Everyone have fun. You will be on the coast so out of the heat, just the wind to fight, and every day awesome scenery. My cycling friends who have completed this week-long ride every year swear that it is the best adventure ever. I wish I could do it too, but I have an invalid spouse and there isn't a way for me to take a week to go biking on a tour.

I think you are smart to sign up the year that the ride is along the coast. Some years back I was talking with a male friend who did the ride when it was in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon. He said it was real hard, that rides were 70-120 miles each day, with long exhausting climbs and fast dizzying descents. I probably could not even complete day one.

In 2009 there was one death for certain, a male cyclist age 59 who died in his sleep, plus there was a nasty bout of stomach flu. When I was on the bus back from the Reach the Beach charity ride earlier this year the other cyclists on the bus were talking about a female cyclist who crashed and died on a steep descent last year (2010) because her brake pads wore out. I didn't verify the story but they were all talking about it like it was common knowledge. So that is the worse I know, otherwise everything else about the ride is pretty great.