I finally made it to the TdF!

Ever since I was a wee lad, I've wanted to ride in the Tour de France. Well, not exactly. More like "since I was old enough to be someone's grandfather, but still in posession of my childish energy and abandon" And I've never wanted to ride in the Tour because that would hurt a great deal.

So it's quite fortunate for me that the Tour de Foothills has the same initials as le Tour.

Lots of tandems today!

Le Foothills, that I was touring today, ranged from Irwindale to Fontana. The ride also included some nice climbs in the San Jose Hills. The other riders were some excellent people. I chatted with quite a few, because what else are you going to do on a bike for seven hours? The volunteers were very supportive, telling us "You're doing great; keep it up," etc. One guy at Fontana Park (about the 85 miles mark) was walking through the riders asking if he could take our banana peels and empty bottles. Can't say I blame him. We probably didn't look like we could make it to the trash cans by ourselves at that point in the ride.

Oh that reminds me. The one negative thing I can think of was the wind. Out in Fontana it can get bad, and today was the worst I have ever seen it. I would easily trade a couple extra reps up Mt Baldy Rd for the stretch to Lytle Creek Rd and Sierra Ave. I was going slower on flat ground than I had on the "tough climb" of the course! Even worse were the gusts that blew me sideways.

That was all Mother Nature's doing. If I were making the route, I would have included that wretched section, myself. It's a classic stretch for cycling. It's just the weather that ruined it. In fact, the whole route was classic. As I rode along Baseline to Mills and up Mt Baldy Rd with some new friend from the westside, I felt a local pride. As if I were showing him the best riding we have in my town. And in an indirect way, I was.

Maybe a massage will help...

This year was the first time the organizers included a full century. Other routes were the metric century and the metric half century. I couldn't go the whole day without cracking wise about the riders doing "just" 31 miles. But that's simply because I was afraid they'd eat all the food before I got a chance to finish. My fears were unfounded.