Saturday - first day of the ride - Long ride

Saturday, August 18th, 2012

The overhead light flashed on early. Bill’s dad was looking for the cats in the dark. I think it was the outside light that was supposed to turn on, but it ended up being the living room lights.  No cats wanted to come in so it was off to making breakfast. Nothing like sourdough pancakes before a long bike ride. After breakfast, Pam started putting the Superman logo on Deb, Steve, and Bill’s calves. Steve had made some pretty cool templates which made the job of putting the logo on really easy using body paint. The logos looked pretty sweet and turned out very nice. Bill taped me to the front of his bike to give me a front row seat on the ride. Superman ended up being zip tied to Bill’s helmet in a flying position. We headed over to Camp Pinewood a little before 7:30 to get ready for the ride. While we waited for the ride to start, Deb, Steve, and Bill got pictures taken of them all decked out in the logos, spandex, and mascots. 

Riding on the front of the bike

After the usual announcements and pre-ride safety talk, we embarked. The path was very familiar to us since we have ridden it for several years. We rode past the airport and saw one of the heavy-lifting helicopters waiting for any signs of fire in the area. After crossing the highway to head towards Spring Mountain Ranch subdivision we saw a dead fox in the road. We were not even out of the limits of McCall and we had already seen roadkill. The ride through the subdivision was very nice and at a pretty even pace. Everyone was trying to get warmed up as it was just a little nippy out, and riding on the front of the bike was even colder for me. As we turned onto Lick Creek Road the pace picked up a bit and we made it to the turnaround at Tamarack Condominiums in no time. Bill was out ahead of Deb and Steve all the way to the turn around and back into McCall. We stopped at the first rest area at Gravity Sports and waited for Deb and Steve to show up. The rest stops are a great place since some of the volunteers have MS and they appreciate all of the riders for their commitment to riding for this cause. Some have had the disease for over twenty years. 
Deb, Steve, and Bill headed towards downtown after fueling up and saw Pam, Victoria, and Bill’s mom and dad by Legacy Park. We headed through town and on towards Warren Wagon Road to begin the assault of Sesesh Summit. The lake was pretty calm and there was not much activity going on. Deb fell behind as we got near North Beach and Steve and Bill kept up a pretty good pace. As we got closer to the second rest stop Steve decided to sprint out ahead to beat us. Pam and Victoria were already there taking pictures of all of the riders that stopped or passed by the rest stop. Steve and Bill waited for Deb to arrive. 

After refueling, we were ready for the assault of the summit. Deb, Steve, and Bill headed out at the same time. Once we got to the climb Deb fell back. Bill stuck with Steve and then passed him. A few more riders became easy targets for Bill as we climbed. The chip seal and the gravel on the sides of the road made it a little tough going. With the top of the summit and the third rest area in sight Bill had renewed strength to do a little sprint. Pam and Victoria were waiting and taking more pictures. Peanut butter sandwiches were on the table just waiting for Bill to attack and he did so with great enthusiasm. While we waited for Deb and Steve to arrive, Bill took the bike and me over to get a picture at the summit sign. After Steve and Deb arrived we all got our picture taken at the sign. Bill got some more food for the road and Deb headed out ahead of Steve and Bill. They caught up and rode with her for a little while before cruising out ahead towards the Burgdorf “Y”.

Steve and Bill waited at the “Y” for Deb to show up. After she arrived they allowed her to rest a bit before all of them headed back to the summit. They all rode together for a little while before Steve and Bill rode out ahead. They finally made it to the summit and stopped at the rest stop to wait for Deb. The pit crew from Performance Bikes got in their van to go see how far Deb was from the rest stop. They came back soon after leaving and let us know that she was not far down the road. As soon as Deb was in sight we started cheering her on. 

We let her rest up before we headed towards McCall. We rode down the hill at our own speed with Steve in front, Bill in the middle and Deb playing caboose. Bill finally caught up with Steve near the bottom as Steve had stopped to help out another rider on the side of the road who was having problems with sore feet. She finally got back on her bike and headed towards the summit while we resumed our ride towards McCall. We finally made it to the next rest stop and waited for Deb. After she arrived we rode together most of the way to McCall. We arrived at Camp Pinewood where the day’s adventure had begun. Deb and Steve decided to go to the McCall Brewing Company to have the after ride meal while Bill and I headed off to get 100 miles in for the day. We started off by riding out to the Tamarack Bay Condominiums, back through town, and out to North Beach. We ended up riding a total of 103 miles in a little over 6 hours.