Re: Cycling

  Western States Ride Calendar (thanks, Big Brothers!)
 2009 Cycling   2008 and Older Cycling

Camino Real Double

Sunday,  02/21/10  09:58 AM

Yesterday I rode the Camino Real Double, my first of the year (first of the decade!)  I had a good ride; although it started a little rainy and was coldish and windyish all day, it was on the whole pretty pleasant.  I spent a good part of the ride alone, and finished in 13:43 elapsed time, ended up 30th out of 170 riders, not too shabby...  I am quite pleased with myself. Some pictures: Sunlight off the water, passing through San Onofre The beauty of the Camp Pendleton wilderness adjacent to the ocean at the 150 mile mark, still able to smile then the climbing began, and then it got dark During this ride I ate hardly anything, instead I ate as much as possible beforehand, and drank Hammer constantly.  It seemed to work.  Near the end I got some string cheese and at the last stop they had soup and chili...  that was pretty nice.  The memorable part of this ride is always the last leg through Santiago Canyon in the dark, surrounded only by cactus while you are only a few miles from the urban sprawl of Orange County. Next up is the Solvang Spring Century on 3/13, despite being a mere Century I always seem to bonk.  Stay tuned!

 

Palomar in snow

Sunday,  01/24/10  11:23 AM

Today I made my annual pilgrimage to the top of Mount Palomar, accompanied by my British colleague and friend Peter.  We start at Lake Henshaw, ride about 10 miles along the base of the mountain, then ascend the South Grade, 8 miles at 8%.  (Yee haw!)  Visit Mother's, visit the observatory, and then descend the East Grade, 13 miles at 5%, for a nice little 40 mile ride with about 4,000' of climbing.  This year's incarnation was made more interesting by the fact that Palomar is presently shrouded in snow (!), and in fact we were unable to go all the way to the observatory because the roads were closed.  We also shared the day with hundreds of families who thought to take their kids to the snow.  And yes, it was a bit nippy at times, but all in all it was a great day.  Anecdote of the day: Peter rented a [nice] Cervelo from Nytro in Encinitas, which happened to have a 36x25 as its low gear.  We're climbing, and he says he wishes he had a 27, and I said yeah I have a 27, wish I could give it to you, since I'm not using it.  (What I didn't tell him, I didn't use my 25 either; did the whole climb in my 23.) Some pictures: on a clear day you can see for miles and miles and miles and... yes this is a real climb, an epic climb, Lance even said so :) self-portrait, top of Palomar in the background (going around a switchback) relaxing in the "front yard" at Mother's the back yard was filled with white stuff surreal scene descending the East Grade, Californian winter wonderland

 

Riding the Stagecoach (Century)

Saturday,  01/16/10  07:38 PM

Man, today was a  l o n g  day...  got up at 0400, drove from Carlsbad to Ocotillo, rode the Stagecoach Century (more about that below), drove from Ocotillo to Westlake (took approximately forever), and now I'm blogging.  Whew.  And tomorrow I'm driving down to San Diego to watch the Chargers beat the Jets!  And driving back.  And Monday, back to Vista... But about the Stagecoach Century - well, I did it last year, and it was much the same, and actually I did it slightly faster, 5:22 riding time.  It's a nice out and back - on the way out, you're somewhat climbing, so you know once you make the turn "it's all downhill coming back".  It isn't really but it's a nice mental image.  The skies were threatening but no rain fell, and the wind was moderate, and overall it was a great day.  I am hobbling around but feeling great. I have to relate a little story; on these rides it is all about pacing with other riders, and at 75 miles I was with one other guy and he was blown.  So I went into a rest stop for water, but really to pick up some riders.  No good, nobody there.  Just as I'm getting back on my bike, a paceline of four riders blazes by.  I realize if I can power for a few minutes and catch them, I'm set.  So I ride as hard as I can but it's no good, one rider against four and I can't catch them.  Suddenly they hit a little climb and slow down, and I'm able to hook on.... and I can see they're four women, riding as team.  (The Stagecoach has team racing as well as individuals.)  They're all strong and working well and we're blasting through the desert at 30mph.  I go to the front to take my turn, and the lead rider says she can't hook on, as a team they're not allowed to have any help.  I can draft, but I can't pull!  So for the next fifteen miles I rode caboose on the paceline, being towed along by four women.  How excellent is that? A few pictures, of course... the desolate beauty of the desert is ever-present on this ride turnaround point - 50 miles down, 50 to go this guy is going to stamp my hand to prove I made it so far so good, still able to smile knowing there was more climbing in the first half than the second helps the final approach to the checkpoint, check out that sky! (click to enbiggen) my paceline from mile 75 to mile 90 they let me draft, but I was not allowed to pull so be it self portrait riding through the finish 5:22, yay Well it was a great day, even if it was a little long...  onward!

 

first ultra of the decade

Saturday,  01/02/10  08:49 PM

Today I rode my first "ultra" of the decade, the PCH Rando 200K.  I've done this ride in previous years, too, but this year they added some serious climbing; a total of 5,700' spread over 127 miles.  Yikes.  It was great fun.  I managed to do it in 8:00 elapsed, 7:20 riding time, which is pretty good for that much climbing.  Out of 70+ riders, I think I ended up fifth, yay me.  I am completely blown and hobbling around the house, but very happy.  There is no feeling quite like successfully riding an ultra... the "teeth" at the 55 mile mark are the climb around Lake Castaic routemap courtesy of the awesome ridewithgps.com (note automatically generated profile) a little excitement at 70 miles (Carpinteria), broke a spoke was sure I would end up "tacoing" the wheel, but although it was wobbly it made it thank you Mavic the view of Santa Cruz Island, 20 miles offshore the wild beauty of the ocean is a feature of this ride obligatory shot of the space park at Point Mugu nice tailwind here, but it was a headwind all the way back to Moorpark at the finish one tired puppy, could barely smile, but happy inside :) A great way to start the decade.  One of the best things about long rides is the think time; you are concentrating on nothing, your mind drifts, and it is such a luxury.  My typical days are go go go always focused on doing something.  Maybe that's why I ride?  I can't say I solved all the world's problems, but I did at least contemplate them for eight hours :) [Update: thanks to Bill for pointing out this New Yorker cover; that is exactly what goes on in my head while riding...]