skyway
Well-known member
Mission Impossible SS1K May 6-7 2006
Well after almost a year since I ran the Cal24 2-up with my best friend and SO, I was starting to get antsy for another fix of long distance riding. I was glad to hear that the Cal24 was going to happen again, and I even offered my time as a helper to the staff, if that would have made the difference. Fortunately for me I was surplus to requirements and was able to sign up again. Damn what a shame!
The Cal24 rally has been the catalyst for my illness of LD riding other than the writings of Ron Ayres’ documented ride in the IBR with “Against the Wind” and LD riding tips “Going The Extra Mile”.
This particular SS1K route came about after wifey expressed an interest in visiting the Missions of CA. So I looked at the map for the locations, and BING the light went off for what would be the perfect way to kill 2 birds with one stone. Get to all of them in less than 24 hours and get the IBA cert for 1K miles in CA in under 24hrs. I’m SO up for it.
I’ve never been interested in rides that just pick 2 points on a map with a freeway and turnaround point in-between to achieve the cert. A good strategy for sure, just not my cup of tea.
I initially planned for this ride earlier in the year, but the weather in CA has been wetter than any other of the 9 years I’ve been a resident here. So with schedules permitting, May 6th jumped out on the calendar as a free weekend to get this rolling.
I initially posted my intentions on FJRForum and got a few emails from other riders who expressed an interest in riding the route. Now anyone who moves long distances in short periods of time would tell you, this might not be the logical move to open up this type of ride as a group effort. But heck, any way to introduce fellow riders to the fine art of long distance riding was just too tempting to pass up.
So the list ended up consisting of myself, forum members “Bluestreek” Steve Fry and “Toecutter” Bob Firestine. The 3 amigos? The good, the bad, the ugly? Not sure really, I’ll let you guys figure it out.
Now I’ve spent many a mile riding with Steve, including CA to WFO last summer with Madmike2 and a bunch of others, but Bob I had only met briefly during a group ride to Kings Canyon Park near Fresno almost a year earlier. This was a little unnerving to me, as 1000 miles over a rather demanding course could get a little complicated as far as time goes. That and pictures of his bike with no front-end attached 1 week before departure raised an eyebrow.
With the weather not playing fair with us for practice rideouts, with only one week to go before the big day, wifey bowed out during a 500 mile warm-up ride. I was glad of this, as I would not want to be stopping midway on the route and DNF’ing. I’m just not a DNF kind of guy.
So the plan was set to meet the evening before at the Peppery Gar & Brill in Sonora, which my brother-in-law has aptly renamed the ‘Peckery” since the waitresses all seem to be very young and very cute. So during the day I headed over to the grocery store and picked up all the food and fluids I would need during the ride and stashed them at home in the fridge ready for the 8.00am planned start time.
Steve an Bob arrived within 5 minutes of one another and I handed them the information of the route, including a highlighted map, addresses of all Missions and pertinent information of loved ones, medical info etc. We order dinner and start to digest the strategy of the following days ride.
I asked them if their ready for the off, in regards to food and hydration and both replied that neither of them had any provisions stocked and Bob was the only one with some sort of hydration system that could be accessed while on the move. “OK” I thought to myself and wondered how prepared they were for the task at hand. I had mentioned prior that the IBA’s Archive Of Wisdom would be a great source of information for getting ready, and at this point was not sure how much time was spend soaking up the info.
We ate dinner and made a plan to meet for breakfast the following morning across the street from the start point at 7.00am. Steve was staying in a local motel and Bob slummed it at my place.
5.00am, with the bike all packed the day before other than ice and cold stuff, Bob and I had coffee and got ready for the off. We made it to the restaurant and was greeted by Steve, along with wifey and my father-in-law who was along for moral support. During long rides I make a point of staying away from heavy foods and monitor my diet very close for the duration of the ride. After a bowl of oatmeal and fresh fruit I was fueled up and ready for the start line.
We made our way over to the gas station for the start receipt and get our paperwork signed. My gas receipt was reading 5 minutes earlier than the actual time and I figured I could live with that. So I looked around ready to go but I was the only one chomping at the bit. Bob was next and Steve was still working on paperwork. I pulled out and across the street to give a little nudge meaning let’s get the flock out of here, but it did not happen. Bob pulled out across the street and lined up behind me and we were still waiting. 8.15am and we were still not moving, so I just started moving on the route. I road about 5 miles and pulled over wondering what was the holdup. I called wifey to see what the deal was and she mentioned something about odometer information. Then Bob appeared with Steve close behind, so I figured we were ready at last. I lead them down to Lake Tullock when Steve dropped off again. I pulled into the resort parking lot wondering what was up. I checked the clock and 30 minutes had now passed and we had only traveled about 7 miles. I motioned Bob that I was going to return to the gas station and start this thing over, as the route was already going to be slow moving and making up 30 minutes would not be happening.
On the way back, Steve passes me and I come to find out that his first gas receipt had flown out of his tank bag due to it being left open and he had been trying to retrieve it. So we all get back to the gas station for take 2 with a new start time of 9.00am. This time we all get away much better with the clock only showing 9.05am
Mission Impossible was on!
Our first stop was to be in Sonoma for Mission San Francisco Solano, record mileage, time, snap a picture for posterity; then get a gas receipt, as this was the first corner of the ride. I gassed up and munched on the sushi I had brought for lunch, and sucked down a small bottle of propel water. 11.29am and 141 miles later we are at the first of 21 planned destinations stretched along the state of CA. I went to start my bike to get under way, and the bastard would barely start. What a time to be worrying about a POS battery!
Mission San Rafael was uneventful and before I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, I stopped for another posterity picture. Planning a SS1K ride that includes moving through the center of San Francisco at midday on Saturday might not be the first choice of many riders, but what’s a guy to do, there’s a Mission in the heart of this beast and I’m getting it damn it! At 12.54pm it was bagged and tagged with some steep hills and traffic to navigate before leaving the city via the Bay Bridge toward Hwy 880 south and the East Bay.
We bagged Fremont, Santa Clara and made our way over Hwy 17 to Santa Cruz. 1.44pm we were making more entry logs and set off on Hwy 1 toward San Juan Bautista. Despite our minor hiccup at the start, we were moving along in complete sync, as one, just as I was hoping for. These guys mean business! :evilsmiley03:
First stop in Sonoma.
San Rafael
Toecutter looking toward San Francisco
Same spot looking at the Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco
Bluestreek with Mission San Jose in the background
Santa Clara
Santa Cruz
To be continued.....
Well after almost a year since I ran the Cal24 2-up with my best friend and SO, I was starting to get antsy for another fix of long distance riding. I was glad to hear that the Cal24 was going to happen again, and I even offered my time as a helper to the staff, if that would have made the difference. Fortunately for me I was surplus to requirements and was able to sign up again. Damn what a shame!
The Cal24 rally has been the catalyst for my illness of LD riding other than the writings of Ron Ayres’ documented ride in the IBR with “Against the Wind” and LD riding tips “Going The Extra Mile”.
This particular SS1K route came about after wifey expressed an interest in visiting the Missions of CA. So I looked at the map for the locations, and BING the light went off for what would be the perfect way to kill 2 birds with one stone. Get to all of them in less than 24 hours and get the IBA cert for 1K miles in CA in under 24hrs. I’m SO up for it.
I’ve never been interested in rides that just pick 2 points on a map with a freeway and turnaround point in-between to achieve the cert. A good strategy for sure, just not my cup of tea.
I initially planned for this ride earlier in the year, but the weather in CA has been wetter than any other of the 9 years I’ve been a resident here. So with schedules permitting, May 6th jumped out on the calendar as a free weekend to get this rolling.
I initially posted my intentions on FJRForum and got a few emails from other riders who expressed an interest in riding the route. Now anyone who moves long distances in short periods of time would tell you, this might not be the logical move to open up this type of ride as a group effort. But heck, any way to introduce fellow riders to the fine art of long distance riding was just too tempting to pass up.
So the list ended up consisting of myself, forum members “Bluestreek” Steve Fry and “Toecutter” Bob Firestine. The 3 amigos? The good, the bad, the ugly? Not sure really, I’ll let you guys figure it out.
Now I’ve spent many a mile riding with Steve, including CA to WFO last summer with Madmike2 and a bunch of others, but Bob I had only met briefly during a group ride to Kings Canyon Park near Fresno almost a year earlier. This was a little unnerving to me, as 1000 miles over a rather demanding course could get a little complicated as far as time goes. That and pictures of his bike with no front-end attached 1 week before departure raised an eyebrow.
With the weather not playing fair with us for practice rideouts, with only one week to go before the big day, wifey bowed out during a 500 mile warm-up ride. I was glad of this, as I would not want to be stopping midway on the route and DNF’ing. I’m just not a DNF kind of guy.
So the plan was set to meet the evening before at the Peppery Gar & Brill in Sonora, which my brother-in-law has aptly renamed the ‘Peckery” since the waitresses all seem to be very young and very cute. So during the day I headed over to the grocery store and picked up all the food and fluids I would need during the ride and stashed them at home in the fridge ready for the 8.00am planned start time.
Steve an Bob arrived within 5 minutes of one another and I handed them the information of the route, including a highlighted map, addresses of all Missions and pertinent information of loved ones, medical info etc. We order dinner and start to digest the strategy of the following days ride.
I asked them if their ready for the off, in regards to food and hydration and both replied that neither of them had any provisions stocked and Bob was the only one with some sort of hydration system that could be accessed while on the move. “OK” I thought to myself and wondered how prepared they were for the task at hand. I had mentioned prior that the IBA’s Archive Of Wisdom would be a great source of information for getting ready, and at this point was not sure how much time was spend soaking up the info.
We ate dinner and made a plan to meet for breakfast the following morning across the street from the start point at 7.00am. Steve was staying in a local motel and Bob slummed it at my place.
5.00am, with the bike all packed the day before other than ice and cold stuff, Bob and I had coffee and got ready for the off. We made it to the restaurant and was greeted by Steve, along with wifey and my father-in-law who was along for moral support. During long rides I make a point of staying away from heavy foods and monitor my diet very close for the duration of the ride. After a bowl of oatmeal and fresh fruit I was fueled up and ready for the start line.
We made our way over to the gas station for the start receipt and get our paperwork signed. My gas receipt was reading 5 minutes earlier than the actual time and I figured I could live with that. So I looked around ready to go but I was the only one chomping at the bit. Bob was next and Steve was still working on paperwork. I pulled out and across the street to give a little nudge meaning let’s get the flock out of here, but it did not happen. Bob pulled out across the street and lined up behind me and we were still waiting. 8.15am and we were still not moving, so I just started moving on the route. I road about 5 miles and pulled over wondering what was the holdup. I called wifey to see what the deal was and she mentioned something about odometer information. Then Bob appeared with Steve close behind, so I figured we were ready at last. I lead them down to Lake Tullock when Steve dropped off again. I pulled into the resort parking lot wondering what was up. I checked the clock and 30 minutes had now passed and we had only traveled about 7 miles. I motioned Bob that I was going to return to the gas station and start this thing over, as the route was already going to be slow moving and making up 30 minutes would not be happening.
On the way back, Steve passes me and I come to find out that his first gas receipt had flown out of his tank bag due to it being left open and he had been trying to retrieve it. So we all get back to the gas station for take 2 with a new start time of 9.00am. This time we all get away much better with the clock only showing 9.05am
Mission Impossible was on!
Our first stop was to be in Sonoma for Mission San Francisco Solano, record mileage, time, snap a picture for posterity; then get a gas receipt, as this was the first corner of the ride. I gassed up and munched on the sushi I had brought for lunch, and sucked down a small bottle of propel water. 11.29am and 141 miles later we are at the first of 21 planned destinations stretched along the state of CA. I went to start my bike to get under way, and the bastard would barely start. What a time to be worrying about a POS battery!
Mission San Rafael was uneventful and before I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, I stopped for another posterity picture. Planning a SS1K ride that includes moving through the center of San Francisco at midday on Saturday might not be the first choice of many riders, but what’s a guy to do, there’s a Mission in the heart of this beast and I’m getting it damn it! At 12.54pm it was bagged and tagged with some steep hills and traffic to navigate before leaving the city via the Bay Bridge toward Hwy 880 south and the East Bay.
We bagged Fremont, Santa Clara and made our way over Hwy 17 to Santa Cruz. 1.44pm we were making more entry logs and set off on Hwy 1 toward San Juan Bautista. Despite our minor hiccup at the start, we were moving along in complete sync, as one, just as I was hoping for. These guys mean business! :evilsmiley03:
First stop in Sonoma.
San Rafael
Toecutter looking toward San Francisco
Same spot looking at the Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco
Bluestreek with Mission San Jose in the background
Santa Clara
Santa Cruz
To be continued.....
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