Break out the medal or whatever you get when you reach the pinnacle of Slackerdom: After a long time thinking I should get off my rear and update the blog, I'm actually going to do it.
Hard to believe that it's been over six months since my last post. The backstory is that my job changed enormously in May, with a colleague moving on to a new position and his duties being split among the two of us who remained. Huge change in responsibilities and load, but the work has been interesting and, after a couple months of drinking from the firehose, enjoyable. Not an excuse for not posting, since I've been able to keep up with the riding, but a rationalization of sorts that I've come to live with.
But back to our story, in abbreviated form....
Century 7: LA River Ride
This was my third River Ride, and my second century at this event. It was a good ride, and offered the same goofy urban scenery that seems to be the norm: lots of bike path with views of the LA River in all its tatty glory. Last year the headwind out of Long Beach to the turnaround point just about killed me; this year it was manageable. I still needed the tacos from the truck at Elysian Park on the way back, but I knocked nearly an hour off my previous time. WooHoo.
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| The LA River Ride taco plate. Good. And good for you. |
Century 8: Tour of Napa Valley
My fourth ToNV, and my first century ride. I was more than a bit nervous about this ride due to the challenge it presented. I'd ridden all the sections of the route previously, including Ink Grade and Mt. Veeder, but I'd never come close to the combination of the two significant climbs and also the distance. I rolled out in the cool of the early morning and completed Veeder in solid form. Being greeted by a guy in Highlander kit playing bagpipes at the summit was one of the great visuals of the season.
The downhill and return route to Napa (Dry Creek, I believe) is always a fun experience, and the middle part of the ride involved the pretty, rolling route along Silverado Trail. Things got a bit toasty during the approach to the lunch stop (but much cooler than the last two years), and soon enough the climb up Ink Grade appeared. I hooked up with another rider who seemed to have a pace that matched mine, and we leapfrogged our way to the top in a measured way. I didn't have the legs to produce a strong showing, but I made it to the top, and the rest of the ride was pretty much a simple spin to the end. This is a great ride, and definitely on my list for 2013, particularly when you factor in the fantastic wine tasting and food options that the area presents.
Century 9: Amtrak Century
After last year's Amtrak, I was pretty certain that I wouldn't try the ride again any time soon. There was a consistent headwind that made the entire ride a grind, and I was unimpressed by the scenery along the route. As the date for registration came up, though, I came to giving the ride another shot, and I'm glad I did. Good weather, a slight tailwind, and "well, let's see" attitude combined for a very good ride. Even the section of the ride that routed past the hordes of RVs was better this year. For the most part, the challenge of this ride is the Torrey Pines climb late in the ride, and although it was longer and more arduous that I remembered, it wasn't a demoralizing ascent. Strongly considering this one for 2013.
Century 10: Tour de Fresno
This is a local ride, and I did the metric route a couple years ago. Not a memorable ride, for the terrain is pretty much flat, with a climb or two folded in for some challenge, and the scenery is largely farmland and small towns. It would have been a reasonably good ride except for 1) the course wasn't marked beyond the 50th mile or so, and 2) the event organizers didn't distribute route sheets at the start. As I understand it, they expected that riders would print their own or that they'd use cell phones for navigation. Bad, bad, bad decision. I don't ever remember being so frustrated and angry on a ride. Stopping to pull out the phone to try to figure out the route was absolutely awful. Thankfully, the best part of the day materialized as the worst part of the day began: I connected with a small group of riders who had a map and a great attitude and I was able to tag along with them to the end.
I keep hoping that a local ride out of Fresno will turn into a fun and well-managed event, and I keep getting disappointed. At this event, the organizers put the riders at risk through negligence. Not cool.
Century 11: Lighthouse Century
With my tenth century completed at the Tour de Fresno frustration-fest, the pressure of meeting my goal came to an end, but I still had a couple favorite rides that I wanted to take on. I approached this year's Lighthouse with more than a little fear. Three years ago, this was my first century for a reason: it was a relatively easy century because the climbing was very manageable, and the event has a reputation for being very, very well managed. This year, the routes were changed at the request of the local government and the CHP, and the two century routes included some significantly more challenging climbing. I rode the longer but less steep 109 mile route that included the lengthy climb up Highway 46 almost to Paso Robles. The DogMagnet rode the shorter but steeper route up Old Creek Road. Each of us had a good day on wheels through the climbing, and the route up the coast was great, as always. The unexpected and significant challenge of the day was the will-breaking headwind for the ten or so miles before the turnaround at the northern end of the route. I was at the point of cutting the route short and just turning back when I recognized the turnaround in the distance and managed to gut out the ride. With the headwind a tailwind, the return to Morro Bay was simple and fast.
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| The summit on Highway 46. |
This is an outstanding ride, and is definitely on the list for next year. I'm planning to give the Old Creek Road route a shot. It mirrors a local climb that I've recently mastered, and I think I can make a good showing.
Century 12: Foxy's Fall Century
My final century for the year was Foxy's. This was my third Foxy's, and the route is now relatively familiar. Previously, I was focused on the approach to and climb up Cardiac Hill. This year, I discovered the beauty of the middle part of the ride, with the rolling climbs up to and beyond the point where the metric route splits off the century ride. Wonderful, wonderful riding. This year's ride was also marked by much cooler temperatures, and the climb immediately following the lunch stop (a cruel thing even as a concept) was significantly easier, and the climb up Cardiac was more manageable than before. I still had to stop once before the top, but it wasn't the same kind of trying-to-manage-the-burning-legs experience it was the previous two times. This ride has a section of flat terrain during the final twenty miles or so that really gets into my head in a big way, and this year was no exception. There's something about grinding out a long stretch of easy riding at the end of a century that is just hard for me, mentally.
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So the season is done. I did ride the Solvang Prelude just for the heck of it (and to ride Ballard Canyon Road, one of my most favorite routes), but that was just the coda for the year. I had some successes, and I had some failures. In the time since Foxy's, I've been thinking about what this all means. I've still not fully cogitated it, and may never do so, but it feels good to have achieved a goal that was, for me, downright lofty: one thousand miles, in hundred mile chunks, on a bicycle. Folks I know tell me that they are amazed that someone can do that. I know that the achievement is the result of a simple desire to see if I could do it, coupled with the willingness to tough it out and the knowledge that I could meet the challenge of long miles and notable climbs if I persisted. And I think that that's the description that fits this whole piece best: I am a persistent rider. I'm not fast. I consistently start a century early, and finish late. I don't climb fast, but I get to the top of a hill. Everybody passes me on the flats. But I finish. I did it twelve times. And that's pretty cool.
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| My trusty companion Luigi at the bottom of the Mt. Veeder descent, 2012 Tour of Napa Valley. |
