2016 Five Rivers 300k staff ride

I solo rode the Five Rivers 300k staff ride yesterday. We have been pretty lucky with detours this year but there are still some changes to the route so read carefully.

The biggest issue is the start location. Someone has opened a night club right next to the Motel 6 so half the motel is filled with Thump-Thump music on Friday nights. This is not acceptable so I have moved the start across the road to the Best Western at 1084 Pomona Road. It is literally a 60 second bike ride away from the Motel 6 if the light is green, The Best Western is more expensive so you can make whichever choice you want. If you stay at the Motel 6 make sure you get a room away from the north end (ie towards Pomona Rd). Those of you who have already booked the Motel 6 can cancel without charge up to the night of your stay.

There is construction along Pomona, under the 91 freeway, and along Green River Drive. Be careful going under the 91 - I strongly recommend having tail lights running through here. There are metal plates and the road narrows and forces you into traffic. Other than the first and last four miles, we got pretty lucky.

I ate at the GoodFellas restaurant the evening before. After a massive plate of fettuccine pesci my glycogen and cholesterol levels were both through the roof. It's a great restaurant and right next to the ride start.

The weather was perfect - cool, dry, overcast, calm. You should have such great weather. Or maybe not. Who knows? I rolled along on my aerobars having a wonderful time mainly in my big chain ring. I grabbed a tuna sandwich at the first control at mile 35 and ate it while riding. At one point I rode through a big cloud of gnats and, looking down, I saw the exposed tuna salad was covered in tiny black flecks. It didn't seem to affect the taste too much though.

I completed the first 100k in 3:40 - a new personal best by quite a large margin. Surely I had a tailwind? Nope - actually I had a net headwind.

I got to the control in Duarte at mile 85 too quickly for pizza so I settled for a cream cheese, ham, and tomato sandwich. Wow that was good! I added a cheese danish for later and set out again. I was five minutes at the first control and fifteen minutes here - pretty fast. The wind was choppiest around Duarte - I guess it was coming out of the mountain passes.

About ten miles north of the Long Beach control the usual headwinds hit, slowing me down to 16mph even on the aerobars. This would have been a good stretch to have a riding buddy. In Shoreline village at mile 120 I went to a tiny place called Twisters and Coffee. They sold me a home made garlic pretzel and a mocha frappe that went down a treat. There was a chap strumming on his guitar just practicing. He wasn't very good but it was fun to listen to anyway. I poured half the mocha in my water bottle for later. Twenty minutes here and I was off.

Exiting the control, the Long Beach bike trail is open again and it is lovely. Down on the aerobars with a strong tailwind I was really able to open up. The peds have their own trail now so it's safe to ride 20mph through here. I covered the first 200km in 8:01. Another personal best by a wide margin.

I stayed on the beach path all the way to Newport Beach. With the cold and overcast the path was very quiet and it avoids all the stop lights along PCH. With the tailwind I just stayed on the aerobars in my big chain ring and span along at 18mph with no effort.

The underpass that takes you safely under PCH and inland on Dover at mile 142 is closed for construction. You have to make a tricky left in traffic. Please be very careful here. Once you've made the turn onto Dover get up onto the sidewalk as soon as you can otherwise you might miss the bike path up to Castaway Park. And I mean UP!

Headed inland I picked up the expected onshore flow which allowed me to continue rolling along with a tailwind all the way to the last control in Lake Forest at mile 150. I got to the control more than an hour earlier than last year. A rice bowl with veggies, chicken and extra teriyaki sauce for the salt. Soda to dilute into my water bottles. I used a fork instead of chopsticks because it's faster. I was out of there in fifteen minutes. With only four controls, you can keep your off-the-bike time below an hour with some discipline.

Last stretch has some climbing. Curses! Who designed this route? Oh yes - me! No tailwind now but it's perfectly calm. I'm still holding 17-18 on the flat without too much effort. The hills slow me down because my knee is starting to bother me but everything else feels great.

Right at the end of the bike trail, where we enter Green River Drive I felt an unfamiliar sensation. I had a flat! I never get flats. I pulled the rear wheel off, pulled out the tube, checked the tire (nothing), slapped in a new tube, filled it with CO2 and prayed. Eight minutes! Go go go before it goes flat again.

I finished the ride in 12:56. Another personal best by 75 minutes. My goal had been to break 14 hours. How on earth did Willie ride this in 11:29?