Santa Cruz 400k

This weekend Amber and I drove up to Santa Cruz to ride their 400k. I rode it two years ago and had good memories of it, but this year turned out to be a complicated ride and threw just about everything it could at us.

We stayed at the Mission Inn which is 1.5 miles from the start and 1/4 mile from the end. The ride itself started at a lighthouse and sign in went smoothly. Lois and Bryan know how to organize a brevet. We headed north up PCH to Moss Beach in a big group. We managed to stay with the group for a while which was good because as soon as the sun came up we were riding into a headwind.

It's fifty miles before the first control at Moss Beach. Two years ago this caused me a problem but this year I was more prepared for it. Fifteen minutes later we were headed back south with a nice tailwind but soon we turned inland towards LaHonda for some climbing. The next control at LaHonda is a small country store but there are no rest-rooms. Fortunately the bar across the street 'Apple Jacks' was kind enough to let us use theirs.

After LaHonda we hit Haskills Hill - the hardest climb on the ride that takes you up 500' in less than two miles. While grunting up the hill we were passed by a semi-pro team with 'Mission' on their jerseys. They cruised past me while effortlessly holding a conversation. One of them saw the Pooh Bear on my Carradice bag and told me a joke. 'Why did piglet look in the toilet?' 'He was looking for Pooh'. Aha - I wish I had a sense of humor while climbing a 10% grade.

Near the top of the climb was a disaster. There were hundreds of glass bottles broken all across the road with hundreds more in the ditch to the side. Either someone deliberatly brought a truck load of bottles up this quiet country road and smashed them or they were being transported and fell off the truck. Either way the Mission team was all over the side of the road fixing flats. We saw the glass and avoided it because we were only moving at 4mph. There are advantages to being slow.

Los Gazos creek road must be one of the most beautiful roads I've ever ridden. It's smooth, narrow, winding, with rolling hills and overshadowed by trees. It is idyllic. We were back onto PCH again too soon but at least we had that tailwind again and returned to Santa Cruz in good time. We ate at the Safeway opposite our motel even though there's no official control here. What a fantastic loop!

I knew the eight miles from Santa Cruz to Aptos on Soquel Road was ugly so we rode through that as quickly as we could. Heavy traffic, parked cars, cross streets, lights - I get enough of that where I normally ride. Once past Aptos we get more country roads but they must be maintained by a different department because the road quality is noticeably worse. We had a constant headwind all the way to Marina where the fog set in and we started getting cold. I liked the bike path as you enter Marina.

We decided we wanted real food in Marina so we ate at the Taco Bell. I ate a personal pizza in ten bites and the staleness of the breadsticks didn't bother me at all. I was full for the first time today. I put Mountain Dew in my water bottles and meant to water it down but forgot. Leaving the Taco Bell it was cold so we put more layers on. My thermometer said 50F but the fog just sucked the heat right out of me.

Heading out of Marina we had a tailwind along River Road and Gonzales River Road. Now I remember these road were rough two years ago but they were dreadful this year. River Road was so rough it snapped Amber's mirror mount. This was a four month old Mirrcle mirror. I seriously considered taking my expensive light off and putting it in my bag to protect it. In the end I decided not to so that I would have the best lighting to allow me to avoid the worst of the potholls. I still don't have full grip strength in my left hand.

We got to Gonzales just before 9pm, in time to use the Chevron. My stomach was bugging me so I just got water. A couple of Tums helped for a while but I think the problem was too much sugar from the Mountain Dew. This control requires us to mail a postcard at the post office because Gonzales pretty much closes at 9pm except for the bars. Martins Zinbergs joined us at Gonzales which was much appreciated. We turned around back into the headwind and braved the wind, the rough road, and the sprinklers blowing water (I hope it was just water) across the road. The good news is that this entire stretch had taken us away from the fog of Marina.

Back in Marina (and the fog) we stopped at the 7-11 and pretty much camped out in the store while we ate and drank. All I wanted was an apple pie and a red bull. We left the 7-11 and turned right onto the bike path and with a tailwind. That's more like it. There was fog all the way now - not heavy but definitely cold. Soquel road seems better in this direction. Perhaps it was the lack of traffic. There's a couple of nasty little hills near the end of the ride and then we turned onto King St - more superb craftmanship from CalTrans. It's like riding on recently cooled lava flow. We finished the ride at 3am in 21 hours which was fine with me. Two years ago was more like 24 hours.

If I did this ride again I think I would switch to a mountain bike with aerobars for the second loop. It wouldn't have to be full suspension but those fat tires would be great on River Road and the aerobars would be better than bar-ends for dealing with the wind.

We were woken up at 8am by the screaming of a retarded girl in the next room. She kept it up, on and off, until the family left at 11am. Thanks Mission Inn!

"Disability" is a state of mind

I'm starting to understand at a deep level why people don't like the label 'disabled'. My wife suffers from a degenerative nerve disease that gives her constant pain and makes all forms of exercise painful. Nevertheless she has completed a fifty mile bike ride and a difficult 11 mile hike in the mountains within the past couple of months. Both of these achievements caused her considerable pain, yet she willingly undertook them because she refuses to be limited by her condition.

Every time I go for a bike ride, especially on the bike path, I see an overweight person on a bicycle and I make a point of giving them a sign of encouragement. I know that a thumbs-up from a stranger can go a long way towards motivating an inexperienced cyclist and making them feel less self-conscious.

I also see similarly overweight people parking in handicapped zones and using motorized wheelchairs or mobility scooters. When I think of my wife I can't help thinking that in a lot of cases the only difference between the bicycle and the mobility scooter is state of mind.

I see cyclists with two legs, one leg, no legs, fat, thin, young and old. God bless us all!

Advantages of being a cyclist

Amber and I had a fun ride today riding from Yorba Linda regional park to The Crema and back for a total of 70 miles. As usual the food was excellent. This is an extension of our usual The Crema ride because this was our last training ride for the Santa Cruz 400k. The weather was overcast with a persistent on shore flow. It even sprinkled on us a little.

My bottom bracket is making a creaking sound still so on the way back I drove over to Don's in Redlands to have them check it out and maybe replace the forks too. I was low on gas but the gas gauge still showed an 1/8th of a tank when I ran out of gas just as I was exiting the I-10 at University. I stopped on the shoulder of the off-ramp and started walking to try to find a gas station. After a few steps I realized I have a bike and a Garmin Edge. I jumped on the bike and used to Garmin to find the nearest gas station which turned out to be about a mile away.

As I rode to the gas station I passed an auto parts store and bought a one gallon gas container, rode on the gas station, filled it up (that must have looked odd), bungee corded the gas container to my aerobars, and rode back to the truck. It sure beat walking.

My long suffering bike is at Don's right now - I think I'm going to be spending some money on it.

I've been looking for an external power source for my Garmin Edge 705 for a while and I've not had any luck. It has a battery life of about 16 hours which is fine for up to a 300k but it dies on longer rides (yes, I know, I could ride faster). On the 600k I hosted last week one of the riders showed me is external battery pack made by Gomadic. I was so impressed I decided to buy one from Amazon the next day.

It's rare that a company makes a product that is exactly what you want, at a price less that you would expect, and delivers it faster than you would think possible. That's exactly what Gomadic did. I placed the order on Amazon on Monday morning, received a shipping notification on Monday afternoon, and the product was on my doorstep when I got home from work on Wednesday.

On my Saturday ride I put new batteries in and plugged in into my Garmin Edge 705. The backlight came on so I set it to the lowest setting (other than off) and started timing. It has been 22 hours and it is still going. I would have been happy at eight hours. I will update this blog when it finally dies.

Orange Triple Loop

The second annual Orange Triple Loop 400/600k brevet was held last weekend. I had about 25 riders sign up and four of them did not start. The Klines called me ahead of the ride and let me know that they wouldn't make it. They were sorely missed and they missed out on a perfect weekend of riding.

Moving the ride forward three weeks from last year's date was a good move and I'm planning to keep it as close to the beginning of April as I can. Despite dire predictions of gale force winds there was just the normal amount of wind and it behaved as expected so riders had much more tailwind than headwind. Unlike last year, the temps barely reached 80F and didn't drop below 50F. If you recall, last year the temp range was 38F-85F.

Reversing the first loop made it even faster than last year and all the riders completed the first 100 miles in less than eight hours. Jim Harris crashed on the San Gabriel trail somehow but managed to keep going strong.Sherry and I even managed to get in a quick 30 mile ride to Kokomo's and back. It was her first time there and we'll be going back.

Riders set off on the second loop with a strong tailwind but ran afoul of the Redlands Classic being run in downtown Redlands. Fortunately there was only a short detour and no-one was seriously inconvenienced. The climb from Redlands to Beaumont was hard as usual but at least it wasn't too hot this year. The route change that substituted Brookside for Cherry Valley was popular - it's a much quieter road and in good condition too. Returning on San Timoteo is always fun especially if you time it so you get a tailwind. The 200 mile control was at Ruth Cabre's house and was the highlight of the ride. Many riders commented on Ruth and Kevin's hospitality and on Ruth's cooking skills. Pete and Charlie took a power nap before continuing at 12:30am.

Back at the end of the second loop all the 400k riders arrived in good shape and in good time. Pete and Charlie decided they could not safely continue on the 600k which is a shame but nothing to be ashamed of. I hope I can ride a 400k when I'm in my 70's. Mike Sturgill also stopped at the 400k mark because he had to drive back to AZ to meet Sunday commitments.

Many people rode right through, which is not something I've seen too often before. The AZ group was super strong and actually covered over 300 miles in 24 hours. That's not easy to do on a brevet. The mortals slept, most of them leaving around 7am. Some of them got only three hours sleep, others got as much as six. The third loop is a bit lumpy and tends to have a headwind on the return section which makes it a tough 200k.

Several riders found a 'weakness' in the routesheet. It turns out that Main St crosses MacArthur twice. I did not realize this. That means there are two opportunities to make a left on MacArthur. Some riders took the first opportunity and others took the second opportunity. Those that took the first turn ended up calling me as they realized things didn't look right. It took some effort to get them back on track because none of us had had much sleep lately. Because this was my mistake, I gave everyone who went astray some bonus time to ensure they got credit.

I will alter the end of the ride to use Sunflower (like last year).

I want to congratulate everyone who finished and even those who started. Many riders completed their first 400k or 600k. I want to especially congratulate Lisa Nicholson and Debbie Protho who both set personal best distances.

Until next year.....

Here is the list of riders in alphabetical order

Sanford Aniya, 600k, First 600k!
Mel Cutler, 400k
Pete Eade, 600k, DNF
Jim Harris, 400k
Kerin Huber, 600k, Fastest 600k!
Jeff Karotkin, 400k, First 400k!
Charles Lotte, 600k, DNF
Brian McGuire, 600k, Fastest 600k!
Peg Miller, 600k
Lisa Nicholson, 400k, First 400k!
Elaine Perry, 400k,
Debbie Protho, 600k, First 600k!
Bruce Shank, 600k, First 600k!
Mike Shaw, 600k, First 600k!
Mike Sturgill, 600k, DNF
Tim Sullivan, 600k, Fastest 600k!
Alan Tolkoff, 600k, First 600k
Jack Twitchell, 600k,
Kathy Twitchell, 600k
Carlton van Leuven, 400k
Dick Wiss, 600k

Altruism in cycling

I remember Lance Armstrong slowing down to wait for for Jan Ulric after Jan crashed off the side of the road during an intense stage of the Tour and I remember Tyler Hamilton slowing down when Lance was brought down by a spectator's musette bag. I remember comparing that to hearing that professional basketball players are fined for helping an opposing team member up off the floor. That's one of the things that attracts me to cycling. Despite the doping there is still respect and honor in the peleton.

Endurance events seem to bring out our charitable side even more than racing events. My experiences in endurance cycling have made me think this is so.

I remember my first 600k - I ignorantly chose one of the most difficult 600k routes on the West Coast - Kevin Main's Cayucos 600k. Fortunately Kevin Main is an incredibly strong rider and a nice guy too. I don't know anyone else who could and would have helped me complete this challenge. He drafted me into the headwind and he kept an eye on our time when I barely knew where I was. He gave me candy when I was bonking and recommended replacing my saddle with a Brooks when my backside was on fire.

My second 600k was Greg Jones' Mount Pinos which is an easier ride, but it's still a 600k. I remember on the second day being part of a group of six riders who were on time to finish, but without much of a time buffer. One of the riders was struggling and slowing the group down but instead of riding on without him we rallied around him and dragged him to the end in time, even though we jeopardized our own times to do it. Vickie Backman was instrumental in herding the group as it started to fragment.

I find myself accepting help from those stronger than me and offering help to those in need during endurance events. It's not uncommon for the person who helps me and the person I help to be the same person as our strength ebbs and flows during the event. Because it's not a race, it's easier to help other participants. There is strength in numbers - drafting, navigation, group cycling at night - these are all reasons to ride as a team even if the team as a whole rides slower than the fastest member. That slowest member of the team might be the one that prevents the group from making a navigational error and riding ten extra miles.

600k staff ride

My daughter, Amber, and I rode the 600k staff ride over the weekend. We noticed several things that will be useful for other riders to know.

 

 

We started from the Motel6 at 5am and immediately picked up the pre-dawn offshore flow which was so strong we were flying along at 20-25mph. I was so happy that I overshot the turn onto Atlantic and we had to backtrack 100 yards.Traffic through Huntington beach was light and we made excellent time to the first control at 21.7 miles. Note the Starbucks is actually inside the Pavilions, but you can use anywhere in this shopping center. As we turned onto the San Gabriel bike path at mile 22.4 we were surprised by the number of early risers jogging and cycling on the path. We picked up a strong headwind (the same one that was so wonderful at the start of the ride) but it died down quicky after sunrise and became a light tailwind. The turn onto San Gabriel is a bit confusing and Amber tried to continue on Durfee instead of turning left onto San Gabriel. Now we've made one mistake each. They won't be the last. The line at McDonalds at mile 44.8 was out the door (weird) so we went to the Jack in the Box next door. Heading back on the Rio Hondo trail we had a light headwind which got stronger as we got closer to the beach. At Long Beach Marina we just kept the water on our right. You can't go wrong if you do that. At mile 74.7 I noticed the older routesheet turns the wrong way - make sure yours says to turn Left over the bridge to stay on Marina Dr. I think the newer routesheets are correct. We got back to the Motel6 at noon - right on schedule.

 

 

Loop two heads inland and has the first real hill of the ride - up to Green River road - Ugh! We had a roaring tailwind which got even stronger through the Corona pass. As we were slightly ahead of schedule we elected to eat at the Lucky Greek which is about 200yds past the Chevron. Feel free to do the same. There are also an IHOP and a In-n-Out burger nearby. Eating real food every now and again makes the ride so much more enjoyable. The gyro and fries are amazing and they have a Coke machine with 106 different flavors. I filled my water bottles up with diluted raspberry flavored coke. Then we rode through Norco and along the upper SART (now paved all the way!) with a moderate tailwind to the Shell gas station at mile 150.8. The guy who runs it knows me by sight and automatically prints out a receipt for all cyclists :-) Now the climbing starts. It's mainly 2% grade but Walnut and Overcrest are much steeper - up to 10% for short sections. It's a good idea to have a time buffer for this section because a lot of riders will have a hard time holding a 9.5mph average to the next control. We still had a light tailwind all the way to Yuciapa - that's 70 miles of tailwind, if you're counting. It looks like parts of Brookside have been repaved recently - possibly the road work that had it closed last year. We got to the Stater Bros. on Beamont and Oak Valley at 7pm - on schedule again. Turkey salad on croissant sandwiches with a Red Bull. Yummy. We left heading towards the last light of the setting sun. Last year I had four riders that continued south on Beamont. Please don't do that. You have to leave this control headed West - hence the reference to the setting sun. We had a mild headwind for the first 5-6 miles of San Timeteo Canyon but it died down around Fisherman's Retreat. Shortly after we heard barking to our left and a golden retriever came out of the dark. It wasn't aggressive but it was stupid and kept running in front of me and slowing down. We rode cautiously until it started lagging and then we kicked it up. Just be aware. We picked up the night tail wind about half way down San Timeteo which stayed with us most of the way back to the end of the second loop. The control at mile 204.6 is hosted by Ruth Cabre-Chacon and her family. Riders who are feeling sleepy can catch a few winks here but sleeping at the end of the second loop will get you more sleep. Please be considerate of her neighbors and be quiet while outside. Continuing on we had a mild tailwind down Victoria Ave. This used to be a jewel in Riverside's crown but lack of maintenance has made this a rough ride. There's a bike path and a bike lane but they're both rough. Even the main road is in poor condition. The control at mile 227 is an Arco but there's an In-n-Out burger just before it which is an acceptable alternative. We were surprised to see it was still open. It was tempting but we opted for the Arco this time. The last stretch is mainly flat or slightly downhill and we still had a light tailwind so we were able to hold 17-18 mph to get to the end of the second loop by 1am - right on schedule again. The second loop is designed so that if you can get to the Beamont control by sunset (about 7pm) you will have a tailwind in both directions. Plus there's only about 1000' of climbing in the 75 miles from Beaumont back to the Motel6.

 

 

We left the Motel6 around 8:00am Sunday which gave us time to shower, change, get 6 hours sleep, and eat. There's really no point in pushing hard on the last 200k. There's a fair amount of climbing to the next control (lots of ups and downs) but we got there around 10:45. I fancied eating at Roy's Fish Market but they weren't open so we just ate at the liquor store instead. Continuing South along PCH we had a strong tailwind. Climbing through San Clemente on the bike route was nice. The route is a bit fiddly but it's well marked. At Christianitos Rd we saw signs stating an Ironman is being run next week (30th) and the whole area would be shut down. You'd be amazed how hard it is to schedule a 600k without someone scheduling a marathon, 10k run, or triathlon along the same roads and closing them down. We got to Oceanside and decided to try Angelo's Burgers. I tried to eat a breakfast burrito half the size of my head - I wasn't man enough for the job and had to leave half of it. The service is fast, the portions are huge, the food is good and the prices are low. I'm making this the recommended control although you're welcome to use anywhere beyond Neptune Way as before. We turned around and rode through Camp Pendleton into a headwind. I prefer to avoid Interstate 5. For northbound cyclists there is a mandatory detour starting just after the security gate. It adds another mile. Although it's clearly marked you should be aware that at the end of the detour you need to continue straight. I don't know how I screwed up but I went right instead. We rode an extra 7 miles as a result of that mistake. So we deliberately added 3 miles through Camp Pendleton, then the detour added one more, and my mistake added seven more for a total of 11 bonus miles. What with the headwind, we barely got to the Carls' Junior control by the cutoff time. Continuing into the headwind we passed through San Clement on PCH. To be honest there are so many lights on this stretch of PCH I think taking the bike route back would have been faster. It adds about a mile, so I certainly have no problems if someone wants to do that. Finally we got to Dana Point where we headed inland and that headwind turned into a tailwind.

 

 

Now for some good news. The barriers on the San Juan bike trail have been removed and the trail continues uninterrupted. This removes two turns and a stop light but it doesn't change the climbing or distance at all. I have updated the routeslip and the gps file for the 3rd loop. As we turned more north the headwind came back and we started to have terrible luck with the lights. They were all red or turned red as we got to them. I started to get worried that we wouldn't get to the 350 mile control in time. Amber was stronger than me so I sent her on ahead to make sure she got credit even if I didn't and I noticed that she was making all the lights and they were all turning red for me. I felt so special. As it turned out I got to the control in time so there was no need to worry. Apparantly there are two Albertsons on this road within a couple of miles of each other. I don't really care which one you use. Almost home now. Be careful on Alton - the on ramp for the I5 is tricky.It's worth stopping and making sure you have a safe gap in traffic before you cross it. We had a tailwind again on the bike path which is very fast because cuts out ten or so stop lights. We exit onto Main (the second exit after the footbridge) and for some reason all the lights on Main are green and we have a tailwind. Before we know it we're on the SART. There were quite a few riders and runners and hardly any of them had lights. It would have sucked to be taken out by one of them just a few miles from the end. We finished at 8:33pm. That's our slowest 200k ever (12.5 hours).

 

 

Congratulations to Amber for completing her first 600k ever.

Running

I've started running once a week to try to prepare for the Surf City half marathon next year. I've never done much running before so it's been quite an experience. Last week I ran my first 5k and it went pretty well - I ran the whole thing in a time of 34m18. Now I've increased my milage I find I need equipment - a sports watch and a runner's bottle. No matter what you do there's always someone willing to sell you something to do it better or faster. God bless America!

I rode my Lucky Greek populaire twice this week, posting sub four hour times both times. I love my Schmidt Son hub generator and Lumotec light but Peter White has an add in this quarter's American Randonneur magazine for a Luxos U light. I checked out the specs - it outputs 70 lux in a wide beam, has a backup battery, and a USB port for charging a cell phone or GPS system. I love the idea of the wide beam which makes turning tight corners so much safer.

Unfortunately my Garmin Edge will not operate while charging but I'm planning on buying a new smart phone in September and it would be cool to be able to use it as a GPS system and power it from the Luxos. The price on the light is $238 which is way too much. Perhaps the price will come down soon? I can only hope.