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Clyde Butt
Thu, 15 May 2008 20:02:15 -0700 (PDT)
Central Coast Double 2008
Picturesque, spectacular, colorful, pristine, meditative…just some of the
words that come to mind to describe the beauty of this wonderful tour of the
central coast of California.
About 170 riders met at City Park in Paso Robles to start the 209.5 mile
double century and 170 mile challenge ride. Brian Stark had a few talking
points for the pre-ride meeting at 5:30am before we clicked in and headed
out on the course at 5:41am.
Pre-dawn light was enough to start without headlights, but a lot of us
switched them on anyway.
All but a dozen or so riders took off at a moderate to brisk pace. I decided
not to pursue and started out slower to save my reserves for the climbs
ahead – I needed some time to warm up and get into a good sustainable pace.
We started some gradual climbing heading west out of town toward Cambria and
the coast. I met Mel along the way – he mentioned that his wife is a
“cycling widow”, but was happy that she came along for the trip from So.
Cal. to enjoy the time away. They both are looking forward to doing some
wine tasting and touring of the area on Sunday.
The morning was cool and cold in the hills – I’m glad I started out with
long-fingered gloves and liners, along with wool socks (two pairs, a thinner
pair under my DeFeet Woolie Bollie’s). By the way, my wool socks never made
my feet feel too hot, even when the afternoon temps were in the mid-80s.
After looking at the ride profile beforehand, I was thinking a lot about the
one long, big climb, Nacimiento-Ferguson Rd., 7.4 miles of about 2600’ of
elevation gain – it was coming up later in the morning.
However, I didn’t realize that we would first be facing a very tough climb
up Santa Rosa Creek Rd., especially at the top where some computers
registered a 22% gradient! This one reminded me of my driveway off of Uvas
Rd near the boat launch at Uvas Reservoir west of Morgan Hill. It’s almost a
daily climb for me; 1/10th of a mile and 18% at the top. The rest stop at
the top of Santa Rosa Creek was a welcome sight. Volunteers were encouraging
with comments like “good job”, “way to go.”
I was cautioned to be very careful descending from the rest stop. The road
was rough, narrow, twisty, and very steep…some loose gravel in the middle of
the road caused me to loose transaction for a moment when I touched my
brakes on the descent…another reminder to take it with caution.
We turned north at Hwy 1 and followed the coast for 42 miles or more…what a
glorious sight! It was a little foggy, but not enough to block out all the
beautiful scenery. You could hear the waves crashing down over the rocks
below…every turn was like a picture perfect postcard view of cliffs, water,
and rocks, highlighted with the colors of spring – lots of golden poppies,
yellow and purple flowers everywhere – a truly beautiful landscape. Did I
mention the hills above me? My neck got sore from looking up to see the
tops!
Ragged Point was a great rest stop along the coast. One of the volunteers
poured me a cup a coffee from her ‘hidden’ thermos under the table – ask and
you shall receive!
The sharp turn up Nacimiento signaled there was some serious climbing ahead.
I rolled down my arm warmers and knee warmers, unzipped my jersey, and
settled into a climbing rhythm that took me to the top in about an hour.
Wow, the view below was spectacular! I couldn’t help but turn my head every
now and then to look down and see the twisty road I was leaving behind; a
stunning view of the canyon contrasted with the ocean below – it reminded me
of a similar scene on Pacific View during the Mulholland DC a month ago,
absolutely stunning!
Brian and his team did an incredible job of planning rest stops, including
unexpected extra stops along the way for water and snacks. One of these was
at the top of Nacimiento where I needed to fill a water bottle. Perfect
timing!
I loved the descent to Fort Hunter Liggett – a fun twisty road with banked
turns (my favorite). I had to keep reminding myself that it was not a closed
road, so be careful! A few cars passed me on my way down – just enough to
remind me to slow down.
Lunch at the shaded rest stop on the army base was a welcome sight. I needed
a little time off the bike after 113 miles. And what a rest stop it was! All
the fixing’s for a great sandwich, along with chips, cookies, and sodas,
too. I sat down at a picnic table where I met up with Scott Halverson (the
famed organizer of DMD, TT, and Knoxville Classic), and Brian, another rider
that volunteered his time to work one of Scott’s events.
Leaving the lunch stop, I quickly realized that my legs had too much time
off (45 minutes!) They were burning and I was starting to feel tired – I
never sleep very well the night before a big ride like this – I only got 3
or 4 hours, I think.
I met up with David(?) from Casitas Springs near Ojai just before we had to
dismount and pass our bikes under a gate that closed the road at Sulfur
Springs Rd & Jolon Rd. I was glad to see someone like David wearing cargo
riding shorts instead of the usual spandex and padding that make us look
like we’ve got diapers on under those shorts ? I have a pair of knickers
I’ll be trying out with some Andiamo padded underwear soon…these hemp
threaded pants are totally retro, and with no diaper look!
After warming up on Jolon Rd., we headed up into some gentle rolling canyon
roads; San Lucas-Oasis Rd. and Lockwood-San Lucas Rd.
Now I gotta’ tell you, the last couple of rest stops were really fun…the
volunteers had hot soup, hot dogs, and lots of other snacking foods for us.
One of these stops was manned by a couple of guys that rolled their motor
home into a turn out at the top of a little hill. They set up a table and
took good care of us. Us? I met up with Brian from the lunch stop earlier,
and we agreed to stay together through the “night shift.”
Tip: always find someone you can ride with at night – it’s safer and you’ll
enjoy the companionship, especially when you get tired. There is something
very energizing about it for me – we even picked up the pace to make the
finish with time to spare. When you can ‘smell’ the finish, it’s like a
magnet that pulls you in!
Along the last segment to the finish, Brian and I talked about the end of
ride meal. We were new to the Central Coast Double, and didn’t know whether
they would keep the meal place open for the last finishers like us – I think
there were only a half a dozen riders still on the course when we got in
just before midnight (yeah, we lingered at those last few rest stops!)
Well, let me tell you…the church was lit up and the upper room was open –
there were a number of riders still there relaxing, eating, and coming back
for more helpings of some fantastic courses of Vietnamese cuisine…it was so
good, I got two plates to make sure I had a little (okay, a lot) of
everything!
My roommate, Zach made it to the finish way before me…he rides a Bachetta
carbon recumbent…he took 30 minutes off of his previous CCD time, and had a
3-hour nap in a back room before having dinner.
Zach was there to greet Brian and me at the finish – looking down from the
balcony, he shouted out a hearty “Congratulations!”
Up the stairs we went and found riders eating and volunteers still
serving…it was nearly midnight but nobody pushed us to clear out, and none
of the volunteers appeared to be in a hurry to leave, either.
I had a chance to chat with Brian Stark a little bit. He kept deflecting all
of my praise to the volunteers. “They do all the work,” he told me.
After a bowl of delicious Neapolitan ice cream and some thank you handshakes
and goodbye’s, Zach and I headed out on our bikes to the Motel 6 we were
staying at less than 2 miles away.
I’m glad I signed up for this ride. It is one I will look forward to doing
again in the years to come. 2009 will be the 15th anniversary ride with a
commemorative jersey to mark the occasion.
Thank you Brian and all the volunteers for organizing and putting on one of
the best supported DCs in California. You guys and gals are the best!
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