We need to be at the Cow Palace WHEN??

There will come a day when our clocks will sit silently on the nightstand and we may happily sleep in. That day is not today. Let’s see how our first day on the road is going to shake out.

The morning will start hideously early for most of us, since we have to be at the Cow Palace around 4:30am or so. The opening ceremonies will start at 6:00am, but this is not as easy as being dropped off at the airport so leave yourself a good cushion. Friends and ride services will be able to pull into the Cow Palace, but it will be slow. Sometimes it is best to just jump out outside the gate and roll your bag in. I hope you listened and got a bag with wheels.

First thing, make a beeline towards the line of trucks parked on the south side of the venue and find the one that corresponds to the letter on all of your chips. This is when you will meet your fabulous Gear Truck Roadies. These ridiculously hard working folks will take your bag and will likely remind you about your shoes. (See below in re: shoes.) Make sure you have all of your stuff for the day before you let go of that bag; helmet, bottles, gloves, shoes  wallet, sunscreen and computers. Carefully check that you have everything because once that bag disappears up the ramp you will not see it again until it magically appears this afternoon at Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz.

Pro tip: Again with the shoes. I cannot tell you how many people have worn their sneaks for the ride in the car to the Cow Palace and then forgotten to change before turning the bag over. This never ends well.

Next head inside, where you can find a light breakfast and a line for coffee that extends into northern San Mateo County. Try to get over to bike parking to set up and check your bike if you can. The doors to that area will be closed about 15 minutes prior to opening ceremonies and will not open until after.

There will likely be Water Monsters set up in Bike Parking if you need to fill up. These look like giant blue coolers on stilts with a bunch of spigots. and will also be at every rest stop and scattered around camp. There is an important safety protocol around these. Before using them, please remove your gloves and perform the two step cleansing of the hands ritual that you will learn about in the Orientation Video. There have been several dysentery outbreaks on past rides and it ain’t pretty. That’s all I have to say about that…

Opening ceremonies will have stretching exercises, the usual speeches where they will announce the total raised so far and a moving ritual with flag bearing riders escorting a riderless bicycle through the hall to remind us of those we have lost to HIV/AIDS. And then we will hear the words we have all been waiting for; “ALC 2024 is now officially open to the road.”

With those words we will be on our way. OK. We will be on our way to being on our way, at any rate. It takes a lot to move 2,000 bikes out of bike parking and onto Geneva Ave.

Getting out of the Cow Palace is decidedly not a fast procedure, but riding through the cheering throng is quite a nice way to get moving. Once on Geneva, it is going to be like morning rush hour for a while. Take it easy and enjoy riding with so many cool new people. We ride peloton style for this stretch, so take care and look before changing your line. It will thin out once we hit the coast. We will have a police escort for a while, but once we turn south on Skyline we will need to start singling up and behaving. Weather wise, this first stretch tends to start overcast, then get foggy and damp, and frequently opens up to sunshine. The second mile gets even weirder. This is NorCal after all.

This is probably the hilliest day of the ride, with no major climbs but a ton of rollers. Skyline Blvd. has some of the longest sustained ups, and in Pacifica we will be treated to a crazy descent down Sharp Park Road. It is fun but pretty technical, and like most really fun descents has a freaking stop sign at the very bottom.

The first rest stop will likely be crowded, but get used to stopping and grabbing a bite to eat. Eating regularly throughout the day is a key to surviving this thing. Plus, the Rest Stop Roadies make these fun with costumes and themes that are almost always inappropriate. At this stop you are likely to learn an important lesson about remembering where you parked. If they have rows marked with letters, take a pic. If not, make a note of how many rows you are from a visual marker like a tree or you will wind up wandering around looking for your bike. Trust me on this one. It has happened to every rider.

This is a good spot to talk about time management. The Rest Stops are fun, and there will usually be lines, but you don’t want to spend too much time faffing around. Always keep in mind the distance you have left to go in the day. Hit the Porta-Johns, wash your hands, get some food and re-fill your water bottles, take in the theme atmosphere and then mount up and be off. Make sure you are drinking enough on the road, too. If you aren’t peeing at every stop you may not be taking in enough fluid. (Clear and copious, baby!) Also, make sure you are getting a lot of electrolytes and salt.

The rest of Day One is gorgeous. From Pacifica we will hug the coastline all the way to Santa Cruz. One spot to be aware of is the short stretch as we roll south out of Pacifica, just past the world’s coolest Taco Bell. (Seriously.) We will be on PCH through a wooded area with little to no shoulder and major traffic. Be extra careful passing through here. Usually we veer off to the right to follow the old PCH along Devils Slide, but it lived up to its reputation last year by partially sliding into the Pacific, and we were forced to go through the new tunnel instead. Devils Slide is a favorite stretch with stunning vistas, but I’d be lying if I said traversing that tunnel was not major coolness.

Your first real meal stop will be at San Gregorio Beach. Picnic with an amazing view. And in addition to the lovely ocean vista, you will also be more than a little aware of the rather big hill waiting for you as soon as you leave lunch. Don’t panic. It isn’t really a bad one. Just gear down and get ‘er done.

One thing you will notice as the day progresses is that the Rest Stops get a little crazier and more intricately decorated. Keep in mind that these things have to be set up early. The first couple of Rest Stops don’t have anywhere near as much time to prepare as the late day ones. I snagged a one day walk on spot with Rest Stop 3 on ALC 10, and I had to meet the truck at Central Park in Gonzales at 6;30am. Rest Stop 4 is also known for their elaborate set ups. You actually have to audition for that team and somehow or another they even managed to score a Snow Cone machine that you will likely see on Day 4. Again, enjoy but don’t dawdle.

Pro tip: When you leave the last rest stop of the day, try to grab a Clif Bar or other snack to carry to camp. Eating within a half hour of the end of your ride helps with muscle recovery. A lot of the time the ride will have coolers with everyone’s favorite recovery drink, chocolate milk waiting for you at bike parking. Best. Idea. Ever. 

Some notes for arriving at camp:

When you arrive, you will be directed to a parking spot where you will be given between 1.5 and 3 seconds to hang your bike on a rack and get out of the way. Take your bottles, computers and what not, cover your saddle if you are doing that and head for the exit. Pro tip: At one end of the rack you will see a sign identifying your row. Your frame number will be scanned and the location uploaded to an app for you, but I take a picture of the row sign just in case.

Next, head for the camping area. I recommend that you locate your real estate first, then go get your bag and tent. Your row will be marked, but there can be several rows for your letter, and this way you won’t be dragging your bag looking for it. Only one campsite lays out in anything looking like a grid, and the campsites on Days 2 and 6 lay out more like a Jackson Pollock painting. The campsite at the end of Day 3 at the Mid State Fairgrounds in Paso Robles exists on it’s own multi-dimensional plane of chaos. At that one you may want to get your bag first. Just make sure you know which end of the fairgrounds or Pioneer Park your section is at. One year Row D was split into two parts on opposite ends of the park. (Don’t ask how I learned this.) Drop your helmet and stuff in your space and then head for the gear trucks. Less crap to carry and if your tent mate arrives in the meantime it is a good visual cue that you will be retrieving the tent. Saves time searching for it in the tent pile. You can always text, If you have signal. That’s a big if.

And now your home is built and it is time to trot off to the showers. Pro tip: Pack a small, lightweight bag like a musette that you can use to to carry stuff to the showers. Each evening before turning in, set that bag up for the next day so you can grab it and go once you are in camp the following day.

Next up: A bunch of helpful hints for the day to day of the ride.