LVTriClub.com » Amtrak Century, September 6, 2008

Amtrak Century, September 6, 2008

(The Crew:Ray Payan, Mary Payan, Julie Hosea, Robert Hosea, Debbie Johnson)

Fivernclub members (and a co-worker) did the Amtrak Century on September 6,rn2008. It’s a point to point century ride from Irvine, CA to San Diego,rnCA put on by the Orange County Wheelmen. The return trip to Irvine isrnby private train. This is advertised as a great first-time century. Itrnis a very easy mostly flat to downhill ride with a few climbs.rnActually, I think the hardest part of this is getting registered. Thernride is limited to 1,100 riders, 700 return by train and 400 are onrntheir own. Registration opened at 7:00AM on Father’s Day and was closedrnwithin 20 minutes.

We all arrived in Huntington Beach on Fridayrnafternoon. Ray and I consider a more local bike for the ride instead ofrnour road bikes. We opted for speed over comfort.

We found ourrnway to the Irvine Transportation Center early Saturday morning, droppedrnoff our bags and coolers, and made it through the efficient check-in.rnWe are given a route slip with way to many turns to memorize so werndecide someone in front of us will know where to go. Someone overhearsrnus and cautions us to make sure whoever we follow has a wrist band sornwe don’t end up at someone’s house instead of in San Diego.

Wernare finally off at 6:20. This is the first century for four of the trirnclub members in our group. It’s a little cool, not very light, andrndamp. The first 10 miles are relatively flat and traffic free. We makernit over the first little climb and enjoy the long downhill throughrnMission Viejo, Laguna Hills, and San Juan Capistrano to our first restrnstop.

After a short stop it was back on the bike to Dana Pointrnand our first view of the ocean. We rode through San Clemente andrnthrough a park/campground area and along a traffic free bike trail tornrest stop 2. We were unable to ride through Camp Pendleton this year,rnso it was about 7-8 miles on Interstate 5; this was not the mostrnenjoyable part of the ride. We finally get off the freeway and intornOceanside for lunch. Everyone is feeling pretty good after 62 miles andrnthere hasn’t been any whining! We are right on my estimated timernschedule and should make it to San Diego in time to catch the train.

Leavingrnlunch there is a pretty steep but short climb and everyone ‘feels’rntheir legs again. No one is talking about it, but we all know THE HILLrnis coming up. There is flat road, cool damp air, and beautiful sceneryrnthrough Carlsbad and Del Mar before we get to Torrey Pines. Everyonernmakes it to the top and the final rest stop to enjoy popsicles and icerncream bars. After a short stretch through La Jolla and some more bikerntrails, we are in Mission Bay. Continuing south we find ourselvesrnriding on what seems like freeways with the traffic and interchangernramps. We were slightly navigationally challenged through this sectionrnbut managed to stay on the correct route somehow.

Afterrnregrouping it was an easy ride down Harbor to an uneventful finish. Wernwere right on schedule; just enough time to grab our stuff, head to arnnearby gym for a quick shower and then to the train. The train ridernback to Irvine was a lot of fun – it was a party atmosphere.