Estelle packed safely in a Trico Sports hard case.

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I added the google latitude widget...

so my friends could easily see where I am during the Rando Stampede 1200k.  Assuming the cell phone battery holds up.

Todo for Rando Stampede 1200k

Stream of consciousness over the last week before leaving for my first 1200k.  I do love lists.  They keep me out of trouble sometimes.  Saved here in case I like it.  I can use it for PBP as well.

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Todo list for Rando Stampede 1200k

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

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

Orange County 300k

The start.  About 20 riders.

Everyone comes into a brevet with a different set of expectations and goals.  I always try to keep those two things lined up with my current level of fitness, rest and course difficulty.  For this 300k, I was still sticking to my early season training.  That meant keeping my HR well below my lactate threshold and not even thinking about my finishing time or even setting a goal for finishing time.  Planning to take it easy and actually doing it are sometimes two different things.  When we bombed down the San Diego Creek Trail to Newport Back Bay I've found the combination of the slight downhill grade and the early morning lack of an on-shore breeze can make for some nice high speed runs to the coast.  This day I resisted and cruised along at around 30 km/h.  Later on the route heading up the Santa Ana River Trail a scraggly looking paceline of randonneurs passed me and I again resisted the temptation to jump on.  Some people might call it sandbagging, I think of it as pacing myself.

We rolled out a couple of minutes after 0600.  I had been busy in the convenience store that shares space in the Ralphs parking so I didn't have a chance for the usual pre-ride talk with friends.  As we climbed out over Glenn Ranch, Saddleback Ranch, and then Santiago Canyon I started to warm up.  With the early departure we didn't get to see much of the sunrise from the Canyon.  The fishermen were up and out in force on the Irvine Lake and the vapor over the lake made me a feel a chill.  I've spent many, many chilly mornings at trout streams watching the vapor rise as the sun rise begins warming the day.  This day I'd left my fishing gear at home and kept on peddling.  Willie Hunt met us at the top of the last grade on Santiago Canyon to sign our brevets so we could pass on the convenience store control just a mile down the road if we didn't need anything.  The ride west to Newport and then north to Santa Ana River Trail (SART) was pleasant and uneventful.

As I started inland on SART I hoped I'd find the beauty of the river trail.  It is sort of a bicycle freeway from the beach to the mountains.  It's not the esthetics of the trail I find uninteresting.  I just find the riding a bit monotonous, which is saying something when you consider that as a native of Illinois, I have ridden all over that great flat state and enjoyed it.  This day I amused myself by biker watching.  There was a steady stream of coast bound riders to keep my attention.  The detour on SART just inland of Gypsum Canyon was very nice.   I do hope they decide to leave the trail as detoured running next to the golf course rather than close, within 20 yards for quite a ways, to the 91 as it was originally paved.

At the fourth control I found the paceline that had rolled by on SART departing and another group trickled in as I left.  Molly and Jerry Cook were part of the group.  It wouldn't be the last time that we'd run into one another through the day.  The route through Corona was new to me and I found it entirely pleasant to be up in residential areas on nice wide empty streets rather than hugging the freeway below.  After a brief wrong turn adding a couple of kilometers to my day I ran into Molly and Jerry again.  Navigating according to the route sheet we were eventually dumped out onto Temescal Canyon for the hop down to Lake Elsinore.  Two things really caught my attention on Temescal Canyon.  The first was an enormous dog that had been hit and was still laying in the road.  The second was "Skull Canyon Eco-Experience."  I wondered if the pioneers who settled the area actually named it Skull Canyon or if this was a commercial enterprise's vision of the best marketable name.

As I rode south, paralleling the 15 at some distance, I stopped at a Circle K to top up my bottles and buy some food.  We were heading to Clinton Kieth Road and following it east across the Santa Rosa Plateau into territory with few services.  At the Circle K, Molly and Jerry arrived moments after me and then to my surprise Kelly DeBore, Jaime Gurolla, and a fellow I've not met pulled in to fuel up.  Kelly, Jaime and crew were out riding the Toughrider 200k permanent.  I was surprised to see Kelly and Jaime because, according to my navigational devices, we were located approximately 15 miles due west of the middle of nowhere.

Clinton Keith Road was a good warm up for the coming terrain.  After about 6 or 8 km of steady climbing at 6 to 8% the grades came down to a more gentle 2-3%.  The climb, although shorter, reminded me a good bit of San Julian Road out of Lompoc.

The Santa Rosa Plateau is a unique ecosystem.  Primarily a basalt formation from volcanic eruptions eons ago the Plateau's grass lands and Scrub Oak are quite striking after the dirt and rock landscape of the 15 corridor.  At 2000 feet elevation it must be much cooler in the summer than the Temecula Valley below.  On this day the temps were perfect which makes hard work much easier.  After crossing the plateau a sign sets the tone for the next 10 or 12 miles.

It says "GRADE" not "GRADES".  The grades were innumerable.

Dropping off the plateau on a bombing run that drops 700 or so feet at 20%+ grades is spectacular.  This was one of the few descents where I've drug my brakes for almost it's entirety.  The terrain that followed was almost surreal.  I would not have been surprised to find a Rolls Royce Cabriolet full of cabbages or a clocks dripping from trees.  To prepare for paving hills sides are usually cut and hill tops chopped off to reduce the grade.  Not here.  These roads have been layered on top of the terrain as is and where is.  I can only imagine the task involved in paving this type of terrain and the vision required to hike or fly across the hills and picture paved roads in place of game trails and farm roads.  Riding through here was sublime.  The roads were terrible, cracked and potholed, and the grades were impossible.  To describe the roads as rolling is to understate their nature.  To me rolling hills implies that a rhythm of give a take can be found with the terrain.  Riding in Missouri is like that.  This terrain is mostly take, with occasional downhills that will make your eyes water.  The pitches are so steep that no rhythm can be found.  You are not in control here.  The surfaces; they were rough farm road paving jobs.  There's hardly any point in striving for perfect surfaces in a place like this.  If I saw 10 vehicles after from Avocado Mesa Road  to DeLuz road at Fallbrook I'd be surprised.  You have to ride these roads and pay attention.  This was some of the best, most enjoyable riding I've had since leaving the midwest in '96.  To see the terrain we crossed I've attached a google map link in terrain mode.  You can clearly see where the route climbs up to the plateau and then drops off heading south to Fallbrook.

The last bit of wild terrain is south of Fallbrook.  We rode Olive Hill to Burma and Sleeping Indian out to N. River Road.  I was reminded of the last time I had been on Sleeping Indian:

As I climbed up the last little grade before the big descent to the river I could see a rider up ahead at the side of the road.  As I approached she asked if there were any more hills up ahead.  I could see another rider stopped at the top of the hill.  I had to tell the truth:  it's all hills in that area.  I don't know what they decided to do.

I got to Oceanside just before dark and started north towards Rancho Santa Margarita (RSM).  Riding the 5 always has a traffic generated tailwind.  At Las Pulgas road it was dark, dark, dark.  All the way through to San Onofre I had the only mobile light.  At Christianitos Road, Molly and Jerry caught me as I was scanning the route sheet.  I wanted to see where the last 20 miles of the route lay.  From Dana Point we turned well inland and headed to and up Margarite Parkway.  I can't recall ever riding Margarite all the way up to RSM.  There are some pretty decent grades on that road.  I started getting that "I'm not having any fun" feeling which means I need to eat.  I popped a gel as Molly and Jerry passed and I started feeling better almost immediately.  The ride started to be fun again.

I want to thank Willie Hunt for putting together a fantastic route.  It was challenging but I never felt cheated which is quite an achievement.  I also want to thank Patricia for cooking tortellini and spaghetti with a choice of marinara and basil dressing.  It was delicious.

OC 300k Ride Stats:
Distance: 312 km
Riding Speed Average: 23.0 km/h
Ascent 2910 m
Time 15:20 hh:mm