June 11, 2011
-
Monday, June 6, 2011
It rained Sunday night and was drizzly and cold when I got up. Which made me appreciate that I was in a hotel room even more. Thanks again, Ben! We got to bike parking nice and early because I like to be one of the first riders on the road because I hate lines and also because whatever drama there’s gonna be just gets worse as the day progresses. And it’s very fortunate that we did that because they released people pretty slowly to not piss off Santa Cruz CHP and apparently bike parking was a total shit show and people got very, very angry. To make matters worse the whole thing was being overseen by ALC director Michael Barron and by all accounts he did nothing to help manage the crowds or release them in a fair, orderly manner which unless I’m completely mistaken is kind of his job. It was a total fail on the part of the ALC and they need to be better. It seems very obvious to me that whenever you have a controlled release of riders for one reason or another, there needs to be a plan and there just isn’t any excuse for not having one. I rode as hard as I could but it was a very hard day and it pretty much kicked my ass. The route was very different from last year and I had a little trouble with the signage and ended up getting lost at the end and coming in on the rollers like we did last year instead of the path. I got in a little after 1PM which was a really good time and I was happy with it. There isn’t really any place to go eat in King City so I got cleaned up and waited for dinner. The King City camp site it pretty nice and I slept pretty well.
Bike parking in Santa Cruz:
Strawberry Fields outside of Elk Horn:
Salt marshes outside of Elk Horn:
Rest Stop 2:
The historic Sargent House in Salinas:
The Steinbeck House in Salinas:
Cute overload. OMG! And yes, it’s called Destiny’s Precious Gifts:
Rest stop 3 was completely different and in a pretty park in historic Gonazales instead of the vineyard it was in last year:
Pretty Gonzales:
A view over a vineyard in the Salinas Valley:
I hooked up with my friend Larry and his adorable dog Lulu. I played with her while he took a shower. She’s so adorable!
Superheroes in camp:
Miss Armstrong:
John and Buz:
Bike Mileage:
Today 106.1
Week to date 106.1
Month to date 239.6
Year to date 3,641.2
To Goal 4,358.8
Over (Under) plan 200.1
YTD Mileage vs Last Year (367.8)
Rolling Year 7,047.3
Since Inception 10/1/07 32,146.7
