As Gilroy is to garlic, the Central Coast is to cycling. With its natural beauty and diverse terrain, the region presents a mix of rides for enthusiasts, from gentle rolling hills to steep climbs, earning its international reputation as a cycling Mecca.
From January to the end of summer, the road racing season draws cyclists from all over the country. Kicking off the season this year, hundreds of riders from Southern California and beyond assembled near Buellton for UC Santa Barbara’s annual Poor College Kids race on Jan. 29, when they sweated out the 68-mile course up Zaca Station Road to the Rancho Sisquoc Winery and back.
Cyclist Richard Pago, a schoolteacher from Santa Monica, was looking forward to hopping on his bike after his pre-ride meal of pasta and eggs.
“We’re all a little bit OCD,” he said, with lunch in hand. “There’s a certain personality type that’s drawn to obsessively going out there and training and getting kind of obsessive about your equipment.”
He added that such personalities might tend toward addiction, too.
Cyclists, he explained, run the gamut of professions, from doctors and lawyers to tech professionals and construction workers. Officially, they’re split into categories based on experience and past success, from Category 1 to Category 5. Road racers like Pago require about 12 to 20 hours of training each week.
“Mostly it’s just time and intensity. That’s the equation,” he said. “We’re all part-timers from various backgrounds. None of us can afford to do this for a living.”
Underscoring the popularity of cycling in the Santa Ynez Valley is the pinnacle of road racing season—the Solvang stage of the Amgen Tour of California race, returning in May after a one-year hiatus.
“To be able to bring a world-class cycling event to your town is massive,” said Carol Petersen, co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee for Solvang. “Many cities throughout the state applied, and to be awarded this stage, especially for our fourth time, is really big.”
The Amgen Tour is the largest professional race in the United States, on the scale of the Tour de France or other major international races. Because Solvang’s is the only individual time trial stage of the entire tour, organizers expect it to draw 15,000 to 20,000 tourists and spectators.
The 15-mile stage starts and finishes near Solvang Park, in the heart of downtown, giving spectators the unique opportunity to watch their favorite racers leave the starting gate one by one. Petersen called the scene a “festival atmosphere.”
“If you watch a stage race, the peloton [main pack of riders] goes by, and whoosh, they’re gone,” Petersen said. “Solvang is like the Super Bowl of the stages because the whole day is taken up here. You have the entire circus at your fingertips.”
Solvang held the time trial stage from 2007 to 2009, and won a competitive bidding war to bring it back in 2011 after losing out to downtown Los Angeles last year.
Laura Kath, spokeswoman for the Solvang Conference and Visitor’s Bureau, said she anticipates the stage to bring 250 media representatives from 200 countries to the Santa Ynez Valley, including a live two-hour broadcast on the Versus Network.
“This is a huge promotional impact, as well as an economic impact,” Kath said. “When people come here either on race day or they see us on TV, that is a major incentive to return.”
Rumors abound that star Lance Armstrong will return, too, and Kath said she anticipates he’ll compete in Solvang this year. Also eager to come back is Levi Leipheimer, Armstrong’s teammate who’s won the stage the past three years.
According to Kath, Armstrong’s Radio Shack team trained in Solvang for seven years, and 15 other pro teams have had training camps in town—with good reason.
“We have such diversity in our roads, in our elevations,” she said. “We have great year-round weather and a very friendly, warm hospitality that Solvang is very much known for worldwide.”
Cycling’s popularity in the Santa Ynez Valley isn’t limited to Olympians and world champions. Some of the largest amateur rides in the United States take place in Solvang. The Solvang Century, held this year on March 12, typically brings in about 5,000 amateur riders, Kath said. November’s Solvang Prelude Bicycle Tour draws about 3,000.
Tour of California organizer AEG also holds its annual “Race of Truth” fundraiser, for which riders can make a donation of more than $1,000 for the privilege of riding the Solvang Tour stage like the pros.
On Feb. 10, the city gave about 50 amateurs the chance to do just that, with less of a hit to their wallets, during a “Ride the Route” stage practice run.
Pro development team Hagens-Berman, based in Seattle, came for fun and a little practice.
“This is one of the best places in the country to ride,” said Kenneth Peterson of Seattle. “Any direction you head—north, south, east, or west—there’s great riding throughout Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley.”
Category 1 cyclists, Peterson and his team train 20 to 25 hours per week to get in top road racing condition. Spencer Smitheman, Peterson’s teammate from Canada, said he appreciated the variety of riding the Central Coast offers, from Figueroa Mountain to Gibraltar Road near Santa Barbara.
“It’s pretty versatile,” Smitheman said. “You can do flat rides, rolling rides, full-on mountain climbs, and all of that, without the traffic or riding through urban sprawl. That makes it pretty ideal.”
Amateur cyclist Randy May said he was “thrilled” for the opportunity to ride the tour route. He switched to road racing from mountain biking several years ago and explained what drew him to Solvang from his home in Lompoc: “It’s really terrific. It’s a great area to ride in. There are a lot of nice paths and great views to see.
“They’re a little more accepting of bicycles on the road here,” he added. ”I’ve been in areas where they may not appreciate cyclists on the road, so that makes it nicer.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas rides it like he stole it. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 17-24, 2011.
