Ed and Becky were nice enough to come pick me up Saturday night, in Novato. On the way over to their Fairfax home, we decided that I would take the Prius and pick up Mikey in Mill Valley. By the time I got their, Mikey was packing his suitcase and I got some quality conversation time with the rest of his family. By the time we got back to Ed’s house, Mikey realized he forgot an ID marker or something..and ended up driving back home! Needless to say, we didn’t get to sleep until about 12:30 that night. Anxious and eager for the day to start. Before we knew it, it was 4am and we were getting ready to leave.
One of the best decisions we made for this ride, was to place little train engines on our helmets. They were symbolic of the fact that we all had kids at home that we would miss. Also, as it turned out, it made our 40mph team of riders that much more distinguishable during the ride.
At the Cow Palace, we were all smiles ready to start this.
Wow! That’s right. 2,333 people are riding in AIDS/LifeCycle 6!!! Crazy, I know. These very different people who have come together for one goal raised a total of $11 million for this cause.
San Francisco at 7:00 am, I’m sure you can guess what the weather was like, so as we rolled out the day was chilly and foggy but I don’t think anyone was feeling it…there was so much excitement in the air nobody was really paying attention to the weather. At least that’s how it seemed to me. We had huge smiles on our faces as we passed through a line of well wishers, cheering us.It was truly an amazing feeling.
It wasn’t long before we were working our way through the streets of San Francisco and out to Skyline We rode for the most part from the Cow Palace to Rest Stop 1.
This was my first experience with the lines we would face the rest of the ride. The further back you start on any given day, the longer the porta-potty lines are. It’s a mathematical truth proved 7 days in a row. Even though we only road about 7 miles to get to the first rest stop (by John Daly Boulevard in Westlake) we stopped anyways to refill our waters, for we knew skyline offered some potentially challenging hills.
Well ok, they were no big deal. But as usual, it was quite a foggy climb especially as we neared the highway 1 turn off to Pacifica. We continued on down Skyline making our way to the Crystal Springs Resevoir. It was my job to slow the group down now, for my family was hoping to meet up with us at the lake.
At the rest stop we were welcomed to sunshine! Thank goodness…and rumors of the 9 mile upcoming hill abound. But everyone was just giddy from the sun and dressed down appropriately. Not much further up the road, I met up Jenn, Bryce and Bailey who rattled and cheered their way into the hearts of hundreds of cyclists who had already passed them. It was a great way to start off my week, having my family there to send me off. In addition, they surprised us by providing us with some chocolate chip cookies..some much needed energy food to help us for the 9 mile climb. Jenn was so heartened by the riders response to the kids, that we plan on bringing the kids back every year to cheer the riders on.
As we cycled up the climb, we hit traffic. Imagine a twisty road with a row of “bumper to bumper” bikes, alongside a row of bumper to bumper cars. To encourage us on, Ginger was waiting for us next to the wonderful Taiko drums beating a steady cadence for us to cycle to. It came at a perfect time on the climb accompanied with peanut butter cookies and fresh strawberries. These wonderful people were out there for us simply because they are wonderful!
6 miles up, we took a much deserved rest break to refuel, and show off our helmet engines. 8 miles of climb followed by 8 miles of killer curvy downhill through pine forests that stretched over the road. Very cool. This was my finest down hill moment, as I effortlessly flew through the turns, all the meanwhile keeping my teammates within eyes site. Usually, they get so far ahead I don’t even see them.
I find myself thinking a lot about the terrain that we ride through only because I realized about midway through today that we are very fortunate to have this opportunity of riding this length through California. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful states in our country. The geography can change from redwood forest to arid desert in a flash with about 3 or 4 other terrains in between. I am trying not to sound like a tourism ad but can’t help myself. California is amazing.
There were a few more rest stops along the way, but the best was lunch. I’m not sure where we were as I don’t currently have my route sheet with me, but we were by a beach…
The sun was out but it was still a little chilly…Lunch turned out to be a croissant turkey sandwich, chips, apple, and a big fat cookie. We all hooked up here…pretty darn tired. Not so much from the riding…but from the lack of sleep catching up with us. We ate, and then laid down…finally I got up and suggested we rolled. I knew that if we stayed any longer we would be seduced asleep by the lapping ocean waves, crashing on the beach, as if singing a lullaby “go to sleep, go to sleep, oh you know that you want to, go to sleep, go to sleep…”.
The day pretty much was the same….a lot more climbing, a few descents, some flat lands and a couple more stops. The one thing that was a constant was the beautiful scenery that greeted me at every turn. We went from ocean, to lush rolling hills, back to ocean. I was on sensory overload and loving every minute.
Lighthouse fun, Amazing Beach Vistas, and Kite Surfing
89 miles behind us.
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