September 27 - the Lighhouse Century - 100 miles of pain. This was a fine ride; unfortunately, because I had not ridden much in the weeks prior to the ride (due to some unexplained body pain - see previous entry - including eight days mostly sitting in a van while leading a photo group through Yellowstone), I was not in the best shape for this ride, which led much of the way up and down the central California coast, as well as into the adjacent Coast Range mountains.

In fact, by the end of the ride, I knew I'd survived a real battle. There was that seemingly endless uphill into the mountains - the only real climb of the ride. Of course, we had a terrific downhill, on Highway 46. There were awesomely powerful headwinds, too, the farther north we pushed toward the turn-around point, which was a few miles beyond the Piedras Blancas (White Rocks) Lighthouse. But the ride south: whoo-hoo! I was able to enjoy the scenery, which included young elephant seals near San Simeon, the beautiful coastline, Morro Rock and some of the Seven Sisters (ancient volcanic plugs) along Highway 1.

There were about six rest stops, with lots of good food. The food and the ride itself was sponsored by the San Luis Obispo bike club; I'd ridden the club's Wildflower Century back in April, when I'd been in far better condition. The food for this century included a fine lunch and a great dinner.

I made the ride with my brother - we were both tired (although he was in much better shape than I), and opted to spend the night in San Luis Obispo. What a great college town - if only I were back IN college, I'd surely choose Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

I slept through the night and, much refreshed, began the long drive to my home in Los Angeles the next morning.