I did the Orange County Ride for AIDS yesterday. Metric century and then some; my longest ride of the year.

This was a great ride! The people were friendly and it was very well-supported, especially given that this is only its second year running.

Highlights:
* Great roads with wonderfully large bike lanes.
* Aforementioned nice peeps on the ride.
* Pit stops every 10-15 miles.
* Rolling hills with good fast flats in between.
* A perfect day in the 60s and 70s after a miserable heat wave earlier this week.
* The Oakley headquarters pit stop - that place looks like a futuristic battlestar port. All I can say is, wow.
* An Occupy Orange County rally in front of Irvine City Hall, with at least a couple hundred people. Very unexpected.
* Ice cream!
* SAG wagons riding up and down all day.
* A route through the canyons and along the beach.
* The chance to finally ride Laguna Canyon Road. I've had my eye on that strip of asphalt for years, just haven't wanted to drive all the way out there (it's about an a hour away without traffic).
*$100k+ raised for a great cause (total, not me, of course)
* Free massages at the end

I signed up last week after a friend cajoled me into it with the you could always SAG if you needed to routine. Since my longest ride this year has only been around 40 miles, I was a little worried, especially when I saw that the route was 68 miles, instead of 62.

I made it just fine, though, no SAG, no nuthin. I *was* the last person into the second pit stop, which encouraged me to ZIP through the next couple of stops, but it all worked out. I was very excited when I realized I was only 10 miles out and, damnitt, I had that ride in the bag.

All in all, I highly recommend this ride and I'll be there next year.