Day One - San Francisco to Santa Cruz

Waking up was not difficult. Getting what I thought would be enough sleep WAS though. This was my third ride though, so each time, it gets easier to sleep the night before.

I had gotten all of my gear ready the night before, a habit that would serve me well on this ride. So, all I had to do was to get a shower, jump into my ride clothes, pack just a couple things and get my bike box, my duffle bag, and myself down to the lobby.

I was about 30 minutes early, but what ELSE was I going to do at 4:00 in the morning? The convenience store in the lobby was open and there were already riders having coffee and sweet rolls. I bought a banana and ate that - I was not feeling like eating much more than that.

The sedan was exactly on time, so I was on my way. When we arrived at the Cow Palace just before 5:00, the place was bustling in the dark. The gear trucks were busy loading duffle bags.

I then went inside. I figured that I would see Glen when I got to camp. I was not holding out much hope of finding him with ALL these people, but lo and behold!, there he was! I was not even looking for him and I found him!

We got some bagels and banana pieces. Wandered around a bit.

I called Mikey. He said that he and Brandon had arrived, but we were having a difficult time catching up with them. Mike and Brandon must have stayed up late Sunday night because they came in with this really great sign. I was totally taken aback! Both of the guys had not only come to see Glen and me off, but they had volunteered to work the opening ceremonies.

They needed to get back, but now we knew they had a sign and would be easy to spot on the way out...though that is NOT what happened.

Eventually, all the riders and crew gathered for the opening ceremony. There were the usual stretches and a couple speeches. The riderless bike was acknowledged, as were the Positive Peddlers from San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Opening Ceremonies are usually emotional affairs, but this one was lacking. But finally, it did get emotional. Lori L. Jean would call out for the first time of MANY....."HELLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO, RIIIIIIIIDERS! HELLO, ROADIES!" The only time I REALLY got misty was when she FINALLY announced the words that all of us had been waiting for "AIDS Life/Cycle Six is officially....OPEN!" Her greeting to the riders and crew would have the same effect on me at the Closing Ceremony as her declaring the ride to be open. Odd, the things that get to you.

With that, the crowd slowly made its way to the bikes, which takes a LONG time, so I knew I had time to hit the bathroom. Four years ago, I needed to go mostly out of nervousness. There was still a little bit of that but now so bad this time.

Glen's bike was in another area, so we wished each other a good ride and went our separate ways.

I got the route map from the one of the Bike Parking Guys. Right off the bat, there was only one thing I was concerned about, would the Skyline Climb be included? It took only a few nanoseconds to see that it was indeed on the map! Dang! This is arguably the worst climb of the entire ride and it happens before lunch on the first day!

There was such a crush at Bike Parking that it looked like I was not going to get to see Mikey before I had to ride out. He tried to tell me where he was, but I did not quite get it. It turned out alright though. He had just opened another set of doors right next to where my bike and were located. So I got to break down (just a little bit) and give him a hug before rejoining the slow moving river of bikes heading out to the street.

It was SO amazing having Mikey and Brandon there, just for me. I was SO TOUCHED. Add that to the emotions of just being on the Ride again, and I wondered if I would be able to ride at all!

Eventually, I got to the street. The Cow Palace was disgorging an almost endless number of riders onto the street at 6:30. There was little traffic, but the police had already cleared our path for several miles down the road. I did not see my sign, which kind of disappointed me, but it would turn out that my "Tailwinds" sign would not be the only sign on the route for me!

Finally, I got to a point where I would be able to get on the bike and ride. It had been about 10 days since I had ridden. It felt VERY good to be back in the saddle again. And the very first thing we had to do was to climb a hill! Even THAT felt good!

The air was quite cool and as we rode out of the city it got foggier, just like it did four years ago. But the going was VERY slow. This many riders all on the road at once does not lend itself to riding very fast. We were, after all on a highway, so I had to be patient.

The first pit stop was VERY crowded. I don't think they were really expecting for this many riders to show up, but we raised over $11 million, so we could stand a little inconvenience for the cause. It would not be too long before we were more spread out.

Soon after the first pit, we broke into the sun and it got warm very quickly. We took a slightly different route than we did four years ago, but we still had a very steep, but pretty short climb to make. I was pleased that THIS year I rode all the way up it (I had walked it before). Then it was pretty much a fast downhill to the Water Stop just prior to the beginning of out climb up Skyline.

This time, I took my time to actually notice some of what was going on around. The scenery was quite stunning in places. Even Skyline looked better than two years ago, but there was a LOT of fog then. This year's ride was sunny and clear!

The climb was gradual and long and cars were passing us slowly up the hill, mere inches away. At one point, we could hear the sound of drumming. This would be where Ginger Brewley would make "her" first appearance. I had to stop and get a picture with Ginger.

Rick (aka "Ginger") is HIV+ and is not well enough to ride. He does this instead. Ginger shows up at significant or difficult locations on the Ride. The Skyline Climb is certainly one of those locations. Ginger is a fixture on the ride and I told "her" that the Ride would not be the same without her. She gave her standard response, "It's MY pleasure, honey!" (I might tell a little bit more about Ginger later.....)

One of the supporters on the side of the road gave me a strawberry and I was off to resume my climb of Skyline, after I tried to capture at least part of what the climb looked like from below. The whole climb was about 2500 ft in around eight miles, but some parts were steeper than others.

Here is the view from the pull-out:

And here is what it looked like looking down:

Two-dimensional photos just cannot do it justice.

While Skyline was still a pain in the butt, I was having a MUCH easier time with it this year than four years ago. That was a relief, but it was also not unexpected.

Rest Stop Two was almost at the top of the climb. They had a "Pirate" Theme. Just beware of what you might get when a gay pirate offers you some of his "booty"!

The lines at this pit stop were also unbelievably long, but the roadies did what they could to make it more pleasant. For those who were in line to get water or gatorade, they brought things to eat. While I was awaiting in the water line, I met Craig Herrera. I recognized him as one of the "personalities" from the Safety Video. He is a weatherman for San Francisco TV Channel 11. He seemed quite interested that I had come "all the way from Texas" to ride! Gee! It's as difficult for ME to get on a plane and fly to San Francisco as it was for the people from Los Angeles to do it. Actually, I imagine that a lot of Californians had an even MORE difficult time than I did, particularly if they live half-way between S.F. and L.A.

I told Craig that we were almost done with Skyline. There was just a little more then we would all have as much downhill as we could handle! That was certainly true!

At the bottom of the hill, not far from the ocean, there was a small store. I needed to get some ChapStick, but one of the riders recommended eating lunch at this place. She recommended the roast beef sandwich. Since I knew the lines at lunch would be long, I decided that perhaps I should take in the local sights more. She was right. It was a good place to stop.

I still made a brief stop at the lunch pit to get some more Gatorade. I remembered how I felt the LAST time I was here. At that time, I looked at the hill outside the lunch pit (see the photo) and thought that perhaps I had bitten off more than I could chew and that I should maybe sag to camp. THIS time, however, I could hardly wait to do that hill again.

There was not as much of a tailwind this time, but the hill was not much problem. And at the top, there was a belly dancer, just as there was four years ago. I was going to find out that some things don't change.

One of the things that did not change was the unique smells along the way. There is a definite aroma of saffron along this stretch of the road. I think it grow wild and is quite pleasant.

The coastal highway was like a roller coaster. The temperature started to cool down. I told myself that I was going to have my own personal rest stop halfway between the lunch pit and Pit Three. It just happened to be by this lighthouse. I think almost everybody stops to get a shot of this! It is kind of cool.

Past the lighthouse though, there was this stretch. There were plenty of windsurfers, who can be seen in the background. I resolved that one thing I was going to do more of this time around was to get more pictures of myself and definitely more with the bike. This was a good place to start.

I needed to hustle to get to Pit Three. They were just about to close when I arrived. Pity....They had a cool "Wizard of Oz" theme and had gone to a lot of trouble to costume themselves as characters from the movie. Some of the roadies even played the part of the flying monkeys! But I had get going or they were going to sag me to camp (a fate worse than death for an able-bodied rider).

The next several miles went quickly. I definitely wanted to see if Pit Four had kept up the tradition of being the most inventive (if not warped) pit. I was not disappointed.

I rode into the Pit to the sound of country music. And THIS is what I saw them doing! I had to get several shots of THIS!

Then, it was only a handful of miles to Santa Cruz. I had a lot more energy when I got there this time. I got the bike put up and found the tent. Glen, being a faster rider, arrived first and had put the tent up. I grabbed my duffel bag and we got settled in.

I tried to leave a gabcast, but I got a busy signal...repeatedly. Ugh!

There was a short line to the shower. Glen had just showered, but he waited for me and we went to dinner. I was pretty tired, so I hit the sack early, after laying out my clothes for tomorrow. Day Two is relatively flat, but it is quite long. They say 105 miles; I say 107.5 miles.

In the meantime, I got a shot of just a small fraction of the bikes in Bike Parking....

All in all, Day One was a very successful day. I felt like I was going to be stronger and smarter this time around. One could hardly ask for a better start to what would be a phenomenal week.