80 miles to heaven and back...

on saturday, joseph lee and i rode along a slice of heaven in a culmination of 2 1/2 months of training, and in preparation for another 1 1/2 months of training for a 72 mile race around lake tahoe.

the destination was a stretch of the pacific coast highway south of big sur and north of san simeon. the road is very remote--full of twists and turns, ups and downs, grand vistas, quaint bridges and bordered by mile upon mile of rocky shoreline.

some of the more effulgent magazine and newspaper articles of bike-trekking this portion of the pch talk of it being the most picturesque road-ride in the country. i have certainly seen vistas in the fall canyons of utah that rival it's beauty, but the longer i pedaled and suffered along this stretch of the pch--the more it felt like a must-ride in the western united states.

joseph and i met late friday night at san simeon campsite near hearst castle. we talked long into the night and enjoyed catching up.

that morning we were packed up by 8:30 and headed to gorda, ca. this gas station--set on a cliff in gorda, with gas for $8/gallon--was our launch point.

after donning our matching pink jerseys and haggling over what to carry--two or three tubes? how many water bottles? extra co2 cartridges? mini-hand pump? whose digital camera? fat free fig newtons? dried mangoes? arm warmers, jacket or both? head gear? sunglasses in the fog? gps? etc. etc.---we set our clocks to 'go' at 10am.

the fog never completely lifted from the coast. the only fog-free portion of the ride was when we climbed away from the coast and descended into big sur 40 miles later. however, the fog on the coastline did slowly lift throughout the day--allowing for better and better views of the coast. the photo below gives a sense of the chilly, mysterious views that greeted us through the early haze.

here you see the beauty of our matching jerseys is eclipsed by the rock-strewn costal waters.

the shoulders of the pch went from non-existent to barely ample. in all my reading about this route, no one ever mentioned this small bit of information. the picture below shows a spooky stretch of shoulder. despite the narrow shoulders, this stretch of the pch is remote and supports the migration 1000's of bikers per year. we saw all sorts from homeless walkers, to college sophomores with saddle bags on summer break--camping and riding away their summer days. joseph and i were passed by at least 100 cars during our ride and all but 2 or 3 didn't yell at us, make hand-gestures, spit or curse. after a mile or so i stopped worrying that i had brought joseph to die on the shoulder of the pch, and realized that i felt safer on this quaint winding highway than i do on redlands blvd back home.

before our ride, i hadn't realized joe's love for bridges. we did not pass a bridge in the first fifteen miles where we didn't stop, take a picture, re-tread our route or coast slowly while gazing over the edge. gratefully, his love of bridges gave us some great photos of the stunning landscapes. (an apology to stevie as all my photos include our ugly mugs--nothing particularly artistic brother...sorry:)

in the articles i read about this trek...most authors spoke of an epiphany--large or small--that occurred on the ride. with the hurried nature of our trip (less than 24 total hours on the pch itself) i was not able to settle in on some remote shore and ponder life's mysteries. any epiphanies i experienced were related to my willingness to endure pain on the bike, hazard mechanical issues and find new points of view through discussions with joe while riding.

this isn't to say i was unmoved by the vistas, but they played a complementary role to the overall experience.

below is a photo taken by a french couple in julia pfeiffer burns state park (in the news recently for the fire whose charred remains we could see on the roadside.) having our picture taken by europeans was common on this trip. an italian took the 'matching-jersey' photo above. he is a big supporter of carlos sastre (winner of the tour de france). the french were impressed with our knowledge of the tour and we bonded.

a shot here to show the diverse terrain we encountered with redwoods sprouting up the further north we rode.

the halfway-point was big sur (the elevation profile at the start of this post was created from my gps data points of our specific ride.) after summiting the highest point in our climb and dropping into big sur the climate became dramatically different. the sun was gone, the sky was blue and i felt like i was back in the dry climes of the inland empire. after purchasing gatorade at a ma and pa grocery store for the ride back, we attacked a 900 foot, 2 mile climb at a 7-8% grade. as to be expected, joseph attacked with gusto and we were able to summit together (at a pace faster than i thought we had in us:)

all in all, joseph and i rode well together. our climbing styles are similar and our conditioning was comparable.

our good fortune hit a snag 30 miles from the finish line when a rear spoke of mine snapped. my bike sounded like it was going to fall apart. while i perseverated about the potential costs of repairs and the possibility of walking while joseph went for a car, joe kept his eye on the target, pulled the spoke out of the hub, put the wheel back on and loosened my brake. i shook off my slight gloom, hopped on the bike and tested my slightly wobbly wheel. it held fairly true and aside from a rub on the brake during steep climbs--it became little more than a psychological barrier to finishing the ride.

since joseph's invitation in may to compete with him in tahoe, i have ridden nearly 1000 miles and 115,000 vertical feet. however, i had not ridden longer than 50 continuous miles this summer. it started to show in my back, neck, joints and legs that last 5 miles. the final two climbs felt brutal with a head wind and a never appearing gas station waiting for our return.

when the gas station appeared through the mist on its perch above the pacific relief and accomplishment flooded though me. we had ridden 80 miles and climbed 1 vertical mile. it felt so great that i decided i could not finish the ride without a tribute to my boy who has come to relish the celebrations to be found with each stage win of the tour de france.

so michael, this video is for you as i celebrated the finish of a ride through a bit of heaven and back.