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Today's photo - RecycleBike gets underway at the El Dorado County transfer station. Pictured are Jim and Emilie Brown, Rich Elmore, Debbie Harlow (office manager at Waste Connections), Tom Judy and Albert Magallanez of Waste Connections. On the far right is a photo of Jim's VW van loaded to the gills with bikes that will soon find a new life. |
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Planet Ultra Solvang Spring Double Century
This entry was posted on 3/28/2006 10:44 PM and is filed under Ride Reports.
25 March 2006
Solvang to Morro Bay and back
191 miles, about 7500 feet elevation gain.
by John Vieira-McEldowney
This double century is put on by Planet Ultra http://www.planetultra.com. Planet Ultra is a for-profit operation that organizes several centuries, double centuries and other special events in California. This double century is considered to be one of the easier doubles in the area. Easy is of course a relative term.
I started the ride at 5:00 AM, before sunrise, with my bike and I decked out in reflectors and lights. Planet Ultra is serious about rider safety and absolutely requires front and rear lights and ankle bands when riding at night. I am a morning person and I enjoy being outside to watch the arrival of the day. This morning we are riding east toward a waning moon that appears fuzzy from behind the light cloud cover that the weather service says will bring us rain later today.
Riding a group ride in the dark is fun because you look down the road and see little blinking red lights disappearing into the distance. I have heard that there is some evidence that a drunk or stoned driver will sometimes actually steer toward blinking taillights. I also understand that Calfornia law allows only emergency and police vehicles to display blinking red lights. My lights are on solid but as I leave sleepy Solvang none of this seems to make any difference. Other than the sag wagons there is no traffic.
The first rest stop is in Sisquoc, and is poorly placed too close to the road. Planet Ultra volunteers are constantly exhorting people to not loiter in the road. The rest stops on double centuries are typically spaced 30 to 40 miles apart and this ride is no exception. Here they have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, salty snacks, sweet snacks (Rice Krispie Treats - mmmm!), bananas, muffins, Gatorade and some other kind of energy drink powder.
The route continues on, skirting Santa Maria and heading to San Luis Obispo. One downside about riding for 13 and a half hours is you tend to forget a lot about what you saw and where you went during the day. This stretch must have been particularly forgettable. The route is pleasant, roads are good, minimal traffic, but nothing really made an impression on me.
At about 8:30 the rain starts to fall. This is particularly annoying as we are entering more congested areas and the traffic is picking up. I turned my rear lights back on and put on my bright yellow jacket again both to keep dry (didn't work) and to be more visible in the poor atmospheric conditions.
It continued to rain until I got to Morro Bay, around noon. The final stretch to the bay had to be the low point of the trip. I had a strong headwind, the shoulder was wide but the traffic was heavy and noisy on the Pacific Coast Hiway, and rain rain rain. I occupied myself trying to remember the words and tunes to songs about rain. There's always of course "Rain Drops Keep Fallin' On My Head" but the rhythm of the song just doesn't fit a cycling cadence. I finally settled into the Beatles' "Rain", got down on the drops, pushed into the wind and tried to eat the miles away.
At Morro Bay the route turns around and starts heading back to Solvang. Now we are hugging the coast rather than the inland route of the morning. The sky is clearing up, the wind is at my back, and I'm still feeling strong. While passing through Pismo Beach a grey SUV passed me with an Auburn Lake Trails license place frame. Small world!
At the lunch stop they offered Subway sandwiches. I couldn't think of anything more likely to slow me down than a lump of bread and cold-cuts sitting in my stomach so I passed on the subs and went for the hi-energy and salty snacks. I find in my long rides that early in the day I go for sweet stuff, but as the day wears on I start to crave salty things. And I eat a banana at every opportunity.
You can leave your lights and other night riding equipment with the staff when you check in and they deliver it to the next-to-last rest stop in Guadalupe. I had a stronger headlight delivered here but it looks like I won't be needing it if I can just keep up the 16.5 mph average pace I've been keeping. The flat terrain and tailwinds make this easy. Nevertheless I must pick up the light and the battery pack that weighs a ton and carry it the final 50 miles back to Solvang.
Finally I arrive at the last rest stop, in Los Alamos. Here they offer a hot Cup-O-Noodles in addition to the usual stuff. Even though I've dried out and the day has warmed up, taking in a hot drink or food at this point of a long ride seems to really do a body good. Its tremendously energizing.
There's one last climb up and down Drum Canyon, and then finally the home stretch down the highway back to Solvang. It is 6:30 when I get in so I beat the sunset by just a few minutes.
I thought Planet Ultra's support was very very good. The sag wagons were passing all day long even though they must have been busy with a high number of riders dropping out due to the rain. The food was good and quantities more than adequate (there were a lot of riders who didn't even start, so maybe there was a lot of extra food).
They must have marked the course in chalk because after the rain I never saw a single fresh route marker in the road. There are so many group rides taking place in the Solvang area each year that the approach to practically every intersection is littered with fading and cryptic route markers painted on the pavement.
I would recommend this ride for anyone wanting to try a double century. The climbing is minimal, the support is good, the area is scenic, and its actually just a little shy of 200 miles. Everything works in your favor. The early season guarantees moderate temperatures but higher possibility of rain. There is no post-ride meal - the organizers encourage you to patronize local merchants. One down side for us up here of course is the long drive to Solvang.
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