Day 5

  
 
The Shortie
    
 

   

The Lompoc option Talking to other riders can give you invaluable tips. Our new East Coast friends have informed us that if you hang a right at the Lompoc sign 3 miles outside of camp, you'll hit a Denny's within a mile. By now, the intimidating hills on the route slip are old news to us and we feel like seasoned climbers as we blow over the peaks of Day 5's challenges. With an early start, we roll into Dennys around 11am and have big sandwiches, fries, and a shake. What a treat. We spend a good hour and a half lounging in our booth and chatting with our waitress before we finally return to the heat and our camp life.

Nap... Since downtown Lompoc doesn't have much else to offer, we ride on to camp. Climbing just a small hill is a completely different proposition with a Denny's sized lunch in your legs, but we manage the 4 miles to camp. Even with our little side trip to Lompoc, we are still pretty early and we are able to secure room under a big, shady tree for a long afternoon nap. Funny how you always seem to be able to sleep on the ride.

Who needs marble and chrome? Our showers may not be from the latest issue of Interior Designs, but the trucks prove to be quite adequate. 8-12 stalls in each truck with nice, warm water and a curtain for privacy. No complaints here! After getting cleaned up, we feel ready to conquer the world again, or at least conquer the dinner tent.


and here's Johnny! Litteraly. Our tent neighbor on the ride is Johnny from Washington D.C. He has done numerous rides before and was a really nice guy. We pick up pointers from him and compare daily experiences at the end of each day.
The entertainment of the night is a band called "Disco Inferno". The crowd goes crazy over their cover versions of all the disco classics. I don't think I have ever seen this many people do the YMCA. If you didn't know better, you would think that everyone had had a few drinks to many, but there is a no alcohol policy in the camp, so the partying comes from the heart. This is also the night where the "Top Ten reasons climbing a hill on the AIDSRide is better than having sex" list is revealed. If you haven't gotten your t-shirt yet, go to www.calteam.org. This is a must!