grand tour century challenge ride report!

[caligurl]

for you tracy... my biggest fan!

i got up at 12 midnight to get to malibu for the start of this ride... i wanted to arrive at 5 and leave at 5:30..... since hubby hurt his neck earlier in the week and was not riding (and i'd already paid for both of us!) i decided he could drive along and take pics and carry my stuff i didn't need! also... since it was going to be unseasonably hot even for the desert... we brough brie rather than leave her outside in the desert heat all day!

we got there just after 5.... i guess i screwed aruond getting ready.... cuz i started out later than i planned... left at 5:45 the parking lot was PACKED! it was warmer than i expected (and warmer than last year!) i left with just my leg warmers, regular gloves and optik jacket! as soon as i started climbing latigo... my jacket was sticking to me cuz of the humidity!





i had to laugh... somehow hubby missed the turn up latigo! lol! i kept expecting to see my official photographer around the next turn to take pics... no hubby! i was getting madder and madder! i think that helped me ride harder! finally i had signal and called him... he had missed the turn! he is just TOO dependent on the lady in the dash telling him "next right or left turn"! ugh! finally he got back on track and was taking some pics of me (plus he had my sunglasses cuz i started out with my cheapo amber lense glasses! and the sun had come out full force!) but i digress!

somewhere along the way.... hubby same across these cute little goats!







i started passing double (and triple?) riders sometime before my first rest stop (their route takes them the opposite way).... i smiled and waved at all of them! most waved back (hmmmm except the women... they didn't wave? what'supwiththat????) recognized my friend richard and called out to him!!!! continued on... it seemed like it got cold after the 1st stop... overcast... marine layer... gloomy... whatever you want to call it! it was downright chilly! i got passed on the potrero hill by a few braver descenders! (also passed a LOT of double riders ascending portero!)

when i saw the camarillo sign i said "hey bigK and BC68!" (didja hear me?????)

JUST before the 2nd rest stop... lunch for me... i took of my jacket off while at the redlight... got to the lunch stop and richard was there! he wife was also there taking pics! and he introduced me to someone who... now lets see if i remember this correctly... was doing is 111th double? i may have that wrong.. the number may actually be HIGHER! he asked if he looked that crazy.. i said "YES!"

this was the stop with the sandwich nazi! (reference to seinfeld and the soup nazi!) anyways... i went over to the roped off "century lunch" side and tried to get a sandwich and this lady said it was only for century riders... i told her "i AM a century rider"... and she informed me that i had the wrong color wrist band on... well.. sorry... that's what they gave me... she finally begrudgingly gave me a 1/2 a sandwich.. all the time complaining that they only had exactly enough sandwiches at that stop for century riders... UGH!

i continued on.... it was a bit warmer... a little bit of climbing....... then the flat run on not so pleasant valley rd! i had a headwind.. but surprisingly... i was able to keep my speed up... for me that is! (bcipam.... i made a point of watching my speeds on various areas cuz of all the talk lately about averages! for the most part on pleasant valley... which is flat.. with the headwind... i really surprised myself cuz i was keeping it mostly at 16... with some 17's and 18's in there!)

rolled into the final rest stop.... had some yummy strawberries! declined the offer of a carbonated soda! then headed back out! i was flying til i hit nava-whatever it's called! thanx to a nice tailwind! (over 20 mph!) caught a flat (glass) on PCH.... i always enjoy the gorgeous ocean views!



some guy came up behind me... asked how far i was going... i noticed he didn't have an orange wristband.. so explained about malibu... latigo canyon.. moorpark, etc... 122 miles total... then proceeded to tell him about the others riding 200 and even the "freaks" that were attempting 300 or 400! he laughed and said he's one of those freaks.. as he's an ultracyclist! oops.... foot in mouth! he rode with me for a few minutes.. chatting out the weather (i wanted to know where the heck the heat wave was cuz i was downright COLD!) then he took off!



more ocean views





me somewhere along PCH (with shorts rolled up to avoid the low on leg biker tanlines!)



i continued on... enjoying the coast... not liking when any climbs came up by then! lol! one thing i noticed on this ride... i got more hoots and hollars than i've EVER gotten on a ride! including the two other times i've done this route! even some motorcycle guy was harassing me! (he pulled over and signaled for me to pull over... tried to say something to me as i went by... bu i couldn't hear what he said!) something in the water saturday?

finally i saw the latigo canyon turn off and knew i have about 4 miles to go! YAY! however... i had forgotten that i got to do DOWNhill on my way out in the a.m.... and had one last hill to climb to get back!

i finally got back.... climbing my way up to the church/check-in!



enjoyed some yummy barBQ! another century challenge in the history books! we headed home (made a stop at performance first... i had some returns...! the traffic on PCH... although bad.. wasn't as bad as i thought! however once we got on the 10... it was slow going pretty much all the way to the 60! and even on the 60... several slow down points!

oh... we had brie with us... since it was going to get so horribly hot in the desert... she was pooped out from her adventure:



you'd think SHE rode on a bike for 122 miles!!!!!! (and the blanket didn't help keep the white fur off my black interior!)

sunday i had the alarm set for 4 to get up for my recovery ride... since it was supposed to be bloody hot in the desert again.... kept pressing the snooze alarm.... knew i was gonna be sorry... however i was pleasantly surprised that it was overcast (so muggy)... but nice for riding! the sun didn't peak out til i was about 1/2 mile from my house!

122 miles.... 14.3 mph average (.3 faster than last year!) 8089 ft of elevation

hope this works.... motionbased page of the ride!

[tprevost]

Whoo Hooo! No wonder you were getting hoots and holler's... look at those killer legs!!!!! Tell DH he'll have to stick a little closer next time in case he needs to defend your honor I hope you were ready to pepper spray that goober that pulled over... what do people think you're just gonna pull over and start talking with someone like that??? UGH!!!

Brie looks soooo cute, I just want to reach out and touch her nose! I LOVE dogs and she is too awesome... I still can't believe she lets you do the birthday thing

What a great ride report! Your "personal" photographer did a great job there! Kudos to him!!! How is his neck feeling after the drive etc? You make it look so easy CG, I'm still poking along over here...

I'll comment more later, gotta get the salt off of me from today's ride

Trac'

[maillotpois]

Great report! I love your photos - but especially your DOG!! She looks like a teddy bear! What a great dog - samoyed?

[caligurl]

thank you, mp! and yes! she is a samoyed! she turned nine last weekend! and of course had cake.... ice cream... and a present (that she didn't like! i spent $18.00 on the toy and she preferred the 97 cent tennis balls!) here are some pics i put on photobucket for tracy to see until i get around to updated her website! lol!

p.s. brie was born in san carlos! so she's a norcal girl!

[caligurl]

I hope you were ready to pepper spray that goober that pulled over... what do people think you're just gonna pull over and start talking with someone like that??? UGH!!!


Trac'

lol! no.... actually i don't take the pepper spray on organized rides... but i guess i need to, eh????? fortunately (or unfortunately) that happened on PCH so there was a TON of traffic... phew!

[maillotpois]

Great dog party pics. I am such a dog harlot. My dog is jealous.

[caligurl]

you should hear me on rides.... "HI PUPPY!" to every dog i pass that is being walked! lol! (no... i don't say hi to the ones that are loose! i tell them "go home!")

[maillotpois]

you should hear me on rides.... "HI PUPPY!" to every dog i pass that is being walked! lol! (no... i don't say hi to the ones that are loose! i tell them "go home!")

OMG! I do the same thing! This weekend on our ride, we had to ask owners if we could approach their car so we could pet the wonderful puppy girl inside!!

You and I should not ride together! I also talk to the cows, sheep and goats!!

[emily_in_nc]

Congratulations!!! 122 miles? You rock! Looks like a gorgeous ride! Thanks for sharing the pictures!

Emily

[caligurl]

OMG! I do the same thing! This weekend on our ride, we had to ask owners if we could approach their car so we could pet the wonderful puppy girl inside!!

You and I should not ride together! I also talk to the cows, sheep and goats!!

*whispers* so do i... i don't think hubby talks to them like i do... but he sure does take pics of them! lol!

[caligurl]

Congratulations!!! 122 miles? You rock! Looks like a gorgeous ride! Thanks for sharing the pictures!

Emily

thank you emily! look at you in your avatar on your mtb! YOU GO GIRL!

[bikerchick68]

oh man... you were having SO much more fun than we were!

sounds like it was a great ride... did this go right by Magoo Rock? Looks like the same stretch of highway there by the ocean... there's always a TON of motorcyclists out there making noise... sigh... of course, riding with Kahuna, no one messes with me He's not especially SMALL! LOL

We got the entire interior of the house painted... I was at Starbucks at 6:30am Sat and painting by 7am! Saw some cyclists out and about as we drove to the new house and wondered if they were doing the double but no numbers or bands that we could see... I was REALLY glad it never got too hot... here at home the heat moved in and it was over 100 the whole weekend... I woulda DIED trying to paint in that kinda heat...

anyway, tile is ripped out, carpet gone, inside painted and BKD is now in the process of putting in wood flooring... no riding for me, but I'm whooped anyway!

Brie is beautiful! And MP, I had to laugh about greeting the sheep... from experience I can tell you that in Ireland, sheep do not respond to "Move!, shoo, git" or anything else you can think to yell... so if you ride there, prepare to swerve around the sheep sized obstacles all over the road! LOL

[redhot3368]

Contratulations Caligurl!!!!
That IS AWESOME!!
You are an inspiration!!

Karen

P.S. I LOVED climbing Stunt, but the downhill on Piuma was SCARY!!
It was SOOO Foggy, I could hardly see....major white knuckling going on!!

[caligurl]

oh i know what you mean! the day hubby did that ride.... the descent... right near a little park off to the right on one of the hairpins.... the wind and clouds and fog/mist were SWIRLING visciously! "I" thought it was way cool.... he didn't like it much!

i don't think i'd dislike stunt so much... if it weren't at the 90+ mile mark of mulholland challenge!

[chartman64]

I'm SO impressed and inspired by your ride! Congratulations - and just, wow! I noticed you said you'd done this last year too and were able to go slightly faster this time -- how long did it take you to work up to being able to do that?

you should hear me on rides.... "HI PUPPY!" to every dog i pass

I do, too! And sometimes I don't pass; can't resist, gotta stop and say hi and get kisses, if they're being offered. I love 'em all, but especially the big guys. Your Brie looks very huggable! I've got a pair of Australian Shepherds (Preston and Cuchulain) that welcome me home from my rides.