HALF CENTURY RIDE!

Mission accomplished!   This past Saturday, March 9th was the 31st annual Solvang Century Ride.  There was also the Half-Century ride, which was enough distance for me.  I'm relatively new to cycling and completing 50 miles was a big accomplishment. 

A happy finisher.  I'm out of the saddle 4 hours and 49 minutes later.

I achieved my macro-goal of not crashing, my medium-goal of finishing the distance, and my micro-goal of not walking any of the uphills!   Gerry did the ride, as did my good friend Kiki.  We 3 musketeers stayed together pretty much the whole time.  We stopped perhaps 4 different times, the most significant "rest stop" was at the SAG station at the 23.6 mile mark.  The SAG station was amply stocked with fresh fruit, gorp, peanut butter sandwiches, cookies and plenty of water.  

I admit I was a bit nervous before the race, and felt a bit under-trained.  I did two 25 mile training rides, and several training rides of 15-20 miles.  Fortunately, my mind is my strongest muscle and I convinced myself if I could ride 25 miles, I could ride 50!  (Actual distance ended up being 51.24 miles.)

We like the Solvang, Santa Ynez Valley.  It is always a fun get-away.  Saturday we celebrated with dinner at the Vineyard House restaurant in Santa Ynez.  We've been there before and it's always been wonderful. 

California has 21 missions and we've seen probably 1/2 of them.  Sunday we visited our favorite mission, La Purisima which is in Lompoc.  It is beautiful, well-maintained, and the grounds contain miles of scenic trails.  The visitor center and exhibit hall contain wonderful informative displays. 

La Purisima Mission - worth a visit!

Gerry feeding grass to a hungry long horn.

Sunday afternoon we stopped by our favorite winery, Babcock, and did a little wine-tasting.  Babcock has some very delicious wine.  The winery is in a beautiful setting, and the staff is very down to earth and friendly.  We always try to stop by when we're in the Santa Ynez area. 

View from Babcock of the vineyards & surrounding hillside.

All in all it was an excellent weekend getaway.  I think I like this long-distance cycling sport.  I'm already thinking about my next bicycle adventure!  Perhaps I'll plan a weekend trip to Ojai....There's a ride there in June.....