Dan's
AIDS/Lifecycle 6 Pictures
Day Three (Tuesday 6/5/2007) -
King City to Paso Robles
78.1 Miles
Click on the picture to expand
For some reason, I always feel the lousiest of any day on the ride on the morning of Day Three. I think it's because of two hard days of riding and sleeping on the ground and getting into the grind of getting up at 4:40 in the morning. Also, I needed to get to Sports Medicine at 5:30 am. That meant I would need to eat before then. And I had to be on the road before 7 AM in case I was going to have problems with my knee. The times for roll out on all days is 6:30 to 8:30. Obviously, the later you roll out, the later you get into camp. That equates into long lines for showers and dinner. To me, I prefer getting in a little earlier, so I can relax a bit. With the additional challenge of riding my new single speed bike, I was considerably slower than I was used to riding. So, I needed to take care of eating breakfast (an absolute must when riding these multi-day rides), getting my knee stretched and taped if necessary), getting dressed and packing up my tent, using the porta-potty a couple of times at least, and schlepping my backpack to the gear truck. All before riding the rest of the day. Get my drift?
The ride out of camp which can only be described as possibly the worst road surface on the planet. Riders were flatting all around me. I stopped to help a rider who had two flats and one spare tube. Plus her valve stems were both broken. I got her going quickly (if there is anything I can do, it's change a tire!!!!). Of course I politely gave her a lecture on carrying more than one spare tube.
The famous Day Three bridge. No skinny dipping this morning! Way too cold at 55 degrees!
Riders ahead of me headed for rest Stop One which would be before the infamous Quadbuster hill, a 1/2 mile 6-10% climb that I was not looking forward to with my new bike and bum knee. The knee however was holding up fine with the work that had been done on it early this morning.
ToD at Rest Stop One getting psyched up for the QuadBuster (QB)!
Riders at the rest stop fueling up for the climb.
Me, about to face the reality of it all.
The base of the climb. I basically stood up and motored my way up the hill. My knee was not hurting at all. The climb ended up not being that bad at all on the one gear. Sure, it was hard but all my hill climbing training with the bike had paid off big time!
Mora and ToD at the top of the QB.
And me likewise...
Back on the flats headed to Rest Stop Two through the moss covered trees of the Jolon Valley, home of Fort Hunter-Liggett.
My friend Beth again at Rest Stop Two. Mother Earth I believe.
Me and a roadie at RS2.
Immediately upon leaving RS2 for lunch in Bradley, I encountered extreme knee pain in my right knee. It was in this 20 mile stretch that I considered my first ever SAG on an AIDS ride (except for last years crash where my bike was inoperable for the day), meaning I was going to give up the days riding and picked up by a support vehicle. I could not stand and could barely pedal at any speed. And, I started feeling my left knee was over compensating for my right knee. I was in deep do-do. Somehow, I was able to drag myself into Rest Stop Three before lunch and sat down with a cold pack at the Medical tent. This one event is what helped finish the day. I would always carry two cold packs with me at all times until the end of the entire ride.
Bradley. This town makes more money from us on this one day than it does in it's entire year from the sale of hamburgers, tee shirts and other stuff. All the proceeds go to the school there. They love us there and we love them!!!! I rode into camp a couple of hours later which was 20 miles away. I got in at 3 PM and would go straight to the Sports Medicine tent. Tomorrows ride promised to be a long day with a big climb in the beginning.
The final rider coming into camp at 7 PM!