Yawn, Moan, God, I need to pee, what time is it?
3am, Argh, maybe if I lie here for a bit I will go back to sleep and I won’t have to get up to go pee.
Nope, I’m still awake, and I still need to pee, quick throw on some clothes, find your shoes and find a flashlight.
Quick turn on your outside tents lights so you can find your way back. My first year they were a gift, from a buddy, a little set of battery operated Christmas lights that were just 5 feet long, great for hanging on the outside of your tent. You would turn them on when you went to pee, so it was easer to find your tent on the way back from the porta-potties.
Now back to bed and in your sleeping bag, can you fall asleep? Wait what’s that noise, damn it the guy next door snoring, well you hope he is snoring. Okay get out your earplugs, pop them in and then sleep until 5 am.
Now it is time to get up and pee again, why, because you have been “hydrating” all day on the bike, so you have to pee all night. The first year, after a few days my tent mate called it my alarm clock. He’d say, “Don’t forget to set your alarm clock”
Now it is time for breakfast, you always have to decide if you want to put on your cycling clothes or head to breakfast in your regular clothes. If you out on your cycling clothes, you don’t have to change again, but you are a little bit cold until you get on the bike
So oatmeal and bacon, for me, sometimes I just can’t stand eggs, and on the ride I really find them disgusting. I need cheese and Salsa or Tabasco sauce to make eggs edible. So I’m just happy with lots of cereal.
Now back to the tent, back your bag, take down your tent and drag everything over to the trucks, are you still hungry, you can eat again if you are. I usually go back for more bacon and a banana; maybe some hot chocolate, really just a reason to not get on the bike.
Now it is time to go the bikes, check your air pressure, and pull off your seat cover, (shower cap otherwise you start with a wet butt) reset your mileage, and then go!
Our longest day, “The Century”, 105 miles actually, for some riders it is the first time that they have ridden more than 100 miles in a day.
But that isn’t what I think about as I do this day’s ride, this is hometown area. My Army days, grandparents & family, this is what I think about.
We ride from Santa Cruz to King City, and we go inland, skirt the coast near Seaside, then head towards Salinas. I went to basic training at Ford Ord, I also spent two years there later, every town we ride through I remember old times and old faces. We stop for artichokes, just like I used to before I would head to San Jose for the weekend.
I was born in Salinas, which is where we spend lunch, my grandparents lived in Gonzales, and as we ride the road that leads almost to Gonzales, and then turn off right before we get there I wonder is this the year I get off the road and go see it again?
We ride through fields, mostly strawberries now, potatoes and lettuce when my Grandma worked in the fields. I often wonder as I ride, are these the fields my grandmother worked in? Was she as bent over as some of these workers seem now?
When I visited my grandparents in the summer, we often would go to visit someone who owned or was the manager of a farm. I think about that as I travel by farms that look familiar. We also went to the junkyard, you could in those days, you never knew what Grandpa would find useful.
My grandfather was a garage-shop inventor; he solved many problems, using left over items. A lathe machine made out of an old sewing machine. A drill-press made out of something just as strange. Automatic screen door closers, 1 lever that would close all the screens on the patio at once, tables that would convert into chairs. He even figured out how to make the milk machine labeler stop if it ran out of labels.
We would have been rich if he had thought of patenting some of his ideas. But that doesn’t matter, it is family that I think about. How much I love them and how much they mean to me.
Soon though we are past all that, and it becomes another long ride.
Soon we reach the bridge, the bridge that if you’re early enough, you strip off all your clothes and jump naked into the water. (In years past it has always been warm enough, I hope so again) If you’re lucky no one will get a picture of your balding head from up above.
After you cool off, head back to shore and try to get your clothes on without getting any sand between your shorts and your riding parts.
Now up that hill, for the Cookie Lady is at the top, she started cooking 3 months ago to have enough cookies for all you riders. And you mustn’t disappoint her. Chocolate Chip, oatmeal & raisin, peanut butter too.
Where are we now I could not tell you, but somewhere between Salinas and King City, south of Soledad, on the back roads, farmland.
Rest Stop 3 is set up at a Mission, ice cold pops, and our regular snacks is all set up.
But this ride is about those we have lost to AIDS, so the Mission is setup as a sanctuary where the altar is covered with a white cloth where you can write something about your loved ones, sometimes someone breaks down, and hugs are tendered. It is a quiet time, time for reflection. Everyone coming out of the Mission is quiet, and reflective, and soon we are back on our bikes.
We ride on, more farmlands and fields, and finally we get to King City.
Tent City again, King City is usually windy so I hope you brought your tent pegs.
Shower, eat, sleep
Tomorrow…
WE RIDE AGAIN
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