Gold Country Tour
Most
of you are aware that the club sponsors a one-week cycle-tour each
summer. This year (June 5-12), we're exploring the Gold Country,
from Grass Valley to Mariposa.
It
has come to my attention that some folks out there seem to think
the tour is all full. This is not true. We have enough people signed
up at this point to make the tour work, but it would actually work
better with three or four or even half a dozen more riders.
I
have also heard some folks speculate that others are afraid the
tour may be too hard. This is of course a relative assessment.
It
may be too hard for some riders, but it's no harder than the tour
we did last year, and probably quite a bit easier, and we had
several "moderate" riders on that trip who had a ball.
There
are longer and shorter options most days (unlike last year). The
average short day is 62 miles. Four out of the seven days are under
60 miles. The longest short route is 73 miles. Of course, you can
always sag any portion of any day, as the ride is fully supported
by sags. Day three is a loop route, returning to the same camp,
so if you need a day off, you can skip that ride and spend the day
by the pool. Finally, the last two days of the tour are probably
the easiest (unlike last year, where the final two days were the
hardest of the tour). In short, this tour is within the reach of
many riders of average ability and ambition. It's not hard core.
The
Gold Country Tour is flat out one of the most exciting, cycle-friendly,
fun tours this club will ever have occasion to do. The roads are
superb: for the most part beautifully paved but low on traffic and
very high on scenery...an absolute cycling paradise. If you're familiar
with the region, you know what a wealth of neat little backroads
they have. If you've never explored the area, you'll be amazed at
how great it is. (I was just up there last week, riding one of the
stages, and I came home so stoked about this trip...I want to go
tomorrow!)
The
campgrounds are all nice, and all but one have hot, free showers
(again: unlike last year), and the one that doesn't has a beautiful
cove on a mountain lake for swimming. Some of the camps have swimming
pools and one is on the American River.
And--bottom
line--you simply cannot beat the price: $235, which includes all
transport to and from Santa Rosa, almost all meals, and full support.
Where else can you do a week's vacation for anything close to that
price?
So
anyway...enough with the sales pitch! If you thought the tour was
full, think again. And perhaps you could spread the word to others
who aren't on this list. It really is a great opportunity to have
a dream cycling vacation.
One
more thing: you do not have to be an SRCC member to go.
If
you have any questions about it, please feel free to get in touch
with me.
--Bill
Oetinger srcc@ap.net
|