David's
AIDS LifeCycle 8
Rain Out (June 5)
"Today was the day which did not happen. It started to rain at 2:15 A.M. and did not stop until 9:30 A.M. I ate breakfast and packed my gear into the gear truck. Our tent got caked with mud inside and out as we broke camp. I got out on my bike and rode out at 7 A.M. The hill out of Lompoc on Route 1 is long but steady. The water seemed to wash out the sharp stones and I helped Kelley and another rider fix their flats in the rain at the side of the road. At 9 A.M. I hit Rest Stop 1 and a massive number of riders. The CHP had stopped the ride at that point, 15 miles out of camp.
"Apparently, a car had tumbled down Route 101 on the 7% grade downhill ahead of us. The CHP closed the road for 4 hours and this made our ride that day logistically impossible.
"Most cyclists wrapped themselves in plastic and waited for buses. The rest of us biked back down the hill to Lompoc to wait there. Amazingly, there were 63 bikes with flats up and down that stretch of road. Tim, my tent mate, had one going up and one going down. I had none, but it seemed like I was the exception. When I arrived back in Lompoc, I headed to my favorite hole-in-the-wall breakfast place and pigged out.
"When I finally arrived in camp at 11 A.M. the place had over 1,000 cyclists waiting for a bus to Ventura. The sun was now out in force and I refused to stand in line in the sun. Instead, I sat under trees and found a nice person, Sarah, to talk to. Finally at 3:10 P.M. I got onto a school bus for a 90 mile ride to Ventura.
"For AIDS rides, this was the first day ever to be cancelled. Tempers sometimes flared, but we somehow got through it all."
Day 6 Rain Out: On Route 1 outside of Lompoc we get the bad news the route is closed. Bikes are put into trucks bound for Ventura.
Cyclists bundle up in reflective sheets to thwart the cold, rainy weather. We had biked about 17 miles from camp in the rain with many flats to get here.
Cyclists wait in long lines for buses to pick them up. I decided to ride 17 miles back to camp and get picked up there.
A portion of the 1,000+ person line at our Lompoc camp awaiting bus transport to Ventura. I got on one of the last buses around 3:10 P.M.
I'd like to hear from you. Contact me at david@greenstein.com
