For some reason Amtrak has jacked their prices up since two years ago, and I would never fly with a bicycle, so Amber and I decided to drive up and make a road trip out of it.
Out first day of driving was from Los Angeles to Garberville which is a little north of San Francisco on the 101. Garmin routed us through downtown San Francisco via the Golden Gate bridge and I, like an idiot, just followed the purple line. Stupid mistake. We didn't get to the Best Western until late that night. Great hotel though.
On Friday morning we drove north on Avenue of the Giants and stopped at the visitors center for a hike and also the gift store where we shopped for a few extra mother's day gifts. Then back on to Interstate 5 to Wilsonville which is just south of Portland, OR. We stayed at Guesthouse Inn which was the closest to the ride start but it was a terrible mistake. It was so noisy I could not believe it. The guests were rowdy and the staff couldn't control them. It was shabby and quite unpleasant to stay in. There were obvious security problems here to. We couldn't wait to leave, but we had to ride 400km first.
We started the ride at the very civilized time of 6am along with quite a large group of perhaps 30 riders. After 30 miles of easy rollers I was lulled into a false sense of security on Cole School Road which terminates in a long 15%-20% climb. By now the temperature had reached the low 80's and my legs were screaming as my heart rate reached a new personal best.
The group we were riding with had long gone and Amber and I were slipping further and further towards the back. The only other thing I remember from this part of the ride was a loooong 5 mile climb after the lunch control that meandered up to the heavens. It was in the 85-87F range by now.
The turnaround control was in Walterville which we arrived at just as our earlier group was about to leave. I felt like death warmed over (lightly broiled) and we stayed about 45 minutes as I dozed in the shade trying to cool down. Eventually I felt recovered enough to continue.
Fortunately, the return trip is almost perfectly flat (6100' in the first half and 1500' in the second half of the 400k) and as the sun started to set it went behind a bank of clouds and the temperature dropped quickly. Also the predicted headwinds never really materialized except for perhaps 20 miles or so.
I was able to recover almost completely over the next couple hours and we eventually caught up with our earlier group on the road into Independence. Now I was actually able to hold a conversation with them. There was Bob and his English wife, Deirdre, and their friend Ron - all from BC. These were all seasoned pros and skilled navigators so even though we could probably have passed them we decided we would have much more fun if we stayed with them.
Just before we got to Independence we passed another rider sleeping in a ditch. Bob recognized him as Barry - another BC rider. We left him alone and arrived in Independence a few miles later looking for food. We found the "mecanico" bar - a cool converted garage - and got signatures and food. Barry joined us quickly and this stop became the highlight of the ride with pulled pork sandwiches (the last food in the entire bar) and coke from bottles.
Eventually we had to leave and complete the last 50 miles back to Wilsonville. We had a 6 man (5 man, 1 woman) pace line holding an easy 14-15 mph. I needed to stretch out my back a little and only felt comfortable on the aerobars when I was on the front so it was difficult to keep my speed down and not drop the group when I was pulling. A complete 180 from the first half of the ride.
We made an impromptu stop about 30 miles later to stretch and eat. I discovered my rear water bottle was empty which meant I had run out of water. Fortunately Barry had a spare bottle which saved me from risking giardia. We trucked on home and ate at Shari's to get the receipt. Total time was 21:12 - still slower than my target of 20 hours but it's not like it's a race.
We got back to the hotel at 4am and had no guilt if we happened to wake any of the other guests up as we took our showers. We woke at 10am and got more food - this time at a small Chinese restaurant that was surprisingly good. Then we drove up to Portland to see Lonnie Wolf who had ridden the 200k the previous day and seems to own an apartment in every major city. He took us to Deschutes bar which has a splendid selection of local beers. That night, I finally slept well.
On Monday we drove to Redding, CA and while passing through Salem we found the best bistro ever. It's called the Word of Mouth Bistro and it is amazing. I'd love to go back there but it's 1000 miles from my house.
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| Plate of Love = Creme Brulee French Toast, veggie hash, and eggs |
When we got to Redding we ate at a decent Thai place and then went for a
ride on the Sacramento River Trail which is truly wonderful, especially considering that Redding itself is a bit seedy (well the Motel6 is for sure). Here's a picture of me on the Sundial Bridge.
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