Day 4 is a challenging ride into Santa Maria with a lot of climbing.  I got an early start and had a great ride.  I got in at about 1PM and I was #13 in. 

I got a couple pics of Rest Stop 2 which was north of Morro Beach:

Llamas!

Super cute Mike:

Me in Santa Maria:

We were staying in a hotel again so we got checked in and then we went out for lunch.  Del Taco.  Don't ask.  Then we headed back to camp:

Chris:

I was very happy to see David finish.  He looked great!

After dinner I went back to the hotel and went to bed.  I was completely beat.

Bike Mileage:

Today 97.7 Week to date 273.6 Month to date 356.1 Year to date 4,595.0 To Goal 3,405.0 Over (Under) plan 1,110.1 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 887.1 Rolling Year 6,375.2 Since Inception 10/1/07 38,521.9

Day 3 was a pretty trip to Paso Robles.  It wasn't a long day but there were some big hills.  A bunch of the roadies were really worn out from having to deal with all the bikes that sagged in the day before.  It was kind of a disaster.  I had a good ride and was in at about 10:30 and was the 8th rider in.  Here I am in camp:

We got a hotel room at the Adelaide in Pas Robles.  I didn't tell Jim about it until that morning.  I knew I'd never hear the end of "We stayed in hotel rooms and I didn't get the full Lifecycle experience because we weren't in camp"  unless I let him hate camping independently.  Which I did.  By Tuesday morning he didn't want to see the inside of a tent ever again.  This is our room.  Quaint:

I went to bed early but Jim went out drinking with the roadies and was a total drunken disaster by the time he got home.  God smiles on me by making my tent mate a trashier, messier queen than me so for once I can know how everybody else feels.

Bike Mileage:

Today 66.7 Week to date 175.9 Month to date 258.4 Year to date 4,497.3 To Goal 3,502.7 Over (Under) plan 1,034.3 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 856.1 Rolling Year 6,383.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 38,424.2

Day 2 was a lots of fun.  We got out a little early to help us clear Santa Cruz traffic and I was one of the first ones out of the gate.  Which was very fortunate.  It started raining outside of Marina and it rained on me until I was about 10 miles outside of Salinas.  It was wet but it wasn't cold so it was still OK for riding.  I rode hard all day and got in at about 1PM and was the 5th rider.  I think that' probably my fastest time ever for a century.  The weather was a little more serious for the riders behind me.  They got a lot more rain than I did and also it got a lot cooler and a little hail even fell.  ALC stopped the ride at lunch and bussed 1,200 riders in.  Which was very unfortunate for all of them but these things happen.  This is me in camp in King City:
 

We got cleaned up and marched over to Denny's where I ate a veggie burger and fries and they were very good.  Here's Jim:

Camp had filled up a bit more by the time we got back:

I stayed up as late as I could.  Which was 7:30.  Then I went to bed.

Bike Mileage:

Today 109.2 Week to date 109.2 Month to date 191.7 Year to date 4,430.6 To Goal 3,569.4 Over (Under) plan 989.5 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 895.5 Rolling Year 6,399.4 Since Inception 10/1/07 38,357.5

I was up at 3AM for day 1.  I got the rest of my luggage together and then we headed over to the Cow Palace for opening ceremonies.  I ran into tons of people I know. 

Emily:

Gordon and David:

John and Jeff: 

Brian and Joel.  Who I love.  They're the funnest nicest guys.  They were talking to a group of people when I saw them and I came up behind Brian and groped him from underneath.  Which is trashy, tacky behavior.  But when his friends saw what I was doing there was actually an audible gasp.  An audible gasp.  Which was so fucking funny.  It totally made my day.  And Brian and Joel thought it was hilarious:

Opening Ceremonies:

Me:

Bike Parking:

Here are the riders waiting to be released:

We started off and as the first part of the ride is a hill I was able to get ahead of most of the slower riders immediately.  We headed off to Lake Merced than up Skyline.  I stopped at Rest Stop 2 in Half Moon Bay for snack and took some pics:

This is near Pescadero Beach:

Then I headed into Rest Stop 3 whenre I saw my friend Gabo who looked super sexy as usual:

I rode into camp from Rest Stop 3.  I got in around noon and I was the 10th rider in.  Here we are lounging:

I got cleaned up and then found Jim and then we went into Santa Cruz for a burrito with my friend Christian.  Then we headed back to camp and walked around the redwoods in camp a little:

Jim in the redwoods:

Bike Mileage:

Today 82.5 Week to date 172.4 Month to date 82.5 Year to date 4,321.4 To Goal 3,678.6 Over (Under) plan 902.2 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 868.8 Rolling Year 6,290.2 Since Inception 10/1/07 38,248.3

I got up early and headed over to the Cow Palace with Beau to check in for the Lifecycle.  Day 0 is a busy, crazy day and I had a zillion things to do and then go home and pack.   We got in very early and then headed over to bike parking to get rid of our bikes.  Here are Beau and Buz waiting in line with me at bike parking:

Then we headed to the safety video and then registration.  They made an error at registration and almost gave somebody else my rider number which would have also given them my tent and my tentmate.  That would have been a huge pain in the ass but luckily I spotted my number from across the room and marched over to claim it. I got a ride home from Grady and was home pretty early.  Like noonish or something.  I got packed up and then we had dinner and I went to bed.  I had a big day on Sunday.

Friday we got up early because we had a lot to do before the dinner party we were having that night.  We headed out to Kaiser and then down to work to pick up the Lifecycle jersey that my company team got.  Then we went down to the Ferry building to buy some meat and then we headed home and I started cooking.  I made cassoulet, a fish dip called brandade de morue, and a champagne jelly for dessert with fresh berries.  I was pleased with the way everything turned out.  The brandade didn't prove to be as popular as I thought it would be but Mr. Poe absolutely loved it so it's a big win by default.  The cassoulet was pretty straightforward and I didn't have any problems with it.  The jelly looked spectacular and I think everybody really liked it.  Here's the dogs mid way from me cooking.  I'm exhausticating them with all my cookin':

I went to bed pretty early.  Day 0 was gonna be a long day.

Thursday we got an early start and walked over to Alamo Square and then got on the Fulton bus and got off at the Rose Garden which looked beautiful.  Jim:

Jim in the Shakespeare Garden:

Jim in the observation tower:

Me:

The view:

Then we headed into the De Young for the Gaultier exhibit.  And they let us take pics!!!  It was fantastic and we both loved it:

We headed upstairs to see the Maya exhibit where we saw this piece which apparently represents dogs fucking:

We headed home and hung out.  Here's me on our front porch with the little ones in my lap:

I went to bed surprisingly early.  It had been a long day.

Wednesday was a busy day.  I started off taking the bike down to REI to get a little last lovin' before the Lifecycle.   I got home and headed down to the Castro to get a few things for dinner but Molly Stone's was having an expensive day so I stormed my ass down to Safeway to get the last things I needed.  I got home and roasted a pork tenderloin, scalloped some potatoes, and made something called 'WOW-WOW sauce'.  It's this 19thc British invention and the name is all shades of awesome.  You can find the recipe here.  After I got the kitchen cleared up I headed off and got some salt cod from Lucca on Valencia from some Brandade de Morue I was making on Friday.  Then I made it down to the airport to pick up Jim.  I was early and I hung out in Bayshore park while I waited:

Swiss A340!:

Me:

I collected Jim and we headed home to get ready for dinner.  The pork turned out well and the wow wow sauce was super popular.  But the potatoes weren't cooked long enough and weren't soft enough and that's  a stupid mistake I shouldn't have made.  And dessert was a total disaster.  I made a clafouti and although the end product looked just like pics on the internets, the texture what not at all what I expected and nobody would touch it but Nathan who only ate it under protest.  I'm not sure if it's what I made or whether it's clafouti in general but yuck.  The last straw was when I tried to flambe some cherry sauce I was making.  Results:

Ah, well.  You can't win 'em all.