Riding to Cayucos in the thick fog in the dark with my helmet light in a pretty good paceline - the light reflecting off the mist was like when they go lightspeed in StarTrek
When it got light, I had a new friend named Patrick and we both missed the turn to Santa Rita Rd. We rode the length of Dry Creek, crossed Highway 46 and wound up on Santa Rosa Creek Rd. Patrick got ahead of me and was out of sight when I convinced myself how far off course I was - mile 29 and no water stop in sight. I found a shortcut back to Olea Farms and then I was only 3 miles more on my distance than the route sheet said... never missed another turn after that, never saw Patrick again. Route markings could've been better though. I was half an hour behind my plan too.
Somewhere on Kiler, one of my toeclips came off - the bolts just disappeared, only the strap was holding it on. I took it off and strapped it to my seatpost, and the mechanic at Halter got me fixed back up. 85 miles and 3 o'clock... the time I had hoped to be finished.
Cypress Mountain kicked my butt, and I was way behind my plan now. The control said I was number 350 out of 400... there were a few riders hanging out there but some of them were quitting and asking for a ride back to the finish. Finished at 5:30 with 9022 feet of elevation gain, so I didn't miss any climbing but I did miss one section of gravel road at Santa Rita.
Is this Kiler? My camera crapped out toward the end and I'm not sure what's what.
My detour in blue.
