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.