We awoke to wind and rain, and a fast-moving hailstorm had everyone hanging their heads…what, another day of getting wet? But the prospect of climbing the Cat 1 climb of Sierra Rd and heading on past Lake Casitas had everyone amped up, weather be damned! A break in the weather came through just as the group rolled out. Maybe we are finally doing something right?
The climb up Sierra Mtn Road hit us early…a mere five miles into the ride, the hill kicks up and starts hacking away at your confidence. Almost everyone made it up to the top of the 5k, Category 1 climb. Only one casualty — a snapped chain — held one person back. The rest of us took a ton of pictures at the top and then turned our attention to the descent.
This was a great drop, with most of the next 20 miles being rolling to downhill. We flew down here and along the way met up with 8 folks from the NorCal Endurance Nation sleeper cell. Many thanks to you guys for showing up to escort us down the mountain, around the highway and into Livermore proper. A detour was required b/c part of yesterday’s course had the peloton riding on a freeway — the wrong way. Can’t do that on a bike! 
Once into Livermore we learned that the breakaway and then pro peloton was only 15 and 20 minutes behind us respectively. Our late start plus the detour meant that we simply could not stay away. We flipped it, hit the van for starbux and cookies and returned to the course in time to watch both groups, the motorcade, and the helicopters go ripping on by.
Due to their 12pm later start, the peloton hit some more rain than us and really looked miserable. Sun on the menu for Wednesday…so excited!
Please continue to follow our progress on our blog, via Twitter, and our SmugMug album. Some sun and fun in our pics tomorrow!
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