SAG

Hey guys;

Sue isnt going to be able to support us this year, so we have a decision or two ahead of us.   Steve; I know you were thinking of offering your mom a shot at some or all of the ride.  Gabe; you were talking about your girlfiend?   And, there is an alternative of no support as well.  Personally, Im not a big fan of that option, but its there.   I also have a couple of guys who would probably be interested in the opportunity, but I need to get on the stick to get this in their scheduled.   

Im in Angola at the moment and coming home in a couple of weeks.   I would love it if you guys would chime in here and let everyone know your thoughts.    Also, during my time home, I want to finalize the logistics for the ride, atleast from a town to town point of view and put out some thoughts to everyone. 

Meanwhile, I think of you guys often and feel the open road when I close my eyes.  This year of mountains should be breathtaking..  crossing the divide and onto the heartland.. Awesome..  I cant wait.

with love
d

Dave has an itch

Our long time friend and riding buddy (late 90's norcal trip) dave ingels has stepped into the journey. Hes thinking about an undisclosed number of days and is purusing new bikes. Its a very cool thing to be hanging a bit with Dave. Let us know what you are thinking buddy

Fisty

Happy Sue Sag

It's going to be another good ride, I'm glad you are coming with Sue. From my point of view here is what the boys need, other than these points you should plan some sight seeing and exploration, maybe scout around and find a real man for a short term thing, ya know, do what ever you feel like doin. Sag responsibilities as it: -Sleep in and get massage each morning. -Have a nice healthy breakfast each day. -go for a walk or workout each morning and/or evening -Keep enough gas in the car to get to the next place -Beep the horn twice as you pass each rider, no stopping necessary unless the rider is down and you see blood. -drop jugs of water at predetermined mile markers on long rides. -Check in to the next hotel as early as you like, take the best room, order room service. -Set your laundry out for one of the boys to to. -Riders are expected to get from point A to point B on their own, major mechanical issues are only exception. They may be sitting on the side of the road for a few/several hours if unable to fix it alone. We need to be prepared for this..water. -kick the ass of any whining baby boy who can't deal with the ride (probably me). Ok, you get the point. This years ride will be much less sleepy than highway 50 so the mood and vibe should be kicked up a notch or ten. Love you Sue

Seriously!!! Go'in riding

Just reading my brothers post on our upcoming ride, in six months, is getting me ramped up and ready to put air in my tires. It sucks that it is five degrees outside...spin glass will do for now. Doug has some very good points, this year does need to be a bit different on the social side. For me, the first year was difficult as I was I bit uncertain about making the next day and then the next day and so on. I know now that I am fit and can make the trip so it's time to loosen up a bit and have some fun. I am hoping this years route is not quite so mind numbing as Route 50 across Nevada. The mountains this year should be very nice to ride, tough, but scenic. I can't wait. I too am setting a target weight for the ride of 180 from my current 190, or so, and 1,200 training miles...did 1,004 last year.

Seriously? Again?

Seriously? 

This aint Kansas: Yet

Joy Ride 2 January discussions; a log on the fire

Greetings

Its time to throw another log on the fires of our Joy Ride.   Over the past week, Bob, Steve, Gabe and I have connected and discussed a few issues related to Joy Ride 2:  Utah to Kansas...   Im happy to say that everyone is looking forward to the ride and has it pencilled into their July calendars now.   We will continue to tighten the strings on our trip in coming months.   Meanwhile, here are some bullets and thoughts I grabbed from talking with the Boys: 

1. The route:   We discussed a couple of different options, but in the end, we all felt like continuing where we left off, and to continue heading East, was the right move.   So, Cedar Falls to somewhere just west of Alexander Kansas seems like the right move.  
2. The miles:   We have too many miles to ride this year.  Simple as that.  Intentions was to try and make Cedar falls to Alexander (supporting a 4 year transam) but that is not achievable given the 900 miles we would have to go in 12 days.   So, we said: Forget it.. We stick with our target of 60 miles a day, and include 1 century day on the ride and see where we end.    Bob and I spent some time on the phone poking around at the towns and the distances, and there are a number of ways to look at this years ride.  A couple of things jumped out at us:   First:  The towns are very small, so first step is to identify what towns along the way have what services.. hotels and food stuff.. Next, we will try and pen together a route that meets our 60 mile / day average + a century day and see what happens.  Our preliminary idea is that we will probably have a couple of shorter days and a couple of longer days, AND, that we as a group will need to evaluate options in February to get our heads moving in the same direction.   What is needed and what do we want in terms of trade offs? 
3. The days:   I am back from Angola on July 12th.   Intentions are for me to get in my truck with Gabe et al and drive to cedar falls on Saturday.   I can ride either Sunday or Monday depending upon how the boys feel and what we decide.   So, Riding schedule looks like:
1. July 14th - July 25th .   Drive to local drop off town for flyers, and Gabe and I drive back to CA on 26th / 27th.   12 days of riding.. assume 750 miles this year. 
4. The riders:   Bob, Doug, Gabe and Steve.   Discussion of whether or not others would be welcome to join came up.  And the answer was:  Yes... if they are good with our Creed:  No bosses, just joy and fun.. and everyone gets to ride their own ride..  they are welcome to join.   They will have to figure out their own transportation too and from, but the sag should be OK to support them.
5. The Sag:  As Im writing this, there are a couple of options floating around.  More on the driver later, but for sure, my vehicle will be the one we use.  I wanna have that freedom and always know that I can drive and support us as needed.    Some things we also talked about and all agreed upon was that the SAG needs to be easier for the driver.   Last year, for a number of reasons, SAG became too hard.   Choices.. always choices.. So, this year, part of our creed is that everyone is responsible for supporting the SAG person as they are being supported.. Everyone is ready and has their gear with them.. A bit more active than last year.   And, most importantly, the distribution of the riders along the route is the responsibility of the riders and not the SAG.   Meaning:  The driver cant be hanging with the end of the trip and be cycling up ahead to the people in the front.   Rather, there will likely be a couple of drops for water and ice, and a bit of monkeying around through the day, but the trailing riders gotta gut it out more than last year.  This probably means we all need to think a bit more about what gear and stuff we take with us so that in the event of bad weather, we can hang, and if we have some mechanical thing, we are ready with tools, or our thumbs or phones.  And, the idea is that the first guys into the completion town jumps in the truck and heads back down the road to check on stuff.. while the SAG hangs out and enjoys the life.   Better care and feeding of the SAG.   More discussion on that later for sure.   AND, the SAG needs to temper their expectations.  Find the balance point between responsibility and hyper vigilance.   A tough call when you are in the SAG position, but hard to maintain a high vigilance for the entire time without struggling or being bored / trapped in the car for hours
6. The Circle:  I would appreciate having a more formal circle established each evening.  The idea is to sit and speak about the day and about where each of us is on the journey.   Thoughts, ideas, gaps, beauty and struggle all have room during our evening circle, but I see that this is something that we probably could have spent a bit more time doing, and improved our ride earlier in the trip..  To learn and provide better individual support and enhanced experiences is what we are targetting.   I hope we can develop a circle culture this year.    More on this later. 
7. The Next Steps:  
1. Bob is working on the route details between Cedar Falls and Pueblo CO.  Towns, distances, hotels, ammenities etc.  
2. Doug is working on the route details between Pueblo and Alexander KS. 
3. Steve will be buying himself maps for the trip.
4. Gabe is brining a camera
5. Doug and Steve are kicking the tires on some SAG folks..  maybe that didnt come out right! 
6. Gabe is bringing his bike down to CA to be repaired.. he has bought a carbon frame Giant, so we will work on that during his February birthday trip to SF!  
7. Next Call:  Doug will schedule for later in February..
8. The Jedi Training:   We all learned that a couple of things made a big difference last year.   One of them was to have put in the miles and being fit, and the other was to have your bike ready and to have the necessary equipment and clothing.    I personally have decided to ride 2 centuries before the trip this summer and will be putting in ATLEAST 1000 miles before we begin the trip.   I have committed to making up a riding program for myself and need to stick to it.   I am also setting a target weight of 192 lbs for me and am actively dropping from my current 199.   I hope to be at 190 by the time of the ride.  
9. The Stuff:  Please bring as little stuff as absolutely necessary (Steve) as not to mention any names (Steve), but perhaps we all brought a little too much with us last year and ended up doing too much laundry..   Me:  I am resolute on the liklihood that I wont be going to a laundry mat during the trip.   Simple easy to wash fabrics which I will dry in my room.. no cotton anything except my undies.   Im going to be doing laundry in the shower and drying them in the car or whatever.   Most of my stuff is gonna be good to go without need for a dryer.  

With deep appreciation and excitement: 
Doug 

Mammoth Fall Century 2012

Sue and I drove down to Mammoth Lakes Ca. and I rode in the fall century.  The drive there took longer than expected, but was partly offset by the drive going through Yosemite via the Tioga pass rode.  Took us up to 9900 feet and left us a bit breathless and overwhelmed by the granite expanses of the place.

The ride was definitely challenging and I was happy to have completed in 5 hours 25 minutes, over 95 miles or so.  The actual elevation is just over 6000 feet but my garmin posting shows it a bit less.  Some sneaky hills on the back side of this ride along with some headwinds which were reminiscent of nevada and times past.   I found the early part of the ride to be great, but once we turned onto highway 120, heading east, it felt much like the barren landscapes of Nevada.   Evocative, but generally not the kind of riding I enjoy any more.   The visit are definitely spectacular, and so are the boring long sections of road.  Guess it will be a while before I am motivated to ride across such vast landscapes, especially in a group.  Strange experience in many ways, looking back, as this was the first organized century I have done in many years.   I walked away feeling, how do I say, happy to be done... reflective on the number of miles I felt like I was struggling through (physically and mentally), and somehow a bit out of whack on the whole bike gang concept.  Not sure what that means exactly, except for the reality that everyones focus is clearly on surviving the ride and finishing, and there was a general lacking of overt friendship and joy on this ride.   Don't get me wrong, people at the rest stops were pretty great, but there was very little emphasis on whipping up the energy of the ride and there was actually no completion celebration at the time I finished.  Granted, I was very early to finish, but never the less, it was odd.   Food smelled good, but after such an event, pulled pork and french fries weren't hitting the spot!   The complimentary beer, on the other hand, settled nicely.   I spoke to as many people as I could and was intentionally overt on the ride, and during the breaks.  Some strange responses from people, as expected, given the tendency for the challenge to set in and worry you.. creating full absorption in your fear and pain.. someone walks by and starts chatting you up and it must feel like you are awakening from a dream or something.. wandering around makes.. OH!!  was often the reply.    But, Im sure that in coming days, the edge of the ride will be forgotten and it will be replaced by the fond remembrances and the becoming of challenge and achievement.   As usual, this is my pattern.   Ouch, then..  Ahhhh...  

One last thing:  it would have been best to get up there 2 days early and get better acclimated.  The reminder that when you get altitude stressed, the body doesn't perform as well.  Also, it would have been good to have done a difficult and challenging ride just a day or two before to help my body adjust.   The first days of an epic series of challenging ride days are always the worst for me.. mentally and physically.  Very little in the tank after 60 miles, and this feeling of sort of diminished reserves (and reliance upon brute force and stamina) creates mental uncertainty that plays out in a bunch of different ways.   To have that out of the way via an early "suffering' training ride is always wise.   Im sure that if I climbed on the bike today, I would hammer the crap out of it.   maybe I will do that.

Oh, and one last thing 2: modular clothing is AWESOME.. I bought a windproof vest which is by Mavic and is totally opened in the back, and combined it with some insulated knee and arm warmers.. It was GREAT.   Very little sweat, and just warm enough.  My hands were a bit chilly, but I was really pleased to not be dragging around my typical riding jacket and popping that off later as a sweaty mess underneath.   Love the modular idea, contrary to my pal Tom Mann who likens it to being a big west coast pussy...  Gotta admit feeling a bit like madonna out there, but who cares.. doing a century in comfort and in 5.5 hours at age 51 aint bad at all.  Call me whatever you want.... as I go right on by!

Mammoth Fall Century September 8 2012..

Untitled by windeagledlt12 at Garmin Connect - Details

Late August Rides

I've been home from Angola for a week now.  After a month at work following the completion of the joy ride.   A number of things have come up for me, but I must admit sitting in the retained beauty of the vastness of this ride.  I admit missing the open road and the beauty of not knowing what is just over the next hill.  Or seeing the full extent of what is to come.  Both of beauty and requiring in patience and faith.  The essence of what life is about..  Beauty, patience and faith.. in whatever you want to have faith in.  For me, the return to my bike and riding here in the waning summer days has been different.  While I still want to go balls out 100%, I think that I've somehow redefined what that means to me and how I am being on the bike.  Strength comes and goes and the job I see for me to find joy is to couple the reality of my physical situation with the level of output I am willing to have.  Too much, and Im depleted.  Too little, and I may as well be at home working in the garden.  The nature of the bike is to continuously remind me to choose and to be present and aware of that choice.  To always admire and appreciate that which is around me, and that which I am.   Powerful, demure, in relation and vigilant.   A meditation.   And one especially awesome when I am in balance.   and it doesn't hurt to have some blasting music on periodically.  

I rode Diablo to the summit on 2 out of the past 3 days.  A new dance both times and interesting change in style and pace for me.  More of appreciation for the style of riding that Bob does.  In balance and more of an appreciation of the riding rather than the goal of completion; which is often my motivation.   So, Bobby; thanks for that inspiration, and thanks to you Steve for speaking the word Patience on so many mornings when we were looking into the days ride.  Patience, peace & beauty.    Awesome.

d

Finito

Wow. Sitting at home having delivered steve and Gabe to the airport and dropped bobs bike off in Benicia on the way home yesterday. An amazing journey that we will refine, replay and repeat endlessly as we get ready for next year! The mileage was around 750 and figure we climbed something like 7 miles straight up and we are still alive! My lovely partner saguela did an amazing job of keeping the group fed and watered and we owe our success in large part to her kindness, perseverance and patience. Next year, we will hook her up with some awesone new ride and have a great time getting there and back. Were thinking of a truck that is the total sag vehicle.... Nice. Meanwhile, we appreciate the loving support from everyone who wished us well, called us nuts and otherwise checked in on us from time to time. We couldn't have done it without you. I'm eternally grateful for your kind support and loving encouragement. It held us through times of great trial and beauty. Till next year... doug

Finito

Wow. Sitting at home having delivered steve and Gabe to the airport and dropped bobs bike off in Benicia on the way home yesterday. An amazing journey that we will refine, replay and repeat endlessly as we get ready for next year! The mileage was around 750 and figure we climbed something like 7 miles straight up and we are still alive! My lovely partner saguela did an amazing job of keeping the group fed and watered and we owe our success in large part to her kindness, perseverance and patience. Next year, we will hook her up with some awesone new ride and have a great time getting there and back. Were thinking of a truck that is the total sag vehicle.... Nice. Meanwhile, we appreciate the loving support from everyone who wished us well, called us nuts and otherwise checked in on us from time to time. We couldn't have done it without you. I'm eternally grateful for your kind support and loving encouragement. It held us through times of great trial and beauty. Till next year... doug

Day 3, more pictures

Day 3, July 10th our first climging day

Placerville to Silver Lake - the finish of this ride was a great downhill to the Kit Carson lodge...about 3 miles at 40 MPH+. This was our first real day of riding alone as we all found our own pace. As a result, I am the only one in most of the following pictures. More to come from this day, an awesome day.

More pictures

July 9th, Day 2..Sacramento to Placerville... Placerville is a cool little town with a great old downtown. I got there and thought I was done riding (a small climb compared to things to come) only to find out the hotel was on the other side of town up a big hill.

The Joy Ride 2012 is complete but the memories will last forever

I am now home thinking of going to work tomorrow and all that comes to me is the memories of our daily breakfasts', Doug's coffee, anticipation of the upcoming ride, Sue's neverending attention to our wellbeing and the nights at the wonderfull little fleabag hotels. I would not have changed anything, the entire trip was perfect and I am already getting excited about next year. Some days were better than others but in the end we all made each day from beginning to end one way or another and nobody got hurt. Honestly, winding up in the car unable to ride each day was my biggest fear going into this thing. Thank you Doug, you are my hero and I love you to death. Bob, you are a rock and a great man. Gabe, you have so much going for you and have such potential...it was an honor getting to know you. Sue, well... you held us all together and really made this whole adventure possible, I will never forget what you did for us on this trip..Thank you and I Love You. Ok, with that said I need to post some more pictures because I didn't do much durin the trip as I did not take a computer and by the time everyone else was done I was sleeping. Saturday, July 7th - warm up day across the Golden Gate Bridge over some hills and through some valley's then back to Doug's house. Don't seem to have any pictures of this day???? Sunday, July 8th - Bob's house to Sacramento, mostly a really nice ride but blistering hot as we approached Sacramento.

More to come on next post.

Day 11: Milford,Ut to Cedar City,Ut.

Milford, Utah at 5,000 feet does offer some interesting views of the stars.  The night sky was clear and black which offered a great view.  I am thankful for that.
The wind and temperature cooperated for the day heading south.  58 miles total with one big pass in the middle.  It seemed like it would be easy but it turned out to be extremely tiring.  The difficulty was not the same as other days but there is something about the sun glaring down on you all day that just drains your energy.  I spent the remainder of the day trying to rest and get something stored for the climb tomorrow. 
We are heading for 10,000 feet on a 19 mile ride.  This is going to be the starting point for the ride next year.  We'll see how that goes.
One thing I noticed today after staring at the ditch for 700 plus miles is the huge number of cooler lids there are littering the highways.  These must be from igloo coolers tied on the outside of peoples cars and the speed and wind just lifts them right off.  All I could think is what a waste of ice.  Fitting because ice was very precious to me on this trip.  Thank god Sue was always there to replenish the water bottles.  Could not have done this without you.

Day 11: Milford to Cedar City

Untitled by windeagledlt12 at Garmin Connect - Details

Day 10 Baker, NV to Milford, UT

WIND, WIND, WIND and three mountain passes. That was the name of the game.

The day started out with a clear blue sky, which was a relief given the last 3 days of iffy weather. Unfortunately, it was either head winds or cross winds the whole day. We turned off Highway 50 onto Utah 21. As Bob said, much lonlier than Highway 50. It was so remote that it gave me a little pit in my stomach. With no cell service and no one for miles, I realized that getting stuck out there would not be pretty. So as not to bury the lead too much ... YES! They/we made it into their third State on day 10. WOO HOO!!

There was an 8 mile long stretch of road in a basin about 18 miles from the end of the day that was just too windy. It was laying down the grass along side of the road. It was hard to keep the car in the lane, let alone stay upright on a bycicle. Well, the picture of Steve below explains it all! By the end of the day, everyone looked stunned from fighting the wind all day.

We were talking about the trip in general lastnight at dinner, and I had to share that the most telling toll of the trip was my view as I drive up behind each rider. More than 50% of the time, they are each standing up to quickly adjust their bums on their bike seats. That's all for now!

Day 9 Eureka to Baker, NV

We have experienced much "road" adventure the last two days. The cool surprise of the day was that our dear friend, Tom Mann, showed up at breakfast! He was on his way to California and dropped by for a quick hello. We will meet up with him again before we complete. It waas hugs and laughter and a great boost to see his shing face!

Monday, Day 9, Eureka to Baker, was RAINY! "Walk between the raindrops" was not an option. About 3 miles out of Eureka, the sky opened up and a curtain of rain fell. Rather, it dumped! Semi trucks passing me in the car sent rain up over the hood. Imagine what happened with the bikers! By the time I got back to each of them, they were drenched. Raindrops were the size of quarters. They each will have their own version of how that was for them, and from my perspective, I'm impressed that most of them just stuck with it. Bob, always the optimist, said "it has to quit sometime!". And eventually it did. It was a rouch 8 miles or so, but the weather improved. I left them to go ahead 10 miles and wait, only to find two Sheriff's cars in the road stopping traffic. I thought "flood", but there was a wide load headed our way that took up both lanes. So we sat for about 30 minutes waiting for an odd GIANT tank to go sailing by on the bed of a truck. And, we were off. More riding, driving ahead to wait, driving backward to deliver rain coats in case the weather turned bad again ... then, about 8 miles outside of Baker, AGAIN WITH THE WEATHER! Bob and I sat on the side of the road waiting for a curtain of rain to pass over Baker. And for enjoyment, we watched lightening strikes and counted the time to thunder. Mostly, the lightening was about 9 miles off, but there were two strikes that were pretty local. Baker, population 0. Really. There is a grocery store owned by a grumpy person so we stayed clear. Our hotel (The Electrolux Motel and Cafe) was actually pretty cool (pictures below). It was a surprisingly nice experience in the middle of nowhere in Nevada. Okay, except for the food. Not so great. But HEY! What can we expect???