When I pulled into my folk’s driveway I was beat. I quickly showered, inhaled two chili dogs and then crashed for about 2 hours. My legs felt sapped, but I was hopeful a good night’s sleep would restore them to ride readiness.

That evening I installed this little puppy, a generous gift from Jana to help bring me up to par with all my other riding buddies. Now I know you’re not supposed to introduce any new unknowns into the equation before a big event ride whether it be equipment, clothing or whatever, but I couldn’t resist. Especially since I had become rather fed up with my both my Polar m21 and F6. Each consistently indicated a heart rate of around 200 bpm at speeds exceeding 18 mph.  Of course the magnet that came with the Edge 705 was for wire, not bladed spokes. Fortunately, I’d purchase the right magnet for my VDO and simply swapped it to the rear wheel. I took a quick test ride and all was in top working order.  At least I’d be able to pour over thousands of telemetry points at the end of the ride!

I awoke the next morning feeling refreshed, but not 100%.  My legs were still not season ready, but I resolved to make the most of the day regardless. I took my full gear bag so as not to have to worry about forgetting anything. With the bike securely mounted to the roof I headed out to Yokuts Park at around 5:15.

When I arrived things were already in high gear. Riders were suiting up and getting ready to head out in the early morning light. I quickly got registered, picked up a route sheet and the SAG crew offered to shuttle a bag of my cold weather gear to the summit just in case. I wandered back to the car and loaded up a pair of full finger gloves, a wind vest, leg warmers and booties into the SAG bag and then returned it to the registration table.

The first three miles followed the bike path east along the river bed. You had to navigate under several over passes along the way. As I approached the bridge for North Chester I saw eight riders moving across it. So much for staying on course I thought. They had essentially taken a shortcut that would cut a mile or so off the prescribed route. I wanted to enjoy every mile so I continued on to the appointed rendezvous with Manor Street, then headed north along the route I’d traversed only the day before.

Manor Street courses through some of the less glamorous districts of Bakersfield’s north eastern boundary. Pipe yards, metal recyclers and convenience stores are its main inhabitants. The road conditions were a bit rough, but there was plenty of shoulder, though you had to mind all the road debris. Three traffic lights, some railroad tracks and a right turn took me to North Chester and then about 100 yards to the right turn onto Granite Road.

I passed the speedway and with a sweeping right turn headed north and out of town. At this point the sun had risen well above the horizon and a slight head wind had materialized.  For the next 12 miles I traversed a series of rolling hills with steadily climbing at 1 to 2 percent grade. The scenery transitioned from pasture land, to oil fields and then back to pasture as I wound my way along Granite.  The oil industry, along with farming, had helped build much of the town and its evidence was in full force along both sides of the road. Pumps, pipes and power lines threaded about everywhere. During this time I only encountered four riders. Two of which I overtook and two who were returning from an out and back to the first rest stop. It was clear at this point that I would be doing this ride alone. There simply were not enough participants to generate any kind of impromptu pace line or peloton.

I arrived at the first rest stop in short order. The SAG crew was friendly and helpful. Since I was the 9^th rider to arrive they were well stocked. I ate a banana and cookie, topped off my bottles and headed up the road towards Woody.  At this point I’d left the oil fields behind and was in pure pasture land. The road continued to wind up gradually. The first oaks began to appear and the wild flowers were out in force. The road was essentially deserted with very few cars.

At mile 30 I crested a small hill at 1,700’ and then had a nice descent down into Woody.  If you’d blinked you’d of missed it. Not much to speak of, what you’d call a quiet little hamlet. At the junction with Highway 155, I turned right and took on the first serious climb of the day.  It ran for around 8 miles up to 3,200’. Grades touched the 10% level, but rarely.  I saw no one during my ascent.  It was pleasant the whole way up with great scenery and moderate temperatures.

I hit the summit and then had another descent down into Glennville. Halfway there I saw a few riders heading back. At mile 42 I arrived at the second rest stop and the service there was better than at the first. They had a cup of water in my hand before I’d unclipped and my water bottles were full in no time.  They only had HEED at this stop though which made me a tad nervous. I’d heard it can wreak havoc on the digestive systems of some folks. Besides, it tastes like crap. But I needed something so I topped off both bottles. A banana, another cookie and I was on my way.

Fun time: thirteen miles and 3,000 feet of climbing to go. Not particularly intimidating in average terms (only 4.6 %), but there were sustained sections of over 10% towards the top. Starting out I felt fine. Once again I had the road to myself and truly enjoyed the sense of isolation.  At mile 48 things flatten out with some descending. Watching my altimeter I kept looking up to see what was ahead, the climbing over the last 3 miles was going to be brutal. When the final climb arrived I was feeling a bit tired, not forgetting the extended recon ride I’d put in the day before. At this point I started encountering descending riders. First one, then a group of three, then five more in quick succession.  One called out “almost there!” as I made the final push to the top.

I arrived with a strong surge, only for effect of course since it really did hurt. The stop was stocked with all the right goodies including warm chicken soup which I gratefully accepted. They also had Gatorade which I swapped with the remaining HEED (or should I say HEAVE). It was windy and cold and I found my SAG bag and put everything on including shoving a piece of newspaper under my vest. I dawdled for about 10 minutes getting myself layered up. During that time another rider showed up. He didn’t hang around long and asked if I was heading down, I said yes and quickly followed him. Apparently the cold was more of a motivational factor for his descending because within 2 miles I’d lost him.

It was very cold though. It had to be in the mid 40s and with the wind chill I was glad to have every layer. The descent was fun and went by very quickly. The road was in good shape with little or no gravel so I pretty much just opened it up. The only real caution was the fact that multiple riders were still on their way up so I had to keep an eye out on the tight corners.

I rolled back into the Glennville rest stop to find a number of riders loitering about.  One of the race organizers was telling cycling adventure stories while swigging a cold Bud. He didn’t offer me one so I stripped off my vest and headed down the road, veering left onto Granite Road. At this point I was starting to really feel it. I should have shed the arm and leg warmers, gloves and booties back in Glennville, but I was too lazy. I paid for this with the last surprise climb at mile 72. Although it was only 500 feet, the headwind and heat did not help. I eventually stopped to shed everything but the leg warmers.

Next came a fast and fun descent with huge sweeping turns that allowed me a chance to recover a bit. This was followed by a mild ascent over a section of badly wash boarded road complete with prevailing head wind. This took me back to the Woody Y rest stop that was by this time pretty much wiped out of supplies. They did have water and I used the opportunity to shed my leg warmers. Now I was back on familiar roads and it was just a matter of slogging it out. I wasn’t uncomfortable, just fatigued. I’d done everything pretty much right; eating, drinking, and holding a comfortable pace, but at this point I knew my time would end up over 7 hours.

Back through oil well country, the gradual downhill was welcomed and helped counter the wind. One more mild climb and then a straight shot back into town.  I was feeling re-energized as the finish neared and started hammering with about 7 miles to go. The flats through town sped by and I made the right off of Manor back onto the bike path. With 3 miles more I could taste the BBQ’d tri tip that awaited me back at Yokuts Park. The last mile caught up with me but with great relief I arrived, 7 hours, 19 minutes after I’d departed at 6:10 am that morning. I rode straight to my car and pulled everything off and changed into more comfortable street clothes. After stowing the bike I wandered over to the BBQ which by this time was in its waning hours.  Tri tip, chicken, salad, rolls, chili and assorted sodas all hit the spot. I was definitely beat though and wrapped up lunch with little fanfare. Then it was back in the car and across town to my folks. I managed to survive until dinner, but was in bed just after eight. Slept like a log and got an early start back to PV the next morning.

In summary I felt this was an outstanding ride. It was challenging and well supported. The climbs were interesting and the last 3 miles to the summit was a ball breaker. It appears only 30 riders or so actually completed the full ride. Eight ahead of me, and 21 behind, how many of which did make it I never heard. It was a great early season prep ride and established some base for the upcoming Breathless Agony ride on May 3^rd.  I’ll definitely repeat and hope that next year’s turn out is more substantial.