“It sounds like something I shouldn’t pass up,” I wrote AJ, when he told me about his plans to do the Sierra Century, a hilly century in the Sierras with intriguing Slug Gulch and 200-km options.
Indeed, the start of the Sierra Century was only about 40 miles east of my parents’ home in Stockton and would begin in rolling Amador County, an area I had only last visited in 1995 during the near-disastrous Gold Rush Century. Furthermore, I had not seen AJ — who was a great lab partner in two engineering classes at Stanford — in well over 6 or 7 years, and was looking forward to having an opportunity to catch up with him. Continue reading »
These are the most challenging events I’ve ever done, listed in order of difficulty. Most are in California, since that’s where I lived until I moved to Colorado in October 2005. The difficulty is completely subjective (and my humble opinion only), but it gives you an idea of what I think are harder: e.g., double centuries vs. marathons! Continue reading »
2nd high-quality training ride of the weekend! Everitt and I had done the Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge with Steve the day before, and planned on doing the 200k course today. Actually, our main roles today would be to help Everitt’s friend-from-college, Duane, finish the 200k course… Duane planned on doing it in a previous year, but ended up doing the 100-mile course, and hence really wanted to fulfill this goal this time around. Continue reading »
“I’ll be gone this Saturday for a training ride,” I told a friend a few days before the 2003 Climb to Kaiser event, “but should be back by Sunday.”
Ah, yes, a “training ride”… this is what the Climb to Kaiser had somehow become in the year where the upcoming 15th Annual Paris-Brest-Paris race was the primary focus of my cycling season. Never mind that the Climb to Kaiser, or C2K as it is sometimes referred to, was ranked by Bicycling Magazine as one of the nation’s Top 10 Most Challenging Rides, notorious not only for the steepness of some of its grades, but also the brutal Fresno heat. Continue reading »
“The Superstar Loop was tougher than the Hawaii Ironman,” said professional triathlete Bob Koruck, who apparently was just “one of only 3 humans to finish the 140-mile course” prior to this year. “The ride passes historic gold rush towns, wild rivers and tributaries of the American River watershed, glorious forests teeming with wildlife, pristine Alpine lakes and face some of the toughest climbs imaginable - steeper than anything found in notorious Tour de France routes like Alpe D’Huez,” proclaimed the World’s Toughest Century web site. Cool. Continue reading »
 went along part of Highway 1 past Marshall and Tomales, which is great for sports car driving. I'm sure the driver of this Porsche Boxster would agree!&title=Marin Century 200k "The Marin Century (200k route only) went along part of Highway 1 past Marshall and Tomales, which is great for sports car driving. I'm sure the driver of this Porsche Boxster would agree!")
