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Day Seven, Ventura to Los Angeles
Finishing the Ride
Once again, Charlie and I made it up and out of camp by 7 a.m. I was pushing for us to get a head start today because I remembered the crazy crowds from last year- the day is compressed, with more people leaving at the same time, so things get really backed up at the rest stops and on the road. Charlie and I rode with Liz and Stevo for most of the way, and again made really good time- roughly 16 mph, which is not too surprising considering how flat the terrain is.
Some of the most awe-inspiring moments for me on the ride come from realizing where I am- turning a corner or coming over a hill and seeing a familiar scene, like the main street in Cayucos or the beach in Santa Barbara, places I had driven to in the past. The shudders come from realizing I got there by bike. I got that feeling again riding through Malibu and into Santa Monica.
We climb up out of Santa Monica canyon, which is the last "real" hill, and then there are a few more small climbs, just as a final insult, before pulling into the VA center around 1:30. My boyfriend Shawn was there at the finish line, which was very sweet, and we were joined later by John and John. After closing ceremonies, we went to Brentwood where my friends Michael and John threw a party to celebrate the finish. They are housesitting in this amazing house- which included many things I had not seen in a while: a shower with great pressure, a porcelain toilet, a desktop computer, a poolside barbque, a jacuzzi, and a grand piano. (Really, what else does one need?) They made a wonderful dinner and we sat around singing and playing. Seriously, it was heaven, and such a great way to end the ride.
What's next? Over the next several days I will post some more data (pictures, GPS), to give a little more insight into the event. Thanks again to everyone who supported me emotionally and financially, and thanks for reading!
Day Six, Lompoc to Ventura
Today was another wonderful day. Charlie and I made it on the road by 7 am, the earliest we've done all week. We were really pushing today. The first leg was a steady, gradual 15 mile climb, and we averaged 14 mph. There was another section before lunch that was on and off the 101 where we averaged 20 mph. When we pulled into rest stop 4, we were numbers 385 and 386. We haven't been that far up in pack all week, and it's funny- we saw a whole different group of people than we've been seeing. It's hard to grasp the scale of an 1,800-person ride, and things like that give some perspective. Overall, we averaged 16.6 mph today, which is faster than any other day this week (or my training ride average of roughly 13.5 mpg).
This is not to say we denied ourselves much- there is a community bike club in Santa Barbara that hosts the Paradise Pit along the route. It is an unofficial rest stop that usually features ice cream, strawberries, and other special treats. This year they had 7 massage therapists as well. Charlie and I lucked out, arriving at a time when the place was not too crowded, so in the middle of the day, we each got a massage. Bonus!
We arrived in Ventura just before 4 pm, and after cleaning up, headed for dinner 1 at In and Out Burger across the street (a tradition for this camp which I didn't partake in last year). We had the privledge of dining with Ric Uggan (sp?) aka Ginger Broulee. Ric was a rider on various AIDS rides for many years until health issues started to inhibit his riding. In response, he began making appearances during the ride as the fabulous Ginger Broulee, and in the process has established her as an icon of this event. There are many images and experiences I have omitted in describing this week, and a daily report of Ginger sightings has been a major oversight. She typically appears either at the top of big hills, or during the climb, cheering on riders and providing support. Both as a rider and now as a roadie, Ric has raised tons of money for AIDS services organizations and inspired countless participants. My favorite image of the week is Ginger at the top of Quadbuster, in an elegant, low-cut silk number, riding an electric Razor scooter in black platform heels.
All of this is by way of saying that Charlie and I were both excited to be sitting with this celebrity, at a fine establishment like In and Out.
After announcements, etc., over dinner 2 back at camp, there was a candelight vigil on the beach. The vigil is a relatively new component (now in its third year), and they are letting it evolve organically. Basically, everyone is given a candle and a wind protector and we all process down to the beach. After that, there are no specific instructions. What followed was a peaceful, solemn period where everyone stood in a circle- and since there were nearly 2,000 people participating, it was a circle almost the size of a football field. At first there was a nervous energy, since no one knew what exactly was going on. Most stood, some sat, some planted their candle in the sand and stared at it. The silence persisted and people settled. Gradually, a pattern emerged. People walked down to the tide, and slowly each person would bend over and extinguish their candle in the ocean.
We are 63 miles away from the end in LA. I am grateful to have been a part of this unique community, and proud to have accomplished what I have. Thanks again to the dozens of people who have made contributions to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, as well as those who have sent messages of support. I greatly appreciate it. There will be more to come here, as I wrap up the ride and travel home.
Day Five, Santa Maria to Lompoc
Short and Sweet
Today is the shortest day on the ride, for a couple of reasons. First, it's very nice to wake up and know you're riding 43 miles. Also, we have some significant climbing today. There is an extended hill that has a switchback in the middle. At some point, someone realized that if everyone wore red, it would look like a red ribbon streaming up the hill. It wasn't too long before "dress in red day" became "red dress day".
So hitting the road today were 1,800 riders and 380 roadies, the majority clad in red, and the majority of those in all manner of dresses, skirts, negligees, all kinds of clothing you can't imagine a person pedaling 43 miles in.
The best-dressed prize definitely went to the gentleman who had City Cycles affix SPD clips to his spiked red platform pumps- so he could clip into his pedals and ride in heels today. I have pictures (forthcoming). Apparently he even had a bike fit, so he would know how to adjust his bike just today to accommodate the extra shoe height. At lunch, he received an ovation and was swarmed by people taking pictures.
Our group rides out of Santa Maria every year on this day in red dresses, and I wonder if the locals realize this is not how we spend the entire week. I worry that this cements the idea in their minds that AIDS = gay = trannie = "deviant", when all we're doing is having fun. And you can't argue with $8 million raised this year.
There is a rest stop in Casmalia, a small town whose main street has about four buildings. One of them is a school where we have our rest stop. Another one is a General Store, where last year for the first time they put out PA speakers and played disco music, prompting an impromptu midday dance party, just what every red-dress clad, 43-mile day deserves. Fortunately they were back with music this year, and we got some good dance-time in.
The worst hill came after the dance party. I had remembered it as being particularly long and cruel. This was probably due in part to the fact that I wasn't expecting it- we have other climbs with intimidating names like Quadbuster and Evil Twins but this one had no name. (I've since learned that this is now called Red Ribbon Hill.) This time, I was psyched and ready. At the base of the hill, I ended up helping a woman change a flat. She didn't know how to change it and was having particularly bad luck- 5 flats this week.
Anyway, I helped her while her friend flirted with this surfer guy who had stopped. Those two chatted about raw food restaurants in L.A. while she and I crouched down (in our red dresses) and changed the flat.
Anyway, after finishing with the flat, I caught up with Charlie and Julie, and we smoked that hill. I guess that break really helped- I was psyched and ready, and we just motored over it.
We didn't leave camp this morning until after 8, we sat around at the rest stops and lunch, and we were still in camp in Lompoc by 2:30. Awesome. This is why day 5 rocks so much. Tomorrow is 80-ish miles, taking us to Ventura. I just had a massage, and then it's off to dinner and a nap. Sweet!
Day Four, Paso Robles to Santa Maria
Hitting my stride
Today was simply a great day. I had a realization as I got out on the road this morning. I knew I was a couple training rides short of being ready for this event. Well, now I've had them, and I am ready to do the ride.
As I mentioned, yesterday we spent almost as much time hanging out in the rest stops as we did riding. So Charlie suggested we make a conscious effort to step up the pace today, and we set a goal to spend only 2-3 hours in the rest stops. There are four rest stops plus a water stop and lunch, not to mention the local ad hoc stops that we just HAVE to make. We made our resolution in the hopes of getting into camp around 5 rather than around 7, which is what happened the last time we had an route of this length. Long story short, we met our goal, as much by riding faster as by trying to get out of the rest stops sooner.
In the morning, Charlie and I rode with Julie and Chris, and in the afternoon we primarily rode with Charlie's friends Liz and Stevo. All three of them are medical professionals, so when we hang out, I try to keep up with the lingo, and have some understanding of what non-techie friends go through when I start geeking out in the presence of my techie friends.
The morning opened with a couple of large hills called the Evil Twins. In commemoration of this, Charlie and several of his ride leader friends sported Cartman "Oh man, you guys suck!" jerseys. Pictures are forthcoming.
It was nice to knock those hills out early on in the day. It was smooth sailing once I got my cadence. I have a double crank, so I have to remember not to try to stick with people riding a triple- their low gear is much lower than mine, so they're able to just spin and spin to slowly make it up the hill. For me to go that slowly actually feels like more effort, since my feet are moving too slow to get a real flow going.
The Evil Twins are a bit of a misnomer, since there are actually about five summits. I had forgotten that, and actually thought that when I went over the third one that I had finished. But there was no one at the top cheering and singing which is typically the custom. Alas, it was not until I got to the last one that the cheering ensued.
One of the most glorious moments of the day, and indeed of the entire ride, is the descent from the evil twins, which is several miles down to highway 1. In that span, my average speed for the day went up from 12.5 to 14.3 mph.
Overall, my average speed for the day was 14.9 mph. Our road time was 9:50, with 6:37 in motion. Tonight I am staying at Shawn's friend Eric's house in Pismo, so I get to sleep indoors tonight. Speaking of which, I've gotta go. Unfortunately, there are some issues with the map yesterday and today. I believe I will be able to get those online when I have some tiome, but sleep will be winning tonight. Cheers!
Day Three, King City to Paso Robles
The alarm didn't go off, so I woke up on my own a half hour late, at 5:30 am. There are many things wrong with that sentence.
Today's focus is a hill called Quadbuster. It's a long steady climb with a big rise at the end. Fortunately, it's within the first 30 miles of a 76 mile day. The morning started with heavy fog, which was a nice change from the heat that ended the day before (as was the prospect of a shorter route). As I was getting through the first part of Quadbuster, the sun came out in full, so I followed this other guy's lead and pulled over to take off my windbreaker, arm & leg warmers. A few people pulled over as well, and turned it into the official Quadbuster Stripper Stop. Someone is looking into licensing and trademarks for that.
Anyway, Quadbuster was challenging but doable, followed by a couple of fun rest stops. After having my story told at dinner the other night, people are coming up and asking about the solar backpack and the GPS (which is powering the maps here). The software is rather fragile, so I pretty much check on it at every rest stop, which leads to all kinds of interesting tech talk. (As an aside, cell coverage was poor all day, so the map is probably pretty messed up. I will fix that when I get a chance, but first I need to sleep.)
Things got a little harder for me in the afternoon. I had been riding faster than usual, and the heat got pretty intense. My tent mate Charlie has begun a new tradition of taking naps at lunch, and I joined in today. Unfortunately, I had a dream that I woke up when everyone was gone and my bike was being put on the SAG truck. After wasking up with a start, I was ready to get up and go.
The afternoon continued to be a challenge through rest stop 4. If there was a theme today, it was rough road. This day probably had the largest quantity of bumpy, badly-in-need-of-resurfacing pavement. Not to mention part of this pavement was on a stretch of 101. Not fun.
Last year we did another stint on 101 to get from rest stop 4 to camp, but this year they chose a more scenic route, which was used two years ago. Word on the street was that there were going to be some nasty headwinds, but it actually turned out to be completely beautiful, and not too windy. We rode past a few wineries and a (currently barren) pumkpin patch.
We were jamming along, when we came across a rider with a flat who didn't know how to change a tire. Charlie and I stopped and helped him out. More specifically, I pulled out my tools and Charlie used them to give him a course on changing a tire. Unlike that marathon tire change yesterday, this one was incredibly smooth and quick. From there we had a nice rally into camp. 76 miles, avg speed 14.7, 10 hours from camp to camp, 5.25 hours in motion. Tomorrow is 96 miles with some substantial hills, so the ride-to-sit/sleep/eat ratio will have to improve, or we are going to get swept. ttfn
Day Two, Santa Cruz to King City
Today's ride was the longest of the week: 106 miles. It's also full of "stuff": the Cookie Lady, the swimming hole, and now the Otter Pop stop, courtesy of my friend Kyle (with whom I rode much of the ride last year). Add to that a flat amongst the group I'm riding with, and generally taking it easy because it's my first century of the year. Not to mention Charlie my tent mate (aka domestic partner for the week) feeling lousy and wanting to take it easy... put all that together and you get a ride that started at 7:15 am and ended at 7:15 pm. I averaged 14.6 mph, so a good 4.5 hours or so was spent with the bike standing still. The good news is that I made it, and for the second year in a row, I sprinted the last 8 miles or so, having a great time on these rolling hills that overlook a valley of farms on the way into King City. Life is good!
In other news, I got my two minutes of fame when Lorri Jean told my cab story amongst her anecdotes during announcements tonight. Her embellished version of the story had my GPS gear turned on in the trunk of the taxi, so I ended up with a detailed record of all the adventures my luggage had without me.
Day One, San Francisco to Santa Cruz
Dude, where's my stuff?
I'm sure each one of us wants some notoriety, to be remembered for something. I got that opportunity today. I'm pretty sure this story will make the rounds through the ALC community, maybe even make it into the nightly announcements.
I took a cab to the Cow Palace. It was a madhouse, cabs and cars dropping people off everywhere they weren't supposed to. I got out of the cab, slammed the door and went to reach into the trunk for my gear, when the cab started to pull away. At first I thought he was just relocating out of the traffic flow, but, no, he kept going, trunk still flapping open. The police who were directing traffic radioed up to the next intersection to try and catch the guy, to no avail. The cab vanished. I hung out there for an hour waiting for the driver to come back with my stuff. No dice.
I had hailed the cab from in front of my apartment, so I'm not even certain which cab company it was, much less the cab's id. I called the company I believe it was, and put out an alert, but they haven't heard anything from their drivers. So I got to watch the opening ride-out from the sidelines (which itself was pretty awesome) and then I hitched a ride back home. I am still hoping to get my stuff back, but who knows. The current plan is to borrow and buy a few things, and hustle down to Santa Cruz to keep up with the rest of the pack. I'll keep you posted.
Update: I called Yellow again and they found the luggage! They graciously offered to let me pick it up from them in Potrero Hill, or they would deliver it- for a fee!. What a wonderful company that is. Actually, I am just glad to know where my stuff is. I will probably not update until the end of day but at least things are heading in the right direction.
in camp in Santa cruz. all is well. keyboard is dead so i'll keep it short tap tap tap. more later. thanks for the ride Shawn!
...
Here's a little more detail about Sunday: I drove down to the Yellow lot in this sketchy part of town, and, well, that's a whole other story, but needless to say there were several characters straight out of central casting. The best part was after I retrieved my luggage and was wheeling it toward the exit, some guy asked me if I needed a taxi.
My boyfriend Shawn very graciously drove me down to Santa Cruz so I could be reunited with the rest of the group and we could spend a little more quality time together. All of my movements were captured by the GPS- the trip from the cow palace home, to the taxi lot and back, and then the drive to Santa Cruz, including getting lost at the end. Check it out on the map. There are tons of points in the route- hope it doesn't crash your browser. (This feature is still in beta.)