Day 3: Vallejo to Sacramento (Daniel)

Welcome to the day 3 blog! Today we woke up in Vallejo after our amazing boat ride last night and got to packing up and getting ready to go. However, just as we were about to depart, I spotted a flat tire on the van and we found the nail in the treads.

Luckily, the gracious host had a tire patch kit and a pump so we patched the tire and went to the nearest tire shop to get it checked out. The tire shop had popcorn which was a great snack in this stressful time and the drivers waited to get the car serviced while the rest of us began the ride. Today’s route was interesting, with two moderate climbs near the beginning and then a flatter ride the rest of the way. We powered through, and near the end of the climb we heard the tire was re-patched and the shop also checked the other tires for us, all for free! Soon after the climbs, we all met for lunch in Vacaville and finished off the sandwiches from yesterday. We talked about how nice it would be to be able to eat the grass we sat on, but also how it would probably be all gone if we could.

After lunch, we set out on the central valley, and got to practice our drafting abilities with the higher speeds. We stopped for some bike adjustments and Puja tried to catch dinner!

After a long series of flat roads and farms, we arrived at Davis, where we happened to find a fountain on the UC Davis campus and went in!! 

The fountain cooled us off and we stopped again at the van to fill our waters. Finally, we rode the causeway into Sacramento and took pictures at the capital. 

Post pictures, we went to the warmshowers, where the host made us chili, salad, and dessert! Now we are winding down and figuring out logistics for the next couple days of climbing…

Day 2: SF to Vallejo (Adam)

What an eventful day two. Lots of variety of every kind - people, topography… and weather! We started the day out in the Richmond District of SF, and as the famous Mark Twain once said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”. Carl the Fog was in full force and it was quite chilly as we were rolling out. Regardless, spirits were high in the city where the streets are paved with gold. I personally had a great time admiring the architecture near the Presidio - houses I could never afford, but love biking by regardless. 

As we approached Golden Gate, the ocean breeze (read as: extremely strong wind) whipped about. Matthew and I decided to take a slight detour to dip wheels in the Pacific Ocean. He wants to continue on to the Atlantic Ocean after DC, and I truly hope that he makes it there. 

The rest of the day of riding was relatively uneventful - a mix of rolling hills, random East Bay towns, and some pretty nice views of the bay. The real fun started when we rolled into our warm showers. Bruce and Gabs are quite possibly the coolest people I have ever met. They are both musicians and have such good insights into the music world. Gabs is a violinist, and Bruce is a trombonist. Both professional. And they met as a music festival! In Carmel! And they still go back every year! Crazy cool people. 

And, if that wasn’t already cool enough, they own a freaking sailboat. And before you ask - yes, we absolutely took a ride on the boat. It was quite majestic and the San Pablo Bay really lights up during sunset. Bruce is extremely knowledgeable about boats and the waterways around him, and he was very excited to give us a play by play as he adjusted the sails and steered the boat. 

After a great sailboat ride, we ended the night with some pizza and a violin solo from Gabs. I am simultaneously extremely happy and quite sad with the situation - on the one hand, this may have been the best host of our entire trip. On the other hand - it’s only day two. Regardless, I’m going to bed with a full belly and a head full of violin music. Not a bad way to end the day.

Day 1: Stanford to SF! (sasha)

Hi everyone!

This is Sasha reporting on our very FIRST day of SPOKES ‘25!!! Get ready for the first of many many blogs throughout this trip but I am so excited to be kicking off the start of this trip off!! 

After a series of many nights of planning, Zoom calls, and meeting in the Green Library every Monday night, we are finally ready to ascend. 

We first had to pack the van which took at least 5 hours on Monday night but led to very beautiful sunset pictures and Matthew standing on top of the van.

Coming to Tuesday, we initially planned a 12pm send-off but in true Spokes ‘25 fashion, we only left at 2:12pm but still had a strong start. Biking altogether, we biked as a group while Adam took the van! Starting in the treacherously hot weather and also the steep uphill climb of Sand Hills was no easy feat and proved quite difficult to the resident non-bikers! But nonetheless these non-experienced bikers (me) prevailed! Managing to finally reach a beautiful turquoise water called Crystal Springs Reservoir and we took a little pit-stop there. We had some electrolytes and snacks and then continued our bike journey.

We split up into two groups- me, Nancy, and Fenet and Puja, Daniel, and Matthew in the other group. Our group took this beautiful scenic trail from Crystal Springs to right near San Francisco and that was phenomenal. I highly enjoyed it. That’s of course when San Francisco hit- and then it was absolutely insane. I don’t know why I didn’t realize that the hills would be bad on a bike when I always thought it was bad in a car. There would be some hills that were straight uphills for ends on end and it was fine the first hill but then after 15 hills back to back, I was ready to have the van come pick me up. But! Again we prevailed! We made it through while Nancy lapped us multiple times, giving us very encouraging feedback throughout. 

My highlight was biking on the beachy boardwalk at OceanGate in SF where the sun was setting and the beautiful weather and everyone was out. It was then a 10 mile ride to Will’s house which was literally the perfect way to end the night. Shoutout to Will Yu and his incredible family for the amazing bento boxes and sushi they gave us for dinner as well as the incredible warm showers, sleeping arrangements, and home cooked breakfast they treated us to in the morning. Genuinely best way to end the first day and best way to start our trip!!