Yesterday I completed my longest bicycle ride to date, a 300km (188mi) brevet with the PCH Randos. I finished in 15hrs 9min, starting at 6:33am and ending at 9:42pm.
Although rain was in the forecast, we lucked out with nearly perfect weather: no rain, comfortable temperatures, and relatively little wind. This was a nice change of pace from the tough 140mi training ride I did two weeks ago, which featured plenty of cold, rain and wind!
The route for the 300k was quite similar to the 200k, just with longer legs at the northern and southern ends. That said, it was well worth it and a real treat, insofar as it combines a really great mixture of farmland, mountain, and beachside riding. You really get to appreciate firsthand the great diversity of terrain in the Santa Barbara / Ventura / northern LA county region.
We set off from Moorpark just as it was getting light out and headed out along Los Angeles Ave. (aka Route 118) en route to Grimes Canyon, where we turned and got to enjoy the first moderate climb of the day. From there we zig-zagged through the farmlands along the Moorpark Ridge, a route which I’ve come to know well and love. It’s quite scenic, especially in the early morning when the rising sun behind you puts a beautiful front-lighting on the orchards and fields. We saw Greg Jones, the PCH Randos RBA, at the usual not-so-secret secret control to get the first marks on our brevet cards.
After that, there’s a short strech along 118, across the Santa Clara River and through Saticoy. Then you intersect Foothill Road and follow its up & down course into Ventura. There are some great vistas along Foothill where you’re overlooking the entire coastline from Pt. Mugu all the way to Ventura. I rode for a few miles along this stretch with Shai Shprung, who was riding his fixed gear road bike. He was spinning along and seemed to be doing well with his 48×18 gearing… though I didn’t envy him on the climbing to come!
Upon reaching Ventura, we followed the bike path towards Ojai, then turned off at Casitas Vista Road and headed up Santa Ana Road towards Lake Casitas and our second control at the Corner Market about 47mi into the ride. I stopped here for a bit of a rest, ate a peanut butter sandwich, and chatted a bit with some of the other riders. I was feeling good and had been making very good time, averaging close to 16mph (which for me is fast, considering the climbing on the route so far).
Then we were off for the first of the more difficult climbing, around Lake Casitas and then over the Casitas Pass. Although I’ve ridden the Pass from both directions a good number of times now, it’s always a fairly tough climb for me, long, and at times rather steep. We had a headwind which made things even harder, and I had to expend a bit more effort that I’d expected. That said, you simply persevere and make it happen and soon enough I was coasting downhill towards Foothill (Route 192).
I was now on very familiar ground, as these are the roads I ride on all the time. There was a bit of a headwind along Foothill, but nothing too bad, and I knew that as soon as we got to Toro Canyon and then Mountain Drive, we’d be out of the wind for the most part. Toro Canyon, or “Toro F###ing Canyon” as I unlovingly refer to it, was just as tough for me as it always is, but as always you simply have to get it done. I was still comfortably on pace and had no worries in that regard, and had had the foresight to rest briefly on Foothill before the climb and eat a banana, to give myself a small boost of energy for the climb.
At the top of Toro Canyon was the third control, of the information variety. At an “info control” you have to answer a question on your brevet card using the information provided at the control point. I arrived at this control the same time as Nick and Joseph, with whom I’d loosely ridden since the previous control. From there we followed East Valley Road to San Ysidro, then climbed up to Mountain Drive and enjoyed its incredible views and scenery before descending into Santa Barbara near the Mission.
The fourth control was at Cantwell’s Market on State Street. Here I caught up to a couple of other riders who’d I’d seen at the previous control, and who were just finishing up some delicious looking breakfast burritos. “Why not!” I said and went inside to order one of my own. As I was enjoying it on the patio outside, Nick rolled up and a few minutes later Joseph arrived as well.
At this point, my left knee was starting to hurt a bit, at the top behind the patella. I’m pretty sure this is not a bike fit or cleat position issue per se, but probably more likely related to a somewhat aggressive training schedule with a bit too much climbing. In any event, I decided I needed to throttle back a little bit because I was only 80 miles into the ride and had over 100 miles remaining.
I ended up riding out of the fourth control with Nick, a really cool guy from Orange County who has been randonneuring for about 5 years and routinely participates in both the PCH Randos and San Diego Randos events. I had originally met him on the 200k earlier this year. We ended up riding together down the coast all the way to Malibu, and it was a lot of fun. I have had a bit of trouble finding riding partners here in town, so whenever I get to have company I always really enjoy it. Nick was obliging and let me basically talk his ear off the whole way.
There was a good deal of wind in the Channel, putting a good deal of bump on the water, but happily it was mostly a side or somewhat tail wind and as such quite welcome. The sun was out at this point, it was warm (but not too warm), the traffic was light, and it was a fast cruise down the coast through Summerland, Carpinteria, the short stretch on 101, and then the Rincon Parkway into Ventura. We got through Ventura pretty quickly, then stopped near the harbor to get some more water.
After that it was off to Port Hueneme and the fifth control at the Wendy’s on the corner of Hueneme and Ventura. Here I made one of the only real mistakes of this ride, I ordered a burger, fries and a drink. More on that in a little bit, but man did they ever taste good! Joseph and then Peter caught up to Nick and I while we were eating, and I had a nice conversation with Joseph. Then it was back on the bikes. One of Nick’s goals for the ride was to be on PCH before the sun went down, and it was looking like we were going to do that pretty handily.
Happily, Hueneme Road was apparently swept since the 200k because there was much less glass than last time. We turned south on Naval Air Road and passed the airplanes-on-a-stick display in front of Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station. Then it was onto Highway 1 (PCH). We arrived at Mugu Rock just minutes before a beautiful sunset.
We put on our reflective gear and turned on the lights. I hadn’t really thought about how rolling PCH is between Mugu Rock and Trancas, our last control and turnaround point, but I quickly remembered as we climbed and descended. Happily the hills were neither very long nor very steep, and things went well enough overall. Sharp stabbing pains in my abdomen, however, informed me that I was in for a case of “Wendy’s Revenge,” and we didn’t get to the Trancas Market control a minute too soon.
There had been some dark and rather ominous looking clouds over the hills to the north of Ventura and Moorpark and we figured we might be in for rain on the return, so while I “took care of business”, Nick got going on the return leg. I got going a few minutes later, after speaking a bit with Peter and checking out his very cool custom bike, complete with hammered Honjo fenders and a very nice brass bell.
The ride back up PCH was very pleasant, and it was cool to see riders coming the other way every few minutes. It was very dark by this point, and so almost impossible to tell who was who, but that didn’t keep me from calling “Hello!” and waving to each rider.
Interestingly, around mile 160 I was feeling really good, like I’d only been riding for an hour or so. My knee was still sore and was limiting my speed, but besides that, I did not feel excessively fatigued or exhausted. It was quite a “second wind,” to be sure.
Peter caught up to me just as I intersected Las Posas Road. He rang his bell and I said “That must be you, Peter!” He seemed like he was feeling good and was just getting it done. Bravo to him for bringing a new bike out on a relatively big ride, he’s a braver man than me!
From Las Posas we turned onto Hueneme Road. I stopped near Cal State Channel Islands to get a banana and a Clif bar out of my bag for my last snack of the ride. I also noticed that my rear tire had a slow leak, so I pumped it back up and hoped it would see me through.
Eventually I got onto Santa Rosa Road in Camarillo and “the home stretch.” Many of the riders complained about Santa Rosa Road, because it comes at the end of the ride and ends up being a steadily steepening climb of roughly 10 miles. It also has a shoulder completely strewn with gravel, glass and other roadside detritus. On the 200k, I’d had my third flat of the day along this stretch and to say I was unamused would be an understatement. Happily, my Pasela Tourguards saw me through this section without incident and I was quite happy when I climbed the last grade and coasted into Moorpark.
From there it was a short climb up Tierra Rejada and then a nice fast coast down to Greg & Lisa Jones’s home and the final control. I was quite pleased to have finished at 9:42pm, in 15hr 9min, my goal having been 15 hours. Unlike last time, I was able to stay at the Jones’s for a while after the finish and enjoy some great conversation with them, Nick, Joseph, Peter, Kevin and some others whose names I didn’t catch. I also got to enjoy some of Lisa’s homemade soup, which was delicious!
So, all in all a wonderful ride, and quite a nice day to do my longest ride to date. I’m not sure whether my knee is up to the 400 in three weeks or not, but if it isn’t, I’m planning to work one of the controls. Maybe I’ll ride to it on my Xtracycle 😉