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Century Pacific Coastal Skate 2002
Report by Roooooger Olson
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In June of 2001 Roger Olson joined Elliott Gordon's
annual 95 mile skate from Irvine to San Deigo along
the Southern California Coast.
Pacific Coastline Century Skate and Bike
Saturday June 16, 2001
A Report by Roger Olson
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Elliott Gordon is a fitness skater and
good friend of mine living in southern California, Irvine.
He loves skating the hills of Irvine’s Turtlerock community
and long distances. Elliot had a dream, a dream to skate
from Irvine to San Diego as a personal goal of skating 95
miles in one day. For the last 4-5 years Elliott has
undertaken his annual adventure of skating his own quest
of doing it faster, then rides the train back up the
beautiful Pacific coastline to Irvine. He started out
doing this awesome skate on 4 wheel rec. skates
(16 hours.. a nightmare for most skaters) in the
beginning and later on a 5 wheel fitness skate
(12.5 hours). He had a cyclist or 2 join him the last
couple of years and it became a lot more fun for him
to complete this extremely difficult/challenging adventure.
Elliott invited me to come and skate with him in 2001.
So we picked a date and sent out e-mails inviting skaters and cyclists to come join us. We rated the route as extremely dangerous and only very experienced streetwise skaters with excellent hill control skills should attempt this. Though it is very similar to the challenging hills of A2A, there are some downhill grades as steep as 10%, with no run-out, and with switchbacks, stoplights or T intersections at the bottom making brake control, traversing or just walking down essential. This is not for the shy and timid.
Saturday morning at 5 AM, before sunrise, we were meeting at the train station in Irvine and leaving on our skate at 5:10. As I drove into the parking lot I could see some people in spandex/coolmax gathering together. I was thinking that Elliott and I would be the only skaters and hoping that some would be joining us on their bikes for this adventure. To my surprise, 9 others showed up making us 11 in total. Wow, 11 - 5 skaters and 6 cyclists. Elliott, Kym K, Garrit S, Greg R, and myself (Roooooger) were on skates with Dana B, Greg P, Bill T, Sawa S, Jan L and Charlie F on bikes. We all were very excited about joining Elliot this year for we are all friends that enjoy a good, challenging workout.
As we started out of the parking lot a little later then scheduled, 5:30 AM, the cloud cover was softening the sunrise for we were only 7 miles inland from the Pacific coastline. We welcomed the clouds for the coolness that they brought as we started weaving our way toward the Pacific Ocean then southward bound. Our route consisted of many different pieces of bike ride routes and some of our own choices, to tour the many prestigious coastal neighborhoods of Southern California between Irvine and San Diego. As we skated I wondered if I would be able to go the distance and just how many of us would be actually completing this very challenging skate/bike adventure. There were many places along the coast to bail out and catch a train back if the need arose.
We started out from Irvine, a slight uphill grade and a slight downhill on to Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills and into Laguna Niguel. At this point is where we encountered our 1st extremely steep downhill with a 270-degree turn at a stoplight with no flat or run out. The cyclists teamed up with a skater to descend this safely and in total control using their brakes. Boy were we happy to have a bike for every skater and this became the norm for the more challenging downhill roads that were ahead of us. Entering San Juan Capistrano, we would be on a very scenic route, passing by parks, a cemetery, orange groves, and The Mission San Juan Capistrano in the Mission Historical Park while skating on the path along the Oso & San Juan Creeks. We continued on our journey to Doheny State Beach Park/Pacific Ocean in Dana Point. This was truly a picture moment for Doheny State Beach is a very beautiful recreational state beach park that many locals and tourists come to enjoy. Refueling, bathroom stop, pictures, then we were off for the 1st of many beautiful picturesque coastline routes along PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) heading south to San Diego. Capistrano Beach and into San Clemente, we passed the first bail out train station.
All were feeling great even though we were doing record time for Elliott by this point. The pack style skating and cyclists were the reason for the speed at which we were able to travel. As we left San Clemente our route took us on historical coastal Highway 101 passing some of worlds most renowned surf beaches, Trestles and San Onofre. Many surfers were enjoying an early morning of surfing as we skated by. We were now heading for Camp Pendleton and the only way to make our way from San Clemente to Oceanside. The guard at the entrance to the Marine Base checked for I D‘s and helmets for us to be able to enter the base and continue our skate. He couldn’t believe that we were skating our way to San Diego from Irvine and remarked on how physically fit we all must be. This was coming from a most fit young Marine himself. Off we skated for the pavement was smooth and rolling hills. We saw many cyclist groups enjoying this route that morning doing their workouts. About half way through the base we came upon 300-400 Marines with full backpack gear out marching and chanting military cadence songs. We took some pictures and cheered for them as we skated by. On the route we saw many displays of military tanks, mortar guns, cannons and vehicles of years past. There were rifle ranges, obstacle training courses and many tank-crossing paths along our way. Leaving Camp Pendleton, we entered Oceanside and stopped for lunch.
We were almost half way, 48 miles into our trip. The sun was out from behind the clouds now and heating things up nicely, so refueling liquids and sink showers (splashing water all over you) felt really good. Taco Bell was the choice of food for some, while others brought with them peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, tuna fish, protein bars and the like. Pictures and off we rolled to the beach side road and paths through Oceanside and Buccaneer Beach Parks, all still feeling very good.
We were now going to travel along some of the most beautiful Pacific Ocean Beaches, lagoons and views in southern California along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Carlsbad State Beach, Buena Vista Lagoon, Agua Hedionda Lagoon, South Carlsbad State Beach, and through Carlsbad where many visitors and locals were enjoying breakfast in the open air restaurant patios. PCH was a series of rolling hills very similar to A2A rolling terrain as we cruised by the many beach and surf goers. What a beautiful scenic route this truly is. On to Luecadia State Beach, Batequitas Lagoon, Encinitas, Moonlight State Beach where by now we had split up into 2 packs with Greg R. heading to the Metro Link train station for a ride back home to Irvine. His feet were feeling the distance.
Our group now consisted of Elliott and myself skating alone onto Cardiff State Beach, Solana Beach County Park and into Del Mar for a rest stop at the beach. We ate some sport bars, snacks and drinks in preparation for the biggest hill climb of the day, Torrey Pines. Refueled, we skated through the beautiful homes along the ocean shore. I was wondering what it would feel like to live in one of them, waking up in the morning with a view of the Pacific Ocean off your terrace, having that 1st cup of coffee in the morning, and waiting for ‘James’ to finish washing the car and drive you off for a day at the office or club.
As we cruised by Torrey Pines State Beach we psyched ourselves up for the hill in the mid day heat. The sun was out in full force. Up the hill we climbed, up, up and up for it was 2+ miles and steep. By now Elliot had dropped off me, feeling the heat and the miles we have covered, so I continued alone. As I was almost to the top, Bill was along the shoulder with his video camera shooting my efforts of the climb. I told him Elliot was coming up the hill behind me and that we would regroup at the top. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of climbing Torrey Pines Hill you have a real treat to look forward to, especially after skating 80+ miles prior. We regrouped at the top, Bill, Sawa, Dana, Greg and Charlie, the cyclists, and Elliot and I the only skaters. Kym and Garrett where strong skaters and were somewhere out ahead of us. Elliot said that I should just go for it at my own pace because he did not want to slow me down. We agreed to split up with cyclists accompanying each of us.
Well what goes up must come down (my favorite part, the SPEED of the downhill). We were heading for very prestigious downtown La Jolla. This downhill is long, safe, fast and I opened it up going into full power strides for maximum speed. Dana was staying in front of me in case I needed some stopping power and we were flying. I have done this hill many times before today so I pulled out to the side and passed him. Oh the need for SPEED. As we went through La Jolla people were looking, watching us skate/bike in the traffic of downtown for on such a beautiful day locals and tourists alike where out in numbers enjoying the day. Through the neighborhoods of very expensive bluff homes I skated with magnificent ocean views, still descending into San Diego, passing Mission Beach, The Big Dipper (roller coaster) and Mission Bay and on into Ocean Beach.
At this point my feet where feeling every pebble, every crack as I rolled, for I had very hard wheels on my snug Verducci racing boots. I will be on softer wheels, 82A or 80A, and my very cushy Bont Red Backs in 2002.
I only had 4-5 miles to go along Beautiful San Diego Bay passing the Naval Base, San Diego International airport, Maritime Waterfront Museums and in to down town San Diego and the Santa Fe Historical Train Station. Kym and Garrit had arrived about 30 minutes earlier. They were talking with some skater friends (Hunter Storm) from Arizona on a holiday in San Diego for the weekend. I sat down and removed my skates and enjoyed the immediate relief that followed. Wow, we did it, 98 miles. My actual skate time was 9.5 hrs. so I was very pleased with that time as this was not a race but an adventure with friends. We all started to tell each other about our experiences on that wonderful day. 30 minutes later Elliot skated into the station as we all cheered for him. He, too, was very glad for the skating part to come to an end. Elliot, with the help of pack style skating and assistance of the cyclists had set a personal best time of 10 hr skating time/13.5 hrs with rest, picture moments, lunch and snack stops.
Then we all bought our tickets for a well deserved relaxing train ride back up the beautiful coastline that had take us all day to skate down. We talked of our adventures with some other cyclists that rode the same route and they couldn’t believe that 4 of us had done it on skates. It was hard for me to believe it, too, for this was the longest skate I had ever completed. Arriving back in Irvine, we were somewhat refreshed, though stiff. We posed for one last picture that we talked a cabby into taking for us, then off we went, looking forward to
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Century Pacific Coastal Skate
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