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Copyright © 1994 by Manfred P.. All rights reserved.

September 19, 1994

Orange County to San Diego Century Bike Ride

Impressions from a Novice Cyclist

by

Manfred P.

Keywords: USA, California, Irvine, San Diego, tourist, travel trip report, travel log, travelogue.

This is just a brief trip report for those you might consider doing an organized bike ride. On Sept 17, the OCW, an Orange County cycling organization organizes this yearly event. A century ride: 100 miles from Irvine to San Diego.

To me everything was new. Even the term century. The term centuries would usually invoke thoughts of past ages rather than long distances on the road. I was and am an absolute beginner. As preparation I did two rides on a weekend about a month ago, a 40 mile and a 60 mile ride. This was the first time that I was on a bike for more than 5 minutes since my teenage years. But I love challenges. Doing a 100 mile ride, hence, sounded very tempting. My friends made it really easy for me: My friend Walter provided me with all the necessary equipment (bike, helmet, even padded cyclist pants). And the whole group provided support and draft. All I had to do was to fly there and to try to not slow them down too much.

The century was limited to 750 riders and I am not quite sure if it was a sold out event. Unlike expected people don't start at the same time but at their own leisure and choosing. From that one can conclude it's not a race but rather a fun group activity. For those of you who are curious about trying it next year the registration cost is around $50.

We got up when it was still dark outside, 5:45 is definitely early for us. The ride starts at the train station in Irvine. Before the actual labor starts he had a snack provided by the sponsors: fresh bread and a sports drink. Then we dropped of our 2nd set of clothing and other stuff to be trucked down to San Diego. The whole gang, Pat, Naomi, Dan, Walter, and I, was ready at around 7am. It was cloudy and refreshing cool to start out. The first 25 miles zipped right by us. My personal highlight of the race was the down hill part in Mission Viejo. A tandem bike was in front, breaking the wind, followed by several singles; I shifted to the highest gear and kept peddling while trying to keep an aerodynamic posture. Turns out that I was breaking my personal speed record with ease: 41.5 mph. Ohh, I was very impressed. For real cyclists that's of course nothing. They hit 65 mph and faster on down hill stretches, but for the average John Doe like me 41.5 mph is pretty darn fast. That was a nice ego boost. If I can go 41.5 mph down hill, 100 miles shouldn't be a big problem. After 25 miles we reached the first of 4 rest stops. Delicious food was waiting for us: fresh pineapple slices, bananas, grapes, Fig Newton, cake, cookies, and so on. I get hungry just thinking about it. We were digging in. Needless to say that everybody felt good.

The next stop would be at 50 miles. I believe it was on that stretch that we had a flat tire. It turned out that this should be our only one. So, we were quite lucky. The scenery was partily very pleasant, beach scenes with a pleasant breeze. On other occasions it would be rather boring with lots of traffic and lights. The cloud cover was still with us keeping the temperature low. It was pleasantly cool to warm. This statement, however, comes from someone who thinks that 106 degrees in Phoenix is nice and warm. So, I am sure most other people felt is was comfortably warm but not cool. On this stretch I had to put in quite some energy to stay with the group. From mile 40 to 50 I stayed right behind a tandem and made sure there wasn't more than half a yard between their rear tire and my front. Since this was going along the beach without any traffic this was most likely the nicest portion from the scenery. The half-way rest stop at 50 miles was just short of the military base Camp Pendelton (sp?). More food. Mmh, mmh, good. Loading up on carbohydrates and fluids. The selection was pretty much the same as on the first stop. It felt good to rest my legs for a while.

On the third stretch I tried to follow the old recipe: Stay behind the tandem. That was okay for a while but not too long after the rest I couldn't stay with them on a hill. Boy, I tried catching up but there was just no way, not with my wimpy legs having to pull by myself. My buddies of course were just warming up after 50 miles and they were somewhere ahead of me. Since, the gap to them was to big all I tried to achieve was to catch up with the tandem again. At one instance I made it up to 5 - 6 yards behind them, but what seems such a small distance makes a big difference. I couldn't bridge those last 5-6 yards. So, I had to do one or two miles by myself until I caught up to some group with the tandem amongst them because they got slowed down by some red lights. I was staying with them in 5th position or so. On the next down hill the guy in front of me lost the draft to his front and by the time I realized the 10 yard gap in front of him, I passed him and peddled as hard as I could but in vain. There was no way to get any closer to them on the down hill. I was cursing to myself how this guy could lose the draft on the down hill. I was going by myself again and I was tired from the catch-up attempts. I must have been doing around 10 mph, maybe even less. Than suddenly the gang passed me again. They had kindly waited for me at a gas station. It was even more surprising when a rest stop came up. This was exactly what I needed. However, there was no way that I did 25 miles. It turned out that there is a lunch rest stop at the 60 mile marker. It felt good to sit down and inhale a turkey sandwich and more fruits and angle cake. I met another old buddy of mine from Xerox. It's a small world. This was a fairly long break, around half an hour. The remaining 40 miles would be tough for me. I tried to convince my friends that I don't want to slow them down, and that they should go their speed and I'll meet them in San Diego. But they had their mind made up and decided that we'll stay together.

The next miles were the most exhausting ones. It was like a yo-yo. For a few minutes I had to give more or less everything I had to stay with them and then I was so exhausted that I had to slow down, yelling "too fast" at the group who would then slow down for what seemed to me like seconds but I'm sure it was minutes. In short, I was on the fast-slow cycle. Pat gave me an occasional push whenever I fell behind and he drafted my downhill that long bumpy portion around mile 79. That was very appreciated. After the long downhill, unfortunately there was this long uphill. What goes down must come up. Needless to say I was the slowest one, but overall this felt like a relief since I went at my one pace and didn't have fight to stay with the "pros". Even though Torry Pine (sp?) is a long uphill is really isn't that bad. And once on top there is the great reward of having reached rest station number 4 at mile 82. Now I was primarily drinking and listing to my friends words "from now it's all down hill". There was no doubt that I would make it to the finish line, but there is no such thing as an 18 mile down hill road.

The last part was easy though. Due to my tiredness my reflexes were slow and didn't feel comfortable anymore staying glued to the rear tire of the guy in front of me. So, by now I was drafting less, and making frequent "too fast" calls to Walter who volunteered now to pull me. Fairly quickly we reached Mission Bay Blvd., since we were going at a slower pace I could enjoy the scenery again. Downtown San Diego was just around the corner, and before I knew it we were across the San Diego train station: The finish line. After mile 50 the cloud cover disappeared and it got hot. So, on the uphill portion I was glistering in sweat. I felt good now to grab a cold drink and stand in the shade. Next we filled our bags with drinks and snacks for the train ride home. The bikes got loaded onto trucks while we headed for the rest room at the train station which looked like a community shower by now. Picture, 30 or more at once guys trying to wash the sweat and sun lotion off by taking sink-based showers, the guys not currently taking "showers" were either changing clothes or waiting in line for the sinks. I am sure the picture in the women's restroom was similar. The train ride back to Irvine was kind of boring, for the most. The flasher in the San Diego suburbs and the popping champagne corks of celebrating co-riders were the brief high lights.

For those who need to know the statistics: I was told that we rode for about 5.5 hours and that we took around 2 hours of breaks in total.

To nicely round the day off, Walter hosted a Century Celebration. Besides Pat, all of us were first time century riders. The celebration called for the perfect combination: champagne, pizza, and jacuzzi. Everybody wolfed down slice after slice of pizza while continuously stating how bad it is for our bodies and how many calories come from fat. Willpower only goes that far. The limits are clear. It's easier to do a 100 mile ride than to so "no" to pizza.

Since I wasn't sore the next day, I can safely speak for all of us. The century --- piece of cake.

One last question, when and where did you say is the next bi-century?

    

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