The BEST news of the day is our most seasoned ALC Power Pedalers team member, Dave Haya, hitched a ride from the Bay Area to our campsite tonight and will be able to hop on his bike and join in on Day 4 tomorrow after battling a cold and food poisoning that was threatening to prevent him from riding. He's here, he's excited and he's ready!!! Just ask Jan! :)
This morning started off a tad slowly as we made our way out of King City. In the interest of safety, we had a loooooong train of riders inching their way towards the main road. Khaled, Nic and Theresa patiently waited to begin the 66 mile day and face the infamous Quadbuster climb.
Just before the Quadbuster, there were kindhearted locals who owned a lavender farm and a lot of coffee makers and were serving coffee and letting us frolic in their garden before the climb...
What's the Quadbuster you ask? We couldn't take photos, we were too busy climbing but here's an elevation snapshot from my Strava App... go ahead, take a guess!
...and while you're getting over the awe of that peak, I have more to share. It was incredibly inspiring to watch many riders (including Khaled, Theresa and Nic) reach the top, turn around and do it one more time. Some riders (one in a Superman outfit) were getting off their bikes and pushing others up the hill. Other riders did it twice in memory of friends they've lost. The mountain was the sweaty, loving, inspiring, quadbusting, music-blasting bike party that we had all been waiting for. It certainly did not disappoint!
After the climb, it was a sweet and well-earned descent into Bradley where the small city threw their annual fundraising BBQ lunch for the 2000 riders passing through. Nic and I were able to find first time rider and top fundraiser on the Power Pedalers team, Judy!
The rest of the day was headwind, headwind, headwind. Another first time rider, Tae, kept a smile on his face despite the challenge!
When we finally got into camp, we learned that many members of the ride (riders and volunteers) were dehydrated today and had to be bussed in. So in the spirit of friendly reminders.... I'll leave you with this:
Hydrate!
Keep Calm and Pedal On,
Lori
That elevation map says it all - you all are amazing! Thought of you all huffin it up the Quadbuster more than once today sitting around in 245 Market. Never good when the hill has a name. Thanks for the updates and all you are doing this week - truly inspirational. Keep pedaling!
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