Big Rides

[PaloAltoCougar]

Except for LOTOJA, which deserves its own thread, use this thread to report centuries, the Death Ride perhaps, and other notable long jaunts in 2012.

We're currently driving back from Bakersfield, having completed the 104-mile Woody Y Century in wind, rain and cold in about 7 hours (including rest stops). The ride through the foothills east of Bakersfield was surprisingly beautiful, despite the lousy weather. Mrs. PAC continues to be awesome (I may have mentioned this before). All the support people were very nice, but due to a screw-up there were NO toilet facilities for the first 80 miles, which had the effect of making us faster, if very uncomfortable.

We're tired but feel great, and are hurrying back, hoping to be in time for our ward's annual chili cook off and auction which is extraordinary,

[risicam]

Except for LOTOJA, which deserves its own thread, use this thread to report centuries, the Death Ride perhaps, and other notable long jaunts in 2012.

We're currently driving back from Bakersfield, having completed the 104-mile Woody Y Century in wind, rain and cold in about 7 hours (including rest stops). The ride through the foothills east of Bakersfield was surprisingly beautiful, despite the lousy weather. Mrs. PAC continues to be awesome (I may have mentioned this before). All the support people were very nice, but due to a screw-up there were NO toilet facilities for the first 80 miles, which had the effect of making us faster, if very uncomfortable.

We're tired but feel great, and are hurrying back, hoping to be in time for our ward's annual chili cook off and auction which is extraordinary,

Way to go!

[Eleven34]

After rocking the Death Ride for the past 3 years I've decided to move on for a change of scenery...Threw my name into the hat for LOTOJA and registered for Levi's Granfondo.

Has anyone here ever attempted the Everest Challenge? I'm seriously looking at giving it a shot next year. http://www.everestchallenge.com/

[BigPiney]

Has anyone here ever attempted the Everest Challenge? I'm seriously looking at giving it a shot next year. http://www.everestchallenge.com/

No but I worked an aid station last year and day 2 starts in my town. I will be riding all parts of day 2, not all at once, in preparation for the Death Ride. I have done 2 of the climbs already this year. Let me know if you do decide to do it.

[RC Vikings]

I'm out of Lotoja. The guys I was going to ride with wanted one more year to think about it so we are doing the upper loop of Yellowstone this summer and I'm looking for others to do. It's actually a little bit of a relief not to have Lotoja hanging over my head this summer.

[PaloAltoCougar]

In a few minutes (when registration opens), I'm signing up the missus and me for this year's Lighthouse Century. We did it two years ago and it was one of our most enjoyable organized rides, with very good support, much better than average eats, and some spectacular scenery. It's great to zip down the coast with a nice tailwind for the last 30+ miles, observing things like Hearst Castle, zebras(!), sea lions and other great vistas. There are a variety of distances and climbs (or nearly no climbs at all). Inspired by bluegoose and BigPiney tackling the Death Ride, we'll opt for the 6000 ft. ascent with a nasty 15% grade, knowing the view at the top will be superb.

The night before we'll stay in a beachside motel in Cayucos, watch the Hawaii game on ESPN and dine well. If any Cuffers want a great fall ride, check it out. It sells out fairly quick.

[bluegoose]

That lighthouse looks like a great ride. It is the same day as levis gran fondo up in Santa rosa which a couple of my buddies are doing. It is also a week before the st George marathon which my wife is doing. I'll talk to a couple of guys up here and see if they are interested in a roadie that weekend.

[ERCougar]

In a few minutes (when registration opens), I'm signing up the missus and me for this year's Lighthouse Century. We did it two years ago and it was one of our most enjoyable organized rides, with very good support, much better than average eats, and some spectacular scenery. It's great to zip down the coast with a nice tailwind for the last 30+ miles, observing things like Hearst Castle, zebras(!), sea lions and other great vistas. There are a variety of distances and climbs (or nearly no climbs at all). Inspired by bluegoose and BigPiney tackling the Death Ride, we'll opt for the 6000 ft. ascent with a nasty 15% grade, knowing the view at the top will be superb.

The night before we'll stay in a beachside motel in Cayucos, watch the Hawaii game on ESPN and dine well. If any Cuffers want a great fall ride, check it out. It sells out fairly quick.

How many of those 'great vistas' are on that flat metric century? I'm running st George the next week, so the metric would be all I would dare to do (and even then, might be dumb), but I'm tempted--that looks really fun.

[PaloAltoCougar]

How many of those 'great vistas' are on that flat metric century? I'm running st George the next week, so the metric would be all I would dare to do (and even then, might be dumb), but I'm tempted--that looks really fun.

Mrs. PAC just said that the metric portion has the best vistas of the entire route. Unless it's foggy (a possibility, but we had great weather the last time we did it), the whole ride is really pretty nice since you're essentially riding up and down the coast. We saw a beach filled with sea lions, Hearst Castle up the hill with its various zoo animals in the fields along the highway. The scenery's good pretty much the whole time. There are some climbs, even with the metric, but none of them are long or steep.

We learned a couple from our ward is going us (we're probably going to do the Old Creek Route but it would be great to meet up the evening before, at one of the excellent rest stops up near the lighthouse (where the route turns back home) or at the end).

UPDATE: I noticed that registration has already closed. It sold old out yesterday afternoon, apparently, within a few hours. Bummer...

[PaloAltoCougar]

Mrs. PAC and I, riding separately--she with her buddies and I the lone wolf--did our final rides this morning before leaving tomorrow for the Seattle-to-Portland. We're ready and excited. It's funny to see non-riders' reaction to the news we'll be riding 200+ miles this weekend, as it really isn't all that daunting once one has been riding for awhile. Several here have ridden that far in a day; we'll do it in two.

The real respect goes to bluegoose and BigPiney who will be taking on this weekend's Death Ride, a one-day 129-mile monster with 15,000 feet of steep climbing (we'll do a leisurely 4,000 feet in two days). I'll look forward to their reports.

[ERCougar]

Mrs. PAC and I, riding separately--she with her buddies and I the lone wolf--did our final rides this morning before leaving tomorrow for the Seattle-to-Portland. We're ready and excited. It's funny to see non-riders' reaction to the news we'll be riding 200+ miles this weekend, as it really isn't all that daunting once one has been riding for awhile. Several here have ridden that far in a day; we'll do it in two.

The real respect goes to bluegoose and BigPiney who will be taking on this weekend's Death Ride, a one-day 129-mile monster with 15,000 feet of steep climbing (we'll do a leisurely 4,000 feet in two days). I'll look forward to their reports.

Good luck everyone! I'm looking forward to your reports too!

[bluegoose]

Good luck to PAC and Mrs. PAC this weekend. If it weren't for the Death Ride I would have loved to be joining you this weekend.

As for my preparation, I feel somewhat ready for this weekend. My legs feel good and my weight is decent this year for hauling myself up those hills. My only concern, and its not a huge concern, is that my longest ride this year has been 84 miles with about 6,000 feet of climbing.

That by itself was a very good ride, as long as one doesn't think about the idea that I would have had to ride an additional 50 miles and an additional 10,000 of climbing!

In the past, I have always done the Tour of the Unknown Coast in May as preparation, which has over 9,000 feet of climbing. But a Stake YM activity interfered and derailed my plans. In addition, a poorly timed house move in April took some prime riding time. What were we thinking, closing on tax day during a Death Ride year! Sheesh.

I plan to ride the first two passes fairly conservatively. They are tough climbs, and can cause some serious difficulty later in the day if you ride them too hard.

The third climb is a monster, and there is no way around suffering immensely for those 13 miles.

4th climb is somewhat steep, but fairly short at about 5 miles.

After that we get to fly down the front side of the 3rd climb, which is the same 13 miler we just went up, but coming down can be fairly treacherous due to all of the hairpin turns. It is also the descent that prompted the (un)official name change to The Tour of the California Alps, as a rider died on that descent several years ago.

Then its a long, grueling 15 mile ride through the canyon at the valley floor to get to the final climb. This is brutal because it is always really hot through here and there is almost always a head wind.

The last climb is long and unforgiving. Its something like 17 or 18 miles. and the last 2 miles are really steep. The worst part of the last stretch is that you can see the summit of the climb from miles away, constantly reminding you of just how far you have to go. The first time I did the death ride I remember at one point standing next to the road with less than a mile to the summit thinking that there was no way I was going to make it to the top.

The descent down from the final climb is amazing, as the scenery is beautiful and gravity alone has launched me to 55 mph all three years i've been there. Its also very satisfying to fly done the road as those other poor suckers are still miles from the top.

It should be fun. The weather is looking really iffy, as just the past two days the forecast is showing 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms. The last time I was there in 2008 we were stuck at the top of the last climb for 45 minutes waiting for a crazy storm to pass through, which was complete with nickel-sized hail.

I shall return and report.

[Coach McGuirk]

Good luck to all of you. The profile for the death ride doesn't look like fun at all!

[BigPiney]

Good luck to PAC and Mrs. PAC this weekend. If it weren't for the Death Ride I would have loved to be joining you this weekend.

As for my preparation, I feel somewhat ready for this weekend. My legs feel good and my weight is decent this year for hauling myself up those hills. My only concern, and its not a huge concern, is that my longest ride this year has been 84 miles with about 6,000 feet of climbing.

That by itself was a very good ride, as long as one doesn't think about the idea that I would have had to ride an additional 50 miles and an additional 10,000 of climbing!

In the past, I have always done the Tour of the Unknown Coast in May as preparation, which has over 9,000 feet of climbing. But a Stake YM activity interfered and derailed my plans. In addition, a poorly timed house move in April took some prime riding time. What were we thinking, closing on tax day during a Death Ride year! Sheesh.

I plan to ride the first two passes fairly conservatively. They are tough climbs, and can cause some serious difficulty later in the day if you ride them too hard.

The third climb is a monster, and there is no way around suffering immensely for those 13 miles.

4th climb is somewhat steep, but fairly short at about 5 miles.

After that we get to fly down the front side of the 3rd climb, which is the same 13 miler we just went up, but coming down can be fairly treacherous due to all of the hairpin turns. It is also the descent that prompted the (un)official name change to The Tour of the California Alps, as a rider died on that descent several years ago.

Then its a long, grueling 15 mile ride through the canyon at the valley floor to get to the final climb. This is brutal because it is always really hot through here and there is almost always a head wind.

The last climb is long and unforgiving. Its something like 17 or 18 miles. and the last 2 miles are really steep. The worst part of the last stretch is that you can see the summit of the climb from miles away, constantly reminding you of just how far you have to go. The first time I did the death ride I remember at one point standing next to the road with less than a mile to the summit thinking that there was no way I was going to make it to the top.

The descent down from the final climb is amazing, as the scenery is beautiful and gravity alone has launched me to 55 mph all three years i've been there. Its also very satisfying to fly done the road as those other poor suckers are still miles from the top.

It should be fun. The weather is looking really iffy, as just the past two days the forecast is showing 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms. The last time I was there in 2008 we were stuck at the top of the last climb for 45 minutes waiting for a crazy storm to pass through, which was complete with nickel-sized hail.

I shall return and report.

Like I said, find a guy to pull you along. This is my guy.

[mtnbiker]

Good luck with the rides. I can't say that I wish I was there; that just sounds like way too much for me right now. I'll be bracketing your rides with 10-hour rides of my own, but they'll be in the car, going to see a grandson get ordained.