PBP Pre-registration Complete

I was able to pre-register for PBP this afternoon based on having completed a 600k last year.  My number is US-1977.  I've had the good fortune this season to have completed the PCH Randos Orange County SR series so in terms of meeting the requirements:  I'm in!

There is still that little thing of riding the Rando Stampede 1200k in May.  I'm looking at the Rando Stampede as a full scale test run for PBP.

OC PCH 600k - The Big One 4/2/2011

Bikes waiting for the Triathlon to end.

Oswaldo and I had just finished a five star bicycle breakfast.  I had a T-street (T-street is a local surf break) omlette, hash browns, and toast.  We split a short stack and had many rounds of coffee.  Fifty miles into a 375 mile brevet we were eating like kings.  At the southern boundary of San Clemente we had encountered the complete and absolute closure of the bike trail system that goes between San Clemente and Oceanside because of a triathalon.  After exploring a couple of options and understanding that the trail would likely be closed until noon, we decided the best solution would be to kill a few hours and have a nice big breakfast.  I think of it as "the civilized way" to handle the situation.  Just before 1100 we headed back over to the trail closure site to watch the race.  They were just opening the trail to public use again so we jumped on and started heading south.  Oswaldo had called Willie (the ride master) to let him know we were delayed by a nominal three hours in case we ran into time problems later.  We reached the control in Oceanside by 1200 easily beating control cutoff of 1248.

I had planned to finish the first leg of the 600k by 2300 to 0100, a nominal 18 hour 380k.  I would clean up, eat, and head out without sleeping with my plan being to catch a first nap at the entrance to Carbon Canyon and nap as needed through the remainder of the day on Sunday.  Of course the closure completely broke that plan.

After a short trip down the San Luis Rey bike trail we connected to Sleeping Indian, the first bit of challenging road.  I've never ridden up Sleeping Indian but have enjoyed many descents down it.  I felt fine and the climb passed without incident.  We worked our way up hill to Fallbrook where we had a quick lunch at the slowest Taco Bell on earth.  Knowing that the real work was coming up shortly we moved right along and got into Sandia Creek Rd.  Once again I really enjoyed riding through that area.  I felt pretty thoroughly worked by the time we got to Rancho California Rd.  Once at Rancho California, I realized that a howling south wind was blowing and would become a tailwind for our trip north to Loma Linda.  We made quick time on this north bound leg, not working hard at all yet enjoying a high cruising speed.  On the rare occasions that we had to turn cross wind or even slightly into the wind it made me very happy to be headed north.  One of the nicest sections of road we were on in this north bound leg was Leon Rd.  It was dirt, there was little traffic and the landscape was austere and beautiful.  We continued making good time through lake Lakeview and on past Lake Perris.

Leon Rd.  You can see the grass being blown down by the howling wind.

At the Vallero just before the Ramona Expressway,  we saw the Sato's tandem and Matt O'Neill.  They found us at the control in Moreno Valley.  On the 400k I had found that the burrito I ate there didn't agree with me.  I stuck with Frapuchino, chocolate milk and Gatorade cocktail that has worked for a long time.  The grade up Redlands Blvd was much shorter than last time and the downhill run to the Loma Linda control was fantastic fun.

We had some food at Quiznos where Matt O'Niell and the Sato's encountered us again.  After a brief meal and rest Oswaldo and I departed finding Ed Shepard a short distance from the SART entrance.  Ed was looking good and riding strong.  We found expected headwinds on the trail and just hunkered down and pedaled.  Upper SART at night is much easier for me to take and the time on the trail passed quickly.  We encountered the Klines just before the dirt section of upper SART.  The four of us navigated the little Norco section of the route together and met again at the Corona control.  I had the Frapuchino, chocolate milk, and Gatorade cocktail along with some tasty potato chips.

Back on the SART we began encountering stronger headwinds and it was starting to wear on me.  I knew we hadn't far to go and just sucked it up till we reached Tustin Ave.  At this point, I should have identified that I was under-fueled but I didn't and instead of grabbing some more to eat at a convenience store I kept riding.  The distance from SART to the info control in Santiago Canyon seemed much, much further than it was in reality.

At the info control I chugged some H2O, and ate an energy bar that Willie had cached there.  That proved to be insufficient and the last few miles up Santiago Canyon were tough.  We were traveling in the direction that I normally  ride the canyon but I was too impatient.  I kept looking for the welcome to Lake Forest sign that marks the summit of the last climb and the beginning of a nice downhill resting section.  By the third false summit I had made up my mind to quit and decided to ride directly to my car, get in and drive home.  I also planned on how I could sell my Rando Stampede entry, get rid of the Waterford, and buy a nice comfy smoking jacket.

At the overnight control I was glad to be there.  As we walked in I recall Ruth asking me if I was going to ride straight through.  My answer was something to the effect that I couldn't ride on because my brain wasn't working correctly.  I ate, cleaned up, changed into my 2nd day riding gear and found a spot to sleep.  I slept for about 1:40 and woke up just before 0500.  After a few moments of getting my head into the game I had a quick breakfast suited up and jumped on the bike.  The terrain was familiar and downhill all the way to Newport Beach.  I had left the overnight control riding solo as Oswaldo had made plans to leave much later in the day.  My plan was to find some other riders out on the road to pass the day.  In Newport I saw Rita Garcia and Ruth Cabre.  I soft pedal for miles on SART waiting for them to catch up.  They never did.  I stopped at a picnic table to eat a Cutie and call a dinner request in at home (rib-eye, baked potato, and something else).  Eventually, Rita and and fellow who's name I didn't catch came by.  I packed up shortly after that and took off.  I flatted just shy of Carbon Canyon and was stopped to replace the tire when the two of them passed me again!  I finally found them near the summit of Carbon Canyon and maintained contact to the Chino Hills control.

The ride from Chino Hills to Irwindale was surprising to me.  I had looked at that area on maps thinking about linking Carbon Canyon and Turnbull Canyon as part of a permanent.  I hadn't because I thought it would be an urban hell of stoplights and bad roads.  That couldn't be further from the reality.  Grand is modern roadway with minimal stoplights.  It was a good route across town. 

 After a quick stop in Irwindale, Rita and I headed out to the SGRT.  The trail entrance crosses the Sante Fe Dam.  I'd never been on the Santa Fe Dam and I was surprised by the size of the structure.  It would appear that the San Gabriel River has a lot of potential based on the size of the dam.

Working the horses along the SGRT

The toughest part of the ride was coming up.  30 miles of flat San Gabriel River Trail into a howling onshore wind.  To say it was tough just about covers it.  Rita and I rode on and on and on watching the stupid mileage countdown painted on the trail reminding us of just how long it was taking to cover a 1/4 mile.  All along the trail there were little equestrian homes.  Everyone seemed to be out working with their horses.  It makes for a constantly changing backdrop to the trail and helped to have something to watch.  Finally Seal Beach started to come into sight and we reeled in the River's End Cafe.  I had a terrific plate of fish tacos, beans and rice along with coffee and water.  Out on the trail I had become sleepy on a couple of occasions and hoped to stave off sleep with the coffee until I could get home that evening.

Heading south out of Seal Beach we caught a much needed tailwind.  It made the ride down to Newport Beach easy running at a point where we really appreciated it.  The Chevron control in Newport was empty when we arrived but since we had three hours before the last control closed and 15  or 20 miles to ride we were taking our time.  Slowly other groups started to arrive, the Klines, Oswaldo, Ruth and Peter, the Satos and Matt O'Neill.  We ate a bunch of Hagen Das ice cream bars and headed for the finish.

Distance: 603 km
Riding Speed Average: 22.2 km/h
Ascent: 4596 m
Time: 39:00