, wooded, cool, then a small climb into Olema and our (last, boo, hoo) campground... We walked into town for a very, very nice dinner at a real restaurant with tablecloths and everything (how do they manage all this??) Then back to the campground for a big bonfire, lots of hugs and stories (and just a little more singing...)

Day 7: Olema to San Francisco

The last morning... another very damp one. Had to admit, I was glad it was the last night of camping. A week is exactly the right amount of time. I decided to take Don's option to go to Stinson Beach for breakfast, over some more rolling hills... ouch, my knees were sorta hurting! Part of the group was going up to the top of Mt. Tamalpais, but I decided just the 1400 ft climb out of Stinson and the 36 miles was going to be as much as I could do. And lo and behold, we were in the middle of the Double Dipsea run (um... what's running again??). Didn't see anyone I knew, tho. At Mt Tam park, we said a slow goodbye to the people who were going to the top, then Phil, Phil, Ron and I, (with Jennie ahead) took off towards Sausalito. And then we caught up with James! It was a very clear day, a great view of SF and the Bay Bridge from downtown Sausalito, and the view of the Golden Gate was spectacular against the clear blue sky. Oh, major emotions... we stopped in the middle of the bridge and just enjoyed life for awhile. It just doesn't GET any better than this! Then into the city, a final picnic in the Presidio, and back on the bus to San Jose...