Wine Country Century

This past weekend Dan and I rode in the Wine Country Century. I had to decided to attempt my first 100K ride. Usually I choose the 30 mile option for these rides, but I wanted to try something a little more challenging. I didn't have a lot of time for training, but I did get a couple of 40 mile rides in before the big day and did a little bit of hill training. Dan reassured me that I was prepared, but I wasn't so sure. Especially since I had heard about a big scary hill near the end of the ride.

Last year when we did this ride, it was pouring rain. So when we woke up Saturday morning and it was sunny and beautiful, it was already an improvement over last year. We grabbed some breakfast at Starbucks, loaded up our bikes, camelbaks, water bottles, gu, etc. and headed over to meet for our group photo. Dan was doing the 100 mile ride so he got started right away. I waited until about 8:00 then I got started as well.

The first half of the ride we were riding into the wind. And I forgot my allergy meds. Needless to say, every stop was spent endlessly sneezing. The first stop was after only ten miles. I grabbed a piece of banana and a quarter of a PB&J and we headed back out. The next stop was at mile 32 and it was our lunch break. They really know how to take care of the cyclists. They had made to order deli sandwiches, bananas, oranges and strawberries, chips, nuts, a variety of cookies and fig bars, even m&ms. Plus they have a drop bag system, mechanics and first aid available at each stop, they even provide sunscreen! I had a sandwich and hung out for a good 30 minutes before getting back on my bike. Oh, also I was following the recommended plan of taking a gu (gu chomps in my case) every ten miles.

After lunch we had a tailwind, which was very nice. We were going faster without having to work as hard. I enjoyed riding through the beautiful scenery, passing many wineries and vineyards. The third and final rest stop was at mile 46, just before Chalk Hill. They had "chalk hill sliders," a banana slice with a dollop of peanut butter and some m&ms. Mmm. Just what I needed before the scary hill. After we turned on Chalk Hill Rd. I kept thinking "maybe that was the hill." Which was funny, because once I was really on the hill, it was clear. I was kind of nervous about making it up and even asked if anyone ever got off their bike and walked it up the hill (some people do). But, I was able to make it all the way to the top without getting off my bike! At one point a nice guy passed me and said "you still have one more gear left." To which I replied, "I'm saving it!" The climb is a mostly 7-8% grade with a small section of 12% at the very top. The entire climb is less than a mile, but it was still the longest climb I had ever done. At the very top I let out a "Whoo!" and had a goofy grin as I sped down the other side. There were only about 9 miles left to the finish and I knew I was going to make it.

Once I made it to the finish line around 2:00 I just walked around feeling really happy. I know it sounds silly, but I was just happy. I changed clothes, then walked to get some frozen yogurt with my friend, then got a 20 minute massage while I waited for Dan to finish his 100 miles. When he was finished we had a celebratory beer, ate a yummy dinner (also provided by the organizers of the ride), and then headed home. It was a very fun way to spend a Saturday!


Just after the first rest stop on Wohler Bridge

Some grapevines along the way

Stopping for lunch

After-race beer

The River

I took the kids on a walk down to the American River yesterday. They rode in our new bike carrier (speaking of which, we just got our reimbursement check from the insurance company in the mail today-yay!). We spent a couple of hours there eating lunch and throwing rocks into the river. It amazes me how long they will stand there throwing rocks, but I guess it's the only chance they have to throw anything without getting in trouble. There were also some ducks and geese that swam by and stopped to see if we had any snacks for them.

"We're ready for the river mom, stop taking our picture!"

On the way back they were being pretty silly. Ava kept pushing her face into the mesh cover and shouting "hi mommy!" at me. Then she started pressing her face against the vinyl windows, and I got this lovely photo:

She just cracks me up! Both kids pushed their little feet through the velcro opening and I snapped a cute picture of their tiny toes!


Dan is also riding in his first century today. It is in Sonoma County and he spent the night last night so he'd be ready to ride this morning. He just called and he finished riding 100 miles in six and a half hours! What a superstar! Congratulations Dan! We are proud of you!

Rude Awakening

This morning at 5 am there was loud knocking at the door and the dog was barking. I woke Dan up and he heard the really loud knocking again. He went to the door and it was the police! Nothing gets your heart racing like waking up to the police at your front door. The officer said our neighbor had called because our garage door was open and he wanted Dan to look and see if anything was missing.

It was. About $4500 worth of equipment was stolen while we slept! And our dogs, who bark like crazy anytime anyone comes to the door, didn't make a peep. They stole three of our bikes, worth more than $3000, our new bike trailer to tow the kids that we used once, my snowboard and boots which I used for the first time yesterday, and Dan's snowboard and boots. At first we thought we left the garage open after we unloaded our snowboards yesterday, but then we remembered Dan took the trashcans to the street right before bed and he would have noticed it was open. They got in by breaking the glass on our garage door, and then reaching in to grab the release and rolled up the door. That is pretty bold! And they must have been prepared because three bikes, the trailer, and two snowboards would take up a lot of room and required multiple people or lots of trips. Someone is coming later today to check for prints on the door, but I can't imagine you wouldn't wear gloves if you're going to stick your hand through a broken window. The best we can figure is it happened sometime between about 12:30 when we went to bed and 3:30 when our neighbor first noticed the garage was open (no idea what he was doing awake at 3:30, but we appreciate his diligence in looking out for the neighborhood).

As much as it sucks to have our things stolen, it's just stuff. What really bothers me is the feeling that we are not safe. We are lucky that we were only dealing with thieves, because it would have been so easy for them to walk through the door to the house and come inside where my babies were sleeping. That is scary. And of course, they broke in through the only door on our entire house that is not alarmed! So I'm going to call the alarm company today and see if we can put a sensor on the garage door. I also want to get a deadbolt for the door from the garage to the house. And we have to replace the glass on the exterior door so they can't just come back again tonight for more stuff. Luckily the car was untouched, but it was unlocked so I'll make it a habit of locking the car even when it's in the garage.

Anyway, this morning I'm thanking God that we are all safe and everything that was stolen is replaceable.

You can see the broken glass and the release that they used to open the door

Our empty wall of fun: trailer hung from the hook on the far left, bikes from the three hooks in the middle, and snowboards on the sets of hooks on the right.

Us and our bikes in happier times

Riding His Bike