Delta Century
/Today, Mike and I rode the 100 mile Delta Century, put on by the Stockton Bike Club. The Delta Century was the first century I ever rode but it hasn't rated as one of my favorites. That's not due to any fault of the wonderful organizers and volunteers; it's just a bit too windy, and today was no exception. Mike and I headed out from Jessie's Grove at 6:30 this morning. It was cold but Mike forgot his arm-warmers... so we both went without. After I was done patting myself on the back for being such a noble friend, Mike uttered, "I wouldn't have worn mine". Cold as it was at the start, we knew it wouldn't be cold for long. As soon as we took our first turn headed west we were met with... surprise... wait for it... a... headwind!
This year's ride took a different route than it did the last time I rode it. The first rest stop was at mile 26, in Courtland, which was perfect place for it. The ride took us along many of the windy delta roads. The second rest stop felt pretty quick at mile 38, at the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg. After that stop we quickly got going again and caught up to a group of other riders that were riding pretty fast. We jumped on their line, along with a few other riders and pushed hard for about 15 minutes at 20-22 (in a cross wind) until Mike and I got dropped like a bad habit; it was fun while it lasted.
We looped back to toward Courtland for the lunch break at mile 63. Yes, that's the same Courtland that hosted the first rest stop way back at mile 26. We actually rode the same stretch or River Road and Washington Ave three times.
After a ferry ride across Steamboat Slough and and more and more headwind, we finally got back to Walnut Grove for the final rest stop at mile 78. Almost all of the last 20 miles was with a tail wind so we got back to Jessie's Grove pretty strong.
This was Mike's first 100 mile century and rode great given the wind.
Overall, it was a good ride. Although, at the start of the day, I preferred the Mondavi start location of years past, Jessie's Grove proved better at for the end of the ride. The volunteers and organizers were great and very friendly. The food at the rest stops was very good, certainly better than the food at the Primavera. The added touch of the pillows and blankets on the grass at the final rest stop was a very nice touch (I believe those were from a generous local guy and not part of the club). The post ride meal, catered from DaVinci's, was awesome. With tons of shade and a DJ playing music and asking trivia.
Four counties... San Joaquin, Sacramento, Yolo and Solano.
100 miles today... and 9,345 total miles for those counting.