Tierra Bella 2009

Me: How about we just wake up whenever we feel like it Saturday, watch the sun rise, have a cup of coffee, twiddle our thumbs, wiggle our toes, and start the Tierra Bella whenever.
The BF: Yes, yes, yes, we'll wake up when we do. I will most likely wake up soon after 5 am and we'll be on the road around 5:45.
Me: Sigh....

The Boyfriend shot off soon after we arrived at the college since he was doing the 100 mile. Eventually, I got on the bike to do the 100k route, half asleep and promptly taking a wrong turn 5 miles in with several other cyclists.




The ACTC Tierra Bella is a lovely tour with wonderful support and great food at the rest stops. California poppies and other pretty flowers dotted the green landscape along with vineyards and various farm animals, much of which I barely noticed in my sleep deprived state. Around mile 31, I noticed that my average speed was only 12 mph. Time to wake up! Time to flirt! Time to get over to the Uvas rest stop (above, mile 42) and eat turkey wraps, the secret weapon! Time to floor the pedals.





So how did I fare in the end? First, I realized that I missed riding with a group of people, like the girl gang I joined for the Cinderella tour. However, I did run into some ACTC friends who were working the tour as volunteers and that brightened my day. Last year, I did 65 miles in 5 hours, averaging 13 mph. The stats this year despite the sluggish start: 65 miles, 4 hr. 35 min, averaging 14.1 mph. Go turkey wraps! I took a photo of The BF as he entered the college, having done the 100 mile (including a climb up Henry Coe) with an average speed of 15 mph. Go BF!

The BF: I'm going to go mountain biking tomorrow! What are you going to do?
Me: Wake up when I feel like it.

Next up, another biking holiday in Solvang and the SLO Wildflower bike tour.