ALC9 – Day 4 – Paso Robles to Santa Maria – 50 miles traveled – 331 miles total

Half Way to LA

On Day 4 we battled “The Evil Twins”. 2 hills with very high elevation and a very stead long climb to the top. At mile 17 for the day we hit the 1/2 way to LA signs on top of the 2nd Evil Twin hill. The climb wasn’t that bad it was just a constant 6% grade for 10 miles that really got to some folks. Luckily today I woke up with my climbing legs and powered up the hill with a good pace and never really had to stop to rest. Once we got to the 1/2 way to LA signs we stopped for a bit to take our pictures with the signs. While I was having my picture taken at the 1/2 way to LA sign my water bottle slipped out of my over turned bicycle nearly missed my head and slammed mouth first into the boulder I was standing on and cracked. Our next rest stop was in about 20 miles and I was down to one mostly full water bottle. Luckily we had about 16 miles out of about 20 miles of downhill to get to our next stop or I could have been in serious trouble. Once we got to the lunch stop we grabbed our lunch and hopped on the SAG vehicle to get into camp early. Neither Billy and I were ready to do a 2nd almost 100 mile day so we decided to go to camp and get laundry done instead. For the rest of the day we laid around camp watching people go down the slip and slide.

My Day 4 photos

Day 4 route recorded by Garmin Edge 705

Official ALC day 4 photos

Other event images

Women end your bib short strike!

If your a woman and would love to wear bib shorts but don’t due to having to take off your jersey every time you need to potty. Pearl Izumi has an answer to your problems. I picked up a pair of Ws Drop Tail Cycling Bib shorts at Mike’s Bikes last week.

Pearl Izumi Ws Drop Tail Bib Short

I tried them on in the store but didn’t realize they had this flap in the butt seam until I got them home. After a quick visit to Pearl Izumi’s site I found out that the  flap/opening in the horizontal butt seam was a “Drop tail for convenience“. I decided to give them a shot and wore them on my next ride. I already have a pair of the Pro bib shorts from Pearl Izumi with the thicker chamois so it was nice to find the chamois in the Elite model shorts were just as comfortable. My first visit to the restroom was spectacular! The flap was indeed made for “convenience”! From now on this will be the ONLY bib shorts I will EVER buy! THANK YOU PEARL IZUMI!