Sierra to the Sea Tour June 13-20, 1998
Report by Don Axtell

Tour Stats :

Day  Distance  Climb  Speed Hilly Pace Ride  Total  Ride
                            Ratio      Time  Time   Factor
      miles    feet    mph ft/mile     hours hours    %

 0    153.8    5220   17.5   34    B-   8.8  10.8    81
 1     71.7    6540   12.0   92    M+   6.0  10.5    57 
 2     70.3    4500   14.0   64    MB-  5.0   9.2    54
 3     67.8     400   15.0    6    M    4.5   9.0    50
 4     64.3    3860   13.0   60    M    5.0   9.0    55
 5     78.9    4000   13.0   51    M-   6.0  10.0    60
 6     72.3    3800   13.0   53    M-   5.5   9.5    58
 7     35.0    2600   11.5   74    M-   3.0   4.7    64
 7+    67.4    2600   14.0   39    M    4.8   6.2    78

Total 681.4   33520   14.0   49    M+  48.6  78.9    62 

---

Day 0 - San Jose to Columbia

---

Time for the tour had finally come. The waiting was finally over. I had packed my bag almost a week before, and had turned it in yesterday evening. I had 17 riders signed up to go on my 1-day ride up to Columbia, 6 on the tour and 9 more just going along for the ride. The rain seemed to be over and the forecast was for sunny skies and warmer weather.

I had kept a file with all of the logistics needed for this ride. I'm sure that I ended up spending more time working on the logistics than I did on doing the ride itself. I had the route, freshly revised, and had scheduled reststops along the way. People were amazed that we managed to stay on schedule (+/- 10 minutes) all day long, but this was due mostly to the fact that this was my fourth time doing this ride.

The route was the same as each of the last 4 years. It tried to keep to back roads, and not do any unnecessary climbing. The route cuts through the east hills on Niles Canyon Rd and Corral Hollow Rd. Then it travels across the wide central valley just north of the Stanislaus River. At Knights Ferry the route joins the busy traffic on Hwy 108 and Hwy 49, but most of this section has a wide shoulder, so it's never too bad.

My goal was to keep everybody riding along happily together, and it worked out pretty good. The reststops/regroups brought everyone back together, and I made it a point of sheparding in the last riders, like a good ride leader should. This plan worked all of the way to Knights Ferry, just 28 miles from Columbia, where we were all together and right on schedule.

At Knights Ferry the uphills started, and some riders were more tired than others. The group got totally spread out and everyone was left to ride on their own, at their own pace. I'm sorry to say that I was also a part of this, as my goal switched to getting myself to Columbia on schedule, even if it meant dropping ridiers off the back, which I did. I was happy to see that the stragglers all arrived in Columbia on their own power, and were much recovered now that the riding was over.

---

Day 1 - Columbia to Jackson

---

The "Donny" option for today was to do take Sheep Ranch Road, leaving the route in Murphy's at mile 14 and rejoining the route in San Andreas at mile 38. This option is only one mile longer but does include 1100 ft more climbing (2700 ft vs. 1600 ft).

I was able to talk 8 other people into doing the tour of Mercer Caverns. It turns out that I was the only one to have taken this tour before (4 times). They gave us our own tour guide, who also taught 2nd grade at the school, so the tour was geared to our level. Everyone had a great time, and the guide was able to provide us with answers to our numerous questions. I had brought along 5 extra pairs of slippers, which came in quite handy for people to walk around in something besides their cycling shoes. I also had a coupon good for 25% off, so the tour cost was still just $5.00 per person. Everyone thought that the tour of Mercer Caverns was the highlight of the day, if not of the whole tour.

After the cavern tour, our group of nine continued along Sheep Ranch Road. Toni was our slow rider, so picking up where I left off last year, I towed her up the first hill with my bungee cord. Luckily for me, Miguel was also along, and I was able to get Miguel to be an apprentice tower, so he hooked Toni up for the next two climbs.

The stream before the final climb into Sheep Ranch is very tempting, and I was glad that everyone was willing to stop in for a cool refreshing dip in the water. Last year we had all jumped into the water in Coloma, and it was good to see this be repeated. I would make it my goal to jump into some stream on every day, if that was possible. Social stream jumping seems to make the tour really a tour, and not just trying to get from one place to the other. You are happy to remain right where you are and be with who you are with.

We again had lunch in Mountain Ranch, but there were two homeless people sitting in the spot where we ate last year. But instead of finding some other place, we just went over and sat next to them. This was fine for us, but I guess that it disturbed the homeless people, as they got up and went away.

After everyone had been eating for a while, someone finally took a headcount and we found that Toni was missing. Miguel was just about to go off looking for her when she appeared around the corner. Seems that she had gotten a few miles out of town then figured that the lunch place must be behind her so she turned back (luckily for her and for us). I had been at the back with Pam, who had slipped off the pavement and got stuck in the ditch, so we sent Toni on up ahead while Pam got going again. I knew the lunch place, so I wasn't going to get lost. LeRoy was on the front so he wasn't going to get lost, and anyone that could see LeRoy or those that followed him were not going to get lost. But poor Toni was stuck in the middle, out of sight of any of the others, and so she just flew past the turn into the market.

This problem was to surface again later that day. On the road towards Pardee Dam, the leaders were off the front and failed to do regroups at each of the turns. I was hanging back with Toni as we were behind the scheduled route closing times, so there was no longer anyone there to look out for stray riders, so we had to look out for our own. When Toni and I finally pulled into Pardee Recreation Area we met Ted, the SAG driver as well as most of our little group. But we were missing Pam, Mylo and Ben. I was hoping that they just decided to take the shortcut on into Jackson, and that we we would find them there.

Toni caught a ride in with Ted, while I rode back with Lisa and Peggy. LeRoy and Miguel went quickly off the front again, which I think was the main cause of riders getting lost in the first place. Luckily, we found our missing riders all in good shape in Jackson. They did not plan to take the shortcut, but once they were off course, they thought it best to just continue on in. Pam even found a fountain in someone's front yard that she jumped into.

After dinner we had a group of about 15 people join us on our walk around town. Instead of announcing what the walk was for we just went along, but this time going in the reverse direction of what we went last year. We went first to one big bell, then to another, then another. Finally we had found and rung all 5 bells in Jackson. We then went over and checked out the plywood locomotive before heading back past the shops of Main St., thus completing the "Five bell tour" of Jackson.

---

Day 2 - Jackson to Folsom

---

Our traveling bike mechanic, Phil Weiss, also known as "Wrench Boy", was again with us this tour. Last year Phil joined our little group later in the tour, but this year he was in from the start, except that he had to miss the Donny option on Day 1 because of his bike mecanic duties. Having Lisa and Peggy as returning riders must have helped influence his decision on who to ride with, as well as me, LeRoy and Miguel. Phil was now firmly a part of our group.

The Donny option for this day was to ride to the town of Volcano and beyond. This would be new roads for me today. Since Phil lived in Sutter Creek, I asked him about the roads and he thought that the Volcano option would be great and he knew just the route to take, which was different than mine, but better.

We planned to stop in Sutter Creek for breakfast, and then also at Phil's own house to take a look. On the way to Sutter Creek we passed by an unofficial POI (point of interest), which Phil insisted that we check out. It was the Kennedy Wheels and it was quite interesting, as it had some of the original great wheels, used to move the sludge from mining up over the hill to keep it from going into the creek. This was an early-day environmental project.

After breakfast, the tour of Phil's house (another POI), and then stopping in at another house to meet his children (another POI), we were finally off. Backtracking a bit to the south end of Sutter Creek, we turned east on Church St to start the 12 mile ride out to Volcano. This road has almost zero traffic and was very smooth. Our group of 12 quickly got used to spreading out across the right half of the road, and we formed our own little peleton. According to Phil, the Sutter Creek-Volcano Rd was the site of a regular weekly bicycle race. The road had a few sprint lines painted on it along the way as well as some bike racing saying painted on the road. Funny thing is that the yellow line down the middle was stopped when it came up to a word, so as not to disturb the paintings.

A few miles along, we passed what Phil called "Hubcap Ranch #2". The barn was just covered in hubcaps. This was very worthy of also being a POI. Then a few miles later, we came to another POI, a place to stop and jump in the river. This time it was only me and Pam that actually got into the water, but the others did stop in to take a break and enjoy the area.

The town of Volcano had a general store, so we all stopped in for a bite and a rest before starting up the hill. The town of Volcano turned out to be a very interesting place. Besides the General Store, which had grass with shade, water, and restrooms, there was a tree which was loaded with about 20 pairs of shoes, all neatly arranged (another POI).

After Volcano, the road changed names to Rams Horn Grade, and the climb picked up a bit. Still it wasn't much more than a Mt.Hamilton type grade, probably 6%. Along this stretch, we came across an old mine shaft (another POI), then Daffodill Hill (another POI) at the top. We were now going along the ridge on Shaker Ridge Rd, heading north. Just before our next turn was the Iris Garden (another POI). The next road turned back west towards Fiddletown and Plymouth.

In Fiddletown we stopped for lunch. The only place is at the General Store. The guy that runs the store knew Phil, as he was a mountain bike rider, and knew all of the roads. He said that there were many options for getting from Fiddletown to Folsom, so I'll have to look into those in the future. There were 2 old guys sitting out front on a bench, just like you see in the movies. Inside, while we were waiting for our sandwiches LeRoy and Peggy had a game or two of Checkers, while the rest of us checked out the great supply of antiques which are not for sale, but are just for show.

After Fiddletown, we continued on, passing through the town of Plymouth, at the Hwy 49 junction. Plymouth is a much larger town with several places to eat, but we had just eatten so we kept it moving. A few miles later we finally got back on the official route, just before the location of the first water stop. Last evening, I told Ted that we should be there before he closed at 12:00, but Ted was long gone when we finally arrived at 2:15.

The roads so far on this new option were all great, with not too much traffic, nice surfaces, and great scenery. We all thought that this option needed to be added to the list.

But we were now back on the official route, on Latrobe Road. No shoulder with large trucks. This was a tough adjustment for us to make, as we really enjoyed being able to have the whole road to ourselves.

Pam dropped off the back and I dropped back to ride along with her. We found a nice river crossing but chose to keep riding, as we already had our dip for the day. We later found out that another group had gone skinny-dipping earlier in the day in that river. We climbed up away from the river and finally got to the junction where we had to decide on which option to take into Folsom. We were thinking of the shorter option. Luckily we found all of the others waiting there, all huddled together in a small spot of shade. It seems that they had already taken a vote and so we were all agreed on taking the shorter option.

Right away, I asked them why they weren't over in the shade of this front porch, which was maybe 10 yards further up the road, but was, I guess, not yet noticed by the others. This porch is where Karen Langeman and I hung out for a while on my first tour, so I knew it well. We all moved over to hang out on this porch of this abandoned building. We saw a faucet next door, but there are two dogs in the yard. The dogs come over to say Hi, and we see that they won't be any bother, so we go in and help ourselves to the faucet. It is hot enough so both Pam and me pour water bottles over our heads. The rest just fill theirs up. Then its off to Folsom.

Again, Pam and I fell off the back. A new recruit, Jeff, was not too far in front of us. Nearing Hwy 50, we came up to our turn and turned left. Jeff, who had gone straight, happened to see us, so turned back. We waited for him. Together the 3 of us cruised into Folsom. It got hotter in Folsom, so at a few of the red lights, we passed the time by pouring more water over ourselves. We finally pulled into the campsite, but found that the others were not there yet. They ended up going straight, and so ended up with a few extra miles. That's what happens when you don't look at your route sheet. Pam, Lisa, Phil, and I then decided to walk down to the American River for a dip, while the others passed on it. As expected, the water was great.

---

Day 3 - Folsom to Winters

---

There were no "Donny" options for this day. Because of the lack of available good roads across the valley, we chose to just stick with the short route. This proved to be a good choice today.

Traditionally, this day has always been my worst on this tour. It is the day when all of the miles plus the lack of sleep all seem to catch up with me. Or maybe it is because there are no hills to help give me a workout. But this year, today was different. I felt fine all day. I think that it might have been the wind.

Crosswinds, strongest ever felt. Steady 30-35 mph with gusts to 65 mph.

The morning ride along the American River bike trail went very well. I felt good, and the others all seemed to want me to lead, so I led. We cruised along at about 20 mph for the entire length, with only a few potty stops. After a few miles our group of 12 started passing up the some of the other groups. It was, "Move over. Here comes the Donny Train." It was fun. We might have had a bit of headwind, but it didn't bother me any.

After the usual hanging out in Old Sacramento, we were again on the road. Now the wind had really picked up, making it hard to control the bikes. If you weren't really concentrating, a crosswind gust could push you sideways or knock you over. We were in a tight pack, each one trying to tuck in out of the wind. I am happy to report that we didn't have any accidents as this tight riding in these conditions seemed to be an accident waiting to happen. Again, I was feeling fine, and so just led out the group. I didn't mind the headwind but the crosswind was starting to get old, as it took too much concentration to control the bike.

Going from Davis to the campsite at Lake Solano, the winds continued as strong as ever. There were now many tree branches on the roadway, making it impossible not to ride over the litter. Luckily, nobody fell down, although we did have many close calls. Finally we made it into camp which didn't have much wind at all, as it was close behind some hills. Today was supposed to be a nice easy day with no hills, but because of the wind, it might have been our hardest day of the tour.

Pam and I were able to take our daily dip in the creek at the campground. The water was still cold, but not quite as cold as the mountain streams. None of the others wanted to go in the water this time.

---

Day 4 - Winters to Calistoga

---

No "Donny" option today, except to concentrate on enjoying the reststops and POI's.

I knew that there was a camel (one hump) in the ranch just at the corner after crossing the bridge in the morning. So this was to be our first POI. There was no gate, so I just rode my bike up the dirt road, followed by about 12 others. We continued on into the ranch for a few hundred yards, finally getting to the pen that held the camel. He was pretty ugly when you got up close. While we are up looking at the camel, we notice a guy come out from a side road. Peggy was still down there, so he was talking to Peggy. We figured that we might be in trouble for trespassing on his property, so that now we were going to get in trouble. Then we see the guy go back towards the barn, followed by Peggy. Some figured that it might be a citizen's arrest, but I thought that it might be that he wanted to show Peggy something, like milking a cow. We all went down to see what Peggy was going to see. We all go into the barn to find the guy showing Peggy his pet zony. He explains that this animal is a cross between a zebra and a pony. And sure enough, we can see zebra stripes. Then he also told us that the colt that was outside in another pen had just been born the night before. So we ended up getting three POI's for this one stop. The rancher was very happy to be showing us his prize animals.

On the road again, we only got 2 miles down the road before we stopped for another POI. Sometimes for the Davis Double, someone puts a bicycle picture on the side of this hill that was just in front of us now. It was there again this year, although slightly overgrown. But you could still pick out 2 wheels and a bike frame.

I mostly rode with Pam today, as she was off the back from the rest of our group. The others, though, would always be found waiting at the next junction or reststop. This would be the pattern for the rest of the tour. Our group would hang together by the lead riders waiting for me and Pam to bring up the rear. That way nobody got lost for the remainder of the tour. This system works as long as nobody is in too much of a hurry, which we weren't. We were on a tour, so we made it a point of enjoying ourselves all along the way, with plenty of stops to check out whatever might be interesting. Sometimes Pam and I would get off the front and then have the group come along and pass us by. This would be the perspective seen by the other riders on the tour. You would hear all of the singing and music coming down the road. This group always seemed to be one big rolling party. They were always having just too much fun.

Last year we really started the fun part on the ride up Ink Grade. That was when the singing tradition started. Since that time, singing was to be heard on every long uphill. This year kazoos were added and could be the start of a tradition as well. LeRoy couldn't sing, and so brought along his kazoo. When Phil heard of this, he began checking every store that we came upon, finally hitting the jackpot in Davis. Our group then had about 6 kazoos among them, and the band would start up at any little thing. I don't sing, and I gave my kazoo away, but still they all considered me to be their leader. It was my job to keep them rolling along on the best, most scenic routes, and to point out all of the POI's along the way.

This year on Ink Grade, the rolling band continued ahead, while Pam and I, together with Toni and Miguel, found a small stream that needed jumping into. I had fun trying to dam it up and enlarge this pool so that I would have enough water to sit in. In Angwin, the others were still having their lunch and then they hung out until we had finished ours.

I led the way out of town, as there would be a tricky turn coming up that people needed to make. I took the group on this short bike trail that went around instead of over the hill. This would be good to add to the route. Then it was off down the old Howell Mountain Rd, the one with the very scenic vistas. Once down on the Silverado Trail, the group started a paceline into Calistoga, but Pam doesn't like pacelines so I dropped off the back with her. Together we just cruised on into town. Again the others were waiting for us, so I led them on into camp at the fairgrounds.

---

Day 5 - Calistoga to Duncan Mills

---

The last few years this was the day when we did a much longer option. The "Donny" option for today would be the same that we did last year, going up Geyser Rd, then into Cloverdale for lunch. But I wasn't too sure that we would have time to do this option plus take our usual long reststops along the way. There just weren't enough hours in the day.

At the JimTown store at mile 20 we stopped in for a break, and bought some wax lips (see picture). We discussed route possibilities, and I finally decided that we would just add a small loop with a token half mile climb up Geyser Rd, just enough to get a taste of the hill and the view. Then, instead of continuing up to the top, we would turn back and complete the small loop, getting back on route just past JimTown store. This turned out to be a very pleasant option, adding 8 miles and putting the lunch stop closer to a normal lunch time. We bought sandwiches at a store, then took them a half mile down the road and ate in the garden area of a winery. Then we all layed down on the grass to get a well-deserved nap.

Soon after our lunch stop, we came across a road the went steeply up the hill. I started up the hill only to be quickly passed up by LeRoy, Miguel, and Phil. That was my plan. I then turned the rest of the group back downhill and we continued along our way. I figured that it would take the hill-climbers a few minutes to catch back up again. A while went by and we sort of forgot about our lost riders. When we slowed to let a wine truck pass us by, we were all quite surprised to see our riders almost glued to the back end, they were pacelining so tightly behind the truck. We couldn't help but laugh as the truck and they disappeared off the front.

Near Guerneville we took the Armstrong Redwoods option. At the back of the park, some decided to wait, while the others tried the climb up to Bullfrog Pond Campground. It was a very challenging climb, with grades up to 20%. A granny gear was required. Pam had been off the back all day, but she did ok on this climb. Pam couldn't hardly believe that she had once climbed this road with a double, about 10 years ago when she was still in her youth. Boy was it steep!

We missed out on our creek jumping for today. I would have liked a jump into the Russian River at the Casini Ranch campground, but we didn't have too much time left before dinner. I had thought of jumping into the Bullfrog Pond but Pam told me that I shouldn't.

---

Day 6 - Duncan Mills to Olema

---

The official route sheet for today is very confusing, so I had made up my own route sheets, even though all of this day's route was part of the offical routes. We started with a ride out to Hwy 1, then south along the coast. This gave us our first POI of the day, the Pacific Ocean. Then it was up the hill on Coleman Valley Rd. This climb was totally fogged in today, so we missed the great views down to the ocean. On the rollers along the top, it was hard to be in the right gear as we couldn't see far enough ahead to know when to shift.

We arrived in Occidental just at the right time, as I had planned. The first wave of bike riders had just finished with their breakfast, so when we got there we were able to get seating for a party of 12 without any waiting. The food was good and the service was fast at Howard's Station Cafe.

Our next POI was in Freestone. There is a large ant sculpture that hangs on the wall of the house on the corner.

In Valley Ford, Pam and I made the turn towards Dillon Beach, as the others didn't wait this time. A few miles later we arrived at the reststop, only to find that the others weren't there. They missed their last turn and finally came in a few minutes later. The official route turns inland here, but I prefer the old route. There is more climbing, but the resulting views are well worth the extra effort. There is a POI at the turnoff to Dillon Beach that looks alot like an Easter Island statue, with the big nose, eyes, and ears all found naturally on this one rock formation.

Then it was on to Tomales, where we stopped to pick up some food, then on to the Cheese factory, where we hung out on the grass to eat our food. We checked the time and figured that we didn't have enough to do the longer route through Nacasio, so we decided to take the short way back.

On the way into Olema, Pam and I were again off the back. We managed to find a creek to jump into before going on into camp, so this day was now complete.

---

Day 7 - Olema to San Francisco

---

The "Donny" option for today was to go to Stinson Beach, then up the Panoramic Hwy, with an option of going to the top of Mt.Tamalpais. Last year I counted 29 people that took this unofficial option. This option is so much more scenic than the official route, that is is hard to believe that it is still not an official option. This year we had about 30 riders go this way, including 15 in our group.

Again, with proper timing, we got to Stinson Beach just in time to be seated in the garden section of the Parkside Cafe. The food was great. I finished mine, then helped Pam with the rest of hers.

Then it was on up the hill. There was no Dip Sea Race joining us this year. That was quite the diversion last year. At the park headquarters, it was decided that the top of Mt.Tam was all fogged in and cold and windy. Therefore, we decided to just head on down the other side.

Pam and I decided to go check out the San Francisco Bay Model in Sausalito, since we now had the extra time. It was Pam's first time to see the model, and it had changed alot since that last time that I saw it. Well worth the time. And you can't beat the price, because it is free (another POI).

Then it was off across the Golden Gate Bridge (another POI) to the finish on the other side. It wasn't too windy on the bridge, so the crossing was ok. If the wind was like when we were in Davis, then we would have been walking across the bridge.

---

Day 7+ - San Francisco to San Jose

---

This tour is always hard to be over, as I hate having to say good-byes. Therefore we extended it by including the ride back to San Jose. I had 11 people in our little band. I changed the route slightly this year to go down by the ocean along the Great Hwy (another POI). It was pretty much of a headwind, so we made slow progress.

On the uphills, I found that if I gave Pam a gentle push, then we were able to keep close to the rest of the group. Then on the downhills and flats, Pam was able to keep up ok. This kept the group together for the whole ride. Near Woodside, Phil had a flat, and as we were stopped to fix it, Brian and Judy showed up on their tandem. It seems that they were chasing us the whole time. We had an earlier start than planned, so Brian and Judy had been left behind without our knowing.

Once we got to Homestead, the group started to split up and go their separate ways. Then every few miles some more would split off. I was finally left by myself for the last few miles.

All this day, and most of this last week, I have felt that I was cycling in a different way. It was a totally euphoric experience. I felt that I was riding strong and that I could just ride on forever if I wanted. I wasn't getting tired. Hills or headwinds didn't bother me. Even food didn't seem to be a factor, as I didn't really eat too much that last day, but still I felt strong all day long.

All of my STTS tours have been good experiences, but this one seems to have been my best yet. Good routes, good campsites, good food, and most importantly good people - these are what makes a tour worthwhile. And our small group of riders got along great together, with people looking out for each other. And I don't think that anyone on the tour could have had a better time, except possibly Bubba.