What a day; battles on the road, stunning countryside, and a moment or two to ham it up!Today’s route took us from Jackson to Grass Valley, covering some of the most picturesque and challenging roads yet. The ride rolled out the first 5-miles of Day-2 before heading Northwest towards the high foothills. Along the way we were treated to a crossing of the Foresthill Bridge, which spans the North fork of the American River. This the highest bridge in California, third highest in the country and the seventh in the world. At 730 feet, this thing is TALL!
When we first looked at the route map, it seemed that the bridge was built to avoid the descent and climb out of the gorge. After yesterday, everyone was glad for that. Of course this was not going to be the case; while it does span a large section of the gorge, it still required a screaming descent of 1300 feet, followed immediately by a long slog up the other side – then we got to cross the bridge. This was obviously some engineer’s idea of a great joke, let’s send the poor sods into the Pit of Despair and see how they do!
As always, the day began with the Black Jersey presentation – this was a tough one – throughout the group, everyone had an epic day, everyone rode at his limit, but not everyone could get the jersey. So we had to look for something special, and in this we found Jerry Cook. Jerry had a less than desirable first two days of his maiden ToP: on Day-1 he broke his rear wheel – now this happens, after all, it’s a machine, and machines break. No problem, he was able to borrow a spare wheel.
Off he went on the monster Day-2 ride. Six times, he made wrong turns, sending him over hill and dale; six times he added miles and elevation gain; six times he could have thrown in the towel. To add insult to injury, at some point he managed to break the borrowed wheel as well. Finally making it back to the hotel, he got a third wheel from Matty-Matt and set back out on the route to do the final lap – alone, in the wind, and with no support vehicle. So for his never-say-die ride, Jerry is our Day-2 winner.
Today marked the middle stage of the ride; with only two more days to go, the boys from NorCal/Pacific Northwest, Nate; the brother’s Armbruster, Mike and Tom; and the ever-young Scott Duncan hatched a plan. Only a mile into the day, they leaped off the back of the group and made a dash for freedom.
It was like a freight train heading up the side of the group and off the front. Zach, who has been edging closer to the coveted Yellow Jersey hesitated thinking they were just messing around, after all, there were still 88 miles and thousand’s of feet of climbing to go. But after the fifth or sixth shout to him to chase, he finally headed out. Young and strong, as fast as the NorCal guys were going they weren’t going as fast as he was. Within what seemed like a blink he had closed the considerable gap and joined the breakaway. For the rest of the riders, it was sweet scene to see the small group rocket away – now they could sit back and enjoy the day.
Five to Six hours after setting out from Jackson, we arrived in Grass Valley – WHAT A COOL TOWN! The town is filled with extremely nice people; some fantastic restaurants; and nice historic downtown to wander through. Of course, no one seemed to have much gumption for sightseeing. So instead it was check-in and stagger off to rooms for much-deserved showers.
One of the great treats of the ToP is that we get to eat as much as we can consume. A day like today will burn 6,000 to 8,000 calories, which is nearly impossible to get back down. This means that as soon as we reach the hotel, get a little cleaned up, it’s off for the first seating. Three or four hours later, it’s off on the hunt again. Tonight, that included a stop to see Bob and his awesome crew of Alex and Vickie, of Gold Rush - Burgers, BBQ and Ice Cream Parlor, who opened up after hours for a large group of us on the search for milkshakes and Hobbit Dinner. Smoked burgers, never had them before, and BOY have I been missing out.
Finally, I need to call out another birthday, Jeff Theders. With the pace and pain of this year’s trip, there were no gifts for Jeff this year – but wish him happy one all the same.
Jackson to Grass Valley
- 90.7 miles, 276.6 total
- 7,749 ft of climbing, 21.091 total
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