Well, we did it - 360 miles... well almost. The bicycle ride down the coast of California from Santa Cruz to Malibu took place from June 21-27 but we had some challenges (above and beyond riding that many miles!). Here's a brief summary of my experience:
Day 1: Mat at 6am to drive to Santa Cruz. One of the vehicles carrying bikes and people had a blow out so by the time we started, the temps were pretty warm. All went well along the way and, as we rolled into Monterey, we had a spectacular lightening show and brief shower to cool us. Arrived at camp (Big Sur) with plenty of time to rest, setup and enjoy the sunset.
Day 2: The "spectacular lightening show" from Day 1 cause fires that closed our route for Day 2; so, we rode back to Monterey to load up and drive around the fires and road closures to arrive at our camp. The riding that day was horrendous as the wind was cold, strong and against us the entire 30 miles. In addition, it was foggy. There was one accident (3 cyclists) but no serious injuries, just bruises and bad scrapes. Day 2 camp (San Simeon) was nice and everyone arrived by late eve.
Day 3: This was a beautiful day - great weather, easy riding and very little traffic (the weekend was over). In addition, this was a relative short day (54 miles). All went well and the campground was on the beach! Pismo Beach was literally walking distance from where we had our camp sites! I felt great all day and into the eve but was awakened at midnight with terrible vomiting & diarrhea which continued throughout the night. Needless to say, I didn't ride the following day.
Day 4: I rested and rode in one of the support vehicles but vomited several times more throughout the day - my stomach wasn't accepting anything. By that eve, I spoke with the paramedic on the trip and we decided an IV of 1 liter of saline may help; it did and I was able to eat a decent meal before turning in early. Not long after dosing off, I was awakened by the sound of a truck being started and, as I become semi-conscious, it began driving right toward me (I'm sleeping in a bivy bag so no larger than a sleeping bag on the ground in and open grass field as out camp site). I was able to kick my feet against the bumper to roll myself out of harm's way and avoid being run over! The driver was taking another rider to the hospital due to excessive high blood pressure so they were pretty focused. Randy, the fellow with high blood pressure, said that seeing me pop up in front of the truck unexpectedly caused him to laugh so hard that his BP dropped 20 points! Good!
Day 5: I was feeling better and decided to ride. All went well until after lunch; my stomach began feeling upset again after eating lunch and I called it quits for the day at the 3rd rest stop (mile 54 out of 70 for that day). I was a little unsettled throughout the eve but was able to eat OK and turned in early (camped at Ventura).
Day 6: The last 48 miles took us to Malibu Bluffs Park. I felt good and rode really hard making my day's average at just over 20 mph - one of the best riding days I've had! After all riders had gathered, we made our way to the Universal Hilton for the night.
So, after a day's drive home and some well-earned rest, my stomach has finally returned to normal. I have to say that were part of this trip (riders as well as support) were WONDERFUL and a pleasure to be with. The logistics and snacks/food were awesome and, needless to say, the views while riding were spectacular. I will definitely intend to participate in this ride again (especially since there were 2 sections I missed: one due to road closure, the other due to illness).
This site will accept contributions through September 2008 if you'd care to support this fund raiser. If you'd prefer to donate by check, you can download a form to mail (see below).
If you'd like to see the pictures I took, you can view them on my website: www.onewithjoy.com/mission360
Thanks!
Todd