jschen

Looking forward to all your ride reports.

ggallin

i saw a bunch of them ride by as i was eating breakfast downtown.

VanceMac

My sad report: got up late, went to CSUN instead for a boring 60-miler.

merider1

It's like almost 2:00pm - where are some of the reports? Slackers!

Just Kidding! I can't wait to hear and see pics. I got back about an hour ago from an 81 miler. It was nice in the morning, but HOT as the afternoon neared. I was going to try for 100 and make this a back-to-back century weekend, but the heat wore me down. I can't wait to hear how Cool Breeze was. I bet the air was fine...at least I'm hoping as that will have meant good rides for all the little BFers out there pedaling their hearts out.

jmechy

Woke up and went on a ride right past cool breeze, took me a second to realize wtf was going on. There sure were a lot of you out... I drafted a big group at some point, but I think they were a local club out for their ride (Hazards) because only a few of them had numbers on.

bigdraft

I just got back. I had a fun time. I did the DM route and did it in 6:04. It was a good course with lots of small to moderate climbs on roads without a lot of traffic. I saw some BF riders at the start, but they said they were doing the century, so I rode by myself for the most part. I would hook up with small groups of riders and would trade pulls. But for the most part I rode it solo.

hope everyone had as enjoyable time as i did.

cheers
Pat

merider1

Damn, dude, you are fast! Glad you had a nice ride.

redal

BigDraft is all bidness!

MacManDude

I'm not fast, but I did the century in 5:56 @ 16.9 mph avg. The turnout seemed good, the air quality was a non issue, and the temp. was great. I really like this century and it felt great to still be pulling 24 mph at mile 95. I had a couple of buddies pass, because of the air worries. Too bad they missed a great ride.

STeve

herbm

Sorry..that is fast...
I was 6:58 ..14.8avg...
I didnt make my 15mph avg goal...but what the heck..I gave it everything i had...
Overall a great day...beautiful there...nice and cool...great cool breezes off the ocean....
I rode with tpevost and vmc to rest stop, then I headed out fast...I knew I needed to keep going...
Would run into magicant, scootcore, nygirl and efficiency....I would start out with then then promptly get dropped...
However...I did hang on for great pullls, by magicant and scootcore on the 101 home stretch...
There were tons of bf'ers there..as well as a large contigent from SFVBC
Overall a great day...at least until I finished....then the **** struck...
I crossed the finish line...hung for minute talking...then mounted to ride back to my truck...my brain wasn't in gear yet...so I miss clipped and of course fell right in the middle of the finish area...
I heard major gasps as i kissed pavement...knee is pretty scraped and have chain ring puncture on the other side...nice...I am such a ****...

merider1

Ahhh...Herb. Sorry. You're not a ****, silly. Those things happen. But other than that, good to hear that you had a great ride. Any pics?

Cleave

Hi,

Did anyone happen to see the Lightning Velo contingent out there? Was there a large pack of them?

ronjon10

I pulled into the lot around 6:15 or so. Saw quite a few BFers outside and around registration. I saw Thomson at the starting line. As I was talking to him I realized I was wearing my glasses and not my sunglasses. d'oh. Back to car! By the time I got back to the start the BF crew had gone, double d'oh, the chase commences.

I caught up with the bf peleton at the first sag. I almost skipped it since it was only 15 miles into the ride. Glad I stopped though. We took off from sag 1 and started to ride... fast. But, we were in paceline for most of the way so it didn't seem so bad.

I left Sag 2 a little before the bulk of the crowd so I could take my sweet time on the big climb and figured they'd catch up, sure enough, everyone caught up in good order and again we went... FAST

I did the same trick after sag 3 since it worked so well after 2, but didn't realize Joel was having some mechanical word done, so I wound up getting pretty far ahead riding with Asia and Sheldon. Between 3 & 4, I ran into some old TnT friends who are pretty much hammerheads. They were clearly taking it easy, but even so, keeping up with them had me going .. FAST

Coming out of Sag 4, I was starting to feel it and hit something of a wall around mile 80. I could manage the flats, but my climbing legs were gone. I dropped to my easiest gear at almost every roller and tried to make up the time on the flats.

After SAG 5. Asia, Sheldon and I hammered for about 10 miles when we split up, I was having a hard time doing anything but around 19mph at this point. Any slower and my legs started to hurt, any faster, well, I really couldn't do any more as my heart rate was pretty much through the roof as it was.

Sheldon took off ahead as he got some burst of energy and Asia fell a little back (sorry!) I wound up coming in with a another group of TnT'ers as I knew one of them in the group.

I really need to do a better job of managing my pace on these rides, less time in sag and a milder pace will get me back in fine time. I do great with it in small groups, but it's tough in large groups.

I can't get the ride uploaded from my Garmin (curses!), but it was something like 6:15 ride time and around 7:30 overall for the 102 miles. It was great seeing everyone, great ride and great conditions.

If anyone has a garmin, please post a link from your motionbased.

That is all.

herbm

You had to be there...but yes its true...

herbm

Actually no... sorry Cleave..I never noticed any LV kits..I would have caught that for sure...but they may have started later...

herbm

It was pleasure to meet some of the BF'ers I havent met before...
chuckleheard for one....I missed meeting him in Oceanside....
Nesdog...dang your fast...
spingineer...ron your fast too....

Great to see James...matt and melissa, Lee, trac and wayne of course, bernie and everyone....this really is am awesome ride....

scvroadie

I was riding with my wife today, this was her 3rd Century, the others have been with Team in Training at a slower pace.

We got to reigistration about 6:30, got a chance to see Herb and the BF gang before they rolled. We rolled out about 45 minutes later. Saw Big John, several times today, and also saw Karen a few times.

My wife did great, we finished just a little over 7 hrs with an average speed of 14 mph. She did great on the flats, averaging 18-20, but she was still having problems climbing. The climb after Manning Park, I had to put my hand in the small of her back several times to help her get up the hill. People would say as they passed "how cute", a few of the ladies stated they wished their husbands would help them like that.

She has been riding less than a year, and every time we do rides like this she just keeps getting better and faster. I am sure within a year or two she will give me make me work a lot harder.

The weather today was great, no poblem at all with smoke or ash.

nesdog

Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head (be de be lah lah)..

oh sorry.

Dragged my butt out of bed at 4:30 am. Rudely woke the dog and sent her outside to do her stuff so I wouldn't return home to some awful mess (the wife is out of town so I'm the dog watcher).

Got to registration around 6 and hooked up with the BF crew. At 6:30, we were at the line and away we went.
The Bicycling Guide to doing Centuries says to start out slowly and ease into the ride. Save some juice for later on. It's my usual strategy.

Ha! Not this bunch. It was a hammerfest from the get-go! We screamed out of Ventura and out to the coastline. If you didn't suck a wheel on this stretch, you were done.

Man oh man, we reached RS1 at Rincon averaging 19.3 mph. "Oh c***. This is gonna kill me. I can't keep a pace like this!" I was thinking.

Quick turn around at the clifftops and out we went again, figuring we would take it a bit easier.

Ha! Again, not this bunch! We rocketed out of the RS. The most memorable portion of this segment was a 3 or 4 mile stretch where there was a fairly sizable group riding together. I was riding with Ron (Spingineer) and we found ourselves drafting at speeds approaching 27 mph. It was both exhilarating and a bit scary as we flew through the backroads. At one point, I became the lead rider and lasted about 60 seconds before completely blowing up.Took me a while to get any energy or air in my lungs. I felt already cooked!

From pretty much the 2nd RS on, I rode with Ronjon, Asia and others. We had easy and light hearted conversations as we climbed the foothills and descended into the canyons under sunny skies. The past 3 years on this ride, it's been foggy up there. This was quite a change. There was little of the feared smokiness we worried about so skies were clear.

After lunch, we hightailed it into SB proper, still at pretty high speeds. Along the main drag, one of the group was hit on the left side by a pickup truck mirror. Luckily, he held his position and did not fall.This was the worst section as traffic, both car and foot, was high. On one street, we had to stop suddenly as a car made some quick turns trying for a parking space. I skidded as my back wheel locked up; I should have relied more on the front.

After the final RS, Asia did a great job of dragging Ronjon and I along the 101. Asia, you are super strong! After a 4 mile stretch, we traded pulls.

We approached the last freeway overpass and for reasons completely unknown to me, my body suddenly powered up. (maybe it was the Hammer Gel I was downing in a big way at that point). I went up that little tiny incline fast! and held a very solid pace all the way to the end of the course, just flying through the bike path. I guess it's just the adrenalin firing as I know we are about done.

In any event, I passed under the balloon finish line with a Century PR of 6:06:54, overall average of 16.7 mph for the roughly 102 miles, shattering last year's PR of 6:23. This was clearly not due to any strength that I had, but rather the very fast pace set early on and the willingness of my fellow BFer's to let me suck wheel!

Thanks to all for a fun event! It was great meeting many of you for the first time and riding with you. I hope we can do so again soon!

Sheldon

bigdraft

Cleave, I saw one group of LV riders. There were about 12 riders or so and mostly women. I passed them about 3 miles before the Rincon SAG stop. They were flying the colors in style.

and ty merider and redal:L:

Redal, you iz da biz my friend. You've been racing well this year!!

big john

I did! There were about 8-10?? of them. I asked about you, and they said you were a slacker and didn't come. No, really, they didn't know where you were.
We had a fun ride, we did a modified metric double. The smoke was never an issue, and the weather was great until the climb up Cali hill, (after the second trip to Manning Park), where is was very hot for a while. I didn't need that climb, should have gone the century route at that point. I did have two popsicles at the last stop, though. Had chicken, tri-tip, salad, vegetables, pasta, and a roll at the end. There were about 10 in our group for a casual, social ride. No stats, not even sure of the mileage, just the way I like it.

spingineer

Got to the start at around 6:05 am, and met a bunch of BF'ers there. Nesdog, tprevost, vmc, herbm, ronjon, magicant, and scootcore, among others. A little later, say nygirl777, travis, and Lara. My plan was to ride with BF'ers till the 2nd stop, then ride with my friends from Whittier Flyers.

Before I start, a quick comment on the air quality ... breathable. The sky was blue, not orange. I was talking to one of the workers, and she said it was orange yesterday, but today, it was blue ... so no problems with air quality.

We rolled a little after 6:30 am. Rode primarily with Nesdog. We see Magicant and Scootcore hammering away like it was the Rose Bowl Peloton. I didn't have my Heart Rate Monitor with me, so I couldn't tell how hard I was working. All I can see is I was breathing heavily, and I continued breathing, so I was still alive (but just barely). By the time we reached the first rest stop, my average speed was 19.7 mph ...

I later found out Magicant thought Herbm was ahead of us, but instead, was behind us. That is just too funny.

Oh, BTW, Magicant was nursing a bit of a cold, so there was no singing on the road today. No "Born to be Wild" or "Wild Thing" on the ride. hmmm ... not acceptable, Joel.

Got to the 2nd rest stop, and after about half hour, my friend Mary shows up. It turns out their group had some mechanical problems. By the time we were ready to roll, it was 9:40 am.

Met up with travis and lara at lunch. We eventually hooked up, and our pack rode with travis and lara. I especially liked it when Travis was pulling. Our train was steaming through ... thanks a lot for the pull, Travis. Not many times we can go 28 mph effortlessly, unless Travis is pulling.

A few people experienced some cramping problems, so we all pulled together, to make sure they had everything ... thank god for e-pill.

We finally rolled in around 4 pm (I think).

Finally got to meet Big John, face to face ... although didn't get to ride with him. Maybe next time.

Stats:
Riding Time: 6:15
Distance: 102.91 miles
Altitude Climb: 4677 feet
Average Speed: 16.4 mph

spingineer

ME,
You would have been fine. The air quality was fine. It was a great ride. I'm glad I did it finally this year. I only wish I had last year's jersey. This year's was kinda lame.

Cleave

Thanks for the report gentlemen!

I just got back from 2 weeks in Hawaii with the family on Thursday night (actually Friday, a bit past midnight) so I didn't think that doing a century on Saturday was a great idea.

Glad you both had a good ride.

herbm

That was because as we rolled out I realized I didnt have my freaking water bottles...so I had to roll back to the truck...then trac vmc and I kicked out...
vmc hung back I pulled trac...of course she thinks I was out to kill her...
she dropped back and had vmc pull her back up to me just before rincon...

herbm

+100....I had no asthma problems at all....