Many thanks to Jeff Sammons for providing context via email
updates to our Gold Rush 1200K last week. The cooler temps
made it a more enjoyable ride than 2005. I think our ride
strategy of sleeping in Adin, then subsequently Susanville
inbound worked out well.

As they only offer it every 4 years, the Davis Bike club
provides exemplary support for its riders, including
pleasant controls with well-stocked provisions. Hammer
Nutrition donated gels, electrolytes and drink mixes to
provision us between controls.

The Gold Rush was the first 1200K for Steve Philips and
Steve Gobey. Alan Gosart is one of a handful of people
who have rode it three times. It was Mary Crawley's first
Gold Rush, but our third 1200K ride together on a tandem.
Peter Lee's second 1200K. For most of the climbing
sections, Mary and I would ride alone, then ride with
Peter and Alan. We all came into the finish together
along with some other riders we'd picked up in Oraville
inbound to Davis.

Thanks to Bill Bryant's work on my dérailleur at the
Grasshopper water stop, Mary and I were able to climb up
the difficult Janesville grade (19-20%) without walking,
though we did have to walk *down* the steepest portion
to avoid overheating our rims. (In 2005, a tandem couple
had to bail due to this descent.)

I felt well-prepared on this ride, and fortunately packed
enough warm clothes for the cooler evening temps. The Adin
control ran out of cots, so we slept on the floor, but
that's a minor inconvenience for a randonneur.

Once past Oraville, the navigation was easier. It's a
marked course, but the markings are easy to miss at night.
We collected 9 bonus miles while outbound from Taylorsville,
the cue sheet stating "continue on Main Street", which my
naive state of mind interpreted as "continue on Main Street",
rather than "retrace your route backwards on Main Street." ;-)

Overall, we didn't have to worry about our control times.
Although we kept our non-sleep stops reasonably short, we
never felt compelled to push our pace. I think even if
you're a slower rider, you can finish this ride by keeping
your off-bike time to a minimum.

Many thanks to the Davis Club, riding companions (Alan,
Peter, Steve) and my stoker Mary Crawley for a fine 1200K
ride.

--
Jeff Bauer
Nashville, TN