Solvang (Half) Century

So I get a call last Sunday night, after all of the riding, from my new cycling buddy, Ariana, and she goes a little something like this, "Soooooo, Mark called with this crazy idea." (Mark is our other cycling buddy.)  "I think I'm going to do the Solvang Century next weekend.  I mean, my mind is telling me that I shouldn't do it, but my ego is saying GO FOR IT."

I laughed. And quickly excused myself from that phone call.  I've got an ego, but, well, it has no say in whether or not I kill myself on a bike.

Luckily for me, The Bike Whisperer whispered her magic and advised against the full century for various reasons....mainly because Solvang has hills and winds.  Lots of winds.  So Ariana's dreams got crushed by someone other than me.  Yay.  However, we discovered that the Solvang Century also had a small thing called a half century.  So we opted for a new route, some new scenery and short trip up the coast, through the woods and over the mountains to ride 50 miles we went.

If you've never been to Solvang, CA, you should know one thing: Solvang is to Denmark as Orange City is to Holland (do you like what I did there??). (Side note re: me -- I come from Orange City, IA.  The OG OC is a Dutch community that celebrates the Tulip Festival each May.)   Windmills and cute little side streets.  And a million bikes descending early today.  And by early, I mean EEEEAAAARRRRLLLLYYYY.  Well, for me anyway.  Solvang is 2+ hours north of Los Angeles and ride out was at 9am.  This means that I had a 5am wake up call and a planned 5:30am departure....which obviously turned into a 6:10am departure.  I really wish that biking was a nighttime activity.  I function at a much higher level at night.  Although, the early trip allowed me the chance to tell my older sissy HAPPY BIRTHDAY before the boys overtook her day.  I made it in time to register, use the port-a-potties and pin my rider number to my jersey.  And then we rode.

The route was great in the sense that the first half had very little traffic to compete with and even less stop signs.  LA traffic and traffic stops are annoying after awhile.  The second half had more traffic but still no stops!  And very few turns.  All things that make life on a bike a lot easier.  I only had to think about two things: pedaling and breathing.  We rode through the most beautiful country.  Seriously breathtaking.  The sun was out and the mountains were beautiful.  The riders were friendly and the half-way station had peanut butter and jelly on wheat bread!  Such a great ride.  I cannot even tell you how nice it was to mix it up and do a new ride. 

Along with thoroughly enjoying the ride, I learned the following things:
1.  Never ever put sunscreen on my forehead!! I mean, come on, Autumn, get your head in the game.  Your forehead is under your helmet and is not going to get burned.  And you sweat like a man.  Sunscreen plus eyeballs with contacts equals pain.  No bueno.

2.  Those little "wake-you-up-vibrating-bumps" on the side of the road are REALLY unpleasant to ride over on a bike.  I should likely be icing more than my knee while writing this.

3.  A performance drink that rhymes with "ghiz" is clearly not going to be good.

4.  If you try to talk, eat a Shot Block and ride up hill simultaneously, you will likely aggravate your asthma.