Day Three (Recap): Big Sur to Pismo Beach (114 miles)

Day three… the toughest day in terms of an overall route. 114 miles total, with 40 miles of climbing through Big Sur with a 6000 foot elevation gain.

We woke up at the crack of dawn, and hardly being able to see where we were going because it was so dark, we got our bikes and slowly glided down to the lodge for breakfast. After downing a bunch of food (yes, food is a running theme in this journey), we were off to tackling the mountains.

Within 14 feet of leaving the hotel, our first big climb hit us. This was the same hill that they did a King of Mountain prize for the Tour de California. I was in my easiest gear (34/28), but the Garmin guys do these hills in
their biggest chainrings (54/11). Huge difference in talent. It was also a really cold day and the sun was behind the mountains, so we had the arm warmers, base layers, and gloves in full effect.

After this 7 mile or so climb, there were countless others, and I was afraid my knee would start hurting and give out on me. But slowly, I tackled one climb after another after another. The nice part was that with every climb, we would turn the corner and we would see a breathtaking view of the coastline and the waves crashing against it. It was a bit surreal and very different than if you were driving through Big Sur in a car.

After an hour or so of climbing, I heard this whizzing sound coming behind me. I thought it was a car so I pulled off to the side. But then I heard, “CHIN… get on!!!” and it was Brian Brillo yelling for me to jump on to the back of a Garmin-Slipstream paceline. I wasn’t going to really have another chance, so I just jumped on and pedaled as hard as I could. I snapped a pic with the team also.

They were bolting through the mountains… on the downhills we were running between 35-38mph and the uphills they still destroyed them at about 15-18mph. It was tough, and also weird having the Garmin chasecar behind us. I think the driver was terrified we would clip one of the riders’ wheels and take down the team. Yeah… we would feel bad for doing that. Imagine the headline, “A Filipino and Indian cyclist bring down the Garmin-Slipstream Team in Big Sur”.  That would be embarrassing.

I hung on to the line for about 5 minutes and then pulled out. It was tiring. Brian managed to hang on for 20 minutes… amazing!

So the climbs continued, some harder than Palomar with 9-11% grades. We eventually got to our SAG’s and were feeling better. It was going to be a long day. We hadn’t even gone 20 miles at this point, and we were 2 hours into the ride.

The only things that really made the climbs better were the downhills and the views. Anyone who cycles should really take this road for the views! We kept going through Big Sur and stopped for some Banana bread pudding with whiskey sauce at a coffee shop before our descent.  Delicious!!

Once we were out of Big Sur, we hit some flats with a strong headwind. We got into a nice paceline and tried to get to lunch as fast as we could. Lunch was in front of Hearst Castle which was nice and the break was needed.

We hit the roads again and ran into some rain on the way. We kept in our paceline, with Hooter and Rob T pulling most of the way (the two biggest guys). When I started pulling, Hooter and I were talking and he was telling me he didn’t realize how young I was. He saw Priya and figured out I was young because she looked so young. He thought I was 35 or so. I guess from when he first met me and now, I’ve changed.

For 60 or so miles we were in the flats and then we started one of our last climbs. It was a really tough one. I think it hit 12 or 13% and was near the end of the day. I lost a lot of G4 by now and luckily they hit an intersection so I could catch up with them.

At this point, we had one 103 miles, and I was pretty tired, but really just needed to go to the bathroom. The group kept pulling away from me and then they stopped because they couldn’t see me. When I caught up with them again, Hooter suggested I should SAG out (i.e., stop for the day), because I was bonking. I was a bit bummed about this because I was only 8 miles from finishing.

When we got to the next SAG, I told Hooter to let me use empty my bladder and I’ll be good to go. Hooter was doubtful because if I was tired, a bathroom break won’t help. I used the restroom and told Hooter I was good to go. He was skeptical but let me continue. I totally understood why he recommended me to sit out because daylight was fading fast and I shouldn’t hold the group back.

Me, Rob T and Brian booked it to the hotel and we were finally at Pismo Beach. It was a loooooooooong day. Hooter was really glad to see me make it and had never seen anyone recover from a bonk just by going number one in the bathroom. I keep surprising that man!! =)

The hotel was really nice in Pismo. Got some massages, showered and went to dinner. Dinner today was pretty cool because there was a Q&A with the Garmin team. People were asking about some of the politics in the TdF, how they train, and what’s in store for next year. It was pretty entertaining, especially when Christian V was digging a hole with his wife Liam on their anniversary.

Good day today and am glad to have finished. Tomorrow is going to be a tough one with a 119 miles. Today was a new record for me and tomorrow will be another. Yay! =)