Lodi Sunrise Century 2004

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Perfect weather today for a ride!  Left Lodi High at 7:00 and within the first few miles found a few guys to pace.  The first 20 miles into Clements was cool as the four of us took turns pulling to the first rest stop.  I grabbed a bagel and strawberries and threw some more food in my jersey and took off by myself... not wanting to wait around too long.  From there I headed up to Lake Camanche.  The climbs were mild but I could still feeling them,  I only needed my triple one during the whole ride.  The views going up were spectacular ... and the oddest... I've never before seen an ostrich and an emu on the same ride! After the lunch stop at mile 52 in Wallace I headed out on Hwy 12 looking for riders I could pace.  I didn't get to any other riders until Johnson Rd and rode with a group of guys for 8 miles or so.  That group flew past 4 huge painted arrows indicating a turn... luckily they heard me yelling, "HEY, TURN, TURN... ARROWS" or they may have ended up riding way out of their way.

Then came a 9 mile stretch of Clements road that was very long, straight, no shade and had a killer side wind.  At one point there was a nasty dust cloud from a farmer plowing a field... visibility was cut to a maybe a hundred feet so I slowed down to cut through when there were no cars nearby.

Finally making it to the last rest stop in Linden I rested a full 10 minutes or so and then waited to find others that were leaving at the same time so I could draft.  Heading West was difficult after 75 miles... right into a nasty headwind.  No one else was leaving so I took off before this one guy that looked like he was leaving soon.  Sure enough, he passed me a mile later and held on for dear life.  Heading west, we traded pulls for 45 minutes or so, through the toughest part of the ride.   He helped me get the next 20 miles and then I had to drop back and let him go on his way (thanks Steve!)

I finally rode back in to Lodi, tired but feeling great.  I met a lot of other riders (most giving me great advice for my next century - The Sierra Century).  I also beat my goal by 10 minutes so I was not disappointed at all.

 

Delta Century 2004

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My first Century... what a blast!  When I first started riding 10 months ago I set this date on my calendar as my first Century and it showed up on a great day.  I had always planned on riding it solo but Chuck decided, the day before, to join me. I pulled up to the parking lot at the Mondavi Woodbridge winery at 6:00 am (noticing that the first vehicle in the parking lot was Chuck's), threw my jersey on and headed to the registration tables.  At 6:30 we were on our way. I felt good in the morning and was happy to have Chuck with me... going solo on my first Century would've been boring.  The first rest stop was at New Hope school in New Hope (I never knew this little town existed) at mile 18.

first_1 me and Chuck just before mile 18 first_3 yours truly first_4 I don't recall where this is ... I think leaving Walnut Grove... cell phone lady in the front, Noah, David, me, Chuck, ???, ???

From there we made our way through Thornton, Walnut Grove and Courtland for the lunch break at mile 48.  At mile 66 (and not a moment too soon), there was an unofficial break at the ferry crossing.  I don't think I've ever been on a ferry... certainly not with a bike.  After eating and re-filling the water bottles we headed out to Hood and Clarksburg and back to Walnut Grove for the last rest stop at mile 78. Finally, home stretch!  After riding 80 miles a few weeks prior I was feeling pretty good at this point and knew I was near completion of one of my first year's goals.

We met up with David and Noah from Oakland who were also riding their first Century.  Chuck and I spent a lot the day trading places with this father and son duo.

The views were pristine and the roads sometimes bumpy.  SAG was always around (knock on wood, we had no mechanical problems!)  There were a lot of winding roads that made the ride very enjoyable.

Next Century... Lodi Sunrise Century 5.22.04... see ya on the road!

 

Diablo

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Back to the mountain!  What a perfect day for a ride up here! I met Chuck and Bill for a ride up the back-side of Diablo.  Going up from Walnut Creek seemed harder than starting in Danville... I guess the jury's still out.  I was very happy to climb again less than a week after the SBC ride.  This time I made it to the top with only a short (less than 2 minute) stop at the ranger station.  I felt very good today but was bummed to see Chuck resting on the side of the road with only a couple of miles to the summit.  What a crappy place to pick up a flat... without an extra tube.  When I passed him he just yelled at me to keep going and to catch back up with him on the descent (thanks, Coach!).  I was nervous about "the wall" but made it up just fine, rested and then went to get Chuck.  Well... Chuck's luck kept getting worse.  I gave him my tube and pump... my pump broke and then the tube croaked when Bill CO2'ed it!  So, now we had 1 tube and a 12 canister of CO2 between us... thankfully it worked. Bill made it to the summit (great job, Bill!) eventually we all got down.  What a great ride... thanks guys!

 

Folsom - American River Trail

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I finally made it out to the Old Sac - Folsom trail.  Since I heard there was flooding in the Discovery Park area I decided to start from Folsom.  This is one of the coolest rides in the area... no cars... a lot of other bikes, which I will take over cars anyday!  I only had time to go from Folsom (Beale Point) to CSUS and back.  Next time... Old Sac or bust! 2002-07_camping_10s

 

MHP's

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That's right... Stockton's own MHP (Mia Hamm Pups) are kickin' tail out there.  It seems like these girls are unstoppable.  With 3 wins in a row they are excited and are looking forward to the tourneys coming up next weekend [2/27/04 - tourney has been postponed Sad ].  Emily has moved to the goalie slot along with Jordan and Taylor and is doing great (1 goal allowed in 2 games... and it was a penalty shot!).  When she's not playing that spot she usually fills in at left-wing.P2210193s Stockton's MHP (Mia Hamm Pups) after a 2-0 weekend

 

Back from AZ

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What a road trip!  we are finally back from arizona.  uncle Joey's passing is what got us there, but whatever the reason, it was great to see everyone.  when we told everyone we would be driving to arizona they said we were senseless and we should fly... add to it that we would be taking jack and rita along with us and i heard the same thing from everyone, "six people in the van is crazy... two of them being your in-laws is INSANE!" well... it was a lot of fun... driving 1,500 miles with your in-laws may sound difficult... but we passed the time by horsin' around and even singing "99 bottles of beer" (the greatest drinking song of all time!!! - thanks tom, for keeping me in check)  

What's New

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Welcome back to mattbeckwith.com - we redecorated... again... pretty much the same content... but we will try to post more pictures and keep the site up-to-date.....enjoy. So... what are we up to... well, it's january so that means new seasons of 24 and american idol... yes, american idol!  that is our family show... we all watch it together... cheering on the good ones and laughing at the bad ones.  we are very civil to each other... that is, until voting starts... then we can get mean and nasty. during season 1 we always had one unified vote... one family, one vote... we had to agree on one vote... last year we could never agree so now everyone gets their own vote.

Superbowl?  no thanks, we'll pass!  actually, we will be in arizona that weekend ... rootin' for the panthers!!!