Marquisdesod
Member
Spectacular scenery, beautiful roads, continuous elevation changes (40,000 ft.) and the challenge of getting from point A to point B, 900 miles away, by your own devices, as fast as you can: that is the Pacific Coast 900. And if that doesn't seem challenging enough, then, by all means, tackle the PC 1500 that runs concurrently but continues the Portland, Oregon to San Francisco route all the way down to San Diego. I chose the "easier", shorter version for my first self-supported bike race and lived to not regret a minute of it. But I get ahead of myself.
2024 was my year to try out racing on my V20c, having discovered Cruzbikes 4 years ago and re-fallen in love with all things cycling. I had bike toured as a kid, I'm 68 now, crossing coast to coast in 1976 with a buddy, among other tours, but had been off the bike for most of my adult life. I have been riding a lot in the last 3 years, hoping to stay fit and try my hand at something competitive. The PC900 fit the bill as high speed bike touring in an area I had always wanted to ride and the logistics of having a son living outside of Salem, Oregon and travel by train out there from Illinois and back up to Salem from the end point in San Francisco made this race look doable. I thought I would try to "race" it hard but if that was too much for me it would be a beautiful tour down the Pacific Coast, essentially on the Adventure Cycling Pacific Coast route. The Race is well organized by Curtis Lane (who just finished the 24 hour ITT at Borrego Springs!) and Shelly Ann of Get Some Cycling. You can find details at: getsomecycling.org and race tracking details for the 900 and 1500 on bandok.com They also just started a trans America mostly race just this summer.
It feels self-indulgent to go through the whole experience here but I have loved reading of others' experiences on this forum and would hope that for anyone hesitating to get out there and try yourself in competition you would jump in and just do it. The preparation, the training and the testing yourself are so worth it no matter what your results are. The journey there is better than the finish line. I started training a couple years ago, knowing that it would take a long time to build up the zone 2 base I would need for endurance events. I changed my diet and training methods to become "fat adapted" for fueling and put in @ 4500 miles in 2022, 7500 in 2023 and had 7000 in 2024 before starting the race September 8th. I did two 12 hour time trials in the spring of '24: Sebring and Calvin's Challenge, doing 216 miles in the first and 218 in the second. I paced myself much better in the second race and felt I could get on the bike and go again the next day so I went ahead and registered for the PC900.
I intended to stealth camp along the route as I had done touring as a kid. I purchased a hammock, an under quilt, a tarp, and I had an inflatable mattress and a mylar emergency "sleeping bag" already. I did try out the hammock in my back yard and slept one night in it before the race but I wouldn't say I tested it in race conditions. Small mistake number one. The coastal nights were cool enough that I had sufficient insulation beneath me with the air mattress but was not warm enough on top, even with the under quilt used as a cover. I camped the first night and one other night when no motel was available but got hotels the other four nights. The hammock was comfortable to sleep in, light and fast to set up, and great for an afternoon nap but I was ill equipped for 48 degree nights. Lying in the hammock strapped to two redwoods and staring up through the towering canopy was spectacular, though. Next time I will have a down quilt, mattress and hammock and leave the rest at home. If it is raining: hotel.
Second small mistake: bringing too much stuff. I brought way too much "fuel" (drink powders and gels) and one or two too many clothing items. My bike weighed between 60 and 65 lbs., depending on if the water bottles were all full. The extra weight was brutal on the climbs. I could easily have carried just electrolyte powders and eaten real food for fuel on the road since the pacing was zone 2 or 3 most of the time. I was never hungry and drinking lots of sugar doesn't suit me for long periods. I dumped about 3lbs of powder after the third day, consolidated bags and felt a little better.
Small mistake number three: fitness. I had trained hard leading up to the race and had done two successful 12 hour races so I thought I was good to go. However, in February I had strained an Achilles tendon and had been nursing that along without ever getting it totally healed up. With mid-sole cleats I could ride the time trials without injuring myself worse but over the months I think I compensated my way into problems for the hill climbs of the pacific coast. From day one of the ride there were some longer 6%+ climbs that I just couldn't maintain (note to self: Do More Weight Training!). Either I was going too slow for stability in traffic or I was going to blow myself up and severely shorten my day. I decided that walking some climbs and riding longer days was the best strategy. While doing that on days one and two I developed some big blisters on my heals. By the end of day two I was pulling out my lightweight barefoot style shoes to change into to walk up hills, then changing back to bike cleats when I could. This saved me until day six when I lost one of my bike shoes @ 4 am, several miles back, and finished the last 250 miles in my Xeros on my Spd pedals. Not as bad as you might think but not ideal. Also, by day 6, my sore ankle had become quite sore on the front of the shin, too; swollen, red and hot to the touch. I almost called it quits that morning but did 140 miles instead. Which leads me to small mistake number 4.
2024 was my year to try out racing on my V20c, having discovered Cruzbikes 4 years ago and re-fallen in love with all things cycling. I had bike toured as a kid, I'm 68 now, crossing coast to coast in 1976 with a buddy, among other tours, but had been off the bike for most of my adult life. I have been riding a lot in the last 3 years, hoping to stay fit and try my hand at something competitive. The PC900 fit the bill as high speed bike touring in an area I had always wanted to ride and the logistics of having a son living outside of Salem, Oregon and travel by train out there from Illinois and back up to Salem from the end point in San Francisco made this race look doable. I thought I would try to "race" it hard but if that was too much for me it would be a beautiful tour down the Pacific Coast, essentially on the Adventure Cycling Pacific Coast route. The Race is well organized by Curtis Lane (who just finished the 24 hour ITT at Borrego Springs!) and Shelly Ann of Get Some Cycling. You can find details at: getsomecycling.org and race tracking details for the 900 and 1500 on bandok.com They also just started a trans America mostly race just this summer.
It feels self-indulgent to go through the whole experience here but I have loved reading of others' experiences on this forum and would hope that for anyone hesitating to get out there and try yourself in competition you would jump in and just do it. The preparation, the training and the testing yourself are so worth it no matter what your results are. The journey there is better than the finish line. I started training a couple years ago, knowing that it would take a long time to build up the zone 2 base I would need for endurance events. I changed my diet and training methods to become "fat adapted" for fueling and put in @ 4500 miles in 2022, 7500 in 2023 and had 7000 in 2024 before starting the race September 8th. I did two 12 hour time trials in the spring of '24: Sebring and Calvin's Challenge, doing 216 miles in the first and 218 in the second. I paced myself much better in the second race and felt I could get on the bike and go again the next day so I went ahead and registered for the PC900.
I intended to stealth camp along the route as I had done touring as a kid. I purchased a hammock, an under quilt, a tarp, and I had an inflatable mattress and a mylar emergency "sleeping bag" already. I did try out the hammock in my back yard and slept one night in it before the race but I wouldn't say I tested it in race conditions. Small mistake number one. The coastal nights were cool enough that I had sufficient insulation beneath me with the air mattress but was not warm enough on top, even with the under quilt used as a cover. I camped the first night and one other night when no motel was available but got hotels the other four nights. The hammock was comfortable to sleep in, light and fast to set up, and great for an afternoon nap but I was ill equipped for 48 degree nights. Lying in the hammock strapped to two redwoods and staring up through the towering canopy was spectacular, though. Next time I will have a down quilt, mattress and hammock and leave the rest at home. If it is raining: hotel.
Second small mistake: bringing too much stuff. I brought way too much "fuel" (drink powders and gels) and one or two too many clothing items. My bike weighed between 60 and 65 lbs., depending on if the water bottles were all full. The extra weight was brutal on the climbs. I could easily have carried just electrolyte powders and eaten real food for fuel on the road since the pacing was zone 2 or 3 most of the time. I was never hungry and drinking lots of sugar doesn't suit me for long periods. I dumped about 3lbs of powder after the third day, consolidated bags and felt a little better.
Small mistake number three: fitness. I had trained hard leading up to the race and had done two successful 12 hour races so I thought I was good to go. However, in February I had strained an Achilles tendon and had been nursing that along without ever getting it totally healed up. With mid-sole cleats I could ride the time trials without injuring myself worse but over the months I think I compensated my way into problems for the hill climbs of the pacific coast. From day one of the ride there were some longer 6%+ climbs that I just couldn't maintain (note to self: Do More Weight Training!). Either I was going too slow for stability in traffic or I was going to blow myself up and severely shorten my day. I decided that walking some climbs and riding longer days was the best strategy. While doing that on days one and two I developed some big blisters on my heals. By the end of day two I was pulling out my lightweight barefoot style shoes to change into to walk up hills, then changing back to bike cleats when I could. This saved me until day six when I lost one of my bike shoes @ 4 am, several miles back, and finished the last 250 miles in my Xeros on my Spd pedals. Not as bad as you might think but not ideal. Also, by day 6, my sore ankle had become quite sore on the front of the shin, too; swollen, red and hot to the touch. I almost called it quits that morning but did 140 miles instead. Which leads me to small mistake number 4.
