The Wildflower

For maps and statistics of the ride from my GPS, click on the image below and enjoy:

I survived!! It was such a fun ride!! Jean, Aaron and I left work and headed to Aaron's house to drop my car off and on the road we went. I must say we were a sad group. I have to say Aaron's van is so comfortable. It was a gorgeous ride up the coast to San Luis Obispo, CA. We arrived in Creston, CA at the local elementary school to register for the ride before heading to the hotel. The Wildflower staff gave us some advise. It will be cold in the morning but will be in the low to mid 90's in the afternoon. Jean and I instantly were trying to figure out our wardrobe for the day of the ride. The staff also informed us not to eat a lot at lunch because there is a large hill right after the lunch stop. With all the advise, we headed for a place to eat.

After cruising the main strip in Atescadero, CA (where are hotel is located) we decided on a steak house. The food was good and our tummies were full and we were ready for bed. I had been in touch with Chris Raser, who was on his way up to stay with us in the hotel. I must say we were a sad group. Aaron and Jean were on antibiotics getting over virus' and I wasn't feeling well. I either had really bad allergies or was fighting a cold. I couldn't get in to see the doctor to find out which one I had and Chris was getting over a cold. Jean and I hardly slept that night.

We all were up at 5:30am prepping for the ride and packing the car. The hotel had a continental breakfast and we decided to give it a try. When we went down to the breakfast we saw lots of fellow cyclists including a few faces. My friend RaeLynn (you can visit her blog via my Cycle Buddies page link on the right) and her hubby Robb. They both always put a smile on your face. John, Stephanie's friend was there too. Stephanie came up, but decided not to ride do to an ongoing neck injury that was inflamed. We didn't see the dynamic duo of Patrick and Wendy until we were heading out to the starting line.

We parked on the side of the road and then road to the start area to meet everyone. We decided to meet up at the Long Branch see below from right to left John, Wendy, Patrick, Arron (behind Patrick & Jean), Jean and myself:

We all started together, going slow to warm up our legs. I lead us out at a 12 mph pace and then divided and conquered. Wendy, Patrick and John took off ahead in hopes of completing the century. Aaron, Chris, Jean and myself stuck together with hopes of completing the 75 (which was actually only about 70 miles). In the first 15 miles they would loose me on the hills. I tend to go slower and reserve myself in the early miles until I am completely warmed up when I know that I will be doing a lot of climbing.

We made it up our first climb, and when we were descending and enjoying the sweet S-shape curves down the mountain we were asked to quickly slow down ahead almost to a stop. There were four patrol cars, two fire trucks and one ambulance. There was already a cyclist down. We were instantly reminded in the first few miles how dangerous it cycling can be. We later heard that the injured cyclist had took the turn too fast and crashed. He was knocked out, had nasty road rash and a couple broken bones. We all regrouped at the bottom and continued on to our first rest stop. It is always exciting to hit your first rest stop. For me they each are small goals that I make on these rides and when I reach them I feel well accomplished. We didn't spend too much time and we were off.

The scariest experience I've ever had as a cyclist happened today. I was descending a hill and a guy three times tried to knock me over while on his bike. The first time he almost cut me off. I had to hit my breaks really hard. The second and third time he came into me from the side. I could almost feel his shoulder touching mine as we went into a turn. I thought for sure I was going to go over the cliff as I was on the outside. I kept yelling at him to layoff. The third time I yelled at him really loud and he finally fell back. I was so angry!

We began to spread out over the big rolling hills. I was comfortable with my pace in the back until suddenly I came upon Jean. She wasn't looking to well, but said that she was ok so I passed her and met up with the guys at the 2nd rest stop. I got my picture taken there see below:

We beginning to be concerned about Jean. When she arrived she said she was done. She was not feeling well and attributed it to her being sick this past week. We stayed until she caught a SAG vehicle and then we were off again or so we thought. We hadn't gotten but 500 feet from the rest stop when Chris realized that he had a flat tire. We headed back while he and Aaron changed the tire. Forty minutes had past since we arrived at the rest stop when we left. Next stop lunch. We hit a couple smaller hills but mostly flat farm land. Boy was it windy! I was able to keep up with the guys and even lead a couple times. We stopped and took some pictures.


























Ahhhh...Lunch! We were hungry. We arrived to a spread of make your own deli sandwiches. I was so excited. They had tuna with no mayo, olives (both black and green), carrots, yummy strawberries, etc. I made a wickedly good sandwich and got some pasta salad. When I was about to bit into my sandwich, one of the veteran cycles suggested that I don't eat the bread and just eat what was inside, because of the hill that was coming up. Well, I hadn't been eating much at the rest stops (because I wasn't hungry) and was concerned that I wasn't getting enough to eat so I compromised and only ate one slice and gave my cookie to Chris. It tasted so good!! Aaron was ecstatic that they had matza...here is a pick of him:

After lunch we were back on our bikes ready for this hill everyone was talking about. We all stuck together at a pretty good pace, when suddenly Aaron got an amazing rush of energy and bulleted out ahead of us disappearing into the hills. It must have been the matza bread. I was feeling pretty good when suddenly I felt the heat getting to me. I gued up for the first time on the ride and pored water on my neck and over my head. I told Chris (behind me) that I needed to stop for a moment. I was feeling nauseous and tingly. Once my heart rate lowered I was feeling great and we were back riding and soon found the water stop. I drank lots of water and geared up for the final 10 miles.

A little more climbing up the "big" hill and we were flying down...oh it was such a wonderful feeling flying down the mountain knowing that we were so close to finishing. We caught up with Aaron and all stuck together to the finish where we were greeted by Jean. She was feeling much better and was happy to see us. Aaron had filled up a huge jug of water and we all took sponge baths and changed our clothes at the car on the side of the road. Soon to follow were Wendy, Patrick and John. They bailed out of the 100 (actually 107 miles) and did about 86 miles. That is still darn good...it was hot and windy!! We all got cleaned up and headed over to the BBQ and met Stephanie there. It was delicious and in good time, we were hungry. With our tummies full we said our good byes to everyone and headed home. We arrived at Aaron's house around 7:45pm and I ran in to use his restroom. I had been hydrating all day and it was finally catching up with me. I arrived home around 8:30pm. Chatted with the family, called Jaclyn. I didn't even unpack or shower, I grabbed an ice pack put it on my neck and fell asleep on my bed.

I have to mention that I love the cycling community. I've done so many events that I am starting to recognize and see some familiar faces. There were so many Giant bicycles there, it made me feel proud that I work for them. I have the habit on rides of riding by people who are on a Giant and say, "Nice Bike!"
and they always say Thank you, I love it and then tell me stories about it. Here is one last photo of Aaron riding through the beautiful country side towards the end of the ride: