Originally Posted by
Andy_K
With all the free time I have on my hands now, I finally got around to hanging my 2019 Eroica California poster. Having done so, I was looking at it and it seemed to me that the ocean was on the wrong side.
Having ridden the Piedras Blancas route, I distinctly remembered approaching the lighthouse from the south. OK, so they took some liberties with the artwork to get better composition, right? But my brain doesn't let things go that easily, so I went to look at the routes to see if one of the others came to the lighthouse from the north. To my dismay, I discovered instead that the official Piedras Blancas route goes past the lighthouse on the way out, continues for another mile and a half before turning around and coming back. I absolutely did not do that. I cut the course!
Anyone else in this shame with me, or was I the only one?
I also thought the poster looked off, and didn't realize until your post that there was an extra bit of the ride north of the lighthouse! On the othe hand, my tandem partner might have mutineed if we'd had to go further with her very full bladder during the morning of the 2019 ride. No excuses though, because I actually made the same route mlstake TWICE the same day. My old college roommate and I were both turning 60 the week of the 2019 ride. Three of us rode to the lighthouse in the morning, my wife and I on a tandem and my friend on a single. Then my roommate and I did the 30 mile lighthouse route AGAIN in the afternoon so we could "ride our age" at Eroica. Missed the extension again past the lighthouse but we made our 60 mile goal for the day and had a great time. Of course, we could have headed south to Cayucus fom Cambia for our second afternoon ride. But we were old enough (and wily enough) to know we want a strong tailwind for the final return to Cambria! Worked out great, and I'm declaring a complete victory for the day, miesed mile and all.