Road Hard and Put Away Wet...aka Thomson's Turn as You Go Century Report and Pics
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merider1
As you all may know from my various whining and moaning on here of late about “got to get a century,” that today was the 12th hour to get one in for October. So, originally, I had a GMR/Chantry ride planned for which a few folks wanted to join. But with the recent fires, that was out of the picture due to road closures up there. So, what’s a girl to do?
Well….she throws a diva fit and asks one of the riders who signed up for her defunct route to design one that gets her 100 miles, of course! :D Lucky me, Thomson was more than happy to do so (he’s a walking organized ride, I tell ya! He knows every road and how to twist and loop around, easily to get how ever many miles you want. Perfect!). So, he, Ronjon10, Jschen, Cassave and I took off today on a route really no one, even Jim, knew for sure. We road Ventura to Santa Barbara Mission and back.
From the get-go, I knew I was going to be the slowest one, but since these sweet gentlemen, all of whom can drop me easily, had joined today keeping me company – and great company, might I add – I moved my butt. My goal was to not make them wait for long. Granted, I doubt they road their normal speed, but we sure weren’t slacking! From the moment we took off, it was upwards of 19mph! Jim decided to take us out for a 12 mile warm up and then head straight up Casitas Pass. Unfortunately for Jim, but lucky for me, he got a flat at our rest stop just before hitting the climb. I saw my chance and took off with Ron to climb Casitas before he, Steve and Jason could beat me up it and have to wait forever. Timing was perfect, and they only had to wait a minute or two. That was our biggest climb (although not the steepest), and Jim, ever rider-friendly, front-loaded the climbs. That was a good thing because I was wiped out by the end of the ride pushing my pace a little faster than comfortable to keep up (sort of). But I’m not complaining!
Highlights include:
1. The company as I repeat, due to these four men, I did not have to suffer a solo century today and was challenged, not to mention entertained!
2. At our first rest stop, I used the bathroom where I took off my knee warmers. Well, without getting into too much detail, I will just say that after I washed my hands, I noticed the knee warmers were gone. I looked everywhere in the bathroom and feared I had flushed them! Then it dawned on me and I stuck my hand down my drawers – there they were stuffed in my…um…chamois area. :o I was so embarrassed (but, of course, told the men square away) and now I know where to carry extra clothing in the future. :p
3. The stop at the mission with two bells. Lovely and I got all views on marriage.
4. Lunch. Long and leisurely at Baja Fresh. Nice!
5. The great pace back along the coast. It was stunning up there and perfect riding weather!
6. Clam chowder with the men after.
7. I’m proud to say that I was NOT a diva, thus the name of the ride (The Diva Ride) was changed.
Perfect day and thanks again, guys! You really made my day and ride. :love:
Total miles: 105.7 I got my October Century!!!!
Pics on their way…
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Looks like a fantasic ride. Good to see jschen sporting his new Texas edition BF's jersey too. Thats the one I designed. :p
mateo44
Boy I miss Santa Barbara! Thanks for the pics.
merider1
Looks like a fantasic ride. Good to see jschen sporting his new Texas edition BF's jersey too. Thats the one I designed. :p
:roflmao: OMG! Jason said you Texans would be happy. :D It looks great on him too.
merider1
Boy I miss Santa Barbara! Thanks for the pics.
Gotta get you and Mel up here for a ride...hint, hint. ;) :)
1955
Great pics ME, at least someone is getting some rides in...and just to bust your chops, didn't you mean "Rode"?:D:D
merider1
No...I meant ROAD. I wouldn't want folks to get the wrong idea. :p
herbm
Awesome..glad you had way better weather than we did on Sat....
Did anyone upload the garmin data...I would love to see the route...
jsigone
looked like GREAT weather up there, soo jealous!!!!!! Glad you all had fun up there too!!!
jschen
I had a great time. Thanks for the invite! And who knew that dozing off while standing up could be so comfortable?
awiner
Wonderful weather today ! Yesterday I got caught in the downpour. I swore I would never ride in the rain again but I was 30 miles out and in the middle of nowhere.
jschen
Oh, I should add that Patsy and Vivian got rather cozy together.
ronjon10
Awesome..glad you had way better weather than we did on Sat....
Did anyone upload the garmin data...I would love to see the route...
I've got it, but I forgot to turn it off, so it has the extra 60 miles on the drive home :rolleyes:
I'll fix that up tomorrow and post a link. The route was a lot of the Cool Breeze double metric (Lake casitas) with some subtractions (no Cali hill) and a few variations. The trip back to the car was 100% Cool breeze.
umd
It looks like from the pics you got all the way out to Goleta beach...
spingineer
hmm .. who were you with? oh yes, that's right, men :p
tprevost
Great Report M.E.!!! Love the pics :D Glad to hear you all got such a wonderful ride in!!! :p
Happytime
Looks like a great ride. Sorry I missed it!!!
merider1
hmm .. who were you with? oh yes, that's right, men :p
I love men and riding with them (not that I don't like women along too, mind you, but if it's all men, I can hang). Yesterday there was ZERO drama....well, except when this A-hole motorist buzzed Thomson and then Thomson got him to stop and told him to cool it. The guy was such a jerk, saying that we, as cyclists needed to get off the road when we knew a car was passing us (he also claimed that he rode a bike - riiiggghhhttt). The thing is, this guy had the whole road (both lanes wide open on a straight away with a middle turn lane) to get around Jim who was over the white light of the bike lane but not far over. Irony is, Jim is the first person to move over single file as he wears a rearview mirror, but on this road, he didn't see a particular need. The motorist was just one of those "driving angry" and wanted to be a jerk. Sigh. They're out there!
herbm
I've got it, but I forgot to turn it off, so it has the extra 60 miles on the drive home :rolleyes:
I'll fix that up tomorrow and post a link. The route was a lot of the Cool Breeze double metric (Lake casitas) with some subtractions (no Cali hill) and a few variations. The trip back to the car was 100% Cool breeze.
Thanks...
Cassave
I love men and riding with them (not that I don't like women along too, mind you, but if it's all men, I can hang). Yesterday there was ZERO drama....well, except when this A-hole motorist buzzed Thomson and then Thomson got him to stop and told him to cool it. The guy was such a jerk, saying that we, as cyclists needed to get off the road when we knew a car was passing us (he also claimed that he rode a bike - riiiggghhhttt). The thing is, this guy had the whole road (both lanes wide open on a straight away with a middle turn lane) to get around Jim who was over the white light of the bike lane but not far over. Irony is, Jim is the first person to move over single file as he wears a rearview mirror, but on this road, he didn't see a particular need. The motorist was just one of those "driving angry" and wanted to be a jerk. Sigh. They're out there!
That motorist should have his throttle foot ripped off by an unbathed hyena.
But aside from that it was a wholly satisfactory day and ME redeemed all past sins by
declaring Beck's Dark as "good".
Thanks all, it's the most fun I'll have this week.
Cassave
It looks like from the pics you got all the way out to Goleta beach...
True, had lunch up near the airport.
roadfix
Looks like a great ride. Sorry I missed it!!!Me too!
ronjon10
Awesome..glad you had way better weather than we did on Sat....
Did anyone upload the garmin data...I would love to see the route...
Here's my motionbased link (fixed to remove the drive home).
I worked way too hard. I can't remember the last time I did a ride where my average heart rate zone was 2+
Time to get back into better shape.
That looks very similar to what a lot of my ad-hoc centuries end up looking like, and you even rode right past (literally) my house.
spingineer
Glad you got your CAM in. The pictures are great. Looks like you had a great time. Great to see you getting a ride in.
ronjon10
That looks very similar to what a lot of my ad-hoc centuries end up looking like, and you even rode right past (literally) my house.
I can see why, it's beautiful riding up there. I like that there are so many bike friendly stretches with relatively few stop signs/lights, low traffic etc. Riding on the 101 is a hoot, I love it when the 18 wheelers pass by and create massive tailwinds (though I don't think everyone has that opinion).
umd
I can see why, it's beautiful riding up there. I like that there are so many bike friendly stretches with relatively few stop signs/lights, low traffic etc. Riding on the 101 is a hoot, I love it when the 18 wheelers pass by and create massive tailwinds (though I don't think everyone has that opinion).
During the spring and summer I'll often ride with people from my club around Casitas. We meet downtown (at a coffee company near where State crosses under the freeway). From my house to the start, then around casitas and back is about 84 miles. If I loop out to the end of Goleta before coming home, its just over 100. E.g. http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2994853 (I couldn't find any on MotionBased, but I did it a bunch before I got my Garmin).
Happytime
Hmmmm......
Has anyone noticed that everyone who went on this ride has been suspiciously quiet since? Too tired to post, eh?
ME... what did you do to those poor boys?! :p:rolleyes:;)
Cassave
Hmmmm......
Has anyone noticed that everyone who went on this ride has been suspiciously quiet since? Too tired to post, eh?
ME... what did you do to those poor boys?! :p:rolleyes:;)
Joy;
She tried, she tried mighty hard but we were too much for her I guess.
Poor thing musta been sore as hell the next day, probably taken to her bed with the vapors.....
Happytime
The vapors. So THAT'S what they're calling it nowadays.
thomson
Wow, what a ride, I have not been able to even move since. Well, maybe a little. Ok, maybe a lot.
Anyway, it was a great ride with great people. Thanks Mary, Steve, Ron, and Jason for the great ride.
Go_Fast
Looks like a great ride. Sorry I missed it!!!
me three!
Surferbruce
to me a day like that is better than any officially organized ride. for me at least, your adventure is what cycling (at it's best) is all about.
thanks for sharing (and good job!)