Great Western Bicycle Rally report
05-28-07, 08:41 PM
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Great Western Bicycle Rally report
Just returned from Paso Robles, CA, and the 43rd annual Great Western Bicycle Rally. I used to go regularly, but this was my first time in about 10-15 years. The rally was somewhat smaller than I remember, and it turned out that this was the first year for the third set of organizers because the second set of organizers didn't maintain the momentum of the first organizers, so there's some rebuilding to do. The last time I went it was still under the excellent direction of the first organizers, so that's my yardstick. The social aspects (swap meet, best-of-show, etc) and competitions (hill climb, Huffy toss, etc) suffered from lower participation, and indeed the entire rally was underattended compared to way back when. Here's hoping the new organizers get the ol' GWBR magic back.
The riding itself was still great. Saturday I did the Morro Bay Metric Century (unsupported). From Paso Robles I took backroads to Hwy 41, then out to the coast at Morro Bay, then back via a tight 'n' twisty backroad that linked up with Hwy 46, which took me back to Paso. The backroad was, umm, not very flat, as it gained 1600' in seven miles, 1000' of which occurred in the final two miles. The ride was a six-pack of bicycling whoop-ass, but damn!, I wouldn't have missed it for anything! :-) Total climb was 4200' and my overall pace was 16.9mph, which is actually more than I was expecting for the difficulty level and the aftereffects of a head cold I was (am) still dealing with. I was sooooo glad I packed a spare tube cuz I got a front flat heading into Morro and could not find the leak. No leak = no patch, so I just replaced the tube. I don't usually carry a spare tube but I decided to take one this weekend because of the remoteness of some of the riding.
Sunday I rode with my partner Brent, who's a novice, and we did an easy 30 miles of mixed flat and gentle rollies just outside town. For him it was a personal best for mileage and total climb (almost 700'), so that's not a bad accomplishment; I treated it as a recovery ride.
I can't wait to go again next year! :-D
The riding itself was still great. Saturday I did the Morro Bay Metric Century (unsupported). From Paso Robles I took backroads to Hwy 41, then out to the coast at Morro Bay, then back via a tight 'n' twisty backroad that linked up with Hwy 46, which took me back to Paso. The backroad was, umm, not very flat, as it gained 1600' in seven miles, 1000' of which occurred in the final two miles. The ride was a six-pack of bicycling whoop-ass, but damn!, I wouldn't have missed it for anything! :-) Total climb was 4200' and my overall pace was 16.9mph, which is actually more than I was expecting for the difficulty level and the aftereffects of a head cold I was (am) still dealing with. I was sooooo glad I packed a spare tube cuz I got a front flat heading into Morro and could not find the leak. No leak = no patch, so I just replaced the tube. I don't usually carry a spare tube but I decided to take one this weekend because of the remoteness of some of the riding.
Sunday I rode with my partner Brent, who's a novice, and we did an easy 30 miles of mixed flat and gentle rollies just outside town. For him it was a personal best for mileage and total climb (almost 700'), so that's not a bad accomplishment; I treated it as a recovery ride.
I can't wait to go again next year! :-D
