May 4 - Old Sac and a couple of Churchs

We had a good night in this rather austere campground, and a relaxing morning.  The paved multi-use paths around this town are amazing.

We were able to sightsee, go shopping and go to Church this evening on our bicycle.  We haven't taken the motorcycle down so far this trip.  Part of our ride into Old Sacramento today was along the river.  Twenty-five years ago I made several trips to Sacramento for classes.  I used to walk/run down the river path into Old Sac.  The building on the river itself has really changed.  

This is a beautiful structure built to collect river water.

We spent some time imagining how large of a crane it would take to operate this ore scoop.

We cruised around the capitol and stopped to see the Peace Officer's Memorial.  This is one of the funds we contribute to every year with a check off on our state tax form.  The last name on the plaque below is Officer Tom Riggs and right about the middle is his brother-in-law Tim Ruopp.  Tom's mother sits behind me at Church frequently.  She lost both her son and son-in-law within six months in on-duty shootings.  Tim and Officer Kimberly Tonahill were killed the day I was promoted to sergeant.  Tom's death was the first officer death scene I worked.

Time for some reflection.

Our first Church of the day was downtown, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

Very ornate and very busy.  There was a high Mass going on when we first got there, so we checked out some other areas and came back.  Mass was getting out, but a wedding party seemed to be gathering.  So David snapped some pictures before the wedding guests were seated.

That Church was a bit intimidating for our casual attire.  We decided to attend another one that was only 4 miles away.   No problem finding a place to lock up the bike.  The grounds were encased in wrought iron.  Made me a bit nervous to leave the bike.  It seemed most of the yards had lots of security fencing.  But all was well.  People were friendly.  It did strike me odd that all the women who served at the Mass in every capacity were wearing dresses or skirts. 

Apparently one thing we need to pray for is no more flat tires.

We teased Pete (in Reedley) about having a flat tire when we were heading our for our first ride.  We used our spare tube to get him rolling, but it had the wrong valve stem for his wheels, so headed to the bike shop.  Pete bought a new tube and the boys installed it.  We said one reason we use this bike for riding in new and different areas was that we rarely if ever get a flat.  Should have kept my mouth shut; we only went another few miles and had our first flat of the trip.

Yesterday we finished our test ride on the full suspension bike and were ready to leave Ventana, but found our bike sitting there with a flat tire.  David got to demonstrate his mechanical prowess by changing a tube in the shop.

We were nineteen miles into our ride today, and we were traveling at at least the state maximum of 15 mph on the path, when BOOM.  We had a massive blow-out.  The tube split on the inside close to 18 inches.  No repairing this one.