California Coast Classic: A Joyride for Cyclists & Volunteers | Ep. 77

Full Transcript:
Released 4/18/2023

PODCAST OPEN:            
You’re listening to the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast, created by the Arthritis Foundation to help people with arthritis — and the people who love them — live their best lives. If you’re dealing with chronic pain, this podcast is for you. You may have arthritis, but it doesn’t have you. Here, learn how you can take control of arthritis with tips and ideas from our hosts and guest experts. 

MUSIC BRIDGE 

Rick Phillips: 
Hello. I'm Rick Phillips. And I'm serving as guest host of this episode. I have rheumatoid arthritis and have had it for 20 plus years. Today we're talking about the California Coast Classic. It's one of the Arthritis Foundation's premier events and for good reason. 

The cycling tour down California's Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to Los Angeles is magic. But there's much more to the epic event beyond the beautiful scenery and even beyond the fundraising dollars it generates for the life-changing resources of the Arthritis Foundation. 

Today I'm joined by Mary Gonser. Mary, can you introduce yourself? 

Mary Gonser: 
Certainly. My name is Mary Gonser, and I'm married to Darren Gonser, who is actually rider number one for our event. He has been involved with the event since the very first year, and this will be his 23rd year riding the California Coast Classic. I met him in 2008, so I came in a few years later. I met his personal family. Then he told me when we were driving to San Francisco, "Now, you're going to meet my other family." And that's definitely what I felt when I got there. Everyone kind of accepted me with open arms, like I've known them all my lives. 

Primarily my role has been, initially, just a volunteer helping out here and there. Currently I'm the volunteer coordinator and assist Shannon Marang Cox, who is our director for the ride — recruiting volunteers and placing them into the positions that they'll be doing on the ride or prior to that, and just kind of overseeing them and making sure that they're working safely and are in good hands, and more importantly, that they're enjoying themselves just as much as our riders do. 

Rick Phillips: 
I'm also joined by Kyle Berg. 

Kyle Berg: 
Thanks for having me. My name is Kyle, and I also joined the tour. My first year was 2008. So, Mary and I are both of the 2008 generation. I was introduced to the tour by my father-in-law, who does it on a unicycle, believe it or not. 

Rick Phillips: 
Oh, wow. 

Kyle Berg: 
He's done four or five times on a big three-foot diameter unicycle. It's really cool watching people watch him on tour. So, he's the one that roped me in, and, like a lot of cyclists, you get attracted to tour. Your first point of entry for tour is the scenery, is the route, is the challenge. And then, you come back because you love the people on tour so much. And if you don't get mission-connected in year one or year two (laughs), you're absolutely going to get mission-connected in year three. 

Rick Phillips: 
In this episode, we're going to explore all things California Coast Classic. Can either of you tell me exactly what the CCC is? 

Mary Gonser: 
It is an eight-day, 525-mile charity ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, where we're raising funds and awareness for the Arthritis Foundation. A lot of our riders are definitely committed to finding a cure and trying to improve the lives of people that have arthritis. 

Rick Phillips: 
Kyle, when you first started in 2008, what was the event like? 

Kyle Berg: 
It was amazing. I mean, you come in on day zero. By that time, they already had about, you know, eight years of camaraderie. And generally speaking, about half the riders, maybe a little more than half — like 60% of the riders —are returning. 

You come in, and you're kind of nervous because you don't really necessarily know anybody. You may have joined a team; you might know a half a dozen people. That's a really great way to start, honestly, is joining a team, knowing at least a handful of people that help you break the ice with the others. 

By the time Wednesday rolls around, you’ve ridden three days with a significant amount of these people, and you’re seeing people at the picnic tables that you’ve been riding with off and on. And yeah, you’ve got a lot of camaraderie. By the time the tour ends, you’re riding down the coast with 200 of your best friends, really. 

Rick Phillips: 
What's a typical day like on the CCC? 

Kyle Berg: 
Well, if you take 525 miles and divide by eight days, our average is about 65 miles a day. That's our average. We have a couple of 80-, 85-, 87-mile days. Those are the bigger ones. Day one, right out the gates, is a big one — Santa Cruz being kind of the most reasonable destination for day one. But there's just such excitement. It's really good to just kind of, you know, flush it all out and get it all out and have a big energy burn on the first day. 

And then, on day two, we taper it down to about 60 miles. And then, day five, 55 or so. So, we kind of ease you into it. We give you a couple of recovery days. 

Rick Phillips: 
How does a typical day proceed? 

Kyle Berg:
Well, for me, I wake up in camp every morning. Sometimes to the sounds of generators kicking on. Camping is included on tour. If you sign up, you get the campsites for free. If you wanted to stay in a hotel, we offer that. And we'll provide shuttles back and forth to the hotel from the main camp. But most of us stay in camp, in tents that we bring ourselves, our own tents. 

And so, I'll wake up with the sun shining through my tent. So, you're going to make (laughs) your way over to the porta-potties. The coffee has already been brewed and is in one of those big carafes. That's the first stop for me is get coffee. And then, the chow line pretty much is going to be fired up at that point. 

We use a really great catering company, and the food on this thing is just outstanding. Some people might want to draw up their tents and get everything packed up. I'll tend to hit the food first, carb up, a little protein, a little bit of everything. From pancakes to bacon to sausage to eggs, you know, whatever you could possibly imagine, muffins. It's all there right for you in the morning; orange juice, coffee. 

They prefer that we not leave until around 7:30, and the reason for that delay is because the rest stops need to be set up. We all have rider tags with our rider number and our name on them. At least twice a day, there's the check-in. And it's really important for the logistics of tour that you check in at each of these checkpoints. 

It's a tour, not a race, so we're smelling the roses or riding fast, you know, however you want to do it. Through the day, you'll pull up to a rest stop, you'll get some food, some bars, sometimes we even have charcuterie boards out there, cheeses, we have wonderful spreads. 

The rest stops are just parties. Volunteers are dressed in the theme of the day. Bumping music, cheering you on with cowbells. And then, after you've had your fill, you roll into the next one and you’ve just got to remember to get off that bike and take a few pictures in between the rest stops. 

And then, by the time you get into camp, you're going to take your bike in, put it on the bike rack. We have mechanics on site that can service your bike if anything's broken. At night, they'll take a big cable, and they lock them all up. Sometimes we'll even have security guards kind of patrolling the bikes, just to make sure everything's fine. 

We have a bit of a happy hour. We have dinner, which is kind of similar to the morning. You know, just amazing food and a huge chow line. You grab your paper plate, recover from your ride today and fuel up for tomorrow. 

Rick Phillips: 
You know, I had a buddy who did it in 2018, and she said that she would definitely go back and ride, but she would mostly go back for breakfast and dinner. 

Kyle Berg:
(laughs) For sure. 

Mary Gonser: 
That's how great our catering company is. 

Kyle Berg:
Yeah. 

Mary Gonser: 
If you have any type of dietary restrictions, they do take that into consideration. They try to have at least some vegan dishes as well. Or if you have other types of restrictions, they will do their best to honor that for you. If we know that people have to have, like they're gluten-free, we always make sure that their food is separated from other things, so then that way there's no cross-contamination. 

Kyle Berg:
We're the Arthritis Foundation, we should be considerate, right? 

Rick Phillips: 
Right. Mary, do you have anything to add? 

Mary Gonser: 
At our campsites, we also do have a shower truck, so we do have showers available at the campsites, as well as a massage company. I mean obviously you're going to pay your own rate, but we do have a massage team that comes out to help a lot of the riders with their recovery after the ride and everything. 

In fact, they've also started a porter service. They offer for a nominal fee to set up your campsite for you and break it down in the morning, so then, that way, you don't have to worry about it. All you have to worry about is getting up, getting dressed and having your breakfast, and you're out on the road.

PROMO: 
This year, the Arthritis Foundation recognizes 75 years of progress for the arthritis community. Over the years, we’ve led the way in major achievements, from training rheumatologists, advancing joint replacements and introducing biologics and other breakthrough treatments — to providing life-changing educational programs and resources, like this podcast — to successfully advocating for better health care policies and laws. All to improve quality of life for the nation’s nearly 60 million adults and 300,000 children living with arthritis. Thank you for your support during 75 years of progress. 

Rick Phillips: 
People who would be interested in doing this are always concerned about health conditions. What is the accommodation for health conditions? 

Kyle Berg:
The ride is very, very well supported. 

Mary Gonser: 
There are rest stops 20 to 25 miles apart, so then, that way, in a way, you're only riding 20 miles, you have a little break. You're riding another 20 miles, you have a little break. So, it's a little broken up and easier for some of our riders. 

We have everything that they may need from just food, hydration, and, if a rider needs to rest, they can do so. And we have the support vans that, if a rider is just not feeling good that day, they don't have to ride every single mile every day. They can take a bump (ride in the van) to the next rest stop to cut down the mileage for themselves if they're just not feeling up to it that day. 

Kyle Berg:
Yeah. We're really leaning into inclusivity. Part of it being a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation is that in camp every night, we have an honoree. We call it program. The program section of the evening, which is right before dinner, we’ll get kind of a debrief on what happened that day. 

And then we'll talk about the route the next day and give you a heads-up on what to expect. We have an honoree come in, someone with arthritis who has benefited from the connections they've made with the Arthritis Foundation, and they tell us their story. And these are tear-jerker stories, right? It's really, really important to be in a camp and participate and share in the bonds we're making with each other and with these honorees. 

We want to make sure that people, that anybody who wants to participate in this event, can. And that means that you might only be able to do 40 miles a day, you know? There are a lot of people that have all sorts of different goals for this thing. 

Then you get the meathead cyclists, like myself (laughs), or like Mary's husband Darren. You know, we love riding. We don't have arthritis ourselves. We want to get there and hammer it, you know? And be among the first to camp. 

We also want to make space for people who can't do that. And ultimately, it's a tour, not a race. 

Mary Gonser: 
Absolutely. We have our evening talks regarding safety. Any road conditions and such that the riders need to know about for the following day. So, the campsite is like the hub of the ride; they need to make sure that they're there. 

Kyle Berg:
That's right. And the rest stops are really, really well supported. So, if you're feeling down, you can just hang out at the rest stop for an hour, you know? And on a longer day, and you're like, "I need a bump from rest stop two to rest stop three, or three to four," you can hop on the van. But sometimes just hanging out at the rest stop for an hour or half an hour might be enough to get you back in the right head space. But if you need the bump, we'll give you the bump. 

We have e-bikes on tour, which is kind of new. There are not a lot of tours that allow for e-bikes because it can be a logistical hassle. But we want to make space for that. We do have some guidelines for e-bikes because some of them are really big and really heavy. And it can be a hassle to get them onto the bike racks. We do ask that people that use e-bikes are responsible for their own batteries. 

Mary Gonser: 
When I did the ride in 2019, mine was big enough that it just fit on the rack that I had on the back of my bike, so… 

Rick Phillips: 
Yeah. Tell us about ’19 because you did it on an e-bike. 

Mary Gonser: 
Yes, I did. 

Rick Phillips: 
So how did that work? 

Mary Gonser: 
Well, early on my son was there with me when I would go meet up with my husband in Ventura, towards the end of the ride, and he kept saying, "Oh, I want to do this ride. I want to do this ride." He was only 8 at the time. So, 10 years down the road, when he is now 18, he no longer wants to do it. But like a typical 18-year-old, right? Who wants to ride his bike with his parents? Come on. 

All that time, I kept saying, "Well, I'm going to do the ride in 2019. When my son said he's no longer going to do it, you know, my husband says, "Well, why can't you do it? You can still do it. There's no reason why you can't." I'm like, "Well, I guess you're right." So, the first thing he did was research, and he found what he felt was the best e-bike for me. And I'm out there doing my first ride in 2019. 

The batteries that came with the bike weren't going to be sufficient for the longer distant rides. So, we had to buy a secondary battery. We bought a bag that would fit the battery so then, that way, I always had it with me. We've had some riders who have asked, "Oh, can you take my battery to the next rest stop?" Which, you know, we try to accommodate that as best that we can. But it's not good to have that person not have their battery when they need it. 

We're kind of telling people to try to keep the battery with you. And then, you have to be responsible to charge your batteries at night. At the campsites, we do have charging cords and such because obviously everyone has their electronics that need to be charged. 

This year, I'm actually planning to ride again. 

Kyle Berg:
Yay! 

Mary Gonser: 
I'm definitely looking forward to being out on the bike with everyone again this year. 

Kyle Berg:
Oh, another thing we should do before we get away from e-bikes is talk about the different classes, because there's all different kinds. Some of them are like a motorcycle where you just hit a button and go. We can't have those on tour. There's a lot of jurisdictions along the way that have rules. So, you want…. Is it a pedal assist, Mary? 

Mary Gonser: 
Mine is a pedal assist. In other words, if I'm not peddling, that motor is not working. And it's even limited to how much assistance, like miles per hour, the battery will assist up 'till. So, you can't be going over… Mine is like 28 miles per hour. But I rarely do that anyway. (laughs) 

Kyle Berg:
If you have an e-bike and you're looking to get on tour, I think for a lot of this stuff we're going to direct questions to the website, californiacoastclassic.org. 

Rick Phillips: 
The PCH, which is Pacific Coast Highway or Highway One, is certainly a magnificently beautiful drive. I've driven it many times. And when I go to California, it's one of my favorite things to do. We hear so much about the rain and the difficulties with the PCH because of that. 

Kyle Berg:
There have been a number of years where the rains have been formidable, and it really hit Highway One hard. And most of the time they've got it cleaned up for us by the time September, October rolls around when we come through. 

PROMO: 
Want to help grow our movement and conquer arthritis as a volunteer? There are lots of ways to get involved with the Arthritis Foundation and make an even greater difference. To get going, check out https://www.arthritis.org/volunteer.  

Rick Phillips: 
Volunteers play an enormous role in the CCC, and so much of what the Arthritis Foundation does. April is National Volunteer Month. And research shows volunteering can actually help your physical and mental health, keeping you active, distracting you from your pain, and simply making you feel good about doing good. In honor of all those CCC volunteers, tell me a bit about why they're so important. 

Mary Gonser: 
Our event cannot take place if we didn't have all the people that volunteer behind the scenes, like going out to our storage unit, clearing it out, seeing the supplies that we have available and getting ready to order what's needed. What I do, since I kind of make sure we have the people in the right positions, I kind of ask them ahead of time, “work within your capabilities.” 

We have a rest stop lead that actually is a member of the Arthritis Foundation staff. So, that person's aware of who may have the limitations, so then that way we all work as a team. If something's heavy, you don't do it by yourself, have someone assist you. And, you know, if you need to sit down, we ensure that they have a chair there. Even if it's you just have to sit down here and there. So, we do try to accommodate the volunteers in that respect as well. 

Our volunteers at the rest stops, they do everything from setting up the tables, they'll make the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It's just for fun. We want everyone to have a good time. Throughout the end of the ride, we have other volunteers come in to be there to cheer on the riders as they're coming in that last day. But that's even at the rest stops. 

My big thing is: more cowbell. There can’t be enough cowbell at each rest stop, you know, because sometimes … I've heard a rider come up to me and say, “I could hear that cowbell in the distance, so I know I was close to coming to that rest stop. I knew I could make it there.” And I’m a hugger. I just give them a big hug, saying, “Man, you just did it. You did it today!” 

Rick Phillips: 
And how can people volunteer, even if they're not able to come to the event? 

Mary Gonser: 
Reach out to the Arthritis Foundation chapter that might be in their area and try to volunteer. That's one thing that you can do to help, obviously: Raise the amount of riders and such, getting people interested. Talk to some businesses and such to see if they would be interested in promoting their products at our ride. 

Rick Phillips: 
Kyle, what's your favorite segment of the ride? 

Kyle Berg:
It would be Tuesday, for sure. Two-turn Tuesday. (laughs) Yeah. That's Big Sur to Cambria. 

Rick Phillips:  
Oh, yeah. 

Kyle Berg:
That’s a section of Highway One that’s just breathtaking. That’s a scary day for a lot of people because it sticks out as the day with the most elevation. The most elevation gain or the most uphill riding. But you’ve got to remember, we’re on the coast, right? So a lot of uphill means a lot of downhill. And it’s just so much fun, those sweeping turns on Highway One on that day in particular. 

Rick Phillips: 
Mary, what's your favorite story from riding the CCC? 

Mary Gonser: 
Oh, my goodness. (laughs) For the amount of years I've been involved, I have many stories. We have a couple: Her name is Anne, his name is Troy and, yeah, they met on the ride; they got together and he actually proposed to her on day one in front of Pigeon Point Lighthouse. We have a few other couples that met along the ride as well. 

Rick Phillips: 
Yeah. Kyle, you know somebody who rides it on a unicycle. That's amazing to me. 

Kyle Berg:
My father-in-law. He's quite a character, yeah. There's maybe 40 of them in California. Scott Cooper was one guy who had done the coast ride on a unicycle before. And then, my father-in-law, Mark Massey, reached out to Scott. And this event was so well supported that, you know, even one of these guys on a unicycle could do it. They're kind of limited to 10 miles a day. But it's the rest stop support, and just the van support — to be able to pull them off the road or through dangerous sections — was everything for them. 

We haven’t had a unicyclist on tour for a while, but we do have a couple of tricyclists, people on three-wheel bikes. Kevin Schley, he’s on a tricycle, just leaning into the hill, because he’s really aerodynamic on this tricycle. Because it’s really low to the ground, you know, low center of gravity, and he looks like a Formula One racer taking these corners. It's pretty amazing. 

Rick Phillips: 
Wow. 

Kyle Berg:
Formula One racer with the big flag top on (laughs), on the top of his bike. 

Rick Phillips: 
Kyle, I know you must get a lot of social media questions. 

Kyle: 
People ask me like, what kind of bike should they take because they hear it's a tour. And they'll ask me, you know, they've got a gravel bike or a touring bike, should they take that instead? I would say, "Don't take those bikes." Don't take a nice big touring bike. Don't take a gravel bike, because more often than not, we're on really nice roads. You're going to want a standard road bike with 28-millimeter tires. You're going to get those just comfy enough. You don't need a tournament bike; you don't need big splashy tires. 

I also get a lot of people asking about the fundraising, because our fundraising minimum is $3,500 for a new rider. And that can be really intimidating, right? But we’ve got a lot of tools to help you. And you’d be amazed at how inspiring making this effort and this commitment is to people that you know. So, my advice to that is to set your goal right out the gate at 5,000. 

Just sign up. Just work for it. And if you can't make commitment, if you can't fundraise that first year, come out anyway and volunteer with us. We'll cover your camping costs, we'll feed you. And then, you can get kind of a feel for what the vibe is like, what the atmosphere is like, what the camaraderie is like. Come on out. 


PROMO: 
If you have arthritis or are taking care of someone who does, we’ve got information you can trust. Get tips on healthy treatments, plus news and inspirational stories. Learn all about arthritis and the resources we offer. Go to arthritis.org. 

Rick Phillips: 
We always end with three takeaways. Mary, what are your three takeaways from this episode? 

Mary Gonser: 
This is a ride, not a race. And take your time and take in all the surroundings while you are riding along the coast. Stop and take those pictures. Also that the CCC is a ride of a lifetime, but more importantly, it's an experience of a lifetime. It's not just the ride that we're talking about. It's the mission and the reason why we are out here doing this event. 

Our famous tagline that we do at our opening ceremonies — we have the whole group get together and we take a picture. And at the end of that, we all say, "What are we riding for?" And the response is… 

Kyle Berg:
"We're riding for a cure!" 

Mary Gonser: 
So, those are definitely a few takeaways I would like people to know. 

Rick Phillips: 
Kyle, how about you? What are your takeaways? 

Kyle Berg:
Well, I would like to say that there are any number of ways that you can participate. We have our ACE (Arthritis Challenge Event), too, which is... It kind of stems out of the remote ride that we did in 2020, where people can be affiliated with the CCC and participate in it from where they are. You sign up as an ACE participant on the California Coast Classic website, and you can do whatever your ACE is, that's Arthritis Challenge Event. 

So, last year my ACE was that I did a huge gravel ride in Colorado, with Darren, actually. You can do whatever you want for your ACE. That can be walking five miles a day for a month. It could be doing a 100-mile bike ride. It could be mowing five neighbors' acre yard. Whatever you want to do, you sign up and just make some effort and raise some funds for the Arthritis Foundation under the CCC banner. Point one is you can participate wherever you are. 

Point two: We only want you to do what you can do, right? If you're going to come out and ride tour with us, and you can’t give us 85 miles on that first day, give us 60 miles, give us 50. Whatever you’ve got. 

Another thing that made a really big difference for the event was our partnership with Amgen. Amgen has been incredibly supportive of the event. They joined about five years in as the Presenting Sponsor. And each year, in addition to their Presenting sponsorship, have sent a whole team of riders that consistently rank in our top fundraisers. So yeah, having that partnership with Amgen has been huge. 

And the third is that if you have questions, there are plenty of people that you can lean on for answers: myself, Mary, Shannon Marang Cox. And my podcast that I started this year: “What Are We Riding For?” is the name of my show. We just started episodes for that in January. And every Friday, I’m releasing a new episode where I talk to a different personality on tour, and we'll get some insights for how they do it. So yeah, tune into “What Are We Riding For?” You can find that wherever you find your podcasts, and just reach out. We're all here. We're all ready and waiting to answer questions. 

Rick Phillips: 
Thank you, Mary and Kyle, for joining us. Visit arthritis.org to learn more about the California Coast Classic and all the important work the Foundation is doing. Thank you very much and have a wonderful day. 
 
Kyle Berg:
Thank you. 

Mary Gonser: 
Thank you. 

PODCAST CLOSE:      
The Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast is independently produced by the Arthritis Foundation. This podcast aims to help people living with arthritis and chronic pain live their best life. People like you. For a transcript and show notes, go to https://www.arthritis.org/liveyes/podcast. Subscribe and rate us wherever you get your podcasts. And stay in touch!