Solvang Epilogue

Well, talk about a GREAT century! This one was the best one I've done so far (my 5th). I didn't find you all, but I was so inspired by the TNT group! They were so supportive of each other even at the finish line waiting for the very last member to come in. That's what I call true team spirit!

I must say the weather was great, scenery delicious, and all the riders I met friendly and very supportive. I hope that was true for all of you too.

If anybody got pictures, I'd love to see them. My digital is too heavy so it got left behind. :(

Hope to see you all next time!

Nancy :D

psst ... Nancy, don't tell V., but you're on the verge of displacing her as my personal Bike Goddess ...

( well, were it not for her incredible cookies, that pretty much ensures her Goddess-for-Life status ;) )

Hiya Nancy... I looked for you and yello but never saw ya! It really was a beautiful century... I posted a looooong post under the general forum as well... my bro and I did some roving sag support (changing flats for others along the way! :) )

TNT were great! I rode with some of them from San Diego and they were doing very well...

we finished in 6:52:12... 20 minutes faster than our first century last month :D We were VERY happy with that...

I have a BUNCH of pics but don't know how to post them here... if you send me a private message with your email address I'll get them to you... I should have them all downloaded by tomorrow!

BTW- my brother called today to see if I would be interested in riding a DOUBLE century with him in JUNE... aaaaack! :eek: Nutjob! :p

Your Bro is quite a guy if he can do 200 miles in one day!!! What ride is he thinking of doing?

A bunch of us from Benicia are doing the Seattle to Portland ride in July- It's 208 miles with two options- one day, or two days. Last year I did it in 2 days- 139 miles the 1st day and the rest the next. I was pretty beat coming in to Portland!

My thing about long rides is endurance. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to do that kind of ride- it means at least 12 hours in the saddle and 12 hours of eating the right way! I think I'll just stay with centuries and double metric centuries.

Let me know if you do one. That will put you in an elite group!!!
:D :D :D

Jobob-
Gee, thanks for the compliment! Next time I ride with you all remind me to bring cookies (maybe brownies- I have a killer brownie recipe). Actually it would be fun for all of us to bring things- I'm always up for food after a ride,you bet! :D :D :D

I feel myself tumbling from a pedestal. My DMD staff ride is coming up though...maybe I can pedal my way back up.

This year I'd like to add the climb up Hamilton, but that will be like 140 miles and 15,000 feet of climb. I may settle for just trying to duplicate last year.

V.

nancy... I emailed you the pics...

the double is somewhere in Ventura area... he lives in Camarillo... I was laughing too hysterically when he suggested I do it with him to find out where exactly it was! :D

the amazing thing is... he is just about 300 lbs! Yup, he has lost 160 lbs so far... was gonna do gastric bypass surgery but decided it was too invasive... so he started losing it on his own, then got into cycling... had to have a mtn bike custom built to support his weight! BUT it really got him going weight loss wise... then he got a road bike (Lemond Zurich) and started riding that... got hooked and turned into a roadie... I told him when he finishes losing the weight I will no longer be able to keep up with him! He's sooooooo strong! He was very happy to ride Solvang and ride every HILL which has been his biggest challenge at his weight. I'm pretty stinkin proud of him!!! :)

I was very impressed (and humbled) by many of the folks I saw on the ride: big ones, tiny ones (the kids on the tandems), etc. Did you see the guy with one leg and no prosthesis?! Now THAT'S hardcore.

BC, your brother's story is very motivational. You SHOULD be proud of him. My hubby just started riding about 1.5 yrs ago after never really doing anything "athletic" in his life and he has had a similar experience. I fully expect him to be leaving me in the dust by the end of this summer. I'm very happy he has fallen so hard for cycling as it sounds like your brother has.

Sidebar re: Solvang: I finally got around to cleaning up my bike last night and lo and behold! The seat post is cracked. I know exactly where it happened: on the downhill of the first of the big hills in the last 15 miles. The pavement was really bad and I was going faster than I had any business going. :eek:

y

oh man! glad that didn't cause an accident for you... that really was a HORRIBLE downhill... I kept it pretty slow due to the road condition as well... I'm guessing that all the rain has made the roads worse than normal...

congrats to you hubby too! way to go! I did not see the man with one leg... but the little girl who was the stoker on the back of the tandem was amazing... little tiny thing OUT OF THE SADDLE for miles and miles! :eek: :D what a cool experience for both her and her dad!