The Sacramento Wheelmen do an outstanding job running this century.
I started doing this ride several years back. It's sort of known as the "wandering century." Over the 39-years the Sacramento Wheelmen have hosted this ride, it's apparently covered a few different routes, beginning at different locations. When I first rode it, we started out of Rocklin CA. In 2012, they moved it back to the "Slug Gulch" route, beginning from the Plymouth CA fairgrounds. Truly world class here. An excellent selection of roads, with well supported and nicely spaced rest stops.
The route takes you through some very interesting and quaint little towns full of California gold rush history that are off the beaten path.
I highly recommend the "double century" option if you're up for it. Although the regular century is no weakling ride either. Both tackle Slug Gulch beginning at about mile 77.
Here's what the Sacramento Wheelmen say about Slug Gulch (copied from their website):
"How tough is the climb up Slug Gulch?
Slug Gulch Road is a 5.4 mile 1300 feet climb that begins at Mile 77 on the Century and Double Metric Challenge routes. The most difficult part of the climb is the first 1 1/2 miles which include grades of up to 15 percent near the start and around the one mile point. After the first 1 1/2 miles, the road grade becomes more moderate and varied in the single digit range for about another mile. At about mile 2.5 of the road, the road takes a short steep hairpin turn after which the rest of the climb is moderate and increasingly gentle and even flat near the end. Riders who reach the Rest Stop at Indian Diggings School at the end of the climb are awarded the Slug Gulch Pin. Despite its name, the road includes several ranches, residences, and wineries as well as many scenic vistas and usually at least a few curious and supportive spectators."
How did Slug Gulch gets its name?
The website of the Oakstone Winery–which is located on Slug Gulch Road–offers the following history of the road's name:
"Like almost all of California's gold rush, the truth is clouded by countless retellings of oral history, but the prevailing version is that a prospector was poking around an old river bed at about the 3000 foot elevation of southern El Dorado County when he first came across a piece of gold the size of (pick one) a man's thumb, or a man's fist. Gold comes in dust, flakes, nuggets and slugs, with slugs this size being very desirable, indeed (the $50 gold piece of the late 1800's was known colloquially as a "slug" as well). The name was applied to the name of the mine that was developed at the site, and then to the road that led from the settlement in Fair Play to the mine."
Rather than use a plain and obscure-looking slug of gold for its logo, the Sierra Century founders decided to adopt instead a friendly, athletic version of the shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc commonly know as a slug. Some local residents have suggested that the logo is more like a metaphor or icon for how fast most century rides move up Slug Gulch Road.
----
During your ride, you will want to stay aware of your time though. If you're not at the top of Slug Gulch by 2:00pm, you'll be re-routed to the regular century route. This means that you will miss-out on an extra 1000' of climbing. We started at about 7:00am. We kept our stops brief and even skipped one or two rest stops. We hit the top of Slug Gulch at about 1:30pm.
I'd recommend this as a good century for Death Ride training.
No comments:
Post a Comment