California Endurance Camp
Day 1 – 6
Day 1: Where is all begins (submitted by Liam Mulcahy)
We got to Buelton, California last night at around 5pm. We built our bikes and then headed into
town to get food from the local grocery store. We were all pretty pumped to get riding the next
day!
Today was the first ride of the camp and for some of us our first ride in California. We all stuck
together and rode as one big group to kick off the camp. It was good for the people that had
been on a plane and in the car the day before to flush and also to view our surroundings. It was
pretty hot today which was nice especially coming from the cold snap back home. When we got
back from the ride we checked out where we are staying and then got settled in our cabins.
Tonight we are getting prepared for the longer rides that lie ahead of us, which mostly consists
of eating and sleeping. Loving it so far and looking forward to the amazing riding that lies ahead
of us!
Day 2: First Big Ride (submitted by Evan McNeely)
We split into two groups on the road, one aiming to complete 101 km and the other looking
forward to 147 km in the sun. Both groups would start off through Foxen Canyon and return
through Cat Canyon and Drum Canyon. The longer expedition had some exploration in mind,
which will need more than a sentence to get into.
I set out with the 147km group. After riding at this camp last year, I had a reasonable idea of
routes/roads in the area. Solvang is a really cool town and the riding in this area has everything
you would ever need: rolling fields, flat tarmac, looong climbs, steep climbs, vineyards,
beaches, everything, etc. Apart from some road surfaces being absolute disasters, this is a really
cool place to ride and place you don’t here too much about.
Foxen Canyon is a very nice gradual climb up through a series of vineyards. We then enjoyed
bombing down a long gradual decent at very high speeds. One thing most people don’t
understand about large group rides: the downhill’s end up being harder than the uphill’s. When
pedaling uphill, everybody is moving along at the same easy pace and effort with no real
drafting to speak of. However, on the descents, the riders in front should be pushing some very
high wattages so that everybody behind them can still pedal while I the draft.
We had planned to explore a new gravel road called La Brea Canyon which, looking at maps,
looked like a very cool road to hit. However, the “No trespassing – Not a through street – Turn
around now or forever be eternally cursed” road signs hurt our prospects. The road did not, in
fact, turn out to be a road at all. It was more of a poorly maintained ATV trail. Plan B is
sometimes better than Plan A though; we rerouted over to Tepusquet Road and did an outand-back ride up, over and back up one of my favorite climbs in the area.
Day 3: Figeuroa Mountains (submitted by Rune Schaefer, Derek Gee, and Bailey Simpson)
The third day was Team O’s adventure up the infamous Figeuroa Mountain, 16km long
at an average of 6% and a gravel section part way up. It was a very foggy morning but it cleared
up by the climb. The morning began with breakfast and then prehab at the “clubhouse”. We
then began to roll out through the fog. We left town and got into the countryside riding rolling
roads between mountains until we arrived at the beginning of the climb. The mountain begins
with about a 6% grade. About a quarter of the way up the road begins to turn to gravel with
large potholes and ruts. Once past the gravel section there is a small downhill. At the bottom a
stream passes over the road (very slippery). Liam Mulcahy took a spill through this stream but
was luckily ok.
We then began to climb once again. The climb went on forever. Every corner in the road
seemed to stretch on for miles. In pain we continued our ascent up Mt.Fig. After what seemed
like an eternity we got to the top where we refuelled and got pictures of the amazing view that
we couldn’t fully appreciate when climbing. We put on our warmer clothing and prepared for
the descent. The descent was approximately 20 min. and road winded down the mountain with
hairpins, fallen debris and cattle grates. Once at the bottom we all regrouped, waved to the
Neverland Ranch and began our ride back home.
Day 4: Lompoc Beach (submitted by Tyler Orschel)
Today we rode out to Lompoc beach and back. The overall ride was hot and sunny but it didn’t
have too much climbing. Everyone was getting used to the heat. The short ride was a solid 100
kilometers with about 700 meters of climbing and total ride time was 3 hours and 20 minutes.
The longer ride was just over 120 kilometers with an added 20 km climb on the way back
making their ride time 5 hours. All in all it was a great ride to flush out the legs and prepare for
the Gibraltar climb in Santa Barbara that we will be tackling on Friday.
Day 6: Can the Bumps End? (submitted by Quinton Disera)
Today we prepared for a large climbing volume day. We drove out to Gibraltar to check out the
climb that we are going to be doing a TT up next Thursday. The day started with a quick loop
through the foothills before we hit “The Beast”. The foothill roads were awesome; gentle
uphills and twisty, flowy downhills. We began the ascent up Gibraltar as the full group, but it
broke up very quick; Mitch, Evan, Peter D, Pete G, and Liam charging the front hard, and the
rest of us going up nicely with a good pace. The climb is about 10km of straight up averaging a
grade of 6+%.
It was a beautiful day for the ride. Everyone needed to have sunscreen because the sun was
blazing. Once we all got up, through blood, sweat, and tears; we all continued up a bit more to
the location of our group picture. After, the short ride rode to Painted Caves and descended
down and did a loop at the bottom. While the longer ride (Pete G, Mitch, Evan, Pete D, Liam,
and I) continued across the ridge towards Refugio. But before we could achieve our next
checkpoint, Refugio, we had to ride along the gnarliest road for about an hour. This road, if it
could be called a road, was made up of shale rock that blended into the huge amount of sand
that was on the road, along with deep caverns that we had to hop and giant holes that had to
be avoided. My rock hitting ability was greatly displayed as I was a rock magnet. On that road,
Peter D, Evan McNeely, and myself all flatted but they were quick changes and we were back at
it. Finally on smooth road that only had some potholes, we descended to Refugio. This descent
was awesome! Such twisting turns were a great way to head down. At the end, we had had to
climb a bit through this Narnia like forest till we finally got to the bottom. We then filled our
bottles and head up the 101 home. This was a long climb and was pretty hard at this point.
Finally through Solvang and ended up home!! Amazing ride at almost 6 hours and close to 3000
meters of climbing.