My COVID replacement Century

Three of the four cities in this valley put on an annual bicycle tour each year called the Victor Valley Bike Tour, which has in the past offered a full 100 mile Century, but in recent years its longest ride was 70 miles, which was cancelled due to COVID-19 this year. 

 Our little valley is only about 20 miles long, so finding 100 miles is a challenge, but I nevertheless did map out a 100.3 mile route, and have been riding it in pieces where those were not well traveled routes to get the feel of the terrain in my legs and sample the surface so I could do my own Century Ride. 

Riding a full Century alone with no SAG support is rather daunting, especially here, so I was biding my time, waiting for the heat of summer to subside, but anxious to go before the days got too short, and as always, a day where the winds were calm, which is quite rare around here. Both Monday & Tuesday of this week met all the requirements, but I slept poorly Sunday night, so Tuesday it was. 

 Apple Valley Airport with a nice tailwind

The 1st thing I did was line up my significant other for SAG support, which she was more than happy to do. There was just too much weight and bulk to carry everything with me, though I did have some flexibility as to where we met for resupply. I settled on two places pretty quickly, a COVID abandoned prison and the Apple Valley Airport. Because it has water and working toilets I ended up getting SAG at the airport. As I've mentioned before, I spend as little time indoors there as possible post-COVID, but there is a nice BBQ area with shade and a sink with running water, which is where I spent a bit over an hour (no idea it was this long of a break & shocked when I saw the time on RWGPS). 

 

End of the Pavement @ Standing Rock & Laguna Seca

 

Beautiful Shady spot on Cahuilla Rd Climb

It ended up getting warmer than expected, and the north wind, while bone dry (under 10% humidity), didn't give me quite the wind-assist I planned on coming home, though it was very welcome. There was also a lot of construction equipment on Navajo, as they are FINALLY putting in an elevated, concrete bike path (the grant was targeted at transportation for the 3 schools in the area) along Navajo. It should be wonderful when it's completed, although I hope they don't carve out breaks for every one of the 30+ road & driveway crossings along Navajo. As it was, I skipped the stop at Mendel Park and extension to the end of Kiowa where it dirt-ends due to lack of water at Mendel Pk. That took 4 miles out of my planned ride.

The heat and dry took a bit more  out of me than expected, and I was running low on fuel and electrolytes, but the main reason I settled for 83 miles instead of 100 is the route as planned would have left me at about 90 miles, so not much distance needed doing laps of Spring Valley Lake to get to 100. As it is, 83 is a new distance record since moving down to SoCal here in the high desert, which was pretty great in itself. 

For nutrition I used a GU flask bulging with GU Rocktane, my last Powerbar (they stopped making them here in the US), and 5 bottles of Gatorade spiked with Emergen-C. Both of those I carry in powdered form and make into a drink at hydration stops. I also took some CoQ-10, L-Carnosine and Pterostilbene at the airport. Those are metabolites or reduce muscle fatigue. I also had a Blueberry Crisp Cliff Bar with me, but gave it back to my S/O at the airport, a decision I regretted later. I still had some Gatorade powder left at the end of the ride, but otherwise, consumed most of my liquids. 

There's an easy way to get in a full Century by modifying the route so I do the Navajo-Kiowa box twice. A bit boring perhaps, but if the drinking fountains get fixed a great option vs laps around SVL, where perfectly paved streets are now a giant parking lot after they were lined so homeowners can park their mandatory 4-7 vehicles per household on the street. Ridiculous - and dangerous for cyclists. (SVL is not a gated community, so that paving was paid for by the taxpayers of San Bernardino County and should not have been allowed)

If we get an Indian Summer sometime this winter I may try this Century ride again, with a little SAG modification to dump clothing and take on nutrition when the day warms up, and a little route mod as well. It was nice getting in a big chunk of miles and setting a new distance record locally, and I learned a bit in the process. Since the VVBT is only 70 miles, it was nice to up the ante a bit and get it done!