The Birds and the Bees (and the Bikes)

I read all the ride reports that I could find from the 2005 Gold Rush Randonnee, which was held at the end of July. I also talked with a few riders who completed that ride. All of them remember vividly the brutal heat. It was scorching hot, over 100F, in the Central Valley between Davis and Oroville, but it was hot even at altitude through the rest of the ride. The climb to Antelope pass and the ride to Susanville were especially tough because of the heat.

In 2001 the ride was held in early July, and the weather was hot in the valley and reasonable at altitude, with occasional showers and thunderstorms.

I looked at a couple of weather web sites for historical weather patterns. Looks like Davis, Oroville and Alturas have airports that collect weather data, and the other control locations don’t. This means that if you search for Susanville or Adin, you actually get the Alturas data. Which may be OK, since they are all in the high altitude desert part of the sierras.

For July 6 through 10, Davis typical high/low temperature is 92/58 and Oroville 92/61 (no surprise, and no significant difference here). For Alturas, the typical temperature is 87/44. So the high is a few degrees lower than on the valley floow, but not enough to make a big difference. If it is hot at the start, it will be almost as hot during the day all through the ride. The low temperature (which is usually right before sunrise) is quite a bit lower in the high desert. Again, not surprising, but it may be worth having an extra layer with us for riding at night and in the early morning hours.

So what is it going to be like this year? Chances are, scorching hot in the central valley, fairly hot during the day on the rest of the route, and pretty cold at night and in the early morning. Sounds like 2001 had fairly typical weather, while 2005 was warmer than normal. I am hoping for a return of typical weather for this year.