Pre-ride of the 200 km option of Terry Hutt’s “Three Loops” brevet, which takes place next weekend (4/6) for the PCH Randos. https://pchrandos.com/triple-loop-600k/ One thing after another (see below) led to a very late start, and I rode solo all day. A bit of a headwind in the first half slowed things down, but the tailwind returning on PCH and SART more than made up for it. Warmer weather than of late (in the afternoon, anyway), but otherwise a beautiful day to be out on the bike! I was playing catch-up all the way to basically mile 85 at the Belmont Pier near Control #4. Chronic Tacos was identified as the control, so after they headed on I dropped in and ended up getting a burrito with chips, soda, and salsa, a fairly large meal. After finishing stuffing myself, I meandered back to the trail and took a couple of pictures of the boardwalk before re-starting. All told, I was in the vicinity for a little over 1.3 hours! ----------------- My late start: I saw the others doing a pre-ride on their way out, only a half-mile from the start, which was at 6:30AM. I thought I'd catch up to them in no time, but then, as I said, one thing after another got in the way, and I started 1 hr 16 min after them! Since the engine blew on my Mustang, I've been using an old Taurus sedan with no bike rack, and have been taking off both wheels and putting my bike in the back seat. My first problem this morning: for the first time since I have had hydraulic brakes, the handlebar evidently turned on the back of the seat and pushed the brake lever, causing the brake pads to compress so that I was unable to put my wheel back on before I spread the calipers apart. When I finally figured this out, and got the wheel back on, I discovered that the chain had dropped past my K-Edge chain-catcher to the bottom bracket. With the chain-catcher in place, it's impossible to reset the chain without loosening the front derailleur. Good thing I had some tools along. Then, I realized the Di2 battery indicator was blinking green, which I've learned means it's time for me to recharge it. The only time I went out on a ride with the indicator showing a solid red (~25%), the battery died before the end of the ride, and I was stuck with a single speed bike. The indicator starts blinking at roughly a 50% charge, but continues until the solid red takes over, which may not be sufficient for a long ride of 7-10 hours. So, I decided to set up the recharging of the Di2 system while out on the ride; glad I had the charger and a big-brick battery that would fit in my oversized top-tube "brevet" bag! By this time, I was starting to feel a little chilled, even though it was over 50 degrees F, plenty warm for me if I had started riding right out of the car. So, I made a wardrobe change into arm warmers and my visibilty vest, and long fingered gloves before starting. This also caused another delay 30 minutes later to take all that extra clothing off!