Day Three - King City to Paso Robles

The morning was quite cool. Glen and I got our stuff together and went to breakfast about as early as we could. It was going to be a BIG day!

I recorded a gabcast while Glen went to brush his teeth...and I promptly lost him while I was trying to sound coherent on the phone. We got our gear to the truck and joined a stretching class in progress. EVERYBODY was apprehensive about the Quadbuster. The class leader joked that she had done these stretches EVERY year and she NEVER even FEELS the Quadbuster.....Lair!

We got on our way. Cloudy morning. The wind was indeed at our backs....at least to begin. We sailed past rich farmland and parallel to a highway. I remember having a VERY tough time with this particular stretch of the road before. Today, was much easier.

But then we changed direction. I did not realize just how hard the wind had been blowing! We were now having to fight it and ride uphill! Even riding downhill was not easy.

This morning would mark the first of many "oh HELL no" moments. A large hill loomed before us, directly into the wind. I made it up alright, but I set no speed records in the process. MANY people walked up it though. I joked at that top, "THAT was Quadbuster, right?", knowing full well that it was NOT!

Before too long, we were treated to a very fast descent. Then we arrived at Pit One. I was surprised at how crowded it was. I guess riders were either gathering their strength for Quadbuster or were merely delaying the inevitable.

I hit the port-a-potty, grabbed some carbs, then returned to the road. Within a mile or two, just around the bend from the Pit, was a bright sign that said, "Welcome to Quadbuster!". Welcome indeed...

Most riders would consider Quadbuster to be the most heinous hill we encounter on the Ride. I think it should have its own theme song (and it would not be a light, cheery song!). It was definitely another "oh HELL no!" moment. But I began the climb. I found that if I got behind somebody who was going more slowly than I would have really liked to have gone, I would do better. My heartrate was amazingly slow, so I was not wearing myself out in the climb. That might have been a mistake I was making last time.

I pulled off the side to get a picture of the hill and the riders. This was the same place I'd gotten a great shot of The Chicken Lady. While the Chicken Lady was on the ride this year and I encountered him MANY times, I got no pictures, but we did get to interact many times.....

I found a gap to jump back on the road and complete the hill. One advantage of a hill like that is that you don't need a very big space to rejoin the ride. The line is moving VERY slowly!

As I got to the top of the hill, feeling quite happy that I was going to conquer Quadbuster, there was a guy "pulling" riders up using an imaginary rope. Funny, it actually seemed to help. Quadbuster brings out this kind of behavior. Riders wait at the top to cheer others on. Some riders head back down to give struggling riders a constant push up the hill. Others are just doing what they can to walk their bikes up the hill and nobody criticizes them.

I had to also get a shot of Ginger cheering the riders on. At this point, even the hunky riders were celebrating their acheivement. I tried to record a podcast, but the signal was weak. One of my proudest moments on the ride would not get its gabcast.

Then came the real reward for all of the morning's climbing - the long downhill! What fun! It was a VERY fast ride into Pit Two, where it had turned quite warm!

I took off some of my layering, put the sunscreen on, grabbed some snacks and then headed back to the road to Pit Three. The route was hot and hilly.

Pit Three had a "Christmas" theme. Decorum prohibits my even describing what one guy was wearing (or shall I say NOT wearing), but I will say that he found a creative location to hang two small Christmas tree balls.

After "refueling", it was time to get back on the road to head to the little town of Bradley. Bradley holds a fund-raising barbeque every year when we come through for their school. It's the only event for that purpose they hold. The money goes for college scholarships and field trips for their little school. It's VERY popular with the riders because the barbeque is undoubtedly better tasting that the lunches we are supplied. However, the barbeque line was too long and too slow for me to justify waiting, so I had the turkey sandwich, chips, and cookie that the Ride supplies, while sitting under a tarp with several other riders.

The ride out of Bradley was a little bit desolate, but scenic in its own way. We had to actually ride on the shoulder of Highway 101 to get to the next pit, on the grounds of an old mission. Today Pit Four dressed up as the cast of "Dream Girls". These guys are so imaginative! A Dream Girl was directing traffic into the Pit. There were Dream Girls to pose with for pictures. What Fun!

I called Robert Hart to let her know that I was about 15 miles from camp, so she could know when we could meet. I figured I would be there in about an hour, but I did not want to promise anything. I remembered this stretch of road being rather difficult previously. My performance today proved that I was MUCH better prepared for this ride than I was four years ago. The ride to Paso Robles was quite pleasant. The M&M guys were even on this stretch of the route to make it even better. M&M's, after all, ARE nature's most perfect candy!

When I got to camp, I stopped by my tent, which was already set up. There was a bright orange sign on it welcoming me to Camp! What an amazing feeling. Inside, I found my duffle bag (an even MORE amazing feeling!) and a bag of fresh cherries! Roberta and her son had gotten in early enough to begin putting the tent up. I think Glen showed up in the process.

By the time I had arrived, Roberta had some errands to run, but she was so close to camp that we had no problem getting together in time to cheer the last rider in.

She watched me wolf down my dinner as we caught up on what had been going on with each other. It was odd to think that we had actually crossed paths (literally) when I rode four years ago, but I would not find out about it until a couple months later in Montreal when we were helping Mikey with an AIDS Vaccine Trek. Small world.

Roberta had to pick up her son from a hockey game and I needed to get some rest before Day Four. Day Four was MY big day. I have been waiting to repeat it for four years because I was not able to finish it on my first try. I was anxious to get another shot at it.

But before I went to bed, The Chicken Lady happened to see my Texas AIDS Ride 2 jersey. He lit up and said "I remember that ride!" (of course he does, we had a HORRIBLE ice storm on the last day!) He then asked if I was on that ride (well, I CREWED actually). I told him, "Ken, you and I have done MANY rides together!" He gave me a big hug and said "I love you!".

The chicken Lady probably does not remember me from the thousands of riders who all adore him, but it was still nice.