First off, congratulations to all with their up-to-date accomplishments!

I tried this past weekend to complete a 300k brevet on my Gitane Super Corsa. On Saturday a heavy winter storm finally descended on California. In the midst of that we eleven souls started out to ride the central coast from San Luis Obispo to San Miguel then over the coast mountains to Ragged Point before returning to SLO by Hwy 1. None of us made the full 300k.

The ride started off fine, with some rain, but we were prepared for that. From Paso Robles to San Miguel we were drenched in a cloud burst, with the temperature dropping into the 40's, but we were prepared for that. It actually got nicer, with a tiny patch of sun that lasted for a few miles as we began the climb over the foothill wine country. But then it went wrong. The clouds were heavy with Alaskan cold and we faced freezing head wind and hail. I began to have trouble with my right eye, which tends to stop working in cold weather due to nerve damage from previous surgery. There was lots of debris on the road from the wind and hail and I was having to hold my right eye closed with my gloved hand and dodge the debris as best as I could. We were all experiencing hypothermia to some degree.

Finally we turned directly into the wind and I could tell that my eye was not going to take the dessicating wind blast (wind chill in the 30's or 20's) so I had to abandon the ride. Fast forward through the next couple of hours while I got back to start, picked up my trusty Forester and went searching for my previous ride mates to make sure they were OK. I ended up picking up four, loading my top rack and rear cargo completely and all five adult men jammed in. Those who made it the farthest were close to the turn-around point at Ragged Point, in the teeth of the wind. Three of the five who were in front of me had experienced multiple flats from one section of road. And with frozen hands one had induced a pinch flat into his replacement tube. One woman who had been behind us actually rode the furthest but also abandoned the course and rode back to SLO with the wind at her back. The rest had abandoned earlier. Yes, I was a wimp.

We comiserated over dinner back at our brevet leaders house. I took a few pictures but none were good enough to post here. The next morning I drove home and could see the result of the winter storm. Fresh snow just about everywhere along the coastal range. So now the plan is to ride a 200k permanent before the end of the month.

Jim