Originally Posted by Brad L

I plan on going, but which route I can ride, or even if I can go at all, will depend on what happens in the next month or two. I've had two surgeries on my scalp in the last 6 weeks and I'm currently waiting to see if it's healing properly.

I'm on immunosuppressants for a kidney transplant I had back in 1998. While the transplant is working fine, the extended use of the immunosuppressants has caused an ongoing battle with squamous cell carcinoma for the last 9 years. I've had it in several areas of my scalp, the lymph nodes in my neck (2017), and in my lungs (2019). I've been going to M D Anderson Cancer Hospital here in Houston, so I'm in good hands. I had a moderately large MOHS surgery for another SCC on my scalp in October of 2020, which was followed by another round of radiation (my third on the scalp) to keep it away. Unfortunately this resulted in a new type of cancer (atypical fibroxanthoma) caused by the radiation treatments. I had surgery to remove this in April of 2021, but due to the prior radiation treatments, it refused to heal. I spent most of 2021 training for Eroica with bandages covering a silver-dollar sized area of exposed skull. This needed to be taken care of.

On October 12, I underwent a free-flap scalp reconstruction. I thought this would be a simple skin graft, but I was wrong. A skin graft gets its blood supply from the tissue it's placed on, but since much of my scalp would be completely removed, they needed to get tissue from somewhere. What the six-hour surgery entailed was removing the latissimus muscle from the left side of my back, placing it in the graft area and microsurgically connecting the vessels of the muscle to the vessels in front of my left ear. Once this was done, a skin graft was taken from my left thigh and placed on the muscle. I spent 5 days in the hospital and all was well. I would not be allowed to wear a hat or helmet until the graft healed, which would take at least a month, so no riding outside.

After being home for a week or so, we noticed an area of the muscle was starting to turn dark. I sent photos to the doctors and, though they said it looked worrying, there was nothing to do until my follow-up appointment several days later. At the appointment, the doctor confirmed that the rear 1/4 of the muscle was dead and would need to be removed. His theory is that the radiation I received in 2019 for the lung cancer damaged the vessels.

I underwent a second surgery on October 29 to debride the dead area and to cover the resulting hole with a synthetic skin graft. If this survives, a real skin graft will be taken from my thigh to cover it in a few weeks, so I have that to look forward to. If it doesn't survive, they need to take a portion of the latissimus muscle from the right side of my back and basically start over again. My follow-up is Wednesday the 24th so I'll find out then what will happen.

On a better note, the doctor has allowed me to start riding a stationary bike, so on November 10, I started riding on Zwift. My watts are down quite a bit, but I'm riding 35 miles every other day at this point. If everything goes right from here on, I should be able to ride the 81 mile route I signed up for. If I end up needing the more involved surgery, I feel I can at least get in good enough shape by that time to do the Piedras Blancas route. I've been keeping my sanity by completing the refurbishment of my 1972 Legnano, and searching for parts for my 1940s Ciclo Piave. I'll post more on those at a later date.

PS: You should thank me for not posting photos.

Originally Posted by Kabuki12

San Simeon pre ride


San Simeon Cove


The bikes!!


Got to meet Manny!


The start of the short route was a bit unorganized

Originally Posted by merziac

Big shoutout to these guys and the big guy @bikingshearer and Thor in particular.

I was in serious peril of having driven 1800 miles without going for any ride.

After driving down nonstop, I was upside down and didn't want stay that way for the drive home so I couldn't get up and get motivated or moving.

Rich and Thor had really tried to help already, but you all know how stubborn to my own detriment I can be so they weren't getting through.

Finally today they did, I had gotten checked out, packed up and was maybe going to do an out and back of some sort up Hwy 1 if it wasn't windy but of course it was so I was going to head North for home up the same.

Then I see, stop and talk with Rich, Thor and the others, "just go back, ride up Santa Rita till you get tired of the stupid hills then turn around and head back", ok fine.

Up to Santa Rita I goes, park at the school, 10 miles out, 10 back, 1000 ft of climbing, stopping, resting and there it was.

Came back, hung out at the start/finish some more, spend the night here again and we'll see how it goes in the morning.

Tx again guys.

Originally Posted by Mauchant

Had a great ride on the 71 mile loop. The last downhill was the hardest part on old nuovo record brakes.

Lost: Yellow Shaw's water bottle.

Found: Bike computer on final descent. 59.60 miles shows on display.

Originally Posted by gugie

For those disappointed with Eroica California, but are searching for a great experience that Eroica could/should be, I highly recommend this.

Originally Posted by rccardr

Would I do it again, for a sixth time? Sure.
With a select group of close friends, self-supported, on a weekend/weekdays of our choosing.
The roads will always be there. For $150 I can buy a lot of grub. And beer.

Originally Posted by rccardr

Carlos and a guy we ran into all day whose name escapes me.

Originally Posted by rccardr

The Sunday Ride: started at 7 directly from the Palazzo, met up with folks along Rt 1, into Cayucos, then up the Santa Rita climb:

Carlos and a guy we ran into all day whose name escapes me.

Originally Posted by tmnguuyen

Running into Brad and finished the ride with him is the highlight of the ride for me. This is True Texan Grit, Brad drove 1800 miles with all the medical procedure, won a category the concours, did the Sunday ride and drive another 1800 miles to get home.



After peaking at 41.7 mph we started our first climb



A couple more companions from our group - Gentlemen from Germany



A welcoming sign.

Originally Posted by Brad L

Thanks, Thanh! I can honestly say I was on the verge of bailing at Halter Ranch before I ran into you and the rest of the autobus. Now that I have those grisly climbs and descents under my belt, I might stay with the short route next time. Again, I appreciate the encouragement along the route.

Originally Posted by OldCoot

I had wonderful time! I enjoyed making new friends and riding buddies. I rode along with Rich and Joe ( and others too...) on the Pierdras Blancas route.

Also wanted to thank Doc for picking me up on call from Andrew after my freewheel dropped all it's ball bearings on the way to Saturday's lunch in San Simeon. Would have been a long walk back otherwise.

Nice to PUT faces, names and online names together. Let's see how well I do at keeping them all straight.