OJY members Sharyl and myself decided middle of March to ride the much talked about Cinderella Classic ride April 10th. So many OJY women have done this ride since it's beginning years ago that we thought we needed this experience too. However, we had also heard how terrible the weather and temperature conditions were on many years. Three weeks before the event, weather looked like it could be fine and registraton was still open so we moved on it.
We arrived at the Pleasanton Fair Grounds at 6:30am to find we needed to stand in line for the 7am registration opening. We saw fellow OYJ Nancy, Susan and Felice. Nancy was off to do the 100-mile challenge. Felice joined us when we met again at the first rest stop.
We took off on a cold slightly windy 7:15ish time and rode out with many ladies all different ages. It was fun to see some moms and young daughters on tandems. Some ladies had feathers, tutus, tiaras and two very tall spin instructors had wild fairy costumes with wings.
Rest/food stops were frequent and spaced 11-17 miles apart so we stopped alot and bumped into many other OYJ ladies sporting our standout club jersey. I took pictures of as any as I could catch.
Approaching the Patterson Pass the wind gusts became significant. The 100 mile challenge group rode up Patterson pass and had a great tail wind. We, the metric century group, rode down the pass segment. The wind was a minor issue going thorugh the Livermore valley up to Tassajara Road, but I tucked in behind the previously mentioned fairies with the big wings and had a nice shelter.
The weather warmed up a little and I enjoyed the ride through unfamiliar areas and streets of San Ramon and Pleasanton and we returned to the fairgrounds in good time. There was more food and hot soup for us and vendors to check out. Our Kevin M was there demonstrating his auto pump valve and had a good audience attentively watching.
So, it was a fun and worthwhile experience doing the Cinerella Classic Ride put on by the Valley Spokemen Bicycle Club where the money earned is donated to many women's and childrens health and well-being organizations.
Now Sharyl and I too can tell newer OYJ ladies about this event for women and girls only!
More photos here.