adventureCORPS SoCal Brevet Series 600KM, June 9-10, 2001

Simi Valley to Pismo Beach and Back: Just 19,000 feet of Climbing!
Photos by Chris Kostman, RBA, and Scott Scheff

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SoCal Brevet Series 600km Report

This was our last brevet for the season and it went really, really well. It was windy on Saturday and temps also pushed well into the 90's, but the route was beautiful and peaceful and well-liked by all. We had 14 starters and 8 finishers. Special thanks to our Ride Director, Scott Scheff, plus Jann Coury, Premananda Childs, Brian Ignatin, and Debbie Caplan for all their efforts over the weekend. It takes a lot of work, and time, and patience, to run controles that are open for 12, 16, even 18 hours. Great job, team!

Special recognition goes to Perry Swan Smith of Costa Mesa, the first and only rider to complete the entire AdventureCORPS SoCal Brevet Series! Awesome!

What Perry Swan Smith had to say:
Stretching our endurance from Simi Valley to Pismo Beach and back, via Ojai in both directions, the AdventureCORPS 600K brevet covered half the distance of a typical 1200K and most of the climbing. At 372 miles and 21,000 feet, this was another exceedingly challenging ride. Curiously though, even with greater distance spread over nearly two full days of riding, the 600K didn't leave nearly as indelible an impression as the notorious 400K.

The toughest stretch of this ride was the 3- to 4-hour climb out of Ojai to the controle at Pine Mountain Summit. This extended ascent coursed upward at a steady 5-7%, the altitude gain doing little to offset the rising mid-day temperatures. Afterwards we traveled rural roads flanked by a mixture of alpine fauna and desert shrub. Crossing into Santa Barbara County, a favorable tailwind pushed us past the town of New Cuyama, vanished, then became a strong headwind that persisted for 25 miles until the next controle. Chris Kostman manned the 143-mile controle. There I took a longer break to mount lights, eat a sandwich and visit with nature. Leaving on the final outward leg, the terrain flattened out and I arrived at the Pismo Beach controle just after nightfall.

At the Pismo controle, where my drop bag was waiting, I put on warmer clothes, clear glasses, downed 3 or 4 bottles of liquid food and headed back out with Ron Way and Paul Vlasfeld. I battled drowsiness all the way back to the Kostman controle at the 227-mile point. Awake and alert by then, I was doubtful about my ability to go on safely without a sleep break. Chris offered me a space blanket and lounge chair as well as the front seat in Debbie's SUV. I decided to sleep for a couple of hours. After learning that the tandem of Dan Crain and Amy Beck was en route to this controle on the return leg, I decided I would take a nap and finish the ride with them. They arrived an hour later and pitched a tent, so we all slept until 6:00am.

We pulled out at around 6:15am at the tail end of the remaining riders. Chris and Debbie provided close support until we neared New Cuyama and then we were on our own for 25 or 30 miles.

After a stop at the 284-mile "Halfway Cafe" controle we faced a hot but short climb back to Pine Mountain Summit. Then we descended for most of the remaining 30 miles to the "Friends" controle. But coming into Ojai, the route sheet carried us over a bruising "shortcut" called Fairview Road. Less than 3 miles from the controle we found ourselves grunting and cursing over a tight mile-and-a-half residential road with 10-12% grades. An excessive, anger-inducing harassment was the only purpose we could imagine. This one had the mark of Chris Kostman written all over it. We arrived at the control plotting to take revenge on our sadistic and malicious brevet organizer. But serious contemplation and introspection over the final distance to the finish mellowed our annoyance into forgiveness. Besides, Chris wasn't there when we arrived. Ride Director Scott Sheff drove out and cheered us on for the last five miles, validated our brevet cards, and congratulated us more than was necessary. With no Kostman around to chew on, Dan Crain, Amy Beck and I posed for pictures, congratulated each other and drove home.

What Bob Harrier Harting had to say:
"I wanted to tell you that I thought that route was really a piece of work. The climb out of Ojai was one of the most spectacular climbs I have ever been on. It is amazing how quiet roads can be only an hour away from millions of people! I noticed that there is a motel in New Cuyama. It might be a good place to get 2 or 3 hours of sleep on the way back. It really looks like a dump, but who's going there for a resort? (Last resort...)

I only bailed because at the top of the climb I barely made the checkpoint time and I didn't gain on it much at the 142 mile point. The climb killed me. You gotta be in TOP shape to finish this ride and I wasn't. With nightfall coming I knew that I would only go slower and would have to ride through the night to finish. If I rode through the night, I would have been slower yet! But I'll be back in 2002!"