Sierra Cascades – 9/13/2013 – Epilog (Or is it Epiblog?)

 

Dallas friends commented / criticized not having more photos of bicycles or bicyclists. 

Herb, “It’s not about the bike.” 

Haven’t you heard that?  Where did I hear that? Who said it?  Anyway, a bike tour – different from a bike rally – is about exploring and enjoying a new and/or interesting environment.  So I photograph the environment.  The bike is incidental.  It is only a mechanism which enables the exploration.  In a perfect world, one in which the bike never gives you problems, you forget about the bike.  You never know it’s there.

So it’s time to pack the bikes and start heading home or wherever your next destination takes you.  For those of us with “coupled bikes” (ones which come apart and fit in an airline legal case - total dimensions less than or equal 62 inches and weight under 50 pounds - that is quite a process requiring an hour or more.   A beer helps.

 

Group photo taken before Beany left and Carol joined us.

So as the lids close on the bike boxes and the luggage, the lid also closes on this blog. By the way, this blog has experienced over 3,000 pageviews the past month or over 100 per day; thanks for viewing it and for the kind comments both here and on Facebook.  Unless some unexpected trip pops up, the next scheduled bike tour and blog is our own BAC Texas Hill Country tourbeginning in Austin, Texas April 6. 2014.

Sierra Cascades – 9/12/2013 – Murphy’s to Yosemite Nat’l Park

 

This is the last riding day.  One month.  Over 1,200 miles of cycling.  Altitude gains of over 70,000 feet.  This was a difficult ride.  But Yosemite National Park alone makes it worth while.  It’s maybe the most beautiful place on the planet.  Hope the smoke is not too bad; we were there once before with smoke from 5 area fires; it was not something to enjoy.

You may wonder how I got these photos since I’m not there.  Well the photos were from another trip – 2001.  We were in Yosemite National Park September 1, 2001.  The day the world trade center went down. Twelve years ago.

WHO’S RIDING?

JOHN MCMANUS AND BRENDA COLE (Dallas, TX) Biking Blogger John and his bio-writing-bride Brenda both retired from Mobil Oil Corp in 2000.  John spent his career as a computer geek; Brenda was an accountant and financial analyst.  Since their retirement they have been on 50 BAC tours of which they’ve led 14 (Texas, Ireland and Italy). They’ve also led tandem tours for their club (DATES-Dallas Area Tandem Enthusiasts) in England, Nova Scotia, Italy and Ireland. Brenda is a gourmet cook; John obviously enjoys the fruits of her hobby.  When in Dallas, Brenda works part-time at  THE CONTAINER STORE  and John works part-time as a salesman at the  THE RICHARDSON BIKE MART .  Our new lifestyle includes 2 months each summer at 9,000 feet in Frisco, Co; how else to get out of the Texas heat? This photo is from Truckee in July 2010.  Glad we didn’t see any of that white stuff this year.  In fact we only had rain on one day.  Not bad for a month’s cycling.

 

 

Terminating a Bike Tour

Most one or two week bike tours end with a celebratory dinner. These are more or less perfunctory.  But if it’s a special tour, usually one much longer or much more difficult than the norm, then there is much more camaraderie.  You bond with people, many whom you’ve never met before. I’ve experienced this:

• When we rode “end-to-end”, 21 days from Lands End, England to John O’Grote, Scotland. On the last day, the fastest riders waited for the others in a pub (The Brit’s are always looking for a pub.) and then we all rode to the “other end” as a group.
• On my 50-day cross country ride, all 51 on us, who had never met before stopped at a bakery only a few miles from the end and began hugging and promising to keep in contact with each other.

So this special tour is coming to an end. Today they ride into Yosemite National Park. Tomorrow they’ll have the celebratory dinner in the grand Ahwahnee dining room. And there is a lot to celebrate: this was a very difficult tour. All riders are to be congratulated. Brenda and Alison and the rest will all be celebrating.  But, sadly, I’ll not be with them.

Sierra Cascades – 9/11/2013 – Rest Day in Murphy’s

 

Brenda said she rested more on this rest day than any of the others.  And I guess she did: I didn’t get a blog report or any photos.

WHO’S RIDING

ALISON STONE  (Piedmont, CA).  In the blog prologue I mentioned our organizer and guide is known in the Bay Area as the “Pink Lady”.  She’s a bit eccentric:

• Always, always rides with four panniers.  Legend has it that sometimes they’re filled with bricks.  When I first met her in Sicily in 2006, I discovered she carries a chain-whip in her panniers.
• Both the panniers and her jersey are always pink.
• She travels with a stuffed animal “Moosie” on the back of her bike.
• She ships her bike on the airline wrapped in plastic like a mummy.

Alison was born in New York, moved to Arizona when she was 12, moved to Mexico when she was 13, returned to the US during her last year in high school.  Went to Nuclear Medicine school in Santa Barbara, took a break to work in adventure travel (led a few treks in Nepal), before returning to Nuclear Medicine.  She retired from that in 1992 and now works part-time for a construction and custom cabinet business.   She has more cycling experience than most of us can imagine:

• She’s cycled in France, Japan, Italy, Spain, UK, Ireland, Scotland, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Poland, Germany, former E. Germany, Denmark, Norway, Tunisia, Western China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Chile, Argentina, Canada – and even Texas
• She and her illusive husband John (a bicycle historian) have cycled across the US independently four times.  The first time was a back to back; not intended to be but they enjoyed it so much, when they got the the east coast  they said “let’s turn around and cycle back to home”.

• Her 50th  birthday ride was from North Africa (Tunisia) to the Arctic Circle (Norway).  On John's 50th, they rode from Istanbul to London.
• In addition to crazy tours like this in which the leader works longer and harder than the riders, in 2014 she will lead her 8th and 9th BAC tours in Mallorca.
• I won’t mention other crazy things they’ve done like
  • dog sledding in Gates of the Arctic National Park for a week (with a low of -50 to a high of -35), where they had our own team of dogs to care for and deal with
  • taking a 3 week trip to Mongolia by horseback up near the Siberian border to find a group of nomadic people who subsist on raising reindeer.  (Never again does she need to ride a horse - especially a Mongolian one!!!)

Alison, I predict that leading this ride is like riding a Mongolian horse; you’ll never want to do it again!  So those of us who got to do it, had a once in a lifetime experience. Thanks, crazy lady!  We need more volunteer leaders like you.

Sierra Cascades – 9/10/2013 – Bear Valley to Murphys

 

 

A down hill day.  38 miles, 1,125 feet of elevation gain and 5,000 feet of elevation lost.  Brenda’s average speed was 17.5.

Not a picturesque ride until we arrived at the Calaverra Big Tree State Park.

 

Temperature in Murphys is 90 degrees.  Brenda and I were there in 2001 but soon left because of threatening forest fires.

 Miles today = 38, Elevation gain = 1,125.  Total miles = 1,201, Tot Elevation gain = 70,560

 

 

 

 

WHO’S RIDING? (BRENDA’S BIOS)

ROZ AND LARRY GIBEL (Albuquerque, NM) They have been married for 40 years and have known each other for 45 years. WOW!!! They produced 2 children, a son who is a documentary film producer and a daughter who is an actress. Neither child is married nor has produced any grandchildren, although the daughter is engaged. The kids live on both coasts and Roz and Larry are sort of central in New Mexico. Larry is an Urologist and worked as an Associate Professor at University of New Mexico Health Science Center. He also served in the capacity of Surgical Director of Kidney Transplant, also Medical Director of the Stateside Donor Program and for many years was the Chief of Urology at the Veterans Hospital.  Roz’s training is in speech pathology and for many years worked with children with neurological developmental difficulties.  Since moving to New Mexico 28 years ago she has worked as a free-lance travel agent which allows her to tailor her time to her meet her clients needs as well as her own needs. Larry retired a little more than 2 years ago. This Cascades-Sierra trip is their favorite of their 5 BAC rides.

Sierra Cascades – 9/09/2013 – Sorenson’s to Bear Valley

 

Yesterday’s blog stated today’s destination was Walker; it was actually Bear Valley. But it still had 5,400 feet of climbing;  some switchbacks reportedly with an 18% grade.  Maybe it’s good that I’m in Dallas. Internet and cell service in Bear Valley is poor.  Hopefully it will be better in Murphy’s and we can get reports for the blog.

Craig left the group on Saturday and I left on Sunday.

That means Andy, Chuck, Larry and Steve have to take care of – put up with – 14 women.

You lucky guys.

 

Brenda’s report: 

This was by far the hardest day (48 miles and 5,435 feet of climbing).  Steepest climbing.  Some of the signs indicated 24% grades which I assumed was the inside of the hairpin turns.  I took the outside of the turn, even if I had to go completely to the other side of the road but even then I felt my front wheel lifting a couple of times.  Ebbett's Pass was pretty along some rivers with waterfalls but it had some short steep 15% grades.  Mostly my computer will not give grades above 11 or 12 % but occasionally I would see higher numbers.  The steepest parts were on the Pacific Grade.  Some on straight road it looked like going up a wall and also on the switchbacks.  Pacific Grade was about 2 miles long.

I didn't take many pictures.  I was behind everyone because of the gear problem early on.  I finally remembered that I could put the chain into the front Granny ring manually then figured out that if I was off the back and picked up the rear wheel, it would shift into granny.  Sweet Patrice rode with me the entire uphill.  That was very nice since she is so much faster than me.  Bear Lodge is pretty much a dump, old, old, old.  We did have a decent dinner and breakfast was just okay. 

Miles today = 48, Elevation gain = 5,435.  Total miles = 1,163, Tot Elevation gain = 69,436

WHO’S RIDING?  (BRENDA’S BIOS)

KRIS AND CHUCK CARLSON (Dallas, TX) Chuck and Kris have been married 44 years!!!, the longest of any couple on this trip, although some of the others are 35 and 32 years.  Is this longevity a part of cycling or something else? Maybe tandeming!  Chuck was a copy writer and graphic designer for 27 years, some of these years he was self employed. Kris was with JC Penny company for 34 years and worked in district and regional positions then was promoted to VP and Director of Support Services. They moved to Dallas when Kris was promoted to the corporate office position.  Although they log a high percentage of their biking miles on a tandem they both have done plenty of single bike riding.  Kris has done RAGBRAI twice and Chuck once. Chuck has also ridden Oregon Bicycle Ride (OBR) 7 times. One of his proudest accomplishments was to ride Vatternurndun, in Sweden. This is a one day ride of 300 km with 16,000 riders. It took him 12 hours to complete the ride. Chuck and Kris are the coordinators for the Dallas Area Tandem Enthusiasts (DATES) and they lead day rides for this group.

Sierra Cascades – 9/08/2013 – South Lake Tahoe to Sorenson’s

 

Note that Sorenson’s is a resort, not a town.

Last night at happy hour I told someone of adventure cyclist and author Willie Weir’s concept of a “travel sponge.”  If you travel enough, your sponge will become full and you want to go home.  I was almost there.  We have a few days planned in San Francisco after the tour and I wish we didn’t.

After a great dinner on the pier I returned home and read email.  A disturbing note from my daughter (too complicated to explain) dictated that I need to go home – now.  I called American Airlines and got the only seat left on any flight Sunday from Reno to Dallas.  This is not the way to empty your travel sponge.

It was a peaceful morning on Lake Tahoe but I had a sleepless night trying to figure out how this retreat was going to work.  Everything fell in place:

• The small bike store across the street finally opened at 9:00 (their web site said 8:00) and they would pack and ship my bike to Dallas.
• I found a shuttle service from the casinos 1.5 miles away direct to the Reno airport.
• Brenda and I quickly re-arranged luggage and I put my rear rack on her bike.  ‘Gave her more tubes and tools. I gave Chuck some advice about packing Brenda’s bike at the end of the trip. 
• We hugged and we were off – my for an airplane and her continuing the bike ride.
• We’ll try to continue this blog jointly and remotely but already she’s discovered that Sorenson’s doesn’t have adequate cell service.  Walker, where they’re riding today, may not either.

On a completely different subject, last month I provided BAC photographs to a lady working with one of our members on a magazine article.  I has no idea what the article was going to say so just sent the best photos from our archive; I didn’t indetify the loaction, the bike ride, the subjects or the photographers.  So I was amused and please to finally see the article. The lead photo was not only from the Texas Hill Country that Brenda and I organized bit I’m the first rider in the photo. HERE IS THE ARTICLE

WHO’S RIDING? (BRENDA’S BIOS)

PATRICE VAN VLEET (Littleton,Co) was born in Heidelberg, Germany and lived there 6 years with her German mother and American father. From the beginning her mother spoke to her in German and her father spoke to her in English so she learned both languages simultaneously. Then the family moved to France for 5 years, mostly in Paris, where she also became fluent in French. To this day she and her mother, now living in California, speak German to each other. Another 2 years spent in Switzerland, then she moved to Santa Clara, CA. She graduated from San Jose State with a degree in Business and spent 15 years in corporate America working in different capacities before starting her own graphic design company in 1994.  She operated the business until 2006. She has been married to Glenn Guenterberg for 30 years. Their first BAC trip was in 2004: then they led trips to the Black Forest and Alsace in 2006. Her other hobby is tele-skiing

Sierra Cascades – 9/07/2013 – Rest Day in South Lake Tahoe

 

 

 

Rest days provide a chance for maintenance, not only of body and soul, but also you do laundry, perform maintenance on the bicycle (al least oil the chain and pump up the tires), rearrange your luggage, catch up on some email, get your beard trimmed, finger nails painted, and so forth.

Last night we enjoyed sunset on the lake. A BAC tradition is a nightly “happy hour” or “map wrap” as some call it. You not only socialize with snacks and drinks, but you may recall something interesting on the day’s ride and then will discuss tomorrow’s ride directions and food opportunities.  These are fairly low-key events. But last night there was a singer on the beach, compliments of the resort.  When he started at 5:30 he had an audience of two.  But our happy hour was within hearing distance.  It started with a little applause but quickly turned into a dance session, mostly with our female riders.  Our participation brought a bigger audience and the singer enjoyed it so much he performed 3 hours without a break.  I’ve been on over 50 BAC tours and have never seen dancing; even three ex-board members participated.  Check out the video below.