Here is a little video from my recent trip to Slovenia, where I did a lot of cycling. Among other, I biked from Ljubljana to Koper and then to Novi Grad, Croatia. All together about 107 miles.
Enjoy.
As it stands, I have only two more months left to complete this year’s goal of a century a month. Last couple of months, I did everything from trying to challenge myself on Santa Cruz mountains, finishing my fastest century on Waves to Wine, go on unsupported century around Mt Hamilton, and finally did an unsupported almost double century in Napa. I wonder what I will do in November and December.
So, since there is two months left before the new year, I am asking you to help me find a more challenging goal for the next year. Here are some suggestions:
Well, let me know.
On Saturday I was riding the famous Tour of The California Alps: The Death Ride. It is a 130 mile bike ride with 15,000 feet of climbing on which you go over five passes. Well, you really go over three passes, but you go over two of them twice.
Let’s see, where to start. I loved the terrain. I so want to go back and do it again. Overall the ride was relatively easy. Yeah, there was a lot of climbing and hot, but the climbs were relatively mild and the views were spectacular. The toughest climbs were in the 10% grade, but most of it was around 6-7%. It was also great to see so many riders. The organizers closed most of the roads, so cyclists were uninterrupted by the drivers.
I finished the first part of the ride without any effort. Riding over Monitor pass was great and bombing down the back side was super fast. I was getting speeds of 50 miles per hour. The views were out of this world. Also, the road was super smooth. It was a bit tricky to pass slower riders and at the same time avoid riders coming up on the other side of the road. But I came to the bottom without any issues.
Ebbetts pass was a bit trickier, since it has more turns and the road is not in as good of a shape as the Monitor pass. However, it was just as enjoyable. From the Monitor pass, the views were mostly of the valley, where as from the Ebbetts pass, the views were of the canyon and trees. Again, I did not have any problems going up Ebbetts pass, but I did feel slight stomach discomfort. Since it was nothing bad, I ignored it.
Unfortunately that is where the fun stops. On the ride down Ebbetts pass, I started having serious problems with my stomach and, well, think of a waterfall but while riding. At the lunch spot, I sit there until my stomach calmed down and then I continued the ride. Unfortunately my stomach was acting up for the rest of the ride. At the bottom of Carson’s pass, they had showers for the riders, which felt really good, but in retrospect was a bad idea. I continued the ride up Carson, but got caught in a hail at the Picket’s junction. This together with me being cold at this point and not being able to ride fast to warm up because of my stomach, pretty much put a kibosh on the ride. I stayed there hiding under the trash can cover and a in the warm van until the hail and rain stopped and then hitched a ride part of the way down the mountain. I had an ok time that evening but I started getting sick again next day and the day after.
So, what caused all this mess? Who knows. It may have been Subway or cantelope that I usually don’t eat. I also tested a bunch of goodies at the expo. Perhaps it was the pasta dinner. Or maybe something I had during the ride. It might have also been elevation, heat, rapid decent, rapid ascent… Or finally it could be a combination of all those factors.
However, taking all this into account, I would still not miss it for the world! The sights are phenomenal, the roads are great, and support was out of this world. Looking forward to finishing this next year.
All I can say is yeehaa!!! Sequoia Century, 112 miles plus ride from home and back; 130 miles (or 6.2 English Channel widths (at the shortest point); 43 Mont Blancs; or 24 Mount Everests) and 9000 feet of climbing (or 8.5 Eiffel Towers; 3.4 Burj Dubais (after completion); or 26 football (soccer) pitches according to SensibleUnits.com). Century a month all the way…
How many times do you have opportunity to zip at 25 miles per hour down the coast with phenomenal views or down the hill at 50 miles per hour with nothing to protect you but your bike and your helmet. And finally, have you ever drafted a house?
During the ride, we were passed by a truck with a trailer driving a house at almost exactly 35 miles per hour. At that point one of the riders from my group pushed the pedals faster to catch the truck and draft it for the next five to ten miles. When we finally saw him again, he had an extremely large grin on his face. He said he was pedaling in the highest gear with almost no effort.
The climbs in the second half of the ride were challenging, but nothing I could not do. On the ride guide the second half of the ride looked like a steady climb over 30 miles, but in reality it was a long series of short steep climbs. It was especially hard on a relatively steady climbing section, where the route arrows pointed towards a country road that was super steep. But at the top of the climbs there was a rest area with refreshments.
Also, toward the end of the ride, I realized that my leg warmers I showed in my pockets fell out somewhere during the ride. That means I unintentionally littered the gorgeous California hills. Sorry…
I feel bad for people who missed this ride. It was well supported, great roads, perfect weather, and finally, great group of cyclists.
On Sunday I continued my Century a month series by attending the gorgeous Strawberry Fields Forever Century. Don’t really know where to start. How about the fact that there was probably more people on unicycles than on tandem and recumbent bikes combined. There was a guy with a huge gorilla on his bike. Several people with other odd bikes including the stepper bike. To make things even more multifarious we stopped at Calfee Design which manufactures bamboo bikes.
The ride started in fog, so I was worried the visibility will be bad. I also forgot my arm warmers, so I thought I will be freezing. But, soon, the fog went away and the views were awesome. And I even got some sun burns. Finally, at the end I got bunch of strawberries and I even played with a real live snake.
Some cool photos from the ride:
