Central Coast Ride #2

[ChrisL]

Much better weather today with highs in the high 70's and a cool breeze making it a tad on the chilly side even. Started at San Simeon State Park which is directly across from Heast Castle, we rode up to this light house then down to Cambria and back to San Simeon.  A little over 20 miles, thought to climb Nit Wit Ridge but I ain't that dumb.  The road was steep!

Nice trip, having lunch in Cambria then driving home.

 

 

[ChrisL]

Some more shots.  The shot of the horses are actually zebras.  Zoom in and you can see the stripes.

[Dottleshead]

We stayed in Cambria and it was -- awesome.  Somebody on this website recommended we do and I owe that guy a lot.  My wife and I loved it and to this day I had the best Affogato I've ever had there.  We didn't have time to ride but both my wife and I were salivating over the stretch between Morro Bay and Ragged Point.

[Dottleshead]

I walked out on the end of that pier.

[ChrisL]

4 minutes ago, Dottles said:

We stayed in Cambria and it was -- awesome.  Somebody on this website recommended we do and I owe that guy a lot.  My wife and I loved it and to this day I had the best Affogato I've ever had there.  We didn't have time to ride but both my wife and I were salivating over the stretch between Morro Bay and Ragged Point.

My sister had 10 acres in Santa Margarita so we used to go up a lot and explore when the kids were young using her house as a base. So we've done Cambria, Morro, Pismo Hearst Castle and even Big Sir several times.  Now that the kids are grown we decided to go back and make it a ride weekend.

[Dottleshead]

1 hour ago, ChrisL said:

My sister had 10 acres in Santa Margarita so we used to go up a lot and explore when the kids were young using her house as a base. So we've done Cambria, Morro, Pismo Hearst Castle and even Big Sir several times.  Now that the kids are grown we decided to go back and make it a ride weekend.

+1

 

Big Sur would have been out of my skill set.

[ChrisL]

10 hours ago, Dottles said:

+1

 

Big Sur would have been out of my skill set.

Back in the day my Brother in Law, who introduced me to cycling, took me on an epic ride from Big Sir to Morro.  My sister saged for us so all we had to do was ride.  It was an epic ride and the hills around Big Sir were a blast.  Riding over that historic old bridge was kind of scary tho as the road is narrow, the sides are low and the drop is far!

[Dottleshead]

1 hour ago, ChrisL said:

Back in the day my Brother in Law, who introduced me to cycling, took me on an epic ride from Big Sir to Morro.  My sister saged for us so all we had to do was ride.  It was an epic ride and the hills around Big Sir were a blast.  Riding over that historic old bridge was kind of scary tho as the road is narrow, the sides are low and the drop is far!

It's a beautiful, scenic ride but it can be challenging just for a car. 

[az_cyclist]

that is a beautiful area.  I rode part of it from Cambria to past Plaskett (and climbed Nacimiento-Ferguson Rd) on the Central Coast double century in 2016. 

[Dottleshead]

You're riding is impressive AZ.

[az_cyclist]

13 minutes ago, Dottles said:

You're riding is impressive AZ.

thanks.  I have a long distance cycling mentor, and have trained to ride them.  the payoff is some great scenery

[Dottleshead]

1 minute ago, az_cyclist said:

thanks.  I have a long distance cycling mentor, and have trained to ride them.  the payoff is some great scenery

That's the way I prefer to ride too.  But it seems I only have time to get into 50-80 mile range shape when I get going.  I only have a couple century rides in me but have done a lot of 50+ rides.  Mainly, I think, is because it takes a lot of time. A 40 miler and you still have half the day.  Anything above that typically ends up consuming my entire day. 

[az_cyclist]

1 hour ago, Dottles said:

That's the way I prefer to ride too.  But it seems I only have time to get into 50-80 mile range shape when I get going.  I only have a couple century rides in me but have done a lot of 50+ rides.  Mainly, I think, is because it takes a lot of time. A 40 miler and you still have half the day.  Anything above that typically ends up consuming my entire day. 

My mentor rode with a club with a faster pace, so I started doing that too.  Most of the the routes are between 40 and 50 miles, and the rolling average for the B group is 17-18 mph.  That gets you done by noon or so even in the winter, when the rides start at 8 am.  Riding faster over the years made me stronger.  For the doubles in the California Triple Crown series that I have ridden to date, I have always ridden with friends.  It may be that I will ride some of them solo in the future, which makes me think about pacing, especially not starting too fast or too slow.

[Dottleshead]

Well, I also run with 700x32s. I should pare pare that down to 28s. Even picking up a mile or two in rate over an hour can add up over 4 hours. But, yes, I need to up my conditioning.