Riding my first 600 km. brevet

The ride started at 6:00. The weather was clear and crisp – a big change from the dreary and overcast weather we had for the prior brevets. I started out feeling stale and rode a bit slower than normal just to get started. Around mile 25 we turned into Gazos creek and did some climbing through a cold but beautiful river valley. Rode along with a guy from my neck of the woods: Riverside. We made it to the first control at mile 34 and mailed my postcard. I started feeling better after that and made it to the next control at mile 58 without incident. I was in and out of the control in short order; Riverside guy decided to stay longer.

At mile 74 the route turned inland up the major climb of the day. It was getting hot. I stopped at a small store, refueled and started up the road. It was hot and I was glad for the shady sections. Had to slow down and stop for a motorcycle accident. A few miles from the top I caught up with Roland ( who I rode with on the prior two brevets.) We made it to the top (Skylonda control,) and decided to keep the stop short. As we were pulling out Riverside guy showed up as did Len and J.T. .Amazingly Kaylie was lagging a bit behind ( I found out later she DNF'd – just too tired.)

Around this time I started getting really stressed out about the distances involved, how hard and hot it was and was wondering “... how the hell am I going to do this ???” I kept telling myself that I'd just take it one step at a time. It took quite some time to understand this.

Okay, so we rolled down a bit and then up again through some wonderful redwood forests. It was still hot. It got hotter when we rolled into the valleys below. At one point I smelled smoke and thought we might be riding into a forest fire ( great ! We have to spend more time on a detour – we'll never finish ) There was smoke in the valley and a fire truck with sirens blazing drove by. Then we noticed fire planes circling overhead. At one point we stopped to survey the situation. Sure enough a part of the hillside behind us had burned – but we were beyond it now.

We rode onto the coast. At around mile 115 we were back on the coast. The weather here was cooler. The road back to Santa Cruz was a relief. I stopped at Davenport ( mile 120 ?) and refuled. I was tired and hot. I'd lost track of Roland who'd pulled ahead. I later found out he DNF'd because his knee was unhappy. At mile 140 I stopped at the car to refuel and call dad. As I pulled away, I got a flat. Okay. If there was a place to have a flat, this was it. I had an extra tire, a tube, a floor pump. In short order I was back in business.

I was still tired from the heat and the climbing. During my ride through downtown Santa Cruz I stopped twice to buy and drink a Gatorade. I finally made it out of town on the road to Salinas. I met up with Rivendell guy ( from Connecticut) and IF guy ( from Utah). They didn't know the route and I reaffirmed the GPS instructions that Rivendell guy had. I was beginning to feel better. It was getting dark and cooling down. I saw the moon rise over the hill. I saw bats flying through the trees; it was kinda' cool. That is until a bat collided with my face. That really caught me off guard. Thankfully I took it in stride and just kept riding. Now that I think about it, that could have ended much worse.

Anyhow, on a very dark stretch of road I flatted again. Rivendell guy and IT guy just rode on. I found a small sliver of glass in the tire and was unsure if I got it out. I decided to use a tire boot to protect the tube. When I pulled into the next control 5-10 miles later, the pair were pulling out. Oh well. I needed a rest and food for the long stretch of road ahead. I had three beef tacos and coke. While there Riverside guy and Steve pulled in. I stayed there a bit longer just so I could ride the night with them.

Since I knew the route, I navigated. Knowing the route was a boon. It allowed me to go faster, with more confidence in the dark. On the other hand, I was impressed with the GPS device that Rivendell guy had; it meant he had few, if any problems navigating in the dark.

Rolling on I felt the fatigue of the day and couldn't wait to make it to the next control at mile 258. But I was bushed. My companions wanted to rest at King city ( mile 238) Riverside guy, in particular was really hurting and was “happier than a pig in shit” when I gave him a Cliff bar. So around 4:00 we checked into a hotel and decided to wake at 6:00. We woke at 6:15. Riverside guy decided to abandon. Steve and I ate some free breakfast at the hotel and rolled on. Into a slight headwind and onto the next control. On the way Steve was following to closely, crossed wheels and went down. I thought “What a knucklehead...” But I guess things like that can happen if your tired. On the other hand I chose to give Steve plenty of room for error just in case.

We made it to San Ardo at 8:15 ( 1.5 hrs before control closed.) It was a manned control. I got some stuff out of my drop bag. Len was there. He looked utterly exhausted and wanted to quit. Somehow he decided to roll onward with us. We had 8 hrs. to ride 70 miles to the next control.

So we started onward. Back in King city, it was getting warm. In Greenfield (mile 290) it was really hot. I bought some extra water and we rolled on. The next section was hot and the winds were really picking up. We worked a paceline and somehow managed to catch up to a group in front of us ( Rivendell guy and IT guy and two others). So now we had a group of seven. But, alas that didn't last. Rivendell guy was not interested in holding it together. I couldn't hang with him an dropped off – thinking I'd just noodle along by myself into the nasty headwind. As things wore on I ended up riding the balance of the ride with Steve and another Steve.

I made it to the last control at mile 335, out of the wind, into cooled weather and rode on without incident. Made it to the end with 1.5 hrs to spare.

Things to note:

  • The ride was miserable. It was fundamentally a test of my will. During the second day, my shoulder hurt because I slept on it. No matter what I did it wouldn't stop hurting. My butt hurt from so many hours in the saddle. My hands were hurting from holding onto the handlebars. My feet were burning. I was hot. The headwinds were relentless. I just kept telling my self that whatever pain I was experiencing would stop ( in retrospect only to be replaced by another.)
  • It was a hard ride. 62% success rate. I was lucky to persist.

Things to fix:

  • I really need a small cheap odometer or GPS. I just couldn't keep the EDGE 500 charged. It puked before mile 200. The batteries just don't last that long.
  • Better padded riding gloves – Monday after the ride right hand was a bit numb
  • Soles of feet really hurt – this won't do for a 1200
  • Left hip – the pain thing is still there, though not as bad.
  • Right shoulder – I slept on my side and my shoulder was sore. Lesson learned: sleep on back.
  • Need to lose some weight so climbing goes a bit faster

Things that worked well:

  • Didn't run out of water by keeping an extra bottle in the saddlebag
  • Taco Bell tacos as “dinner”. Don't think I'd try that in the hills though.
  • The new shorts were good – better than the old ones.
  • Remembering that whatever pain I was experiencing would end

Things to try:

  • Steve packed a very light down jacket. So far the base layer and light jacket worked okay. Just keep that in mind for a REALLY cold ride.
  • A GPS unit. Think about how nice it would be to navigate at night with this thing.
  • More “real food” The Taco Bell tacos worked out good.
  • V8. Lois and Bill affirmed that this was good stuff with the caveat “but I don't really like how it tastes.”
  • Not riding with people that have bad bike skills - or not to bee so critical of people with poor skills - just give them plenty of room