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My wife, myself, and a group of friends rode the Pardee Party Metric Century out of Ione, California on Saturday. Turned out to be a completely awesome trip even though half of our group made a wrong turn and almost ended up riding a full mileage century by accident. But, all ended well.
The ride starts in Ione, CA which is a small town built on the brick and mining industry. I'm not too familiar with all the history of the town but it seemed to be a fairly neat place. It's about an hour from Sacramento and Stockton and is nestled in the foothills of the Sierras in the old Motherlode country. When we left for the ride on Friday night (from Carson City, NV) the weather was horrible with lots of snow and very heavy rain in California. It didn't bode well for our ride and the roads were flooding in many places which worried us even more. The forecast was for a small break between storms on Saturday, so that's what we bet on.
Waking up at 5:30am on Saturday I looked out to see a few puffy clouds and otherwise gorgeous clear skies. The day would end up being a mix of clouds and sun and a perfect 60 degrees with high humidty. Overall, it was the perfect weather we were all hoping for.
The ride started in Howard Park and wound its way around on back country roads. The route took the riders around three different reservoirs (Commanche, New Hogan, and Pardee) before looping back to the start. The country is beautiful and right now is so green my camera had issues capturing it properly. The wildflowers are just beginning to pop out and the fruit trees were just finishing their blooms. The route is a mixture of rolling hills with some short steep climbs that I think they put into the ride to make sure people were staying awake. For the most part I found myself pushing hard up and then flying down the other sides. The roads were a mix of new pavement, chipseal, and some deadly potholes. A word of caution for anyone wanting to do this in a paceline. . .make sure you know your signals and are staying alert. We passed several groups that had multiple flats from hitting the same pothole!
Traffic was very light with only one idiot who thought we were pylons in the Daytona 500 or something. Otherwise, everybody was quite cool, the route was well marked for the most part, and lots of warning signs for motorists. The only complaint I had on the route was one turn was not very well marked and half my group missed it. Added about 10 miles to their trip. Not a big deal but it took a while before they realized what happened.
In general the ride was well supported with very nice stops. Food was good, lots of Cytomax to go around, and the volunteers were nice folks. One suggestion. . .double the number of porta potties at the first stop. The twenty minute wait was a long time to stand their crossing your legs. But, they made up for it with the quanity and quality of the food. There were 1300 riders signed up for this ride and it attracted every sort of person you can think of. I saw hybrids, Huffies, mountain bikes, and Colnagos all sharing the same road. Quite the mix. Total length was 66.7 miles by my computer with 4151 feet of climbing. Only two real mountains and the rest being very cool rollers. I highly recommend the ride for anyone not quite ready for a hilly 100 miles but who wants a challenge without the race speeds.
Anyway, here's a whole deluge of pictures. Hope I don't overwhelm you all. Also, I apologize for the quality. Between me and the flat light they are only so, so and can't compete with MB1's shots but at least they'll give you an idea of how it was like.
The drive over Highway 88 to Jackson was quite interesting. More snow than I've seen in years and the rain was so hard once we got below the snow line it was hard to see the road.
Starting out in a trailer park? Is this some kind of hint?
The ride started with flooded roads (only a few inches deep but flowing), flooded wineries, and lots and lots of beautiful green meadows and mountains. Wow, how I've been missing the green stuff.
The first rest stop was jammed with people. Only 15 miles into the ride there were plenty of people who were capable of riding this far. As time went on the crowds begin to thin out. "I've got to go. . .I've got to go . . .friggin' porta potty lines!"
The wildflowers were finally beginning to show up. They looked good, even squished under our wheels.
The ride continued up the hills past more and more flat tires, horny riders, and fun rollers.
My feet in their brand spankin' new Sidis. Quite an upgrade from the 17.00 Nashbar pair they replaced. I gotta admit, they are a lot more comfortable. Now if I can just figure out the mechanism to get them to release. . .
Lots of climbing from time to time. This is the long uphill near the second restop. Lots of people who were doing well before began to either walk their bikes or look very sick right here. My wife powered right over it and I tried to encourage the folks on 50lb hybrids as I rode past them. The second rest stop was in some really pretty flowery areas. Quite nice.
The ride starts in Ione, CA which is a small town built on the brick and mining industry. I'm not too familiar with all the history of the town but it seemed to be a fairly neat place. It's about an hour from Sacramento and Stockton and is nestled in the foothills of the Sierras in the old Motherlode country. When we left for the ride on Friday night (from Carson City, NV) the weather was horrible with lots of snow and very heavy rain in California. It didn't bode well for our ride and the roads were flooding in many places which worried us even more. The forecast was for a small break between storms on Saturday, so that's what we bet on.
Waking up at 5:30am on Saturday I looked out to see a few puffy clouds and otherwise gorgeous clear skies. The day would end up being a mix of clouds and sun and a perfect 60 degrees with high humidty. Overall, it was the perfect weather we were all hoping for.
The ride started in Howard Park and wound its way around on back country roads. The route took the riders around three different reservoirs (Commanche, New Hogan, and Pardee) before looping back to the start. The country is beautiful and right now is so green my camera had issues capturing it properly. The wildflowers are just beginning to pop out and the fruit trees were just finishing their blooms. The route is a mixture of rolling hills with some short steep climbs that I think they put into the ride to make sure people were staying awake. For the most part I found myself pushing hard up and then flying down the other sides. The roads were a mix of new pavement, chipseal, and some deadly potholes. A word of caution for anyone wanting to do this in a paceline. . .make sure you know your signals and are staying alert. We passed several groups that had multiple flats from hitting the same pothole!
In general the ride was well supported with very nice stops. Food was good, lots of Cytomax to go around, and the volunteers were nice folks. One suggestion. . .double the number of porta potties at the first stop. The twenty minute wait was a long time to stand their crossing your legs. But, they made up for it with the quanity and quality of the food. There were 1300 riders signed up for this ride and it attracted every sort of person you can think of. I saw hybrids, Huffies, mountain bikes, and Colnagos all sharing the same road. Quite the mix. Total length was 66.7 miles by my computer with 4151 feet of climbing. Only two real mountains and the rest being very cool rollers. I highly recommend the ride for anyone not quite ready for a hilly 100 miles but who wants a challenge without the race speeds.
Anyway, here's a whole deluge of pictures. Hope I don't overwhelm you all. Also, I apologize for the quality. Between me and the flat light they are only so, so and can't compete with MB1's shots but at least they'll give you an idea of how it was like.
The drive over Highway 88 to Jackson was quite interesting. More snow than I've seen in years and the rain was so hard once we got below the snow line it was hard to see the road.

Starting out in a trailer park? Is this some kind of hint?

The ride started with flooded roads (only a few inches deep but flowing), flooded wineries, and lots and lots of beautiful green meadows and mountains. Wow, how I've been missing the green stuff.




The first rest stop was jammed with people. Only 15 miles into the ride there were plenty of people who were capable of riding this far. As time went on the crowds begin to thin out. "I've got to go. . .I've got to go . . .friggin' porta potty lines!"

The wildflowers were finally beginning to show up. They looked good, even squished under our wheels.

The ride continued up the hills past more and more flat tires, horny riders, and fun rollers.




My feet in their brand spankin' new Sidis. Quite an upgrade from the 17.00 Nashbar pair they replaced. I gotta admit, they are a lot more comfortable. Now if I can just figure out the mechanism to get them to release. . .

Lots of climbing from time to time. This is the long uphill near the second restop. Lots of people who were doing well before began to either walk their bikes or look very sick right here. My wife powered right over it and I tried to encourage the folks on 50lb hybrids as I rode past them. The second rest stop was in some really pretty flowery areas. Quite nice.



