SCR Surf City 600k wrap-up

[Bill Bryant]

This past weekend saw our 2026 spring season come to a conclusion with the Surf City 600k brevet. It was, as always, a challenging brevet. We had about 30 entrants, some DNS, and 24 starters on Saturday morning at the Santa Cruz lighthouse at 6 AM. It was a “good news and bad news type of weekend” —  most of the time when going south the riders had a very strong tailwind, but during Sunday, they had, alas, a pretty strong headwind that really pounded the riders and sapped their energy. Several riders also had mechanical problems with their bikes too. Ugh. But tenacity is the watchword for randonneurs and 15 of them finished inside the 40-hour time limit on Sunday evening. In fact everyone was back to SCR HQ with more than 90 minutes to spare! Chapeau! 

Counted on the Roll of Honor we find:

Christopher Bigay

Jay Dabatos

Raymond Deng

Sriharsah Devineni

Tuan Loc Lam

Charlie Martin

Duyen Pham

Mihir Sambhus

Dennis Santa Ana

Dat G. Tran

Shriram Vijayakumar

Angelo Villagonzalo

Paul Vlasveld

Kirsten Walker

Kevin Williams

Some of the riders already have multiple 600k finishes on their resumes, for others this was their very first one, but for all the Surf City 600k was a sweet victory — huzzah! Many are thinking of going to the Big Dance in Paris in August of 2027, and it was a well-earned reward. They also had praise for our hard-working volunteer Jack Holmgren at his lonely outpost in San Ardo during the wee hours of Sunday and his hot beverages and encouragement as they made the u-turn for the final 200 kilometers back to the finish. Thanks, Jack!

Next Up: if you want more fun, we are offering this brevet again in late October. It will be northern California randonneurs’ last chance for earn a good starting wave choice for PBP next year. If illness or injury has scuppered your chance at normal spring or summer brevets, you might consider doing this end-of-season ride. Bring good lights—the daylight hours will be short and the nighttime long, but there will be a full moon to help you earn your 600k brevet. Bon courage!

Bill Bryant & Lois Springsteen

Santa Cruz Randonneurs