# Half Century in Cardiff?



## torrancerider (Mar 20, 2011)

I am signed up for a half-century in Cardiff and was wondering what I should expect terrain wise? 

Also - I am going to be purchasing my own bike (off to the newbie forums in a sec!) but will have someone with me who may not have a bike of his own, is there a place near Cardiff that rents road bikes you guys would suggest?

If you're curious, it's a charity ride for the Tour de Cure (diabetes research and awareness).


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## sunnysandrider (Oct 11, 2008)

*Here you go...*

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/172070

55 mile Tour de Cure route for San Diego. See elevation profile under the route map.


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## torrancerider (Mar 20, 2011)

Thanks, is there a link I missed somewhere or is this a common tool? (I am new).

So if I am reading this right, there are some relatively steep inclines gaining a max elevation of about 600ft?


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## ejr13 (Dec 14, 2006)

This should be kinda hard if your new to cycling....total elevation gain is 3,988'. Plus the times I have ridden that part of PCH there was a headwind...but you will have time to train.


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## ragweed (Jan 2, 2009)

torrancerider said:


> So if I am reading this right, there are some relatively steep inclines gaining a max elevation of about 600ft?


This distance scale is compressed relative to the elevation which makes the climbs look steep but they really aren't. Now that you have the map and if you're local you can always drive part of the route to get a feel for it. (But of course riding it would be best!)


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## torrancerider (Mar 20, 2011)

ragweed said:


> This distance scale is compressed relative to the elevation which makes the climbs look steep but they really aren't. Now that you have the map and if you're local you can always drive part of the route to get a feel for it. (But of course riding it would be best!)


Running the mouse over it gave me up to 12% for parts, which if I remember correctly is a little steep, the rest doesn't seem too bad but there is quite a bit of uphill (not trying to sound sarcastic, thank you for the information. I had already sorta figured it out - kind of, a little). Should be fun.

I'd love to get some practice on it, it's about 90 or so miles away from me so I'll see if my coworker (who I am going to be riding with) wants to take a day trip down there once or twice before the actual ride.


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## ragweed (Jan 2, 2009)

Having ridden most of the route at various times I can say for sure that there aren't any 12% ramps, it's actually just "noise" having something to do with the cursor placement on the elevation profile.

One cool feature with ridewithGPS is that you can highlight sections of the elevation profile and it will then blow up and display just that region. With this zoomed in view you can then get a more accurate idea of the true slope.

Assuming you're from the Torrance area (based on your name) then any climbing you do in the Palos Verdes area will make this ride a piece of cake.


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## torrancerider (Mar 20, 2011)

Any suggestions for a good route in palos verdes? (Yep, I am in torrance, but for less than a year so I had to google palos verdes haha).


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## redondoaveb (Jan 16, 2011)

torrancerider said:


> Any suggestions for a good route in palos verdes? (Yep, I am in torrance, but for less than a year so I had to google palos verdes haha).


Get on Southbaywheelmen.org and click on their calendar. They have Palos Verdes rides at least once a week.


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## ragweed (Jan 2, 2009)

Once Seth gets his "Cycling in the South Bay" blog back up it's a good read to see what's going on in that area. But no, I can't make any ride recommendations never actually ridden around there.


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## torrancerider (Mar 20, 2011)

Awesome, once I have a bike I'll see if I can meet up for a ride (if they have a group for old people and the one legged, so I can at least look like I might be able to keep up).


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## redondoaveb (Jan 16, 2011)

torrancerider said:


> Awesome, once I have a bike I'll see if I can meet up for a ride (if they have a group for old people and the one legged, so I can at least look like I might be able to keep up).


Give me a PM when you get your bike. I do rides a few times a week with a few friends. Some Palos Verdes (nothing too steep), Santa Monica. Our group is in the 50 - 60 year range. We're not spring chickens but keep up a pretty good pace


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## torrancerider (Mar 20, 2011)

redondoaveb said:


> Give me a PM when you get your bike. I do rides a few times a week with a few friends. Some Palos Verdes (nothing too steep), Santa Monica. Our group is in the 50 - 60 year range. We're not spring chickens but keep up a pretty good pace


Don't play those "Oh I'm so old" scam artist games with me. My old boss would, at 75 years old, take cocky young athletic employees who needed an attitude adjustment out for a ride and emasculate them around mile 25 when they were flagging hard and he was casually talking on his cell phone or something. 

It really only takes once for most kids to stop judging books by their cover (I was luckily never one of these, but only because I knew him and some of his crazy expeditioning friends, before I worked there).

-But I'll for sure PM you once I get a bike, my coworker will be out of town for a month so I'll need some peeps to ride with.


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