3X Century Ride Report
06-24-13, 09:48 AM
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3X Century Ride Report
Well, we finished the Grand Tour Triple Century on Saturday.
I gotta get more sleep for these events. Inevitably, I work a full week and the day before the ride, and find myself putting the bike together, changing tires, filling water bottles, lubing chains, and just generally getting things ready. By the time I get to sleep, and to start the ride itself on time, I've got to rise at 2:30. Getting 3 hours of sleep is one thing ... riding 300 miles on 3 hours sleep is another. Oy.
Anyway, I still had the emergency replacement tire from the Eastern Sierra Double on the bike, so the evening before, I put on a new set of tires. I hadn't received the Gatorskins yet, so I went with the GP4000s. And it was a good thing I got up early, as I noticed that the front tire was flat when I went to put my bike in the car. I took the time to fix it at home, a little concerned that I was going to miss the 4AM clip in time.
But no worries ... I arrived on time, and no one seemed to overly concerned about what time we started.
Rick, Stefan, his friend (forgot his name
) and myself were going to do the triple. Loren, Kurt and a Rick's friend were doing the double, but since the routes substantially coincide, we all rode together as a big group. We left at 4:30.
The ride to the first rest stop went quickly. Rick and I separated from the lead group for a pee break, but we arrived shortly afterward. From there, we went though the strawberry fields to the base of Potrero.
Potrero is the first climb of the day, and it can be nasty. It starts off benignly enough, but it just keeps ramping up until the last two tenths of a mile are a good 15-18%. Usually, I'm among the faster climbers in a group, but not this one. It turns out that Stefan's friend is a Cat 3 racer (and wins at that level). He set the pace. So now, I'm chasing him, Rick (fast), Stefan (also fast), and Erin (another cat racer we met along the route and also fast) up the hill and for the rest of the day. Ooof.
Nasty climb, eh? Not for this guy ... he did the whole thing on a beach cruiser! Thank God at least I was able to pass him. lol
Anyway, here are some of us at the top ... looking waaaay too chipper.
Kurt and L took a little longer, so we met up with them at the second rest stop:
From there, we rode up Little Potrero, down through Hidden Valley and Thousand Oaks, making pretty good time. The route then takes us up Grimes Canyon Road and down the other side to a fun descent into Santa Paula Valley. At this point, there is generally a headwind (and there was today), but we pacelined through, taking turns.
From there, we head up through Santa Paula and up and over Dennison Pass for lunch at Ojai. I dropped a chain on the flattish downhill, and had to ride like a demon to catch up (I left my map at the start). That found me really scooting down the Dennison Grade at pretty good speeds. I think I've finally lost the fear I had after that crash back in 2008.
Lunch was fab. Burritos, fruit, chips ... all good stuff. We ran into Kurt and Loren again. With all our fast climbing and pacelining, they really weren't all that far behind us ... only a half an hour or so.
Here's a group photo. I'm the slob next to the the eye candy in the middle there. This was her first double, and she's hooked!
From there, it's up and over Casitas Pass ... typically very hot, but not so much today. The descent on the other side was fun, but marred by someone driving a stakebed truck who not only passed US around a blind curve and cut us off, they apparently did it to several other cyclists as well. Wish I had a chance to get the license number of that ***hole.
That brought us to the Rincon rest stop. Doubles riders head back from here, but triple riders do an out and back to Riena Mariposa ... 50 miles distant. We rolled through Carpenteria and Montecito ... beautiful towns. I took out my camera to snap some pix and some mentally ill MFer threatened to take my camera away from me. I have to tell you, I'm losing my patience with some of them. We had a woman stabbed to death in the streets of LA by a homeless person recently ... all because she refused to pay him the $1 he demanded for taking his picture. One thing I'm sure of is that you can never win an argument with mental illness or alcohol, but you can and should put the violent ones out of circulation.
Anyway, we eventually rolled into the Gaviota rest stop, where I got a pix with Anny:
I gotta get more sleep for these events. Inevitably, I work a full week and the day before the ride, and find myself putting the bike together, changing tires, filling water bottles, lubing chains, and just generally getting things ready. By the time I get to sleep, and to start the ride itself on time, I've got to rise at 2:30. Getting 3 hours of sleep is one thing ... riding 300 miles on 3 hours sleep is another. Oy.
Anyway, I still had the emergency replacement tire from the Eastern Sierra Double on the bike, so the evening before, I put on a new set of tires. I hadn't received the Gatorskins yet, so I went with the GP4000s. And it was a good thing I got up early, as I noticed that the front tire was flat when I went to put my bike in the car. I took the time to fix it at home, a little concerned that I was going to miss the 4AM clip in time.
But no worries ... I arrived on time, and no one seemed to overly concerned about what time we started.
Rick, Stefan, his friend (forgot his name
) and myself were going to do the triple. Loren, Kurt and a Rick's friend were doing the double, but since the routes substantially coincide, we all rode together as a big group. We left at 4:30.The ride to the first rest stop went quickly. Rick and I separated from the lead group for a pee break, but we arrived shortly afterward. From there, we went though the strawberry fields to the base of Potrero.
Potrero is the first climb of the day, and it can be nasty. It starts off benignly enough, but it just keeps ramping up until the last two tenths of a mile are a good 15-18%. Usually, I'm among the faster climbers in a group, but not this one. It turns out that Stefan's friend is a Cat 3 racer (and wins at that level). He set the pace. So now, I'm chasing him, Rick (fast), Stefan (also fast), and Erin (another cat racer we met along the route and also fast) up the hill and for the rest of the day. Ooof.
Nasty climb, eh? Not for this guy ... he did the whole thing on a beach cruiser! Thank God at least I was able to pass him. lol
Anyway, here are some of us at the top ... looking waaaay too chipper.
Kurt and L took a little longer, so we met up with them at the second rest stop:
From there, we rode up Little Potrero, down through Hidden Valley and Thousand Oaks, making pretty good time. The route then takes us up Grimes Canyon Road and down the other side to a fun descent into Santa Paula Valley. At this point, there is generally a headwind (and there was today), but we pacelined through, taking turns.
From there, we head up through Santa Paula and up and over Dennison Pass for lunch at Ojai. I dropped a chain on the flattish downhill, and had to ride like a demon to catch up (I left my map at the start). That found me really scooting down the Dennison Grade at pretty good speeds. I think I've finally lost the fear I had after that crash back in 2008.
Lunch was fab. Burritos, fruit, chips ... all good stuff. We ran into Kurt and Loren again. With all our fast climbing and pacelining, they really weren't all that far behind us ... only a half an hour or so.
Here's a group photo. I'm the slob next to the the eye candy in the middle there. This was her first double, and she's hooked!
From there, it's up and over Casitas Pass ... typically very hot, but not so much today. The descent on the other side was fun, but marred by someone driving a stakebed truck who not only passed US around a blind curve and cut us off, they apparently did it to several other cyclists as well. Wish I had a chance to get the license number of that ***hole.
That brought us to the Rincon rest stop. Doubles riders head back from here, but triple riders do an out and back to Riena Mariposa ... 50 miles distant. We rolled through Carpenteria and Montecito ... beautiful towns. I took out my camera to snap some pix and some mentally ill MFer threatened to take my camera away from me. I have to tell you, I'm losing my patience with some of them. We had a woman stabbed to death in the streets of LA by a homeless person recently ... all because she refused to pay him the $1 he demanded for taking his picture. One thing I'm sure of is that you can never win an argument with mental illness or alcohol, but you can and should put the violent ones out of circulation.
Anyway, we eventually rolled into the Gaviota rest stop, where I got a pix with Anny:
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Last edited by Biker395; 06-24-13 at 10:17 AM.
06-24-13, 09:49 AM
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From there, it's a typically windy ride on the 101 until you get to the turnaround point. We pacelined most of the way.
From there, we scooted through Santa Barbara and Carpinteria on pretty much empty streets. It was completely dark by the time we got back to the Rincon rest stop. From there, we had to ride through a lot of construction on the 101. This section is typically no fun, with cars zooming by at 70+MPH. There is plenty of shoulder, but spooky at night.
What we didn't know is that the construction also completely eliminated the bike lane(!) We zoomed down the offramp, following the usual route, and came to a sudden stop when we noticed that CalTrans had put concrete dividers, right up to the fog line! Holy crap!
Fortunately, everyone had their wits about them and STOPPED instead of running ahead. That road is WAY too busy and WAY too narrow for that. We backed up to another point to get off the freeway, and hopefully, get back on where it was safe. I'm telling you now that if there was no bike lane from that point onward, I was going to call a cab to get to the other side. NO WAY that was safe.
I know that our route slip probably mentioned this little detour, but there were no signs from CalTrans, nor did anyone at the rest stop warn us about it. IMHO, they definitely should have. WE knew better, but after going 200+ miles and being tired, I could absolutely see some cyclists trying to run through that section, and that would be a huge mistake!
Anyway, I digress. After scuttling though that busy section, we got back onto the frontage road and had a nice ride all the way down to Ventura. One of us had a spoke break, so Rick did some impromptu repairs.
I've done this ride many times, and I've never liked the route through Ventura and Oxnard. Every year, we get at least one horn and middle finger. I actually mentioned it to someone while we were riding though ... it wasn't a matter of "if" ... it was a matter of "when."
And sure enough, some probably drunk miscreants passed us on a 3 lane road, saw fit to beep their horns at us and give us the finger. It's predictable enough, I might call the local constable next year and have them waiting for an easy arrest.
Another couple of scary things happened here. One thing I don't like about riding in pacelines is that the chance of a crash multiplies. I had been riding all day with everyone, and they did a GREAT job of riding predictably and pointing out obstacles. But that started to fall apart as the night came. I dunno if it was for lack of visibility or fatigue, but twice, I found myself unexpectedly coming upon a curb, and had to take an emergency detour up the ramp and onto a sidewalk.
Flippin scary, as I am an old fart, and my reflexes are not that good. Gonna rethink that one.
It was getting cold when we arrived at the last rest stop at Hueneme (which was also our first). We had a little food and kept on. Stefan had warned me that he starts to fall asleep after midnight, and might have trouble over the next leg. He was right! On the flat sections, he lagged behind, but when we came to a hill, he'd wake up and charge right up. Rick was getting tired too ... he had done the Terrible Two the weekend before and the Tour of Two Forests a couple of days earlier(!). We also had a very rare headwind through this section, which slowed us down a bit. The lead paceline group went ahead and Rick, Stefan and I finished the ride together. We finished in about 22.5 hours.
Oh, and lest I forget ... I was treated to a flat about a mile from the end. lol
Long day, long ride ... I took a nap in the car for a couple of hours before riding home, and I needed it!
From there, we scooted through Santa Barbara and Carpinteria on pretty much empty streets. It was completely dark by the time we got back to the Rincon rest stop. From there, we had to ride through a lot of construction on the 101. This section is typically no fun, with cars zooming by at 70+MPH. There is plenty of shoulder, but spooky at night.
What we didn't know is that the construction also completely eliminated the bike lane(!) We zoomed down the offramp, following the usual route, and came to a sudden stop when we noticed that CalTrans had put concrete dividers, right up to the fog line! Holy crap!
Fortunately, everyone had their wits about them and STOPPED instead of running ahead. That road is WAY too busy and WAY too narrow for that. We backed up to another point to get off the freeway, and hopefully, get back on where it was safe. I'm telling you now that if there was no bike lane from that point onward, I was going to call a cab to get to the other side. NO WAY that was safe.
I know that our route slip probably mentioned this little detour, but there were no signs from CalTrans, nor did anyone at the rest stop warn us about it. IMHO, they definitely should have. WE knew better, but after going 200+ miles and being tired, I could absolutely see some cyclists trying to run through that section, and that would be a huge mistake!
Anyway, I digress. After scuttling though that busy section, we got back onto the frontage road and had a nice ride all the way down to Ventura. One of us had a spoke break, so Rick did some impromptu repairs.
I've done this ride many times, and I've never liked the route through Ventura and Oxnard. Every year, we get at least one horn and middle finger. I actually mentioned it to someone while we were riding though ... it wasn't a matter of "if" ... it was a matter of "when."
And sure enough, some probably drunk miscreants passed us on a 3 lane road, saw fit to beep their horns at us and give us the finger. It's predictable enough, I might call the local constable next year and have them waiting for an easy arrest.
Another couple of scary things happened here. One thing I don't like about riding in pacelines is that the chance of a crash multiplies. I had been riding all day with everyone, and they did a GREAT job of riding predictably and pointing out obstacles. But that started to fall apart as the night came. I dunno if it was for lack of visibility or fatigue, but twice, I found myself unexpectedly coming upon a curb, and had to take an emergency detour up the ramp and onto a sidewalk.
Flippin scary, as I am an old fart, and my reflexes are not that good. Gonna rethink that one.It was getting cold when we arrived at the last rest stop at Hueneme (which was also our first). We had a little food and kept on. Stefan had warned me that he starts to fall asleep after midnight, and might have trouble over the next leg. He was right! On the flat sections, he lagged behind, but when we came to a hill, he'd wake up and charge right up. Rick was getting tired too ... he had done the Terrible Two the weekend before and the Tour of Two Forests a couple of days earlier(!). We also had a very rare headwind through this section, which slowed us down a bit. The lead paceline group went ahead and Rick, Stefan and I finished the ride together. We finished in about 22.5 hours.
Oh, and lest I forget ... I was treated to a flat about a mile from the end. lol
Long day, long ride ... I took a nap in the car for a couple of hours before riding home, and I needed it!
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Last edited by Biker395; 06-24-13 at 01:47 PM. Reason: Forgot the flat!
06-24-13, 10:05 AM
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Congrats on a great ride! I worked the Potrero rest stop and all the riders seemed to be enjoying themselves.
06-24-13, 10:14 AM
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Out of breath just reading about it....Neat Pics.
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Fred "The Real Fred"
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06-24-13, 10:28 AM
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300 miles in one day! You're a machine.
I was just on the Carpinteria to Rincon route the other week and at that time, they took away one of the freeway lanes and made it the bike lane. However, it is hard to tell, especially at night. The only "barrier" is a solid white line with 'bike lane' paint every so often. It is easy to imagine a car using that lane.
It would be nice to have a real bike lane, separated from the freeway by barriers, but it looks like the only construction being done is some bridge repair.
I was just on the Carpinteria to Rincon route the other week and at that time, they took away one of the freeway lanes and made it the bike lane. However, it is hard to tell, especially at night. The only "barrier" is a solid white line with 'bike lane' paint every so often. It is easy to imagine a car using that lane.
It would be nice to have a real bike lane, separated from the freeway by barriers, but it looks like the only construction being done is some bridge repair.
06-24-13, 10:30 AM
#6
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That's a serious ride. Well done!
06-24-13, 10:44 AM
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Great report and photos Vic! I did the Highland Double and had a great time; beautiful weather, friendly folks at the Checkpoints and great scenery too. I rode the first part with Sylvia and Peter since they'd never ridden Grand Tour before; then hammered it in from Rincon (where I met up with my wife who was riding the Lowland) to Malibu.
Excellent event by the Los Angeles Wheelmen!
Rick / OCRR
Excellent event by the Los Angeles Wheelmen!
Rick / OCRR
06-24-13, 12:27 PM
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Nice job on the 3x century! I was gonna make a snarky comment on the Hushovd jersey, but clearly you've earned the right to wear anything you want. 
06-24-13, 01:12 PM
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Great job Rider395, 3 Centuries in one day Wow! thanks for the report and the Pics.
06-24-13, 02:16 PM
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And as they say "I'm not worthy"!!! Awesome job, you're my hero 
I also worry about pacelines on very long rides, good there were no major issues. Great ride report and again; great job on your ride.
Edit: Oh yeah, one last thing "Crazy Cyclists"
I also worry about pacelines on very long rides, good there were no major issues. Great ride report and again; great job on your ride.
Edit: Oh yeah, one last thing "Crazy Cyclists"
06-25-13, 04:21 AM
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OMG! Centuries are enough for me right now. I just can't fathom doing 300 miles in one day. My wife, friends, and relatives already think I'm nuts.
06-25-13, 04:53 AM
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Nicely done. It's not just that you rode and completed it...but that you smiled and had fun. I cannot fathom...
06-25-13, 10:20 AM
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In terms of what it says on it, this works better for me:
And thanks for the kudos, everyone! Long distance riding is really more mental than physical. And I know that because after a long ride like that, I hear my family and friends muttering the word "mental" to themselves over and over.
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06-25-13, 10:37 AM
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What I'm really curious about is how you feel TODAY? A couple days later. Are you ready to go, or feel a bit sore and need some more time to lazy around?
06-25-13, 10:58 AM
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And who is mentally ill?? Just kidding. Incredible ride and great report and pics. I wish I were young like you!
06-25-13, 11:01 AM
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I know my legs were still feeling it this morning, and I only rode 196 (the Lowland route) on Saturday.
06-25-13, 11:14 AM
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But I rode to work today. It was fab!
My legs usually aren't stiff at all after a long ride. But this time, we kept a pretty good pace and I do have some stiffness. It felt good to work it out this AM.
Good to see you guys out there! I had a nice chat at lunch with some of the Bullshifters.
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06-25-13, 12:56 PM
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You sure your in the right forum? This is the 50+ forum, where old (er) people don't ride a 3X century within 24 hours. Move along young man, find people you own age to share your ghastly exploits. 
Seriously, that's just insane....agree with your family, we'll start calling you "mental".
After completing my first century two weeks ago, can't phantom what another 200 miles would have felt like, probably would need to check into ER for intravenous fluid injections.
Simply awesome, congrats on grinding through so many miles!!
About the eye candy in that one pic. Do you know her, or have any idea if she did the Aids LifeCycle event from SF to LA that just finished on the 8th of this month?
Seriously, that's just insane....agree with your family, we'll start calling you "mental".
After completing my first century two weeks ago, can't phantom what another 200 miles would have felt like, probably would need to check into ER for intravenous fluid injections.
Simply awesome, congrats on grinding through so many miles!!
About the eye candy in that one pic. Do you know her, or have any idea if she did the Aids LifeCycle event from SF to LA that just finished on the 8th of this month?
