ACTC puts on a big ride each year called the Tierra Bella, (beautiful land).  We have 2,300 cyclists signed up this year.  The ride is next weekend, April 14, 2007.  Each year, the week before the ride, we have a Worker's Ride.  Karen, my wife, and I are working parking and cleanup next week, so we also take part in the Worker's Ride.  This ride finishes up with a picnic at Las Animas Park in Gilroy which is about 30 south of our home.  The riders on the Worker's Ride are supposed to ride the Tierra Bella Route, check out the route sheet, check the markings on the roads, (painted on the road at each turn), and watch for any problems like rock falls, construction, etc.  There are 4 different routes on the ride varying from 60 km, (36 miles), to 200 km, (127 miles).  

Each year only a few people check out the long route.  The riders that do the long route miss the supported rest stops and the picnic.  So this year, I decided to lead the long ride starting at 5:30 AM, in the dark, so we could finish around 3:00 PM and not miss the picnic.  And, since there are no rest stops for us, (we pass by the first one too early and the 2nd one too late),I decided to leave my car here by our condo at Silver Oak School and ride my bike to Gilroy.  Silver Oak School is one of the rest stops on the actual Tierra Bella 200 Km Route and the ride passes by the school 2 times.  So, as I did last year, I started riding my bike at 3:30 AM to meet my group in Gilroy for the start of the long ride.  I got up at 2:30 AM, got ready, and drove the 1/2 mile to the school.  That's when the fun began.
 
I was right on time, ready to ride at 3:30 AM from Silver Oak School.  As I was getting on my bike, a police officer stopped me to discuss what I was doing going for a ride so early in the morning.  There have been break-ins in the area and he thought I might be using my bike for break ins with my getaway car left at the school.  I convinced him I am just nuts and was going for a bike ride.  I rode about 1 mile and came across about 6 patrol cars working an accident.  Someone blew through the light on the steep downhill at Farnsworth and Silver Creek Valley Road blasting through the fence and ended up in Silver Creek next to a teebox for the golf course.  I thought the cops might stop me again because my bright helmet-mounted headlamp had suddenly turned off.  I turned it back on. Then shortly thereafter, it turned off again.  

I stopped and restarted my light and kept riding. I repeated this several times, disconnected it, reconnected it, checked the cables, then gave up and rode back home to get Karen's light.  Her battery had just been discharged to help condition it.  So I decided to ride to Gilroy in the dark with only my backup light, a Cateye Opticube, which is just about good enough for reading a map.  It certainly doesn't light up the road at all.  So off I went at 3:45 AM; 15 minutes behind schedule---good thing I gave myself an extra half hour.  The bright moon lit my way since my little cateye was practically worthless.  Halfway into the ride I hit an open access hole for gas or water, bent both of my wheel rims and flatted with snake bites on my rear tube.  I walked a ways to a street light so I could change my flat.  

It was now 4:30 AM and I was making good time even without a good light.  Had I had a good light, I may have avoided the hole, who knows.  I changed my tube and what do you know, I had a short stem tube for a profile wheel.  I could barely make a connection on the valve with my little bike pump.  Over and over I worked at. It would start to fill then, psssst, it leaked back out.  I finally pumped it up enough for the stem to stick out far enough to get a lock on it.  I pumped it to about 50 lbs. and continued riding.  My rear rim is bent bad, but it held the bead.  I have to throw this Ksyrium SL rim away $$$.  I checked my time as I passed under each street light and projected I would get to the park at exactly 5:30 AM to meet the other riders. Good thing I started 1/2 hour early!  

I didn't want to take the time to stop and call Jon Kaplan and warn him I might be late.  Jon said he would meet me at the West entrance to the park.  I went in the northwest parking area and no one was there.  I circled around to the west end and crossed a bike bridge and ended up on dirt paths in the park in complete darkness with my silly worthless light.  I finally saw some flashing red lights and found Jon and Brian Baccus waiting for me in the east parking lot right at 5:30 AM.  Brian had a floor pump so I pumped my rear tire to 120 lbs and off we went at 5:35 AM, only 5 minutes late.  Great!  We were on our way.  I decided to let Jon and Brian lead the way with their lights and I would follow with my worthless backup lamp.  Not even a block out of the park...CLICK--what was that?  Great, now my glasses snapped.  A tab on the side of my clear shield snapped and my glasses fell apart.  I have prescription inserts.  So now it was dark, I didn't have a good light and couldn't see well and we were going to be heading up the Canada Loop.  

We rode through fog and Brian's glasses were fogged so bad he had to take his off too.  Jon was probably riding blind with his fogged over, but they were prescription glasses so he probably sees better with fogged lenses than without glasses.  I probably couldn't have worn mine at that point either.  In any case it was getting light and we were on our way for a wonderful ride.  After the Canada loop I put my prescription sunglasses on which I brought along and could see again.  A few hours later, as we started up Metcalf I told Brian I would ride ahead and meet him and Jon at my car at Silver Oak School.  I raced over Metcalf, (quite a ways behind Brian who may have actually done Metcalf twice while playing with the minds of the Silicon Valley Triathlon Club riders who had populated the route while we were there), and down San Filipe to my condo where I quickly swapped wheels.  My front wheel is bent out of true and my rear rim is ruined.  My other set of Ksyriums that I use for commuting are fine, but the tires are heavy and were a little soft.  I just had to pump them up.  But wait, where is the pump?  Karen took it with her to Gilroy.  It was in her car!  My little pump I carry with me is not very good, only for backup.  So I decided to ride on soft tires the rest of the day.  Pumping them up with my little pump might have actually let more air out than in.  Since we only had 70 miles to go I decided to ride on soft tires.  I got back to Silver Oak School just a few minutes before Jon showed up.  I had water, sandwiches, energy drink mixes, and energy bars there for us.  We had a snack, did the extra loop for the 200 km ride, got back to the car for lunch and finished the ride without a problem.  It was a rough start, but a beautiful ride and ended with good company and a great picnic.
 
Today, after testing with Karen's lamp on my Light N Motion battery, my battery is fine.  My light is failing.  I had just recently purchased a $200 replacement battery thinking it was the battery that was bad.  Now I have a spare battery, but no lamp.  I should have checked it at home and could have used Karen's lamp with my batteries!!!