3 hours of sleep, ugh. Eating breakfast now, and waiting for it to get light. See y'all out there!

3 hours of sleep, ugh. Eating breakfast now, and waiting for it to get light. See y'all out there!

Just got up now.... :twitchy:

A little over 4.5 for me, not bad compared to my usual fall asleep at 2am.

Eating breakfast. Knee feels tender ... uh oh ... we'll see how it goes. See y'all out there.

I'm fresh. Relaxing day yesterday, hot tub, etc. Nice recovery from my commute Friday that left me a bit run down.

So I have no excuses :)

My knee was bugging me on Monday when we did Hamilton, from a 45 mile ride including a climb up 9 on Sunday. Between the knee and dead quads, well, I learned my lesson and that's why I didn't do the ride yesterday.
yeeehaw.

8:13:47 ride time
141 avg HR 177 max
4971 kcals
127.3 miles
Avg speed 15.4, Max 42.2
Avg cadence 77, Max 111

I'm going to eat an ice cream factory now.

We ended up starting around the same time as Reid and Owner, which was 7 AM.

We must have been just behind towards the end...

Distance = 113.5 miles
Ride Time = 7:21
Avg Speed = 15.4 mph
Max Speed = 53.5 mph

Charlie was a killer on the tandem, but we did not stop, the whole way up. I stopped at the very beginning of Charlie to stretch to really quick and then it was on.

I saw Ron at the lunch stop just as he was leaving, and then again I passed by him on the descent right before the fire station.

We hit 53.5 mph on HWY 1, that was pretty awesome.

We also ended up pulling an entire Webcor contingent the entire length of HWY 1 at 35+ mph.... Didn't even get a "thank you." :rolleyes:

More to come later...

Turned out to be a beautiful day. Somebody posted yesterday about full-fingered gloves, which reminded me that I actually have a pair. Good thing -- it was chilly this morning! All in all, it was a great first century for me. The rest stops were nicely stocked. Turns out I didn't need to bring the drink mix and Clif bars that I stuffed in my pockets this morning. I also experienced how difficult (for me, anyway) it is to eat real food during a long ride, but I knew I had to or risk bonking.

I met spingineer and uspspro and his girlfriend. I think I just missed the tandem train leaving the second rest stop. We were off by a few minutes most of the day.

Ride time - 8:17
Distance - 136
Ave speed - 16.6
Max speed - 47

I spend a total of 3 hours at the rest stops. I don't know if that's a lot, but I felt I needed the time to digest a little.
EDIT: The 3 hours includes time at the VA before and after the ride, so it's probably more like 2:15 at the rest stops. That seems more reasonable...

First post here, I was riding with the FFBC (Fremont Freewheelers) group, my final stats were 112.5 miles, 8900 feet of climbing, riding time 7:04, average speed 16.1 mph. Average HR 152, max 185. Calories 4650 according to Polar (so I had dinner twice).

This was definitely a tough ride, but I really enjoyed the whole route (much more than my previous Sequoia Century two years ago): Page Mill Road going up was a good way to start the day; Alpine Road was a bit slippery in places but a overall a fun descent; there is no nicer ride than Pescadero Road (great pavement and scenery), and the tailwind on Highway 1 along with the view made that stretch so much fun to crank it up mile after mile; (I think I met USPSPRO on the tandem too when he needed a multitool to tighten up a bottle cage, that sure was a fast tandem, nice draft when you could catch them, and I always say thank you for the ride:)).

I did not enjoy Mt. Charlie though, the road surface was poor, very narrow, and we had a close encounter with a runaway deer and an idiot in a pickup truck, fortunately no one was hurt but the deer didn't survive I was told:(. The Skyline climb was endless but the grade was easy enough, Highway 9 descent was so smooth that I was tempted to keep going down to Saratoga, but the final climb on Mt. Eden was a bit too hard for me at mile 99. We finally paid for the coastal tailwind with that headwind on the way back to the VA, but considering that our group had no flats, no accidents, and great support from WW, I shouldn't complain.

I set my computer at home, 15 miles from the start point, so that's what most of my stats are for. I also reset it at the start of the ride, but don't have a way of stopping it, so the *other* timer includes the ride + my ride home only.

Full day:
Distance: 143.60
Time: 10:27
Avg Speed: 13.74
Max Speed: 44.83 (on 1; I wasn't even pedaling)
Trip Climb: 10,267ft

Stats for the Sequoia + ride home (15 miles, almost exactly 1h):
Distance: 128.90
Time: 9:31:41
Avg HR: 143
Max HR: 177

So for Sequoia, my estimate:
Distance: 114.0
Time: 8:31

I am pretty pleased with my HR. I need to read up on HR training, because I've only used it once before with this computer. On my ride to PA at 6 this morning I was trying to stay under 140. Of course the hills blew that but I tried to take it easy; I rarely even touched 170. I think my max is somewhere around 190ish based on my age and weight (27/195). Most parts of the ride I was 150 or lower. Definitely took it easy, and rode by myself almost the entire way except the last 10 miles on Foothill (into a headwind.. ugh).

My #1 observation from today was that EVERYONE passed me, and I passed almost nobody. Although I kept seeing the same people, probably because I only spent ~15min in the rest stops, and maybe 30-40 mins at lunch.

Surprisingly, nobody passed me going up Mountain Charlie until near the very end. I think the group was too spread out.. and/or anyone who hadn't passed me by the 70 mile mark wasn't gonna pass me :)

I also hit a new low speed; 2.5mph up Charlie in the saddle, and I managed to go as low as 3.5 standing. Man, that thing is STEEP. Anyone know the grade of the steeper sections?

Anyway, good times. I feel great, legs a bit stiff, knees a bit worn, but I definitely didn't kill myself out there. I need to get faster up the hills, though -- a LOT faster.

Reid,
I completely missed you on the ride. If you rode with me, I definitely would not have passed you.

I posted my ride report and pics on the other thread ... http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=6800697&postcount=2

Yeah, I meant to leave home at 5:30 which turned into more like 5:45 or 5:50, so I didn't get to the VA till quarter to 7, hung around for 5 mins, met Marco and Ruth, and left just before 7.

Based on our average speeds and the fact that I left (almost?) an hour later, I would have finished 40 mins before you, but of course that would be given equal time stopped. I didn't get back to the VA until minutes before 6 (like, 5:55).

Mountain Charlie was an absolute killer. It was not up then flat. It was struggle to gain every inch of climbing, then give it all away on a pointless middling descent. So frustrating when you're watching your altitude and can't wait to get to the "peak" only to keep descending over and over. Just read somewhere that the steepest sections are 17%. Take that with a grain of salt, but it seems appropriate from what little I know about grade.

After the assault of Mt. Charlie, I think the rollies on Skyline is what really did me in. At least with Mt. Charlie, you know what you are getting. But with Skyline, it lulls you to thinking it's fini, but au contraire ... it's very sneaky and very cruel.

To me the rudest surprise was whatever road that was where you turn left after you finish Mt. Charlie. I thought the climbing was supposed to ease up for a while -- and then you got that pitch that seemed as steep as anything we'd just completed. Skyline was playing tricks on me too. In places, I would swear it was flat -- no grade at all -- and yet it was taking everything I had to crack 8 mph. Favorite part of the ride was those few miles before the first rest stop, cruising through that redwood forest. There were some pretty impressive trees in that area.

<snip>.

We also ended up pulling an entire Webcor contingent the entire length of HWY 1 at 35+ mph.... Didn't even get a "thank you." :rolleyes:

<snip>...


You need to teach Ruth to fart loudly and often. 'Seems to be an effective way of taking care of wheelsucking ingrates. Now, if you invite them along, well, that's your problem...;)

To me the rudest surprise was whatever road that was where you turn left after you finish Mt. Charlie. I thought the climbing was supposed to ease up for a while -- and then you got that pitch that seemed as steep as anything we'd just completed. Skyline was playing tricks on me too. In places, I would swear it was flat -- no grade at all -- and yet it was taking everything I had to crack 8 mph.

Johnny99 mentioned to expect that. I knew from a previous ride with BigSean, Eric, & Tim up Zayante (west of Mt. Charlie) that Skyline is deceptive. The grade is long and gradual and from tired legs it leaves you grumbling enough already. I missed my 42 ring badly as I could not get a good rhythm going with the 34.

Johnny99 mentioned to expect that. I knew from a previous ride with BigSean, Eric, & Tim up Zayante (west of Mt. Charlie) that Skyline is deceptive. The grade is long and gradual and from tired legs it leaves you grumbling enough already. I missed my 42 ring badly as I could not get a good rhythm going with the 34.

Yeah, I have done part of Skyline once before, on the 2006 Sequoia Century (which, overall, was a much different route). I knew that it involved more climbing, but I remembered it as being more obvious rollers. What was messing with me was how flat it appeared -- or even, in some places, downhill. But my cyclometer and lungs were telling me otherwise.

Here's my stats for the ride from my powertap:


Entire workout (157 watts):
Duration: 6:50:28 (7:39:56)
Work: 3801 kJ
TSS: 337.3 (intensity factor 0.707)
Norm Power: 191
VI: 1.22
Pw:HR: 8.75%
Pa:HR: 15.45%
Distance: 113.087 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 738 157 watts
Heart Rate: 98 190 157 bpm
Cadence: 29 244 82 rpm
Speed: 0 46.2 16.8 mph
Pace 1:18 0:00 3:35 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 446 87 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1110 169 lb-in

And for those who like pretty graphs:

Here's my stats for the ride from my powertap:


Entire workout (157 watts):
Duration: 6:50:28 (7:39:56)
Work: 3801 kJ
TSS: 337.3 (intensity factor 0.707)
Norm Power: 191
VI: 1.22
Pw:HR: 8.75%
Pa:HR: 15.45%
Distance: 113.087 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 738 157 watts
Heart Rate: 98 190 157 bpm
Cadence: 29 244 82 rpm
Speed: 0 46.2 16.8 mph
Pace 1:18 0:00 3:35 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 446 87 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1110 169 lb-in

And for those who like pretty graphs:


Hi parity, I have the same PT software. Here are my stats:

Entire workout (173 watts):
Duration: 8:17:08 (11:14:35)
Work: 5104 kJ
TSS: 612.6 (intensity factor 0.864)
Norm Power: 207
VI: 1.2
Pw:HR: 9.22%
Pa:HR: 10.86%
Distance: 136.339 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1047 173 watts
Heart Rate: 56 180 147 bpm
Cadence: 29 244 84 rpm
Speed: 2.2 47 16.6 mph
Pace 1:17 26:49 3:37 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 570 92 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1259 184 lb-in


Some of our stats are pretty similar. Overall, it looks like you used less power to maintain a faster pace. I'm wondering if I could get more efficient like you. Are you fairly light in weight? Did you do a lot of pacelining?

I am about 145lbs at 5' 10". I hooked up with a few pace lines here and there. On highway 1 it was just me and another guy trading pulls. Also I got into a very fast 3 person rotating pace line on foothill which was nice. After Mt Charlie, on Summit & Skyline, I was riding solo though for a long time. I think some riders would do well to learn how to do a proper rotating pace line. Having one guy on the front for like 10 mins isn't very efficient. :) But I guess most people are content to just sit on and let someone else do the work.

Having one guy on the front for like 10 mins isn't very efficient. :) But I guess most people are content to just sit on and let someone else do the work.

Some just like to pull too ;)

In our case with the tandem, I tried to paceline with the Webcor guys, but every time the rollers flattened out or went to a slight decline, I would be accelerating by them (or slamming on my brakes). So I just decided to hammer and stay in front. I think they decided to just wheel suck at that point.

I could tell they had to slow slightly on the ups of the rollers, but then pedal their asses off to hold the wheel on the way down. :D

I wish I had an average speed for just the HWY 1 part of the ride. Must have been pretty quick to still have a 15.4 mph overall average with all the 4 mph crap up Mt. Charlie/Summit/etc... :thumb:

I am about 145lbs at 5' 10". I hooked up with a few pace lines here and there. On highway 1 it was just me and another guy trading pulls. Also I got into a very fast 3 person rotating pace line on foothill which was nice. After Mt Charlie, on Summit & Skyline, I was riding solo though for a long time. I think some riders would do well to learn how to do a proper rotating pace line. Having one guy on the front for like 10 mins isn't very efficient. :) But I guess most people are content to just sit on and let someone else do the work.

Sounds like a good cycling build. I'm about 5'9" and probably 150lbs, maybe a little less these days. I didn't find any pacelines until the end, on Foothill. Like you said, nobody was rotating though, and they were moseying along at 19-20. I went to the front and said I'd take a pull, but nobody followed. I came up on another big group, not rotating and also doing ~20. After a while, I went to the front and pulled them up to 25 or so, but when I was ready to take a break and enjoy the draft, we were pretty much at the VA.

When pacelining with strangers, how do you signal when you're done with your pull? Three Webcor guys passed me doing a rotating paceline, somewhere around Pescadero I think. I followed them for a while just to watch, from about 12 feet back. I didn't see any elbow flicking or other signaling, but they were rotating pretty smoothly. Since I'm uncertain about paceline "etiquette," I didn't rotate in and just let them go after a while so I wouldn't blow myself up. It sure looked like fun, though.

I think that's the same group that latched on with us, as you probably left just after us. They passed us at first, then we passed them, this went back and forth a couple of times, until we just stayed in front.

One of them was definitely faster then the others.

Anyway, I like to do the elbow flick just to let others know I'm pulling off. Then pull off left, let the wind slow you down a little and smoothly merge into the back of the line.

I didn't see any elbow flicking or other signaling, but they were rotating pretty smoothly. Since I'm uncertain about paceline "etiquette," I didn't rotate in and just let them go after a while so I wouldn't blow myself up. It sure looked like fun, though.

How long were each one at the front. Sometimes if the rotation is constant, there's no need to signal, you just know it's your turn when the front guy pulls over a bit.

How long were each one at the front. Sometimes if the rotation is constant, there's no need to signal, you just know it's your turn when the front guy pulls over a bit.

It varied, probably because the three of them were not equally strong. This was somewhere after the climb that followed the first rest stop, where there wasn't really a shoulder. They were all over the lane, so it was kind of like watching a closed course road race. :lol:

I didn't do any pacelining on this ride. I wanted to save myself, so I didn't push to get into the slipstream of a pack if it was going to stretch me. Plus, it's kinda hard to paceline on a hill ... at least for me it's hard. However, we did have a pretty good pack going the last 5-10 miles of the ride. Plus, the girl in front of me was cute (from the back). Maybe that was my motivation at the end of the ride?

http://cccorlew.home.comcast.net/hosting/lost.png
Here's my Sequoia Route. As you can see, i got lost at the end. In keeping with reporting stats, here are my weak ones.
8752 climbing
120.4 miles
12.8 MPH on the bike average
Bike time 9:22
Total time 10:36
Max climb 16.2%
Worn out factor 97.3%
Days to recover 2.2
Beers after ride 2

That's a heck of a detour! At least you missed Mt. Eden, that last hill was short but too steep for the end of such a ride.
What happened to you at the lunch stop in Santa Cruz? One minute you are right behind me and then no sign of you at the reststop a minute later. Did you skip that stop?

I was feeling good, and the water bottles were full. I though I just keep moving.
I figured you'd catch me on the way up. You must have gone by when i was off the road taking off my leg warmers and all.
What a hill that Mt. Charlie is!

http://cccorlew.home.comcast.net/hosting/lost.png
Here's my Sequoia Route. As you can see, i got lost at the end. In keeping with reporting stats, here are my weak ones.
8752 climbing
120.4 miles
12.8 MPH on the bike average
Bike time 9:22
Total time 10:36
Max climb 16.2%
Worn out factor 97.3%
Days to recover 2.2
Beers after ride 2

Wow, Curtis, you passed through my neighborhood. You really took an extended detour. And yet, you still got to the finish waaaay before I did.

What a hill that Mt. Charlie is!

Yep! I had to stop about 3 times before reaching the Skyline rest stop.

When pacelining with strangers, how do you signal when you're done with your pull? Three Webcor guys passed me doing a rotating paceline, somewhere around Pescadero I think. I followed them for a while just to watch, from about 12 feet back. I didn't see any elbow flicking or other signaling, but they were rotating pretty smoothly. Since I'm uncertain about paceline "etiquette," I didn't rotate in and just let them go after a while so I wouldn't blow myself up. It sure looked like fun, though.

As you mentioned you can flick your elbow or I make a small motion with my hand to wave the person behind me through. But generally speaking there isn't much need to do these things. The reason for this is because the person on the front will move to the right once this happens the person on the left knows to pull through (or whichever direction you're rotating). But if I feel I am with a less experienced rider I will generally make some kind of motion. Generally I don't do much talking when I initiate a pace line. I just ride up on your wheel and ride behind for a while. Then I will go to the front make sure you're on my wheel and ride for a bit. Then wave you through. The problem starts happening if you get 3 or more people where some people don't know how to properly pace line. You have the guy who loves to ride on the front all day. Usually this is this probably the strongest guy in the pace line. Then you have the guy who likes to surge once he's on the front and gap the pace line.

And its always good to scream "get on" when you pass a single rider that way they know their welcome. When I am out there alone, if someone fast comes by I'll go like mad to get on their wheel and try to trade pulls with them. Of course don't try this with a triathlete. They never seem to like it. :roflmao2: They'll make some snarky remark or I had one guy once start riding all crazy so I dropped back to give him some space.

That's a heck of a detour! At least you missed Mt. Eden, that last hill was short but too steep for the end of such a ride.

Did anyone go down Redwood Gulch? I was considering that when descending highway 9. But this woman was bombing down and I was tucked in her draft most of the way. So I just followed her to Pierce. Of course when I hit Mt Eden my legs were regretting my decision.

Maybe I had my second wind when going down Hwy 9 ... I wasn't climbing Mt. Eden the fastest, but I wasn't hurting too much more than before, unless everyone is really exaggerating. Point is, I didn't think Mt. Eden at that point was all that bad.

We hit 53.5 mph on HWY 1, that was pretty awesome.

We also ended up pulling an entire Webcor contingent the entire length of HWY 1 at 35+ mph.... Didn't even get a "thank you." :rolleyes:


I was almost part of that contingent but I don't like to pay money that kind of money just to ride; so I did a nice short ride with my wife and daughter..

Anyway, three of the four were on today's B-Ride and I asked asked Greg (Hhe's the one who was going by you on the uphills) at the start of today's ride how the century ride went. He said it was great and mentioned hammering down Hwy 1 with a tandem. I asked if it was a white Santana. He said yes and that they had fun chasing you down Hwy 1. :)

But, as a tandem rider myself, I know how irritating it can be, when there's a series of rollers, to have someone on a single come by you just before a downhill and then pass them like a fast moving freight train after you crest and get your momentum back.

BTW, they're all a bunch of nice guys. Come out to the B-ride some Saturday morning and I'll introduce you. That way, you can roll your eyes at them in person.

- SteveE

Does anyone know about what happened to the woman who went down on the train tracks on Rt. 1? They were taking her out on a stretcher in a neck brace. I asked the route official there if she was OK, and he said yes, but what else would he say? That's the only crash I am aware of.