Grizzly Century - october 2005

Of all the organized centuries/double centuries/brevets that I have done, I think Grizzly century is my favorite one. Great landscapes, great route, great support, everything was good. The route is a loop near Bass Lake, close to the southern entrance of Yosemite. I guess it goes on quite remote roads, I saw less than 5 cars per hour during the whole day. The ride was really well organized: it started with a big breakfast, then there was something like 10 rest stops along the course (how could I finish in a reasonable time, I kept being distracted by the rest stops !). This is the only ride that I've done, where they have baklava and sushi !! I had plenty of baklavas, American riders didn't seem to know these sweets and were eating disgusting peanut butter&jelly sandwiches instead. At the end, a big community dinner with ribs and tri-tip. mmmm, even if this was a difficult ride, I doubt that I'm going to lose any weight on this one... Stats of the ride: 100 miles, 10,000ft climbing, about 10 hours.

Friday night, I'm the first one at the start	Dinner time, I made some japanese 'chahan'	I set my sleeping bag near the sheriff's office.	Sunrise is close - view from Reddinger overlook
First rest stop - they're getting organized	Joel is a 6-times finisher of the 508. Strong rider.	It's sunny but not too hot thanks to the trees	Great landscapes
This view's not bad either.	Giant sequoias - we're close to Yosemite	Second rest stop - first lunch of the day	Baklavas ! This is incredible
A few miles later, another stop !	Mile 47, after a 2000ft climb	I'm still in reasonable shape	The 'Arch Rock'...
... was worth the hike	Going down, I stop for a picture	Second lunch of the day, before the hardest 3000ft climb	A water stop. Damn, no more water.
Highest point of the day, after a hard 3000ft climb	I meet Igor, he's much faster than me	A Seven tandem with S&S couplers. Expensive bike	Reaching Bass Lake after a 4000ft downhill
Another view of the lake	They provided newspaper to keep us warm during the descent	At the finish, this girl's pressing fresh orange juice	View from the car while I drive back