Got there after a lot of the riders. It was a beautiful morning. Didn't take pictures for a while because I was busy greeting people and generally enjoying the scene. I had to explain several times I couldn't ride because that old knee injury was back and I needed to let my knee heal up before I could use it for much riding.

Virginia thanked everybody for coming out and made a few pre-ride announcements. Stuff like "Leave no trace.", "Cops like giving out tickets on Canada Road.", and "Be considerate of other users on the roads." She also explained that this year we would have three refreshment stops with food organized by Nancy.

Then we gathered for a group shot.

It wasn't long after that they started out on their 100 mile adventure.

My next job was to set up the regroup at mile 47ish. To do this Virginia had loaned me her new EV. It was my first extended driving experience in many, many years. I was nervous about the job. The trunk was already packed with goodies we'd picked up from Nancy before we'd gone to the start. All I had to do was drive it up there and sit with the food until they showed up.

To make a long story short, I got there no problem. It was a good spot, mostly shady. The other tables also had place keepers like myself to keep the squatters at bay.

I talked to the woman by the big batch of tables. She said she had a birthday party for 100 grade school kids coming.

Across that lawn there was the finish line festival for a benefit run of some sort. Didn't pay much attention to it once I figured out they weren't going to get in our way or anything like that.

Soon enough Eleni showed up. After that we got the stuff on the table. It wasn't too long after that the first riders started getting there.

These were the first riders that I remembered to take pictures of. Wagner showed up before I took my camera out. I quickly found out that I should have arranged the food on the table before they got there. It didn't matter much, they found the stuff they were looking for quickly enough.

Eddie and his brother stopped by to drop off the leftovers from the first regroup before getting on with their day. They said that several people had decided to turn around after getting there, so I didn't know how many more to wait for. They had nothing but good things to say about the experience.

By this time the riders were more about regrouping and resting up a bit before heading out.

As people showed up others left. It turned out to be a steady flow of gossip about what was going on out there. Somebody said that Katie had two flats and it had slowed her down a lot. Lots of people raved about how beautiful the route was.

Turned out that this was the good place for riders from the East Bay to join us for the second half of the route. Mimi and Cait appeared there, just waiting for Lloyd, whom they knew was coming to join in.

Nick had to find a place to charge his ebike before he could continue on. That meant showing up, looking on his phone for a bit and then leaving to plug it in. He was gone for a while before he came back and joined the regrouping. By this time about 40 minutes had passed since the first riders got there.

About then a large group, some of whom had been there a while decided it was time to head out.

The rumors were true. Katie really had been having an awful time with flats. It wasn't just the ones we knew about, there had been another one. Virginia was just tired. Doing all the prep work to make the ride happen had taken a toll. Plus she was the key organizer for her companies Bike To Work Day Energizer Station. Plus she had her day job to do. Plus she had stopped along the way to take pictures when the mood had struck her. It was according to plan for her that she was last to get there, maybe an hour after the big group had left.

After Virginia and Katie left all we had to do was clean up and put the left overs in the car. I was very happy the riders had taken a lot of water out of that big jug. It was by far the heaviest part of setting up. Then my only remaining task was to take the rest of it to the last regroup, where Nancy would take over. Thank you Eleni for all your help with that!

Two hours later, when I got there Cupkake and Nancy were chilling with this great spread in front of them. The curb almost outside the frame (bottom left) was a foot or so from where the ride was going by. Couldn't beat the spot or the food.

It took us longer than you'd think to get everything put away, so most of the riders were gone before I got there. After about fifteen minutes Katie got there, and then after she left they started consolidating the loads from eariler and making sure all the cold stuff was with the remaining ice and stuff like that. I took these pictures in the time when they were putting stuff away.

Maybe an hour after Katie left Virginia got there. By then a lot of stuff was put in the truck or car, depending on where it was going.

I talked Virginia into driving the rest of the way to the end. I wanted her to get there before everybody scattered to the wind. Besides, she is the one that likes driving, not me. The thought of more driving did not appeal to me.

Everyone was very happy with the route and all the regroups and everything else! There was a happy but tired buzz in the air.

People talked about this and that while waiting for food, eating, and drinking. Katie had gotten a flat with nobody else around, so there were no guys with tire irons. She had solved the problem by using her car key, but now that was severely bent. Turned out that having people at regroups was a great way to support riders for non riding significant others. By the time everything was said and done it was dark.

The stats: 32 riders participated and 6 volunteers were at the regroups. 25 riders were in the photo at the start, but then 7 joined en route - Patrick and Arturo on the tandem, Nick on his electric bike, Michael Tam, Mimi and Cait at RG2, and some other guy who said he planned to do only 65 miles. Two teenagers found Bike The Limits by searching on the web - one (Jason) did the 4th Test Ride and then brought his friend on the actual Bike The Limits.