rockstar

well i just got back from the Solvang century in you guessed it Solvang, Ca. The course went up, over and through valleys, beautiful vinyards, lush mountainsides, and best of all there was very little road traffic. i paced myself to a decent 5 hours 43 minutes with approximately 5000 feet of climbing could have done it alot faster if i knew what to expect. the century was supported pretty well with clearly marked routes and plenty of goodies in the SAG stops (oranges, bananas, cookies, fig bars, pb&j sandwiches and H2O. my only problem with the SAG was that there wasn't any premixed electrolyte drinks available, they had tubs that you had to mix yourself which made your hands a sticky mess but thats a small price to pay for no cramps. the road conditions went from smooth glass to gawd awful, overall it was a good experience. anyone else do it?

Machka 

Congratulations!!

dolophonic

Yeah that was a sweet ride....not too hot, great countryside.
Recommend it. Top marks.
I managed 5 hrs 10 mins....i maxed it out all the way. ouch.

dolophonic

Oh yeah putting the bigger climbs in the last 10 miles was a nice move....

rockstar

yeah the climbs were all at the end but they weren't bad. i saw tons of folks trying to climb the steeper sections in to high a gear and were barely able to turn the cranks. they really created a slow up. do you know what happened to the cyclist that bit it hard on the downhill following the last climb? i was bombing down the hill round the corner and i see an ambulance, a guy on a backboard with a neck brace, and a crowd of cyclist gawking at the poor guy as they were lifting him into the truck. i narrowly avoided disaster myself as i swerved to miss this fool standing along the road watching.

Shifty

Great times you guys, way to go! How many riders, any estimates?

I've run into the problem with the energy drinks. What I've started doing is pre-measuring waterbottle amounts into small baggies, when I get to a stop I just pour the mix in a bottle and fill with water, then toss the baggie. The baggies fit nicely in the jersey pocket.

rockstar

great idea with the premeasured mix

dolophonic

Yo thats what i did i had 4 little zip loc bags each with my gu2o portion for the bottles.(felt a bit like a colombian mule...j/k)
The BNBJ sandwiches were the bomb!
They had some "spiz" i gave that a go but went back to my own on the next stop.
I managed to leave pretty early and didnt see any carnage on the road.
I think they had over 5 thousand riders....
The hills wernt that bad, but some of the pavement was pretty ruff at full tilt.
Definatly recommend it...
Who else was there.?

my58vw

Sounds like you all had a good time. I wish I could go (and have time) to do centuries this time of year... oh well...

squeegy200

I completed it but a bit slower at 6:08
I was happy as I calculated an estimated 15mph average over the entire course but finished with an actual average 17.2 for the 104 miles. That's the most riding I've done in a single day.

There were numerous accidents which is inevitable with this many participants. One bike club I tried to follow ended up in a small pile up alongside one of the roads. And the CHP was on hand at the accident site on the last descent and made the bikers slow down around the potholes. The ambulance was gone by the time I arrived at that point.

I was told last year was the greatest attendance at 3800. But this year, I heard talk of 5000+. I saw participants with tags numbering 5700. I guess the presence of Discovery and Webcor teams training in this area just a few weeks prior raised the visibility and popularity of this ride.

I don't think they anticipated such high attendance numbers because not everyone received the usual freebies. People registering in the mornings did not get the free waterbottles or SCOR refridgerator magnets.


i think organizers did a great job all around. Great experience.

Alphamoose

That was my first time doing Solvang. Only my second century (first one was Tahoe last year) and I thought it was a really nice route. All but some of the bits in Santa Maria, that is.
We actually heard three ambulances during the course of the ride - only thing we saw was some guy with a bloody knee getting carried off into one of them.
SAGs were good, especially the pineapple, that was a nice surprise. Only letdown was the SAG stop at the Radisson, where they made people wait in line for the food. Most people I saw threw up their hands at the huge line and skipped that.
Also worked out nice that the weather was mildly overcast for most of the day - made things easier. Naturally it cleared up and got sunny and hot just as we got to the biggest climbs.

terrymorse 

Yes, Solvang was a good ride. The Sun stayed away all day, and so did the winds for the most part. Since I didn't go with anyone I knew, I had planned to ride solo and get some training time with my new Cinelli mini-aerobars. I got started at about 6:30 and rolled past a big line of riders in the first couple of miles. After a few minutes, a guy wearing a UCSB jersey pulled up to me and said I had a big train behind me and asked if I wanted to work together. I said sure, and pretty soon we had a decent group of 3 trading pulls of about 2 minutes.

Along Santa Rosa Road, the three of us caught a rider wearing an Amgen jersey. He noticed my CA 2004 champion jersey and came over to ask me about it. Turned out he had won the same jersey in XC mountain biking. We congratulated each other, and he joined our group of former strangers. For the next hour or so, we passed countless masses of riders, picking up one or two riders occasionally until they tired of our pace. The number of riders on the road slowly dwindled, and by the time we reached the airport Radisson, the rest stop was empty. I marvelled at the dozen or more toilets -- it seemed like overkill for such an empty rest stop. (My wife, who finished 3 hours after me, said that she had to wait in line at the rest stops for a toilet. I guess she had a very diferent experience in the later hours of the ride.)

Before the hilly section began, there was a long, gradual uphill grade. The mountain biker and I started taking all the pulls, as it seemed the other two riders were starting to suffer. We slowed down to let them recover, but after a while it was clear they were going to have to take an easier pace to the finish. Then we were down to a group of two, just me and the mountain biker. When we got to the real climbs, I set the pace and was pleased to see that my buddy could keep up with me. He was a very good roleur, too, and I followed him down the descents and into the flats. We picked up a 62-year-old ultra-marathoner in the final 10 miles and pulled him into town. He was very grateful. We cruised the last couple of miles through the town streets and to the finish at about 11:40.

When we got there, I was surprised to see a few dozen riders already seated and eating lunch. How could that many people have been ahead of us? Well, it turned out that they had done the 50-mile, so I wasn't so disappointed in our ride. I finished the lunch and got back on the bike for a cruise to our hotel in Lompoc. That part wasn't so fun, because by this time there was a ripping headwind. At least I got to practice using the aerobars. Once in Lompoc, I rewarded myself with a venti mocha at Starbucks.

All in all, a very good day. I wanted to average 20 mph (did 20.1), I wanted to keep a nice aerobic pace all day (did 75%), and I wanted to get practice time on the aerobars (did plenty of that). Mission accomplished. Meeting up with some nice riders was a bonus. My wife also met her objectives, which makes me really happy for her.

Next Saturday, it's a 100-miler in Carmel Valley, using the route of the Steinbeck Century. This will be a social ride, for a change. No objectives, other than enjoying the company of a few friends. Those can be some of the best rides of all.

gpelpel

That was my first century ever. My previous personal best was 50 miles. I really enjoyed the ride. The event was very well organized especially considering the number of participants.
The course was through beautiful rural areas, the last 20 miles through the vineyards were particularly nice.
As a first timer I was a bit apprehensive about the big 1100' climb. It turned out it was a very long and easy one except for the last 1/2 mile. So much so that I though the big one was the hill after the Firestone SAG which was impressive from the bottom but not really tough after all. The downhills were a thrill going at 40mph unfortunatey some had very harsh pavement. The organization did a very good job at marking the potholes with a painted circle around them, a nice touch.
I was surprised to see some many people with flats along the way. I saw the man in the ditch in the descent after the last climb. I didn't see what happened, I first thought he got hit by a car as there was a small jam at the spot. Thankfully he didn't seem badly hurt, he was sitting and holding his knee.
My goal was obviously to finish the ride and, as we played waiting game with a friend at each SAG, I was a lot slower than you guys. My total time was 8h 30' with 2h 5' of stop time. So my average riding speed was 15.7 mph.
Best of all I can't wait to do another one.

jslopez

The ride, country side, weather and the people (for the most part) was just excellent. My second century and my wife's first half century (she learned to ride a bicycle 7 months ago). Friends and I stuck to a game plan and came in at the 5:40 mark (despite taking it easy after a ton were stalled due to the accident).

I just pray whoever was helicoptered away is ok.

Cheers to everyone who rode that day.

jslopez

Wish I could have met you there Terry. I would not have been able to keep up but I'd like to to see a glimpse of the masters at work

dolophonic

Terry were you wearing a California Republic champs jersey & shorts ?

terrymorse 

Yes, I had the whole kit on. It was my first chance to wear it, since it just arrived the other day. My wife told me I looked like a "racer due" in my costume. She doesn't think much of racer dudes, though.

I saw one other rider with just the jersey on. He was a Masters time trial winner, I'd guess 55+.

CycleFreakLS

Finished it in 5:36. Not too bad. Think we could've done a little better given that one of our riders broke her rear der. cable. She rolled up to the 5th SAG and said she couldn't shift. Two of us were looking over her bike and notice that cable had snapped right at the der. I found the mechanic who fortunately had a spare cable. 15 min. later, we were good to go. But I'm sure the run through Foxen Cyn in the wrong gears took its toll because 1/2 way through, she really dropped off the pace.

But ... other than that, no mechanicals, no injuries; can't complain. I saw SO many flats, way more than last year.

FWIW, I wouldn't trust a "ride's drink"; I always bring my own premeasured bags since they always have water. We use these zip bags that are "tall" (short zip, easy to refill a bottle). After I fill them with Cyto, I fold into 1/3s and wrap each with "saran-wrap" stuff (Costco) which keeps it nicely sealed so it won't unseal and make powdery mess on the ride. That Spiz stuff they have at Solvang ... oooh!

And with all the rain we've had here this winter, it was exceptionally green. Just beautiful.

snowy

Congrats everyone, me so jealous can't wait to do my first century. Its good to hear all the tips everyone provides though.

jslopez

Spizz made me feel like they didn't want us to finish.

It was not for me ...

neil0502

5:55, but . . . in all humility . . . it's because I promised my friend I wouldn't ditch him. This was the shakedown cruise for my new Moots. Gawd, I feel fortunate to have that bike. I almost don't know what y'all mean about the rough road

I thought they did a nice job of organizing it. I didn't know they had fig newtons, nor did I know I could eat that many cookies!

Very happy for:

- the traffic support provided by John Q. Law along the way

- the basically friendly locals who were oh-so-patient with us

- the weather: any hotter and I would have been exhausted, but I got to finish back at the Royal Scandinavian under sunny skies (does it get any better?).

Very impressed by:

- how friendly the riders were . . . all the way through. I though there'd be pain on the faces at the later sag stops, but everybody was chipper!

- the bike porn . . . Calfee and DeRosa and OCLV and Merlin and Litespeed and Griffen and Sampson and, and, and . . . .

- the course, generally. Those views . . . .

- my ability to forego wine tours as I passed them by

What I wish (generalizations, to be sure):

- that all riders were facile at things like "On your left," or at least ensured they gave a wide berth when passing

- that no-mirror people got over whatever their opposition to mirrors is. People seemed to get into the groove of "move, look" rather than "look, move."

- that people would ride the way they ought to drive: drive right, pass left. Folks riding four abreast on an uphill made it darned inconvenient to pass. Sometimes, I just didn't want to expend the lungs to shout out. If they were using mirrors, they should have seen me coming and slid over.

- that I had known about those fig newtons!

Beautiful ride . . . beautiful!

dolophonic

Cool i was wearing a Quickstep jersey and linked up with you towards the last 20 miles....you were booking.. nice one.

terrymorse 

That was you! Nice riding with you, and thanks for pulling.

Mal

This was my 2nd Solvang century. I'm very pleased with the support they provide. I was riding my Specialized Roubaix which I just purchased a couple of months ago. It has Speedplay Zero pedals and following the 2nd SAG stop I couldn't get the cleat to clip into either pedal. (I stopped on the side to check to see if I picked up some dirt or gravel that would be causing this. There must have been a dozen folks who yelled out to me if I was ok -- very cool!) When I got to the Radisson the mechanic checked the cleats and sprayed each with some lube. But they still wouldn't clip in. So that's how I rode for the rest of the 40 miles. Time in the saddle was about 6.5 hrs.

I started to develop a cold on Friday that had settled in my chest on Saturday. I had bought some EmerGen-C at Trader Joe's and mixed that in my water bottles. The Spiz makes me gag and I needed the VitC, etc. Mainly ate the PB&J sandwiches, oranges and pineapple (what a surprise to have that!).

I'm closing in on 55 years old and wondering how many 50+ riders there were.

I went to a grocery store in Solvang Saturday afternoon and the clerk said an older rider was killed near Ballard Canyon Rd. She said he had been riding with his grandson when he fell over and a car hit him. I finished the ride about 2pm but didn't see anything. A friend of mine lives in Solvang and he hasn't seen anything about this in the local papers.

Shifty

I might suggest the cleat covers for the Zero, I use them religiously when I step off the bile. If dirt gets back in behind the spring, the spring will not open to clip in. When this happens, go to the water station and run water behind the spring to flush the dirt out, any pressure with the water will speed up the cleaning, and move the spring back and forth as the water is flushing the dirt out. Bummer that you had to ride so long this way, takes some of the fun away.

Congrats on the ride, sounds like you pushed beyond the things trying to stop you, well done!