O Barbara, Where Art Thou?

Sunday Sept 16, 2012  San Francisco to Santa Cruz California

After a fun filled rest day in San Francisco we were back on the road today. On our day off, Mark and I walked to Union Square and then down to Ghirardelli Square. That's a picture of me eating a hot fudge sundae...for BREAKFAST. Yeah, that's right. Breakfast. And, just to be clear, I'd do it again tomorrow if I could. Outrageously delicious. Technically, since we ate it at 10:45, it was more brunch than breakfast, but either way it was good! Look how happy I am. Happy happy happy. Then we met up with his first boss Esther Lem who lives in Palo Alto.  It was great to see her and catch up after so many years. In a weird coincidence she has hired several interns from Colgate, some of whom have known both our daughter Samantha and son Adam. Small world, isn't it? Then it was on to Dim Sum (we were in Chinese food withdrawal). I don't look happy eating the dim sum, but I was. I was just tired of Mark taking pictures of me. Dim sum was goooooooooood.

Then we went out on the BART to the southeast part of the Bay area to see Mark's cousins in Danville – Stephanie and Adam Tennant and their kids.  It was a real treat for us to get to see Clayton, Hailey, and Bo and just to hang out and do something normal.  Mark got to watch ace ballplayer Clayton at his baseball practice and then Mark tried to jinx Clayton's love of the Oakland A's (Clayton went to the A's game last night). Hailey just got her braces off and looks amazing, plus she is adorable and quite funny.We especially loved hearing the Mom/daughter banter between her and Stephanie. We taught Bo to repeat the famous line from the movie Psycho that "...a boy's best friend is his mother...". That made us all laugh. After dinner with the Tennant's it was back on the BART to San Francisco and bed.  Here are some pictures Mark took of me yesterday:

The title of today's blog refers to my new friend Barb Soley who rode with us from Astoria to San Francisco.  We said goodbye this morning in San Francisco and I will miss her.  Barb and I rode together a fair bit these last 2 weeks.  She's a really special person and was tons of fun (as is her husband John).  She's smart and capable and inspired me with her riding.  I hope she and John will stay in touch with us and maybe even come to visit us in Toronto. Now that Mark's retired, I am sure we'll do a road trip to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and visit them. O Barbara - Where art thou???

Today I chose to miss the initial 30 miles out of San Francisco (according to the ABB riders, I made the right call – I didn't miss much) and I took a ride in the van.  I understand that the first 30 miles involved a lot of climbing and twists and turns so I was happy to miss that part.  I was joined in the van by Shirley who is nursing a bad knee.  Shirley and her husband Howard (who is also on this ride) did the cross country ride with Mark in 2010. She's a very strong rider and a very nice woman.  I hope she feels better and can ride tomorrow.  I rode the last 61 miles (out of a possible 91, who thinks 61 miles aren't enough?) and there was still plenty of climbing.  Here are my stats:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/223657608

The ride today mostly meandered along the Pacific coast and the weather was mostly clear and sunny.  What spectacular vistas we had.  Here is a really nice picture Joe took of Mark and I.

After the 2nd SAG, Mark and I rode with Joe and Jeff (2 of the Geldings).  We did a paceline for about 8 miles and I'm proud to say I was able to keep up with them and even lead at the front for about a mile.  Thanks Jeff and Joe for letting me have my moment in the sun.  We passed a really pretty lighthouse and Mark took this picture of me.

We arrived in the town of Santa Cruz which has some beautiful beachfront properties but then when you get into the actual town, it's kind of kitschy; roller coasters, ferris wheels, arcades and a concrete boardwalk.  Mark took some video, I hope these links work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyaO7HrXQWc&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU9RMYtewao&feature=youtu.be

This being Erev Rosh Hashanah, I checked out synagogues in Santa Cruz and considered going but I was too hungry to miss dinner (the service was starting at 6:45).  I guess I'll have a lot to atone for on Yom Kippur next week.  Someone sent this picture to Mark and I thought you might enjoy it.  Wishing you all a very happy and healthy New Year.

Back in the Saddle Again

Friday Sept 15, 2012  Petaluma to San Francisco California

I'm happy to report that I was back on the bike today (with 2 pairs of shorts) and had a fantastic day.  We started off in Petaluma and a mere 50 miles later, we arrived in the beautiful city of San Francisco.  I was able to ride the whole way in relative comfort.  You know you have bonded with your fellow riders when they all ride past you and ask how your bum feels...true war buddies!!!

What a day we had.  We rode through about 20 miles of farm country until we reached Marin County.  We travelled through several quaint and rather affluent towns until we reached Sausalito.  We were riding in a pretty big group (about 10 of us) for most of the route after the first SAG.  We caught our first glimpse of San Francisco Bay as the fog dissipated and the sun came out.  There were many twists and turns and we took a few wrong ones, but managed to make our way to Sausalito in time for lunch.  After lunch it was time to get to the Golden Gate Bridge.  We approached the bridge from underneath, rode a steep climb up to the bridge entrance and then crossed the bridge.

It's hard to describe the feeling of crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on your own bike...there are lots of people riding comfort rental bikes, but that wasn't us.  We had pedalled for 12 days (in my case 10) to get here and we were all doing this on our own set of wheels and proudly wearing our America by Bicycle jerseys. I stood on that bridge for a while today and I watched hundreds of commuters in their cars zooming over that bridge, as they probably do every weekday of the year. I am sure they didn't notice how drop-dead gorgeous the view of their spectacular city is. It was downright breathtaking (sorry, I have to use that word again). The emotions you can experience on a trip like this are unlike anything else I have felt before in my life. The only thing I am certain of is that I wouldn't have felt this way (at various points in this trip) if we had driven a car everywhere. As for the rest of it, I guess that's the way things are. You take things for granted when you are exposed to them every day. I wonder if there is a lesson for us all in that thought...hmmmmmm...

After crossing the bridge we made our way to the hotel.  Tonight we met up with Mark's former Media Director, Ira and her husband Jagdish and had a delicious meal at a restaurant in our area.  It was great to see Ira and to get to know Jagdish.  Ira has been living in the Bay area for about 2 1/2 years now and she looks great and seems very happy in her new life.  It took them over 90 minutes to drive in to meet us and Mark and I really appreciated the effort.

Now, we are doing laundry. Oh the glamour of a cross-country cycling trip. We're looking forward to a great day off (our saddles) tomorrow. Check in to see where we are going next.

Here are the Garmin stats for today (only 50 miles and 3300 feet of climbing).

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/222723643

Another "Vantastic" day!

Thursday Sept 13, 2012  Cloverdale to Petaluma California

Today was another day in the van for me.  Things "down below" are better after 2 days off and I should be good to go tomorrow.  I'm going to ride with 2 pairs of shorts and a new butt cream courtesy of Margo Addison (a super-nice lady who was one of Mark's co-riders on the North 2010 trip and who was with us for the first leg of this trip).  The new cream is appropriately called DZNUTS and the tag lines are "only the finest ingredients for your goods" and "protect your junk".

We drove out of Cloverdale and were quite quickly in wine country.  I wished I knew more about wines and grapes to better appreciate what I was seeing.  I kept thinking of the movie Sideways, Bottle Shock, and the Parent Trap (Lindsay Lohan) as we were driving amongst the vineyards.  There must be hundreds of wineries in this area.  I'm sure each one is growing different kinds of grapes but I couldn't tell you the differences except that some had nicer houses than others.  When advertisers tell you about retirees who want to move to this area, drive a vintage Jaguar ragtop and own a vineyard, they must film those commercials around here.

The SAG was just short of the halfway point and Margo Addison sent brownies and strawberries that were quickly gobbled up by the riders.  Tracey had a flat rear tire at the SAG and I watched as our tour leader Mike Munk quickly and elegantly changed his tire in about 2 minutes.  He makes it look so easy given that a normal rider takes 10+ minutes to do this.  I don't want to curse myself so I won't mention that I haven't had a ____tire yet.

Since I wasn't out of the van today, I'm posting the pictures here that Mark took.

Notice the Raymond Burr "Ironside" winery?

I'm very excited for tomorrow's ride to San Francisco.  We aren't leaving here until a little later in the morning so that by the time we get to the Golden Gate Bridge it might not be in fog.  Mark and I haven't been to San Francisco since 1986 when we were here with Vance and Susan Cooper and we were so young and poor that the four of us shared a room!!!

Massages and visits with friends and family are in our plans for Friday evening and our day off on Saturday in San Francisco.  I'm sure we'll find some time to eat a little Chinese food too as Mark and I are starting to get the shakes from Dim Sum withdrawal.

Behind the SAG van doors

Wednesday Sept 12, 2012  Ft. Bragg to Cloverdale California

Thank you Barb Soley for today's blog title.

I didn't ride today so I spent the day in the van with Barb Munk and another rider, Cindy from Colorado.  I was cranky at not being able to ride but they made my day enjoyable and it was nice getting to know them both.  My "crotch" issues are still going on so I might take tomorrow off too.  I'm going to try to sit on my bike seat in the morning and make a game time decision.  A couple of experienced riders have suggested 2 pairs of shorts so I'll try that.  I really want to be able to ride into San Francisco on Friday so that's my focus right now...if that means staying in the van another day I will.

Life in the van is not easy.  Barb has a big responsibility driving the van and hauling that big ABB trailer behind.  It's certainly not like driving a sports car, any resemblance to a Porsche is purely coincidental but she handles the van as if it were one.  The roads are far from wide and given that there are 26 ABB riders out there, I think she handles the job amazingly well.  It's also amazing to me that between Barb and whomever is driving the white van, they know where everyone is at all times and who needs help.  I also got a few insights into life on the road...ABB rider romances, divorces and family dynamics...but what happens in the van stays in the van.

We started the day in foggy conditions and it was quite cool until after the first SAG.  The first SAG was in a park and Barb showed me this beautiful tree canopy in this picture.

Amazing Redwoods

After we left the SAG, we went from Redwoods to Red Wines. Hello wine country.  Like 2 miles after we exited the Redwood forest, there we were among lush golden brown hills.  The temperature must have gone up about 20 degrees Fahrenheit in the time it took the cyclists to ride 2 miles.  I've never been to this part of California and was amazed at the number of vineyards lining the hills.  Here is a picture Mark took today of Joe riding beside one of the many vineyards.

We made our way fairly quickly to the 2nd SAG where we parked by the side of the road.  We were parked across from the quintessential California organic store...guy behind the counter with bad facial hair and a bad gray braid...uneven wood floor and a 60 year old wall fridge stocked with the latest in organic bottled water brands like "Fiji".  They did have a nice prepared foods counter where I bought some really good slaw with peanuts.  Just because I'm not riding doesn't mean I can't eat!!!  

I'm hoping I can ride tomorrow, it will be the first day in a while without a lot of climbing.  If not tomorrow, Friday at the latest.  Tomorrow is Petaluma California.  Mark says it's the home of the ABC Wide World of Sports wrist wrestling capital of the world.  Should be special.

Failure is not an option

Tuesday Sept 11, 2012 Garberville to Ft. Bragg California

Today was definitely the toughest day so far.  As I was struggling to finish, Tracey (a really nice guy and fellow cyclist) rode by me and said "failure is not an option" and he is right.  His words kept me pedalling so that I was able to finish the day.

I'm not sure what it was about today but I felt out of sorts all day long.  We started climbing almost immediately out of the hotel and it felt like we were climbing all day long.  The reason it felt that way is because we were climbing all day long.  When we weren't climbing we were riding into a 30km wind.  My Garmin shows 5886 feet of climbing over 69 miles.  I'm not sure if it was just a really tough day or if I just wasn't mentally prepared for this ride.  Either way, here are my stats:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/221714232

I took off early from the first SAG to get a jump on the big climb.  Mark stayed behind and bought a great turkey, bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich from a shop beside the SAG stop.  He put it in the van, marked it "The Duchess" and surprised me with it at the second SAG.  He thinks of everything (he even helped me finish it before we pressed on for the last 20 miles a few hours later). After climbing up to 1900 feet, descending down to almost sea level again, and then climbing back up to 850 feet (which took an eternity for this 53 year old girl), we finally kicked out of the hills onto the Pacific coastline.  It was spectacularly beautiful in the sunshine and the scenery did not disappoint.  Here is a great picture Mark took of the coastline and a really nice picture of Mark and I.

I was never so happy to see a hotel as I was today.  We are staying at America's Best Value Inn in Ft Bragg (need I say more???)  The best part of this hotel is that it's only a block to Starbuck's.  I haven't had a latte since Tillamook (last Sunday) and boy did this one taste good.

Here is some video Mark took today as we were riding along the coast.  It's hard to describe how rugged and uninhabited it is around here.  You are riding along these roads and there is no one around and then you see a house, just one single lone house, perched up on the cliff.  Then there won't be another house for 5 miles or so. Imagine waking up every morning to that view!!! There is a lot of cattle ranching in these dry golden hills. When you ride this coast you see why this is called the Golden State, that's for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCcSZDfLoRI&feature=youtu.be

I have an admission to make though. This amount of cycling is definitely out of my zone. As for the climbing, well, as New Jersey Wiseguys would say, "fugget-about" it. I've said it before, but it bears repeating. The climbing is killing me. Also, to quote a funny line from the movie City Slickers..."...and I've got some sort of rash...". I truly hope I can get on the bike tomorrow, but right now it is a 50/50 proposition at best. This trip is amazing. I am learning so much about myself, almost all of which is good...really good. The people on this trip are great. Everyone is always asking about me, encouraging me, giving me advice, and so on.

One more great picture courtesy of Mike Munk:

A Signature Day, in more ways than one

September 10, 2012  Eureka to Garberville California

I don't know how to put today into words.  It was one of those days that I'll probably remember for the rest of my life.  After about 40 miles of simply rather remarkable riding, we entered the Avenue of the Giants – this is the road carved through the bulk of the California Redwoods. Without a doubt, this is one of the signature days of this (or any other) ride. Mark was a couple of miles behind me as he was having trouble with his gearing and I made the turn onto Avenue of the Giants by myself.

There were no cars around and I was by myself and there was no sound, save for the sound of my bike along the pavement.  This was like riding through a cathedral. Thousands of giant redwood trees silently standing as a citadel against – well – I don't know what against. Time? I can't describe the emotions that started running through me.  I'm a little embarrassed but, out of nowhere, I started crying...thinking about how lucky I am to be seeing these sights, how lucky I am to be well enough to ride my bike here, how lucky I am that my family is all well enough that I can leave for 3 weeks, how lucky I am to have Mark by my side, how lucky I am to be with this amazing group of riders (in particular Barb Soley, my riding mate, without whom I am not sure I would have made it this far; actually I have no idea how I am going to make it through the third leg of this trip without her!).

I thought about how hard I've worked in my life to pedal to this spot in time.  I started thinking about my dad and how much he would have loved that I'm doing this.  These Redwood trees are between 1,500 and 5,000 years old and there is something mystical about them.  Apparently, the fact that I suddenly started crying is not news on rides like this. According to Barb (one of our ride leaders) many other cyclists have experienced this at various points in their rides. I remember a couple of years ago during Mark's ride across America, one of the riders (I think it was Katie) had that experience. I wonder why that happens? Could it be that it occurs when circumstances (whatever they are) force an individual to look deep inside themselves to see what lies at their foundation?  Once you look that deep, you begin to learn things about yourself you didn't even know you should ask about. Either that, or we're just really really f-ing tired!

After a couple of miles of this reflection I joined up with some of the other riders and Jeff took this picture of me.

The Avenue of the Giants continued for about 30 miles passing through the town of Myers Flat where I went through the Drive Through Tree.  Here you have the "opportunity" to pay $3 to ride your bike through a tree big enough for a car.  It was the first real touristy thing we've done but you've got to do it. How many times will we be here on bikes?  I think I am safe to answer that question with a "once".

The Garmin today shows 79.8 miles and 3800 feet of climbing.  I've attached the stats:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/221331925

We finished the day in Garberville California which is known as the weed capital of California...could smell it on the way into town.  Rushed into the hotel, showered and went to dinner at a pizza joint just across the parking lot from the hotel.  Since we didn't have any lunch, dinner at 4:30 seemed normal. Imagine that. I'm spent, but not as bad as yesterday.  

This experience is amazing.  Thank you to everyone back home for your words of support and encouragement.  It means the world to Mark and I.  We love you guys and miss you.

Eureka!!! I'm tired...

Sunday Sept 9, 2012  Crescent City to Eureka California

I'm so tired I can barely type so this one is going to be short.  Today was a long day (the understatement of the year).  We rode 83.7 miles, climbed over 5000 feet and I was on the saddle for 6 hours and 47 minutes.  This is the longest I've ever ridden and the highest I've ever climbed (1250 feet).  I'm attaching my Garmin stats in case you want to see them.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/220928734

We saw some amazing sights today, starting with Redwood trees.   We cycled through several Redwood forests and I'm told that these trees are toothpicks compared with the ones we will see tomorrow at the "Avenue of the Giants".  We rode for a while along the California coast and the scenery there was spectacular.

Duchie just fell asleep. It's 7:28PM here, and it's now Mark here and I have taken over the blogging for the rest of the night. Duchie is lying here half-moaning, half sleeping. She is not, however, too tired to punch me in the stomach every 2 minutes to ask me how she ever got talked into doing this. I will tell you that this is TOUGH TOUGH TOUGH riding. It's hard to convey just how much 5,000 feet of climbing is on top of the 135 kms Duchie rode today. It's like riding from our house to St. Catherines, and also riding up Blue Mountain 10 times. Crazy. Yet, here's Duchie, doing it! Not only is she doing it, but she even finished with a flurry, leading a couple of riders in a makeshift paceline the last 5 miles into the sprawling metropolis known as Eureka California. Just a side note, in one 2 mile stretch entering town, we passed a spanking new Target, a charming gentrified "Old Town", a monstrously seedy mission (The Eureka Mission), and a sad part of town. Dinner was at a local BBQ that, at first blush, didn't look so great. However, first impressions can be wrong. Duchie and I each demolished the BBQ chicken dinner and it was delicious.

Duchie just rolled a little again. Then she moaned. Then she hit me. Hard.

On a separate note, yesterday in Crescent City (nickname "Crescent Shitty"), Duchie and I got massages, and then Duchie got a manicure. We did laundry, went for lunch, and then for dinner. At dinner we sat with John and Barb Soley, from Cleveland. John did the cross-country ride with me 2 years ago and he came on this trip with his wife. We were swapping stories last night and we heard that their relationship mirrors the relationship Susan and I have had. John and Barb met in high school. So did me and Duchie. One of them helped the other do their homework. So did me and Duchie. John followed an entrepreneurial path and Barb went the corporate path. So did me and Duchie. We could not believe how similar our lives have been. It was a fun dinner getting to know them better. You can see Barb and John in a number of our pictures, which you can see on Mark's and my Facebook pages. They are both very good cyclists.

Uh-oh...Duchie just moaned again!

Anyway, I don't even know what to say about Duchie. Everybody who rides with her is so supportive. Everyone compliments her on how she's doing and roots her on. She (along with all the first-time riders) is now an accepted part of the "fraternity". Duchie has really risen to the challenge in ways that I don't think she could have ever imagined. This cycling is so far out of her comfort zone that it is almost unimaginable. I know she is so thankful to have everyone's support on this ride from the faster riders who have paced her along, to rest of the group who keep her company. Let's hope she keeps up the good work. We're one third of the way to LA!

More moaning, more semi-snoring, and one last shot to my solar-plexus...