2007 Solvang Century

Ride Report 11/10/07 – Solvang's Finest Century (Solvang, CA)

Solvang’s Finest Century is in its third year and is organized by Planet Ultra. The flyer promised a “wonderful and unique century route” which seemed like a perfect way to cap off my first year riding centuries. Solvang itself is a quaint, albeit touristy, little slice of Denmark nestled in the hills of Santa Barbara County, California. It’s also somewhat of a cycling mecca laying claim to the training base camp for the once mighty US Postal/Discovery Team. It’s a well deserved reputation though. It offers up literally hundreds of miles of riding in the surrounding countryside with its rolling hills, lush vineyards, and beautiful scenery.

I made the three hour drive from Palos Verdes to Solvang the Friday before the ride. I took the pseudo inland route via Highway 101 to San Marcos Pass (Highway 154) rather than the straight shot all the way up 101. This provided me an opportunity to actually travel some of the 2006 Tour of California Stage 6 route.

I pulled into Solvang around 12:30 that afternoon and checked in to the Holiday Inn Express on the western edge of town off of Mission Drive, Solvang’s main drag. Once I got settled I immediately suited up to take a short ride. Of course I hadn’t thought to bring any kind of map so I was pretty much condemned to just wander off and see where the road took me. Strangely enough, and completely by accident, I ended up riding several sections of the actual century route, specifically, Alamo Pintado, Foxen Canyon, Zaca Station, Hwy 154 and Ballard Canyon. During the ride it quickly became apparent why cycling was so popular in this area. It’s really beautiful country with good, lightly trafficked roads.

When I got back to the hotel I showered, changed and then went in search of something to eat. How tough can it be to find a plate of pasta in a Danish Village? Pretty damn hard I discovered. As I wandered about scanning menus I was very tempted to sit down and sample some of the local cuisine. I’m a sucker for wienerschnitzel. However, I remained focused and finally stumbled upon Tower Pizza over by the Royal Scandinavian Inn. I purchased two servings of spaghetti with Marinara sauce and then strolled back through town to the hotel to eat.

2007 Solvang's Finest Century Course

Around 6:30 I hopped into my car and drove over to the Royal Scandinavian Inn to registar and pick up my packet. The organizers had set-up across the parking lot in the Meadows Restaurant in one of the conference rooms. The line was already about 30 riders deep when I arrived so I slotted in and waited.

When the door opened we all filed in to sign up, grab our goody bags and, most importantly, obtain the route sheet. After a quick study it became apparent that the course had been designed as some kind of devious Mensa mind challenge. It ran a full page with left and right turns all over the place. I’m not the best when it comes to managing my way around a relatively complex course since I seem to lack a reliable internal compass. So, after staring at the thing back in my hotel room for about ½ an hour, I decided to try and drive some of the course even though it was now dark. It appeared the first half was the most complex and ran about 40 miles so I thought I’d try to navigate my way through that portion. (MAP) I didn’t bother with Foxen Canyon since I’d ridden it that day, but did do Ballard Canyon. As a result I found the somewhat obscure right hand turn that ran back to 246 (Mission Drive) and then westward to the Ave of Flags.

The ride organizers had requested those that could complete the century in under six hours to wait until 8:30 am to avoid a mass start. This was an hour and a half after the official start at 7 am. I decided to comply and spent Saturday morning watching the Weather Channel back in my hotel room trying to divine what the day would bring climatically. It promised to be a warm one, albeit with a chilly start. I wisely decided to wear only light leg and arm warmers and a base layer under my jersey. The first couple of miles might be nippy, but I would save myself having to porter anything bulky for the majority of the day.

I was on the bike about a quarter after the hour and rode to the start via Mission Drive. When I pulled into the parking lot at the Inn there were very few riders present, like about one. So much for the delayed start. As the day would prove, I must have been one of the last riders on the course since I would spend most of the next six hours meeting other cyclists as I passed them along the route.

I rolled out of the parking lot, made the right turn onto Alisal, headed through town, and then up a short climb. I took the right onto Viborg and then the left onto Alamo Pintado Road, which, by the way, was the first leg in the 2007 Tour of California Stage 5 Time Trial. I did not see another rider for the first eight miles, I literally had the road to myself. The temperature was good too, around fifty with the promise of the sun breaking through at any moment.

The course zigged and zagged about skirting Ballard then shot back south through Santa Ynez to Mission Drive east. It was mostly flat farmland with adequate shoulder for comfortable riding. At this point I began to catch my first riders, one and two at a time. I finally headed out into the countryside via Mission, crossing 154 and onto Armour Ranch Road. Down to Happy Canyon, a left onto Baseline with a long pull to a right turn on Mora and than onto Roblar Ave. I was averaging 18 mph and had passed about 25 riders at this point. The sun was now out and the temperature was in the high 50’s. It was nice to finally be out of town and not have to deal with intersections, stop signs and traffic lights.

After heading down Roblar, it was back onto 154 skimming the outskirts of Los Olivos and making the right turn northward onto Foxen Canyon Road. Along Foxen Canyon there was a pseudo climb of maybe a hundred feet or so at a 7% grade then a quick descent down to a right onto Zaca Station Road. About another mile up the road was the first rest stop. So here’s where everybody is. There had to have been 30 to 40 riders fueling up, at least 10 of which were in line for the porta potties. I grabbed ½ a muffin, a banana, an energy bar and refilled my bottles. I paused only long enough to remove and stow my leg warmers and was back on the road.

There was a short leg back to 154 with a mild climb that returned to Foxen Canyon Road where I made the hard right half circle onto Ballard Canyon. This was a wonderfully twisty climb of about 1/4 mile that brought you over and down into a little valley where the road meanders past a variety of small vineyards.

Oh my aching back . . . dismounting at Rest Stop #2

As I reached the floor of the valley the route came to the intersection that took a sharp right onto the last half of Ballard Canyon. I zipped passed a group of riders who’d stopped a local for directions. They had their route sheets out and were obviously trying to figure out where to go next. My lack of hesitation was all they needed at the turn as all of them appeared to decide I was going the right way. One even tagged onto my back end for the remaining trip to 246. When we reached the intersection just before Ave of Flags he commented that he’d been following me because it seemed like I knew where I was going. At this point I'd figured I caught and passed close to a 100 riders.

I made the left turn onto Ave of Flags which transitions to Santa Rosa Road and began the 17 mile run to Lompoc. After 50 miles I still felt pretty good, but not great. I’d been ignoring the tightness in my left shoe, promising myself I’d loosen things up at the next rest stop. Somewhere along this section I took my one and only gel shot to get a bit of energy into my system. There were a couple of moderate climbs as well as a headwind on this stretch and I must of passed another 30 riders along the way.

For the last mile I played leapfrog with a rider on a TT bike. She’d power by on the climbs, but for some reason I’d catch and pass her on the flats. It all seemed a bit backwards. Then came the last climb up to Cabrillo Highway and the 2nd rest stop. Again, I encountered a group of around 30 riders. I grabbed a PBJ sandwich and ½ a banana. I took my arm warmers off and proceeded up a short climb, made the right turn onto 246, then made a left onto Purisima and climbed a short hill to a right onto the climb up Harris Grade.

I soon realized I was no where near the form I’d been in for the Hideous 100. My riding in between events had become essentially non-existent due to the dwindling daylight hours compounded by the transition to daylight savings time. I had yet to dust off my rollers or resistance trainer to help make up for it either. Hence three weeks of little to no riding was probably catching up with me. I just kept a steady tempo throughout the cimb. I was also now feeling that ominous burning sensation in both feet and was gradually easing off the buckles on my shoes. I knew it was too late though, I was paying for my procrastination!

Fueling up at Hwy 101 Rest Stop #2

I made it up to the top and the 3rd (and final) rest stop. About 15 riders had collected there and I grabbed a cookie or two and a banana. I then started the descent which would take me to 135. I timed by departure poorly and ended up having a pick-up truck tailgate me all the way down. I kept looking over my shoulder expecting him to come barreling past me at any moment. This is never a good thing on a descent. He did ease off towards the bottom and I was able to enjoy a few of the last turns.

I finally wound up down in the valley making a wide left sweeper past a huge field of cabbage. The only reason I recall this is because someone had pulled off the road and was obviously raiding the farmer’s field. His rear hatch was opened and he was vigorously stripping the leaves off one of the plants before putting it into his car. I finished the short straight along the field to the right hand turn onto 135. I caught more riders and as I passed one he asked me if we were finally getting a well deserved tailwind to which I responded "Yes, it’s about time!"

The slog along 135 was tedious. My feet were on fire and my shoulders were tightening up. I just could not get comfortable on the bike. I’d drop into a higher gear and stand-up on the pedals to try and stretch things out. It didn’t really help. The tailwind was a blessing, but it was still a long way to Los Alamos. This portion of the route reminded me how much I hated the flats.

I finally hit Los Alamos at mile 80, made the right turn past the park on the left, and started the climb up Drum Canyon. This was a climb of about 800 feet that lasted for about one mile that decimated the field. Riders were spread out all over it. I could hear Paul Sherwin in my head proclaiming “They’ve cracked, they’ve cracked!” I had of course replaced my 12-27 with an 11-25 and the 10% grades this late in the game were causing some degree of regret with that decision. Many riders were simply dismounting and walking. I cheered on several tandem crews as I made my way up the hill. I did have one rider pass me during the ascent that I never saw again.

The road was in really bad shape. It reminded me of Breckenridge Road at the Spooktacular. Lot’s of potholes and debri. Once I reached the summit I did a solo descent down the opposite side. At speed the poor road conditions really became a factor. My shoulders were screaming and I had no inclination to take advantage of the descent as far as making up time was concerned. I focused all my attention on scanning the road ahead to avoid bottoming out in a pothole.

The road inevitably flattened out and gradually transitioned to a more forgiving surface. I saw no one on this leg. I reached 246 and made the left turn. There was a strong tailwind along this stretch which kept up all the way into town. I seemed to hit every red light and the weekend traffic was really backed up. On the out skirts of Solvang I made the right onto Fifth and then the quick left onto Oak straight back to the Inn. I'd clocked 100.3 miles on the odometer, exactly as promised on the route sheet. On bike time was 5:47 with an average speed of 17.5 mph.

A dozen or so bikes were parked outside the restaurant and riders were milling about everywhere. I was glad to have it behind me. Inside a lunch buffet was set-up serving a Mexican feast with tostada makings, rice, beans, cheese enchiladas and lot’s of cookies. I grabbed a modest portion and sat down to eat.

I obviously was not too pleased with my performance and was disappointed I’d become so fatigued only 50 miles into the ride. I can only guess it was partially due to a slackening of my training regime combined with not metering my food intake. Before I’d kept a steady stream of PBJ sandwiches going throughout the ride that I had neglected this time around.

Oh well, it was a good ride in a new area, one that I will definitely repeat next year.

Total Distance: 100.3 miles

Total on bike time: 5.47

Average speed: 17.3 mph

Maximum speed: 41.5 mph

Total altitude gained: 5194 feet

Average grade: 3%

Maximum grade: 10%