Day One Recap: San Francisco to Santa Cruz (86 miles)

This morning we started our journey down the coast to San Diego from San Francisco. I woke up and had a filling breakfast and then went out to Taylor St. where our bikes were. My family and Neerav’s parents were there to greet me… this was great for moral support. (Karishma and Manisha also came too for support!!!) Thank you all for coming!!

I found my bike and started doing the shuffle between what to put in my jersey, my day pack, or on my bike. It actually becomes quite complicated with all the stuff you need to carry (money, cards, pain killers, slippers, shirts, recovery drinks, etc.)

Scott Rhodes (the other Co-chair of QMDC) said a few encouraging words to everyone and we took a group photo. Samuel sang a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem and now it was time to get rolling. We did a countdown and BAM!! We were off to take on this challenge. We went through SF with a police escort to follow, which was pretty cool. We didn’t have to stop at lights or stop signs.

The fog had rolled in, and we could hardly see more than 100-150 feet in front of us. It was pretty neat to see the riders in front of you disappear completely in the fog. Even going downhill was tough because our bikes and brakes were soaking wet. Eventually the fog cleared, but not for too long.

The ride was beautiful and going well so far. We had our first SAG at San Gregorio beach, and to my surprise, Priya, Manisha and Karishma were all there. Awesome!! So many of the riders loved “my groupies” as they called them. It really was cool! I showed Manisha the GU we eat to get more energy – it is pretty gross stuff.

After the SAG, we hit Devil’s Slide. I had been fearing the climb all day because everyone said it was tough, and only 40 miles later did someone tell me that we had already done Devil’s Slide. It was an easy climb and the downhill on the other side was awesome!!

I rode for a while with Bill Darling from Minnesota. He has been training there and was telling me how there are no hills in that state. So when he met the hills of San Francisco, he was  a bit surprised how hard they can be. We talked quite a bit and it was nice to hear his thoughts as a first timer rider, like myself.

I met up with Kristine later on and she had some sad news. Kristine had a stick stuck in her rear gears and that actually broke the bike and bent the frame. Understandably so, she was not happy about that! But the awesome people of OnSupport stopped and gave her a new bike, and she was rolling again.

We had some great lunch by the beach. The spreads at these lunches are amazing. There are chips, sandwiches, cookies, drinks, granola bars, salads, PB&J, fruit and more things that I can’t remember. YUMMYYY!

We rode another 40 miles or so, and stopped by Ollallie berry pie in Davenport. This is a G4 secret, but was totally worth it. They had hot spiced strawberry cider, strawberry shortcake, and this amazing pie!! After scarfing that down, we finished up the remaining 20 miles into Santa Cruz.

Unfortunately, I was sad to hear Rob and Jodi had crashed crossing the railroad tracks. Rob suffered from some mild head injuries and Jodi fractured her shoulder. She won't be riding with us, but we are all wishing for her quick and healthy recovery.

We had a chance to ride with Rachel, a challenge athlete. She is using a brand-new handcycle that she was given only yesterday. Interestingly enough, quadric/paraplegics cannot get their hear rates up when using a hand-cycle. This causes them to overheat when climbing hills and pushing hard, and so they have to stop and cool down. She fought through the mental challenge of the hills and finished the ride. When we got to the Chaminade in Santa Cruz, we were met with an 18% grade hill. It sucked!!!! Again… it really sucked!!! That was the driveway to the hotel, which by the way, was definitely awesome.

I dropped of my bike, had some portobella sliders, got a massage and went to dinner to eat even more food. The food and desserts just keep coming, but are so good!!

Day one is over. I was a bit tired, but my knees and legs held up. The send-off and ride through the city was awesome. Everything and has been great up to this point and talking to new people and meeting them has been a lot of fun. Now time to focus on Day two… which will be even tougher. Santa Cruz to Big Sur.

Miles ridden today: 86 miles
Total miles ridden: 86 miles
Haystacks climbed: 1
Road kill seen: 2 deer
Pie’s eaten: 1