Solvang Century- reporting in!

[bikerchick68]

Hi all... well, I completed my 2nd century on Saturday 3/12 in Solvang CA.

http://www.bikescor.com/solvang/route.htm

this link shows the route and elevation profile... 4,950 ft of climbing. What a beautiful ride!!! My older brother and I took off at abotu 6:45AM... it was overcast and cool for most of the ride... perfect! About 60 degrees so no need for warm stuff... I didn't even wear armwarmers...

About mile 30 I rode up to a light to see my brother changing a flat for a couple women who were struggling... they had made the mistake of putting a tube that had previously flatted back into their seatbag... so he changed the tire several times before they finally had a NEW tube... and then they tried to give us $20! NOOOOOO!!! That would've messed up our karma danrnit! LOL...

Kept going and got onto the highway 1... hit my new record speed on that downhill at 47.3MPH... woooooohooooooo!

Got to a SAG stop at 40 (what does SAG stand for anyway??) and my brother gave 2 extra spokes he was carrying to a couple on a tandem who had 3 broken spokes... hopefully they were able to then complete the ride.

Mile 70 I was cruising along (my bro was ahead of me so I was solo) and passed two women who were stopped... I called out "You OK" and the response was "sorta"... not good! So I stopped and they had a flat... but didn't know how to change it! So I changed THEIR flat... my brother and I then deemed ourselves the roving SAG support team! LOL... neither of us had any mechanical issues or flats... again that good karma from helping others!

mile 85 we hit the climb called "the wall" only a mile but freakin STEEP! I was doing 3.7mph and knew if I went any slower I'd just fall over but I made it to the top! then mile 90 another long but not as steep climb... then a couple little ones to the end. We finished in 6:52:12... 20 minutes faster than our first century last month. VERY proud of ourselves! It was a great day and a great ride... my confidence just keeps building!!! Yep, I'm totally hooked!

[slinkedog]

Wow! Thanks for the great report and congratulations for finishing so strong! You da woman!!

[jobob]

(what does SAG stand for anyway??)

Support and Gear, or so I'm told ...

I was doing 3.7mph and knew if I went any slower I'd just fall over

Oh, I know that feeling !

Great report !

[yellow]

I had a fun time too. Loved the foggy weather, though the sun came out just in time for the climbing part (I am not a fan of heat, and while I realize 70 is not warm, it is compared to 60, which is what most of the ride was!). Got in several fast & fun pacelines, though after about 80 miles I just couldn't hang with most that I tried to get in to.

I got all kinds of (playful) sh** for my triple. What's up with that?

BC, you must have missed the accident. It was at about mile 95, on the downhill of the last steep windy short hill. I never heard what happened. They held us at the top of the hill until the helicopter could come & go. I checked the web but couldn't find out anything about it. Hopefully it was just a bad owie and nothing really, really tragic.

Afterwards we went to the Firestone Walker Brewery. That was a fun time! I almost ate an entire basket of fries (!!) all by myself.

y

[bikerchick68]

jobob- support and gear! HA... I've only wondered about that for the last 2 yrs! thanks for telling me!!!

yellow... I heard that a guy crashed pretty bad and had a broken collar bone and possible internal damage... he's the one that got med-evac'd... there was a guy at the finish with a hospital armband on crutches too

that downhill from the steep climb at mile 85 (the wall) was pretty rough... have to admit I slowed it down there... road was just too messed up from the rains... I am comfortable going fast downhill... but also NOT stupid... old enough to know that hospital time stinks!

glad to hear you had a great ride too... you must be faster than me... every pace line blew by me yelling "on your left" I ride a double... and a woman on the team in training saw it and said "OH! You only have two thingies... you must be hard core!" I thought she was referring to my bottle cages... took me a minute to realize what "thingies" were...LOL... Nice lady... we chatted for a while and then I took off again!

[shewhobikes]

What great reports. I am working my way up to a century and these stories are motivational. Kudos for stopping and helping folks--what goes around, comes around! Cheers.

[Bike Goddess]

Check out Solvang Epilogue in the Northern California area- that's where my report is!

I heard the medivac, but couldn't figure out where it was going. Figured it was a rider. Sorry to hear the news such as you know.

Also, I heard this was 5,000 ft climb. Take all credit you can get, kids!
nancy

[yellow]

BC-I don't know that I'm all that fast...just anxious to have someone else pull me along, which I took advantage of at every opportunity.

The second in line never wants to be behind me given my small stature and small bike. I don't provide much "blockage"! SO I don't lead that much (I quickly get overtaken).

I finished in about 5:45, with about 5:15 actual riding time I figger (my average was about 17.5). My hubby had some mechanical problems at about mile 80 and gave me permission to ditch him. He still only finished about 15 minutes behind me.

y

[bikerchick68]

yellow... LOL at being too small to provide good blockage... I'm 5'7" so I actually provide enough shield to have to take a turn at the front of a paceline if I jump on...

you DID finish fast! 5:15... WOW! YOU ROCK!!! My avg was 15.05 and I finished in 6:52 RIDE TIME! With all the mechanical stopping we did to repair flats for others etc, it took us about 8 hours total... and I'm STILL tickled pink with that time! Next century I gotta shoot for 6:30 If I can better it by 20 minutes every time I figure I'd be doing well!

nancy... I saw your report and responded too... look slike ya had a great time as well! At the finish line I decided that I HAD to have a Solvang jersey so I treated myself!

shewhobikes... make sure ya report in WHEN you finish your first century! This was my 2nd ever (first one was last month!) it really is fun... such social events