ALC Day 1 - June 1, 2008 (San Francisco to Santa Cruz)

81.60 miles

Day 1 came and went. Alarm goes off at 3:30 am, I stumble out of bed around 4 am. Not too bad. Excitement/nervousness starts to set in immediately. I know I trained and trained and trained , with hours in the saddle, but the nagging question of was that enough still lingered. I had finished my packing the evening previous and fit all 'essentials' in one smallish suitcase, which I found after one night was not big enough. Every days clothing packed into labelled Ziploc bags, etc.

Above: Michael (tent mate) and I bringing our luggage to Truck E.

Below: David, John, and I (front) with Steve, Scott, and Trevor (rear). David and John are MEGA fundraisers, I'm talking 5-6 times what I was able to raise (EACH!!) . Damn good.

Since I was relatively early at orientation on Day 0, it just so happened that my bicycle was parked towards the end of the line as we were leaving the Cow Palace. I figure it took close to an hour for everyone to embark. Although I wasn't at the very end, I was probably in the later half to leave. Within two miles, before reaching Highway 1, a rider was down. Firetrucks, ambulance, etc. were quickly on the scene. As I passed the injured bicyclist was up and moving. However in Santa Cruz I learned that there were three crashes on Day 1 and that two of the three had thrown in the towel and gone home. Crashes can be extremely scary and hurt. I just hope that the packs of bicyclist on Day 1 didn't scare them too much, because the packs did spread out a bit on the following days.

Above: Joel and Jon in the center of a pack shortly after leaving the Cow Palace.
Below: A pack of riders climbing Skyline.

Day 1 was a definite learning experience. Although I had been warned by Michael, I stopped at Rest Stop 1 anyway. I had been warned, so I can only blame myself, but stopping at Rest Stop 1 cost me an hour riding. It seems everyone was stopping. The lines for the Porta potties took 30 minutes. The line for snacks and water refill another half hour. Thirty miles into the ride I figured out that I needed a strategy to keep ahead of the packs so that I could reduce the amount of time spent in lines. Lesson learned. Lunch was at one of my favorite places, San Gregorio State Beach. Above: Lunch at San Gregorio.

Below: The climbing of a hill placed immediately AFTER lunch.

Below: Lighthouse on Route 1.Finally made it into Santa Cruz in the mid-afternoon. 3ish if I remember correctly. Michael had the tent all set up before I pulled in. I was beat big time. After showering, watching riders arrive, and eating, I was in the tent and my head was aiming for the pillow by 7 pm. I think I even beat Joseph to sleep that night. Of course falling asleep at 7 caused me to wake at midnight thinking that it was time to get up and ride. I figured out on the way back from the bathroom that it was still a tad too dark to be morning. A few more hours of sleep and then awake every half hour starting at 2:30 am. I was fearful of oversleeping and having to be SAG'd. Stupid, I know. Above: Joseph and Cameron setting up Cameron's tent.

Below: Chris and Patrick, I think I feel asleep shortly after.

Slideshow of Larry's ALC Day 1:

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