This was a three-day training ride, our last opportunity to build just a bit more quad strength - and calluses in odd spots. Or so we thought.
It turned out to be as much of a training ride for our planning skills.
We set out from Susan's at about 10:00 after a perfect breakfast, with fresh clothes from an actual washing machine (those motel sinks just don't do the same job).
Then there were headwinds. Lots more headwinds. Ugh.
Then we discovered that some of the roads that Google had offered us as suggested bike routes were unpaved. We've spent some time searching, and it is not at all easy to determine road surface conditions. We'll be approaching the big ride much more cautiously when we are off the Adventure Cycling maps.
We had also discovered pretty early on Friday that Bruce's Garmin does not recognize bike paths. Hmm. A bike computer that keeps telling you to get back on the road? I am so glad I dug in my heels and got the routes printed out. That and a couple of actual paper maps (remember those?) made our three day trip possible. Who knows where we'd have ended up otherwise?
But once we had braved the very unpleasant traffic conditions the only paved roads to Rio Vista offered us, we turned on to River Road. Aaah. Tail winds, good pavement, minimal traffic, oh, and views, views, views. We meandered through farms, vineyards, rivers, creeks, marshland, avenues of lovely trees, most of the time on the top of levees that allowed us to see for miles. We had lunch at a really nice little bakery in Rio Vista, and wished we were hungry enough to try out several places in the small towns we passed as we headed east. We took two ferries. Even though my legs were tired, I was able to apreciate the miles we spent on the Delta Recrational Route.
After a while, though, that route ended and we headed south, hoping that we would have no other surprises before we made it back to the car.
That wish was not granted.
We took an overpass across Highway 5. I got a bit concerned when I saw the weeds growing happily up through the pavement. More concerned when the road we were on started looking like a bike trail (and there was nothing else to do, nowhere else to turn - freeway on one side, marshland on the other, Delta behind us, and in front...). We spotted a gate up front & hoped that it would just be blocking cars & would take us to a simple path across to Elk Grove.
Instead, it presented a sign. I wish we'd taken a picture. I've never seen quite such a detailed "No Trespassing" dissertation. No cars, no hikers, no, no, no. But if you kept reading, if you did the homework and looked at the whole thing (and it was long) -
Well, did you have to take that quiz in about 6th grade, the one where the top of the page told you to read all the questions first, and then come back and answer them? The one that suggested at about question 6 that you stand on your desk and shout (or something equally embarrassing)? The one where you noticed all your classmates looking furtively around to see who'd go first? The one that told you on the very last question you were supposed to have read before you plunged in that all you had to do was smile and hand your blank quiz to the teacher?
I guess I must have learned something from that quiz, because I read the whole thing, and there, down at the bottom, in smaller letters, it said, "If you really, really, really want to pass this gate in spite of all you have read, call this number and say 'pretty please'." (I may be paraphrasing a bit.)
And we called. And the lady said, sure, no problem, go on in.
And we unloaded our bikes so as to lift them over the very, very narrow pedestrian gate, reloaded them and got back on.
And in about 1/10th of a mile, discovered that our lovely path was...unpaved. We needed to follow it for three miles.
Bruce persuaded me to try to ride it. This time, the gravel was relatively small, and packed down by passing vehicles, (don't even ask me how they got in) so we rode along slowly and cautiously.
And it turned out to be the most beautiful and serene part of the whole trip, maybe of any trip we've taken. The sun was low, the light was that lovely pre-sunset color, the egrets were drifting back in for the night, the geese & ducks were waddling across the path in front of us, little rabbits were startled into running away. We could see the town we were headed for across the marshland, but it almost didn't seem to be part of the world we were crossing. And apparently no one else had called for permission to come in - we had the place entirely to ourselves.
When we reached the other side, we managed to find our way back to the streets, the Garmin kicked back in and directed us to the car. We made it.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
A flat day
Flats, actually. Two of them.
It wasn't all flat terrain, though. Actually, it started with a wonderful downhill - a lovely reversal of the climb we had done on Friday. We had set up a meeting time with Jim at the east end of Folsom Lake & we had to get there quickly. It was fun!
We were a bit late, though, and called him as soon as we arrived. He was later - he was trying to get to us on public transit along with his bike, so we stopped worrying and had a snack. We eventually figured out that his train would drop him a few miles farther down the hill, so we took off down the American River trail. It was lovely, and still mostly downhill. We eventually connected with Jim and Mark, a work friend of Jim's, and set out towards Sacramento. About 1/2 hour out, Jim had a flat. He had no spare tube, so we thought we'd patch it, but it turned out he had Schraeder valves & none of us had pumps that would work on anything but Presta. Mark's house was nearby, so he and Jim headed there to figure things out. Unfortunately, we had a lot of miles left to cover, so we couldn't wait for our ride companions.
The weather was just about perfect. Sunny, warm, a gentle breeze. Gentle at that point, anyway. (Remember when they taught us about foreshadowing in high school English???) We meandered down the trail without making any serious wrong turns until we got to Carmichael. Then we managed to end up on a busy and not very beautiful street for a few miles. That mistake brought us stops at Subway for soup & sandwich, Cold Stone Creamery, and a bike shop where Bruce found some more of the socks he likes, so we weren't too sad about it.
Back to the trail, back to the idyllic setting. Then flat #2. Bruce's rear tire. It was a sharp bit of metal that had gone straight in. He found a nice, shady spot to change the tube & it turned out to be a perfectly timed break. As he told the story the next day, he changed the tire and he changed his attitude at the same time. The day started to look pretty good again.
We reached the end of the trail (made the correct turns this time) and found our way through West Sacramento to the causeway I've always sort of wanted to ride. Well, it would probably be more fun in the winter when all the water birds are crowded into their winter quarters, but it was still nice, especially because we still had only gentle breezes (is the suspense building?). We headed to Davis for a brief break and ice cream (yes, two ice cream breaks - but we rode 90 miles!).
Then the wind found us. Once we were out of Davis, we fought strong headwinds for 20 miles. On top of the 70 we had already ridden, it was not exactly fun. No, not fun at all.
By this time, it really was flat terrain. I still don't know why headwinds are so much harder than hills, but perhaps it is partly because what you are experiencing is so different from what your eyes tell you to expect. So we're pedaling along, thinking 16-17mph, and an early arrival at our destination, but our computers and legs are telling us we'll be lucky to get 10mph. And dinner will be late.
Finally, we made it to Susan's place in Vacaville. She is a wonderful hostess and a terrific cook. Nothing exotic, but everything exactly right. That is what I always like, and at the end of a long day like this one, it's absolutely perfect. Tomato soup, roasted chicken, potatoes, a pasta dish, a salad, homemade brownies, plus all the crackers & cheese, cracked crab, snap peas, cherries, raspberries, just a perfect end to the hard day. Jim drove down to visit, so we all had a wonderful time chatting. Actually, I stayed up talking until after 10:30, which I almost never do even on a restful day. What a treat!
It wasn't all flat terrain, though. Actually, it started with a wonderful downhill - a lovely reversal of the climb we had done on Friday. We had set up a meeting time with Jim at the east end of Folsom Lake & we had to get there quickly. It was fun!
We were a bit late, though, and called him as soon as we arrived. He was later - he was trying to get to us on public transit along with his bike, so we stopped worrying and had a snack. We eventually figured out that his train would drop him a few miles farther down the hill, so we took off down the American River trail. It was lovely, and still mostly downhill. We eventually connected with Jim and Mark, a work friend of Jim's, and set out towards Sacramento. About 1/2 hour out, Jim had a flat. He had no spare tube, so we thought we'd patch it, but it turned out he had Schraeder valves & none of us had pumps that would work on anything but Presta. Mark's house was nearby, so he and Jim headed there to figure things out. Unfortunately, we had a lot of miles left to cover, so we couldn't wait for our ride companions.
The weather was just about perfect. Sunny, warm, a gentle breeze. Gentle at that point, anyway. (Remember when they taught us about foreshadowing in high school English???) We meandered down the trail without making any serious wrong turns until we got to Carmichael. Then we managed to end up on a busy and not very beautiful street for a few miles. That mistake brought us stops at Subway for soup & sandwich, Cold Stone Creamery, and a bike shop where Bruce found some more of the socks he likes, so we weren't too sad about it.
Back to the trail, back to the idyllic setting. Then flat #2. Bruce's rear tire. It was a sharp bit of metal that had gone straight in. He found a nice, shady spot to change the tube & it turned out to be a perfectly timed break. As he told the story the next day, he changed the tire and he changed his attitude at the same time. The day started to look pretty good again.
We reached the end of the trail (made the correct turns this time) and found our way through West Sacramento to the causeway I've always sort of wanted to ride. Well, it would probably be more fun in the winter when all the water birds are crowded into their winter quarters, but it was still nice, especially because we still had only gentle breezes (is the suspense building?). We headed to Davis for a brief break and ice cream (yes, two ice cream breaks - but we rode 90 miles!).
Then the wind found us. Once we were out of Davis, we fought strong headwinds for 20 miles. On top of the 70 we had already ridden, it was not exactly fun. No, not fun at all.
By this time, it really was flat terrain. I still don't know why headwinds are so much harder than hills, but perhaps it is partly because what you are experiencing is so different from what your eyes tell you to expect. So we're pedaling along, thinking 16-17mph, and an early arrival at our destination, but our computers and legs are telling us we'll be lucky to get 10mph. And dinner will be late.
Finally, we made it to Susan's place in Vacaville. She is a wonderful hostess and a terrific cook. Nothing exotic, but everything exactly right. That is what I always like, and at the end of a long day like this one, it's absolutely perfect. Tomato soup, roasted chicken, potatoes, a pasta dish, a salad, homemade brownies, plus all the crackers & cheese, cracked crab, snap peas, cherries, raspberries, just a perfect end to the hard day. Jim drove down to visit, so we all had a wonderful time chatting. Actually, I stayed up talking until after 10:30, which I almost never do even on a restful day. What a treat!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
...and happy anticipation
There are more than ten items on this list, but I'll start with ten to offset my gloomy list from Monday.
1) All sorts of birds, flowers, & views I don't usually get to see.
2) A chance to go at our own pace for months, not just a few miles.
3) A chance to let some challenges recede into that background place in my mind where they seem to resolve themselves without effort.
4) An opportunity to meet people from all over the country. Well, more like the continent. We'll be in Canada for at least one stretch, and possibly (thanks to the problems on Washington's Route 20) two.
5) Time to read every book I can think of to get on my Kindle.
6) Passing, before the middle of the trip, 25,000 on my bike odometer.
7) Gaining confidence in my ability to go anywhere and handle whatever comes up. I've gotten into a lot of comfortable habits & want not to get too dependent on them.
8) A chance to learn a lot more about the geography (hills...) of different parts of the country.
9) Enough training to give me a shot at that time I've been aiming for on the Mount Diablo Challenge when I get back.
10) Lots and lots of ice cream, with no thought of calorie count!
1) All sorts of birds, flowers, & views I don't usually get to see.
2) A chance to go at our own pace for months, not just a few miles.
3) A chance to let some challenges recede into that background place in my mind where they seem to resolve themselves without effort.
4) An opportunity to meet people from all over the country. Well, more like the continent. We'll be in Canada for at least one stretch, and possibly (thanks to the problems on Washington's Route 20) two.
5) Time to read every book I can think of to get on my Kindle.
6) Passing, before the middle of the trip, 25,000 on my bike odometer.
7) Gaining confidence in my ability to go anywhere and handle whatever comes up. I've gotten into a lot of comfortable habits & want not to get too dependent on them.
8) A chance to learn a lot more about the geography (hills...) of different parts of the country.
9) Enough training to give me a shot at that time I've been aiming for on the Mount Diablo Challenge when I get back.
10) Lots and lots of ice cream, with no thought of calorie count!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Worries
1) Snow. There's still a lot of snow on Highway 20, where we are supposed to spend our first week. A lot. They are hoping to be able to open it by Memorial Day weekend, and we are hoping to be able to ride it a few days later.
2) A lot of riding days in a row, early in the trip. Assuming that we can get going at all (see #1).
3) Snow. Cold.
4) Do I have the right shorts? I should know by now, but things seem to be changing. I've just ordered a couple of pairs with minimal chamois. I used to like the really cushy ones.
5) Snow. There's a place we're scheduled to pass in mid-June that AVERAGES 6" of snow in June. Of course, the guy there says it shouldn't be a problem, but he chooses to live in a place that regularly has 6" of snow in June. He probably thinks that's a warm month.
6) Reservations. We've made most of them, but there are a couple of big questions. There's a town in North Dakota with two motels. One is full. The other sees no reason to make reservations so far in advance. They're reserving all the way out to the first week of June right now. They think we could just go on to the next town. Yeah, if we were in a car, the extra 60 miles would be nothing.
7) See 1, 3 & 5.
8) Food. We are so spoiled by the variety available in a coastal urban area like San Francisco. Fresh? No problem. Seafood? Beef? Chicken? Vegan? Vegetarian? Chinese (of any region)? Mexican? Vietnamese? Tapas? Korean? French? Italian? Organic? Cheese? All the variations are out there. We'll sometimes be traveling a lot of miles to find any food at all, and when we arrive, we may have to settle for the convenience store. We'll always carry peanut butter.
9) Maybe I should let go of the cold thing & worry about heat & humidity. I'm reading an account of a very similar ride that happened just a few years ago. It was over 100 for days on end.
10) The biggest one - missing my family, especially the grandchildren who are changing so fast!
2) A lot of riding days in a row, early in the trip. Assuming that we can get going at all (see #1).
3) Snow. Cold.
4) Do I have the right shorts? I should know by now, but things seem to be changing. I've just ordered a couple of pairs with minimal chamois. I used to like the really cushy ones.
5) Snow. There's a place we're scheduled to pass in mid-June that AVERAGES 6" of snow in June. Of course, the guy there says it shouldn't be a problem, but he chooses to live in a place that regularly has 6" of snow in June. He probably thinks that's a warm month.
6) Reservations. We've made most of them, but there are a couple of big questions. There's a town in North Dakota with two motels. One is full. The other sees no reason to make reservations so far in advance. They're reserving all the way out to the first week of June right now. They think we could just go on to the next town. Yeah, if we were in a car, the extra 60 miles would be nothing.
7) See 1, 3 & 5.
8) Food. We are so spoiled by the variety available in a coastal urban area like San Francisco. Fresh? No problem. Seafood? Beef? Chicken? Vegan? Vegetarian? Chinese (of any region)? Mexican? Vietnamese? Tapas? Korean? French? Italian? Organic? Cheese? All the variations are out there. We'll sometimes be traveling a lot of miles to find any food at all, and when we arrive, we may have to settle for the convenience store. We'll always carry peanut butter.
9) Maybe I should let go of the cold thing & worry about heat & humidity. I'm reading an account of a very similar ride that happened just a few years ago. It was over 100 for days on end.
10) The biggest one - missing my family, especially the grandchildren who are changing so fast!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Less than 2 weeks to go
Training. Out of time to do much more. We'll head out for another three day training ride on Friday, then we'll just be getting organized..
Meanwhile, I conquered a hill that I'd not finished before. They really nag at me, those steep hills that manage to make me walk. This one was at about the 75th mile of the Livestrong century ride a couple of years ago, and the temperature was about 90 by the time I got there. It seemed sooo steep! I finally gave in & sat in the shade for a while with quite a few others who had come to the same conclusion. Then I walked up the rest of the way. Only I found that I had almost finished the steep part. Annoying.
It's not in a place that I go very often, at least not with enough time to fit in a ride, so a couple of years passed & I still hadn't climbed it. Last Wednesday, my schedule just begged me to add Metcalf to the day. I set out on a route that would take me to the hill at about mile 3. Just barely enough of a warm up. And it was a nice, cool day. It's steep, yes, but nowhere near as steep as I remembered. And it is beautiful, maybe one of the prettiest routes in the area. I don't remember that at all.
Maybe that is partly because we've had such a wet winter & it's still early enough that there are tons of wildflowers, but I also have to admit that my primary thought on Livestrong day was a whiny, "I thought we'd already done all the climbing!" as I saw the rollers coming up after the summit.
Anyway, this time I was happy and comfortable and loving the flowers, the birds, the creek & trees & farms & cows & horses.
Then I got lost. I only needed to make one turn to get back into territory I'd recognize, and when I saw a familiar street name, I took it. It ended in about a half mile, but there was a bike path that took me through to another road. Its name did not look at all familiar, so I crossed it & continued on the bike path - which soon led me onto a golf course that clearly had no use for bicycles. I was on the cart path. I finally found some guys working on a house who gave me directions. I'd managed to wander into a gated community; they seemed a bit bemused by someone who needed directions but who'd presumably gotten past the gate.
It was easy from there, but it made me think a bit about making a wrong turn in the middle of, say, a state I've never even visited before.
We're walking the 100th Bay to Breakers tomorrow. It's supposed to rain - not too much. I hope plenty of people come out & make it as much fun as it has been in other years. We'll hardly notice the rain that way.
Meanwhile, I conquered a hill that I'd not finished before. They really nag at me, those steep hills that manage to make me walk. This one was at about the 75th mile of the Livestrong century ride a couple of years ago, and the temperature was about 90 by the time I got there. It seemed sooo steep! I finally gave in & sat in the shade for a while with quite a few others who had come to the same conclusion. Then I walked up the rest of the way. Only I found that I had almost finished the steep part. Annoying.
It's not in a place that I go very often, at least not with enough time to fit in a ride, so a couple of years passed & I still hadn't climbed it. Last Wednesday, my schedule just begged me to add Metcalf to the day. I set out on a route that would take me to the hill at about mile 3. Just barely enough of a warm up. And it was a nice, cool day. It's steep, yes, but nowhere near as steep as I remembered. And it is beautiful, maybe one of the prettiest routes in the area. I don't remember that at all.
Maybe that is partly because we've had such a wet winter & it's still early enough that there are tons of wildflowers, but I also have to admit that my primary thought on Livestrong day was a whiny, "I thought we'd already done all the climbing!" as I saw the rollers coming up after the summit.
Anyway, this time I was happy and comfortable and loving the flowers, the birds, the creek & trees & farms & cows & horses.
Then I got lost. I only needed to make one turn to get back into territory I'd recognize, and when I saw a familiar street name, I took it. It ended in about a half mile, but there was a bike path that took me through to another road. Its name did not look at all familiar, so I crossed it & continued on the bike path - which soon led me onto a golf course that clearly had no use for bicycles. I was on the cart path. I finally found some guys working on a house who gave me directions. I'd managed to wander into a gated community; they seemed a bit bemused by someone who needed directions but who'd presumably gotten past the gate.
It was easy from there, but it made me think a bit about making a wrong turn in the middle of, say, a state I've never even visited before.
We're walking the 100th Bay to Breakers tomorrow. It's supposed to rain - not too much. I hope plenty of people come out & make it as much fun as it has been in other years. We'll hardly notice the rain that way.
Friday, May 6, 2011
That name?
No riding yet this week, though we plan to spend some time on Mt. Tam tomorrow.
I've been meaning to explain where the name, winnicycle, comes from. I suppose it could seem to be simply an obvious combination of my name and the fact that I'll be doing a whole lot of cycling in the (very) near future.
Nah.
It's about my unicycle. I figure every time I feel a teeny bit challenged on the big ride, I can just think how much harder it would be on the unicycle.
I've done the Mt. Diablo Challenge a few times now & I plan to do it again this fall. I don't suppose I'll ever be as strong again as I will after this summer, so my chances of improving my time are about as good as they will ever be. What does that have to do with unicycles? That question shows you've never been out there. Quite a few people actually ride that one-that 11 mile, 3500'+ climb - on unicycles. Big ones, that somehow manage to have a place to rest hands. No gears, though. They're sort of the fixies-squared of the event.
So one year, a unicycle passed me fairly early in the day. Another rider asked the guy about the descent. The unicyclist told him it's even harder than the climb - they have to control the cadence all the way down. 11 miles. The next year I managed not to see any unicycles until I was within a couple of miles of the top. Then one passed, and a bicyclist, a guy of roughly my age who happened to be climbing at about my pace, groaned, "I was hoping I wouldn't be passed by a unicycle!"
So I have a lot of winnicycle memories to help me keep things in perspective.
I've been meaning to explain where the name, winnicycle, comes from. I suppose it could seem to be simply an obvious combination of my name and the fact that I'll be doing a whole lot of cycling in the (very) near future.
Nah.
It's about my unicycle. I figure every time I feel a teeny bit challenged on the big ride, I can just think how much harder it would be on the unicycle.
I've done the Mt. Diablo Challenge a few times now & I plan to do it again this fall. I don't suppose I'll ever be as strong again as I will after this summer, so my chances of improving my time are about as good as they will ever be. What does that have to do with unicycles? That question shows you've never been out there. Quite a few people actually ride that one-that 11 mile, 3500'+ climb - on unicycles. Big ones, that somehow manage to have a place to rest hands. No gears, though. They're sort of the fixies-squared of the event.
So one year, a unicycle passed me fairly early in the day. Another rider asked the guy about the descent. The unicyclist told him it's even harder than the climb - they have to control the cadence all the way down. 11 miles. The next year I managed not to see any unicycles until I was within a couple of miles of the top. Then one passed, and a bicyclist, a guy of roughly my age who happened to be climbing at about my pace, groaned, "I was hoping I wouldn't be passed by a unicycle!"
So I have a lot of winnicycle memories to help me keep things in perspective.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Fourth day - out of four, this time
In less than a month the fourth day will be the bare beginning of the big trip. This time, though, it seemed long enough.
We set out from Sea Ranch after a fairly late breakfast. The wind was still pretty quiet, but the fog was in. We didn't see it right away, but a few miles south we encountered some fairly dense areas where we were glad to have our flashing red lights. It was also a little chilly. We had thought of spending another day stopping for the views, but...there weren't all that many. At one point, Bruce said he'd stopped to listen to the ocean; it was not visible.
There were some spots where we got great views, especially later as the fog receded. We did the bigger climb as we approached Jenner; we stopped to watch seals & their babies lounging on the beach just as we entered Jenner; we passed a couple of areas of road construction where we had to stop briefly. And at the second, bumping up over the edge at the south end of the construction area gave me my first flat in a long time, but we were able to change it fast.
We got back in plenty of time for me to get to my tap class - and it was fun, but my legs were pretty tired.
I didn't get to this for a couple of days, so I don't have the numbers handy. I know we rode about 230 miles, climbed about 14,000 feet, and I burned about 7000 calories. No wonder I've been hungry since we got back - it's hard to eat that much extra!
Now we are back into preparation for June.
We set out from Sea Ranch after a fairly late breakfast. The wind was still pretty quiet, but the fog was in. We didn't see it right away, but a few miles south we encountered some fairly dense areas where we were glad to have our flashing red lights. It was also a little chilly. We had thought of spending another day stopping for the views, but...there weren't all that many. At one point, Bruce said he'd stopped to listen to the ocean; it was not visible.
There were some spots where we got great views, especially later as the fog receded. We did the bigger climb as we approached Jenner; we stopped to watch seals & their babies lounging on the beach just as we entered Jenner; we passed a couple of areas of road construction where we had to stop briefly. And at the second, bumping up over the edge at the south end of the construction area gave me my first flat in a long time, but we were able to change it fast.
We got back in plenty of time for me to get to my tap class - and it was fun, but my legs were pretty tired.
I didn't get to this for a couple of days, so I don't have the numbers handy. I know we rode about 230 miles, climbed about 14,000 feet, and I burned about 7000 calories. No wonder I've been hungry since we got back - it's hard to eat that much extra!
Now we are back into preparation for June.
Eagles!
We stopped at the Albion River Bridge so Bruce could take pictures. While he was clicking away, I spotted a bald eagle. Then, suddenly, it was chasing an osprey. Then its mate appeared. What a great stop! We did a lot of stopping today. We took our time having breakfast and set out knowing the wind would not be against us. It was actually a very calm day, very few whitecaps even in the afternoon.
We stopped at a little historical museum in Elk. It was very simple and very local. It was obviously put together by someone who actually knew many of the families mentioned. One little bit that made me laugh - I would not have qualified as a teacher in 1915; I am far too fond of loitering around the ice cream place in town!
We saw everything from the opposite side. I think the views are even better heading south. On the other hand, there was one little climb - seemed like any old descent yesterday, but it was by far our steepest bit when we had to head back up. I was standing and using all the weight I could find to get around one hairpin turn. I guess I really saw the difference in a bike loaded with stuff.
I forgot to add the numbers yesterday: day 2, altitude gained, 3860, miles 59.89, hours 5.46, average speed 10.4, calories burned 1981; day 3, altitude gained 3720, miles 60.74, hours 5.02, average speed 12, calories burned 1673. Total miles so far 175.12, caloriess, 5579.
We stopped at a little historical museum in Elk. It was very simple and very local. It was obviously put together by someone who actually knew many of the families mentioned. One little bit that made me laugh - I would not have qualified as a teacher in 1915; I am far too fond of loitering around the ice cream place in town!
We saw everything from the opposite side. I think the views are even better heading south. On the other hand, there was one little climb - seemed like any old descent yesterday, but it was by far our steepest bit when we had to head back up. I was standing and using all the weight I could find to get around one hairpin turn. I guess I really saw the difference in a bike loaded with stuff.
I forgot to add the numbers yesterday: day 2, altitude gained, 3860, miles 59.89, hours 5.46, average speed 10.4, calories burned 1981; day 3, altitude gained 3720, miles 60.74, hours 5.02, average speed 12, calories burned 1673. Total miles so far 175.12, caloriess, 5579.
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