my58vw

For all of you who have done the Solvang century I have a few questions. The route as you may recall is relativly flat around sea level, more rolling hills but a few climbs. The one I am interested in though is the 1100 foot climb around mile 80, the main climb of the day.

I have never carried an altimeter and I do not count the miles that I go up. I have done some long climbs over several miles, sunset loop comes to mind. It looks like the ride climbs 1100 feet in about 5 miles... how bad is that grade wise. Also are there any other bad parts that I should think about. I did hear there was a "wall" somewhere along the route.

Thanks as always...

CycleFreakLS

Supposedly, there's 5000' of climbing in the Solvang Century. Most of it doesn't start until mi 70. That's the beginning of Foxen Canyon. To exit, there's a nasty little climb. And a few more (but short) jaunts in the last 15 mi. They're all less than 1 mi in length; I run a standard 12-25 and had no trouble with a 39-21/23 on any of them. Probably wise to gauge yourself prior to starting Foxen Canyon (right after the rest stop [near a Radisson hotel I think!?]).

Around mi 30, there's this stretch just N of Vandenburg. You don't want to get caught into the wind here, so start early, even if it freezin-your-hiney off cold (sometimes I've heard that's high-30s to low 40s). The wind will pick up more and more as the day warms up. Last year was an abberation, was rather warm.

I've attached an altitude plot of the 03 century, downloaded from a friend's Ciclosport. It reports less elevation but the plot looks very similar to others I've seen posted on the web.

Best.

MacMan

Eh? High 30s/low 40s ... that's a heat-wave around these parts! I'm jealous as hell ... I'm hoping to have my new ride built by then, but I doubt the mid-west winter will let me out for a spin and you guys get to do centuries

my58vw

Is it then wise to take come extra time at the stop before the big hill to rest before the big hill? How far is the hard part of the climbing? I wish the climbing was at the beginning because just like a race your gas starts to run out about that point...

I will have done 2 centuries in the new year before Solvang, I just want to be ready... this should also serve as a indicator for the RR that I plan on doing the week after...

It looks like the 1000 feet of climbing are over 15 or so miles, that does not sound so bad, the 250 feet in .5 miles seems to be tough though... may take the triple for that one... maybe.

Thanks

UncaStuart

My guess is that if you have done two centuries leading up to Solvang, you'll be broken in enough not to need any extra time. Solvang is a moderate century at 5000ft of climb, versus something like the Sequoia, with 9000, or Grizzly Peak, etc., so you'll probably not be too beat up by the time you've gotten to Foxen Canyon, provided you haven't gone out too fast in the first 20 miles. Solvang is one of the more scenic centuries, so my advice is don't worry and enjoy the views.

Seeing as how you're from Riverside, I'm assuming one of the prior centuries will be the Tour de Palm Springs (nice early season century at 3500ft)?

SDS

I think that you are going to have no trouble with this and you are worrying about nothing. I also think people are entitled to worry if they want to, so I'm not going to tell you to stop.

Having done a lot of mileage on hard courses, I don't think much of stopping. If you stop for more than about ten minutes, your legs don't work as well when you start again as if you hadn't stopped. I would be more likely to stop at the top of a hill than at the bottom before a hill.

If you want to worry about this and to do something about it, I suggest you find the local randonneur club and do some brevets. They usually start with 200K and work their way up in 100K hunks, and they like hilly courses because BMB and PBP are hilly. And they start early in the year, like today. There's a 200K out of Arlington, TX today.

My recommendation is that you put big bottles on the bike, like Zefal Magnums, maybe a tri bottle on the aerobars, and maybe a Camelbak, and some food, and you don't stop unless you darn well want to. Find a group that is your pace, draft them or ride with them, and if they stop reduce your pace and keep going, and hop onto the back of the next pack that passes. Additional water and food on the bike allows you to do this when your first batch of partners stops.

2Rodies

Generally the bigger problem on this ride can be the weather. Both times I did this it was rainy, cold, and windy. In other words pretty miserable, luckily the first time I was on tandem with a cat 1 rider who drug us along. The second time was single and I didn't have the proper clothing so I suffered quite a bit. The hills aren't that bad but if their is head wind (which we had on my second event) it can make it more of a challenge.

roadfix

Agreed. Stop worrying about the hills on this ride. They're doable. Instead, the weather can turn this ride into total misery.

-CM-

I've done Solvang 2 or 3 times. In fact, it was the first century I ever did. To me, the wind is more of a factor than the hills. But overall, it's not really a difficult century, assuming you're in shape enough to ride 100 miles.

my58vw

I rode a metric century today and I had no problems with it, quite hilly too. You just hear all the rumors about the wall etc which can sound scary to some.

I just have not ever really calculated the altitude change on a ride and the large numbers sound scary to some. I just want to be prepared for it before I do this undertaking.

Yes my first of the year will be the Palm Springs century. Our club also does on after that before March 12. It should be fun. Thanks for all the replys...