Sutter Creek and the World's Best Pizza

Today's ride is definitely one I will do again and again.  Sutter Creek is a quaint little town in Amador county that still maintains a Gold Rush era feel. It took us a little more than an hour to get there from Stockton, which wasn't too bad. The plan for today (as the start of our 70.3 training) was to ride from Sutter Creek to Volcano.

James had given us the option of extending our ride by riding from Ione to Sutter Creek. However, after Anthony said that it would "make a man out of you," I knew that it wasn't the ride for me...especially given the fact that I plan on running 20 miles tomorrow.

I would have liked to stop and take some pictures along the way. Couldn't stop! I was peddling my butt off to try and catch Paul. If I managed to pull close, he would just ride away. I could see him off in the distance pedaling with such a smooth cadence. What the heck was I doing wrong?

He did wait up for me once when he passed a strange dude walking along the road. I took the guy for a serial killer. Who walks alone in hills wearing an overcoat and gloves? It had to be a serial killer. So I caught up with Paul, he made sure I was safe, and then he left me again. LOL

First to the top...the two new Shivs

After everyone made it up to Volcano, we turned around and headed down the mountain. I did much better on the descent than I usually do. Typically I ride my brakes but today I tried to ease up a bit and let gravity have it's way with me. There are some rough patches of asphalt along the way so I did slow down through those areas. I also slowed down when the grade got just a bit too steep.

Sutter Creek Ride by tpengilly at Garmin Connect - Details

Pizza, Pizza

After everyone made it back to Sutter Creek, we headed to Pizza Plus which was conveniently located next to where we were all parked.

Love our group! 

Half of our group ordered sandwiches. The other half ordered the most amazing pizza in the world. It was pretty funny to sit there while we devoured this pizza in between comments like "The is the best pizza I've ever had", "The crust is amazing", "Mmmmmm". I know the sandwich people were hating themselves.

Pizza envy!

According to my Garmin, I burned 1,402 calories...I'm pretty sure I ate more than that (that's what she said). Oh stop!

Watch Out for Hay Trucks

We got stuck behind a couple of hay trucks on the way home. The driver in front of us could not seem to control his truck and kept driving on to the shoulder of the road.  The worst part, that had everyone in our vehicle holding their breath, was when this idiot came up on a cyclist. Luckily he took a cue from the driver in front of him and moved over.