Lighthouse Century Ride Report
Youth versus…Vintage
My son has a friend who completed a 100 mile run last year. This friend–let’s call him Whipper Snapper, Whip for short–is a fit young man who regularly runs miles at a pace I can only dream of. Whip works with a few cyclists, Gen X-ers, the generation known for being independent and resourceful, challenging the status quo on aging. These Gen X-ers called in a bet. “We see your run and we raise you a ride.”
They invited him to sign up for the Lighthouse Century–a 100 mile cycling event along California’s central coast, including 5,000 feet of elevation gain. Whip confidently accepted and laid all his chips on the table.
Whip had not ridden a bike, other than around the block as a kid. But how hard could it be? After all, there is a saying that literally means no worries, it’ll be easy—
“Just like riding a bike!”
With only a few months to prepare, Whip texted my husband, Stephen and me (also Gen X-ers), and asked if we wanted to help, ahem–join him. A ride along the coast in one of our favorite places on earth? It didn’t take a lot of convincing. We were just starting to ride regularly (beginning again, AGAIN!!) after a few health set-backs and we were eager to test our cycling legs. My 23-year-old son (the friend of Whip) also signed up, having done a triathlon with us in the past.
Stephen set Whip up on one of his old tri bikes and Mister Miyagi-ed him (clip in, clip out, clip in, clip out) around the block like he did with me a few years ago. We took Whip on a few long rides and let’s just say–Whip had some humble pie along with his energy bar. Turns out it’s not quite as easy as he anticipated, as I well remember–those lil’ road bike tires are soooo skinny. Then there’s bike handling skills and learning to stay upright going 30 or more miles per hour with nothing between you and the road except some fingerless gloves and a Styrofoam hat. But he stayed the course and was a good sport about eating the dust of folks his parents’ ages.
Watching him learn to ride made me realize how far I have come since my first rides with Stephen when my heartrate was redlined, not because I was working hard but because my anxiety was through the roof. It was a full circle ride, having had to take some time off after an injury and some “vintage” body reality checks. But it felt amazing to get back out on the road. We charted a beautiful route in Encinitas/La Jolla/Del Mar for getting in some hills and got to ride day feeling good.
Lighthouse Century
The Lighthouse Century is a ride (not a race) sponsored by the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club. It is a fully supported ride with optional distances–100 miles (including the 5,000 feet of inland climbing), and mostly flat 40, 65, and 75 coastal miles for up to 1,000 riders. The ride starts and finishes at Morro Bay High School and goes north along the famously stunning Pacific Coast Highway to the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse fifteen miles north of Cambria.
Since it isn’t a race, start time is flexible but support ends at 5pm. The race information said you could start at 7am, but when we started at 7:15am, we could see that there were riders who had started before 7am. If you want to make it a leisurely day (like we wanted to), it is probably is a good idea to start as early as possible. Our ride time was around seven hours, but we added almost two hours in aid station stops and time fixing a flat for my son. My average speed was 14.1 mph, max speed was 38.5 mph and I was going 6-7 mph up the big hills. Check it out on Strava!
The big draw of this ride is the scenery. People come from all over the world to drive the Pacific Coast highway. You might not cover as many miles on your bike as you would in your car, but you get the slow roll view in full 4D—salty ocean air, misty rolling hills, wildlife sightings, and the live soundtrack of the briny deep. You pass farmhouses and happy California cows, Hearst Castle, the lighthouse, and the Pacific Ocean crashing onto beaches and rocky shorelines. I mean come on, this is cycling scenery at its best.
There were friendly volonteers providing locally sourced snacks at six aid stops. They had bike racks, bike mechanics, porta potties, and handwash stations. At the end of the ride, there is a food truck style dinner. We had a small portion and then went out to celebrate at Morro Grill with an incredible upclose and personal view of Morro Rock. If you love a coastal ride, I would definitely recommend the Lighthouse Century!
Eat, Move, Love
This is my mantra. I dive more deeply into each of these topics on this blog, but this short phrase boils down what I think matters most to live a healthy, happy life. I am so proud of Whip and my son for taking on this challenge and it was so fun to do it together. Some of our other kids came for the get-away and being just on the heels of an empty nest, we treasure every moment we get with them.
Combining a vacation weekend with an endurance event has long been one of my favorite things. If you start involving your kids, it can be a great way to help them establish lifelong habits of being active and inspire the next generation to keep challenging the status quo on aging, fitness, and health. Just this last weekend, 80 year old Natalie Grabow completed the Ironman World Championships in Kona. In an interview, she said that she started swimming at 59 and did her first triathlon at 60!
I am a big believer in signing up for a race or an organized ride. Having something you paid for on the calendar will motivate you to keep moving, especially on days when you would have otherwise skipped your workout. It’s not about winning. It’s not even really about race day. It’s about showing up for yourself day after day after day by eating, moving, and loving your way to a healthy life one small habit at a time. When (not if) you get sick, get injured, mess up, get out of your good habits, or life throws you a curveball—Begin Again.