Tierra Bella Century

Saturday, I joined a few hundred other cyclists for the Tierra Bella Century ride. This 100-miler ride started in Gilroy. I went with 4 friends and we had a blast!

There was a combination of rural and urban, sub-division and country-living, farm land and manicured lawns, hillside mansions with gated-driveways and chicken-littered front yards. We started a "list" of what we had to find on our ride--things like a twin to our bike and a cyclist from our alma mater. As we went along we added to the list, because clearly a llama and a hippo made from scrap metal should have been on it in the first place! RQ won--she "checked" the alma mater, girl with the same name, and made a connection for a potential job! It was all in good fun and keep us from getting too fixated on the road and bike (and miles!) in front of us.

CS, RQ, AC pre-ride!

About mid-way, there was a 10-mile climb that just would not end. Though, we knew at the top, a rest with water and food awaited us. After refueling, we cruised down the hill and were met with a nice headwind for 25 miles. The entire ride had 6300 feet of climbing.

A friend and I recruited others to start a pace line, where we each took turns "pulling" at the front and blocking the wind for those behind us. The pulls were pretty short--a few minutes--and then we got to rest back in the pack. We didn't realize there were several folks who joined the back and came along for the ride, a few of them came up to us afterward and thanked us for helping them though the wind! I will admit, by the end of this windy part, I'd about had it with the wind. Emotionally, I don't think I could have taken much more.

The 2nd from the top was our ride

The last 25 miles was with the wind and seemed almost downhill. Though, I am not sure if at this point I was so delusional I thought we were going downhill?! The final 10 miles the only things running through my mind were, "green light, make the light; no flats; move your legs; make circles; drink water; spin; Lilac Lane, what a nice name." Not too much substance! I just wanted to finish. We all reconvened at the end and had a quick bite to eat, filled the car up with gas and got on the road back to SF. On the way home, we chatted about the "sights," the cyclists, and the fun we had.