Groveland to Oakdale

'i think we spent more time in the bar than on the bike today' said Ferdy just as I write the blog at the House of Beef in Oakdale, complete with own butchery. the waitress wants to order a yellow jersey as it has 'Oakdale' on the front.
We woke early at the RV park and then had to ride to Groveland proper for breakfast. First a flock of turkeys came through








After breakfast we had a 3000ft descend on highway 120 which finished beside Lake Pedro. Even after the rest day our legs still felt less than 100 per cent especially with the long descent not allowing a warm up. As the weather was to get to 34C today We decided to stick to hwy 120 and make it a quick sprint to Oakdale of 76 km to avoid the heat. It would also allow us to have a relaxing swim and do our washing.
This is Hwy 120 which had good shoulder all the way and mostly a tail wind.




Then we had a big hill climb where Rocket took off in a bold attempt to win the stage. Seen here preparing himself by the lake before the climb.




Here is the road on the way to Oakdale where I started to run out of water, note how dry the grass is, it doesn't rain for 3 months. About here I ran into a young guy on a bmx who was riding past Oakdale but had run out of water too. I gave him half of what I had left and when I caught up to the van we left two bottles of water and a banana with a note. I hope he got it.








M2 won the stage to Oakdale while the Kom points were worth lots and bonus points helped to put rocket into yellow and M2 now has 'red'.
Points are bunching up as we get to the business end of the Tour.
Rocket. 427
Ferdy 419
Wighty 412
Goose 400
Pedals 395
M2 348
As we had some spare time we paid a visit to the Cow Track which was a nice authentic bar (like in mo's in the simpsons)and then to the western outfitters for some hattage.




Thats all cow pokes tomorrow we head for dinner at Al the Wops near Rio Vista and we may also do some cycling.
Ps thanks to pedals for making a really nice tuna avocado tomato sandwich on italian bread.
posted by pw from ipad