100.15

100.15! That's right race fans...I knocked off a hundy yesterday and it was awesome! I drove up to Oxnard and parked at my parents house with the thought of heading towards Santa Barbara. I had all intention of making it as long as a ride as possible but you never know how brutal the wind can get heading up the coast. After a brief visit with Ma and Pa, I headed out and was pleased with how the body was feeling. I had to make a quick stop in Ventura and get some additional nutrition and then tried to pick up the pace a slight bit. There was a small cross wind but it wasn't too bad. There is a point where PCH ends and you actually have to ride on the freeway for a bit. It wasn't as bad as I thought and the road was super smooth. At one point the traffic was all backed up and I was riding faster than they were driving!

I made it to the Montecito Polo Fields and snapped a picture of them practicing. Pretty crazy watching them!


Up a short climb I passed two recumbent riders and as I started the descent one of them latched on to my back wheel and wouldn't get off. I tried riding at about 30 mph and I even slowed to about 12 mph and he just wouldn't come around or drop off. After about 4 miles he just turned around and took off the other way?! Weirdo!

I rolled into Santa Barbara feeling pretty good. The temperature was perfect being a little cool with lots of sun! I encountered this guy below on a modified electric skateboard with trailer in tow. There was a dog in the trailer! Sweet. The guy had these big wheels and the board was on some kind of axles that let him carve back and forth! All the tourists in the pedal cars just loved what they saw! It was pretty funny!


I made it t the pier and rode a bit past looking for a place to refill the bottles and stretch. I snapped a picture and sent it to my wife and my parents to let them know that I made it and got a "you're nuts" response from Kristen!
Stats for way out:
39.87 Miles-2 hours 26 minutes- 16.3 Average MPH- 145 Average Heart Rate
3/4 of a 3 Hour Bottle of Perpetuem- 3 Bottles of Water with 1 Elixer Tab each- 1 Hammer Gel- 1 Bag of Orange Wedges (Thanks Mom!)


Heading out of Santa Barbara I was happy with the way my body was feeling! Nutrition and hydration seemed to be spot on and though I was having some straining in the muscles I could hydrate and and it would go away. I seemed to be in the zone with the tempo that I was carrying and other than the few short climbs out of Santa Barbara I kept the tempo pretty quick.

It was already on my mind that if I wanted to go for 100 plus miles that I was going to need to change my route up a bit. My body was still feeling on task and I ran over 1000 route changes in my mind. I stayed on PCH heading back to Ventura and went through some pretty heavy cross wind sections. Once off the freeway section I stopped at the campground for a bottle refill, pee break and a stretch. All taken care of and back on the road. I rolled into Ventura and stayed on the bike path. I swerved through the gangsters and tourists and almost hit a few long-leashed dogs! Back to the road and a decision needed to be made! I started to work my way through the marina and headed towards Port Hueneme. I picked up a really fun bike path along the beach that was super smooth with twists and turns!

Once I got into the Channel Islands Harbor I was speeding through the neighborhoods, reached down to grab my bottle as I passed an empty lot between houses and ALMOST got blown right off of my bike! Funny thing is...5 minutes later I did it again! Though my body was hanging in, my mind was definitely starting to meander! I hit a couple dead ends and decided to head back into Oxnard. By the time I made it back to my parents neighborhood I needed 7 miles to hit 100! I wasn't going to be done until the odometer hit that number! I made the first lap around and it was about 2 miles. I decided to see just what my body had left so I punched up the volume on the iPod and hammered out 4 laps at an average speed of 21 MPH. There was a quarter mile stretch that was directly into the wind and it HURT! So good! Awesome ride and body is stiff today but not destroyed! Can' wait to ride again!

Stats for way back:
60.28 Miles- 3 Hours 35 Minutes- 16.8 Average mph- 155 Average heart rate- 1- 3 hour bottle of perpetuem- 6 bottles of water with 1 NUUN tablet each bottle- 1 bottle of water- 2 hammer gels

Keep Climbing!
Lucas

Holy Freaking Bee's!

So Giant Bicycles had a demo in my local hills today. Mike has a cousin looking for a bike so HE HAD A PLAN! Yikes! A little extended test ride was the goal that they shot down as soon as we arrived. Our friend Evan is the normal Demo truck driver but he was out of state with the other truck so we were out of luck. Not to worry, Mike had his wife drop off his bike and I had brought mine with me. After a loop on the Anthem X2 we turned the bikes in and said goodbye to the cousin. We mounted our trusty steeds and hit the trail with big climbing plans.

We headed out from Simi Valley and kind of hugged the edge of the lower mountain as we made our way to Thousand Oaks! We hit the trailhead off of Avenida De Los Arboles and started our long first ascent! This is a somewhat technical climb that I have done only once with Mike before and all I could think of was this one pitch that is over 30% grade! I did well as long as I kept a steady pace. The climbing loop we had done on the demo bikes was already weighing on my legs and I realized that I had forgotten to bring any food! When we finally hit the steep pitch I made it about halfway up before bailing. Mike made it all the way up as he usually does! Jerk! From there the descent pretty much started and it is a great technical descent with rocks, drops, water breaks, and other craziness! We got to the craziest part and Mike dropped it after taking a good look. I started to drop in and freaked a little. Mike yelled that I better turn around and try again so I did. I swallowed hard and rolled down it with no problem!

This trail drops you into the backyard of many of the rich and famous. The houses are unreal and the trail was in great condition. We made it to Lindero Canyon Road in Oak Park, (right above my apartment) and then made our way to Dead Cow. I was hurting pretty good and was really starting to worry about what we had left between us and my car back in Simi Valley. I suffered 3/4 of the way up Dead Cow as I watched Mike fall into a groove and ride away from me! When the trail turns less technical 3/4 of the way up, I found a pace and cruised right up. We made the loop at the top and I was really in the hurt worrying about the climb home.

We made the decision before dropping Albertson Motorway that we would follow the same lower mountain trail back to he car. That left only about 300 ft. of climbing and made me feel a little better! Once we hit the top of the steady climb we were home free and started flying towards the car. About 300 yards before the parking lot it happened....WHACK! Right in the forehead! It looked and FELT to big to be a bee and I was stunned! I could still feel it moving in the hole of my helmet but I was going to fast to take my hand off the bars. Then it bit/stung/scratched me and I hit the brakes. I ripped off my helmet to see this fall out:

Ummmm... I was a little freaked out. I kept touching my head to make sure that there wasn't major swelling. The "Thing" could not fly away because he was obviously injured. He was about as large as 50 cent piece and not pretty! Mike finally realized that I wasn't behind him and rode back to see what was going on. I felt better when he said that my forehead looked okay, just a red mark. Pretty crazy! We hit up The Hat for lunch and destroyed a Roast Beef sandwich and Chili Cheese Fries! I was decimated! Great ride. I won't ride without food again!