As always, this is an incredible ride. The people are wonderful, the support is first class, and the scenery is gorgeous. Some rides I’m glad I did, but n  ever need consider again. This one is different. It’s always worth whatever hassle or adversity that comes beforehand.

Great Job by Best Buddies.

After all of uncertainty following the crash and recovery. I think I beat my previous best by almost an hour. I usually finish around 5pm but this year it was 4 pm on the nose. Riding with the Beach Cities Cycling Club group paid off big time. It really pushed me to keep up on the climbs and push ahead to get some breathing room on the descents. The only mechanical problem for the group was a flat (not me) with less than a mile to go.

Piers are a few pics

The start was rather warm this year. No wind vest or arm warmers needed – only the sun sleeves to protect my scrapes. Fortunately there was a lot of cloud cover. Everyone was glad as we all would have been fried.

And finally, here’s an obligatory panorama.