I can’t get “All About the Bass” by Meghan Trainor out of my head.

After a cursory bit of research into the songs deeper meaning it she is referring to having a big, umm,  behind. Rump. Buttocks. Bass.

With the chilly holidays in the rearview mirror and after my seasonal hibernation, gluttonously intermixed with eggnog and sugar cookies, it is once again "All About the Bass, or base, as the case may be. ‘Tis the season of base miles and getting our booties back in gear. And what better way to break the pattern of festive parties and overindulgence, in order to grimly welcome the season of austerity and abstemiousness, then The Coast Ride.

The formal origins of this legendary ride remain a bit cloudy. The wonderfully vague “mid-90s” doesn’t exactly peg the first edition on a calendar, but that’s why is is the stuff of lore. Beginning with just a few friends with a hodgepodge collection of backpacks and panniers to carry their belongings on the then five-day-long, San Francisco to San Diego route, pro triathletes Mark Montgomery and Paul Lundgren are rumored to have lead the initial journey. (No word on whether they would dismount after each five-hour-day and head out on the road for a quick run).

With the torch passed to Bay Area legend and friend-to-all, Scotty Wittoff in 2006, The Coast Ride has grown from an underground event with a handful of intrepid all-comers to a organized effort drawing between 200 and 300 riders to take on the challenge. My first go at TCR  was in 2016,  the morning after a late night arrival, fresh out of the car after a week long, trans-continental drive from New Hampshire to California. And it wasn’t until sometime in mid-March that I finally picked the last of the sand out of my eyes and ears. The 2016 edition was a particularly sandy and damp year, graciously followed by a brisk, bright, and sunshine’y 2017 edition.

This year I’ll be teaming up once again with a couple of fellow former professional cyclists, including inGamba Tour guides Eros "the magnificent” Poli, the Italian cycling giant noted for winning the Tour de France stage upon Mont Ventoux and Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese National Road Champion who raced with an ear-to-ear smile and has the world’s smoothest pedal stroke. Plus a few other fast pedaling folks clad in inGamba Tours attire.

We are excited to be back to help drive the pace and still have enough energy left to crack open something delicious — sudsy, bubbly, or hoppy — at the end of each day. We have nearly 400 miles to pedal  in three days, may as well make it a party!

That’s right, every day’s mileage is into the low triple digits highlighted by the second day’s bonus edition stretching just shy of 160 miles. This is all thanks to the freshly redrawn Californian coastline on account of that enormous mudslide. With no shortage of hours to cover it’s not a bad idea to have a little ditty running through your head to help the pass the time on The Coast Ride 2018.