Ryde Hotel, Ryde, CA

I'm on a weeklong bike ride across the state of california and it's day two. Yesterday was 75 hot miles and I melted down at mile 60. It was noon, in the 90s and my head was pounding even after six bottles of water, electrolytes and rice krispy squares. Guess my weeks of steadfastedly conserving my energy for this week didn't quite work. I had no qualms about flashing the thumbs down sign as the SAG van passed me and circled back. I was signed up to massage a half dozen fellow riders after we all finished so hey, I was conserving energy. We rolled into the town of Jackson and up to the little mission there that was going to house 100 plus salty sweaty cyclists. Popped more salt pills, changed into swimsuit and crept into the cool water. Ahhhh, smart decision! Too soon it was time to rub down weary legs so i left the pool and re-entered the massage scene. Really enjoyed it. Today I opted to just do the last half of the ride and so left with Susan The Campground Goddess to pedal to Ryde. It's cooler today with a stiff warm breeze so our little 30ish mile ride went by quickly. It's crazy flat out here in the middle of the state. The oleander are bursting forth with white, red or pink towers of flowers by the side of the road. Verdant green vineyards displaying row up on row of tender grapes growing under the summer sun. The last few miles of the ride in wind along the top of a levee - a lovely oasis of life in this parched part of the state. That might help me live here but we are still too far from the ocean for me. oops, riders arriving, time to work soon....