Five Rivers 300k pre-ride

Amber and I pre-rode the Five Rivers 300k on Monday. Nether of us had ridden anything more than 200k for two years so we were economical with our effort.

We left at 6am when it was a chilly 50F and dawn was hinting in the East. The bike path detour alongside La Palma has improved so we have 1/3 nasty trail, 1/3 protected trail, 1/3 newly paved trail.

1/3 newly paved trail

Once we entered the SART at Green River we picked up the expected tail wind which had us moving so fast we reached Katella at 7am. Fortunately the gate was already unlocked.

Flying on the SART

Don't forget to turn off the SART when you see these trash cans

We still had a tailwind as we headed West to the first control at Vons which we reached at 7:50 - yeah less than 2 hours for the first 35 miles.

I've found croissant sandwiches are a great way to increase calories without bulk

When we reached the coast we rode on PCH because we had a nice tailwind which we could not have taken full advantage of on the beach path. As we headed inland on the San Gabriel trail we had a slight headwind which was unexpected. In fact the wind was varying in strength and direction all day.

San Gabriel trail

Very popular trail

We hit the 100 km mark in slightly under 4 hours elapsed. The climb up Santa Fe dam is arduous but there is a nice view at the top. I have to wonder why there is a dam here at all - no lake and no river. Must be a SoCal thing.

View from Santa Fe "dam"

The final five miles to Duarte through the Santa Fe nature preserve is rather nice.

We got to Duarte at 11am - 80 miles in 5 hours elapsed. We've slowed down a bit but still way ahead of schedule. We both love these complete cookies. They have 420 calories and go down very easy.

Complete cookie

The wind continued to blow from all directions as we returned, but about 15 miles from Long Beach it started to be a strong headwind (15-20 mph) so we took turns pulling. About three miles from Long Beach the wind turned around completely and we had a strong tail wind. Curiouser and curiouser.

The Rio Hondo trail had major flooding earlier this year but they cleaned it up well.

Even though we struggled to hold 12 mph on the approach to Long Beach we still got the the Jack-in-the-Box at Belmont Shore in 8:15 elapsed - that's 200 km folks! There are lots of places to chose from at this control. We chose Jack-in-the-Box because it's faster than Chronic Tacos but better than the Arco. We were both craving a chicken teriyaki bowl.

If your body craves it, eat it! (only while cycling)

We continued along the coast with a strong tail wind (that's a tailwind in both directions - not a guarantee of future performance) and turned inland on the Backbay trail still with a slight tail wind and picked up the San Diego creek trail

San Diego creek trail a few miles from the last control

We got to the Crossroads Center control at about 4:30 pm (their cash register is wrong) and split a huge chicken Pad Thai and Vietnamese iced coffee. Very relaxed and civilized. I scanned eateries I could see from my chair - French Bakery, Noodle Bar, Vietnamese Food, Italian, Japanese, Flame Broiler, Pizza Hut, Mediterranean food, Chipotle, Coffee shop. Fuel up - there's some climbing in the last 30 miles.

Best food of the ride

I definitely slowed down for the climbing. Even though we didn't reach it until 6:30 pm the gate onto the SART off of Lakeview was still open so we didn't have to take the detour. I don't know if we got lucky or if they're not locking the gates anymore.

The hardest climb is Green River road and we were very surprised to discover CalTrans had scraped the road since we had ridden down it that morning. So the climb was steep AND rough. Hopefully they will resurface it soon and it will be silky smooth for you. I don't think they plan on making it any less steep though.

We got back to the hotel in 13:45 elapsed and I'm pretty happy with that. We showered, ordered pizza, and slept well.