Olympic Road Race Century 3/14/20
Chuck Bramwell
Olympic Road Race Century
Saturday, March 14, 7:30 A.M.
93 Miles with 6,000 Feet of Climbing
Rain Cancels
If you’re signed up to ride or help with the Joshua Tree Double, delete this e-mail and have a great ride out there.
Let’s hope the rain stops by Saturday and we can ride this challenging Century which is great training for the more difficult hill climbing rides coming up and it's flexible to allow you to ride 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 or more miles.
Check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2028_Summer_Olympics for more about the 2028 Olympics which will be here before you know it!!
The weather according to http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USCA0712:1:US is currently showing 50% chance of AM Showers with temps up to 62 in Mission Viejo.
So come on out and ride some famous climbs right in our backyard!! Vicki Chernoff loves this Olympic Road Race course and she’s not alone.
Let me know if you can make it by replying to this e-mail. If there isn't enough interest in this ride, I may cancel it by announcing the cancellation on this e-mail list on Friday. Stay tuned on Friday also for maybe a later start time to miss the rain.
Did you know that Connie Carpenter-Phinney won the Women’s Olympic Road Race by just ONE INCH … see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFMdkbixw_Y !!!
The Route Slip for the Olympic Road Race Century is at
http://www.caltriplecrown.com/centuries/OlympicRoadRaceCentury.xls
and printed copies will be available at the start of the ride. We’ll just keep it simple and ride the course in the same direction as the 1984 Olympic Road Race as on this route sheet.
This route has one official distance of 93 miles consisting of 5 laps of 9.8 Miles around the actual 1984 Olympic Road Race course. In 1984, history was made on this truly epic course as shown at
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0874839.html
when Alexi Grewal became the first American to win an Olympic Gold medal in cycling -- see also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexi_Grewal
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_at_the_1984_Summer_Olympics
This Century will actually consist of 5 laps around the Olympic Course which equates to the Women's Road Race where Connie Carpenter won a Gold Medal and Rebecca Twigg won the Silver ... see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Carpenter-Phinney
The 1984 Men's Road Race consisted of 12 laps around the course which is amazing when you consider that there is a section of 14% on Vista Del Lago and some 8% on La Paz.
Theresa Carrara found some great videos:
Men’s Road Cycling – 12 Laps:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHlmEzb1hwA
Women’s Road Cycling – 5 Laps:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFMdkbixw_Y Which shows that Connie Carpenter-Phinney won by just ONE INCH!!
Vince Wilhelm wrote: "Yes, great training ride ... you probably know this, but on Olympiad, just before Marguerite, there's a monument commemorating the 20th anniversary of the race and it includes an engraved map of the course (Mustang Run was named something else back then)." It's a beautiful monument indeed right at the start / finish line in the street ... and includes a beautiful Olympic Flame artwork.
I've been told the 1984 Olympic Road Racers only had 5 speed cassettes ... making it all the more remarkable.
This ride will start at “The Square” (formerly Foodpark) in Irvine at Main and MacArthur (TBM 859-G4/28-C3) at 7:30 A.M. sharp so you should arrive by 7:15 A.M. Main and MacArthur is near the intersection of the San Diego Freeway (405) and the Newport (55) Freeway. Take the MacArthur Blvd. exit from the San Diego (405) Freeway and turn North ... Main Street is the first street Northeast of the 405 Freeway. Meet in the Parking Lot behind the Starbucks.
Ride safe,
Chuck Bramwell