San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club
2001 Lighthouse Centry Ride

Saturday, September 29, 2001.
Start/Finish: Cuesta College
(6 miles Northwest of San Luis Obispo on Highway 1)

The following information are from the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club.
Visit their web site on http://www.slobc.org.

The rides go north past the hidden town of Los Osos where there is no through traffic, on past Morro Bay with its famous Morro Rock and Embarcadero. On north for a rest and goodies stop at Cayucos, then the metric riders go to Cambria where a delicious lunch awaits. The Century riders continue north past historic Piedras Blancas Lighthouse to the turnaround at Piedras Blancas and back to Cambria for lunch. Be sure to keep a look out for the zebras on the right at San Simeon and the elephant seals on the left after San Simeon. After lunch everyone travels south to Cayucos again for more rest and goodies. Then south to the start/finish for a fabulous hot dinner.

The Lighthouse 2001 Ride Features: Outstanding food Rest stops with enthusiastic volunteers Sag support Colorful ride patch A hot meal at the end of the ride Great scenery

Flat Centry

Departing Cuesta College on the Wayne Williams Bikeway you'll ride the beautiful Los Osos Valley Road, Southbay Blvd loop onto Highway 1. You will continue with the Hilly and Metric Century riders through Morro Bay. You will stay on Highway 1 through Cayucos, Harmony, Cambria, and then past San Simeon and the Lighthouse to the turn around point at Piedras Blancas. Along the way you can watch the crashing surf while you watch out for Elephant Seals and Zebras. You will then retrace your steps to Cambria and lunch. The remainder of the ride will follow Highway 1 through Harmony, Cayucos and Morro Bay and your return to Cuesta College and a hot dinner.

This is my first centry ride. What a great ride! The weather couldn't be any better. (According to some riders there, the weather in this year's ride is the best for recent years) Not too much head wind. My bike work just as she should be. No mechanical problem, no flat and no accident (Thank God!).

Since this is my first centry ride, I chose to ride the *flat* centry. There is 4000 feet of elevation for the *flat* centry. (you are see the map and elevation graph from above) The hilly centry ride has another 2000 feet in total elevation on top of the *flat* one. Doesn't sound that bad? I heard from other riders that the hilly centry ride includes a very steep selection (a 25% grade?!). And to me, when you are switching your priority from *chilling out and relaxing on a ride* to *got to make it home and get it over with, EVERY FEET OF ELEVATION COUNTS (including the ones that you did earlier in the ride)!

And again, since this my first centry ride, I made mistake. I should have been eating and drinking more during the earlier section of the ride, even if I am not hungry. And I didn't know how to pace myself at the first 50 miles or so. I was pulling too hard. (of course I didn't really feel it at that time) And then I paid the price for that after 60 miles. (And trying to draft a bunch of fast cyclist at about 50 something miles didn't help me at all) Lunch was at about 71 miles, so I got some rest during lunch. But after lunch, the first 60 miles began to take a toll on me. When I hit the 80 miles mark, my state of mind switched from *enjoy the ride" to *let's make it home in one piece". (You can tell by looking at my photo album, I took a lot less pictures at the final section of the ride) And boy, was I happy or what when I saw the sign "Cuesta College 1/2 miles" on PCH 1! (hehe) By the time I get back to my car, the data on my bike computer was:

Distance	100.16 miles
Avg	17.6 mph
Max	41.4 mph
Time	5:40:42

Well, I learn my lesson on my first centry. It was a challenging ride for me. I am glad I did it. And it worth my driving all the way there. (side story: I drove to SLO for this centry ride at 3am. It took me almost 4 hours to get there. And we can start the ride at about 8am after all the prep work and registration.) Will I do it all over again (including the 3am drive)? Oh yeah! You bet! Oh well, of course, I will change a couple of things (i.e. try to get there the night before, or sleep even earlier the night before, try to pace myself [my legs] at the early stage of the centry, drink more and eat more during the ride [even when I am not hungry], ... etc)

I would still say this is a fun ride. I am looking forward to my next centry! got centry?

Here are a couple sample of professional photo from http://www.photocrazy.com.

me @ 10:02:40am	bill @ 10:02:41am
me @ 13:40:18pm

me @ 13:40:31pm	bill @ 13:40:30pm	Darlene @ 14:14:59pm