Even the Sheriff was there to support the 36 of us who rode the course.
We were early so we pulled up a rock and got comfy while waiting.
I was glad to have gotten a photo of the lunch being set up because I forgot to get one at lunch! After the ride we had a fantastic lunch with lots of choices of food and beverages.
As we were waiting for the start, our ‘friend’ Marvin arrived with his family. You will recall that we met Marvin at lunch yesterday at Red’s. Of his family, only he is the bike rider. We asked for a photo and when I told him to remove his sunglasses from hanging on his shirt because I wanted to have Major Taylor prominent in the photo, he was surprised that I know who Major Taylor was! In the late 1800s/early 1900s Major Taylor was the first (only?) African American bike racer and was among the top racers and considered the best sprinter. Google for more info if interested for more.
The three of us…
Marvin’s family - son, wife and who he calls his manager (his band I suppose)…
Finally we were ready to get started. Riding back toward where Susan and I are camped, we had a fantastic, heart warming send off by many of our camping sisters. Here Bev takes our photo as we arrive.
The ride passes through some of the route we had done in the past couple of days and the country side is beautiful. As we rode higher into the hills, the beauty increased and we so appreciated the expanse of green mountains, valleys, and several horse and cattle ranches. I did not stop for many photos as I feared starting again on a hill! This is at least one that Susan took.
We climbed, climbed and climbed some more. It IS a ride up the switchbacks to the top! At the top we had treats of several kinds of cookies, orange wedges, Gatorade and fresh water. And a porta potty ;’-).
What goes up will definitely come down, and I was a little anxious about the steep downhill ride. I fretted for only the first few moments and soon found I can easily stay in control with these new disc brakes I have! A LOT better than the rim brakes I had on my old bike. Susan got a photo of me going down some switchbacks.
I got a photo of Susan being approached by a free roaming bull…. They separated happily.
Our return to camp found us both quite tired so we quickly took showers before we totally ran our of steam. Then I got a chair massage by Pam which really relaxed me.
New shirts were our reward and Jayne took our photo for posterity.
The ride was definitely a challenge but we did it well, and now want to come back to do it again! This was the 27th year for this ride and it is always held the first weekend of June. If Deb does another SOTF event here next year, we will come for the event and the ride ;’).
On the drive toward home we saw what we had climbed - or at least most of the switchbacks. GO US!
Bravo!
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