In what is getting to be a standard event, I spent an overcast and crisp Sunday morning in the saddle with some of the other LifeCycle riders from the Bike Kitchen.  Doug, Danny, Mary, Emjay, Jim, and I met up at the Kitchen around 9:00 and we took off around 9:30, after Danny and I cobbled together a working pump to inflate his tires.

After debating whether to go north around the airport, west out to Davis, or east to Folsom, we settled on a simple ride out to Davis and back, starting with a little loop around the American River trail into Old Sac to add a couple of miles.  It turned out to be a good choice when we passed a cyclocross race going on out in Discovery Park.  Danny borrowed a pump from one of the club tents, and after that, we took off once more.

Danny walking to a cyclocross club tent to borrow a pump.

The ride itself to Davis is rather uneventful, and I’ve commented on it before.  What was new for me, though, was riding with a number of other experienced riders out on a rural road.  For most of the ride, I was in the middle of the pack with Emjay, with Danny and Doug in the lead, and I got to watch a lot of their behavior – pointing out hazards I wouldn’t have seen otherwise, telling us to get over so a car behind us could pass, and so on.  It was a welcome change, and when I started to get a little bit of chafing around mile 20, both of them were more than happy to give tips on hygiene and riding.

Emjay, Doug, and Mary chatting while Danny refills.

After we pulled in to Davis, we took a pit stop at Crepeville, which mimicked (at least mileage-wise) the pit stops on the LifeCycle ride itself.  Danny, Jim, and I made do with some simple snacks (and a beer), the others with a full-blown breakfast.  The stop gave us a chance to cool off a bit, and I was shivering again when we got back on the road for a brief run out to see Davis Bike Forth, a sister bike collective.  Then we headed back over the causeway, much slower due to the food and a headwind, and back into Sacramento.

You can see the little baggy of homemade granola bars I brought lashed underneath my tool kit.

One odd little note; riding through West Sacramento on the way home, some pigeon decided to reenact Luke’s destruction of the Death Star from Star Wars.  Out of nowhere, I look down and see this blob of white stuff drop on my knee right at the top of my upstroke.  I don’t know how he managed to sneak it past my arms and my large, helmeted head, and I hope he’s proud of himself for tagging my leg warmers the day after I did laundry.

We rode the 36 miles in roughly two and a half hours, giving us a decent pace of 14 mph.  Even with the rest stops, I was still home around 1:00 pm.  I took a few more pictures on the ride (though none while in motion) with my cell phone.  They’re available in my gallery here.

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Miles/time this trip:         36 / 2:30
Total training miles/time:   131 / 9:30