Wednesday, October 13, 2010

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Today’s club ride meets up at the Fairfield/Suisun City Amtrak Station off Civic Center Blvd. There is a free public parking lot located across the street from the station. Water and restrooms are available inside the train depot.

We make our way through Fairfield via Union Ave to Texas St then to Washington St and Empire. Along the way, we hop on and off the bike paths that run across town. We continue on Union Ave to Linear Park Pathway, Dover Ave and Paradise Valley Dr. From there, we take the bike path that parallels I-80 to Nelson Rd and River Rd.

We arrive at Pena Adobe Park for our first regroup. Water and restrooms are available. We exit the park and head out on Cherry Glen Rd to Pleasants Valley Rd. We’re on flat and rolling terrain for the next 6 miles before reaching Cantelow Rd.

Once we reach Cantelow, half the group splits off to do the “hillier” version of the ride while the remaining half stays on the original route. They continue on Pleasants Valley to Putah Creek and into Winters before heading into Davis. .I opted to go for the climb up Cantelow which I haven’t done in a long while. The road starts off relatively flat along the white fence. At the first left turn the gradient starts to creep up to 2-6%, and then it fluctuates from 10-12% for the next few turns and maxes out at 13%. The road does level out a bit once you reach the section with the guard rails. The climb is probably about a little over a mile long. Once you reach the top, it’s a fast and fun descent all the way to English Hills Rd.

From Cantelow, we make a left on English Hills to Peaceful Glen Rd. The group does an impromptu regroup as Stephanie tends to a bee sting. We all continue on Timm Rd to Allendale Rd. It’s a flat run all the way to the Winters Rd. The turn on Winters Rd has us all facing pretty strong headwinds for the next 4+ miles. The winds subsided as we continued on Putah Creek Rd to Winters. As we’re waiting for the rest of the group on the side of the road, we see a little black piglet running around some chickens near the strawberry stand and darting in and out of the corn field. It’s a little after 12 PM and the group decides to not stop in Winters and continue straight on to Davis.

The terrain on Putah Creek to Stevenson Bridge Rd is DEAD FLAT! We ride pass many orchards along the way. Remember to look out for the big golden bicycle in field! From Stevenson Bridge, we take Russell Blvd to hop onto the bike path that leads us all the way into Davis.

We meet up with the other group at Burger and Brew on Third St. They serve a variety of burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads. There are other food options in the vicinity.

We have a 2 PM private tour at the museum. The museum occupies an 8,000 square foot, three story building in the heart of downtown Davis. The Bicycling Hall of Fame is located at 303 B Street at the corner of Third St. Admission: $5 for Adults, $3 for Seniors, $3 for Youth 6-12 and Free for children 5 and under. Their hours are Wednesdays from 4-8 PM and Saturdays from 10 AM- 2 PM. We were all able to park and lock our bikes in the outdoor patio area. Arrangements were also made to have a student volunteer watch our bikes while we were inside.

“Dave” the tour guide opens up the museum and takes us directly to the main floor. There are displays of jerseys and vintage cycling memorabilia including photographs, awards and other artifacts from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Greg LeMond’s bike is on display along with Eric Heiden’s and many others.

The Hall of Fame wing is located on the top floor and features more than 120 plaques for its inductees. There are multiple displays that include the bicycles of Major Taylor and Frank Louis Kramer along with their photographs, championship sash and medals.

The basement contains an extensive display of historical bikes dating from the early 1800’s through the present that shows the evolution of the bicycle. These photos are by no means a replacement for actually visiting the museum; so take the time and head on out there to see everything for yourself.

The tour ends a little before 3:30 PM and we ride an additional 2 blocks to the Amtrak Station located at 840 2nd St to catch the 3:50 PM train. We are all able to get the discounted group rate of $6.90 per person. There is ample room for our bikes on the last train. It’s a quick 20 minute ride back to Fairfield.

“THANKS!” to Carla and Paul for leading the ride and organizing the special private tour of the museum. It was both fun and informative.

20 people in attendance

46 miles with 1269′ of elevation gain

Weather: Great! Sunny, warm and breezy. Starting temp of 64 and reaching a high of 94.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>