Passage #100: 4 June 2011
The Fifth Element
Passage #100 is finally here! And we're riding 100 miles! Why Saturday, you ask? Because Saturday is a great day to ride 100 miles. Why 100 miles, you ask? Because 100 miles is a great distance to ride on a Saturday.
So, now that we've cleared that up... this Saturday, we meet at 9:30am at California Donuts #21 (3rd and New Hampshire), and we ride at 10am SHARP. Really. Do not arrive at a quarter after thinking we'll be there. We will be gone.
This is not a regular century that has been sloppily re-branded as a Passage ride. This is a Passage ride that happens to be a century. There are inconvenient passageways. There are hills. There are governing constraints that may be unclear to the riders and even to the ride leaders. There is meandering. There are donuts.
Indeed, this is a quintessential Passage ride - "quintessential" in the original sense, comprising as it does ALL FIVE elements: Water, Earth, Air, Fire, and (of course) Donuts. Each element covers a 20-mile segment of the ride, and between each element, we will be stopping for sustenance. For those who only want to do part of the ride, there will be rendezvous and bailout points as follows:
1) Around noon on the Westside: We will be stopping for lunch at the end of Mount Holyoke Ave. in Pacific Palisades (more specifically, here).
2) Around 2 or 3pm in North Hollywood: We will have a snack/refueling stop at the 7-Eleven on the corner of Magnolia and Tujunga (this one), with convenient access to the Metro Red Line.
3) Around 4 or 5:30pm in the San Gabriel Valley: We will have a somewhat longer food stop at the Ralph's on the corner of Foothill and Rosemead (here), with convenient access to the Metro Gold Line.
All the standard warnings and disclaimers for century rides apply here:
- - Riding 100 miles is never easy, even if you're in good shape.
- - Keep yourself nourished and hydrated; eat and drink something at every stop or you'll bonk, inevitably at the most inconvenient time.
- - Pace yourself and keep a steady cadence; your legs will thank you.
- - Make sure your bike is in good working order.
- - Bring everything you need to make repairs.
- - It will be getting dark before we finish; bring lights!
- - It may be cooling off before we finish; it wouldn't hurt to carry an extra layer of clothing.
As usual, we'll endeavor to return to the donut shop before the last red line trains (around midnight), which should be considerably easier, since we're starting at 10 in the morning.
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