Chester Century - June 2009
pictures below
Rob, Tony, Israel
The Plan
A few months back I was taking a look at the summer schedule of events and decided that the Mile High 100 century might be a good ride to do. I talked with a few friends, and I finally convinced Israel and Tony to do the ride with me. The ride was advertised as pretty low key and not too difficult by century standards, with 3200 feet of elevation gain over the 108 miles. This factored in well for the three of us as this was a) Israel's first century ride, b)Tony's mileage base for Death Ride in a few weeks, and c) my desire to see the beautiful blossoming valleys, crystal clear lakes, and pleasant California countryfolk. After much discussion and collusion, we convinced our wives to let us go for 30 hours (Friday evening until Saturday night), so we could get a decent night sleep in Chico the night before (more about this later), and be fresh and ready to go in Chester on Saturday morning. We prepared ourselves for the manly road trip by commandeering Tony's Windstar minivan (with stylish torpedo tube/cargo box), a healthy supply of snacks (granola bars and bagels), and enough liquid to acquiesce or protesting thirst.
Friday Night
Tony picked us up around 6pm on Friday night, and after loading our bikes into the back of the minivan, we were off on our two hour pilgrimage to Chico. I had booked us a room at the Budget Inn of Chico (I followed my usual M.O of searching for the cheapest room on hotels.com), which looked to be promising. We had a relatively uneventful trip to Chico where we checked into the hotel (which ended up being in quite a shady section of town), then quickly convinced ourselves that we needed something to eat. We found the Sierra Nevada Brewery for our late dinner, and as is my usual tradition I ordered the cheeseburger. The grub was okay, not sure if I would head there again, but the clientèle was interesting, and we got a good laugh out of Tony's beer called “The Bigfoot”, which was served in a glass the size of a coffee mug. After dinner we headed back to the Budget Inn where Israel and I decided to head across the street to the liquor store in search of ice cream. We had the treat of witnessing what appeared to be a drug deal at the hotel as we were leaving, but we were excited to see the mother with her 5 kids in tow (all likely under the age of 5) leaving the liquor store at 10:30 at night; I guess it was a family friendly area. We got our ice cream and headed back to the hotel where Israel set up the air mattress and we watched some TV. They had MMA fights on Showtime, so I was kept entertained until 1 am (far too late when we were getting up at 5:15).
The Ride
So we broke camp and left the hotel right on schedule for our 5:30 departure. We were glad to see the bikes were still in the minivan and the vehicle had not been stolen. We plugged the GPS in and began our 50 mile trip to Chester through the winding mountainous roads of central California. We chatted about manly things as we were manly men on a manly adventure (save the fact that we would be wearing spandex on our exploits). We got to chester a little later than we had anticipated, but we were able to get to the registration area, pick up our goody bags, and get the bikes together by 7:30ish. We took some preride pictures to mark the occasion and set about the business of the day.
The first portion of the ride was a 12 mile climb up some random road which promised a breathtaking view of Mt. Lassen (yes, the same Mt. Lassen that rained ash upon both the people living in a 200 mile radius in 1915 when it erupted). We were not disappointed with the view after the 12 mile climb, so we paused at the turnaround point to take some pictures and pound some electrolytes. The ride down went far faster and was far more exciting than the ride up. True to form, Israel smoked both Tony and I down the hill; his body has some sort of special gravitational pull which allows him to descend at a greater rate of speed than the rest of us...though he is working on this to even the handicap. I ended up catching up with Israel just before the first rest stop (~25 miles) where they provided energy drink refills and some type of breakfast cake (which of course I took more helpings than I needed). We started to worry about Tony as he didn't show up for a good 10-15 minutes and we had asked a few people who came in behind us if they had seen anyone with bike trouble, which they hadn't. Tony finally came in, and he fed us some story about having to stop to go to the bathroom in the woods and then being unable to find his bike afterwards. He was also grumbling something about not having any energy and it was because he stayed up too late watching MMA (yeah, whatever).
We left the rest stop and headed around Lake Almanor and into the Indian Valley. This ride probably had 3 or 4 hundred people on it (not necessarily a ton), so when I made a turn and started ~1000 feet of downhill I became worried when I didn't see anyone and feared I would have to climb all of this to get back to the right turn. After 10 minutes I finally came up behind another woman and verified I was on the right course. I had joined a couple of pace lines and got separated from Tony and Israel, so I stopped at the 'light' rest stop in Greenville (probably one of the smallest towns I have ever been in, I got a few pictures). They provided the electrolyte drink 'Recharge' (yeah, I have never heard of it either) as well as Jelly Belly's and mustard pretzels. A few minutes later Tony and Israel showed up and we chatted about the fun descent from a few miles before. At this point we were about 50 miles into the ride, and we were all in good spirits. According to the map (apparently not drawn to scale or accuracy), we only had like 16 miles to the lunch stop, so we were excited to move along.
After leaving Greenville, we were in the heart of the Indian Valley and I must say that the landscapes and vistas were awesome. I felt like Maria in The Sound of Music singing and dancing freely and gaily about in the fields next to the mountaintop Abbey (okay, maybe not exactly); it really was pretty though. Israel and I were together for a good chunk of this portion so we took a few action shots of us riding with the mountains in the background. We paused to take a few pictures and Tony caught up with us and desired to have his picture taken with some sort of Alien sculpture sitting atop a mailbox. It was a really pretty area, but we were hungry and had business at hand (getting to lunch), so we set off and continued riding. Around 14 miles into this section, I cranked the speed up a little to get to lunch (I mean I figured it was in like 2 miles), and dropped Israel and Tony. Much to my chagrin, and I think everyone I passed in the next eight miles, the lunch stop was a little further in real life than it was on the map. I kept thinking that around every turn I would find a bounteous spread of food, only to be disappointed with more grass. Each barn was like a mirage of the town of Taylorsville where the lunch was supposed to be. Finally, at mile 72ish, I got to the lunch stop and began to execute my assault on the lunch table.
Tony and Israel showed up a few minutes later, and we made huge sandwiches and piled on the pasta salad. We sat and chatted with some of the other cyclists and regaled one another with stories of epic rides from the past. After 30 or so minutes at lunch, we rounded up our aluminum and carbon fiber steeds, and prepared for departure. It was around this time that we felt the first drops of rain.
The rain poured on us steadily for 15-20 minutes, enough time for us to be sufficiently soaked. I jumped onto a group of cyclists from a church club (thinking they were going to hammer and get us out of the rain faster), but they weren't moving too fast. The route spun us a different way, and after 15 or so miles, we ended up back at the Greenville 'light' rest stop. I got some more Recharge, and connected back up with Tony and Israel. We weren't too excited, as we knew that the next rest stop was only after the 1200 feet climb out of the valley and back up to Lake Almanor. We rode pretty well, and the climb wasn't quite as bad as we thought it was going to be. It was long, but the grades weren't too bad, so we all survived. The final rest stop had some cheese and more (you guessed it) Recharge, so Israel and I stopped quickly and recharged (yes, pun intended). The last 15 miles weren't too bad with some rolling hills and beautiful views of the lake. The last 6 miles allowed for some great views of Mt. Lassen so we stopped and took a few more pictures. We grouped up together for the triumphant ride into Chester, and congratulated one another for a 108 mile ride well done.
Post Ride
So after the ride, we made our way back to the Windstar mothership and broke down the bikes and got out of our bike clothes. Our friend Ken (who has a house in Chester) told us there was a pay shower at the local laundromat, so we set out to find that. We found the pay shower, and each took a shower that was less than 2 minutes (yes, literally). After the shower Israel and I had misplaced Tony (the car was unlocked, but he wasn't in the Gas Mart where Israel and I had gotten sodas), so we began searching a bit more for him. As we got ready to call the National Guard to organize a search party, we spotted Tony coming out of the Tastee Freeze with a $7.32/40oz. chocolate malt; quite possibly the largest collection of dairy, chocolate and frozen goodness I have ever seen in one place.
We went back to the post ride pasta dinner and received generous portions of spaghetti, salad, and lemonade (there was no Recharge). We sat down and listed to some country band play some classic rock tunes on the village green, and pounded our pasta. Tony complained about not feeling too good after 40 ounces of chocolate malt, but we had little sympathy.
After dinner we visited our friend Ken's house and got to sit on his new dock and dangle our sore legs and feet in Lake Almanor. After an hour or so of hanging out, we got into the mothership and headed home. One missed turn and a lightning storm later, we were 30 miles north of our intended destination, but we did get to see the thriving metropolis of Red Bluff.
We were home by 9:30 or 10:00 and I promptly fell asleep watching an episode of Cold Case.
All in all, a great time with a bunch of manly men.
1548
