Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 7

Today was a rough day! We said our good-byes to the Redwoods and we were off to a lot of difficult hills! There was a lot of construction today and it made some of the roads a little sketchy, but we made it off the 101 for the rest of the trip. We stopped for lunch in Leggett at a combined elementary/junior/high school for some yummy hot dogs! They were delicious. I think the population of Legget doubled while we were there. After that, I pooped out and the rest of the crew went up the infamous Leggett's Hill, which is basically 10 miles of pure pain. When looking at the elevation profile of the ride on our map, Legget's hill looks like Mt. Everest. We had been worrying about it for days. We all mentally prepared at lunch...except for Chris. For all you bikers out there, here is a tip: do not eat more than 4 hot dogs before the most difficult ride of your life, or you may not keep your lunch! If you have any further questions, feel free to contact Chris.

Here are some pictures of the crew's triumphant arrivals at the top of Leggett's!

Chris was a little warm when he reached the top of the hill, so he decided to proceed without his jersey. Bibs are beautiful, aren't they? Following the long ascent, the riders were rewarded with a long, curvy down-hill. Because of the slower traffic they had to slow down and wait for the cars ahead of them. They were flying!

Since today was such a tough one, we planned on a few less miles than other days. We set up camp at Russian Gulch State Park and went for a FANTASTIC dinner at a restaurant! It was nice to not have to make anything! It was called the Pizza Factory, but isn't like ours. It was so good! I don't think that I have ever eaten that much pizza. Our resident vegan, Jesse (along with Chris), passed the time while our pizza was being made by playing a "Deer Hunter U.S.A." arcade game. Does anyone else find it ironic that he doesn't eat meat but has mad skills hunting Bambi in a video game? Appearently he was pretty good. If you ever stop by the Fort Bragg California Pizza Factory, look for his name in the high scores. We got off to bed early, which was wonderful. A hard day but a good one!

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 6

Today, we woke up to a strange sight! During the night, we had some sneaky little critters come into our camp and take half of our eggs and (!Gasp!) a Diet Coke. Those racoons have amazing skill at getting into coolers and bottles of soda! Luckily we had a lot of oatmeal, and the racoons left us six of our eggs so we could make some french toast! We learned our lesson-always put something heavy on top of coolers if you leave them out! We had a quick breakfast, took down camp, and got on those bikes again for a long day! Andy and I did our first century today! Yet another momentous occasion! And what a great day to have to ride 100 miles-we rode through the Redwoods! But first, we had to get our first and only flat tire out of the way. I thought someone was shooting at us, it was so loud! I'm glad that it was only a tire. We had some excellent bike mechanics on hand, so we were able to get back on our bikes in no time!

It was ridiculously cold today, so we had to stop and add some more layers on after the first couple of miles! I had on every possible layer I could, and still I was not even close to a comfortable temperature! It's crazy how cold that fog can make it! But we couldn't delay very long--we had a long day ahead of us! We rode about 45 miles or so and stopped for lunch in a tiny town. We were lucky enough to stop at a park that was hosting a camp for overweight children. We ate lunch to the tunes of Michael Jackson and Jack Johnson. Chris got an old man to teach him how to play Bacci and dashed his dreams when he beat him twice! He's a natural. He was very lucky today! He and Andy bet on kids that were playing in a game, and Chris' kid won. I think Andy still owes Chris a Dr. Pepper, actually...

After lunch, we were off to the Avenue of the Giants in the Redwoods! It's a good thing that the ride was so pretty because I needed the distraction! Here are some pictures.

As we approached the 100 mile mark, we were definitely racing the daylight! We made it to 100 just as the sun had gone down--not a moment too soon!

Jesse came to pick us up because it was about 15 more miles to our camp site in Richardson Grove State Park. We got Kara, Chris and Tony and went to set up camp, and went straight to bed after dinner! What a great, long day!

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 5

Today was a momentous day! We crossed the state line into California! It was wonderful. Chris and Tony bid good riddance to Oregon and on to Trinidad we went!

After a brief celebration, we were off! There were A LOT of hills today. It was difficult! We were able to stop and take a picture with Paul Bunyan and Babe in the Redwoods.

I pooped out at about 55 miles and had Brookie and Andy come and pick us up. Chris, Tony, Kara, and Jesse didn't think that the ride was difficult enough today, so they stayed on the highway and did a lot more hills than everyone else! Those overachievers. We got to our camp in Patrick's Point State Park and Andy made a delicious curry dinner! If you can ever convince him to make it for you, do! It is absolutely wonderful. It's a gift. We also had amazing scones! Kara didn't tell us that she was a pro at making scones, but I'm glad that she finally let us in on her secret! The food always tastes so good when you're camping.

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 4

Today, we started off from Bullard's Beach State Park in Bandon, OR and headed off to Brookings. This is a picture from Face Rock. After a really good warm up hill, Jesse got hungry and decided that a burrito sounded good! So we stopped by a Mexican restaurant and got one for him. I think that he was one of the few in our group that could eat an entire burrito and hop right back on his bike! Amazing.

After lunch, Andy and I took our turn to go and get the truck from Bandon and making dinner. I'll be honest, I was glad to take a break for the second half of the day! And we were able to get some good pictures, too!

These troopers hung in there and suffered up the big hill at the end of the ride. We ended up at a really pretty camp site at Harris Beach State Park and had some delicious burritos! That was twice in one day for Jesse! Not bad...

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 3

Well our second day got off to a smooth start. We started off in Florence and rode to lunch. Right before lunch, Tony's rear derailleur broke. Brookie was nice enough to lend Tony her bike so he could complete the day's ride. When the support crew was driving through Coos Bay, they had some great luck and came up behind the owner of Moe's Bike Shop! Evan followed him to the shop and he was nice enough to fix it on a Sunday! Tony was back in business. Then we had to cross a ridiculously windy bridge. We walked our bikes across the sidewalk and I was worried my bike was going to blow into traffic a few times even though both of my hands were on the handlebars! After the bridge, we rode through Charleston. When Andy and I got to the place that we needed to turn to the Seven Devils Road, we decided to take a scenic detour to Sunset Bay State Park. The unintentional detour was well worth it...I wanted to add a few more miles to the ride, because I thought that 83 miles was kind of short. After seeing Sunset Bay, and adding four miles onto our ride, we went back to a delightful stretch of road called the Seven Devils. I had the understanding prior to hitting those hills that there were three big climbs, so I was prepared for a lot of pain on three hills and then a nice smooth decline into camp. That did not happen. It turns out that the map we purchased only gives an idea of the elevation gain. The reason that the road is called the Seven Devils is because there are seven RIDICULOUS hills. Of course, I didn't figure that out until we were done climbing the sixth hill and I saw some spraypaint that said 6th devil. At least at that point, I knew that we only had one hill left instead of turning corners and seeing another treachorous hill. The highest percent incline that we reached was 14%. Painful. After we called our support vehicles to make sure we weren't lost, we finally found camp! Brookie and Andy were nice enough to bring us caffeine for the last mile. We set up camp at Bullard's Beach State Park in Charleston. We were excited to finish Stage 3!

Vuelta Pacifica: Stage 2

Today the real ride began. Andy woke up early to go pick up Jesse who lives in Portland and met us back at the hotel for the continental breakfast. Our group was definitely the topic of conversation among our fellow hotel mates. I don't think many have ever seen so much spandex at one time. I think I saw one lady shield her child's eyes. Needless to say, we were all looking good. I've always thought that waffles and Lycra were a good combination.

From Portland, we had to drive down to the starting line in Lincoln City where a crowd had assembled to witness the historic event... or maybe they were there for the kite festival.

Everyone took a little time getting there bikes and minds ready for the task ahead of us. But finally we were off...at the crack of 11.

And it only took about 5 minutes until our first bathroom break. We knew from that moment we would traveling at a record breaking pace. From there it was 30 miles to lunch, waiting for us in Newport. We ate in the shade at Yaquina Beach State park where once again, no one could take their eyes off all the spandex. As soon as the food was on the table it was a free for all! It was like feeding a school of fish. Flashes of tights and cycling gloves and the ham sandwiches were gone.

After lunch everyone stopped for a moment to work on their cycling tans and warm up a little. It was cold when you stopped pedaling!

But soon we were back on the road.

The peleton crossed the bridge out of Newport and we were on our way to the last stop of the day by the Devil's Churn.

Then it was onward to camp at Harbor Vista Campground...for all of us but Chris who didn't think that 76 miles was enough for one day. So he just kept going...and going...until he found some nice locals to tell him he overshot the campground and needed to turn around. Andy, Andy, Kara, Brooke and I didn't have enough either. So after a quick spagetti dinner made by chef Kara we went back to Lincoln City to get the other truck. We were very happy to be in camp and those foam pads made the nicest bed I have ever slept on! Not even Evan's snoring could keep us awake.

A successful end to Stage 2!

Vuelta Pacifica 2009 Stage 1

Today one of the world's biggest cycling events started. Most of you are probably thinking that it is a few weeks too early for the Tour de France, but that is not the event we are speaking of. We are of course talking about the Vuelta Pacifica. The majority of our road warriors loaded up in two trucks and headed north to Portland to begin our biking adventure down the coast to San Fransisco.



The first stage was rather uneventful until we entered the state of Oregon where we had a slight hiccup on the way when one of the trailer tires lost its tread, but luckily the tire didn't blow while we were driving. After the boys got that fixed, we were off again!
With a quick stop and some big time help from the best Les Schwab employee in the entire United States...or maybe the Universe, we headed on to Portland. We arrived just in time to pick up the road warriors traveling to Portland by plane and get take out from the Olive Garden next to our hotel. Stage one was a big success.