Del Valle Day 3: My Bike Made Me Do It.

On the 3rd day of Family Camp. Tim, Seth, and I set out to ride the Tour de Livermore Loop. This was another cool ride.

We stopped off for a quick visit at Grandma's house along the way.

I couldn't capture it really well but we had a really pretty climb up before descending into Del Valle park. That is a beautiful park. Home of Bruce's first triathlon and home of Xterra. That would be a great race but I'd have to take the basket off my mtn bike to do that. It was gusty and overcast, but I think it somehow added to the ride quality. Sunny and calm are just so common.

Climbing back up Tim and Seth started trying to rip each others legs off. I am very thankful I have a girly gear. It allowed me to (sort of) spin. The boys were forced to muscle the pedals around. Just before we reached the summit, they unleashed attacks. I announced, in my most Miss Manners know it all voice. " I don't know why you boys must insist on playing those stupid games. You just destroy yourselves and the whole ride takes longer". Seth chuckled that he asks Val (his wife) if she wants to race whenever they run up a hill. For the record, Val has some good replies. I allowed let them to pull a full bike length ahead. I thought I was riding sufficiently. My bike, Sweet Thunder II, wasn't satisfied. She began to sing Beyonce's "All the Ladies" and said for all the ladies I should try to get those boys. What if I bonk? I'll have to eat humble pie later. I swear Sweet Thunder II shifted herself into the large chain ring and continued to spin her pedals. My legs burned a bit, but if Sweet Thunder was willing to take a chance I though I better go with it. I dropped into the aero bars and accelerated as fast as I could. The boys were tired now from their attempt to demolish each other. Tim claims they were slowing to get a GU, but his bike later told Sweet Thunder they were out of gas. Just as we crested, Sweet Thunder reached full throttle and carried me into the descent. Yee Haw. Somehow, Sweet Thunder's bell rang as she dropped those boys. I couldn't resist yelling "game on." Hold on, Sweet Thunder instructed. I hoped they hadn't jumped on to Sweet Thunder's rear wheel. If they drafted me down Del Valle it would definitely be a slice of humble pie. They would drop me at the bottom. Sweet Thunder just kept going . She warned me not to look back. It wasn't until we came to the next intersection that I had to pull on Sweet Thunders reins and wait for the boys. I didn't know which way to go. I sensed Sweet Thunder was a little irritated at my lack of direction. When the boys came along, I let out a yawn. I told them I had just finished catching up on all the blogs I follow. After that I had to pretend my get away was no big deal. I pretended like it was not premeditated, and it was so easy. I pulled for a good long time in the aero bars and didn't entertain Tim's suggestion to pace line. This was great until 20 miles from home when we had a head wind and all I could pull was 15 mph. The boys weren't going to patiently ride my rear wheel now. At 15 mph they were going to fall off their bikes with boredom. Oh boy, boys with quads do not typically tolerate wind patiently. They karate chop the wind. My insistence on pulling had allowed them to rest. Now their fast twitch fibers were ready to pounce. It was time to alternate 30 second pulls. Did I mention it was now on the other side of noon? Well if I had come this far I might as well hang on for a little bit longer. I tried to do my best to fake easily getting back on the paceline. I also pretended I wasn't bonking as my Bento box lay empty. Finally we exited the windy section and headed for a slight downhill. Yeah. I was going to make it. The pace was fast, but I would manage.

6 miles from Camp headquarters we passed a strawberry field. I could smell the strawberries. I could see them. My stomach growled, not once but twice. Tim started the next episode of Seinfeld by say that suggesting the strawberry field was a fraud and the farmers bought the strawberries from Costco. They were just a ploy. Tim's rationale to support his theory was so ludicrously funny I almost fell off my bike with laughter. Luckily laughter seems to be my greatest fuel source and I made it home unscathed. I better watch that pink bike of mine though, she could get me in a lot of trouble.