Day Thirty Three - Stanford

Day Thirty Three – Stanford

San Francisco (Lafayette) to Watsonville

Daily Brief

Tragedy on the bikes, components breaking, tires popping, ash falling from the sky and a blood red sun, but it was worth it for our meeting at Stanford with EB kids and their families. (And let’s not forget those doctors, nurses, and Lynn and Gary Anderson from EBMRF)

The Ride

So, I’m giving up writing in the third person. “I” refers to Parry from here on out. Keen? Good.

The day started off alright, no signs in the skies of impending tragedy just an innocent sunny California morning beckoning cyclists back onto the streets. We recollected our group at the BART station to take the train towards Stanford. It was there we met the news reporter who interviews Shaun and Chris and took shots of us riding around. That’s when we got our first flat as Russ (Chandler’s cousin joining us for the next few days) got a flat. It wasn’t too big of a deal since we weren’t in any sort of hurry…yet. After the news interview we hopped onto BART and made our way through the city towards Stanford.

After getting off of BART we started riding towards Stanford but we weren’t sure about the route. Our faithful captain, Shaun, knew the name of the street that we were supposed to turn on but it came much closer then it should have. Rocky thought it was the right road but Shaun still wasn’t sure. That’s when bicycle tragedy struck. It figures that the first time on the trip we need to be some place by a certain time that things go awry. So, as we were putting along, amidst the storm of confusion of direction, Shaun decided to ask a friendly crossing guard for directions. A seemly innocent maneuver, but the problem was, I was next to him, so as he turned right and I continued straight, the gap between us closed rather rapidly, and I didn’t just fall into the Gap, I slammed into it. It wasn’t even a close nick, it was more of a full on squall and the minnow was lost, er, I mean, and the bicycle was dead. I went down fast and was mostly ok. Now I have two sore knee’s, but don’t despair, the power of Advil saved that day. So, my rear derailleur was completely dead. Thankfully the ingenious professor, AKA Rusty (Chandlers uncle) got it to work in one gear so I hobbled to a bike shop where I got it replaced for about the price of a new boat.

After the collision and reroute to the bicycle shop we were now running late (we had been running early) to get to Stanford. So, while I was waiting for my bike to be fixed everyone split towards Stanford. Bob (my uncle) came and picked me up after the bike was fixed and he dropped me off with the group. Meanwhile Rocky had taken off from the group to try to find a bike shop for me, then he returned to where we had been, and then he got lost trying to find his way to Stanford. Also, as we were on our way to Stanford, for some still unknown reason Chandler and his uncle Rusty took a random left turn and ended up at Stanford later then the main group. The main group (or what was left of them), hustled their buns and arrived at Stanford at about 12:30.

At Stanford we met outside with a group of EB kids and their families. Gary and Lynn Anderson of EBMRF were their as were the doctors from Stanford. We had a filling lunch, and Lynn Anderson gave some nice comments and introduced the great doctors who gave some encouraging remarks. After the Doctors the riders had a turn at the microphone and then Lynn gave some closing remarks. During and after all the remarks we sat and ate with the EB families and took pictures with some of the kids. The kids were all such troupers. As hard as it was for us to get it together and get to Stanford, many of the families had woken up earlier, driven longer and suffered more to be there.

I don’t know what to say about the experience at Stanford, just that it was a real eye opener, motivator, and humbler. I think we would all do a little better if we remembered these kids, and what they go through just to live.

After the meeting at Stanford we continued our ride for the day. It went well until the thorns hit with fury and took down two tubes in moments. Chandler and Russ both replaced their tubes in a jiffy and we were on our way again. Later Chris had to replace his tube from a slow leak as well. The next challenge was when we turned right to go towards Watsonville. We had to get over Hecker Pass which meant a decent climb. The climb wasn’t too bad, but the further we went the more foggy and smoky it got. Halfway up Bob broke his shoe clip so he had to replace it before continuing on. As we went upwards the sky was dark from the clouds, and the smoke from the wildfires. As we got into Watsonville we all started getting ash in our eyes as we rode. The final leg of the day (that only Chris, Parry, and Rusty road) we were constantly blinking from the constant ash bits in our faces. (well, at least I was, Chris was wearing glasses, I don’t know about Rusty). We actually split up tonight, Shaun and his family went to stay at a hotel, everyone else stayed at Chris’s aunt’s house.

What a day!

Daily Stats

Distance: 92.57
Time: 5:54
Avg Speed: 15.7
Max Speed: 37.6

Total Distance: 2081.20

P&C pushups: 270