Santa Barbara Century October 2013

The Santa Barbara Century is the most challenging ride in this area, in my opinion. This ride has over

9,000 feet of climbing over the 101 miles. The climbing includes Gobernador Canyon Road as a warm up, followed by Toro Canyon Road with Ladera Lane, with a continuous grade of 10 - 12% for almost a mile. Then after a few miles, you start going up Gilbraltar Road, 7 miles up to Camino Cielo, with a grade between 4 - 10%. The last mile cranks up to 10 - 15%. But the views help dull the pain. Then there is a 10 mile out and back along Camino Cielo Road and then it is up to La Cumbre Peak, nearly 4,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean. At that point, you can see Santa Barbara and the ocean on one side of the road and the Santa Ynez Valley on the other side of the road. It is a view that makes the climb worth the effort.
This was the only century ride that I have not completed. I completed almost all of the climbing for the ride, including Gobenador, Toro Canyon, Ladera Lane and Gilbraltar Road, up to La Cumbre Peak, 8,400 feet of climbing. But I did not get a real chance to train for the ride due to a neck problem. My legs began to cramp early in the ride and it got worse as the day became warmer and the climbing harder. I had to stop a few times and I had to walk up sections where the grade was above 9%. I was miserable and tired by the time I tumbled out of the mountains for the last fairly flat section of 30 miles. But it was well past 4 o'clock, the sun was beginning to set and I was physically shot. I also hated being near the tail end of the ride, the 'Lantern Rouge'. I took a direct route back to the beach where my car was, for a total of 83 miles.