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Sacramento Bike Hikers Moonlight Century - 07/31/2004

I heard about the ride on the tandem list but since my stoker was out of town last weekend I decided a late night ride would be fun.

Coming from San Francisco I miscalculated traffic and arrived at the start at 7:05, just in time to see the big group roll away. 10 minutes later my bike and I were ready to go and I took off after the crowd. The tailwind was wonderful and I was soon cruising along at 24-26 mph. For the first 30 minutes I sprinted hopeful that I would soon see someone in the distance. I started to wonder if I would spend the entire ride chasing the pack.

I finally caught up with the last group of about 8 rides at Knights Landing, hit the facilities, got some water, and found the riders rolling away as I returned to my bike. I took off after them and about a mile later I was finally riding in a paceline behind a lovely tandem.

For the rest of the way out I rode mostly with other riders, occasionally riding on my own. At one point I commented that it didn't seem like we had a tailwind and that we were just going fast because the wind was so still. Ha.

Turning around I learned to keep my mouth shut. What was a 20mph pace on the way out turned into a challenge to hit 15 on the way back. The "lunch" stop really hit the spot. The mosquitos seemed pretty hungry, too.

The ride home was done mostly alone. I guess all the faster people were in front of me and the slower ones behind. I could see miles ahead and behind and never a blinky red or tiny white light was seen. I found myself humming show tunes to keep my legs turning.

Finally riding into town I turned the corner toward Denny's and felt a tailwind again! I guess I didn't feel so bad after all, but I did feel hungry!

Arriving at Denny's I was wondering what I'd do with my bike but I found out we had arranged valent parking. How wonderful!

The drive home at 3am took considerably less time than the drive out and the Denny's coffee did a wonderful job of keeping me awake... until 8am.

I have to say this was one of the more fun rides I've done in a while. I was surprised by how fast and aggressively the group was riding. There were a lot of strong riders out there and it was a great challenge to keep up.

I was also impressed with the support. You all did a wonderful job. The bike parking at breakfast was icing on an already tasty cake.

I'll definitely be there next year, hopefully with my stoker.

jgross@stimpy.net