Tony Leap had this brilliant idea.  Tony is in charge of brilliant ideas for the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club.  Tony turns ordinary ideas into brilliant ideas.  For example, it was Tony’s idea to have the Lighthouse Century riders actually go all the way to the lighthouse this year.  That added ten miles to the ride.  Then Tony turned it into a brilliant idea by adding fog to the ride.   That way, no one could see the lighthouse when they got there.  Carolyn Walters had an idea once for a ride from Soledad Mission to San Miguel Mission and back.  It was Tony’s idea to add rain and a headwind.  He turned it into a brilliant idea by making the headwind blow in both directions.  Tony’s the Man.

    So Tony told us his idea.  We would start in Cambria.  We would ride up Santa Rosa Creek Road.  We would ride back down Highway 46 and return to Cambria.  That sounded okay.  A group of us met at Linn’s.  We hoovered some muffins and coffee.  We rode up Santa Rosa Creek.  We put severe wear on our brakes riding down The Wall on the other side.  We took the E ticket ride down Highway 46 to Highway 1.  We rode back to Cambria and ate pig.

    The next day, Tony had a brilliant idea.  We would do the ride again.  We would start in Cambria.  We would ride up Santa Rosa Creek Road.  We would ride down Old Creek Road to Cayucos.  Then we would turn around and ride back.  This was too brilliant for some of us.  Joan Petersen tried to get out of it by leaving town.  Tony postponed the ride until she returned.  I tried to get out of it by developing a saddle sore.  Tony waited until it healed.

    Tony enlisted some other club members into what he named “The Ride To Hell.”  I don’t know what lies he told them.  They began the ride with an enthusiasm I could only attribute to immense ignorance of the details of what Tony planned to do.
Twelve riders split into three heats.  Doc Stoltey left Cambria at 7 am.  Joan, Dan Healy, Hal Berger, Frank and Joyce Luddington, Jay Johnson, Jerry Lundstrom and I left at 8 am.  Tony, Frank Mullin and Tom Parks left at 9 am.

    The first five miles are nice.  They are flat. The scenery is bucolic.  The only thing you have to watch out for is drivers who have no concept that they are sharing the road with someone else.  Usually, of course, they are not,.

    After passing Linn’s Farm five miles out of town, the canyon narrows.  Trees overhang the road.  The creek sings beside the riders.

    At eleven miles, we emerged from the tree cover.  A hot sun was baking the brown hills.  The road pitched up.  We geared down.  We slowed down.  Some bicycles stopped.  Riders walked.  Tony laughed.  This was fun.  After a long, sweat-drenched struggle, we hit the summit.  Time to take pictures, stand around, admire the view.

    A fast downhill and another little climb – every climb for the rest of this ride was anticlimactic now – brought us to Highway 46.  We crossed and rode to the summit of Old Creek Road.  We looked down.  We looked at each other.  We looked away.  Tony laughed.  Someone started down.  The rest of us followed.  Something you never think about in bicycling is how you build up finger strength riding your brakes on precipitous descents.

    It didn’t take long to hit Cayucos.  I stopped in the cemetery to refill my water bottles.  I knew that if I wanted to ride this route back, I needed to do it right away before I had a chance to think about it.  The rest of the group went into town to eat lunch and think about it.  Most of them thought about it long enough to take the other route back to Cambria, Highway 1.

    Six of us rode both ways--Doc Stoltey, Frank Mullin, Dan Healy, Tom Parks, Tony and I.  It took us six hours to ride 52 miles.  We climbed a total of 5,000 feet.  Old Creek Road has two miles of 8 ½% grade.  The Wall is a half mile of 16%.  Santa Rosa Creek Road has three short pitches that are more than 16%.

    Tony’s next idea was that we should do this ride every month.  I told him that’s great, do it every day.  I’ll sit at home and cheer you on.   Next thing I know, Tony’s taken his new idea to another brilliant height.  I’m reading an article in the club newsletter.  The Ride to Hell is a new club ride.  It happens every month.  I’m the ride leader.  I don’t see Tony’s name anywhere.  The only thing that I like in the article is “Rain cancels.”

    All of us in the club can’t wait for Tony’s next brilliant idea.

    Robert Davis alternates between riding his bicycle to the donut shop and praying for rain.