Solstice Century Ride-Dec 17th 2011

Andrew's view from the back of the pack:
Did not plan to write up a social ride, but what the heck. It's winter, news is slow and I figure everyone is looking for a reason to kill some time at work this week.

Nine CoreTechs riders ventured forth in the middle of December to take on Steve Stewart's Solstice Century. Super Dave Puglia, Rick Adams, Christian, John Pauley, Kevin Fox, Mark Foster, Mark Dames, Steve Stewart and myself wearing the black and blue. Now the first note I need to make is that Steve needs to figure out what a "century" is. Total mileage was about 110 miles. Much dispute about this as each rider had slightly different readings on their computers, but suffice to say, it was over a century! In addition to the CoreTechs riders, SJBC had about six or seven guys and MVV had about 10+ riders. Total riding was about 35 or so.

This is an unusual event. It is not run like a normal century. It is a group ride that does the entire course together. Steve calls it a "no drop" ride and for the most part, that is what it is. There are also several sprint points during the ride and a couple of KOM's thrown in for good measure. Now, a good idea is to read Steve's instructions before doing the ride if you have any intention of doing these sprints or KOM's. Imagine, if you will, over the course of 110 miles finding the "white mailbox" and sprinting to the red mailbox 400 meters beyond. Yep, good luck with that. Of course, it did not stop the overly competitive within the group from competing.

Couple of points of interest along the way. Start was cold…34 degrees. Sun was out though and day was warming up. about an hour in I need to take a "nature break". Having not read anything about the event, I did not realize the sprint was coming up very soon. So, I jam a bit off the front so I can take my break. I look back and Steve is chasing me down. I yell at him to leave me alone, this is a one man job! Well, once done, I have to hammer to catch the group. It took me most of a mile to catch and kind of hurt. Just as I caught the group, everyone pulled over for the first rest stop of the day…sheesh. I guess I missed the first sprint entirely.

Next point of interest for me was just after midway Steve gets a flat. I think to myself, "well, glad my tires are holding up". Of course, you know what that means…I get a flat two minutes later. The good news is I have Steve to work with to get back to the group. Turns out that the group decided that was a good time to really up the pace. Now this is why if you have to get a flat, getting it with the ride organizer is the best time. He calls the follow van back to us. Tells me to grab a door handle and hang on. I have never done this before, but do as told. Let me tell you, it looks much easier than actually doing it! I was hanging on to a large van, riding inches from it, holding on to my bike with one hand and the door handle with the other. The van driver gets going past 40mph! He drifts wide to go around others. This was the scariest part of the ride! About three to five miles later we catch the group…thank God!

Lunch was a well done affair. Steve had the SAG bring out platters of ToGo's and cookies. He also had boxes of Twinkies and cokes. I had not had a Twinkie in probably ten years, so I went for two! Christian was busy sampling many of the cookies. At one point we had to distract him and move the cookie platter out of arms reach to save him from himself.

At mile 105 we have the final sprint of the day. This where the day took a bad turn. Mark Foster went for it and had the sprint in the bag when something happened. No one is sure exactly what, but he went for a power slide at 35mph. Thank goodness for his helmet. He cracked it pretty good. He also has some nice road rash on his back. To his credit, he invoked rule number five and went hard man on us. He insisted on riding back to the finish for the final three or so miles.

Day ended back at the park where we started. Steve provided his specialty; Margaritas. Along with some chili, hot dogs and more cookies. A great ride and a great way to spend a mid December day. If it is not raining next year, I will do this again. Next time though, I will also know where the white mail boxes are!

Keep the rubber side down!

Andrew