The Recap.... Day Six

BORING! Heck I don't even have pictures for that day.

I got the chance to ride with the Safety Team in the tan jeep with the "Safety Team" sign on it. Kathy Ketchum was driver and Jason Burdge was co-sheriff. By Day 6 everyone knew the drill. Everyone knew the expectation, and/or consequences of riding unsafely on the highway so really there were no real safety issues (ok a handful of stupid, arrogant riders but there are always a handful).

The only major backup was the exit into RS2 in the morning. Apparently Cal Trans was late in closing the lane for us to pass and our riders were held up for an extra 45 minutes. Eventually everyone got through and on down the road, but not before a rider decided to complain loudly (think temper tantrum).

So like what? We purposely did that to annoy just you. And we really enjoy that, really because you know its all about you... (virtual slap!)

I couldn't wait to get back on my bike the following day for the ride into the V.A. Center in Brentwood.... all that riding in the car stuff was just not very exciting.

The Recap.... Day Five

Several of us bought the same dress so that we'd all be Flappers on Red Dress Day. The trouble was that we just couldn't all get together at the same time, so here are pictures of all the flappers on Red Dress Day:

David

John

Donald

Mark, Julie, Michael

Annette & Antonio
Cami
Barbara

I skipped the lunch stop and rode on into camp, getting there oh 'round 1pm. It was nice to shower without waiting in a line!

That evening TRLs took a group picture, but also the few of us who were "Wonder Riders" and "Super Riders" decided we needed to get a few shots as well!

Bill & Renny

Rich & Edna

Bill & Tabitha

Me, Chris E., Bill, Antonio & Annette.

The Recap... Day Four

Day Four- Once again we were up by 4:45 and headed over to breakfast where a line was already forming. Today was "Evil Twins" day, two big climbs with the "Halfway to LA" point and a nice long descent to the coast.

Several of us wore HRC's official cycling jerseys- get it? matching? twins? yah, not everyone got it either.

What do I remember about the first few miles? there were lots of people! In fact, the lines in RS 1 for the porta potties were so long and I remember getting into the slowest moving line, bad decision on my part but I should have paid more attention. I talk too much and pay attention too little....

Soon we were riding up and down and up and down and up again and then hey! The Halfway to L.A. point!

I didn't pull off (my photos from all the past rides were starting to look the same) so instead I decided to continue on that lovely 10 mile downhill to the coast. I hit RS2 briefly where the theme was "cavemen".


So many "traditions" today-- coffee and lunch in Cayucos, cinnamon rolls and the like. I enjoyed that long downhill even though there was a bit of a headwind, then a cross wind. Hwy 46 (I think thats what it was) has a nice smooth wide shoulder and at that time of the morning there was not a whole lot of traffic.

Soon I was on Hwy 1 headed for lunch in Cayucos, where I met up with Yoichi, Gary and Michael. This is what it looked like:

you do know we ride to eat, don't you?

Soon we were back on the road and on past the lunch stop (having already eaten burgers in Cayucos), and on to the world famous Pismo beach cinnamon roll stop.

We rode with Talia to the cinnamon roll place, she says the only thing she really remembers about her first ride (ALC 5?) was that I made her stop at the Cinnamon Roll place and eat. She forever remembers me by that, so we had to take a commemorative photo:
Last year my friend Annette didn't stop for cinnamon rolls, although I beckoned her from my seat outside to stop! stop! stop!

This year she took my advice and stopped. This is Annette in anticipation of her cinnamon roll:
And this is what the cinnamon roll looked like, halfway through eating it...

And this is Talia looking happy with her cinnamon roll:

After sugaring and caffeining up, we headed on toward the few climbs that would put us on the way to windy Guadalupe, and across the Northern California/Southern California state line. :-)
The crosswinds into Guadalupe were there as they usually are- crazy strong. I made an effort to warn people about them before we got there.... its a good thing too because the winds were every bit as strong as they have been the past 5 years! We rolled into RS 4 which was themed as "Top Gun".

Soon we made our way thru Guadalupe and then east, which gave us a fierce tailwind into camp. This was Santa Maria and Michael and I were princessing tonight! It was on to the Holiday Inn Santa Maria for us!

Recap... Day 3

Day 3- Donald, John and I met at 5:30 for a quick walk over to Denny's for breakfast. We planned ahead, ordered breakfast and asked the waitress to go ahead and bring us our check as soon as food was delivered. Oh well, the best laid plans don't always go so well.... still we got back to camp with plenty of time to spare, repack the big bag and head out on the road pretty early.

This year we were re-routed on our way to Quadbuster. Because of continued construction on the route previously taken out of town, we were able to take the bike path directly out of camp (I'd known this was here for years, since doing the Big Sur Ride previously- but didn't want to go off route before and possibly get in trouble!) and onto Jolon Road, which eventually becomes Quadbuster.

Rest Stop 1 is right before the climb, allowing people to psych themselves up before attacking the hill. It really isn't necessary though- Quadbuster is not any harder than any of the training hills in Northern California. In fact, awhile back I asked my blog readers to remember "le alpe du fromage", or the climb to the Cheese Factory when climbing Quadbuster and then make a comparison. Any thoughts?

Normally I climb the 'buster and wait for others at the top and cheer them on. Last year I stayed at the top until the last rider came up. This year I was feeling really strong (and wanted to beat any heat that might be chasing us through the day) so I went ahead and rode down the hill and on the 7 miles to RS 2.

goofin' off at RS2

Much of the day after RS 2 is a blur... you ride and ride and ride and all of a sudden there's a sign for the town of Lockewood and a small market on the left. We always stop for the traditional ice cream before heading on down the road to RS 3 and eventually on to Bradley for lunch. This time Yoichi decided he really needed at hot dog too, to survive the road to RS 3 and finally to Bradley...


This year I must have hit Bradley a wee bit too late, because the line for their fundraising BBQ was at least a 1/2 mile long. Michael, Yoichi, Sue and I stood in a line that didn't move for about 20 minutes before deciding that we would just go ahead and get the regular ALC lunch.

Julie and Sue

We sat under a tent with about 20 other people, and I was struck by how nice everyone was. I mean REALLY NICE. Folks would offer up their little piece of cardboard or half of their seat so that someone else could sit in the shade to eat lunch. And this didn't happen just once or twice, but each time someone came around to look. When does THAT ever happen??

me stuffing my face full of lunch!

We sat and ate and chatted and soon talked ourselves into getting back on our bikes and riding on toward Paso Robles. I would be remiss if I didn't mention RS 4 and their rendition of Grease. Pictures say it best:
Oh those boys are so cute. Did you know they have their own website? It's: http://reststop4.com/

After RS4 we rode the rural roads toward the fairgrounds, roads where 2 years prior Michael had crashed into a pothole while attempting to put lip balm on his lips (he'll never do that again!). The holes were all filled, yet Michael still remembered the exact spot it happened.

.... for those of you who were there, you'll remember this lovely hematoma Michael got 2 years ago:

ok so now you know why we memorialize that event each year... eeeeuww!

As tradition has it (ok well tradition whenever Donald is on the ride), we order out for Pizza when we are in camp at Paso Robles. Donald, nice guy that he is, orders about 5 or six pizzas and we all scarf down- inviting others around to join us. Anything we have left over we take over to Patrick and his Massage Team.

After that, we all go pass out on full tummies.

The Recap.... Day Two

Day Two- Michael and I were awake by 4:45 and by 5am standing in line for breakfast. I made a beeline to the hot water to start our french press coffee and snag two seats. While at breakfast reading the "Daily Spin" camp newsletter I noted a little information on this evenings dinner presentations...."Acknowledgment of Training Ride Leaders: Julie Brown and JR Billings...." huh? I was suppose to present something?? OH well I guess they'll find me if they need me... actually I ran into Michael Baron on my way out of camp and asked if I was supposed to do something at announcements? "oh yes! come see me when you get in to camp tonight"....

The ride out of Santa Cruz was TEDIOUS. But hey, with 2500 bikes and a town trying to get out to work on a Monday morning, along with shortly timed stoplights- what would you expect?? I saw many cyclists practicing good citizenship and allowing cars to enter and exit driveways along the way. I too practiced that as much as I could. At one place there were a line of cars trying to get out of what was obviously an apartment complex. Two dozen or so cars full of people just trying to get to work! I blocked our line of Cyclists and directed drivers out onto the road and on their way.

I've often said this year to riders on my rides or at some of our events-- think of yourself as a driver on a Monday morning in Santa Cruz, trying to get to work which is usually 10 minutes away. I'm blocked by a horde of AIDS Riders and it takes me 45 minutes instead. A moment like this is exactly what I was talking about all that time.

Day Two is a long day- 105 miles from Santa Cruz to King City. Once we were out of Santa Cruz proper, it was long stretches of rides on farm roads, alongside strawberry fields, artichoke fields and much more. This year I stopped at the fruit stand just before the traditional artichoke stop, for a small nectarine snack. I ran into Anuj and we decided to ride the rest of the way together. When we finally came by the Artichoke stand, it was too late for us to stop or we would have ended up getting swept. Anuj was ok skipping it, so we rode on to RS 2 and then to Lunch. After lunch was a long ride thru the Salinas Valley with a quick stop at RS 3 and then the Otter Pop Stop at the Mission de Soledad

Moto crew member Joe Steiner

Our Otter Pop Stop Bears.

then across the Skinny Dipping bridge

and a quick visit with the Cookie Lady before a nice downhill/windy/ride toward King City.Y, the cookie lady, Gary and Michael

Every year I "Princess Plan" it on nights two, four and six (King City, Santa Maria & Ventura) so after this 108 mile ride, I checked into the King City Inn. In fact, the hotel is right on the way into our camp so I stopped and checked in before I got to bike parking. That way all I had to do was grab my mini bag and walk over to the motel.

As I was parking my bike, I got a call from JR in staff, asking if I was in camp yet and that Michael was looking for me. I let him know I had just gotten in and would run by their station.

I popped into their office and was given a quick run down by JR on what we would be saying/doing. I had to be back in the dining tent by 7pm and it was now 6 and I still had to go t my room and shower... talk about a fast walk and shower!

After my presentation at dinner, Donald and I met back up at the hotel (he and john were princessing there too) we soon decided we wanted to hit Denny's for another dinner (and breakfast in the morning too, we decided) so we headed over and I had a great salad with grilled chicken. Ruffage! Fiber!! I was a happy camper, er-- princess!

The Recap...Day Zero, Day One

It's been a little over a week since the ride ended in Brentwood June 7th. I caught a nasty headcold which soon turned into a nice sinus infection once I returned home, so I haven't really gotten a good chance to recap all that happened on The Ride those seven days. I'll try now, although I'm sure my memory will not be able to recall all the fun things.

Jott.com worked great! It did only give me 30 seconds to record, and when you talk as fast as I do sometimes it makes it difficult to decipher what I say. Thus some of the weird words that came through on my blog. Oh well, I knew I would get a chance to tell you more, so here goes.


Day Zero- Orientation Day. I was lucky enough to be part of the Safety Video team this year, which meant introducing the video and providing additional information to participants 7 times that day. Yes, from 9am to 4:30 I said the same things over and over; "One Rider, One Town, One Permit". I think they all got it. It was loads of fun for me, talking up what to expect, ad libbing when necessary and basically getting folks thru one of the most tedious and yet most important parts of the process of the week, what we expect of our participants and what they should expect of each other. Luckily I had spent the days prior going through my packing checklist and making sure everything was ready to go, so that the next morning (Day 1) I was able to only worry about packing my toothbrush into my toiletries bag and putting the bag in the duffle. All done with no problems. I took my usual pre-ride dose of 1 tylenol p.m. tablet and hit the sack around 9pm knowing I'd have to be up at 3:30.

Day One- Can we say "the best laid plans...."? I had planned to swing over to Greenbrae to pick up Sarah at 4:15 with no problem that morning. Mike who was obviously not quite awake drove down Sir Francis Drake Blvd and all of a sudden had a brain fart. He could not follow my directions and kept debating the directions I was giving him.... finally I called Sarah and re-stated the directions to Mike (which were the same as I had been saying!) and we finally got to her place and we were on our way. I was told to be at the Cow Palace by 5am for a rehearsal of Opening Ceremonies, which I was to take part in.

My friend Sarah

No problem, we pick up Sarah at 4:15 (now 4:30) and head over the bridge down 19th to Alemany, just as I had in the last 2 days when I had to be at the Cow Palace for meetings and Day Zero. Just one problem, Mike decided in his infinite wisdom to instead take a different route-- again not being all the way awake he made a couple of wrong/missed turns and once again we were lost , was this a sign of the week to come??? aargh. By now it was 5am and I was not going to be there in time.

Long story short, we made it to the Cow Palace in once piece. I quickly handed off my bag to gear truck D and hightailed it into the Cow Palace. After a quick go round of our duties escorting the Riderless Bike with Kurt, I for once felt a little bit calm. I made a quick visit to my bike to make sure all was good, got my stuff attached (mostly helmet, gloves, etc for a quick dash) and headed back to our meeting place. Soon the stretching started, and that was our signal to get organized for opening ceremonies.

My sister Cyndy volunteered to serve breakfast (at 4:30am!) that morning, so I did a mad dash to say hi and give her a hug before I made my way over. Luckily she was also able to watch Opening Ceremonies, so it was nice to have a family member share in that moment!

In all of my 5, now 6 years of doing the Ride, this will forever go down as the most memorable and most honored events for me. A week prior I had been asked by ALC Staff if I would be willing to escort the Riderless bike along with Kurt Schade in Opening Ceremonies, of course I agreed.

The Riderless Bike procession is a tradition each year. The bike is brought in to Opening Ceremonies as a reminder of those who can no longer ride with us, and a chance for us to remember those for whom we ride. It is quite an emotional time, and being part of the procession which included many of my Positive Pedaler friends, was truly an honor for me that I will never forget and I know that Kurt felt the same.

After that procession, the rest of the morning was a blur. I was lucky enough to ride out with the Positive Pedalers, which means I was one of the first people out of the gate and onto the road for Day 1 of ALC 7. I had worked very hard all season for that one privilege of riding out early, and that was all that I asked for.

Michael, Donald and I rode together for most of the route. Somewhere along the way (I think it was at lunch!) we hooked up with David.
The day was so clear, no fog, no major opposing wind. I enjoyed my position in the Ride. Most folks knew I was riding and that I was TR coordinator so when I had to "correct people very nicely" I had no qualms about doing so. Luckily there were no major problems I saw (of course I'm sure people riding around me were on their best behavior so I can't really say I had a true pulse of what was going on), and generally people were pretty courteous.

I think for a lot of people, that first day of riding underscored why our rules are so tedious and specific. (In reading folks blogs in the last week, that was the common theme: "I NOW know why ALC has such strict rules..." )

It was 11:30 when we hit the lunch stop. My sis Cyndy met us at San Gregorio beach with sandwiches from Subway, fresh cherries and bags of chips! woohoo! We would forego the chewy chicken sandwiches for one day.

Me & Cyn at San Gregorio Lunch stop

Soon we were back on Hwy 1 south, with a fierce tailwind! We were so happy to stop in Davenport for iced coffees and sweets.

Me, Michael, Donald and David at our coffee stop in Davenport.

Soon it was back on the bike and a quick ride in to Camp 1- Santa Cruz. Michael and I soon got our ALC camping together rhythm going and got the tent up and got ourselves cleaned up (wearing matching t-shirts, no less) and over to dinner. It was fun to pass by so many familiar faces and get to say hi to my newbie riders, some who had made it in to camp waaay earlier than me! After dinner Yoichi, Michael and I headed over to the massage tent where there were nice foam rollers to go roll on. OW! I hate foam rollers. But I also know that they are the only thing that get me thru a week on the ride.

"NOOOOOOoooooo!"

Soon we headed back to our tents and promptly passed out. And I didn't even wake up in the middle of the night to use the porta pottie ( of course I did get up at 4am, about 45 minutes before I needed to, to beat the porta pottie line!)

Today was day six. Today,...

Today was day six. Today, I was able to ride with the safety team in the safety team vehicle which traveled the route to make sure that riders are observing traffic laws as well as riding single file and basically I'm having a good safety standards because of the fact that they were riding on a free way and highway for part of the time. The route went from Lampoke(?) to Ventura State Beach under blue skies and a little bit of a crosswind but for the most part, a beautiful day. I got to travel with Cathy and Jason in the safety vehicle. We reversed the route and made sure everyone was being safe. Got in the Ventura about 3:00 and again with being in a hotel. So, here I am. It was a gorgeous day. I will be riding in on my bike from Ventura to Los Angeles tomorrow. listen

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Day two: was Santa...

Day two: was Santa Cruz to Kind City, 105 miles. We left in an overcast, slightly cold day, and headed on through Santa Cruz, through Salinas, stopped for lunch, and also, headed through some great green valleys, and onto the windy city of King City. Luckily that day was my princess night, so after riding 105 miles, I got to check into the Best Western King City Inn, have a great shower, and went to bed. It was a great 105 miles, which I did in about 6 hours, so got a great meal in, helped do some announcements, and then headed on off to bed. listen

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Day 4: we left Paso Robles..

Day 4: we left Paso Robles and rode under gray skies, headed on up over the evil twins also under the gray skies, and eventually headed out onto Highway 1 south. We passed through Morro Bay and also through the town of Cayucos- which we always as tradition has it, stopped for coffee and cheese burgers and fries. From there, we headed all the way into the town of Santa Maria where it was incredibly windy thru the town, driving through fields it smelled like strawberries. It was a great time. We got the wind at our backs all the way into camp in Santa Maria. listen

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Day 3 with King City...

Day 3 was King City to Paso Robles. I sort of don't even remember the day. We started out on a quick, very short, little bike path on to Quad Buster which is the most famous ride during the week, although, not necessarily the hardest. So, we headed on up and over quad buster down and into a small teeny, little town called Lockwood, where we stopped and had ice cream then headed on out into another small town of Bradley, which is at mile 85. Bradley School fund raiser every year is terrific! They sell us barbecued burgers and hot dogs and all kinds of treats. So, we definitely had a great lunch. Headed on in on the freeway, yes the shoulder of the freeway, into Pasa Robles where we ended and had pizza delivered! listen

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Day 5 was red dress...

Day 5 was red dress day. We spent the night in Santa Maria at the Holiday Inn on Broadway. Having dinner the night before, we got to bed about 10 and we're able to wake up later than normal which was 6:00 AM. We easily got dressed into our red dresses, over our cycling clothes, and we're able to walk back to camp get on our bikes and ride. Day 5 is red dress day where everyone were all dressed as in red and we travel through the hills of Santa Maria and passed Air Force Base on in to the little town of Lompoc, where we'd camp, again windy but also the wind in our backs and heavy tail winds. listen

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Day one. Day one, I...

Day one. Day one, I got to be part of opening ceremonies, and had the privilege of walking the riderless(?) bike with Kurt Shadik(?) in the opening ceremonies. I also was lucky enough to see one of the first dozen riders, actually the first female out the gate at about 6:30 and on toward Santa Cruz. Gorgeous day, not a lot of fog, pretty clear, little bit cold. We didn't have to climb Skyline this year. Just went up and down Highway 92, out to Highway 1. Had lunch at San Gregorio where my sister Cynthia met us, and then we rolled(?) on with great tailwind, 35 an hour tailwind into Santa Cruz, and a great time and a great night. It's been really a lot of fun to see a lot of the faces I had spent time riding with during training. We'll talk about tomorrow. listen

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