06/14/06

Go to CENTRAL COAST DOUBLE Official Website

Hey, hey, boys & girls.           

I have returned from California's Central coast. This is the 3rd stage in the 2005 California Triple Crown Stage Race. What an epic ride!

The COURSE: Here is a quote from the California Triple Crown web-site describing the course: "This difficult but very scenic ride starts and finishes in Paso Robles. It travels in a large 210.7 mile loop through Cambria, up Highway 1 on the Coast, and back inland through Fort Hunter Liggett. One of the many highlights is a beautiful climb up from Highway 1 on the Coast into the Santa Lucia mountains where the panoramic view of the Coastline is out of this world!! "

The BIG CLIMBS: The ride starts immediately with 3 significant climbs up Adelaide Road, York Mountain Road, and Santa Rosa Creek Road. Total of 3,020 ft. in 30.7 miles. Next is a long run up the Pacific Coast Hwy1 through San Simeon, Ragged Point, and Gorda. This section is 21.9 miles of "headwind-enhanced" flats, followed by 20.4 miles of tough rollers. Theshowcase climb on the Santa Lucia Mountains begins on Nacimiento-Ferguson Road at mile 87.2. It ascends a sustained 6.7% grade, 2,600 ft. for 7.4 miles in the hot sun with very little shade. This takes us into the deep bowels of Fort Hunter-Liggett Military Reservation where lunch is served at the base picnic grounds at mile 113.6  By this time, we have climbed a total of 8,380 ft. A few rollers on Jolon after lunch, then we tackle San Lucas-Oasis Road and Lockwood-San Lucas Road. This is only about 1,300 ft. but it is 8.6 miles long. Small/medium/large rollers start to hit us for about 14.5 miles on Interlake Road (G14), the last and also largest roller was about 1.6 miles and 635 ft. This road also has some fantastic views of Lake Nacimiento. Finally, the last of the extended climbs is Hare Canyon, gradually ascending 850 ft. in 5 miles. Though only a little over a 3% grade, it still bites when the legs have over 180 miles already.

The BAD DESCENTS:  Descending on Santa Rosa Creek Road is the worst part of this ride. It is almost a 12 mile downhill, very steep, fast, and technical for the first 4 miles. This would normally be a fun downhill but the road is in such disrepair with big potholes, gravel all over, and sunk sections of pavement. Though I am not a fast downhiller, I could have easily averaged 25mph on this section but only managed 18mph. The roads in these remote parts of Central Cal are not well maintained, but it is beautiful country.

The WEATHER: A ride of micro-climates. At the 5:40am start in Paso Robles, it was officially 51 degrees. After 2.5 hrs and 43 miles, now at Cambria at the Pacific coast, it was sunny and clear but only 53 degrees with the winds starting to pick-up at 8mph. Heading north on the long stretch of PCH Hwy1 towards San Simeon, Ragged Point, and Mill Creek, the direct-headwinds from the NW were 16-18mph. Then the bakefest started as we climb inlands, topping out in the high 90's.

HOW HOT WAS IT? It was so hot, on the climb up Nacimiento-Ferguson Road, I passed a guy riding all the way to the left, where there was some shade. At first I thought this was a dumb move in case a car was coming from the opposite direction. But this road is absolutely remote with hardly any cars. As the sun started to beat me up, I soon found myself riding the left side shade also.

It was so hot, as I pulled into Checkpoint5 in the small town of Bradley, a lot of folks were running across the road with garden hoses. It took me awhile to realize one of the buildings right across from the Checkpoint just caught on fire. Firetrucks were not even there yet. It started to burn and smell really bad I started to cough, so I grabbed my food and drink and took off right away.

The RIDER: I felt good at the start. I know I was not at peak form but I was probably 95%. My goal was to peak for the Devil Mountain Double 2 weeks ago (which I did). Due to a bike creaking problem (see below, The Bike), I could not climb-out-of-saddle and consequently I am still nursing some minor saddle-sores.

The BIKE: This is the De ROSA KING's (a.k.a ELVIS) fourth Double Century. A creak developed after the severe beating on the terrible condition of the Santa Rosa Creek Road descent. This occured only 2.5 hrs. and 42 miles into the ride. I could not locate the source precisely but occured everytime I stood up on climbs. It hindered my climbing "style" to not be able to climb out-of-saddle but the creak was so irritating, I had no choice. Losing my climbing rhytm definitely affected my performance. BUT the bike and I survived the ordeal. I checked everything the next day and the culprit was the front skewer from American Classic that I recently installed. It was not broken, but somehow it has some inherent problem with the different materials used in the skewer that caused the creaking. Going back to the original Campagnolo skewers fixed the problem. I can not believe I broke one of my cardinal rules: NEVER CHANGE ANYTHING BEFORE THE BIG RIDE!

The FATIGUE INDEX: Average HR for the ride was 141bpm. I hit the proverbial "wall" after 165 miles and had to take a break for a couple of minutes to recover. When I hit the wall, I-SHARE (Ibuprofen Slowdown Hydrate Antacid Rest Endurolytes).  It proved very beneficial because I managed to keep my heart-rate between 70-90% and averaged 71%, 130bpm for that final 45 miles. Not exactly optimal for breaking a PR but good for recovery and ensured finishing the ride. This is the first time I have done 4 doubles and 2 out-of-state business trips in a span of 5 weeks. I was not sure how my body would hold up. Surprisingly, I held up ok with only some expected minor pain. Needless to say, I was VERY HAPPY to have finished my 3rd California Triple Crown Stage Race BEFORE SUNSET!

The  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Elevation Chart is courtesy of CCD web-site and David Nakai, http://www.centralcoastdouble.com/course/elevate.html

Outdoor scenery pics on this page are courtesy of CCD web-site and  Elton Bryant, http://www.centralcoastdouble.com/photogallery/2004/2004pg2.html