Thursday, May 21, 2009

San Diego Century - Dos Picos 103


The San Diego "Dos Picos" 103 mile bike ride was last weekend. I went with my brother-in-law and two of his co-workers to ride in this event. One guy did the metric century, the other two guys were first time century riders.

We got started a little later than I would have liked, but by 7:30am we were on our way. We stayed together for the first 10 miles or so, and then the group splintered a bit and we rode separately until we got to the first rest-stop. The rest of the day we followed a very similar pattern. We would gather at the rest-stop, ride together for a short while, then break up until the next rest stop.

My average speed was a little faster than my speed during the Conejo ride the previous week. That might be partly due to the longer rest breaks I took while waiting to regroup. It was a good challenging ride and well supported. I'd definitely do it again.

Here's my gps log from the event

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Cruising the Conejo


2009 is my Bike focus year, hopefully leading up to a 200 mile bike ride this Summer.

Last Saturday was the 25th annual Crusin' the Conejo Century ride. The Century ride was labeled as a 103 mile ride with 6,000 feet of climbing. According to my gps log, it was 100.8 miles with about 5400ft of climbing.

Either way, it was a challenging ride, and I felt really strong at the end. I started the ride just after 7am and finished in a little over 7hrs (including a few short rest-stop breaks).

The ride was really well done and well supported. Most rest stops were manned by Boy Scout troops who helped pour water, hold bikes, and prep food. I'll definitely consider doing it again next year because it's local, cheap, and well done.

I love doing organized rides, but it's always a bit of a bummer to have to stop at lights and stop signs. I guess I'm spoiled by Triathlon and Marathon running where the streets are closed down and traffic is controlled for the athletes. Then again, the Conejo Century was only $40, so it's hard to complain about traffic lights. I'm sure it would be 10x more expensive if they had to shut streets down.

Next Saturday is the San Diego Century