Cool Breeze Century complete!

[Bike Goddess]

Thanks for the pics- amazing what we all see on our rides and don't always take a moment to share with others! Loved the flowers and sculpture and views.

Congrats to both of you. Caligirl- 9% at the end? Killer to say the least! Double metric too. Done a couple of those, but not the kind of climbing you did. That's on my list- maybe next year I'll try one up here.

Sorry about your friend, glad she doesn't have anything broken. Sprains can be pretty painful and may take longer than a week to heal. Not fun. What were the mechanicals that she had and could they have been avoided????

[bikerchick68]

bcipam! Hey are you riding Lighthouse Century too? My bro and I are signed up for that one as well... 9/24 in San Luis Obispo... let me know! If so we'll have to meet and say hi Yikes on your friends accident... glad she is OK at least...

Corsair... heck no! No pics of me looking like that! I usually look pretty messed up at the end of these things... still smiling but definitely have "Hair by Helmet"...LOL

Rakekay... just put miles in your legs, be sure to hydrate the 2 days PRIOR to the ride (water, lots of water!) and be SURE the day of the ride you fuel well!! I stop at every rest stop and eat something little just o have some carbs on board... even if it's just a piece of banana and a fig newton or two... fueling correctly is half the battle! Looking forward to hearing all about your 1st! Be sure to post... it's a big deal...

cali- LOL... good to see SLIN back riding well and all recovered! I can take some while riding but didn't get any of the ocean shots as I joined a paceline and we were doing about 23mph thru the flats there close to the end... wecould all hear dinner calling us!! They had showers??? Whew! I was floored at how fresh you looked... now at least I know why I heard all about that climb at mile 100... a bunch of the guys said it dang near ripped their legs off!!!

Bike Goddess... yeah the first mechanical was a blown tire... should've been checked prior to the ride but she is pretty new (less than a year riding) and still learning. We had to sit at the first sag for an hour waiting for her DH to bring a tire as she rides 650cc... she won't make that mistake again tho! The crash was outta her hands... happened in a wet area and the dog ran straight at her... she swerved to try to avoid the crash but due to slick conditions went down... hard. I think her seatpost must've cracked then... amazing she finished the climb and downhill without getting hurt more... it sheared completely off at mile 58 RIGHT next to a SAG vehicle!

glad you all enjoyed the pics... it was a lovely ride!

[MM_QFC!]

Wow, five centuries already this year. I'm impressed. I'm new to biking and currently training for my first century (the Sea Gull Century in Maryland in October). Anyone else doing that one? Any advice for us century newbies?

I think I remember someone else on this board training to do the SeaGull...check out the Team in Training posts, as I responded to her there, I think.
At any rate, if you're training for it, just train for the distance; no need to train for any hills as it's flat, flat, flat. There was rain and wind when I rode it a couple of years ago and it's very popular, so hone your group riding skills (in other words, ride predictably and safely, using voice and hand signals and hope that others do too!) and enjoy the ride, rest stops and entire experience!

[bcipam]

No not doing Lighthouse this year - sortof been there done that (rode it the last 4 years). This year am going to Interbike In Las Vegas Sept. 28 - 30 so saving my pennies for that. Have fun on the ride, it's usually beautiful and if any of you out there want coastal views this is your ride. Miles and miles along the beautiful central CA coast. Although honestly the distance out to the Lighthouse (and past) although scenic is tough, major headwinds!!!! Make sure ride with someone to draft.

If looking for another interesting Century to do this year consider the SPOOKTACULAR out of Bakersfield (see kernwheelmen.org). Great ride. No traffic (or a traffic light that I could recall). Lots of climbing (opt for the 90 vs the 2 100+ rides).