Riding with Wendy & Gail -- Sort of!

Today was our monthly Pedal Pusher Ride.  The Pedal Pushers are the women riders in our Cycling Club.  We get together once a month to go for a nice ride to somewhere and share coffee and stories!  Today we rode to Misty Woods Park.  Virginia and Diana led the riders through the bike trails and roads around our community until they reached the final destination.  I don't know how long the ride was.  I do know it wasn't as long as the one Wendy and Gail took today, but we all had a good time and felt like we were there with them for a little bit of our day!

We send a big hello to the "wilds" of Alabama and Florida and to all the gals making the trek with our gals!  We were lucky and did not experience any major problems or flats on our ride today.  Good thing since Gail and Wendy weren't there to fix them!

When we arrived at the park, we enjoyed coffee, apple juice, banana muffins, and home made trail mix thanks to Virginia.  The day was sunny but a little breezy!  It was a beautiful day to get together and share our stories!  We missed our two friends, but they were certainly there with us in our hearts and minds!  Hopefully, they felt the same at their
end.

Here are a few action shots along the route:

This is one combined picture but I think everyone has been included.  The individual pictures will be posted on our club gallery in the next couple of days.  Kathy was the official sweep, but George brought up the rear for a good part of the ride!

Here they are again on another day another ride! Enjoying coffee and a bagel or two. Of course the conversation is about Wendy & Gail's ride. They will be anxious to hear all your real stories when you get home. Another video by Jack E.  Jim V. was on the wrong side of the group so you a special greeting from him!

While you two are off traveling the roads across the southern states, our SCRCC members carry on with their daily rides in beautiful weather. They checked out Starbucks at Creekside while you were on one of your long grueling rides. We love and support you both in your journey

Blythe to Salome

We had a late start today as the guides wanted to let the morning traffic pass on by. So we didn't leave until 845am. Which was not a good thing as the today was in the 90's and I suffered. We spent 30 miles on the interstate 10 and several people had flats because of the thin wires on the ground from the truck tires treads. It was a 60 mile day and 2714ft of climbing and everyone was affected with the heat. We are staying at a motel out of the 1950's and it has the look of the bates motel. Tonite we had homemade spaghetti,garlic bread,Ceasar Salad,grapes,and pie from "Darlene's" in Quartzsite. We met a senior citizen group having a 4:00pm dinner at a diner we stopped out just outside of Salome. They were very funny and were already doing cocktails and were shocked to find out we were going to Florida. Because we crossed a state line,we had a margarita party and this blog was written after that indulgence.

Tomorrow we go to Wickenburg.

By the way,We might see Dave and Nancy Axthelm as they leave Phoenix on Friday and we are riding to Phoenix from Wickenburg. We are emailing to meet on the road. I will let you if this happens. We watched the video from the group who had coffee at Starbucks today. Thank you very much,we were laughing.

Brawley to Blythe

Our first day off has been great! But first let me tell a little something about the road trip here. It was long and hilly, still 😥
We saw long roads in front of us with what were called dips, we would call them climbs!
Then our sag would be there with drinks and snacks for all. We came up to it the second time and had to stifle smiles and chuckles as the sag vehicle had the flat! We passed the Chocolate Mts and the Imperial Sand Dunes, very impressive!
Today was spent doing laundry, cleaning bikes (we had a clinic by our guide Linda) and a trip to Rite Aid for needed items. We had a nice lunch around the pool with riders showing up and just relaxing.
Tomorrow is going to be very exciting as we'll make it into AZ! Wow, biking into another state. So after a Mexican dinner tonight we'll pack up for an early departure.

2 tired riders

Gail is going to post on the blog tomorrow as it is a day off in Blythe. We are very tired after a 87 mile day. Take care everyone and thanks for all the comments and emails.

Trying photo

A humorous moment! Love it

Wendy sent me this picture of Gail. The caption said: "Wendy told me not to use too much". Since I frequently overdose on sunscreen, I laughed over this picture! It's fun to see the humorous moments along the route! Thanks for allowing me to post it!!

Boulevard to Brawley

It was another hard day today,but Gail and I made the whole 77 miles to Brawley. We had a grind of 13 miles to get to Interstate 8 for the 10 mile downhill. This was a fantastic ride through the rock formations and a speedy downhill. But the guides warned all the riders the night before that was a dangerous route because of the high winds. 15 of the 30 riders did not do that section,and started at the 26 mile stop. We also all stripped off our warm clothes and now we are in the 80 degree area. We had 20 miles of awful headwinds,but Gail and I took turns blocking the wind. We sure miss Curt Taylor to hide behind. All the riders spread out over the course of the day,with a sag veh waiting at 20 mile marks with water and snacks. Pictures have to come from Gail's camera,as I seem not to be able to put them on the blog. We have received some of your comments and we want to thank you for all your support. Don't forget to light candles at church for us.

Boulevard!

We made the huge climb of 4400 ft today! So stopping for pie in Pine Valley was OK. We've already met interesting cyclists doing our exact same ride. First a couple from the UK totally self contained, tent and all. However, in last nite's rain they did find a hotel. Then a few hills later another Brit! A darling young man who left San Diego today and planning on arriving FL April 1. Sort of glad to ride with him only a few miles, lots of energy there. He doesn't even have a tent, just a sleeping bag of some sort. Wow!
We did find snow on the sides and have a pix. Tomorrow we'll be below sea level so that means it will be warm and lots of descending miles; as in 3000 ft in about 10 miles! Yikes, hang on!

We made it to Alpine

What a day we had. It started with rain at the ocean for the tire dipping ceremony and we had rain off and on all day. Including a little thunder clap over our heads as we were climbing the umpteenth hill. We did 3000 ft of climbing and got in around 2:00pm and just ate snacks,no lunch. The mileage was 37 miles and we are tired. We immediately went to Carl Jr's for a burger and hot coffee as the temperature had dropped into 40's in Alpine. No pictures as we were just trying to survive today.

Visiting the Midway

Today Gail and I took a short spin along the harbor and rode past the Midway ship. Very impressive and got back for our orientation meeting,tire changing class,and 30 introductions of all the riders. We have to have are luggage downstairs by 6:45am tomorrow and all the luggage gets weighed and you must meet a 50 pound limit between 2bags. Luckily Tom Devitt will be there to take back anything We can't have. Then it is breakfast and a short 3mile ride to the ocean where we dip our rear tire. The ride is then 34 miles east to Alpine and the forecast is rain,thunderstorms,and high winds from the west at 15-25mph.Which I hope is a tailwind.
More stories to tell you in tomorrow's blog.

Roseville to San Diego

We made it! Here we are in San Diego meeting our new friends and anxious to get started. But first I wanted to show a send off picture from in front of Wendy's and then some of our new friends and Tom enjoying the bar scene😄. Tomorrow should be a wonderful day with our friends and relaxing before we start pedaling away on Friday.

        

Departure Day

The day has finally come and Gail and I are really driving towards San Diego. Thanks to Tom,we left from my house at 7:00am with a send off from Curt and Ginny Taylor,Dori Zuchold,my cousin Chris MacAdams,Gunner and Joyce Erricson,and lastly my dog Charlie who climbed into the front seat. We are so excited and oh so nervous at the same time,but we miss you all already. Pictures are forthcoming from Gail.

It's getting very close to departure date!

First I wanted to show my means of transportation for the big ride. I bought this bike at a local bike shop, Sharp Bicycles on Oct 3, 2008 - our daughter Megan's birthday! She was born much earlier. My bike is a 56 centimeter Specialized Ruby Women's Elite. I've tweaked it a bit with mountain gearing, Spinergy rims and Roubaix tires. I'm using a puncture resistant tube and liner in the rear tire all in hopes of going over 3000 miles without a flat😉. I have a medium size Topeak handle bar bag that is hopefully able to carry my daily needs. Then there is the Timbuck2 cross bar bag for cell phone and purse-type stuff. Finally a saddle bag to carry extra tubes and tools for those flats I plan not to have. Also in there is a small back pack to carry rain gear in the very off chance of rain. I figure a 7 lb weight loss on me should compensate for the additional bike weight😳.
Last night, hubby Tom, had the family over for a send off dinner of major delight. He made BBQ chicken, salad, rolls, chicken wings, guacamole, chips etc. What a feast! And then the cake. I just had to include a picture of it, just darling. Also there is a pix of my send off family. Thank you all!
Now time to seriously start packing, we leave in 2 1/2 days. That is this Wed, Mar 6 at 7P