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10-10-09, 07:27 PM
This ride was number 3 in my Poor Man's Triple Crown (Triple Crown Lite, if you prefer).
3 Centuries in one month, a first for me.
Siskiyou Century 9/12
Harvest Ride Century 10/4
Condor Classic 10/10 (yikes, technically that is 2 Centuries in 1 week)
I wanted to burn em up on this one and finish this threesome strong.
I did a 100 in 6:30 (average speed 15.3)
I had hoped for more speed but the headwinds in the afternoon were just too much for any real hammering.
I ended up with 109 miles and 15.2 avg with some wrong turns.
I started at 6:25 am even though I got there at 5:45 and had good lights. I wanted to start earlier but... The Condor Classic was the first century I have seen that held everyone up for a bike inspection before they could get a bike number and a wristband. They did not start bike inspection until about 6:15! At least I was first in line and I proudly sported #1 on my frame all day.
Once underway I rode in the dark with lights awhile since sunrise was not until 7:08
The route was pretty well marked and had plenty of rest stops. I skipped rest #1 since it was only at mile 12, holding out for rest #2 which was at 20 miles.
Just my luck, rest stop #2 had not had any food or water delivered yet when I got there.
The big climb of the day and 35 miles were now between me and the next rest stop for lunch so that could have really been bad. Fortunately cool temperature kept water need down and I had cash for a Reese's Peanut butter cup at a poorly stocked mini market about 10 miles later up the road.
The route was very pretty for most of it and the parts that weren't super scenic at least had good roads and nice farm land.
I even saw a condor! That is the biggest bird I have ever seen.
Lunch was catered by Subway at Pinnacles National Monument which was pretty cool.
After lunch we backtracked down the only road in and out of The Pinnacles until a dirt road cut across the valley to take us to the back loop portion of the ride.
Thank goodness I always study a route nearly compulsively in the days before I go, because the cutoff to the back loop was a poorly marked dirt road. I over shot it by a couple miles then started thinking "hey wasn't there supposed to be a left on a dirt road around here?"
I stopped at a road junction and whipped out the route slip and map. The map was a savior, a nice touch that, not all Centuries give out a decent map and route slip. I drew a crowd of about 6 riders who also missed the turn and we figured out a long cut with the map that allowed us to avoid back tracking.
For the last 25 miles the winds were unholy bastards. Mean, evil things with cruel intentions.
I was struggling to keep the bike moving in double digit speeds that whole way and so was almost everyone else I saw.
At one point a house went swirling by and I saw a girl in a blue cotton print dress clutching a little dog inside. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kjIQXVNfEx8/R_OVzMzPKTI/AAAAAAAACbM/CD5LPk4KGpw/s400/oz01.jpg
By the way, like my new Halloween kit?
I enjoyed one thing about the wind, fields of herbs with a cross wind blowing at you at 30 mph smell amazing. The basil fields and mint fields were like aroma therapy for this tired pup.
All the volunteers were friendly and the post ride meal was one of the best I have ever had.
They know how to really do a tri-tip in central California since it was basically invented there.
The locally grown produce made the meal doubly amazing. A simple meal prepared from fresh local ingredients with real care is a thing of beauty.
I could have gone faster maybe without a light and external battery hanging on my bike but 200 lumens are nice to have.
All in all a real good ride, and the Poor Man's Triple Crown is something I am kind of proud of.
3 Centuries in one month, a first for me.
Siskiyou Century 9/12
Harvest Ride Century 10/4
Condor Classic 10/10 (yikes, technically that is 2 Centuries in 1 week)
I wanted to burn em up on this one and finish this threesome strong.
I did a 100 in 6:30 (average speed 15.3)
I had hoped for more speed but the headwinds in the afternoon were just too much for any real hammering.
I ended up with 109 miles and 15.2 avg with some wrong turns.
I started at 6:25 am even though I got there at 5:45 and had good lights. I wanted to start earlier but... The Condor Classic was the first century I have seen that held everyone up for a bike inspection before they could get a bike number and a wristband. They did not start bike inspection until about 6:15! At least I was first in line and I proudly sported #1 on my frame all day.
Once underway I rode in the dark with lights awhile since sunrise was not until 7:08
The route was pretty well marked and had plenty of rest stops. I skipped rest #1 since it was only at mile 12, holding out for rest #2 which was at 20 miles.
Just my luck, rest stop #2 had not had any food or water delivered yet when I got there.
The big climb of the day and 35 miles were now between me and the next rest stop for lunch so that could have really been bad. Fortunately cool temperature kept water need down and I had cash for a Reese's Peanut butter cup at a poorly stocked mini market about 10 miles later up the road.
The route was very pretty for most of it and the parts that weren't super scenic at least had good roads and nice farm land.
I even saw a condor! That is the biggest bird I have ever seen.
Lunch was catered by Subway at Pinnacles National Monument which was pretty cool.
After lunch we backtracked down the only road in and out of The Pinnacles until a dirt road cut across the valley to take us to the back loop portion of the ride.
Thank goodness I always study a route nearly compulsively in the days before I go, because the cutoff to the back loop was a poorly marked dirt road. I over shot it by a couple miles then started thinking "hey wasn't there supposed to be a left on a dirt road around here?"
I stopped at a road junction and whipped out the route slip and map. The map was a savior, a nice touch that, not all Centuries give out a decent map and route slip. I drew a crowd of about 6 riders who also missed the turn and we figured out a long cut with the map that allowed us to avoid back tracking.
For the last 25 miles the winds were unholy bastards. Mean, evil things with cruel intentions.
I was struggling to keep the bike moving in double digit speeds that whole way and so was almost everyone else I saw.
At one point a house went swirling by and I saw a girl in a blue cotton print dress clutching a little dog inside. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kjIQXVNfEx8/R_OVzMzPKTI/AAAAAAAACbM/CD5LPk4KGpw/s400/oz01.jpg
By the way, like my new Halloween kit?
I enjoyed one thing about the wind, fields of herbs with a cross wind blowing at you at 30 mph smell amazing. The basil fields and mint fields were like aroma therapy for this tired pup.
All the volunteers were friendly and the post ride meal was one of the best I have ever had.
They know how to really do a tri-tip in central California since it was basically invented there.
The locally grown produce made the meal doubly amazing. A simple meal prepared from fresh local ingredients with real care is a thing of beauty.
I could have gone faster maybe without a light and external battery hanging on my bike but 200 lumens are nice to have.
All in all a real good ride, and the Poor Man's Triple Crown is something I am kind of proud of.