Thursday, April 1, 2010
Today was our first official day of cycling. The day started out pretty miserably. When I woke up at 5:30am (I think it was the nerves…) it was probably 45 degrees outside and absolutely pouring rain; however, there was a clear patch in the distance. We had hope. 
We got off to a bit of a slow start because we had to pack up everything from where we had been staying for the past four days. All of the bikes had to be racked on the top of the vans, and we had to drive out of the city to begin our ride (for safety reasons). When we got to our starting point, I had a complete panic attack because I couldn’t find my cycling shoes anywhere. It is nearly impossible (if not entirely…) to cycle without one’s cycling shoes. However, a kind soul had found them in the parking lot (where I had left them – smart…) and picked them up for me. In the meantime, the rain had cleared and the sun was shining. All crises averted.
The day started with a 3 mile, 6% grade climb. It was tough work, but so much fun. I love climbing hills – feeling the burn in the legs and the feeling of accomplishment (and complete relief) when the hill finally crests and you can see the downhill.
I met up with Jess at the top of the hill (she is one of our new riders), and we rode the rest of the route together. We had a few mishaps along the way (including a two-person crash on the side of a very busy, windy road with little/no shoulder), but we finally made it to our destination before dark (albeit tired and very, very cold).
We made a few fun breaks along the way, including a lunch stop at Barret Junction Café, where they sold ¼ lb hotdogs for $1.50. The place was enormous. And entirely empty. Apparently they have a very popular fish fry every Friday, where people come from miles around. It was an interesting place.
The views from the top of the hills were amazing (the day had lots of ascends). 
We camped at Lake Morena County Park. Please keep in mind that we ascended nearly 6000 feet over the course of the day – so we were pretty high up in the mountains. We had some tasty camping food that night (hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, and baked beans) and all settled in to sleep very early. My favorite comment from that night came from our neighbors at the adjacent campsite. Around 9:30 they were sitting around their fire chatting (and, remember, we were all in tents, so you can hear everything going on outside…) and one of the people from the other campsite looked over at ours and said, “Are they already asleep?” to which another person responded, “Yeah, man. They are riding 100 miles tomorrow. We’re cooking bacon.” I guess you had to be there…
Overall, the day went well with very few mishaps. End of the first day. And it was good.
We got off to a bit of a slow start because we had to pack up everything from where we had been staying for the past four days. All of the bikes had to be racked on the top of the vans, and we had to drive out of the city to begin our ride (for safety reasons). When we got to our starting point, I had a complete panic attack because I couldn’t find my cycling shoes anywhere. It is nearly impossible (if not entirely…) to cycle without one’s cycling shoes. However, a kind soul had found them in the parking lot (where I had left them – smart…) and picked them up for me. In the meantime, the rain had cleared and the sun was shining. All crises averted.The day started with a 3 mile, 6% grade climb. It was tough work, but so much fun. I love climbing hills – feeling the burn in the legs and the feeling of accomplishment (and complete relief) when the hill finally crests and you can see the downhill.
I met up with Jess at the top of the hill (she is one of our new riders), and we rode the rest of the route together. We had a few mishaps along the way (including a two-person crash on the side of a very busy, windy road with little/no shoulder), but we finally made it to our destination before dark (albeit tired and very, very cold).We made a few fun breaks along the way, including a lunch stop at Barret Junction Café, where they sold ¼ lb hotdogs for $1.50. The place was enormous. And entirely empty. Apparently they have a very popular fish fry every Friday, where people come from miles around. It was an interesting place.
The views from the top of the hills were amazing (the day had lots of ascends). We camped at Lake Morena County Park. Please keep in mind that we ascended nearly 6000 feet over the course of the day – so we were pretty high up in the mountains. We had some tasty camping food that night (hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, and baked beans) and all settled in to sleep very early. My favorite comment from that night came from our neighbors at the adjacent campsite. Around 9:30 they were sitting around their fire chatting (and, remember, we were all in tents, so you can hear everything going on outside…) and one of the people from the other campsite looked over at ours and said, “Are they already asleep?” to which another person responded, “Yeah, man. They are riding 100 miles tomorrow. We’re cooking bacon.” I guess you had to be there…
Overall, the day went well with very few mishaps. End of the first day. And it was good.
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