[GRRiders] Re: Water

[Bill Bryant]

About water for the first leg from Davis to Oroville on the GRR, you'll find
the town of Gridley has a few late-night services available. It is
well-placed at about mile 80 or so. Topping off the bottles (and getting a
hit of caffeinated drinks) at the 7-11 store was a popular tactic in 2001.

Personally, I'm not much into Camelbaks and randonneuring for the reasons
folks cite (extra weight on the back, trouble with clothing layers, etc)--
but GRR is definitely a ride I would use one on. Keeping up on hydration
will be essential to finishing the GRR-- better safe than sorry, IMHO. I
think a Camelbak with iced water could make a beneficial difference in
several empty stretches during the daytime. That could leave the frame
bottles for drinks w/ calories & electrolytes. (I would also use some of
those insulated frame bottles, not regular bottles.) Doing everything
possible to keep one's beverages cool will be a good thing at the GRR.
(Avoiding sunburn with sunscreen and a helmet visor will be smart ideas
too.)

I think some of the faster guys/gals probably would do fine w/o a Camelbak
since their time between towns and controls is fairly short, but for middle
of the pack, or back of the pack folks, I would sure want them to start with
a Camelbak. And if they find it unnecessary, they can always send it back to
Davis in a drop bag. Or give it to me and I'll drive it back. Lois and I
will be (wo-)manning the lonely water stop at Eagle Lake (miles 280 & 480),
so you can scold me for me there for being too cautious about hydration and
the GRR.   ;-)

Bill Bryant





> Thanks Joe!
> 
> This is great news. Having a water stop at mile 50 eliminates the need to
> have a tanker truck follow me out of Davis. I thought it was kind of
> bizarre that the GRR would have a greater distance (an impossible distance
> for mere mortals like me not going 20+ mph as the mutants do) to the first
> water stop than PBP - and all without the hundreds of villagers out at
> night with snacks and water refills.
> 
> 50 miles to the first water stop is now very reasonable and lets people use
> a more normal water supply -- IE 2-3 bottles or a smaller Camelbak and a
> bottle, etc. I got used to using a Camelbak for PBP 2003 but still hated it
> -- and given the availability of water from people along the route it was
> not really necessary.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> 
> Joel Voelz
> 
> At 01:24 PM 4/13/2005 -0700, Joe GoldRush wrote:
>> Hi Mike and others.
>> This is Joe!
>> 
>> I'm glad to see the conversations picking up on the list.  It's a good
>> place to discuss all the experiences and ideas surrounding the GRR.
>> 
>> In 2001 we knew that the distance between Davis and Oroville would be too
>> great without a source of water and snacks, especially given the
>> temperature for the first hour of the ride.
>> For that reason we put in an unannounced water stop along the route just
>> as it left the river at about mile 50.
>> This year the route sheet will show this as a "Water Stop" as we've
>> decided it was a good idea and we should allow people to plan their water
>> capacities accordingly.
>> Just a note however, the group was fairly large still at the 50 mile mark
>> and some of those who took advantage of the water stop were glad to have
>> an excuse not to ride so hard.  Calmer groups formed and good times were
>> had by all!
>> -Joe
>>  At 11:43 AM 4/13/05 -0700, Mike Sturgill wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>> 
>>> I was wondering if there are any locations between Davis and Oroville in
>>> which riders can reasonably expect to get water? Food should be easy
>>> enough to carry for that distance, but water may not be. Since I don't
>>> know if the routes are the same both outbound and inbound, the same
>>> question applies to both directions.
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> -Mike
>> 
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> 
> Joel Voelz
> PBP Ancien 2003
> Business Jedi and Cyclist
> jvoelz at pobox.com
> -----  _~O
>    --- .\ <;
>      (*)-/-(*)
> 
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