Originally Posted by
Ttoc6
...They aren't as competitive as races...
Quoting you again. I am talking about the top places/winning. Search these for fun. But when you put 1K+ riders out there - it is competitive.
The most prestigious single day race to win in the OC is likely Rogers Cup. It is a group ride/race. The talent there typically exceeds other single day rides.
Few would say anything in SoCal is as hard as the Belgium Waffle Ride.
Things change of course, but back to single day races (not the ToC) in SoCal, The Baja races were a real big deal. They would be won by the top SoCal racers who would skip a race to do the Fondo (they were not called that then). Tecate-Ensenada, Rosarito-Ensenada, Mexicali-San Felipe all in certain years were - difficult, and fast and everyone was there. That was then.