2011 Tour of the Unknown Coast

Success.

I had such a great ride Saturday.  I really had a great ride, and I'm stoked that everything lined up so well that I had the chance to ride 100 miles and get a solid second place finish!  Everything went right.  I fueled right, I had the right gears, I dressed right, I felt just awesome!  And, most importantly, I was in the right mindset.  Having ridden it three times before, I felt confident.  I knew what to expect, and I visualized success. 

How did it pan out?  Well, Adventure's Edge hammered it hard for the first 40 miles, bringing us right to the base of Panther Gap.  They did such a fine job we were left with less than forty riders in the "lead group".  There was only one guy off the front, and I did a quick calculation in my head that he'd never last that long off the front.  Well, I was wrong.  I didn't realize that we wouldn't have enough numbers to reel him in, not to mention his "8 minute" or so gap by the time we had scaled the first mountain. We (a group of ehh, 4 riders) were the first to top Panther Gap (aside from the lone rider in Orange).  I couldn't believe we were just riding away from everyone!  I stuck on their wheel and we ascended like it was nothing! (quite a confidence boost for my climbing abilities). 

That climb was over 6 miles, then I enjoyed some super fast descending with two non Adventure's Edge riders.  We managed to get a small gap on them by the time we reached the bottom, however playing the numbers game, the gap was worthless and we ended up working together as a group of six, riding to the coast.  All was well until one of the riders (a non Adventure's edge rider) bit the dust rounding a 15 mph corner (going 25+ mph).  Ouch! down went Greg.  Matt (the Starwars rider) was unaware of the crash and rode away from us. (lame!)   Then we were down to Three Adventure's Edge riders plus me, riding to the coast.. We got huge support from the team car, that was legit!  Food, water, you name it! They took all our unneeded gear as well as passed up bottles and gels. 

We four made it to the base of "the wall" at mile 80, regrouping with Matt.  We five could see the lone orange rider scaling the wall as we approached it.  It was as if we could smell him, right there in front of us, calling out our names and challenging us to chase him down.  Easier said then done!  The legs started cramping right as I rounded the corner on the top of the wall.  Not good!  I could only pedal by standing up and using my whole body. (not good!)  There went Matt with his mad ascending skills!  Soon I was passed by an Adventure's Edge rider, then caught at the top of the wall by another.  Sitting in 5th place, I drank and ate all that I had to get as much as I could in me to prevent further cramping.  That helped, and I managed to pull away from the riders one by one as we climbed the steepest portion of the endless hills, the part where it is switch back after switch back leaving Cape Town.  I managed to climb my way into third place, with only Matt and the leader ahead of me.  The team car told me to kick it in gear now since I only had a couple miles left.  I did, and I was so so close to catching Matt! 

More ascending after climbing up "the wall" at mile 80. 

I made it past the barn, started the ascending/descending miles before the "wildcat" descent.  All the sudden I see Matt in the middle of a curving descent trying to get his chain back on!  Since I did not know how much further ahead the leader was, in addition to Matt's extra delay in chain fixing, I decided to book it and make my way to the finish!  I got a solid second place, finishing only minutes behind the winner.  Low 5's, not sure of my exact time.  I was super stoked to have finished second in this Century.  I never would have dreamed of finishing top 5!  All I wanted to do that day was climb panther gap with the lead group, let alone place so well in the entire race!  I can say that I've found my climbing legs after all, and the weight loss has helped!

All in all, a great race, and one that I'd come back to again!  Not sure if I'll have Nationals next year with Davis, but if not I'd be back to compete in "California's Toughest Century!"  Also known as "California's Roughest Century!" 
A great day, a great weekend.  I am very happy with my achievement.  More races to come, I can't wait!