Solvang Century - Cycle

This was my first official century, second 100 mile ride. I was hesitant because it is supposed to be difficult, and 3 weeks out from my first HIM, but with Mike Ricci's blessing I signed on.

I was also using this to pin down my nutrition on the bike. I set the Garmin to lap every 6 miles, figuring it would be somewhere around 15-20 minutes (turned out to be anywhere from 16 to 27 minutes or so) and I would take in several squirts of Infinit on those intervals. Worked more or less.

Met my friends at Paula's for breakfast. Unfortunately, out of 5 people only two of us actually registered. The other 3 bandited. And they did take water and (some) food along the course. One even got SAG support and a tire replacement. That pissed me off, but it's not my karma, gotta let that go.

First 20 miles mostly downhill. Nice and easy warmup, a couple of little climbs but nothing too bad. Enough to make me fall off the back but we were at the first SAG stop fairly quickly and regrouped.

Then the wind started. Coming basically directly at us or quartering from about mile 20 to about mile 50. The next several 6 mile splits averaged in the low teens. Not a lot of pace lining going on either. Soon after the 40 mile SAG stop, I flatted. First flat in about 1000 miles, so it's OK, but realized I only had one cartridge.

Eventually we turned right, with the wind at our backs, somewhere near Santa Maria, and hit the 60 mile rest stop feeling pretty good. Yeah, I could have run a half mary at that point.

Even though the wind was at our backs, the hills started. Not big, but rollers, enough to slow me down. I stayed aero as much as I could. I had seen the elevation profile so I knew all the hills were backloaded at the end. We were up and over the first big spike in the profile without really even knowing it. It was short and uneventful, and the next stop at 73 miles came really quickly.

From 73 to 91 miles is the largeer spike on the profile. About 90% of it is a slight uphill that you notice, but it's not difficult. This is where a lot of people were death marching and stopped at the side fo the road in the shade. It had started to get hot, in the 80s, and a lot of people had salt deposits all over their face. My Infinit was working fantastically. I just kept cruising.

About 78 miles I stopped along this canyon for one of my ride mates with a flat. Turns out his tire was bald. 400 yards after that flat, he flatted again. I gave him my last tube. Now I had nothing. Was hoping my earlier flat wasn't a bad omen, and I could make the last 22 miles. Less than a mile later, he flatted again. he had nothing, I had nothing. I told him I'd let them know at the next stop about 10 miles in, but then I realized he was a bandit, they wouldn't help. Tried calling my wife to maybe pick him up, no cell phone reception. Shit. So now his banditting is my problem that I have to worry about. What if they won't help him? Will my friends have to go back and try to find him on the course? Should I have stopped again even though I had nothing to give him? I was obsessing about this as a white van passed me and he yelled and waved. Saw him at the next stop, getting tech support, they even gave him a new tire. So much for reasons not to bandit. I was hoping he'd get a little object lesson. Oh well.

The long easy climb ended at a right turn that pitched up sharply. Lots of folks were walking. My hill training has rocked, I wasn't spinning up the hill, but I was just maintaining, passing a lot of folks, only true roadies passing me. Didn't come close to having to walk, and it was a short climb, maybe 3/4 mile long, but was happy to see the top. Nice long downhill to the 91 mile stop.

We all regrouped at the 91 mile stop, literally stopped only long enough to get some water. The Wall was next. I've come down this on the Metric century, so I know it's short. It's the little bump to the right of the big climb. Again, not necessarily spinning, but it wasn't that difficult, and we were cracking jokes as we crested it. More downhill, cross 154, up Ballard Canyon. Also did this on the Metric, and I felt much stronger going up this than last Sept. This is the same route the Tour of California took a couple weeks ago, so they had repaved the road, and you could still read the calk writing for the riders. Cancellara is the one I remember.

The next 5 miles, I absolutely love. My 6 mile split here was the fastest of the day at 22 mph. Just screaming through the countryside, HR down in the 130s or less. A couple more minor bumps and you're finished.

I rode to the host hotel, and then rode right by and rode back to my mother's house, which required another few feet of climbing. I would have loved to stop for some BBQ but we had dinner reservations in a couple hours and I wanted to sit and veg out for a while. I finished feeling really good, much better than I thought I would, and I wasn't hungry at all.

It was a good day of climbing. My Garmin registered just over 7,000 feet, not sure how accurate, but other MotionBased entries are in the 6-7K range as well.

Total nutrition for the ride: About 4 bottles Infinit (brought 4 bottles, + 1 baggie, didn't finish them all), 2-3 water, 2 gels, 1 PBJ, 6-7 fig newtons, 1/2 orange, 1/2 banana.

Nothing, happy with the ride and the nutrition. I'd like to go faster, but shedding some pounds would certainly help.

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I've done a number of rides up here, and they're all organized fairly well. They could use some sports drink, but I had my Infinit so I was fine. It's a beautiful place to ride your bike.