Have you ever seen a cyclist decide to fly through a light, only to brake at the last moment (after crossing the white line?) Well Ed and I have. So we were no where “near” relatively speaking to Mike when he decided to run, then stop for the light. However, the other cyclist wasn’t ready and almost nailed him. He was cool about the whole thing…but mysteriously enough, after riding at our pace with us for about 15 minutes through town, he was no where to be found!
Santa Cruz is just a fun place. And the Ugly Mug coffee shop was having a party. They provided us free dancing and coffee.
As we meandered through the streets of Santa Cruz, I just could not find my rhythm. I felt I was moving painfully slow, a big change from the previous day’s ride. I guess I was paying the price for having such a great first day. Oh well, I still had 103 miles to go.
Not for us. Our legs were prime and ready to go. The morning was full of sprints and stops. We had our caffeine and we were ready to launch.
The Cycle Gods of the Tailwind were smiling on us today and we are so grateful for it. Well, at least I am. 105 miles was the total as our longest day on the ride. Had there been no wind it could have ended up as a very long day. Fortunately, we had this awesome tailwind for a majority of the ride today. There was a brief cross wind that was not fun, but as soon as we turned right the strongest tailwind of the day pushed us into camp.
The morning started off a bit cold of course, but once we broke through the hills and into the Salinas Valley the sun came out and the skies seemed to instantly clear.
What a beautiful place to bike through. Miles and miles of fields which contained who knows what kind of vegetable. This actually turned into a bit of a game for my partner and I who tried to guess what it was that was in the field next to us at any given time. We could only recognize fennel, carrots, lettuce, and artichokes. I have to admit that we cheated a bit on the last one as this field was located next to the unofficial fried artichoke stand. Pretty good for a fried vegetable.
After stopping at the unofficial Artichoke rest stop, we stopped at the official ALC Rest Stop. Here we spent enough time to get a photo of Team DISCO (Gary, Jenna, Melissa, and Ed), as well as pose on our Team Mascot, the choo choo train.
The highlight of the ride for me was seeing the “Cookie Lady” who has been baking homemade cookies for a number of years now to feed all of the riders. She spent her time churning out about 3,000 cookies for us. By hand! Once again I ask, “Who are these people coming from who knows where to do these great things expecting nothing in return.” Those who have little faith in humanity any longer need to do this ride. It has certainly changed my outlook of the world and it has been only two days.
The one event I did not partake in was the skinny-dipping under the green bridge around mile 80 or so. It did look inviting, but the thought of climbing the hill that waited for us after jumping in a cold stream kept me from it.
Ed really wanted to skinny dip, but since I wasn’t game he skipped it too. Just after the bridge, we were hit with a massive head wind up a short steep hill. Thankfully, at the top was one of the ALC cheerleaders. She, yes she, was dancing and cheering…and maybe realizing that we were “straight”, she proceeded to flash us her breasts.iraculously enough, that was all the energy we needed to conquer this climb.
In between rest stop three and rest stop four was a water stop. This really summed up the ride for me. Not because of the otter pops that awaited us, or the gaily dancing men in their bright tutus, (DMV STOP) but because of the mission that was there. There is a small church there and I was told not to miss it. So I made sure to stop.
We had a few miles of serious head wind here. Ed led the train, with Mike and I right behind. Before we knew it, we were cutting through the headwind on a train at least 7 bicyclists long. The riders who hitched on were forever grateful for the “free ride” through the wind.
We still had 30 miles to go, 15 miles to rest stop four and 15 to camp. Rest stop four was a real quick stop as it was already closing by the time we got there
Well I did it. I completed my first century. (Only my second century) There were moments when I didn’t think I would. There were times toward the end when I felt like this ride was the ALC’s way of breaking me down to build me back up. It was tough, and rough and almost kicked my ass, but I kicked it instead.
194 Miles on the Road.
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