Tony's story: Grizzly Peak Century

BaseCamp athlete Tony Powell shared his experience at the 2026 Grizzly Peak Century bike race in California.

First time participating in the Grizzly Peak Century in the SF Bay Area. I've ridden these roads many times but never this particular route. I didn't feel like I was in good enough form to handle a full 100-mile route, especially with knowing the roads and the challenging climbs, so I decided to do the 50-mile route instead.

The weather turned out to

be chilly and windy, along with a few light showers and a little bit of fog at the higher elevations in the hills. Having dressed warmly, I never felt too cold and even stayed dressed the same throughout the whole ride.

The event was well organized and well run.

Unfortunately my power meter died within the first 5 minutes so didn't really get an idea on how the ride went powerwise. On the road, I really didn't miss the power numbers display as much as the cadence numbers. Keeping my cadence steady is always one of my goals when on the road.

Overall, pleased with my ride. My only goal was to finish in a decent time and enjoy my first organized event in 9 years. I had a finish time of 3:30 in mind and finished in 3:35, so a pretty good guess.