Well, we woke up and it was *still* cold and wet and muddy, but at least it wasn't raining. Today was an 85 mile day, from Pinnacles to Paso Robles. And it stayed sunny! This was the first of 3 absolutely gorgeous days. We were told to expect the "Half-Mile Hill from Hell" on this ride..we had to get out of the mountains around Pinnacles before hitting the flats on the way to Paso Robles. We got back onto Hwy 25, crossed Hwy 198 and continued on Peach Tree Lane. This road is about as wide as 2 sidewalks, or maybe a sidewalk and the driveway part between the sidewalk and the curve, but is mostly well paved. It winds through the bottom of a long winding "canyon"...well, okay, not a canyon but we *were* surrounded by hills, tall grass, occasional trees, and small fauna. About 10 miles down this road, just as you're wondering if you missed a turn but thinking you couldn't have because there *were* no intersections, we find a nice flourescent chalk message (that's how our turns were marked) saying "Yes, this *IS* the right road!!" heehee. Peach Tree Lane turned into Indian Valley Road, where we discovered that the half-mile hill was after *several* very steep, very short hills, but those hills had short (500 feet or so) flat areas between them so you could rest up a little bit. Lunch was just *before* the Hill from Hell, but I was very happy to see it there. Of course, the port-o-potties had been 2 miles back with no sign on them to tell us that there weren't going to be any at lunch (Bad Thing!), and no one was about to go back down those last 2 miles. So with a now-full belly of food we head out to tackle the hill, and ooooooh boy, you come across it very suddenly. A right turn and you see this wall in front of you, but it's not so high, so you climb that (standing up and pedaling, feeling those glutes *really* work) and realize that about 20 feet from the top of that hill you have another hill, about the same length and steepness. At the top of that hill, you turn left and see 2 more hills, and a possible 3rd beyond that. Yes, it really was 3 more of these butt-killers. Now, remember...we've been told to expect this hill, but we weren't told of all the other hills beforehand! Well, I made it up all 5 hills...you just have to stop wanting to get to the top, and just focus on pushing each pedal down, keeping that momentum going, and then before you know it you're actually at the top! And oh, what a sight...you reach that crest and an entire new valley is spread out before you, and you go a little further up a now-insignificant grade and those two guys you saw back at Fort Mason in skirts with pom-poms are at the top, doing a cheer, and you start chuckling and suddenly, you're just not as tired as you were when you cleared that crest. About 300 feet later, a few boxes of bananas and granola bars make up a psuedo SAG 3.5, a kind of reward for making it up the hill. The next 3.5 miles or so are downhill, followed by another couple slight hills and yet another long downhill (we were at over 2000 feet, crossing well into the 1000 feet zone). After SAG 4 (Indian Valley Rd and Hare Canyon Rd) we are told that it's all flat the rest of the way into Paso Robles...which is true, in a way, but the headwind pretty much still kept me in 3rd (and sometimes 2nd!) gear. *That* was tiring! However, I just keep pedaling and re-applying the sunscreen at each SAG stop. As we come out of the canyons, and start seeing signs of civilization, we find a wonderfully cheerful drag queen welcoming us back into Civilization! Only 10 more miles into camp, around a few farms and ranches. I roll on in about 4:30 or so to camp: the Paso Robles fairgrounds...and discover that the one kind of weed I'm allergic to is quite proliferate all over the fairground grass. *sigh* But the wind dies down at night and I'm breathing better soon. At this point, Lise and I have worked out a system w/ the tent: she always gets in before me, gets the tent, sets it up, gets her gear, and goes to the shower. While she's in the shower (I'm serious...for the rest of the trip our timing was this close!) I ride in, check my bike, grab 2 foam pads on the way to the tent site, put them in the tent and move her gear on top of the pads, and leave to get my gear. I usually see her on the way back from the showers while I'm on my way to the equipment truck. I get my gear, grab my shower stuff, and shower while she's getting in line for food, and I meet her in the dinner area afterwards. Then in the morning, I get up first, get coffee and food (in that order!), come back, wake her up, we both get dressed, she packs up and takes her gear w/ her to breakfast and turns in her foam pad, I pack up and break down the tent, then take the tent and foam pad in on my way to put my gear in the equipment truck. I then get my bike, and usually end up leaving just after her. By this time my "time required to get ready" has dropped by about 45 minutes as we figure out how to roll up the tent so the air doesn't get trapped, etc. I'm now getting up at 6am, out by 7:20. Also, this is the first night it isn't raining, so we get our entertainment! First, however, Lori Jean (Exec. Director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center) makes her safety report and announcements, and Michael Abels does the route report for the next day. We learn a bit of an interesting statistic from Lori Jean...last year, with 500 riders, the average SAG rate (people who get driven to camp for various reasons, technical or physical) was about 5-15/day, and on the rainy days maybe as many as 40. Tuesday, 600 people got sagged in. Wednesday (a *nice* day), 400 people got sagged in. She asked that those who knew that they weren't going to make the whole route to please just not ride that day, but instead take the morning bus into the next camp and perhaps volunteer to help out the crew set up, or get a head start setting up tents for other riders. Plus, she gave us the injury report...6 people in the hospital that day. One woman had abdominal pains, and was airlifted out from the valley that lunch was above; another rider had her life saved by her helmet when she slid on the sand and gravel at the bottom of a long hill, at the apex of a sharp right turn (I'd noticed that sand on my way down; just missed it by about 4 inches!). Other small things; pulled muscles or tendons. She reminded us, no drafting, call out "on your left"...while at first many people thought that was silly, it wasn't long before most riders really realized the importance to the people they are passing that they do call out. Plus by this time we've adopted another very important phrase..."Car Back!!". On some of these roads, you don't see non-Ride-associated cars for a long time, and the roads are narrow, so some people will start riding 2 abreast, sometimes 3...dangerous if a vehicle passes without warning. Anyway, after that and Michaels preview of Day 4, Loretta Ferguson, a singer *and* rider, does a solo performance w/ her guitar and I have to say she's got a fantastic voice. She was followed by a band I really didn't care much for, though, so I headed off to sleep...after taking the ibuprofin, of cousrse...
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