This year's ride came just 6 days before the biggest race of my post-surgery life - Ironman St. George. Not good to do a century, so I instead did the metric century. Except that when I examined the course at the expo, it was 65 miles. And when I rode it, it turned out to be 70 miles. Then add in 5 more easy miles to/from Bidwell Park at the end, and there you have it - a 75 mile day for me. But it felt much easier than last year's, as I skipped out on Table Mountain and it's 16% grades. Still got in 3100 ft of climbing, mostly up beautiful Honey Run Canyon to Paradise. Really gorgeous country.
Dave Wyman drove up from L.A.. I met him at Santa Nella near Los Banos, we packed his bike and gear into my RAV4, and then I drove us up to his friend Dan's place in Chico. We relaxed the night before, watching the Giants beat the Padres. Slept well in absent Danielle's room, got up before dawn, packed our bikes and gear, and drove to the start. At 7am sharp we hit the road.
My Lumix F3K hadn't arrived yet, and so Dave was designated documentarian. He, of course, is excellent at such things. His photo essay on the day is here.