My Cycling Vacation....

You know you’re among friends when the wireless router is named RUSAHQ and the Honda in the garage – the one with the RUSA 7♥8 license plate – shares space with an assortment of bikes, shop tools and a framebuilder’s jig.

I’m in Santa Cruz, counting down the hours to the start of a 1000K on Thursday. Bill and Lois, the ride organizers, invited me to spend a couple nights in their home, and that is my good fortune. Lois, an ancienne with five PBPs to her credit, currently serves as RUSA’s president, and Bill has held that title in the past and is also the recipient of the American Randonneur Award. Both were instrumental in helping the fledgling organization get up and running. Impressive credentials indeed!

Bill and Lois have decades of cycling and randonneuring experience, and we are having a fine time talking shop, and looking at cases of PBP medals and bike parts and trophies that RUSA the organization has amassed over the years. The living room walls are decorated with framed prints of Eddy Merckx in his glory days. Out in the garage, we go over the details of a Bill Bryant frame, set up for distance riding, examine a line-up of classic Phil Wood hubs, and debate the merits of classic lighting systems versus today’s LED offerings.

As I wait for my Coho to arrive via FedEx, I check Google maps and find I’m less than two miles from the Santa Cruz surf museum. Ah... My cycling vacation has begun…