Since I'm a moron and didnt realize how far away this ride actually was until late this week when i printed the maps, i ended up getting up at 4 to even make it over there on time to start at 6. I had made the mistake of starting a sacramento area ride later last summer, and the 110 degree heat at the end convinced me that was a bad idea..

So I'm on the way over and the highway is closed, thanks google maps.. thankfully it opened at 5am, and i got there with only a few minutes to wait... Ugh

Finally get over there and get rolling..

First 20 miles was 500ft net downhill rollers, so it absolutely flew landing at the rest stop with av speed of 21mph. Was in a ~24mph paceline, and then a faster paceline came by so i jumped onto that and ended up cruising the last few miles ~28mph

Rest stops ruled.. I mean Dr Pepper at a rest stop?! I'm sold.. More rides need to do this.. The food was great as well.. but really.. Dr Pepper!!!! So much goodness on a ride, even if it sounds like a bad idea to be drinking soda lol..

Then came the long sustained climb, about 2500 ft total, which was something new for me... i've done the aggregated climbing and more in the past, but this was the highest sustained climb I've done. Wasn't really an issue and from the top it was a mostly downhill rollers to the finish.

The weirdest moment of the day was when i was cresting a short climb with another guy, and we saw a live snake on the road.. This guy jams on the brakes, gets off, grabs his frame pump and proceeds to pummel away at the snake... Umm ok... WTF! Weird.