Shutdown Cycling

Well, I'm part of the 800,000 gov't employees who have been furloughed as part of the shutdown.  It's been in effect for over a week now and to tell you the truth, it's been kind of a nice break.  It's given me a chance to catch up on a lot of things, but also do plenty of riding.  The politics behind the whole shutdown are crazy, but that's another story.

I've been kind of absent on this blog lately.....maybe too much riding?!  I've been averaging close to 150+ miles per week, including a recent highlight, the Chico Gran Fondo!  Fondos are basically centuries that are raced.  While my friends and I hung on for about 20 miles with the big group, we ended up just enjoying our own pace for the remainder of it.  Here are two links:  the results and some pics.

http://underthesunevents.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/FONDO-OA.htm

http://www.chicovelo.org/main/Fondo2013/

Climbing in the Fondo - John, me, Dan, an unknown lurker and Lauren

The weather was much cooler than a normal day up there in Chico in September, having dropped down after some unseasonable rain the day before.  (Great timing!!)  We started at 51 degrees and peaked at only about 75 degrees.  I had never ridden up there before, so it was nice to see some new roads for a change.  Lots of rolling roads with plenty of climbing sandwiched in the middle of the ride.  Few vehicles, but they were big when we were passed!  Lots o' pick-em-up trucks, but 'most' everyone behaved themselves.  Our Santa Barbara ride organizer, Janine, was the organizer for this event too and she did a great job as usual!  Finally, it was fun to ride with some Santa Barbara buddies, including John, Dan, Lauren, Eddie and Wes.  Maybe I'll be back next year!

Huge chainring on Chico bikepath