Probably the most challenging time of the year for a cyclist n New England is early spring – March to be precise. The typical March day around Boston can be 34 degrees, light rain mixed with some ice and blowing wind – not exactly welcoming when you’re trying to prepare for the up coming races…
A trip to Central California was perfectly timed to get away during some nasty weather for some excellent riding and a good solid break from reality (aka work). Zoe and I headed west for two weeks of sun and 65 degree days. It really couldn’t have been any better.
We landed at SFO on Friday the 14th and spent a couple of days there. Got in a nice ride over to the Marin Headlands. It’s been 4 years since we’ve been to SF when Zoe raced in the Grand Prix there. San Francisco is probably the coolest city I’ve ever been to – it has everything, and it’s all done so well.
Sunday we left early (thanks to still being on EST time) and headed the 200+ miles south to Cambria in our newly rented and totally pimp Taurus. We stopped in Santa Cruz along the way for a ride and to check out down town. The ride was super – something I found on mapmyride.com, which I realized later had been posted by a fellow Newtonite, Art Rand. Thanks for the ride Art. For those of you who know Art, you won’t be surprised that this ride had some heavy-duty climbing in it. Three words – Jaimeson Creek Road. Ouch. I’ve seen some pretty steep stuff before, but nothing that kept going like this.
After some late lunch in Santa Cruz we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway to Cambria. It was a long ride. The views where amazing, but the driving was tedious – especially with the body roll of our Taurus. ~130 miles at an average of about 40mph… We arrived in Cambria Sunday evening just in time for dinner.
Our week in Cambria consisted of early morning breakfasts followed by a ride. The riding in Cambria was amazing. One thing that you learn very quickly about this area is that if the road can go up, it probably will. And it does frequently. We’d usually start off the ride as a group and then Jeff (friend from D.C.) and I would head out for some more. It made for some ideal early season training.
Probably our most epic day of the week fell towards the end of a huge week of training – 100 miles on HWY 1. A bunch of people decided to go for a hike up in Big Sur and Jeff and I caught a ride up in the van. It’s about 60 miles north of Cambria on HWY 1 and we knew we were shooting for a long rid that day. We headed north from Big Sur over the first of four climbs that day (amongst the many rollers in between) – a Cat. 4 climb right out of the parking lot. We headed north for about 20 miles, making it almost to Carmel before making the U-turn to head home. We got a taste of the wind that made Stage 4 of the Tour of California so epic. Luckily the weather was on our side that day – 65 degrees and sunny – but that wind was incredible. Thankfully, that headwind turned into a tail wind as we turned around and soon we were cooking at 30+ back towards the second climb of the day – back over Big Sur.
From there it was up and down all the way to San Simeon, approx. 10 miles north of Cambria, including two more categorized climbs, many fast descents and incredible scenery.
The last 10-15 miles or so were very fast – close to 30mph with the two of us taking short pulls. At this point we really waned to get home and we were using the tail wind and the slight fall in elevation to our advantage. Needless to say, we were pretty cooked when we finally made it home – 5:12, 99 miles.
If you’re ever in the Cambria area, check out: Santa Rosa Creek Rd. K-Man Cycles in Atascatero, Peachy Canyon Rd., Chimney Rock Road, HWY 46, and not to mention HWY 1.
After a solid week in Cambria, Zoe and I packed up the Taurus for the trek back to San Francisco. We took HWY 101 North this time to avoid the tedious and slow driving on HWY 1. We stopped in Monterey on the way back for a ride around 17-mile Drive and Pebble Beach, then a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a very cool city, but very busy too. Keep in mind, it was the day before Easter, so I’d imagine that everyone was out enjoying the day… the Aquarium was more like a zoo.
Once back in SF, we stayed with my cousin for the rest of our trip. Kiley and Oliver were super, and it was great to see their little boy Owen (my God son, now 2) growing so fast.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what stands out the most about our trip to California, and I hate to say it, but it wasn’t the riding. It wasn’t even the scenery, or the wine. It was Easter brunch at the Ritz Carlton. Oh yeah, the Ritz. Now I think part of what made brunch so great was the fact that I was so whipped from the ~30-hour week that I just completed on the bike, so I guess I can attribute some of this special day to cycling, but I also don’t want to discount the power of a top-notch buffet.
This wasn’t your ordinary waffles-to-prime rib buffet. This was the Ritz. They had everything: made-to-order crepes, rack of lamb, seafood, a smoothie station, and even a sushi bar (I wish I had a picture). After the third plate I stopped counting… I couldn’t even eat dinner that night I was so full. It was ridiculous.
A couple more great rides up Mt. Tam and Mt. Diablo, as well as a trip to Upland Sports Group’s world headquarters to talk with Rob and Gary about the new team Capo gear and some upcoming designs that I’m working on for them (going to be killer) and then we were back on a plane for Boston.
Two weeks total and everyday was perfect. Looking forward to doing it again next year and looking to take some of this form into the upcoming races this spring…
~ Brad
