Birthday Fun! 48 miles + 17 yesterday

Group ride to Davis!

Today is my birthday! Yay! I had an awesome ride planned to Davis for tamales and milkshakes. However, my favorite boss in the world scheduled a teacher training in Fairfield the same day. It's a good thing that she's my favorite boss in the world or else I would have been pretty bummed. She's so awesome that she let me come in late just so I could get my birthday ride in (she actually said I didn't even have to come but she's my favorite boss in the world so how could I refuse). Somehow, I managed to work it all out so I got to do both and, with a little help from Amtrak, turned it into a fantastic ride and work trip. 

One of my biking goals is to figure out how to do more of my work miles by bike. I've got my event trips down pretty well by bike now and I'm a pro at doing all my personal travel, errands, and family stuff out of the car but when it comes to my work miles, I usually can't show up super sweaty to a home visit or oftentimes, my meetings are at inopportune times--like late in the evening and/or too far to safely ride. These are basically the only times I am in the car these days. It's a huge reduction of mileage but I'd still like to be able to find an alternative for these last trips. 

Today's ride started by meeting up with my parents and a few riders from their 350 Sacramento bike team. It was a great group of enthusiastic, fun people. We took the bike trail into Old Town, adding a few extra miles to the day, pulled up in front of Practical Cycle just as Tim and Cassidy were opening up shop so we got a chance to chat. My brake cable is stretching out again and I casually mentioned that to Tim (who later called me up and told me to get my bike in before my brakes bottom out again). How awesome is it to have a Local Bike Shop that cares enough to track you down and keep you safe? I am so grateful to have Tim and Cassidy looking out for our well-being! We then ventured over the Causeway. It's incredibly noisy but safe and pretty to look at (at least the North side is). 

That's why they call it a Mixte. Jose makes it look good!

I love my Mundo!

Once we got into Davis, we parked our bikes among the hundreds of others at the Farmer's Market and Bike Hall of Fame building. Davis has an amazing history of being bike-friendly. I believe it actually has the first bike lanes ever made in the USA! My parents remember a time when there were more bikes than cars and, unfortunately, that has changed drastically. Thankfully, however, it still has a great biking infrastructure and the sheer number of riders on the streets make biking pretty comfortable. 

Davis bike parking at the Biking Hall of Fame.

Bikes as far as my eyeballs could see. I love it!

Farmer's Market tamales are a tradition that go back to my childhood so we made sure to indulge there. Big Brother drank too much apple juice (also a tradition) which then all came back up while I was squeezing him (not a tradition and luckily I had packed extra shirts). 

My next half of the adventure took me to the Davis Amtrak station where Jose and I traded bikes. He got to rock the Mundo full of kiddos and I got my bachelorette bike--the Linus (I love the fact that we can swap bikes back and forth between the two of us without any change! Jose tends to ride fast, uncomfortable bikes but I know he secretly loves the luxury Mundo ride). 

Amtrak does not have the capability to allow cargo bikes onto their trains. The Capitol Corridor train actually has bike rakes in its cars but nothing for a bike that doesn't fit those dimensions. That leaves a huge group of folks without the means to travel with bikes. It is quite disappointing and can hopefully be rectified soon. Transportland does a beautiful job of explaining the situation. 

One stop later, I hopped of the train with my Linus and directions to the hotel for the training. Three different attempts and I was finally in the right direction. Riding in Fairfield was not very pretty. I know they have a bike trail but I didn't have the time to attempt to find it and I was afraid of getting more lost than I already was. That's an adventure for another day. 

Teeny tiny space for teeny tiny bikes.

I won't bore you with the details of my training but will say that it was fantastic and I'm glad I made it. There was even cake involved (did I mention that I have the best boss in the world?). I was able to catch up with some of my favorite people and meet with my team of teachers for our summer exchange program. Afterwards, I carefully remapped my route back to the station, found my way, and was there within 15 minutes. Much easier, although Google's biking map took me on Highway 12's overpass and that was a little creepy. There was a decent shoulder for most of it but it was not very comfortable or clean, and I know there were better ways to go (I had gone on them on the way there but didn't want to get myself lost again). Google's biking maps should certainly not be taken as the "best" route. I have often found them to be lacking and misleading. The are a good suggestion but definitely not always the safest, quietest, or greatest. 

Have you ever seen so many pretty bikes?

Lots of super pretty bikes on the way home! I think I even recognized one as Rick Houston's. Since there was plenty of daylight left and I wanted to still get my milkshake, I got off at Davis again and rode to REDRUM Burger, formally MURDER Burger. They have the best milkshakes, ever! The entire bottom third of the cup ends up being left over whirled up candy from the shake. Yum yum!!! Into the cup holder it went and down the road Reese's Milkshake and I went. The tailwind gods were very kind to us and we zipped back over the Causeway, through West Sac and was greeted by the Tower Bridge, lit up in its golden glory by the setting sun. 

Quiet bike trail with milkshake locked and loaded (and mostly eaten by then).

Photo doesn't do it justice but a welcome sight for sure!

Then, as an added bonus to top of an already awesome day, Cassidy from Practical Cycle showed up as I passed Old Town. He was on his way to a friend's house near us so we got a chance to visit for the last couple of miles home. 

Super great birthday, indeed!