Hi folks,
My brother lives in Costa Mesa, while I am in Charlottesville, VA (near the foot of the Blue Ridge Mtns). Thus, we don't get to do much together any more and both have kids, but he has been riding, off and on, for a number of years on a quality bike (Felt). So I thought I might come out next year to do an organized century in So Cal with him, giving him a good target to train for (and he is a professional athlete - sailor - thus knows training!). I've been doing a bit of searching, looking for a decent ride, one that is challenging (e.g., a decent amount of climbing) but not totally outrageous (though some on my list below look to be pretty hard; thus are labeled "hard"). I've included my list below, and am wondering if y'all might point out nice rides that I have overlooked.
Both of us are in our early 40's, I am a former racer who now does the organized rides here in the Appalachian Mtns, my favorite being the Mountain Mama (13k of climbing, finishing with the front group in just a bit over 5 hours)...
Cheers,
Michael
Tour of Palm Springs - Feb. 12, 2011,
www.tourdepalmsprings.com
(included because my brother had heard of it)
Gran Fondo San Diego - 2nd wk'end of March, granfondosandiego.com
Mulholland Challenge - Apr. 9, 2011, hard
http://www.planetultra.com/MulChallenge/index.htm ;
Tour of California ride - mid-April,
www.breakawayride.com
Breathless Agony Ride, 1st wk'end in May, Redlands, hard
www.cyclingpros.com/onyx.htm
Heartbreak 100 - May 28, 2011, Frazier Park (N side of Los Padres NF), hard
http://www.planetultra.com/HB100/index.html
Palomar Challenge - mid-June, out-and-back 100km
http://www.julianactive.com/Palomar%20challenge.htm ;
Tour of Poway - 1st weekend of Oct (Oct. 3, 2010),
www.tourdepoway.com
King Ridge Gran Fondo (Levi Leipheimer) - 2nd wk'end of Oct., Santa Rosa
www.levisgranfondo.com
SLO Gran Fondo (Columbia-HTC) - 3rd wk'end of Oct, (Oct. 23, 2010)
www.slogranfondo.com
http://www.highroadsports.com/news/5...SLO-Gran-Fondo
Santa Barbara Century - Oct. 23, 2010 ; Gibraltar Rd climb
santabarbaracentury.org
Gran Fondo LA - 3rd wk'end of Oct (Oct. 24, 2010), granfondousa.com