Originally Posted by
Grumpy Pig
IMO, a better first century would be 50 miles one way on the coast and 50 miles back. Plenty of convenience stores and places to eat. I would say that Stagecoach is a medium level century. It's also in the middle of nowhere so you'll have to drive here very early in the morning or get a motel in El Centro.
I would agree on this, actually. You know, Grrlyrida, Happytime was kind enough to take me on a wonderful century that she knew the route of back in December. Once I'm back up and running, I'd like to pay that forward (and I'll be itching for a 100 miles). I could easily create a route very similar to what Frank is talking about, only we'd go up and off of PCH a little, and could plan to have lunch as well. Maybe others on here would want to join (including Happy). Of course, I understand if you want to do a paid, organized ride for your first one (that's an experience for sure with lots of other riders). In that case, Tour de Palm Springs is a pretty good first century.
Not that I'm knocking Stagecoach, but it does have it's limitations.