Stagecoach 400: Day3

With only 70 miles and a true bonk, Day 2 was a mini disaster, at least from a ‘best time’ point of view.  But the day finished up nicely with dinner and about 15 miles of riding with Ty.  Ty also had a rough day 2 but you would never know it from his demeanor or attitude.  Once we had some hot food Ty was right back in the moment, enjoying the experience and looking forward.  He told me he was going to take his time and enjoy his vacation days, I however was getting up early as I had to finish Monday for work reasons.

For Day 3 I recalibrated my goals for a Monday finish, with the main goal being to enjoy the urban experience and not to bonk on the last section.  I rolled out of Alpine at 4am, fully re-hydrated and stocked with sodas, juices, red bulls and a few select goodies.

Having semi bonked on day 1 and fully bonked on day 2 my confidence was sagging more than a little.  As a result I soft pedaled pretty much the entire day.  This turned out to be the ideal pace to take in and ‘experience’ the flow of urban bikepacking thru San Diego.  I have visited SD numerous times for work but never like Day 3.  I raced a homeless man on a clanking bike with a massively bent rear wheel, he kicked my butt.  I talked to two TDR riders.  I was asked several times on the bike path if I was doing the SC 400.  I saw cool boats, ostentatious mansions, hole-in-the-wall bikes shops, beaches and single track. 

I got a light scolding from a park ranger for riding down a signed/closed road.  All in all this day is why I came, it was great.  So different than any other multi-day I have done.  Kudos to Brendan for his SC 400 route!!

In one sense I was all alone on day 3 as I did not see a single SC 400 participant.  I guess this can happen when you are way off the back…..

I rolled on till about midnight.  I camped up when it got steep enough to get me walking.  I was up high enough it was almost cold—again I enjoyed the luxury of my tent, air pad and warm bag.  I slept great knowing I should be able to finish within my allotted time with no real hurries.

Summary:

Day 3—125miles in about 20 very easy hours

Comment: Day 3 was very much like a slow easy TDR day—felt good to get in some easy, mostly flat miles…………