To say we had a great ride yesterday would be an understatement. We were blessed with some of the best weather the Central Coast has to offer.
We rode as a team of three, Kurt, Dan, and myself. We started off with a small group at sunrise (6:30) only using taillights. We headed straight out 246 to Happy Canyon to put in some mileage on the loop back to Hwy 154. We picked up another strong cyclist, Bruce, who worked well with us all the way into San Luis Obispo. We took turns pulling. Hammering 30-35 mph down Foxen Canyon, On occasion we had a few others join us, seven at one point, but only one or two would assist in pulling. We lost everyone including Bruce when we made a stop at a convenient store in San Luis. No line for the restrooms. We rode Highway 1 toward Morro Bay into a strong headwind and completed 100 miles with an average speed of 18.6 mph.
As we descended Los Osos Valley Road we rolled up on a 72 yr old cyclist that had crashed. His front wheel caught a crack in the road and he went down hard. He had face planted in the road and was laying face down. Just before we got there and against the smart advice of the bystanders a cyclist rolled him over, assuming he was going to live, he rode off. He had major road rash on his left shoulder and elbow and couldn’t raise his arm. His glasses and chin slid across the asphalt as well. His helmet didn’t even have a scratch. His Trek hand built, custom painted, carbon fiber bike was pretty scratched up. We quickly rendered aid. I stabilized his head while the Paramedics packaged him and we transferred his bike to the Fire Department. His wife was a volunteer in the ride organization and had been notified. With everything being taken care of we rode again.
The second leg went well, we had moderate crosswinds that brought our pace down a little. At one point, around Oceano, we had around 12 riders hanging on to our tail. I say hanging on because none of them would pull, we did all the work until the climb up into Arroyo Grande where we lost most of them. As we left Arroyo Grande on Hwy 1, we left everyone else behind but Ohli, another cyclist who worked well with us. We flew towards Guadalupe, the chilly crosswinds over the fields of Hwy 1 and Black Road were present but only slowed our pace a little.
It was smooth sailing down Highway 1 and 135. We grouped up with a disorganized pack at Harris Grade Road. We had made a few pulls up front but it was too dangerous being anywhere but the front or back so Kurt and I were happy to hang until it was time for the climb over Drum. Dan feeling the same way but being near the front took off at his own pace. He was so focused he rode right past the rest stop in Los Alamos but turned around when he realized it wasn’t at the park.
Climbing Drum Canyon at this point (170 miles) felt like it did the first time I had ever climbed it. Doable but my legs were not going to let me hammer up the grade. Kurt and I just chatted about how great the day had gone as we passed rider after rider on our slow ascent. Dan was like the Energizer Bunny with a fresh set of batteries; he just kept going and going!!! The final push into Buellton was like having a strong wind in our sails we just floated in to Buellton at around 7:00, with 12.5 hours total time, our ride time was 10:24 with an average speed of 18.5 mph.
We rode as a team of three, Kurt, Dan, and myself. We started off with a small group at sunrise (6:30) only using taillights. We headed straight out 246 to Happy Canyon to put in some mileage on the loop back to Hwy 154. We picked up another strong cyclist, Bruce, who worked well with us all the way into San Luis Obispo. We took turns pulling. Hammering 30-35 mph down Foxen Canyon, On occasion we had a few others join us, seven at one point, but only one or two would assist in pulling. We lost everyone including Bruce when we made a stop at a convenient store in San Luis. No line for the restrooms. We rode Highway 1 toward Morro Bay into a strong headwind and completed 100 miles with an average speed of 18.6 mph.
As we descended Los Osos Valley Road we rolled up on a 72 yr old cyclist that had crashed. His front wheel caught a crack in the road and he went down hard. He had face planted in the road and was laying face down. Just before we got there and against the smart advice of the bystanders a cyclist rolled him over, assuming he was going to live, he rode off. He had major road rash on his left shoulder and elbow and couldn’t raise his arm. His glasses and chin slid across the asphalt as well. His helmet didn’t even have a scratch. His Trek hand built, custom painted, carbon fiber bike was pretty scratched up. We quickly rendered aid. I stabilized his head while the Paramedics packaged him and we transferred his bike to the Fire Department. His wife was a volunteer in the ride organization and had been notified. With everything being taken care of we rode again.
The second leg went well, we had moderate crosswinds that brought our pace down a little. At one point, around Oceano, we had around 12 riders hanging on to our tail. I say hanging on because none of them would pull, we did all the work until the climb up into Arroyo Grande where we lost most of them. As we left Arroyo Grande on Hwy 1, we left everyone else behind but Ohli, another cyclist who worked well with us. We flew towards Guadalupe, the chilly crosswinds over the fields of Hwy 1 and Black Road were present but only slowed our pace a little.
It was smooth sailing down Highway 1 and 135. We grouped up with a disorganized pack at Harris Grade Road. We had made a few pulls up front but it was too dangerous being anywhere but the front or back so Kurt and I were happy to hang until it was time for the climb over Drum. Dan feeling the same way but being near the front took off at his own pace. He was so focused he rode right past the rest stop in Los Alamos but turned around when he realized it wasn’t at the park.
Climbing Drum Canyon at this point (170 miles) felt like it did the first time I had ever climbed it. Doable but my legs were not going to let me hammer up the grade. Kurt and I just chatted about how great the day had gone as we passed rider after rider on our slow ascent. Dan was like the Energizer Bunny with a fresh set of batteries; he just kept going and going!!! The final push into Buellton was like having a strong wind in our sails we just floated in to Buellton at around 7:00, with 12.5 hours total time, our ride time was 10:24 with an average speed of 18.5 mph.
2 comments:
Hi Mark!
Tour de Montgomery is this coming Saturday...still remember how much fun it was talking and riding. I hope all is well and you are having a great summer!
mary
Sorry I missed your post. I wish I could have done the Tour de Montgomery again this year. I'll try for next year. You have inspired me to start blogging. Check back soon I hope to have my Double Century journey posted soon.
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