80 cargo biking miles in 2 days--Davis and Cyclofemme!

Loading up! They said 8:30 am--sharp! We got there at 8:33. Close enough. Note the three kids on my bike, we rode like this for 3 miles.

Saturday: Rode to Davis! I chose the Bullitt so our friend, Randy, could take his kids on the Mundo. The ride there was quick and pretty painless, even going across the causeway. I love this ride. It's not very pretty--lots of urban cycling through West Sacramento, stinky highway, noisy cars, and a recent obstacle of Caltran's takeover for a section of the trail. 

Helmet check!

Quick pit-stop at Practical Cycle.

No thanks, Caltrans...

Big Brother got squirrley around mile 18 and since we were on the bike trail, I decided to let him move around. It was rough for all of our bottoms and I didn't want him to be too uncomfortable. Little Brother loved cuddling with his big brother. 

My cute boys. Little Brother kept shoving Big Brother's head down and singing him to sleep.

Difficult to ride with him wiggling but we stayed upright.

When we reached the Farmers' Market, we were greeted by Chris and Jon from Cool Davis with strawberries, pastries, and ice cold water! We even got new tee shirts! It was awesome! 

Thanks, Cool Davis!

Plenty of delicious food, fresh fruits and veggies, and playground time followed and created some very exhausted children. It was getting really warm by afternoon--93 degrees. My boys were cozy in the Bullitt and Randy's son quickly passed out in the Peanut Shell. However, his daughter was sitting at the stoker bars and started looking pretty tired. She was resting her head on Randy's back and starting to doze when we decided that we needed to move her into a secure seat--the Bullitt. 

Yep, we had three kiddos in the Bullitt bucket. Little Brother was not happy to have been woken up but after some very loud singing and distractions, he realized that we were the party bike. Fifteen miles with a 120 pound cargo and a slight headwind. It was a good thing they were so cute or I might not have made it. The kids were quite squished but had fun. Everyone was really tired and uncomfortable.  

I love this photo!

Getting ready to reconfigure. This was the last bit of shade for about 10 miles.

Little Brother was not happy to have been woken up.

Now they're happy in the party bike!

Shade!!!

One more obstacle--couldn't ride the long way home because the bike path access was blocked off by trains for an event.

We made one last stop about 2 miles from home. The little ones were worn out and we didn't want to leave them with grumpy memories about our long adventure. So, we stopped at Suzy Burger for dipped ice creams. That revived everyone to last all the way to home where the sprinklers were waiting. 

Tired boy!

Happy boys!

Sunday: CycloFemme! Last year's CycloFemme wasn't quite what I was envisioning so this year, I enlisted the help of some awesome ladies. We planned a route that had two sections. The first was a bit easier and the second was more challenging but ended at the Sunflower Drive-In in Fair Oaks--13.1 miles total, each direction. We started with 28 riders, coffee, Doughbot Doughnuts (thank you!!!), and lots of bikes. 

I chose the Mundo because I like riding it unloaded better than the Bullitt. It was loaded down with doughnuts, coffee, and snacks.

Eliana and I rocked our CycloFemme tats.

Pre-ride fuel!

Check out this awesome group!

Look at my beautiful mama!

Tiniest munchkin on the ride, chilling in his seat like he owns the place.

Jen and her son, our Mundo buddies.

Gathering at the Guy West Bridge and getting to know each other.

They may be small but the put on some miles!

More Mundo-buddies!

Tatting up the kids early.

Our new friend Anna Marie.

There were some new-to-riding folks, some new-to-the-area folks, little ones on their own bikes, little ones on their parent's bike, and everyone was ready to ride! It was so wonderful to meet such great new friends and catch up with old friends. Everyone cruised at their own pace, ranging from speedy to strolling, whatever was comfortable and fun. 

The cutest mama-daughter biking team in matching floral dresses.

Our second stop was at William B. Pond. We lost a couple of riders, one due to a bee sting and another to a little bike crash (she's okay). The little ones on their own bikes headed back to meet back up in Fair Oaks while their mama giddily zipped back and forth along the bike trail, kid-free. There were cookies (made by my own mama!), fresh fruits (thanks, Randy, for hitting up the Farmers' Market before the ride!), and more coffee (I was begging folks to drink it up. Next year, we go with cold mimosas!). 

Victoria showing off her CycloFemme pride!

Sharyn and Jen's CycloFemme biceps!

Little guys taking a break.

Love the spandex-baby combo.

Quick picnic break in the shade at William B. Pond.

The next 7.9 miles had more rolling hills but we pushed on happily, again at differing comfortable speeds. The last half-mile of pure uphill made the ride even more satisfying and the Sunflower Drive-In even more delicious. 

Sharyn and kiddo made it up the hill!

Jen and kiddo, too!

Made it!

Lunch

Anna Marie and Rich--thanks for many of the great photos!

Resting up before heading back.

Mina and her little one.

Look at those CycloFemme calves!

The way home was a lot harder for me. It was hot again--95 degrees today and even though the ride had more downhill in this direction, we had a headwind again and long stretches of tree-less path. I think the two rides in a row got to me, too. My legs felt like goo. I made it back home in our little break-away group of Jen (kid-free now!), my sister-in-law Eliana, and our new bikey friend Mary. 

I am so grateful to be a part of this great biking community and to be constantly meeting new folks who are already in or just joining the biking fun. I'm already looking forward to start planning CycloFemme 2014 and bringing more people into it so Sacramento CycloFemme can continue to grow and evolve into something huge! 

The best Mother's Day I could have asked for!

And these guys are pretty awesome, too!