Bike The Coast 2021
Every year on the weekend after Halloween, William likes to throw a big costume party and the mess stresses me out. So, he gives me some money and says go away for a few days. This year I decided to do a road trip to southern California and enter a cycling event. He ended up not having the party (due to Covid), but still gave me the money. Woohoo!
I planned a route that would take three days to drive down to Oceanside, CA, ride the event, visit my aunt and uncle, and three days home. A bike friend, Precia, went with me and would split expenses/driving.
We left on November 3, 2021 and headed south, spending the first night in Grants Pass, OR. The spent the next night in Lathrop, CA.
Oceanside, CA
We got to Oceanside around 1pm, but the hotel (Best Western Plus Oceanside Palms) allowed us to check in early. After checking in, we rode our bikes down to the pier (the longest on the west coast) to pick up our ride packets and have a bite of lunch. I could only eat half my seafood and chips and saved the rest for my dinner.
Back at the hotel, I settled in for a relaxing evening before bed. Precia went to the business center to get some work done (she does some really cool work with autonomous vehicles and drones).
Bike The Coast Day
I never sleep well before a big ride and it was no different this time. We got up around 6am for a 7:45 start time. When I travel, once my alarm goes off, I’m up, teeth brushed, dressed, and ready within 15 minutes (I shower the night before). While Precia finished getting ready, I checked out the breakfast buffet. It was filled to capacity with cyclists! I grabbed a tortilla, bacon and eggs and took it back to my room. I didn’t eat much…it wasn’t what I wanted and didn’t taste especially good. I went back with Precia and grabbed a banana so I had more in my stomach.
We road to the pier for our ride start. There were so many cyclists and they were doing rollouts so we wouldn’t be too bunched up. Precia and I rode together for the first couple of miles, but then I lost her for the rest of the ride.
The weather was chilly and cloudy, so I couldn’t see much of the ocean. I was well past Encinitas before I stopped to take a couple of photos.
I road steady to the first food stop at the 14 mile mark. I usually don’t eat much during a ride, but I ate another banana and drank a lot of electrolyte water. While eating the banana, I talked to other cyclists to see where they were from. There were a lot of large groups riding together, including one call First Responders. I rode with several of them for the majority of the ride.
The next 26 miles were tough with some big hills and lots of stop lights. I would get momentum up a hill and have to stop for a light, then built up momentum again for the next segment of the hill. There was also one left turn that was hairy since it involved a lot of cars and several lanes. I couldn’t get over (several of us couldn’t), but a cop was there and told us when it was safe to proceed. I really didn’t like that part of the route!
At the next rest stop, I ate a PBJ and some pretzels…and another banana. I still can’t believe I ate that much on a ride! I’m glad I did, though, because it gave me the energy I needed to do the ride.
I finished my ride of 54 miles in 3.75 hours. During the last ten miles, I had a guy on a regular bike right behind me. I was booking at around 18-19 mph. He thanked me for the excellent pace. LOL
At the finish, I collected my medal before grabbing a bratwurst and a beer, finding a table, and listening to an excellent 80s rock band for a bit. The sun was also out in full force (I had to strip some layers). By then, the lack of a good sleep and the long ride was taking its toll, so I headed back to the hotel to rest. Precia showed up about two hours later.
Heading North
On Sunday, November 7th, we left Oceanside and started to head north. In Long Beach, CA, we stopped in to see my Uncle Jerry, Aunt Sandra, and Cousin Emily, having a nice visit of about an hour before getting back on the road. Sadly, we forgot to take photos with them. 🙁
Castle Crags State Park and Mount Shasta
We decided to drive straight through to Seattle on Monday, November 8th. Originally, we were going to spend the night in Cottage Grove, OR, then ride our bikes on a trail there before driving home. But the weather was forecast to be rainy and we really didn’t want to ride in the cold and rain.
We did make a stop at Castle Crags State Park and did a half mile hike to a vista point to see the craggy peaks and a good view of Mount Shasta. It was perfect weather for a walk…brisk air, fall leaves, and no rain! We ended up spending about an hour there, enjoying our little impromptu adventure. We even saw some black-tailed deer!
