Velo Trip to Solvang, March 9, 2013

On March 8th, several members from Temecula Velo went on an adventure up to Solvang to participate in the century ride on March 9th. For some of the Velo members, it was our first overnight trip as a group. We arrived on the afternoon of March 8th and did a short 25 mile ride around the area. On that ride, we dropped three chains which prompted a rendition of Creed’s version of “Working on the Chain”. That evening we were treated to a wonderful pre-century ride meal of chicken breasts, salad and rice. The morning of the century ride was somewhat chilly and a bit breezy but overall perfect weather. We all started the ride around 7 a.m. and stayed together as a group for the first 20-30 miles. We soon broke off into a few smaller groups to maintain consistency for each respective members pace. Overall, the ride was great and produced some of the most spectacular views in California with rolling hills, lots of cows, ostrich, horses and some buffalo. Marie was the first to finish the ride (btw it was her first century) so a HUGE congratulations to her!!! Gina and Lilia took on the challenge of riding the whole century the day prior (they had previously decided to do the metric) and blew it out of the water! The post-century meal consisted of some tri-tip steak, pasta, mashed potatoes, cheese, salad and of course wine and beer! We played a game of Spoons and actually got in trouble for laughing too loud in the RV park….who gets in trouble for laughing too loud? The whole weekend was topped off by a wonderful pancake breakfast with bacon and eggs. Needless to say, the weekend was way too short but produced some great memories and forged some long-lasting friendships in the club. I would like to say a special thanks to Creed, George, John, Ed and Lilia for cooking some fabulous food and John and Gina Ruiz and Creed McPherson for providing some of the club members with accommodations in their RVs and of course to all of the Velo members that participated in the ride and provided a wonderful weekend for all!