Ride Report 9/12

Oh, somewhere between 12-15 miles on the UCD Cruiser around Lake Natoma/Folsom area at Folsom Cyclebration

For the one and probably only time, I took out the UCD Aggies cruiser to ride in public at the Lake Natoma Cruiser Ride, part of the three-day Folsom Cyclebration. My friend S is along with my (her?) hybrid, but first we go to the Lake Forest Business Park to watch several criterium races. I especially wanted to watch the women's races, since this may be the type of event I ride in next spring if I stick with training. So naturally the women's races start at 7:30am. It's the first time I've (voluntarily) seen 5:30am in a long time, and I think the experience will hold me for quite a while.

Apart from the insanely early start to the day, I do enjoy myself. T meets us at the race course and comments on the races, strategies, riders, etc while we watch. The women's fields are tiny (19) compared to any of the men's races (40 or more). We watch the two women's crits and the men's category 5. Then T heads off to ride the Gold Rush 100k route to see if it would kill me and S and I go to Lake Natoma for the cruiser ride.

It's a smallish event and the weather (overcast, random sprinkling) has kept attendance low. We register for the cruiser ride, get our free swag and pedal off to Lake Natoma. S can't handle hills at all, so any time we come to one, she has to get off and walk. I think I'm doing pretty well on my single speed cruiser, but I still have to go as slowly as I can not to outpace her. At the halfway point (about 5 miles) is a poor lonely Jamba Juice rep with a tray of smoothies. We drink our smoothies and debate whether to continue the loop, double back or just jump onto Folsom Blvd and cut back on surface streets. The lack of hills makes Folsom Blvd our choice of return route, and we are pleasantly surprised to discover that bike paths parallel Folsom almost the entire way to Greenback.

S has had it for the day, so I hand her the keys to my truck and go meet T at the cyclocross course. We decide to head back to the criterium course, eat lunch, and watch the last races. I have to pedal back to Lake Forest, but other than one hill I have to push the cruiser up, I manage to pump along at about 13mph. The criteriums are entertaining, and a couple offer nice exciting breakaways and pursuits, but by the time the last race starts, we are both burned out on bike racing and decide to call it a day.