Yet the temperature ended up at a high of 89 degrees — a full 10 degrees cooler than the previous day. The thunderheads started to form and it drizzled at times, but they eventually blew away.

And the smoke? It was clear yesterday, but this morning you can smell it and see it.

In other words (and not for the first time), we were blessed with great conditions for the 660 riders who toured the roads of Mt. Shasta. They created a lot of memories for themselves and a fair amount of funding for chronically underfunded youth sports in this area.

Fun facts?

+ 30% of the riders were female
+ 2 riders (that we know of) ended up visiting the hospital (crash & heat exhaustion)
+ $300 worth of Payday candy bars were eaten
+ 1 leftover drop bag (which I delivered to the rider this morning before he left)

More to come. Like the rest of the organizers, I’m pretty tired. Before I joined the organizing committee eight years ago, I rode the Summit Century and Super Century. I can’t remember ever being as tired then as I am now.

See you next year,
The Summit Century Organizers

Impacts of Wildfire

I’ve received a lot of questions about the Salt Creek fire. As of now, there is no smoke and the freeways are open.

It’s a good 45 miles downcanyon from Mt. Shasta, and we honestly don’t expect any impacts.

Temperatures

We were concerned we were facing 93 degree temperatures, but the forecast now says 88 degrees. Many riders are considering getting an early start; I need to remind you that riding without lights prior to the 5:30 start isn’t legal. It is also very dangerous. At the very least, bring a flashing red rear light and a bright headlamp.

Registration, Check-in, Jersey Pickup (and purchase from our limited stock)

Saturday, August 4, 2010 (at City Park start/finish)
3:00-7:00 PM
Sunday, August 5, 2010:
begins 5:00 AM

Ride Start Times (August 5)

Super Century: 5:30-6:30 AM
Summit Century: 6:30-7:30 AM
Metric Century: 7:00-8:00 AM
Half Metric: 8:30-9:30 AM

Course Maps

Here.

At this point, it’s in the neighborhood of 45 miles away, and the I5 freeway is open.

The only real threat to the ride would be if the fire got much bigger and the smoke made things untenable. That’s unlikely to happen, but we’ll keep you posted.

Dear Director,

I just have a few million questions about the ride this weekend. Thanks for taking a minute to help me out. First, do I need my own bike or do you guys provide them? How much prior riding experience do I actually need to do the Super Century? I used to ride a Big Wheel and I pretty much ruled it so I was thinking this ride would be a logical next step. Can you tell me exactly how much water I will need to drink during the ride? And what the distances are between refill stations? How important is acclimating? I was thinking of climbing to the top of Mt. Shasta the night before the ride? That should help right? Most importantly, so please be honest here, are the roads bumpy? I just can’t stand it when I hit a pot hole.

Many thanks,

[Name Withheld]

P.S. This is a kid friendly event right? I was thinking of hauling my triplets in the tow-behind trailer. They are 7 years old now but they still love a good bike ride with Ma!

But it’s since fallen to a comparatively comfortable 86 degrees.

In other words, everything’s looking really, really good.

The Organizers.

• We’ll be accepting onsite registrations for all rides at the start/finish click here to see start and pre-reg times

• High temperatures are currently forecast at 90 degrees — a few degrees warmer than the mid-80 temps of previous years. We’re laying in extra water and ice; prepare yourselves accordingly.

• The local cycling club are holding their Saturday morning Mt. Shasta Hillclimb (up the 14 mile road up Mt. Shasta, the final climb in the Century and Super Century). Click here for more information.

• Remember, online registration closes the evening of Thursday, August 2.

• We’ll have a few of the 2012 jerseys available for sale at the pre-reg (Saturday night and Sunday). Also some from prior years (typically odd sizes).

We’re looking forward to another great ride.

See you Sunday,
The Mt. Shasta Summit Century Organizers

* September 22nd – 25th
* Starts and finishes in Etna, CA
* Full SAGE support
* Catered meals
* Cost $600.00 per person (PayPal):
* Go to siskiyoulandtrust.org

For more information, download a [PDF flyer](http://shastasummitcentury.com/pdf%20files/slt%20bike%20ride%20rev2.pdf) or visit [SiskiyouLandTrust.org](http://SiskiyouLandTrust.org)

We will offer a limited number of jerseys for sale on the day of the ride, but make no guarantees.

Here’s The Jersey

Here’s How To Order

Jerseys are $75. To order, click here

Make sure you get the right size; once you’ve clicked the “order” button, you (and us) are committed. Changing your order is a royal pain in the butt.

Some Notes

• We’re switching jersey suppliers to Voler, who make their jerseys right here in the state of California
• Because there is little difference between the two, we’re selling only club cut jerseys
• If there is any doubt, order the next larger size. Last year we traded a bazillion jerseys back for the next larger size, and we’d like your help avoiding that this year

What Will Happen

• When you order a jersey, we’ll charge you a $5 shipping charge
• The jerseys will arrive just prior to the ride
• If you pick up your jersey at the ride, we’ll give you back a crisp, shiny $5 bill
• If you don’t pick it up, we’ll mail it to you after the ride

Sound simple? That’s because it is.

Click here to register at Active.com

Click here to download a form and register by mail

Higher Fees

Our food costs doubled from 2010 to 2011, and despite a 30 rider increase (exactly the growth rate we wanted), we ended up with $5,000 less to grant to our local youth sports organizations.

Accordingly, we hiked our prices — which are still cheaper than the vast majority of similar rides out there.

We hope you understand.

Active.com Registration

Last year we heard some complaints about Active.com’s Advantage program and the magazine subscription sales efforts, and we’ve asked Active to remove those this year.

We’re open to looking at other online registration services; if you prefer another online registration system, drop us an email and let us know.

We’ve got more news to come, but we’d delayed registration long enough, and wanted to get it fired up.

See you in August!
The Shasta Summit Century Organizers

All this said, this ride and routes are highly HIGHLY recommended. Organization and food are tops. The course is well marked and the towns—Weed, Edgewood and Mount Shasta—are small and traffic doesn’t seem to be an issue.

If you want one participant’s experience spelled out, McQuaid’s a good writer and the article is worth a visit.

You’ll find other riders talking about the 2011 ride in this post — and don’t forget to look in the comments section under the posts, where some lengthy comments spell out their experience, like this:

I don’t think the Shasta Summit Century gets enough credit for what a difficult, beautiful, well-run event it is. Fabulous roads. Un-crowded. Almost no traffic. Exceptional staffing, signage, marking, food. Riders don’t get stickers for completing anything. We just get the views and the back-slaps. The volunteers are genuinely in awe when you get it done, but for the most part it isn’t obvious how hard the ride is until you start to turn the pedals. If I had to choose one favorite thing from the ride (hard to do!) it would be the roads – the generally great pavement, the beauty and the almost ZERO traffic the entire day. Where there was any traffic expected, there were relevant signs on the road both for the cars and the cyclists. The markings on the road were the best I’ve ever seen. Not in the margin. Not little stickers. But HUGE 4’ long arrows right in the middle of the road! And if that weren’t enough, the cue sheet was PERFECT, even though it wasn’t needed because of the great markings!

See you in August!
The Shasta Summit Century Organizing Committee