You'll need to familiarize with the California Rules of Traffic Court. I'm in Florida, and here, a situation like yours has both ups and downs. The rules say that if the officer cites the wrong code (i.e. you're cited for the bridge before you had ever reached any bridge, so you should've been cited for regular speeding), you can have the complaint dismissed. This would be addressed in a pretrial motion for dismissal. The downside is that if you aren't a lawyer, the hearing officer will often blatantly ignore both law and court rules to screw you out of your hard-earned $$$. The process to address such abuse is long and complicated, and the layperson has neither the knowledge nor the means to really see it through. That being said, if your motion for dismissal is arbitrarily denied, it'll go on to trial. There's no point in saying "I wasn't speeding that much, I was only going 75, and I have friends who witnessed it". Whatever the cop says is what the court will accept as truth, and there's nothing you can say or do to change it. You could even show them video of your speedometer as you approached the bridge...without a tech report indicating that your speedometer was properly calibrated within a reasonable timeframe prior to the incident, they don't care what it says...they go with the cop.
If it were me (in Florida), here's what I'd do.... Plead not guilty. Address the statutory discrepancy in pretrial. If the motion is denied, change my plea to no contest, and beg the court to withhold adjudication in exchange for driving school.
A TIP: In Florida, I can bring in a recorder and tape the proceedings (including pretrial). If things don't go my way, I can then have that tape transcribed by the court reporter, and use it for an appeal (or to file a complaint against the hearing officer for blatantly ignoring the law then and have sanctions imposed on him by the Florida Bar). Assuming that California allows the same, doing so sends a discreet message to the hearing officer that you know the rules, and you're not going to allow any b.s. Show great deference...they're like little kids who were pushed around on the playground in preschool....but now they have absolute discretion over you, and they're getting even. Don't challenge them directly, or ever call them out on their b.s. This is a silent message of "here's your opportunity to do the right thing, look like a nice guy, and everyone goes home happy".
Good luck.
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