Climbing Through Big Sur
Day 3
Big Sur to San Simeon
68.6 miles. Average speed: 12.5 mph.
OK. Time to catch up on the rest of the Coastal Race posts.
So I was warned ahead of time that this was the big climbing day. You can see from the map that there were plenty of ups and downs, and I don’t think that even gives an accurate read. In those first 50 miles we climbed almost 5000 ft. Trust me, that’s a lot of uphill.
Even with all the uphill, this was by far my favorite day of the ride. It started with a fairly long climb out of the area we were staying in. From there it was lots of up and down, but it was all made bearable by the epic views along the way. This stretch of the coast has by far some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll find. Such as this view right here:
I learned from the day before and decided to keep up on the nutrition that morning with bananas, Clif bars, Cliff energy gels, goo, and plenty of hydration. Good thing too since there was a bit of mis-communication. We were told lunch would be at Ragged Point, and somehow, many if us were under the impression that was about 30 miles along. There was a SAG wagon at Lucia lodge, about 25 miles in, where we stopped for some extra pick me ups for some final climbs into lunch. We thought lunch would be about 7 miles ahead, so I took along a banana and some gel to get me there. About 5 miles or so later I pass another SAG vehicle and ask how far to lunch. 9 miles. What?! I’m no math major but that sure seemed odd. Luckily, I don’t think I had downed all my food yet, so I saved one for a bit later and kept on going.
I know these won’t all add up right, but I seem to remember about 6 or 7 miles later seeing a sign that read: Ragged Point – 12 miles. OK, now I’m trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Not too much later, another aid vehicle passes me, so I flag her down to get some more nutrition for the rest of the ride. With some grub in my jersey and plenty of water and Gatorade to get me there now, I was much happier.
Lunch ended up being at about mile 52, but luckily the view kept me enjoying the day regardless of the changed expectation and all the climbing. However, I must admit that when I hit the final hill at mile 47 I was starting to curse under my breath a bit. (And for those at Life Group Game night, by curse, I of course mean the bad habit that witches have.)
I got to lunch kinda late and there was a group getting ready to leave pretty quick after I got there. The burgers were cold anyway, and I was eatin all morning, so I stuch there for like 15 minutes to see someone come in behind me, then took off with the group. Rachel saw me on the way to lunch, so she was there to greet me when I came in as well. Then I was able to catch up with her and I hopped off the route for a few to check out the Elephant Seals just north of San Simeon along with the fam.
Caught up to the back of that group (except some others who came in a little later) and rode into the hotel for some time with the fam in the pool. All around a great day!
Here’s some quick random video Rachel grabbed of me rolling down a hill that day.
