Lompoc...Day 06

Again, Mother Nature had nothing to do with me and wanting a good ride today. There were other forces of nature against me as well. will just briefing touch on the bad, because it was sunny for several hours and I had the best tailwind ever for 2 hours...that just meant things were about to change. The first road I tried to take to circumvent HWY 101 was closed...and really closed - like it had a swamp/marsh already growing over it! No worries, 2 miles out of the way and some extra climbing. I'm good, weather is still nice. Back on 101 with a sweet tailwind. Flat tire, no worries, patched it and went. Pretty quick change.

Seems like every time I was curious to where I was at, I'd stop, pull out the map, look and go only to find the next turn less than a mile away. Didn't get lost, per se. Headed out of Santa Maria the headwind started. I knew this was going to happen so I was prepared and was having a "good time" until my next road closure. Except for the dog that chased me! I peaked out at 1150 watts sprinting away from the bastard. It's hard to sprint and change gears fast enough on a TT bike. It's hard to see, but there is a massive washout ahead. I tried to skirt around it by looking for a shallow and narrow bit of the stream. Not a good idea, cleats are filled with sticky clay and there may be quicksand, so I gave up. 40mph for miles back the turnaround point that took me 45minutes into the wind. Some very nice vineyards out here though.

Back on track and moving at a snails pace with this headwind. There was a bit of climbing on Foxen Canyon Road, which is a sweet road (without the wind) so I was looking forward to maybe getting to 15mph downhill. Downhills weren't long enough. About this time I was looking to see if I had enough time to get home in the light. It was looking iffy. Once I got to Ballard Canyon Road (the last 7 miles into Solvang, the same road ToC TT finished on) I knew i wasn't going to make it. Almost 5pm and 6h into the ride. This downhill actually was nice, less wind (sheltered a bit) and nice road. Can't imagine the speeds the ToC guys were managing. Insane. I call Chris and Sara for a ride. Chris rescued me in Solvang, had to pry me out of the bakery... 6h25m and 90miles averaging over 200 watts the whole day. It was all I could do to keep moving forward and not fall over. Bike it pretty good in high crosswinds and headwinds I'm beginning to find out. It needs some bike love today before I ride, in the rain, again, but only for two hours. I was late getting started because the pool didn't open until 8 and I had a 3.9k swim to get in. Good swim. Bagged the 60min run after the ride, abs a bit dodgy at the moment.