Canyon Classic Century 2013

Or, a better title would be, Incomplete Canyon Classic Century. With temperatures forecasted to be over 100 degrees I knew it was going to be a tough day.

And that would prove to be an understatement.

I had planned on doing the full century, 110 miles and over 10,000 feet of climbing.

I headed of Patterson about 6:30 AM and it was already starting to get warm. After a couple of miles through town, I started up Del Puerto Canyon Road. There was a little breeze and the sun was out and casting long shadows. There was a tad bit of chill in the air as the small little climb started, but it was clear that it was going to be a hot day.

I rode easy up to Frank Raines Park before heading up toward the junction. There's 8 miles from Frank Raines Park to the junction. The last 3 miles of that isn't much... the first 5 miles, however, is tough! I had forgotten just how tough this climb was. Five miles, climbing 1,400 feet, in the heat, was about all I was going to muster this day.

I stopped at the top before the last 3 miles to the junction and decided I would turn around at that point. Maybe I'll head up to Diablo Grande when I get to the bottom of the canyon. There wasn't going to be a full century in me today. And I was okay with it. Did I mention it was hot?

I did not do Diablo Grande. I just headed back to Patterson. I was starting to feel ill.

The ride back to town was tough and getting tougher with every single degree of temperature increase. SAG seemed to be taking loads of riders back to the start.

Back at the school, I got back in the car, turned on the AC and drank all the water in the ice chest. Once again, they served an amazing lunch! They also had towels in ice water and were handing them out to riders. I talked to many of the other riders. Interestingly, there were a lot of similar stories. Almost everyone I spoke with rode less than they intended and many had to wait a long time for SAG to pick them up.

55.6 miles

3,667 feet of climbing

04:23:54

14 bottles of water

Next year? Well, if it's 90 degrees or below, maybe.