tyrion

Never done a century, I think I'll attempt one this summer when the days are long.

Easy = minimal hills (except for down hills) and relatively traffic-safe.

I will be taking it slow and easy and stopping for meals and breaks. The only goal is to ride 100 miles in a day. If there's a nice route that's a little short of 100 miles, I can complete the century by looping around Fiesta Island.

diphthong

pacific beach, mission beach, mission bay, fiesta island length of mission valley and back, bike path to ocean beach, voltaire to nimitz. hit shelter island, harbor island and harbor drive all the way down to the bike path running parallel to hwy 54. do the flattish parts of sunnyside/bonita and head back west to the bay. south along the west side of the 5 fwy all the way past the salt factory to the true start/end of the dedicated bayshore bikeway. around the bottom of the bay and all the way to coronado and ride around it before looping back down south, curving around the bottom of the bay and heading north back towards dtown sd. by the time you reach mission bay area again, you’ll be around 90 miles. your loops around fiesta island or riding around mission bay again will get you there.

diphthong

riding up the coast to oceanside pier and back from the mission bay area would yield 80 miles but you’d be dealing with torrey pines grade on the way back and that may be stiffer than you’d like to deal with at mile 75

tyrion

Thanks, great looking route. Nice and flat. I didn't know about that bike path parallel to the 54. I'll explore that on a "training ride".

TrojanHorse

I meant to ask earlier... is Fiesta Island bigger than it was in the early 90s? I'm convinced it is but maybe I killed that brain cell with the historical size.

diphthong

^same size. 2.5 mles short loop. just over 4 miles long loop. useful but boring. usual ferocious head/crosswinds for 3/4 of it.

ChrisAlbertson

I live in the LA area but if I lived in SD and wanted a relatively easy century ride, I'd take Amtrack north, get off after 100 miles then ride home on the coast route. It would be a one-way trip.

My plan is to do this from Santa Barbara. The train lets you off at State Street in Santa Barbara and then I'd take the coat route home. A similar plan could work for you.

diphthong

this would involve getting off at either the irvine or san juan capistrano station. either would involve either routing around camp pendleton and riding on the 5 freeway
(a deal breaker for many riders) or already having a current/valid pass to ride through camp pendleton. riding the coast to sd from either irvine or sjc will have more elevation gain
than the previously suggested route. it's approx 3,300 ft elevation gain and 125 miles one way from union station in la via to the old town station in san diego (at the 5/8 freeways intersection).
via the fastest route along the la river trail to long beach. the old town san diego train station is approx 5 miles north of the dtown san diego station. following the pch corrridor, involving santiago
canyon road and/or antonio parkway, will add 1,000 feet of climbing and be slower. closely following the 5 freeway corridor through orange county is a stop and go fest of epic and slow proportions.

the connecting train to santa barbara from la union station (after the nearly 3 hr ride from san diego) is not conducive for same day riding purposes.
curious...what is the earliest santa barbara bound train from la union station? if memory serves, during the weekdays, it's just after 10am.

ChrisAlbertson

I was not suggesting a ride from Santa Barbara to the OP. Only that it was my plan and he might be able to do something like it. One way trips are kind of fun because you really get to go some place. The I5 route through pendleton is short. For me it is such a novelty to ride on a freeway it is worth it

Yes Santa Barbara to LA in one day is hard and way-hard-impossible with a late start. The plan is to take two days with a very easy first day, stop at motel for 8+ hours sleep then depart at daylight.

Bike paths make for easy rides but at least up here, if my goal is to cover distance then many times I have to mostly avoid the bike paths because they are so slow. I'm learning where the street is faster and where the path is faster. It varies

tyrion

Yeah that's an idea. The downside for me is - as Ooga Booga pointed out, I'd hit that Torrey Pines hill at about mile 95, and that has the possibility of being extremely difficult. It's only about 400 ft of elevation, but it's a tough hill for me even when I'm not worn out. I want to set this first century up to be as easy as possible.

I'll feel this out once I start getting some longer rides in.

ChrisAlbertson

I'm needing to get in shape too. What I found is you need to mix up the riding you do and not simply work up to longer and longer rides. One thing to add to the mix is "hill repeats" Find one you can just barely do than ride up and coast down, ride up again and coat down. Just keep doing this. It is exhausting and a little boring. Then the next ride after taking a day off is maybe an easy long flat ride. I'm trying to work on hills once a week. You can always buy a larger rear cog. I just went from a 13-24 cogs to 14-28 and it made a big difference. I've only been training with a goal in mind since December and before that some years with no riding at all. If hills are an issue, swap out the rear cassette, it only takes a few minutes and later put the old one back if you like.

But first find a hill you CAN with some effort, ride up. Then ride up, rest and do it again if it gets easy find a bigger hill. But remeber that you do NOT get stronger when riding. Getting stronger happens when you reast or even sleep after you ride. So be sure to do enough resting

diphthong

i still stand by my suggestion in post #2 . have done this ride/variants of this ride after riding a harder century or just a tough
day in the saddle the previous day because...ya gotta get those miles in. plenty of support. plenty of places to stop for a leisurely
whatever. plenty of places to turn around if you decide against going the full c-note. elevation gain is around 1,800-2,000 feet
with most of it coming on freeway/road overpasses.

diphthong

so with some free time this week, i kind of did a thing...

https://www.strava.com/activities/3218669252

take off the first five miles getting down to mission valley and the last five miles climbing up from national city to north park area.
that leaves 95 miles and about 1600 feet in elevation gained. was unable to ride fiesta island and its' 2.5 mile short loop and/or the 4 mile long loop
with the city's covid-19 response to closing parks, beaches, trails, etc. if you started the ride in mission bay area, the distance from national city (32nd street)
to mission bay (let's say fiesta island area) is more than five miles.
you can wring out about 15 miles of flattish mission valley riding. biggest bump is on camino del rio south in either direction climbing up to texas st (bully's restaurant area).
it's about a 100 ft climb from either side. otherwise...the biggest impediment is your usual 40-60 foot el gain on bridges. from mission valley, riding
morena district/pacific beach/mission beach/mission bay and ocean beach yield about 35 miles. riding both shelter island and harbor island gives you 5 miles.
harbor island to the shipyards area is about 5 miles along the water. onwards to coronado via the bayside bike path/silver strand/a loop around residential coronado and
back to the shipyards area gives you approx 35 miles. if anyone attempts this ride and goes from national city to dtown and then to old town/mission bay via
harbor and pacific hwy or harbor and nimitz, add 7-10 miles and about 150 feet in elevation gain. 100-105 miles with 1700 feet in elevation gain? pretty flat.
hope this helps.

tyrion

Thanks for that.

eja_ bottecchia

Good plan. Depending on your routing you could come across some easy hills.

Question though, isn’t SB to SD more than 100 miles?

diphthong

^ i think he meant from sb to la in the above referenced post. it's thinly inferred/referenced and not the sledgehammer we are
used to here in bf land.

ChrisAlbertson

Yes, it is over 100 miles. Years ago when I did this we had a very easy first day and stopped at a motel. It is a two-day ride for most people.
Los Angels to San Diego is also a two-day ride for most people too. But it works and there are plenty of places to stop.

I know that a folded up bunch of loops can be an actual "century" but somehow I think it is better to cover some distance and go someplace. If I were in good enough shape I could do five laps of a common loop route near my house and call it a century but that would be boring as I've already done that loop countless times over the years. One-way trip are the way to cover the most new ground.

eja_ bottecchia

I agree, I prefer point to point rides. You get to see more.

i have done Santa Monica to Santa Barbara with a slight detour around the Santa Monica mountains. Fun ride.

timcarrla

I am thinking the same and live in LA - hopefully trying it soon!

diphthong

any luck yet? this week is relatively cool along the coast.

from what i can tell from doing a 40-miler exclusively on fiesta island this week, were you to attempt an exclusive fiesta island century, it would be approx
(believe it or not) 1,400 feet in elevation gain fyi...

tyrion

No, I had a couple minor surgeries this summer, and was told no run/bike/swimming for 6 weeks, and now I'm completely out of shape!

Maybe next year.

diphthong

sorry to hear that. hope you're recovering fully. guess i'll hafta suck it up and ride a century or two in your stead.