Quadbuster…
That dreaded hill itself, one long hill, though if truth were told; it isn’t that long or that steep. It just seems that way.
We start out in King City, and in the past, the roads were terrible, full of potholes and the roughest road I’d ever been on. But that is supposed to be fixed this year (I’ll report back later) this road is so rough that we worry about hitting the holes wrong and falling over or even worse bending our wheels.
Once we safely get past all that and are on the road, I always manage to hit a sweet spot in my riding, this road we are on; is straight and level, so I slowly pick up speed, soon I am fly by people I have gotten to know on training rides and over the years. - This is where I have picked up a reputation for being faster than some of the friends that I normally ride with. These long straight stretches where I can push and let the awesome bike that my brother loaned me shine.
Too soon we are done with this road, and we turn off facing west towards the hill itself. The approach to the hill is naturally uphill, and the wind blows against us as well, as if it was Mount Doom, know we are coming to conquer it. We ride, trying to wear ourselves out on the approach, but the rollers at the base say to us, “Come conquer me” so we ride, using our energy, then a rest stop appears, and we stop and rest, refresh.
The hill comes next – it waist for us, silent, and you see a long line of riders inching their way up the hill.
Hundreds of riders stretched out single file, pedaling one leg after the other. Push pull, keep going, keep going, you can do it. Slower riders, dread the sound of a stronger rider behind them, thinking that they wish you were faster, so they don’t lose their rhythm.
If you are a stronger rider, you must pull out into the road to pass a slower rider. Immediately you hear the call “Car Back” which means you must back pull into the line of riders.
Three-fourths of the way up, is water, do you stop or keep going, it is tempting to stop, and the first year I did. The second year, I said, “This mountain is not going to get me to stop, all the way with no stopping is my goal”. So I kept going, and at the top; Ginger Brewlay and cheering crowds.
We stop and congratulate each other – and we can’t believe our ears when we hear that Ben Armstrong has done the hill ten times this very day to encourage people up it. And there he is, riding down it one more time to encourage another batch of riders up the hill.
After the top, we ride down the hill, the backside of Camp Hunter Liggett, after we are level or it seems like level we have many more straight miles of long roads, the kind I shine on. So I work the bike up to 25 miles an hour, and ride, I zoom past other riders who are happy with 18 miles an hour.
All too soon, once again we start up the small little hills, none too hard, but enough to work your average speed down to 14 or 15 again. The day heats up, we arrive at rest stop 2, it is in this little tiny town place of 3 buildings of which two are for sale. We rest and we look for shade, after awhile, we get on our bikes and head south again.
Soon we reach Bradley; Bradley is a small town, but people of Bradley make the most of the ride coming through their town. Their school sells hamburgers and hot dogs, it is their biggest fundraiser of the year, and we support them by buying our lunches from them – we also buy t-shirts and homemade buttons from them.
Last year in Paso Robles, we learned how much it means to them; a teacher from their school came and talked to us at dinner. The day we ride through their town pays for all of the school field trips to museums; it pays for all of their children partial college scholarships. It pays for all their art supplies and sports equipment. The teacher was so grateful, that she cried – and that made all of us cry.
After Bradley, we get back on the road, and we have more farmlands and open fields to ride until we get to town.
Rest stop 4 is not to be missed – typically rest stop 4 each day is the rest stop you don’t want to miss – It is usually the last stop of the day, and though each rest stop (every day) has a theme and the roadies are dressed up in costumes – Rest Stop 4 is usually the most festive.
Prom Night, Hugh Hefner Playmates, Sailors, Merman/maids under the Sea, Dante’s Inferno, Cowboys, Leather, Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, etc etc.
After rest stop 4 the ride into Paso Robles is a series of rollers that I just love. I can get some nice speed, and rest on the down hills – We ride into town, in Paso Robles we camp at the fairgrounds, so we have a covered eating area, which is nice for a change, no wind and warmer. However we are still in tents, usually this is the town where people start going out to eat dinner, they are anxious to eat something different and to be served, instead of waiting in line.
After dinner, after any speakers, is the first of our shows, the roadies have a fashion show that is hilarious.
Now, off to bed
Tomorrow,
WE RIDE AGAIN
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