Day 5 - Red Dress Day

What is Red Dress Day?

Red Dress Day...
- is a day everybody wears red!

Okok, I can do better.

Red Dress Day...
- is a day everybody takes a little bit longer in the morning to get fabulously red and beautiful; and getting chased by the caboose (sag wagon) later is totally worth it
- is the shortest day (42 miles) on the ride and the day we climb and climb and cliiiiiiimb our way from Santa Maria to Lompoc
- is a day we raise awareness by forming a human "red ribbon" on the switchbacks of CA-1
- is a day we get honked at and stared at the most by other drivers on the road. And rightfully so, allow me to explain.

At 6am, I opened my tent doors to this lovely sight...



Brian and Michael, wishing the world a good morning.

And then it just continued...



You can trust us to fight your crime, we're professionals. Tom, Brian, Ben, Nick and Lori - superheroes!



Ben Ly striking a pose while waiting for a red light.



Lunchtime entertainment was a creative rendition of "The Voice".



Lori and Nick get CPR training during lunch! We're hoping this satisfies the mandatory training requirement.



Red red red, as far as the eye could see.



Back at camp, at the official teeth brushing tree.



Nick showcases how he keeps warm each night.

Also, not to confuse the matter, but here are some photos from previous days and other phones and cameras. Thanks Jan!




Emilia and Vinnie, our awesome Lunchie Roadies who tell us where to go, where to park, where to sanitize our hands, what's for lunch, and on occasion.... even help charge our phones in their trucks during the day (a HOT commodity on the ride).


Team Mom (Jan) finally gets a break!


How many PG&E-ers does it take to....


I know! It's a lot!

Good night! Now where are my ear plugs?

Day 4 - 97 miles from Paso Robles to Santa Maria

Hello from Santa Maria! We are going to have to go with the Cliff Notes version of a blog today due to the following:

The route was a beautiful 97 mile day which included the infamous "Evil Twin" hills, the halfway to LA mark and some gnarly cross-wind threatening to knock us over for a good stretch of the way...

Which means we got back a little later (6:30pm) than usual....

Which also means we are all dead tired....

Plus, most of camp is sleeping and I think the guy in the tent behind me is trying to start a lawn mower... every 5 seconds.

Time for ear plugs and photos!



Lori, Ben, Julio, Tom and Nick!


Brian, once again had to text this one to us! :)


Dude! Where's my bike?


Bike tech support continues to save us!


Baby solar cape, Big solar cape!


There's more food than we know what to do with!


Team PG&E!

Good night! Tomorrow is Red Dress Day, the veterans are SO excited and the newbies have no idea what they're in for....

- Lori C.

Day Three, and Very Happy

Hello World,

We decided to switch up the author for today's updates, so bare with me as this is my first ever blog posting.

Today, we woke up with no confidence in weather forecasts and headed out well fed to meet the road ahead of us. What we found was partly sunny skies, beautiful rolling vineyards, & a hill they call "quadbuster"! I have no idea how long or how high of a climb it was, but every rider was challenged. Really strong riders actually leaned over and pushed struggling strangers up the hill.
The other side of the summit provided long fast descents mixed with crosswinds and semi trucks that nearly blew you over as they passed. All of this happened early in the day and soon we found ourselves at rest stop three with the sun out, plenty of Gatorade, and lots of smiling friends around :)


Beauty school dropout theme.


With the wind at our backs now, it was a quick jaunt along Highway 101 into the small town of Bradley for lunch. Jan, super roadie and also our team mom, was there to greet us for lunch.


This very small town opens its streets to ALC every year and holds a barbecue to raise money for the students. The dollars raised from this single hot lunch will fund their field trips and after school programs for the entire year!


The team was fast today, we were safe and followed the rules of the road. The closer we got to Paso Robles, the hotter and windier it was. Once in camp, we enjoyed the amenities we have already grown accustomed to: warm showers, plenty of food, and a lot of skilled volunteers keeping everybody going. Lori and I even received some very unique therapy for sore joints.



We aren't exactly sure what tomorrow's adventure will look like, but we will be tackling all 97 miles of it as a team! If you find yourself on the highway between Paso Robles and Santa Maria, keep an out for a bunch of cyclists in PG&E Blue jerseys.



- Nicolas V.

Really sexy people in warm shiny Mylar

Day 2 - King City

The Plan: Wake up at 4:50am, have breakfast and roll out by 6:30am. Ride from Santa Cruz to King City. Log 109 miles.

The Reality: Woke up at 4:50am, had breakfast and rolled out by 6:30am. Rode 50 miles with a gradual weather change from misty fog to light showers to rain to what the heck? side-wind rain?!

Again, here is our photo log for your enjoyment. :)

It was a deceptively warm and dry morning in Santa Cruz.


Julio and Tomothy stand in tent city after a good night's rest, discussing the weather over a cup of coffee. "We better bring rain jackets."

While 2 doors down, Ben, Lori and Nick were having a completely different conversation. "It's not gonna rain is it?". "Nah, it's so warm out!"



Bag and tent drop-off in the morning. "Do you have everything. Sunglasses? Sunscreen? Helmet? Gloves?". Ben Ly benefits from the reminder. :)



Mile 16, Rest stop 1. Getting misty...!



Drowned rats by the time we get to Mile 40 at Rest Stop 2...

But we decided to tough it through and head to lunch!





10 miles later, the route closes at the Lunch Stop... Mylar blankets and black trash bags stop the shivers and soon inspire an impromptu fashion show on the "best" way to wear Mylar! Gotta love this ride. :D

We were then ushered (or corralled) to a local college student center where we waited for the buses.





A few hours later we were grateful and warm... Heading to King City. :)



The (+) sides: No one got sunburned today. Three of our Power Pedalers (Rockstars Brian Ellis, Dave Haya and Mike) managed to stay ahead of the crowd and bike all 109 miles! And it was one heck of an exciting day.

We just finished stuffing our happy faces and are turning in for the night. Cheers!

Day 1 - SF (pedal pedal) Santa Cruz!

Helllllo friends! Happy to report: The Power Pedalers have arrived safe and sore into Santa Cruz camp after a lovely (and breathtaking) 82.5 miles!

The day started off with a 3:45am alarm buzz, a 5am arrival at Cow Palace, a moving and inspiring Opening Ceremony and we were on the road by 6:30am.

Here are a few photos to help tell the rest of the story (because I have to get to bed!):



A sea of nylon at the Cow Palace.... Or as our lovely speaker referred to the view, "really sexy people in tight shiny pants."



The famous Ben Ko from the SF Service Center.



First time riders, Nick Vighi and Ben Ly waiting for the gates to open.



Would it make my face look weird if I ate like this??



Jan Wexner: Rockin' Roadie, Awesome Team Captain, Fabulous Lunch Crew... This is the face we look forward to everyday as we roll into Lunch!



Our lunchtime view... Yes, I know you're jealous.



Seven days of porta-potties...at least they're entertaining! :)



We finally found Tomothy Ford!!!



I think it's famous... But I don't know the name of it. Photo from Brian Ellis (speed demon extraordinaire)! Maybe he knows.



Brian Ellis and Dave Haya had to donate photos via text because they are speed monsters!



Mixed emotions at the end of the ride... Ben Ly had a challenging day of mystery thorns in his tire, a few small falls and a stubbed toe. But he's a ninja and just kept pedaling through it! Tomorrow will be a better day for him, we've already decided that.



The best part of the ride: eating everything in sight.

Good night moon, good night stars! See you at Day 2, to King City we go!

4 more days!!!

Oh hello.

The PG&E Power Pedalers thank you for all your encouragement and support! Our early mornings, post-work evenings and weekends have been consumed with pedaling, climbing, baking, spinning, fundraising, meeting and scheming up costume ideas for the last handful of months. We're feeling strong and sooo excited to hop on those bike seats and flock southward in less than 4 days!!!

If you have been meaning to donate and haven't been able to get in front of that computer with credit card in hand...now's the time to do it! There are a few of our team members who could use a boost on meeting the $3K minimum in order to participate on the bike ride. Show your love and support by kindly visiting:
http://www.tofighthiv.org/site/TR/AIDSLIFECYCLE11/AIDSLifeCycleCenter?team_id=6920&pg=team&fr_id=1440

In the meantime, here are some more training ride photos for you to be entertained with while I figure out some of the last minute details of how to make this blog app work!

Oh! One more thing. You'll be happy to know, this daily blog will be solar powered all next week by Tom Ford's nifty new solar charger! (Yep, no plugs available during the ride, he'll be carrying the solar panels on his back!)


Jan Wexner, Simon Drummond, Brian Ellis and Tom Ford at the East Bay Victory Brunch!

Proudly sporting the PG&E jersey

Ben Ly is looking ready for the ride!

Teamwork.

Tom, aka Tomothy, Ford after a lunch break on a training ride

Morning Bun stop at Bovine Bakery!
- Lori C.

New jerseys

Sporting 30th anniversary jersey kits. Not really an anniversary to celebrate, that HIV is still around after 30 years, but good to know.




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Location:Apple shop