Friday, August 14, 2009

Downieville, CA to Yuba City, CA

I decided to ride with sweep that day, which meant that I left the host last with Anna Baeth and Luc. The host was this house in the midst of a gorgeous, winding mountain road that follows along this super, clear river. Almost everyone was stopping at the cafe at mile 5 for breakfast, since it was only a 72 mile ride day and thus a "short day." As usual, Bike & Build swamped this little cafe that only has one waitress and one cook, so it took some people up to 45 minutes to get food. I got the eggs & bacon breakfast, which comes with 2 eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, toast, and a little slice of watermelon. Luc got the deluxe breakfast, which is all of the above plus sausage, as well as two pieces of french toast and two gigantic pancakes...i.e. 3 breakfasts. Everyone ate their food (and scavenged some of Luc's pancakes), and we didn't actually leave the cafe until 10:30am. Rebecca and Laura joined us (Rebecca said that she had been at that cafe since at least 7:45am, haha), and we headed out to climb the first mountain.

Halfway up the mountain, we run into Tim's group (Tim, Laurel, Max, Anna, and Jordan) and stop to find out that they were picking blackberries from the side of the road behind the guardrail. We ate a lot of wild blackberries, which were all along the side of a cliff. At one point, Rebecca held on to the back of my jersey because I was leaning forward really far to reach some larger blackberries that had been yet un-scavenged by hungry Bike & Builders.

We crossed over a dam on the way to lunch (the water was SO BLUE. Like the kind you only see in tv commercials for the Bahamas or something).

Fifteen miles after lunch, we stop at an intersection where we see a restaurant with bikes outside. We go inside and see Tim's group is getting food, so Luc and I get some fries. Then 11 miles after that, we stopped a gas station where Ashley, Jacki, and Emily Boydstun were, and then a bunch of us got ice cream. Laura got an It's-it, which Tim had told us about and was super excited to have once we got to the San Francisco area. (It's an oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich dipped in chocolate.)

Fifteen miles later, we pass a church sign that says "Jesus is why there is myspace in heaven." I stop to take a picture. We then get lost half a mile from host. After asking for directions several times, we finally make it, where dinner and showers awaited us.

As sweep, we determined that being sweep basically means that not only do you stop when others stop, but that you eat when they eat. I.e. you eat all day: eat big breakfast at some cafe in morning, go 10 miles, meet up with one group who's eating, eat with them. Go 10 more miles, meet different group that's snacking, eat with them. Go 10 more miles, eat at lunch, etc. It's great!

Quote of the day:
"Feet, fart, and fun: the smells of Bike & Build" - Anna Hankins

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