Valley Four 2005 - Ride Report

12 November was the main date with 3 December as the alternate date in case of rain. After posting the event and talking to several riders, we ended up with 4 participants willing to jump into a late season 400-mile ride. Tim Woudenberg, Rick Ashabranner, Graham Pollack, & myself met up at the Hallmark Inn in Davis after work Friday - around 10PM. We repacked the support van and were off soon after 11PM. I like the idea of night riding and the central valley offers a great opportunity to do so as roads are generally quiet and reasonably easy to navigate. You also get occasional jolts of adrenaline as dogs appear out of nowhere to show you their dental work.

Our route can be summarized as follows: we head South out of Davis on the usual brevet route but end up riding through downtown Winters. We continued generally North to Red Bluff where we went west on Hi-36 a while. Retracing our steps to Corning where we went east to the Chico / Oroville area and picked up the Gold Rush route back to Davis.

Starting off was Tim, Rick, and Graham on bikes while I drove the support van. The sky was clear and the moon bright, three days from full. I couldn't believe the pace when, after I parked the fan a few minutes, I finally caught up with them. They were working together and averaging close to 25mph! I stayed behind for a while to provide light even though they were using bike-mounted systems. Pulling along side, I occasionally checked to see if anyone needed anything, but everyone was fine.

We diverted north through downtown Winters around midnight where we were cheered on by the smokers outside the corner tavern. Continuing north toward Zamora I was trying to get the PA system working but could not do so in time to alert them to a Right turn on rd 27 so we just continued north and instead took rd 16, the Casino road. We got lucky, it was not very busy. Continuing north we caught some heavy and cold ground fog around 1AM which made it tougher to navigate or to see mud clods left by the tractors. Cleared that and got to Zamora where I unracked my bike and left the van for Graham to drive.

We continued north on 99W, the road which parallels Hi-5 practically all the way to Red Bluff. Now, instead of dogs appearing in the night there were jackrabbits everywhere. I hear the teeth are just as sharp. Williams, about 80 mi out, Rick takes a turn in the van and Graham comes out for a spin. I think a rabbit got his back tire as we had to stop and fix the flat - the only one of the ride. Roadside repair of 3 minutes was getting very cold, but we jumped back on the bikes soon enough to stay warm. Tim came off for a short stint in the van before I took the van and navigated the group through Corning. The PA was working by that time ( I found the volume knob) but my nav skills were not so I took them east one mile too soon and we had to cut through town to return to the route. Tim took the van into Red Bluff where the east sky finally gave way to the sunrise.

We had a van full of food and Graham was talking about stopping at a restaurant for breakfast. I thought he was joking. 30 min later we were leaving Jack & Box after a full sit-down breakfast. It was 8AM. We rolled west on Hi-36, an unforgettable ecosystem of rolling hills and oak forest. Creek side willows and cottonwood were still showing their Yellow fall colors. After 36 miles of this we turned around and started the return leg of the ride. The pace had settled some but was still generally brisk. Part way back, a large bear came around the corner, mouth open, attached to the front of a pickup truck - apparently the quarry of a successful morning hunt. We arrived back into Red Bluff at 11:30. Just in time for lunch at - where else... It was really funny that at Jack's people would ask the Q's - where are we from, where are we riding to, etc. We got to see several variations on the jaw drop. Much fun...

We left Jack & box heading south toward Corning at a tailwind-assisted pace of between 24-29mph. It was mid day, there was more traffic, and we were looking forward to getting back to the back roads. Stopped in Corning for ice cream and advil. Five more miles and we leave 99W for Capay rd and our ride toward Chico / Oroville area. Great, quiet farm roads punctuated by a short ride on Hi-32 before continuing south along the Sacramento River. We passed the wetlands of the afterbay just outside Oroville right at sunset with the golden colors being enjoyed also by the bird dogs and their owners wrapping up their Saturday afternoon duck hunt.

My only big route sheet error was assuming we could ride on Hi-70 outside Oroville. No pedestrian horses or bicycles so a quick re-routing took us to the east frontage road, which just happened to be the GRR, route anyway. Not being able to back up the van on the onramp I drove up to the next exit and intercepted the gang.

Things went along smoothly and we progressed down the valley keeping an eye out for meteors after having seen a huge one fly by while breaking apart. By this time the pace was slowing to maybe 22mph as Rick kept everyone honest. We were talking pizza & beer by that time as well and that must've helped keep the pace up. 45 miles out, at Progress rd, I got out of the van for a final pull and ran the potholed section of the ride to Knight's Landing where 4 months before I had to pull out of the GRR. It was a great feeling to power through that section, bike through Knight's Landing and pull for downtown Davis. A redemption, of sorts.

Back to town at 10:08, just about 23 hrs from starting. We packed up and went over to Woodstock's pizza for the obligatory pizza & beer finale. Around 11:30 Rick and Graham both drove home while Tim and I stayed in town for some well-earned sleep. I was glad to hear that both Rick & Graham made it home, as it can be difficult to drive an hour or more after an event of this sort. It was fun to have them out there notching up the pace at every opportunity. Next year will probably be a Sept ride time to make this a tune-up for Furnace Creek in October. Stay tuned.