Had a great night and a good dinner... Tonight's speakers included the 1% for the Planet presentation, which is the group I'm biking with.
Goal is to do the century tomorrow. Bike will be fixed or hacked to work by the time we're out on the road eaaaaarly. 5am van to breakfast and bikes and on the road by 7. Sleep will be outrageously awesome.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Day 2... Welcome to hell
I have no pictures today, only bad, bad, cold memories...
The rain began last night at 11pm and is... Wait let me check... Yep, still going. Everything got wet, although my tent handled the night ok.
The ride was a brutally wet and windy day hovering around 55. The biggest obstacle was Leggett Hill, a monster between the redwood region and the coast of Mendocino County. I made it up the 6 miles then down the looping, winding 12 miles gaining a new appreciation of wind chill factor. As I approached the final hill before the coast (shorter but steeper) my saddle came half unattached... I lost a bolt someplace on Leggett Hill. So, I vanned the rest of the way to Fort Bragg with a bunch of grumpy Climate Riders.
Turns out everyone had a rough day. So much so, we are now taking over the Fort Bragg Quality Inn tonight. Let me tell you: that hot shower was worth everything.
Weather is supposed to improve tomorrow then degrade Wednesday. The bike needs some TLC but I'll deal with it mañana - tonight is about warm food and a warm bed. I'll return to my (hopefully dry) tent tomorrow night.
When it will rain again.
##Sigh.##
The rain began last night at 11pm and is... Wait let me check... Yep, still going. Everything got wet, although my tent handled the night ok.
The ride was a brutally wet and windy day hovering around 55. The biggest obstacle was Leggett Hill, a monster between the redwood region and the coast of Mendocino County. I made it up the 6 miles then down the looping, winding 12 miles gaining a new appreciation of wind chill factor. As I approached the final hill before the coast (shorter but steeper) my saddle came half unattached... I lost a bolt someplace on Leggett Hill. So, I vanned the rest of the way to Fort Bragg with a bunch of grumpy Climate Riders.
Turns out everyone had a rough day. So much so, we are now taking over the Fort Bragg Quality Inn tonight. Let me tell you: that hot shower was worth everything.
Weather is supposed to improve tomorrow then degrade Wednesday. The bike needs some TLC but I'll deal with it mañana - tonight is about warm food and a warm bed. I'll return to my (hopefully dry) tent tomorrow night.
When it will rain again.
##Sigh.##
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Your bike is busted...
That's not what the mechanic told me, but it's practically true.
But first... The rest of the ride. My blogging went downhill for two reasons: (a) no signal - I expect that to be an issue for much of the ride and (b) the dynamo? Mmm, yeah not so much. I need to start with lots of juice and not draw do much. That means no streaming football games and even more sadly, no more tracking my ride with the gps. Total bummer.
The bike. Yeah, so the bearings in my rear wheel are shot. It rides, but when I coast downhill my chain loses tension, and it's a bit of an issue. Next bike shop is at water break 2. That's good. Bad? I have a 12 mile decent tomorrow. Rather than coast it I might have to pedal. I'm prepared to hate tomorrow, but we'll see. The upside is we bike to the coast.
Did I mention it's likely to rain all day? Yeah. Awesome.
Yoga tomorrow at 7... off to sleep. Here's some more cool pics through the Avenue of the Giants today. Simply awesome.
But first... The rest of the ride. My blogging went downhill for two reasons: (a) no signal - I expect that to be an issue for much of the ride and (b) the dynamo? Mmm, yeah not so much. I need to start with lots of juice and not draw do much. That means no streaming football games and even more sadly, no more tracking my ride with the gps. Total bummer.
The bike. Yeah, so the bearings in my rear wheel are shot. It rides, but when I coast downhill my chain loses tension, and it's a bit of an issue. Next bike shop is at water break 2. That's good. Bad? I have a 12 mile decent tomorrow. Rather than coast it I might have to pedal. I'm prepared to hate tomorrow, but we'll see. The upside is we bike to the coast.
Did I mention it's likely to rain all day? Yeah. Awesome.
Yoga tomorrow at 7... off to sleep. Here's some more cool pics through the Avenue of the Giants today. Simply awesome.
8 miles, first break?
Yep.
And PS I'll be damned if I don't have my Bills on if "we" have a shot at 4-0. Thank you Internet, cell phone streaming and 97 Rock...
And PS I'll be damned if I don't have my Bills on if "we" have a shot at 4-0. Thank you Internet, cell phone streaming and 97 Rock...
Day 1...
I've never been a morning person. Then I started biking. I'm still not a morning person but the morning of a big trip I'm up and at em. I promised myself I'd wait til sunrise before I got really going.
Yeah that didn't happen. I took this shot after a shower and a cup of coffee and... Well it was pitch black when I was rockin it all out. The crazy breakfast setup for all 120 of us is getting up to speed so I'll stop writing and get me some calories. I'll need them!
Yeah that didn't happen. I took this shot after a shower and a cup of coffee and... Well it was pitch black when I was rockin it all out. The crazy breakfast setup for all 120 of us is getting up to speed so I'll stop writing and get me some calories. I'll need them!
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