 |
| At the I-5 overpass along the Garden Highway. |
Northern California experienced very mild weather this March and into April, allowing me to get quite a bit of riding in. This base mileage included several rides over 50 miles in length. I was feeling pretty good and thought about trying a century ride in late April. Another reason for contemplating the ride was the fact that my schedule in May for riding looked rather bleak.
The weather forecast for the Sacramento region for the last Monday in April called for partly cloudy skies, light winds and temperatures only rising to the low 70s. That sounded pretty good so I decided to try the hundred miles, using my usual route through Lincoln and Sheridan, going west through Nicolaus to the Garden Highway and down that to Discovery Park and the American River Parkway.
The morning started out cool and partly cloudy. I wore full length tights over my bib shorts and four light layers on the upper body.
The ride progressed uneventfully. I eventually took off the windbreaker at Nicolaus, and my long sleeved tee stayed on until I reached the I-5 overpass on the Garden Highway, at mile 60.
After a lunch break at the overpass, I continued south on the Garden Highway. Once again, as in last year's ride, the highway is undergoing construction south of the overpass, reducing to road to a one lane, one way, road. If you wanted to follow this route in the opposite direction, (clock-wise), you would have to figure out how to navigate a detour around this stretch. I didn't notice any detour signs posted, so I don't know how that would work out.
Once reaching Discovery Park, you have the next 28 mile stretch on a nice bike trail! The Monday afternoon traffic on the Parkway was pretty light, plus there are plenty of chances to stop for water and bathrooms if needed. This is the main reason I prefer to do this ride on a counter-clockwise direction, you have plenty of opportunities to refill your water bottles on this leg, unlike the last leg going clockwise, where there are no real water sources readily available. At a stop on the Parkway I finally shed my tights as the temperature was now nicely warmed to the low 70s.
I followed the bike trail to Beales Point State Park. This time I didn't stop at the visitor's center, but I did pull over and at a snack bar. Then quickly back on the road to home.
Here are a few pictures. A statistics summary and equipment notes are added below the photos.
 |
| At the old bridge off McCourtney Road. |
 |
| Heading towards Trowbridge and East Nicolaus. |
 |
| Entering Nicolaus |
 |
| Off the Garden Highway, just entering Verona |
 |
| At the I-5 Overpass. |
 |
| On the American River Parkway. |
Equipment Notes:
I took the Berthoud for it's first century and couldn't be happier with the results. I was comfortable for all the 8 1/2 hours of riding and everything worked well. The old Velo-Orange Mod. 6 saddle works very well for me, indeed the was no chafing at all. My Przewalski 3D bib shorts (from Amazon), also help a lot in that department. Very nice shorts that have held up well and I recommend them!
Shifting was via my Simplex retro friction shifters pulling a Shimano 105 RD over ten cogs, (11-28T). The crankset was my 86 BCD Stronglight 100 with 46 and 30 tooth cogs.
I ran 28mm Gravel King tires for this ride, which only stretched out to 26mm on the Sun M13 rims. They felt pretty good and I had no flats on tis ride!
I tried using an electrolyte supplement on this ride and I'm impressed with the results. Now, the very mild temperatures probably helped a lot, but I added the electrolyte (Liquid I.V., sugar free), into all but one bottle of the six I consumed on this ride. I experienced no cramping during the ride, and more importantly, no nighttime cramps after the ride! I'm sold. I'll be using this stuff from now on!
Here's a map of the route and below that, the stats:
