On May 30th, Jon and I participated in a 31 mile ride for charity, from Davis to the city of Winters. It was hard work for two unexperienced riders who have never rode longer than 3 miles before. (We took one 14 mile ride the weekend before the event...who needs training!!)
Though all proceeds/entry fees went to Habitat for Humanity, I found that a lot of my hard earned cash went to the local bike shops as we prepared for the event. All participants were required to have helmets which we did not already own. We also had to purchase patch kits, extra tire tubes, a portable bike pump, sunscreen, cyclist undies for Jon, and comfy shorts for Ali. I really wanted shorts with butt pads, a snazzy euro looking cyclist shirt and gloves, but Jon said that by the time we would be done, this would be a 400.00 dollar ride. I was like..."It's an investment...I promise I'll wear my gloves after this..." but he was not having it.
It was a country side ride which really made me appreciate California's beauty. Throughout the ride, we past olive trees, farm houses, walnut tree groves, tomato fields, sunflower patches, cows, sheep, and several vineyards. It was just too hard to take pictures and ride at the same time.
Because our pace was a bit slower then many of the "serious" cyclists, we saw many returning from Winters before we were even half way there. Unfortunately I got scolded by one of these serious cyclists for swerving too much...I believe her words were "Watch out, stay on your side of the path!" I actually was on my side long before she came upon me, I was trying to avoid the bumpy part of the path, and I knew she was coming. In her defense, I did not have the cyclist outfit to show her I knew what I was doing. Most of the other cyclists we encountered were very nice, and always asked us if we needed assistance...we would say "no, we are just taking a rest".
Luckily we rode with some co-workers who went more our pace, though Jon lagged behind a lot. Basically, we need better bikes for these kinds of rides.
Once we got to Winters, we had a leasurely breakfast with our friends.Then hopped back on the bikes to find that we were riding against the wind.
Note: The whole way to Winters we heard the phrase "Coming back will be easy because we will be going with the wind..." This was not the case. We had wind on the way to Winters, and had the wind even stronger on the way back!
The only thing keeping us going on the way back, was the promise of Ben & Jerry's ice cream!
Diana had to tell me to take off my helmet...I forgot it was still on!
Here we are! We did it. Besides some butt, hand and knee pain, we did all right. Next time I'm getting the gloves!