Edgar, Amber, and I are training for the Grand Tour 200 mile ride starting in Port Hueneme, CA at the end of June. We've got our registrations and hotel reservations done. Now we just need to make sure we are ready for the ride.
The first time I ever rode this event, you had to mail your application and check to them. You got an email back a week later saying that your registration was successfull. They haven't really progressed much in terms of technology. They could benefit from seeing how Michelle Brougher handles registration for her events. It can all be done online, including the waiver.
The route has changed a lot, though. Whereas the event has started in Malibu for over fifty years, the route for the past few years has started in Port Hueneme. It starts with a 41 mile look then returns to the hotel. This is a good opportunity to ditch the cold weather gear you needed at 5am but won't need again. Then it heads out on a 150 mile loop. Last year's "Double" was only 191 miles. I'm sure Edgar won't mind. They're still tweaking the route so I don't know exactly how long it will be this year.
My old friend Mel is the registration coordinator this year. He says we will get an email later with the cue sheet attached but they are not providing a gps link so I assume everyone will be preparing their own. What could go wrong?
Edgar's last training ride was 80 miles so I was aiming for 120 this time. We ended up with 116.5 because that's where the gas station was. I was hoping to get this done in less than 10 hours. We completed it in 9:20 which is just about perfect. We had a moving average of 15.7 mph so you can tell we spent a lot of time off the bike.
The first stop was at the Bistro St. Germaine in Seal Beach. Edgar had a grilled chicken sandwich, I had a croque monsieur and Amber had goat cheese in honey with a baguette and a tapenade. Yeah, it's that good. We spend about 45 minutes there which is obviously to long, but endurance riding is as much about the mental as the physical and this took care of the mental.
We rode inland towards South El Monte to the Mobil gas station on Peck Rd. We weren't that hungry so we had to force ourselves to eat something. We left just before 2pm so we were on schedule.
Headed back to the coast we had the usual weird and unpredictable combination of head, tail, and side winds, but it looked as if we were going to have a tail wind all the way from Long Beach to the start of the ride.
Back at Bolsa Chica Beach we stopped at the Bolsa Chica Cafe which must have the best value food anywhere. I had a cheese quesadilla, chips, sour cream, pico de gallo, and salsa for about $10. Remember, this is at the beach and has live music.
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| Best value |
Even though they were busy we were in and out of here in about 30 minutes. Still too long, but better. We did have a tail wind all the way back to the cars which brought our average up from 15.1 to 15.7 mph. It's not often you can raise your moving average at the end of a ride.
When we got back I asked Edgar the most important question. How are you feeling? He said he was feeling pretty good. His hand was sore (because he fractured a finger two weeks ago) and his back hurt a bit. I think he should get a professional bike fit. He may need to adjust his saddle or stem. It will be worth it.
Next month we need to ride about 150 miles. That will be the last training ride.
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