180 riders, a terrific staff of Planet Ultra ambassadors, and perfect weather combined to make the inaugural "Solvang's Finest Century - A Ride to Benefit Challenged Athletes Foundation" a smashing success. The skies were clear, sunny and warm all day, allowing everyone to enjoy the beautiful fall colors of the fields and vineyards, and enjoy the spectacular views as they ascended into the trees of the local mountains.

Besides enjoying a fantastic tour through some of the best cycling grounds in the world, the purpose of this ride was to raise funds for and awareness of Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF). This event, along with the personal fundraising efforts of Team Planet Ultra (Deb & Brian Bowling and Lynn Katano) has allowed Planet Ultra to contribute nearly $10,000 to CAF this year! Congratulations and heartfelt thanks to the eight riders who rode "Solvang's Finest Century" as their event for the CAF Race For A Reason program: Evan Anderman, Tony Berquam, Gregory Mudge, David Ridsdale, Richard Sadja, Dorothy Twitchell, Susan Huynh and Robin Kramer. Robin was the highest fundraiser with $613 raised. Many riders sent in donations with their entry fees, and most riders also contributed to CAF by purchasing raffle tickets at the event. The raffle alone raised $800 for CAF! We had so many prizes to give away, nearly every ticket won! Special thanks to our sponsors for their generous products donations to support the raffle and the ride: Serfas, CytoSports, Hammer Nutrition, PureFit Nutrition Bars, Rising Dough Bakery, Road ID, Sharkies and Clif Bar.

Additional thank yous to Taco Roco for catering our delicious mexican fiesta lunch (chicken fajitas, rice, beans, chips & salsa); to Tonia Arey, Minister of Massage, for working out riders' kinks after the ride; and to the Royal Copenhagen Inn for hosting yet another wonderful Planet Ultra event.

Kudos to first time century riders Isaac Goren, Deborah Johnson, Kelly Nance, Chitvan Rebich, Craig Rhinehart, Bob Souza, and Dorothy Twitchell. We're sure there were more of you, but these folks let us know! Congratulations to 10-year-old Nakul Palaniswamy, our youngest rider, who conquered the metric century as the super stoker for his dad, tandem captain, Sampath Palaniswamy.

A huge round of applause to the Planet Ultra volunteers who truly made this event Solvang's Finest Century:
Zaca Station CP:  Doug, Melanie, Steven and Brett Patterson
Santa Rosa Road Water Stop:  Mike Warren
Hwy 1 CP:  Andrew and Judith Gustafson, Dan and Ana Wilson
Harris Grade Summit CP:  Guntram Jordan and Sam Bailey
Los Alamos Park CP:  Mike Joyce, Clark Dicus, Doug, Melanie, Steven and Brett Patterson.
Roving Sag: Brian Bowling, Deborah Bowling, Clark Dicus, Mike Joyce, Tom Parkes and Mike Warren
Finish Line, Lunch and Raffle: Tonia Arey, Deborah Bowling, Clark Dicus, Mike Joyce, Jeff Landauer and Tom Parkes
Awesome post-ride massage therapy:  Tonia Arey

Completely unsolicited, but very much appreciated, rider feedback:

"It was a great ride! Of all the centuries I have done, this is my favorite. Great work by all." - Rick Loy, Ventura, California.

"We had a great time at Solvang. We enjoyed riding with other Planet Ultra cyclists. Our many thanks to all the volunteers and Planet Ultra for making  us feel so welcome. This was our visit to Planet Ultra and we hope to participate in other Planet Ultra rides in the future." - Nakul and Sampath Palaniswamy, Thousand Oaks, California

"It was a fantastic event.  I would have never guessed that it was the inaugural event.  Cheers to all the volunteers and organizers!" - Dominic Spaethling, Larkspur, California

Solvang's Finest Roster
216 Registered Riders
180 Participants, 36 No-Shows who missed a GREAT event!