I posted a very similar version to this in the road bike forum. Anyway, it's been another March, which means another Solvang Century, my 23rd in the last 27 years. I rode my first Solvang century in 1987, when I was 39. A nephew's bar mitzvah, my daughter's marriage, and a family illness have kept from from three more Solvang centuries. I love the ride, and love testing my ability to keep riding at what might be my favorite long ride (I also have a soft spot for the Chico, California, Wildflower Century.
This year, this past Saturday, on a cool morning, I straddled my bike, my brother Dan and long-time friend and riding companion, Silas, beside me, as we looked up at a decorative windmill at the start of the ride.
I weighed about as much for this ride, and rode about as much in training, as I have for almost every century I've ridden. Most of those rides came in just the last few weeks before Dan and I and Silas traveled to Solvang, the little faux Danish tourist town tucked into the Central Coast Mountains of California, about 125 north of my home. Although I wanted to ride 50 or 60 miles once or twice, I only got in a couple of 40 miles rides during the last month, several shorter rides, and I did pedal up some very steep hills. Unfortunately, I was coming off a foot injury that made for some easy riding until the very end, when I felt I literally had to push harder toward fitness. I got in a good last 50 miles those last few rides.
I always think, though, that I can ride three times farther what I do in practice, so I was confident I'd be able to complete another 100 mile ride. Fifty would just have to get me to 100.
At my age, there are many cyclists fitter than I am. Because I made a commitment in the early 1970s to stay fit for as long as I could through the rest of my life, I'm probably in better physical shape than most people my age. To complete 100 miles in a day, on a ride with 5,000+ feet of elevation gain, you need to in reasonable shape, or you will suffer. And I did suffer some. My ass hurt for quite a while at about 50 miles and then, as always happens, around mile 80 or so, the pain went away.
The first few miles out of Solvang led us generally west, toward the first rest stop, in the town of Lompoc. Somehow Silas slipped by us, while Dan and I shed our outer layers at the top of a hill when the day began to warm. We wouldn't see Silas again until the end of the ride.
The preternaturally warm winter sun began to take a toll on some cyclists early on, who had to walk up the last hill at about 23 miles.
Long ago, my brother and I rode the Solvang Century each year with a group of friends. While most of them still ride, they've all stopped pedaling 100 miles in a day. For me, though, I need to keep the flame lit, to feel the force of life, to set a goal and, for as long as I can, stay the course. I'm fairly certain Dan and Silas feel they way I do, too.
A chance meeting with Mira - who we did not know before the ride - came after the first rest stop and more than made up for losing Silas. If she wasn't as strong as Dan and I were, she made up for it in stamina, having put many more miles on her cyclometer than either of us had. After chatting for a bit, assessing our strengths, we decided to stick together for a while, which turned out to be the next 70 miles and the end of the ride. Mira definitely had a positive attitude.
Part of the route led through the vast Vandenberg Airforce Base, where missiles are tested for war and blasted into space to place satellites into orbit. At one point, after pushing hard up a hill, I posed for a photo with two more new friends, who worked on the base, while waiting for Dan and Mira to catch up with me.
There are five rest stops well supplied with food. Support for the ride, as usual, awesome.
There was plenty of Spiz, the energy drink created by Randy Ice, the man who also created the Solvang Century in 1982. I always manage to eat too much food on century rides. Next year, I'm going to try to make it through the day mostly on Spiz and/or whatever other energy drinks I bring to Solvang. Spiz seems as good as any - and tasted as good as any - and I drank a fair amount of it the second half of the ride, when the temperature rose above 80 degrees.