Here's the thing about Newport Coast - the two sides are almost the same. I think the East/West route is about 1.3 miles and the W/E is 1.6 miles so not much difference in length and I've been told that the gradient is also not all that different (anywhere from 3 - 6 percent). I think what I hate about the Ocean side is that I usually don't do it until after I've put in some mileage, say 25 - 30 miles and am just tired. The E/W side (which I did last night) I usually do after a warm up of say 10 - 15 miles and am still fresh. Neither are particularly easy for me but the Ocean side just seems like it's 5 miles longer.

I may have told you this story... I have a friend training for the "The Bear" - she wanted to do the distance (100 miles) and the elevation (9000') before the ride. She rode the Ocean side of Newport Coast for 8 hours!!! Up and down, up and down, up and down... for 8 hours. OK personally I could never ever be that focused on one task for so long, second, after that, I would never ever again want to ride NC. It would be ruined for me.