Spanning from Capitol Square in Sacramento to the Unconditional Surrender Statue (a.k.a., the “Kissing Statue”) in San Diego, the Pacific Coast Bike Race Express 750 kicked off on May 7, 2023. One of only 16 riders (and 13 finishers), our own Emilio Rossi completed the 780-mile race this year with only a few wrong turns in just six-and-a-half days (!!), earning him mad respect from the entire AV team. Thanks to an on-board GPS tracker, which was also used to determine the exact moment he crossed the finish line, we were able to follow him from start to finish and cheer him on all week!
Beginning near sea level and winding through the Central Coast of California, Emilio estimates he rode around 118 miles per day, averaging about 9 mph. The route included scenic coastline as well as sections with serious uphill climbs that carried him to over 2,300 feet at the peak. With a goal of simply completing the race, Emilio made time to take in the scenery, snapping pictures of the Pacific Ocean and green, rolling hills along the way while soaking in the glorious California sunshine. He also paused occasionally to restock his food supplies (cycling all day is a real calorie burner!) and get much-needed rest, both by camping along the route and treating himself to a couple of hotel nights. He even made time to visit with the AV Santa Barbara crew on his way through town.
A long-time cycling enthusiast, Emilio has been road biking for about 10 years and has a number of 100 mile bike rides under his belt. By making cycling a part of his everyday life, he felt well-prepared to take on the race this year and really wanted to challenge himself to see what he was capable of doing. And, while we stand in awe of his accomplishment, Emilio is quick to point out that anybody is capable of training to compete in a similar event. In fact, this year’s participants ranged in age from 23 to 69 years old and the winner of the race was in his 50s. (Seriously, we appreciate the vote of confidence!)
So, what’s next for Emilio? Fresh off this race, he already has plans to do another cycling challenge next year but is still trying to decide which one. In the meantime, he’d like to give a shout out to Bruce Jones (in the AV Denver office) for all the great biking tips as he prepared for this year’s event.
From the entire AV team, congratulations on your accomplishment, Emilio! You absolutely crushed it! Scroll down to see some photos of his journey…
