This weekend I rode the Simi Valley to Solana Beach 400k brevet for the third time. This is one of my favorite 400k rides but the last two times I rode it I bonked horribly at Rancho Palos Verdes. Last year I also got sick enough in Newport Beach that I barfed into a trash can. I was really hoping to have a better ride this year.
Amber couldn't ride with me because of scheduling conflicts so I decided to ride with Pete Eades instead. I had decided to try Perpetuum again to see if I could keep my energy levels topped up. I used it for a while several years ago but stopped because I didn't think I needed anymore. However as I've grown older I have an increased tendency to bonk so I thought I'd try it again. Pete was also trying a new energy drink for the same reason.
We started at Simi Valley Amtrak station and headed out on a bike path I hadn't known about. It was a great way to start a ride. We headed mainly downhill and made good time until we got Oxnard. The last 20 miles to the beach we started picking up a strong headwind. Unfortunately it was coming from the right too which meant we would still have it as we headed up the coast.
The north bound leg was brutal with 20mph sustained winds gusting to 25. At mile 55 we got to the turn around control and Roger was waiting for us. Pete and I were the last on the road for a couple of reasons. For one reason, Pete is 72. The second reason is that the new energy drink was forcing him to pee every 10-15 miles.
Once we turned around the tailwind was amazing and we held 20mph very easily - barely pedaling. However the wind was still getting stronger and as the route turned it became a cross wind from time to time which was getting pretty dangerous.
Venice beach was very sketchy with sand all over the bike path often to a depth of several inches. I walked the first few sandy stretches but there were so many I started riding over them. It's surprising what you can ride over even with skinny tires. At times the wind was so strong it blew sand into our faces. I had sand in my face, mouth, trail mix, and ears. It stuck to our sun block, our chains, and I even ended up with some iron-rich sand stuck to my computer magnet. We literally rode in a sand storm - might be a first for me.
I didn't bonk in Rancho Palos Verdes which suggests the Perpetuum did its job. I'll be using it on the Colorado 400k in July. Transitioning from Rancho Palos Verdes to Long Beach you have to climb a short, steep hill to get onto the Los Angeles River bike path. It caught me by surprise and I powered up in too-big a gear. Something bent or slipped or stretched under the load and all of a sudden my bike wouldn't stay in gear. I tried adjusting the barrel adjuster for the rear derailleur but nothing helped.
The only way I could get it to stay in one gear was to put it on the big chain-ring and the big sprocket which put a lot of tension on the derailleur and limited my top speed to 15mph. Even then it would slip to a bigger gear on the hills. I effectively had a single speed bike. With my 15mph top speed and Pete's constant pee breaks we weren't making great time but we were rolling along with a comfortable time buffer.
The Long Beach bike path was surprisingly clear of sand. We even wondered if someone had come through after the storm and cleaned it. Passing through Seal Beach I pointed out two of my favorite restaurants to Pete - the Crema and Beachwood BBQ. We took the beach trail through Huntington Beach and it was also clear of sand and pedestrians although there was evidence that a storm had passed through.
We made an impromptu stop at the Jack in the Box in Newport Beach and I was starting to get a bit spacey. We took a little longer at this stop and really filled up the calories which helped enormously. Oddly Pete seemed really chipper at this point which helped me recover. It's nice the way you can feed off each other's energy when you're feeling a little down.
There are quite a few hills in Laguna Beach and on one of them the gears slipped again so I shifted back into the big sprocket and somehow shifted the rear derailleur into the spokes. This destroyed the derailleur, broke two spokes, bent two more, and tacoed the wheel so it rubbed against the frame and I couldn't even push it. My ride was over.
When you bought your bike you may have noticed a plastic disk that sits between the cassette and the wheel. This is designed to stop you from shifting into the spokes. This 25 cent piece of plastic would have saved the ride and also saved me $500 in repairs. When they rebuild my wheel I've asked them to install one. I really don't know why I removed it in the first place.
I called Roger and was amazed when he showed up about 10 minutes later. Apparently he was at home only a few miles away. He drove me down to Solana Beach where I got showered and changed and grabbed some sleep. Pete showed up a little after 6am looking very strong. His energy drink seems to have worked marvels.
We all ate at a marvelous place called the Beachgrass Café. I had a Maple, Bacon, and Cheddar pancake that was seriously the best pancake I have ever eaten. I'm planning on doing this 400k again next year just so I can eat here the next morning. I already know what I want.
Thanks to everyone for the company - especially Pete. Thanks to Greg for organizing and to Roger for saving my bacon. I'm so glad I didn't get stranded in Laguna Beach with an unpushable bike at 12:30am. That's two brevets in a row that I've had to abandon because of mechanical problems. I really need to break this streak.
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