Yes, today included Quadbusters, a hill just outside King City I've been hearing about since I started going on ALC training rides last year. It came within the first 10 miles of ride out from King City, which I always find challenging. Even on training rides it's tough to get up a long, relatively steep hill before I've ridden 20 miles. Last night, someone told me Quadbusters was like riding at the top of Mt. Diablo--a 24% grade, but this morning, someone said it was more like riding over White's Hill on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Marin. I wasn't sure what to expect.
When I got to the hill, it didn't look too bad, but then I noticed all the people pulling over to rest along the way. I don't believe in stopping on hills because it's too hard to get started again. No matter how tough it is, or how tired I am, I just keep peddling. We were told the official photographer would be at the top and they even posted a sign reminding us of that so we'd be sure to ride single file at that point. I could not believe I was there--the White's Hill version of Quadbusters was quite accurate and I just yelled and took the delightful cruise downhill--the reward for all the climbing.
We stayed on the same road for quite a few miles, seeing almost no traffic at all. No one working in fields, no pedestrians or businesses and very few cars, except the support vehicles. Not that we didn't have any contact with the public. Our lunch stop was in Bradley, a town of 120 people that once served as a highway rest stop until 101 was built and traffic bypassed it. The school PTA hosts a barbeque for all of the school's needs that are not the bare minimum needs for a school. They raise about $8,000 from riders and roadies to pay for field trips, graduation, school supplies and anything else you can think of that the state doesn't finance for public education (which is almost everything).
I am amazed that all of these little towns we hit where we have contact with the local residents don't seem to have a problem with the large numbers of gay people coming through. "Camp" attire is quite popular. Men ride in dresses. People have all kinds of doodads attached to their bikes and helmets. One rest stop today was in a churchyard. The roadies greeted us in drag. Later on, we stopped for another break at Mission San Miguel, where we were treated to a drag show hosted by "Tran Am Airlines." "They don't make flight attendants like this anymore," I told the first roadie I saw pulling in. Not only is this ride raising consciousness about HIV/AIDS throughout the state, but it's clearly touching people's sense of who lesbians and gay men are.
We only rode 63 miles today--what a relief. On the other hand, we had to ride at least 5 miles on 101 S. That was not fun, mostly because the shoulder is not paved. If you didn't want to ride near the right lane, which I had no interest in doing, you had to take a jolt every 5 feet or so. I started trying to jump the bumps just to give my arms a break.
By the way, I'm writing this blog in part for my students at school. The librarian kindly agreed to bring copies of this to my substitute each day to read to my classes. Students, I can't wait to hear what you think.
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