Newbie Antonio Velasco & II was a "Renegade Rider"- a rider riding unofficially, while Antonio would be riding "officially". Once I was in Fairfax, I ran into a whole bunch of CAT 2 riders, including Dorothy who was now back from her Vancouver vacation and well rested. I said to her, "okay! enough vacation, get on your bike and ride!" She called me a slave driver, imagine!
Antonio was already at the Coffee Roastery, and soon we proceeded over White's Hill and Nicasio Valley Road. Then after a brief stop at Rancho Nicasio, we were off to the Cheese Factory. Riding with Antonio was fun! We got to talk alot, and he learned how to "manage his energy" by not riding so fast in the first half of the ride. The key to endurance rides (like this one!) is to not try to ride so fast, but to save some of your energy for the rest of the ride. This also means, however that you cannot hang out at the rest stops for too long. Get in, go to the bathroom, eat if you need to then get on your bike and go. This is pretty much what we did all day.
Soon we were out of the Cheese Factory and onto Wilson Hill Road, climbing none other than- Wilson Hill! I had forgotten how beautiful this part of the County is. Everything is so lush and green and we saw lots of cows and sheep. Soon we were down Wilson Hill through Chilleno Valley, and on our way into Petaluma.
One of the nice things about riding with someone you started the training season with, is that they do exactly what you expect them to do- because you've trained them! Antonio has been riding since the beginning of the season (October I think), in fact his first training ride was one of my Friday rides. So it was nice to ride with someone who remembered to call out car back, car up, pothole, car right.... all of that. He is one considerate rider and I was lucky to be riding with him.
Once in Petaluma, we stopped for lunch at the Apple Box Cafe. I think we were in the "front pack" because there were only about 5 or 6 riders there once we got there, I must mention that I am RARELY at the front of the pack, so this was a whole lot of fun! We ordered lunch and sat and talked with Charlie and Victor (at least I think that's what his name was). Charlie had a sore knee and asked if I knew if there was a drugstore nearby for some ibuprofen. I offered him the motrin that I keep stored in my seat bag. Soon we were all back on the road.
'D' Street in Petaluma is one long road that becomes Red Hill Road and then Pt. Reyes Petaluma Road. It was a long climb back to the Cheese Factory, but not too too bad because I had Antonio to moo at cows with, and breathe heavy with! LOL! About 3/4 of the way up Antonio had to pee something fierce, so he hopped off his bike and stood in the bushes... I am used to this (heck I usually only ride with men), so I held his bike and looked out for oncoming cars. He was lucky that none came by. Somehow, I don't think I would have gotten away with doing the same thing on the side of the road...
We finally made our way back to the Cheese Factory, congratulating ourselves and I fueled up for the rest of the ride back only about 15 miles for me but another 30 or so for Antonio. On the way back up White's Hill we ran into Charlie, whose knee seemed to be feeling better and I led the way back down White's Hill (warning Charlie about the descent) and into Fairfax. At the Coffee Roasters we regrouped and I led Antonio and Charlie through to San Anselmo, where I bid my fairwell and wished them a safe trip back to the Sports Basement.
All in all a good weekend, although not a whole lot of time in the saddle for me. OH well.
Next Saturday I'm running 17 miles so I won't be at Day On The Ride, but look for me cheering on the road!
