"Hey, you want to do this ride?"

Says Andre. "I don't want to do it without my people.  Um. . . sure.  I'm game.
Keep in mind, Andre is the mastermind behind the 2011.5 party.  How could I say no?

He did not mention, however, that the ride was ALL uphill.  Both ways.  In the fog and mist and whatnot.  No, actually, it was foggy and misty and wet and SO SO hilly.  BUT -- fun and a great opportunity to train, work hard, and find a sense of accomplishment.
We camped for two nights at the KOA in Petaluma.  Which means, after riding for several hours, we could come back and splash around in the pool.  Sadly, the food was not made with gluten free vegetarians in mind, but I had lots of bars and fruit in my pockets.

Only trick was I had to join Team Kaiser for the weekend! 

I didn't take a ton of photos, but here are a few.  So -- what do you say?  3 days of uphill riding next September?  Maybe you could be on Team Kaiser too!

Bonus: André takes off his shirt after riding.  Everybody wins.

Top of the legendary "Marshall Wall" -- that smile was only for the camera, I assure you.

Finishing strong on the Second Day.  Loving those Kaiser jerseys so much, we just didn't take them off.

I kinda sorta lost it on this day -- we got to a hill and I stopped at the bottom and declared I was not climbing one more #$%(% hill.  André went on ahead.  The people who passed me as I was throwing my fit informed André when they saw him at the top that I was okay, just "collecting myself."  I think there's a euphemism in there.
I felt a little better when André kinda sorta lost it on the following day -- when they had us go up and over Sonoma Mountain, turn around, and go up and over it again.  

NCAC infiltrates ETBT!  André, Larry and Val Belnap, and yours truly. 

André is already scheming for next year.  I can see it in his eyes.