Took part in this year's NorCal Fleche. 373 kilometers, 15k feet of climbing, 24 hours without sleep. It was the hardest thing I've ever done on a bike. But also the most amazing.
We started in Greenfield at 8:00am on Saturday. Passed through Carmel Valley where the wild flowers were in full bloom. Then 17 Mile Drive which took us through Pebble Beach. We eventually landed in Monterey for spectacular coastline views and a tasty seafood lunch.
We got behind on our checkpoint times and had to skip our sitdown dinner. A quick in/out at 7-11 was substituted. Then off to Empire Grade. Holy PHUCK! This sucker was long and steep. And the descent was scary/fun in the dark. Then a 16 mile climb up Hwy 9 to Skyline. Then we hit Pierce (ow), Mt. Eden (Ow) and finally the dreaded Pagemill (OUCH!).
I was feeling pretty snappy up until we got to Woodside. This is where my friend (she's a nurse) saw me falling behind and swerving. I was chilled to the bone and she diagnosed me with mild hypothermia and gave me her vest. Thank God for mother hen.
I started to warm up, caught my 100th wind and was able to survive til sunrise. I'd NEVER been so happy to see the sun come up. By then it had been 22.5 hours on the bike.
All teams (there were 6 or 7 in total) converged on Crepes On Cole in San Francisco where the RBA treated us ALL to an all you can eat breakfast. Apparently we took the path of most resistance, having 50% more climbing than any other route. We were also the only true point-to-point, linear "fleche" (every other team did a loop or a "C").
I just woke up for a 4 hour nap and will probably be back in bed in the next 2 hours.
And BIG thanks to Jeff (Watoni) who was kind enough to offer us an unofficial restop in Woodside. Unfortunately we were so far behind in the checkpoint time that we were unable to take advantage of his generosity. I was REALLY looking forward to coffee and eggs (and changing my bib and base layer!). My friends, Alfie and Lisa, have promised to take good care of you at the Sunol stop on DMD. Instead of the usual Cup Noodles they're going to have miso soup!
Here's our full route:
K MI GO STREET/LANDMARK KTNT MTNT SEG ETD
0.0 0.0 START CONTROL: ELM & EL CAMINO, GREENFIELD 9.0 5.6 8:00
9.0 5.6 L ARROYO SECO RD 11.0 6.8
20.0 12.4 C CARMEL VALLEY RD 45.2 28.1
65.2 40.5 - CONTROL: WILD GOOSE CAFÉ, CARMEL VLY 18.8 11.7 40.5 11:00
84.0 52.2 L CARMEL RANCHO BLVD 0.6 0.4
84.6 52.6 R RIO RD 1.6 1.0
86.2 53.6 L SANTA LUCIA RD 0.8 0.5
87.0 54.1 R SAN ANTONIO AV 1.3 0.8
88.3 54.9 L CARMEL WAY 0.6 0.4
88.9 55.2 L 17-MILE DRIVE 2.5 1.6
91.4 56.8 BR PORTOLA/STEVENSON (@ PEBBLE BEACH) 1.5 0.9
92.9 57.7 R STEVENSON DR (SPYGLASS HILL CC) 0.2 0.1
93.1 57.8 CONTROL: SPYGLASS HILL CC / GRILL 1.1 0.7 17.3 12:30
94.2 58.5 L INDIAN VILLAGE RD 1.0 0.6
95.2 59.2 R 17-MILE DRIVE 5.6 3.5
100.8 62.6 L SUNSET DRIVE - PACIFIC GROVE 3.2 2.0
104.0 64.6 C OCEAN VIEW BLVD 2.5 1.6
106.5 66.2 L CANNERY ROW / BIKE TRAIL 2.1 1.3
108.6 67.5 R HOFFMAN ST 0.1 0.1
108.7 67.5 - CONTROL: SEA HARVEST RSTRNT - MONTEREY 0.0 0.0 9.7 13:30
108.7 67.5 C CONTINUE ON MONTEREY BIKE TRAIL 4.3 2.7
113.0 70.2 L UPPER BIKE TRAIL 2.5 1.6
115.5 71.8 R TIOGA AV 0.3 0.2
115.8 72.0 L METZ RD 0.4 0.2
116.2 72.2 L PLAYA AV / REJOIN BIKE TRAIL 13.6 8.5
129.8 80.7 R DEL MONTE / END OF MONTEREY BIKE TRAIL 0.2 0.1
130.0 80.8 R MONTE RD 2.8 1.7
132.8 82.5 L NASHUA RD - BECOMES MOLERA 5.5 3.4
138.3 85.9 L HIGHWAY 1 8.9 5.5
147.2 91.5 L JENSEN RD 1.2 0.7 23.9 15:30
148.4 92.2 R BLUFF RD 1.2 0.7
149.6 93.0 L TRAFTON ROAD 2.6 1.6
152.2 94.6 L MCGOWAN ST 1.8 1.1
154.0 95.7 L W. BEACH ST 0.2 0.1
154.2 95.8 R SAN ANDREAS RD 11.3 7.0
165.5 102.8 L BONITA DR 1.8 1.1
167.3 104.0 R FREEDOM BLVD 0.3 0.2
167.6 104.1 L SOQUEL DR 6.8 4.2
174.4 108.4 L PARK AVE 2.2 1.4
176.6 109.7 L MONTEREY AV 0.3 0.2
176.9 109.9 R CAPITOLA AV 0.2 0.1
177.1 110.0 L STOCKTON / BECOMES CLIFF DR 0.7 0.4
177.8 110.5 C PORTOLA DR 2.9 1.8
180.7 112.3 C EAST CLIFF DR 0.2 0.1
180.9 112.4 - CONTROL: NUEVO RESTAURANT, SANTA CRUZ 1.0 0.6 20.9 18:00
181.9 113.0 R 7TH AV 0.5 0.3
182.4 113.3 L EATON ST - BECOMES MURRAY ST 0.9 0.6
183.3 113.9 R SEABRIGHT AV 0.9 0.6
184.2 114.5 L BROADWAY 1.5 0.9
185.7 115.4 C LAUREL ST - CROSS BRIDGE 2.0 1.2
187.7 116.6 L ESCALONA DR 0.2 0.1
187.9 116.8 R LAURENT ST 0.2 0.1
188.1 116.9 L MOORE ST 0.7 0.4
188.8 117.3 L HIGH ST 1.0 0.6
189.8 117.9 C EMPIRE GRADE 12.7 7.9
202.5 125.8 R FELTON-EMPIRE RD 5.6 3.5 13.4 20:00
208.1 129.3 L HWY 9 7.8 4.8
215.9 134.2 - POSTCARD CONTROL: BROOKDALE P.O. 2.7 1.7 8.3 20:30
218.6 135.8 - POSTCARD CONTROL (ALTERNATE): BLDR CRK 22.1 13.7
240.7 149.6 X SKYLINE BLVD SUMMIT 8.9 5.5 15.4 22:00
249.6 155.1 L PIERCE RD - SARATOGA 1.6 1.0
251.2 156.1 L MT. EDEN RD 3.6 2.2
254.8 158.3 R STEVENS CANYON RD 5.0 3.1
259.8 161.4 R MCLELLAN RD 2.0 1.2
261.8 162.7 - CONTROL: 7-ELEVEN CUPERTINO 0.0 0.0 13.1 1:00
261.8 162.7 L BUBB RD (NORTH FROM CONTROL) 0.9 0.6
262.7 163.2 L STEVENS CREEK BLVD 1.5 0.9
264.2 164.2 R FOOTHILL BLVD 7.0 4.3
271.2 168.5 L EL MONTE AV 2.4 1.5
273.6 170.0 L MOODY RD 0.4 0.2
274.0 170.3 BR ALTAMONT RD 3.6 2.2
277.6 172.5 L PAGE MILL RD 10.1 6.3
287.7 178.8 X SKYLINE BLVD 0.0 0.0 16.1 3:00
287.7 178.8 C ALPINE RD 11.6 7.2
299.3 186.0 R PESCADERO RD 1.9 1.2
301.2 187.2 R LA HONDA RD (HWY 84) 0.9 0.6
302.1 187.7 - POSTCARD CONTROL: LA HONDA P.O. 10.0 6.2 8.9 3:30
312.1 193.9 X SKYLINE BLVD SUMMIT 9.2 5.7
321.3 199.6 - POSTCARD CONTROL: WOODSIDE P.O. 0.1 0.1 11.9 4:30
321.4 199.7 R CANADA RD 11.8 7.3
333.2 207.0 L HWY 92 1.0 0.6
334.2 207.7 R SKYLINE BLVD 4.6 2.9
338.8 210.5 R GOLF COURSE DR 0.3 0.2
339.1 210.7 L SKYLINE BLVD 4.7 2.9
343.8 213.6 C I-280 ON-RAMP / EXIT IMMEDIATELY 2.2 1.4
346.0 215.0 - 22-HR CONTROL: CHEVRON STN 0.1 0.1 15.3 6:00
346.1 215.1 C SAN ANDREAS TRAIL 2.4 1.5
348.5 216.5 L SKYLINE BLVD 14.6 9.1
363.1 225.6 L GREAT HIGHWAY 4.5 2.8
367.6 228.4 R LINCOLN WAY / GGP / MLK DRIVE 4.7 2.9
372.3 231.3 C FREDERICK ST 0.2 0.1
372.5 231.5 R WILLARD ST 0.1 0.1
372.6 231.5 L CARL ST 0.4 0.2