Sponsored by the Davis Bike Club, Foxy's Fall Century is a popular ride, and sells out early every year. Routes of 40, 68 and 106 miles all begin in Davis.
I, proudly wearing my OYJ jersey, chose the century route, which winds through at least three counties (Napa, Yolo and Solano) on low-traffic, scenic roads. The century has 4 rest stops, although I skipped the first one, which saved a few miles. I finished the ride with 97 miles on my cyclometer.
As I waited for registration to open a 6:45, a man and woman came up and stood in the line behind me. She was wearing a white jersey, a white athletic skirt, and a veil on her helmet. He was wearing a tuxedo-patterned jersey. My first thought was to wonder whether Foxy's was going to get like Cinderella, except with men dressed up, too.
But as people began to greet them I learned that they were going to be married that day at 1:00, at the 81-mile rest stop, and we were all invited. (Mile 81 at 1:00!? Needless to say, I missed the ceremony).
They rode to the ceremony on single bikes, and were going to leave on a tandem. I heard her say that they had met on the Foxy's ride in 2008. Someone said that he owns a bike shop and she's a spin instructor; her first name may be Charlene. Does anyone know them?
The first 30 miles were quite flat, heading south and west. There are some moderate hills and a whole lot of countryside until the lunch stop at mile 61, which is where the hills start. The big climb is usually considered to be "Cardiac Hill", at about mile 73. But I didn't think it was bad at all—2-3 miles of 5-8% (I'm estimating) with a flat spot in the middle.
For my money, the hard climbing came right after lunch, with a series of about 3 shorter but steeper (9-10%) winding hills. They were hot and slow, and we were surrounded by annoying insects. A couple of years ago, riding up Calaveras, I wrote this haiku:
Up the hill on my bicycle
So slowly,
Flies are landing on me.
After Cardiac Hill the route leads to the dam at Lake Berryessa, then to a rest stop at Lake Solano. On the last leg I joined up with a guy and we traded pulls back to town. What a great way to end the ride! We did the last 15 miles at the (for me) blazing speed of almost 17 mph. The ride ends with a big meal in Davis.
What was good: beautiful day with little wind, very pretty country, lots of sags, flushing porta-potty at the lunch stop!
What was not so good: food was sketchy and not very tasty, long lunch lines. I needed my extra Clif Bars and Gatorade and the can of Monster I bought just before Lake Solano.
I will definitely do this ride again.