The Fuchsia Wonder does Lassen

This was a one week trip to Shasta County in NE California. Instead of taking my beloved workhorse the touring bike, I decided to keep the gear to a minimum and take my '88 Bridgestone road bike, aka the Fuchsia Wonder. FW and I have been on many an adventure together, but this was new territory for us.

 

Thanks to kt for lending me that spacious Relevate pack for the seat in which I put some clothes and maps. That's a VeloOrange porteur rack up front with sleeping bag, small food pouch, ground cloth and a few other items.

This is the approximate route I took. It was two days and 250 miles to get there, I spent the weekend resting and visiting with friends, and then > 300 miles and 3 1/2 days getting back.

Sunset on day 1, outside of Red Bluff

 Unfortunately I got a very huge piece of glass in my back tire around this time, which managed to go through the brand new tire and the tire liner and was patiently sitting there inside the tire when I went to pull it out. So I decided to call it a day at 160 miles despite the appeal of riding in the cool after sunset hours.

Sunrise, day 2:

 Just 90 miles to go and I made it to Burney only an hour behind schedule, I told my hosts I'd be there by 4pm and it was actually closer to 5.

Had a nice weekend relaxing, visiting with friends, and even got in a bike ride along the Pit River and a tour of a hydroelectric facility.

Due to having a local with us, we took a snazzy back door entrance to the MacArthur-Burney Falls state park.

Time to take my leave Sunday afternoon, and I headed up Lassen. Even though this was the highest elevation of the trip, the grade on that road is very gentle so while the climb wasn't quick, it wasn't particularly difficult. There's nothing like having spent a couple of days riding through the central valley in July to make you appreciate the loveliness of being in the mountains.

 Boiling mud, no swimming:

I took a little traveled road down to Chico, even got enough rain to be glad for the fenders. Then outside of Orland I noticed my wheel was making that loud lub-lub-lub sound like there were pavement cracks, but the pavement was smooth. While I started with a brand new tire on the back, I thought the front one might have one more trip left in it. Alas, the tire thought otherwise. Both the sidewall and the tread gave up the ghost right there on the road to Newville. Huh, what to do? I pulled it off, shoved my boot in there crosswise, which didn't do much, and back tracked (lub-lub-lub) the 2 miles to the last gas station, which hopefully was called 'Sportsman's Friend'. Amongst the fishing supplies was duct tape, but this was not the greyish stuff I was used to. Either swirling purple peace signs or leopard print.

I put many overlapping layers of tape on the inside of the tire, worked my boot in there, and then replaced the tire liner.

It's a nice look, yes? Thanks to cc for having modeled the duct tape tire repair trick years ago, little did I know how handy it would be.

And with that I was off to a little traveled stretch of California, road 306 hugging the eastern side of the Mendocino National Forest.

 It was a little surreal how desolate it felt after the hub bub of the National Park and the Central Valley.

Even if I saw very few people, I was predisposed to like them (if you can't read the sign, it's worth clicking on the photo for the closeup view):

I stopped at the cafe in Elk Creek for a big home cooked meal, then peddled on.

A final sunset, my last night out, around Leesville.

Made it home around 4pm on Wednesday, having departed 5:30am the previous Thursday. Kind of neat how much you can fit into a week. There's a few more photos posted here. Thanks to RED for encouraging me to come out to Burney for a visit and to all of team Burney for a great weekend there. 

two plus two equals four

Carrying the bicycle on the back of the motorcycle using tie-downs. It's not pretty, but using only straps that were laying around I made it 150 miles round trip, mostly on the freeway.

2014: the year in numbers

Miles traveled

By bicycle:
9,452

Motorcycle:
4,270 mi
65 gallons
Average 66 MPG

Truck:
1,958 mi
80 gallons
Average 24 MPG

total gas=145 gallons

+ ~1,000 miles on a rental mini van

view from the van

Albatross crew member Megan brought her unique sensibility to her photo race report here. Spoiler alert, report highlights include desert vastity, and the relationship between big quiet and big sky.

Also, an article about the women's field from Vaune Davis. She totally butchers my name, but all is forgiven as she puts a link to the page in the Bridgestone catalog that features my bike. Nice touch.

The Albatross Flies

There on the headtube of the Fuchsia Wonder is my little mascot. It is an albatross named Garmin, as it is responsible for navigation. Also, in addition to the standard bird-type wings, this little dude has a cape. Because sometimes, you need a cape.

At the end of a training ride that did not go as hoped (roadside nap was substituted for ambitious all night riding plans) I saw the little guy on the side of the road. I couldn't fit it anywhere else, so I stuck it under the straps I had added to the headtube, thinking I might stick a snack there sometime. There Garmin remains.

Thank you to my friend Karen for some info on my nomen omen.

I once again find myself with the alter ego of a bird not known for grace, but capable of covering the distance. It all started with the Davis Bike Club's lovely 600k Brevet to Antelope Lake this spring. About 50 cyclists started at 8pm. And then we rode bicycles for 375 miles. And the most wonderful volunteers in the universe had a delicious spread of tasty treats for us every 40 miles. Truly.

In the post-ride endorphin-fueled euphoria I decided it was time to revisit the 508. To the people who have supported my training and are poised ready to support my ride, you are the hard core heroes of the story. None of us, solo racers included, do this alone.

On October 5th, we take flight. Wish us tailwinds.

The fuchsia wonder delivers me once again

1988 Bridgestone 550 a.k.a. The Fuchsia Wonder

My most recent ride:

2009 Terrible Two

Not sure why I had such a great ride, but the endorphin high was awesome. The melted tire incident -- in which after 2 flats I used a wrapper to boot the tire and then was the recipient of a friend working at a rest stop literally giving me the tire off of his back (wheel) -- added to my time, but did not dim my morale. I think that riding a bicycle in Sonoma County is one of the most outrageously excellent things in life. May you all experience the joys that I did yesterday.

Only one week before the ride I wasn't at all sure I would do it, and doubtful that I would finish within their cut-off times. I completely shocked myself by leaving the lunch stop one hour before the cut off and even after my afternoon tire mishaps finishing the ride in the daylight.

Earlier I posted some info here on the women riders of the TT which were guestimates made by me. Below is the corrected data from the cycling club (this is for solo riders, e.g. excludes tandems):

Out of 211 total entrants, 14 were female
Out of 174 total finishers, 10 were female

Our numbers aren't real big but our calves are....

Many kudos to the very excellent Santa Rosa Cycling Club and all of its fabulous volunteers.

A time to plant

At the local nursery, buying fruit trees. One apricot and one almond.