Solvang Half and Full Century?

My wife and I will be there.  Never done it though, but looking forward to riding in the area and staying in Solvang.  I didn't realize how many riders do this one, so it's gonna be crazy.

You have about a month to train.  Be best if you could get some hills in for training.  Do you have a triple on your bike?  Can you work your way up to doing 50 on flat or maybe 35 with comparable elevation?  That'd be better.

This is relatively mild as far as half and full centuries go.  The nice thing with these events is that they are not races and you can go your own pace and enjoy them.  I don't think you'll injure yourself on the ride (unless you happen to crash or something).  You also never know what you can accomplish until you push your limits.

Hotel rooms will be difficult to come by.  I just happened to luck out calling earlier this week since someone just cancelled their room.

I did the half century up there in November.  Different route from what they run in the spring, but I think the elevation/hills were similar.  A couple of the hills were tough, but not too bad.  Beautiful area to ride in, and as noted it's not a race, so you can pretty much go at your own pace.  If you're comfortable with a flat 30 miler, I think you'd be challenged but fine with this ride.

I'm still kind of going back and forth about doing the century in March, depends somewhat on my timetable for getting a new bike

As noted, hotels might be tough.  If you're a camper, there's a nice campground, Flying Flags, over in Buellton--you can expect to see other riders there, and it's got good showers and a hot tub for after the ride.

I don't think it's a recipe for failure, but I would go out and ride some hills.  I don't know if I've done this route, I've done the Prelude Metric and 50 miler (Nov) and the Century, but they all incorporate a lot of the same hills.  1850 in 50 miles is not very much elevation gain.

And, if you are not enjoying the scenery, you're riding too hard.  It's a lovely place to ride.  Go for it

(although Donato, I wouldn't say the full is relatively mild.  It's no Death Ride, but it's got a few big bumps in it)

Yes, yes, very true.  It is all relative.  As far as centuries go (at least ones I've done in California), this seems like typical elevation.  But for tri folks, there are definitely hills.  I like that 1100' climb starting at about mile 70.    Should be a fun ride although it sounds like it'll be a zoo with that many riders.

Yeah, for a century it's ok, for a tri it's brutal 

As for the mile 70 spike, I just re-checked my ride report, that's misleading due to the width of the elevation chart.  About 90% of that climb you'll barely notice, false flat up a valley.  It's the last little 3/4 mile that will have folks walking their bikes.  Where you're from, yuo'll be spinning up it   It is a narrow little road open to cars, and will be crowded.  After that there are two more hills (including The Wall) before you get to the screaming downhill finish.

There are a lot of riders but with a rolling start, there's really no reason to start before 8.  We always go get some panckaes and eggs and let the sun come up a little.  march mornings are coooold in Solvang!

Well, I just registered for the half century this morning!  I'll be doing it with my brother, who lives up near there -- so I'll have a place to crash and not have to spring for a hotel room.  He committed to doing it on his mountain bike, with smooth tires -- so how could I say no, given that I have a nice road bike?!  I'll just make sure I ramp up my bike distances this next month, and get some hill work in.  It'll be a challenge for sure, but I think I'll manage.

And definitely, it would be fun to have a BT meet-up before or after the race, if possible!

Just got my confirmation postcard in the mail a couple days ago, and so did my brother, so we're all set!  I looked on the site again this evening and tried to find a map of the half century, but couldn't find one.  I'm not worried about getting lost or anything, but I was hoping to check out the ride in Google Earth to see what the hills would look like.  Anyway, I emailed the RD, so hopefully I'll get a map, or at least a precise description of the course.

I'm looking forward to it!  Last weekend I got in a 33 mile ride, and today 28 miles.  This coming weekend I plan to do another 30 but with some hills thrown in too.  I figure if I survive that, I'm good to go.

How are the rest of you coming with your training?

Chris, sorry to hear about your shoulder.  I just took a look at your blog to get the details.  Hope you get better and make it to Solvang and AZ.

I'm nursing injuries myself.  My calf tear was getting better and then I had a bike accident and both my knees were quite bruised.  I felt like I was getting over that.  Saw my sports doc on Friday.  Tried the excercises she gave me on Saturday, which appear to have aggravated my calf tear.  It's a bit discouraging.

I hope you will be back in full shape, so you can join our team for the full. Should be a great day, and lot's of fun. I'm still very nervous about the hills at the end, and being ready for HIM CA.

Keep up the good work and training.

I emailed the RD to get a map of the 50 miler, and he sent me a text description of it:

Opting out of Solvang.  Have my last long run Sunday for IMAZ, want to get at least one run that isn't tainted  by a long ride the previous day, so we're going easy Saturday on the bike (hard to do Solvang "easy" )  Not to mention it's now $100 if you didn't pre register.

Heading out to Joshua Tree the next weekend for some bike-centric training and the last long bike before IMAZ, so it's all good.

Good luck everyone!  Enjoy the scenery (as a friend said the first time climbing a particularly brutal hill, "if you aren't enjoying the view, you're going too hard." 

Hope everyone has a good ride.  Sounds like a lot of cyclists will be out there.  If you happen to see a couple on a black and white P3C and a silver Cannondale R800, that'll be me and my wife.  We'll be going at a pretty relaxed pace though like we do all our centuries.

Hope you all had a great ride!  Was it windy out there, or what?!  I nearly got blown off my bike a couple times, no kidding.

Gorgeous blue sky and sunshine, though.

I've posted my race report, if any of you are bored and want a read:  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=106334

How did you all fare?