<strong>Crusin' the Conejo May 10th 2008 - Post-ride report</strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span>
<img src="http://www.cvcbike.org/cruisin/2008logo.jpg" alt="" />
<strong>The Start</strong>
The Day started at 3:30am, after an 85 mile drive we arrived at the start, there were quite a few Riders there, they were riding several different distances from the 5 mile Family ride to the 101 mile 5-star category we had signed up for. We walked over to the reigstration place, signed a couple of pieces of paper and got the numbers to pin to the back of our Jerseys.
Once we got the Bikes assembled, water Bottles in place and ready to go we saw a group of around 10 Riders taking off, so we decided to join them. It was a perfect morning weather wise, high 60's, no wind, dry roads...perfect.
It's funny how everyone is laughing and joking at the beginning of a ride like this because normally after 50-60 miles everyone is pretty much quiet and in pain.
We started off in Thousand Oaks, the whole area is really nice, the ride was to take us to Mulholland Highway, over the Malibu Mountains, past Agoura Hills. 101 miles with over 6000 feet of climbing.
<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3204/2470917902_1662896a08_o.gif" alt="" />
<strong>On with the ride</strong>
The first SAG stop came at 13 miles, 45 minutes into the ride, I'd only had two slices of Toast for Breakfast and knew that for what was ahead of us I had to fuel up, so there I was, 7:45 in the morning stuffing my Face with PB & J Sarnies, Bannanna, Orenges, Strawberies, Cake...I felt sick !
So, after 10 minutes, we re-grouped an set off even though I was ready to puke at the side of the Road I kept hydrating with a mixture of Robinsons' Barley Water mixed with regular H2O.
We were all in a good move as we approached the first major climb of the Day, I was chatting to a Guy who'd done the ride last year, He kept saying "We're getting closer, this is a TOUGH Climb" which after hearing this over and over made me pretty nervous, especially when he started crying. Normally, I try not to think ahead, one mile at a time, staring at the wheels 6" in front of me but I must admit, I was worried.
So, finally, at mile 25 we hit the bottom and I knew it would be 7 miles untill it was over. It was indeed a tough climb ranging from 8-23%. I got into a good rhythm, the Climb was a switchback, around 8-10% untill the ramps up to the next switch which became a wall, the Guys who built this road obviously weren't Cyclists. I got to the stage after around 4 miles that after I turned up to the next level I was standing on the Pedals just to make it up to the next level, then back in the Saddle to make it up to the next one. I looked down to see my Handle Bars and Computer completely wet with sweat as if it was raining, my Sunnies were fogging up, luckily it was only in the high 60's.
I was Toast as we reached the top but it felt awesome, there were ride Organizers at the top with big signs saying "Caution, tight Bends" and they weren't kidding, I pulled my Arm warmers back up, zipped my Jersey ready for the descent because I knew it would be VERY cold after being wet with sweat at 40+ mph.
The first part of the descent went well, I reached 48 mph then came the first bend, I was in the Drops and literaly pulled as hard as I could on the brake, I was faced with either making the bend or going over the Barrier and descending 1000 feet to an uncomfortable landing.
I obviously used too much front brake, I was doing all I could to not go flying over the Bars.
After that, I learned my lesson, I stayed on the brakes at around 30mph using the whole road trying to set up the corners correctly.
Finally, we reached the bottom and re-grouped, then came the second steeper but shorter climb.
At the bottom of this one there was a very bad road surface, I didn't see it for the shade of the Tunnel of Trees we were riding through, there were some deep longitudinal ruts and my front wheel went into one, my Bike was pretty much out of control at this point, at 30mph I had a BAD case of speed wobble, I remember thing "This is it, I'm going down" But I didn't.
There were several SAG stops, I got so sick of PB & J Sarnies and Cookies that I rode across the street and bought some Roast Beef Sandwiches for everyone, they were sooo good!!
After the first 50 miles all the major Climbs were pretty much done, then it was just like a Roller Coaster although we did have a 3 mile climb near the end that broke our hearts.
The worst part of any Century for me is the last 10-15 miles, we'd had 7 hours in the saddle, some major climbing and you just want to get off the Bike, the last 5 miles was very Trafficky.
Anyway, we made it in one piece :coolsmile:
<strong>Summary</strong>
This was the best century I've done, the Climbs were hard but the views spectacular. It deffinately isn't a novice Century, at a category 5 it puts it up with the most challenging of centuries.
The organization was awesome, the roads were clearly marked along the whole route and we even had a Troop of Boy Scouts to hold our Bikes at every Stop. The ride was to benefit these Guys btw along with other Organizations such as Livestrong etc.
When the climbing got really hard I just started thinking of my Dad who we lost in 04 and those that have been in my thoughts lately like <a href="http://www.fatcyclist.com/">Fatty & Susan</a>
who have a much harder Climb in front of them, no matter how much pain I'm in it can never even compare to what they're going through.
We're deffinately looking forward to doing it again next year along with the 7C's Cycling Club
