Chico Wildflower and Sierra Nevada Brewery Tour

Combining triking with beer tasting is where it’s at, right?!?

We arrived in Chico yesterday in preparation for the 60 mile Flat Flower route of the Chico Velo Wildflower this year. We had planned to do the metric Wildflower, but were concerned about our lack of fitness as it’s got about 2500’ of climbing. Not much by cyclists’ standards, but we wanted to respect our limits. We also didn’t want to experience the humiliation of being “those” riders, who run out of battery before finishing the ride. Because of the size of a recumbent trike, we always assume that it’s unlikely that any SAG vehicle would have the capacity to help ferry us back should we get stranded.

We found a good camping spot on the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds, site of the Wildflower, and then headed off for our brewery tour. Here are some photos from the tour:

 Paula enjoyed the tastings at the end, but Sierra Nevada is proud of its hoppy beers, I was not a fan. We were hoping they might include one of their porters or stouts in post-tour tasting, but no such luck.

We returned to the fairgrounds to find the in-fill camping had been in full swing. We were definitely surrounded now. Thank goodness everyone wanted to have an early night like we did. We had a lovely pasta puttanesca dinner that Paula made for Carol and me, and then we all turned in.

We arose early because we knew the temperatures would rise quickly through the day. We were cycling by 7:00AM. Carol was on her Lightning P-38 Voyager, Paula on her HP Velotechnik with Bionx, and me on my HP Velotechnik S-Pedelec with Go-Swiss motor. We had chosen the Flat Flower 60 miler, as we were scared by the climbing of the Wild Flower.

On the ride we saw a recumbent tandem, an ICE trike with BaFang motor, and an unassisted BikeE. We’re were surprised this was all for recumbents, since this was such a large event, but we all had a good time. Carol decided to do a 45 mile ride, so left us around mile 37. We turned up our assist and played for the second part of the ride at speeds from 18 to 24 mph. The headwind had arrived, so we were glad for the help.

We didn’t take many pictures on the ride, but here are a couple..

Yes, that’s my foot in the foreground. Had to let you know I was there. When we returned, the Chico Velo folks had a lovely dinner all planned for us: barbecued chicken, rice, beans, and salad. What a great day.

California Poppies on the Coyote Creek Trail

Our Bay Area BARC meetup group (Bay Area Recumbent Cyclists) rode the Coyote Creek Trail on April 14. Afterward, our BARC ride host Dave, participated in the Recumbent Day at Hellyer Park Velodrome. Paula & I enjoyed springtime on the trail so much, we rode it again the following week. On the encore ride, we parked at Hellyer Park near the lake, rather than the Velodrome. We rode from there to Morgan Hill and back. About 35 miles.

Dave and Neal cut out from the ride early so that Dave could ride the velodrome track. This is a banked track, and all manner of human powered contraptions were there to be part of Recumbent Day. There were velomobiles, two wheeled recumbents, and recumbent trikes. We have watched this event in previous years, and it never gets old. The velodrome hosts Wednesday evening racing events. Check out their event calendar. Since a racing license is required, the `venue has many racers with lots of velodrome experience. Great fun!!

While the route has much scenery, I love the poppies, so concentrated my photographs here. See what you think. This year the rains may have caused less poppies because the grasses grew taller. Pretty nonetheless.

There is a model airfield on the route. The car access to the field has been closed for a couple years. Look at the ingenious ways the members get their planes from the cars to the field — a distance of two miles.

TARTAR: Tour of the American River for Trikes And Recumbents

What a grand and joyfully exhausting weekend we just had. A huge thanks to Russell for hosting our TARTAR (Tour of the American River for Trikes and Recumbents) Weekend in Sacramento. With announcements in both BROL (BentRider On Line) and our BARC (Bay Area Recumbent Cyclists) Meetup Group, we had riders from the Bay Area, Sacramento, Fresno, and San Diego. We bicycled Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday. Our personal total miles were each around 90 for the weekend.

On Friday evening, we rode from the hotel in Rancho Cordova to William Pond Park. Then it was back to Jack’s Urban Eats for dinner. The ride departed at 6:00 so we didn’t have light issues to worry about, nor the rear tire flat that I experienced last year.  Dinner was perfect with conversation and getting to know folks from Fresno, Santa Diego, and the Bay Area. The ride back to the hotel was uneventful, and all retired for the night. Total miles: 18.25.

Saturday dawned to breakfast at the hotel. We departed at 9:30 to connect with more riders at the Sunrise boat ramp on the American River Trail. After the obligatory photo and ride reminders, three groups of riders departed. The first group road the American River Trail to Beal’s Point, returning via the Johnny Cash Trail. Another group departed the trail in Folsom to ride the Johnny Cash Trail. And the third group road the American River Trail to Karen’s Bakery & Restaurant in Folsom. Karen’s is where we all had lunch, but the three groups arrived at different times so the staff appeared able to keep pace. We rode in the first group, so clocked in 30.5 miles.

The group shared liquid refreshment on the patio of the hotel before fifteen of us walked to dinner at Magnolia House at Sheepherder Inn. Amazingly they sat us almost immediately.

After Sunday breakfast we departed on the American River Trail towards Old Sacramento. We couldn’t get all the way to Old Sac due to continued flooding damage on the trail around mile 3. Most folks stopped to have lunch at Panera Bread on Howe Street. Paula, Larry, Allen and I decided to continue on to see what the end of the trail looked like. We indeed found the trail closed at mile 3, with water completely obscuring the trail. We turned around and cycled back to the hotel. On our trek we saw a colorful rooster, deer, turkeys, and numerous birds. Total miles for us: 42.5.

Photos taken by the group are available at: https://www.meetup.com/SFBARC/photos/29906372/
Here are some of our photos:

  

  

Camping near Sequoia National Park

What a grand way to spend a week. We stayed at the Sequoia RV Ranch in Three Rivers, Ca. We got to know Kim & Nicki’s friends: Michelle, Lisa, Monica, Lisa, Kelly, Michelle.  (Think I had trouble with names?  You bet!!) ;-)

There was amazing rock sculpture, incredible meals, crafts, and stories for the whole week. The first set of photos shows off the activities.

While there Jo Ann came up from Visalia with her Jeep and we went motoring into Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park.  The snow and sequoias were amazing.

Not much cycling this week, as the roads didn’t have much of a shoulder and no trails to fit trikes to speak of. But the scenery couldn’t be beat. My favorite California poppies were in bloom, so all was good.  Check out the photos....

And then onto Sequoia National Park with Jo Ann.

Did you catch Jo Ann at the base of the sequoia?

The snow machine in the left photo looks like it keeps the road open to one of the hotels.