Big Dipper - more audax that Audax

I must confess, when I saw the "Big Dipper" was the name of the September PCHRandos 200k ride I assumed it had a lot of climbing. I'm glad I dug a little deeper and discovered it was named because the shape of the course resembles the big dipper.

Eight of us started at the home of the Larry and Linda Botts in Ventura at 6:30am just after it got light. It promised to be a very hot day so the route with the early inland section containing the bulk of the climbing was a  blessing. Once the temps got high, we expected to be along the coast. The prevailing winds are from the North which meant that once we turned around in Santa Barbara we would have a tailwind all the way home.

The first food control was at mile 37 at a tiny store/cafe in Somis. Here's a picture of our fearless leader, Greg Jones, showing me how to eat properly - something I should have paid more attention to.

Amber and I split a burrito but should probably have had one each. The next control was back at the Bott household where I watered up and had a cookie. Again, I should probably have eaten more. We hit the coast and turned into a strong headwind but as we were riding as a group we took it in turns to pull and the thirty miles to Santa Barbara were over soon enough.

Santa Barbara was hosting a massive Breast Cancer walk with thousands of pink clad women walking to raise money for Breast Cancer research. What a sight!

We ate at a fancy store called Lazy Acres - they were so fancy I'm surprised they let us in. I grabbed some chocolate milk, some fruit juice, some water, and a sandwich. I thought there was enough calories in that lot, but on the way back in Carpenteria I started to bonk so I ate an energy bar. Of course, we immediately started climbing a hill so I couldn't eat or climb well and fell off the back. Jeff stopped to wait for me and I was back with the pack in five minutes. Thanks.

Then, headed back at 20-22mph with a tremendous tailwind Amber hit something and blew out her back tire. We pulled over and found a massive split in her tire which we booted. I've been waiting to try my CO2 inflator for a while. When I inflated her tire with it the gas cartridge froze (thanks Boyle) and felt wonderful on the back of my neck :-)

Just before Hobson County Park we were stopped by emergency vehicles who were looking after a motorcyclist who had clipped the kerb and slid 100yds down the road on his side. He had some serious roadrash and was medevaced out. While we were waiting we watch a pod of dolphins cruise on by.

After 45 minutes we were allowed to continue. We stopped at Hobson Park to get more water and then headed south, still with a roaring tailwind. With only 15 miles to go we cruised back for a total time of 10:15.