# Ride Report: Team RBR at the I Care Classic - 5/17/08



## gregg (Oct 30, 2000)

So, I let Thien talk me into signing up for the I Care Classic this past weekend (https://www.icareclassic.org/index.shtml) I haven't been riding much (understatement), but I thought, "heck, it's only 100k and about 2200 ft of elevation....shouldn't be too hard..." And I know the route pretty well, having done the Tierra Bella a handful of times (the I Care Classic route is very similar to the Tierra Bella route.)

Boy was I wrong! I definitely overestimated my own abilities, especially since I haven't ridden anything over 40 miles in quite a while. I guess I was going on my memories of how I "use to ride". I would pay for this assumption, later in the day....

The start was mellow enough.... here is a pic from the start (left to right: Thien, me, Jon, Lito, and Owen):










The start was all flat, so I was lulled into a false sense of comfort. Here are some pics leading up to the first rest stop:










Thien and Jon discussing vasectomies:










Sometimes when I ride and point the camera backwards without looking, the shot actually comes out okay. Sometimes not:










Headin' in to the first stop of the ride:


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## gregg (Oct 30, 2000)

Shot of the guys at Rest Stop 1....Thien showing us how many PB&Js he ate.











Obligatory shot of the ride food/snacks:











Some scenery shots:



















From here, we rode up to the Gilroy Hot Springs....this would be the "biggest" climb of the mellow 100k route. I was still feeling pretty good, even though I had dropped back from the group already. Rest stop #2 was near the CDF station, but was NOTHING like the rest stop during the Tierra Bella. 


Thien taking a pic of me taking a pic of Thien: 










One of the other riders asks the volunteer working this stop, how many riders does the I Care Classic get...the answer is about 500. This explains a lot, as the Tierra Bella gets 2000, and seems to fill up every year.

From this stop, we roll out and I feel pretty good after a few minutes rest, so I hang with the guys....probably shoulda held back a little here, in retrospect. After the CDF station stop, the terrain is rolling with some small hills, then leads to the long downhill back to the flat lands. 

The third and fourth rest stops seem oddly close to each other...but we stop anyways. But by the time we hit the rest stop just past Monterey Highway, I am dropping off the back again, a bit more this time. It is at this point, I start to realize that I might have biten off more than I could chew. From here on out, you'll notice a lack of pix, as I have to put the camera away, and concentrate solely on the task at hand (finishing the ride.)

Sure enough, from rest stop #4 all the way up past Uvas to the final rest stop (for the 100k route) was probably the longest (and slowest) 12 miles I've ever ridden. I am way off the back, and starting to feel the twinges of a cramp in my right calf. I am feeling the pains of not having enough saddle time, and riding over my 40 mile/3.5 hour limit.

I ponder just how much further the last rest stop is, and decide to pull over to stretch and give my derriere a much needed rest. Turns out I stopped about half a mile from the last rest stop. Meet back up with Thien and Owen, as Lito and Jon had to continue on without stopping due to a time commitment. I don't know how long we stayed here, but it was probably close to half an hour as I tried to rest my weary legs and build up the energy for the final 15 miles.

-Thien asks, "What's the goal? Finish by 2?" 
-I reply, "Goal? Right now, I'll be happy just to finish!" 

For the first time in my cycling life, I thought that I might actually have to use the SAG wagon to get back to the finish. But after making 48 of the 63.3 miles, the thought of packing it in faded. "After the next 4 miles, it's all downhill", someone at the rest stop says. Sounds like famous last words to me. But, on we go.

At first, after the extended rest, I'm feeling better and able to hang with Owen for ...oh, about 1 mile....then reality sets back in, and I fall back into my crawling speed. Thien hangs back to keep me company....which helps. I'm sure I would have finished another 20 or 30 minutes back, if I had to ride it all by myself. But even with the escort, riding on the flat with a tail wind for 8 miles along Santa Teresa felt like a climb. I was suffering. 

One final "unofficial" rest stop, and some more words of encouragement from Thien, and we, I mean I, limp back to the finish. What was an "easy" 100k, turned into a 4 hours of riding followed by a 2 hour sufferfest, as I learn the hard way, not to under estimate any ride and not to over estimate how I "use to ride".

-g

(many thanks to Thien for the help getting back.) One last scenery shot:


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## thien (Feb 18, 2004)

Some more photos...









After the initial climb, but still on the way to the hot springs









The opposite photo, gregg taking a photo of thien taking a photo of gregg. I know, we're dorks.









The last rest stop









Gregg hammering on Santa Teresa


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## CrankyMonkey (Jul 8, 2007)

I find riding in that area tough due to the sun exposure.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Fun report, but if Gregg is going to be allowed to keep his nice bike he'd better ride more to be worthy of it.


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## Gee3 (Jan 31, 2006)

Good report Gregg! At the end you looked how my wife felt! j/k! 

I think my wife and daughter started about an hour after you/Thien and finished about 35 mins before you. Of course we only did the 25 mile family ride! Doh!! 

It was my wife's first ride longer than 3-4 miles so to just finish was a huge accomplishment for her. So I'm pretty proud of her, even though it took us about 3hrs and 45mins to finally finish! I was pulling my 7yo daughter in the trailer but since the route was very flat it wasn't a big deal. 

I'll try and post pics... you can tell what the basic chronological order was by the expression/look on her face! haha! For the first 12 miles she was good to go. But for the remaining ride she complained about the steep grade. Which according to my 305 was between 1-3%! DOH!!! 

But what gave me hope was when we got near the end we could have gone straight to the Paramit building as a short cut. But she said, hey, if we came this far we might as well finish the whole course!! What a trooper!! 

So when we finally finished she told me, with a gleem in her eye and after completing her longest ride ever: * I never want to do this again!!!* hahahaha!!! 

So we'll see how it goes on future rides. I want to do the Giro with her but I won't ask her until later on when she's had time to forget how hard it was for her!  

Gary


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## CoLiKe20 (Jan 30, 2006)

gregg said:


> Thien and Jon discussing vasectomies:


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## NeCrO632 (Mar 5, 2008)

Damn..that looked like fun.. I was supposed to ride with Gee3 and his family but my wife guilt tripped me into hanging out with her that day... Next year I'm riding the RBR 100k..sorry Gary!  and hell no I'm not pulling a burley... my wife can drive sag with the kid.


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