Biking On

My Paris-Brest-Paris 2011 Story

2011-10-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Executive summary: The Randonneuring Mecca. A difficult ride made more challenging by inconvenient start times and ride lengths, and some bad weather, but a unique experience made special by the extraordinary support of the local people.

The Buildup

The build up to PBP is long, over a year in my case, when I decided to do the Santa Cruz 1000K in June 2010, that would get me priority registration for PBP. That ride also gave me confidence that I could ride a 1200K but, as we shall see, the differences between the organization of the two rides made that confidence less valid.

Late in the fall I had decided that I needed a new bike that was more suited to long-distance riding than my carbon Trek 5200, and also a better fit for my body to mitigate the discomfort that can become critical on a ride as long as a 1200K. [PBP is actually 1230K]. I chose a steel framed Waterford with S+S couplers that would allow me to pack the bike in a standard sized suitcase and therefore take as regular checked baggage. The bike arrived just in time for the first qualifying ride, the SFR 200K Point Reyes Lighthouse ride, thanks to some fast work by the dealer, Stone's Cyclery in Alameda. It is truly a beautiful bike and probably as comfortable as I could expect from a standard bike.

At that time I was (still) suffering with peroneal (ankle) tendinitis that had flared up just after the fall Death Valley double in early November. I really had no confidence at this point that I would be able to ride PBP at all. At that time, I was unable to stand on the bike and could not push hard with my right leg. The 200K San Francisco Randonneurs (SFR) Lighthouse ride in January was not a good omen. About an hour into the ride, the ankle started hurting and continued to do so for the remaining nine hours or so. I recall climbing the steep pitch to the Lighthouse seated in my lowest gear, essentially pushing with just my left leg. After the ride I went back to the sports medicine doctor who wanted to inject the tendon with cortisone. I wasn't happy about this as I had read that cortisone injections were not recommended for the peroneal tendons and could cause a rupture. We had a ski trip coming up so I decided to wait until after that before making a decision. The ski trip was a disaster; despite the bracing from the rigid ski boots, it took just one run to persuade me that skiing wasn't going to be possible without setting me back to the beginning. I guess this was my lowest point as I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever fix the problem. The thought of never being able to ski again was very depressing. After the trip my physical therapist suggested that I see a podiatrist. He taped me up with a temporary orthotic and it seemed to work well, so I ordered the real thing. As luck would have it, they arrived the day before the 300K qualifier and I wore them on the ride. Miracle cure! No pain for the entire ride. So that was the real start of my recovery. Another aid I used was KT Tape on the ankle for the entire campaign to provide some extra support. The problem was that I was very slow on the bike, probably 1-2 miles an hours slower average speed that before. Doesn't sound like much, but on a long ride it can make a huge difference.

Owing to a family issue I had to miss the SFR 400K qualifier, so I did the Santa Cruz 400K a week later. This meant I missed my favorite double century, the Devil Mountain double but, given that I had done no climbing, that was probably a good thing. I finished the 400K in 20 hours, after which 20kph or better became my riding goal. At that speed PBP would take 62.5 hours of riding which, given an 84hr ride, should allow adequate time for sleep and food stops.

The 600K qualifier passed without issue and I also did the Davis Double Century in May. I was still slow compared to previous years but I was definitely improving on every ride. I had a slight setback on the Terrible Two where, despite finishing, I wasn't fast enough to get California Triple Crown credit. I did more climbing in July on the Peninsula Death Ride and wrapped up the training with the Mt Tam Double in early August, which went pretty well. Along the way I was doing interval training on the bike trainer, trying to increase my speed.

Off to France

So finally, on August 13th, it's off to the real thing. I had decided to spend a week in the UK getting over jet lag and visiting family, so this meant I didn't fly with the main body of SFR riders who went Air France direct to Paris. Packing was challenging. The Waterford packs into a regulation sized suitcase although my unusually long fork stem means I have to remove the fork to make it fit, which requires a mallet both for disassembly and reassembly of headset. I had done a practice pack and unpack before Mt Tam, so it wasn't so difficult. The scare came when, 30 minutes before leaving for the airport I weighed my other suitcase and found it 6 lbs overweight, mostly due to the riding "food" I was taking with me. Fortunately the bike case was underweight so some last minute shuffling fixed the problem. The riding "food" was mostly Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem powder and tablets; this is my usual long distance riding diet and I had decided to carry a modest amount on the bike as a base nutrition level, to be topped up by food at the controls and bakeries along the way.

My detour to the UK meant that my riding "tapering" dropped to zero for the week before PBP. As we'll see below it's not clear that was a good thing. In the week after Mt Tam, I just did three easy one hour spin sessions on the trainer. I'll admit I was feeling pretty good and my weight was at minimum for the year. I had a relaxing time in the UK, did plenty of stretching (Yoga for Cyclists), and ate well. Spent a fun morning at the Coventry Transport Museum learning, amongst other things, the history of bike design and manufacture in Coventry at the turn of the 20th century. Saturday I got back on the plane for Paris from Heathrow. Of course, it being Heathrow in the summer, the plane was delayed which made for a nail biting trip as I had to get my drop bags (change of clothes, Perpetuem resupply, replacement batteries etc.) to the trucks by 7pm. There was a +1 hour time change in Paris despite there being no change in longitude. Fortunately the taxi from the airport was faster than I expected and I had 15 minutes to spare by the time I reached the Hotel Campanile. I had packed my drops bags in the UK, so hustled to drop these off at the bag drop location up the street, before checking in. Outside the hotel late arrivals like me were assembling their bikes. I decided to assemble mine on Sunday morning as I had an 11:00 bike check scheduled at the start area. It took me a bit longer to assemble the bike, especially as I had a momentary panic about where a particular washer went on the headset assembly. Fortunately, there were some knowledgeable people around who knew for sure.

I rode up to the start area which was at a big sports arena a couple of miles away. The first ride after re-assembling the bike is always a bit nervy! Check-in went smoothly, as most people had done it the day before, and I picked up the all-important brevet card and tracking chip that would track my progress on the route and on the web. The weather was uncomfortably hot and sticky, well into the 80's, which wasn't a good omen.

While most 1200K rides have a fixed time limit of 90 hours and a single start time, PBP has three ride lengths, 80, 84 and 90 hours. The start times were different for each, 4pm on Sunday for the 80hr, 6pm on Sunday for the 90 and 5am on Monday for the 84. Since most people elect for the 90 hr start, the 6pm time is actually nominal as groups of riders are let go in waves starting at 6pm. This means that you can actually start 2 or 3 hours after the nominal start time. Given the hot weather I was very glad that I wasn't lined up in the stadium waiting to start under the hot sun. Obviously with the 90 hr ride, you start by riding through the night, then through the day, stopping for the first sleep stop on the Monday evening. I'm no fan of night starts or night riding for that matter; it doesn't bother me and I don't get sleepy, but I just prefer to see where I am riding. Plus that first stretch makes for a long spell on the bike. So I had signed up for the 84 hr start when I registered in April. Once you elect a start time you can't change it so I was stuck with it and, given the weather I was pretty happy with it.

Had it been cooler, I might have gone to the stadium to watch the start, but as it was, I just grabbed something to eat at the local bistro and rested. We had to "check out" of the hotel on the Monday morning which, in practice, just meant storing the suitcases in the conference room they had set aside, as we would be checking back in on the Thursday afternoon.

Day One

At the Start

I was up at 4am, downed a couple of energy bars, filled the water bottles, stowed the suitcase and headed off to the stadium with the smaller group of 84 hr riders. We lined up on the running track waiting for the 5am start, a veritable sea of reflective vests. I met some fellow Brits in the line, who were veterans of Randonneuring, one of whom had done two 1200Ks already this year. Interestingly, they were riding small wheel, foldable, Moulton bikes from the UK.

Eventually we were let out of the stadium only to queue again a short distance down the road. At this point it started to rain! Fortunately it was just a shower but it was not auspicious as the forecast for Paris was dry whereas the forecast for where we were heading was rain and thunder, which is how all hot spells end in northern Europe. Little did we know.

I had read that the most dangerous part of the ride was the first 60km, as it is essentially urban and there are several places where the road unexpectedly narrows. However, the marshals did a great job of marking those, so I didn't ever feel unsafe. Once into the country, it's a very fast ride for the first 200K as the terrain is mostly flat. The first control was at 140km at Mortagne, where, if all went well, I would be sleeping on the last night on the return. I made the first 100 miles in 7 hours, a time I am always very happy about. However, somewhere around mile 40, with no apparent cause, my left hamstring started feeling tight behind my knee. Sometimes this happens and it goes away after a while, but this one didn't and was a consistent but, fortunately minor, pain for the rest of the ride. I was really quite annoyed as otherwise I was feeling really strong, suggesting that the tapering had worked well. I wondered if taking the whole of the previous week off the bike might have been a bad idea after all.

At the Mortagne Control

I stopped briefly at the first control at Mortagne at around 11am for some water, but decided to press on to the control at Villaines, where the first drop bag was, before stopping for a meal. The terrain got hillier in his section which slowed my average speed. Around midday it started to rain a bit and then, just as we were entering a town, it really started coming down hard. I pulled off the road and put on my rain jacket and rain legs and my lights. The rain kept coming and then thunder and lightning mixed in. We were riding in some exposed countryside, at one point on quite a busy road, with trucks carrying livestock passing by, which was a bit scary. Somewhere on this stretch there was a lightning strike on the hillside about 100 yards to my left and the thunder ripped over my head like artillery fire. At this point I was getting a bit concerned for my and other riders safety. Further up the road course marshals made us put our reflective vests on over our rain jackets. The weather kept up all the way to the control at Villaines.

I was well soaked by this stage, although the rain legs had done a good job and seemed to have helped to keep my shoes from getting too waterlogged. Carrying all the wet stuff made navigating the control and the cafeteria pretty difficult and I was ecstatic when a volunteer carried my tray down to the seating area. It was still pouring when I rode back to the drop bag location. All the bags were on the ground just covered with a tarp and there was nowhere to shelter except inside the truck.
I ended up spending nearly an hour at this control, which was longer than I wanted, and it made a big dent in my average speed.

After a hilly start, the terrain flattened as the route headed for the next control at Fougeres, 50 miles away. Thankfully the rain stopped and I actually managed to dry out after a couple of hours. There were lots of roadside stands on this section at the small villages on the way, mostly run by kids and eventually I stopped at one and had some coffee in trade for one of the RUSA pins I was carrying. Shortly afterwards the heavens opened again on a descent into a village, rather unexpectedly as it didn't look very threatening, but I was quickly soaked again. Some other riders were sheltering in the village and I joined them until the worst had passed. Fougeres was soon reached after that, definitely the largest town so far, and after a meandering route, I eventually reached the control. Supposedly we went close to an impressive castle, and I've seen it on other rider's photos, but I have absolutely no memory of it either inbound or outbound.

I tried to minimize time here as it was past 7pm and I still had 55km to go to reach my planned sleep stop at Tinteniac. As I was laving I met up with a couple of the Brits I had chatted to at the start and we rode out together. Climbing out of the town the weather ahead initially looked promising, with some clear sky visible. However, right on the edge of town, things changed suddenly and very dramatically. Very low and fast moving clouds were racing across the sky and it just had an evil look to it. It reminded me of some of the scenes of tornadoes on the Weather Channel. As luck would have it there was a gas station across the street and I decided to wait out what I was sure was going to be a major storm. Amazingly other riders kept going. The winds got stronger and sky got darker and after about 5 minutes all hell broke loose. It was like the end of the world, intense lightning, thunder, crazy winds, and torrential rain. I was so glad I had taken shelter. Still, riders were coming up the hill and continuing on. I felt for their safety. It lasted about 20 minutes during which the street lighting went out three times after lightning strikes.

The storm was moving north but it remained active for the rest of the ride to Tinteniac. Periodically the whole northern sky would light up with one or more lighting strikes, followed by ever more distant thunder. Another of the Brits on one of the Moulton bikes caught up with me on this section and we chatted briefly - he wasn't too happy - but I couldn't match his pace. Just before Tinteniac I saw the lead riders coming back from Brest! These guys had started 25 hours earlier than me but it was still a stunning pace. It looked more like a real bike race as they had follow cars and it was quite a circus.

I rolled into Tinteniac just before 11pm, almost exactly on my 20kph schedule, which I was happy with given the weather delays. I ate a real meal at the control and then went in search of the sleeping area. I had decided to sleep at Tinteniac partly due to it supposedly have good sleep arrangements and indeed this was the case. The control was in a college and they used the dorms, which had four beds to a room. People were sorted into rooms based on the time they wanted to wake up. I decided on 3am, based on the need to get to the next control at Loudeac, 55 miles away, by about 8am. Initially I was alone, but eventually a Swedish rider joined me. The showers and toilets were just down the hall and they even provided a towel! It cannot be overstated how great it feels to get in the shower after 18 hours on the bike! It's also amazing how long it takes to get everything organized. I have learned that it is a good idea to get as much stuff ready for the morning before going to sleep, as there is an inevitable brain-fog on awakening. One thing I did forget to do was charge my Garmin bike computer, despite there being a handy socket right by the bed. I would regret this the next day.

Day Two

In theory the volunteers wake you at the time you requested. In practice I had a small alarm clock which woke me at 3am. Not my favorite time to get up, but you get used to it after a couple of years of randonneuring and double centuries. It took me 40 minutes from waking to getting on the bike. I felt reasonably good, and ate a couple of energy bars for breakfast. Unfortunately I realized that I had mistakenly used my Perpetuem powder the previous evening. So I only had the Perpetuem tablets to keep me going until Loudeac.

I hadn't gone far before I had my first "getting lost" experience leaving Tinteniac in the sense that I became unsure that I was on the right road as I wasn't seeing any of the handy (flourescent) route signs. So I backtracked almost to the control and made sure I hadn't missed a turn sign in my brain-fog. Fortunately more riders came in the other direction (a theme that would occur all day) confirming I was on the right road. It wasn't raining but it was quite foggy in sections. After a couple of hours, I reached the "secret" control, that is, one whose location is not revealed ahead of time. This turned out out be very useful as I was able to grab some food. Dawn arrived about 6:30 which always provides a lift. I don't mind riding in the dark, but out in the boonies it's like being in a tunnel with only the headlight showing the way.

All along this section I kept remembering that an article in the Ameican Randonneur PBP edition had said that it was mostly flat from Tinteniac to Loudeac. Well, it certainly didn't seem that way to me! I also had a panic when I realized that I was about to run out of water. It seems that, in the brain-fog at 3am, I had failed to fill my Camelbak properly. I had filled it in the sink and I think the angle had made it appear it was full when it really wasn't very full at all. And since I had not had any Perpetuem powder I hadn't bothered to fill up my water bottle. Duh! I'd passed through several villages where I could have got some water but now I seemed to be in open countryside again. And, of course, the next village we came to had absolutely nothing open even though it was 7am by this time. The failure to charge the Garmin came home to roost also as I lost power (my fresh battery pack was in the bag at Loudeac) so I had no idea how far it was to Loudeac. Eventually I came to a village that had a bakery open, where I had some excellent pastries and stocked up on water. It turned out that Loudeac was only 7km away.

Loudeac is kind of the "center" of PBP. Tons of people sleep there as it's where you end up Monday evening if you do the 90 hour ride. It's also where Bretagne starts and road signs start appearing in Breton and French. It also had the craziest entry to the control, requiring good bike handling skills to negotiate the narrow, twisty and up and down fenced in track from the street to the control proper. I was glad it was light. Since it was breakfast time, after the brevet card stamping ritual, I headed to the cafeteria and had an omelette and mashed potatoes (weird but it worked). Then off to the bag drop area, this time conveniently in the main control and nicely laid out under an awning (not that it was raining at this point). Although I had carefully packed everything in plastic bags, marked with the day, it still seemed to take a while to get everything sorted, so it was 9am before I hit the road again.

I got lost again leaving Loudeac. I didn't see any turn signs and the rule is to keep going straight otherwise. I got nervous not seeing any riders in either direction so doubled back when I reached the outskirts. I met another rider going my way and he seemed confident it was right. But when we reached the autoroute intersection and saw no PBP signs I knew we were wrong. Fortunately we knew the next village we were supposed to get to, and there was a road leading there. When we reached a T-junction in the village we saw lots of riders on the cross road. I asked one group of four going our way how they found the route and they said they were lucky to see some riders coming the other way else they too would have gone wrong. Seems like someone might have taken the turn sign as a souvenir.

After a few more miles going up and down definitely steeper hills I began to realize that PBP is a ride in two parts. East of Loudeac is flat to rolling countryside, whereas westwards it is much hillier. Another curiosity was that, whereas in the East the most of the villages (except Mortagne) are all at the bottom of valleys, in the west they are all at the top of hills. So you climb in and descend out. Also lots of Norman churches that reminded me of England, not surprisingly given the shared heritage.

I was barely averaging the minimum speed of 15kph on this section and started to get worried about my sleeping plan for that night. I had a hotel booked in Carhaix and I hoped to reach it by 9pm, so as to get some sleep before having to get up again in the middle of the night to get back to the Loudeac control by 7am the next morning. It didn't help that my left hamstring was bugging me more now that there was more climbing. Just before Carhaix I saw SFR rider Theresa Lynch on the return. At the Carhaix control I grabbed some lunch and then decided to go see the medics about the knee. Not much English was being spoken but a doctor examined it and confirmed what I already really knew, which was that it was just muscular. I really wanted some analgesic gel and I eventually managed to get some applied, after a lot of paperwork, including marking my Brevet card. I asked for the name and whether it was available over the counter. The answer was yes, so I stopped at a pharmacy just down the road and bought a tube. So more time lost unfortunately and the big climb ahead over Le Roc Trévezel on the way to Brest.

The route out of Carhaix up to the Roq was different to the return, taking a detour into a quite scenic area for a while before rejoining the main road for the final climb to the summit. Although it was the longest climb of the ride it was fairly tame by California standards, topping out at 1100' and an easy grade. There are hundreds of riders coming the other way now. Most of these are 90 hour riders but there are some fast 84 hour riders mixed in. It's a long descent off the Roq and we are still a long way from Brest once it flattens out, with more ups and downs. At some point the inbound/outbound routes diverge again, so the train of returning riders stops and finally I start the final descent to sea level and cross the famous and eye-catching bridge over the estuary. On the Brest side of the bridge I come across a guy on a recumbent who has a broken chain and doesn't have a chain tool. Fortunately the chain tool on my multi-tool can be separated, so I just give it to him, not expecting to see it again and not wanting to wait given the time pressure.

About the only time I get really crabby on the bike is when my mental model of what is coming up doesn't match reality, usually because I haven't scouted the route adequately. This happens now. My belief is that the rest stop will be shortly after the bridge on the flat area by the bay. Wrong. After riding a long way through this area we turn back inland and start climbing into the city. It seems never ending and the road is narrow and the traffic is not happy with bicycles. I wonder what it must have been like earlier with the 90 hour horde. Generally, the drivers in Brest are the worst on the entire ride as far as treating bicycles with respect. I get the feeling that Brest as a whole doesn't care much about PBP.

Eventually I reach the control at about 7pm, 30 minutes before the closing time, not feeling very happy. I've had this sense for most of the afternoon that I'm on a different ride from everyone else; I guess seeing all those returning riders reminded me that I am at the back of the ride. I'm hungry and had planned to have dinner here but there is no food! That's the problem being at the back of the ride just before the control closes. I manage to get a couple of (dry) baguettes from the bar, which is better than nothing. I'm glad I've got my basic Perpetuem nutrition backup to keep me going. Several riders at the control have decided to quit and face a train ride back to Paris. I'm feeling ok physically and I set out with a small group of riders for the return journey.

The way out of Brest is ok, much better than the meandering entry. We skip the bridge and take a more direct route. I find myself riding with a couple of French guys who speak no English, so I try my schoolboy French on them. Amazingly we actually manage to communicate a bit, at least about the ride. It's a long gradual climb back to the Roq, by which time darkness has fallen. It's kind of chilly at the top and it's a long downhill so I stop to put on another layer. I lose the people I was riding with and around in the process, so it's a lonely ride back to Carhaix. I'm way behind schedule and my plan for the hotel has gone from sleeping a couple of hours to just grabbing a shower to skipping it altogether.

Just before Carhaix a car pulls up behind me and slows down. This makes me a little nervous given the hour of night. No worries, the driver winds down the window and says something supportive in French. He then pulls past and parks ahead in a turnout. I'm curious what is going on. As I approach he gets out of the car and stands by the road, clapping and and saying "Superb" as I ride by. This is definitely the highlight of the day and keeps me upbeat until Carhaix, where I manage to get a little lost again, taking the wrong exit at a roundabout. I'm halfway down a hill and about to turn round as I know I'm wrong (having done the route the other way, although in the light) when another car pulls up and directs me back to the control. What support!

It's still pretty busy in the control and, unlike Brest, they haven't run out of food, although the choice isn't quite what it was at lunch time. As I'm eating a guy on the table in front of me turns round and hands me my chain tool! Yes, it was indeed the recumbent rider who evidently caught me up on the way back to Carhaix.

Since it's past midnight and the Loudeac control closes at 7am, I know I have to ride through the night to be sure I get there in time. I decide to try to grab some sleep in Loudeac and hope I can make it there in reasonable time. On the way I meet up with an Irish rider, Phelan, who lives in Berlin, and we strike up a good conversation and stick together all the way to Loudeac. It's a long haul but there are several riders in and around us and the company and conversation make the time go fast and stave off the sleepiness. Towards dawn, in one village there is a great coffee and pastry stand, which really goes down well. We are close to being their last customers I'm sure.

We arrive at Loudeac at 6am and this time I have to navigate the control chicane in the dark. I've ridden 260 miles in 27 hours and am definitely in need of a rest. The control is a logistical nightmare. After getting the card stamped, I go find the showers. No towel this time, just a roll of paper. The toilets are somewhere else and the "dorm", in reality the school gymnasium floor, is yet somewhere else. All these things cost a small amount of money; the main hassle is just finding it in my mental state. The sleeping arrangements are fold-up beds and mattresses on the gym floor with a blanket. I get a fold-up. It's still dark so the volunteer leads me by torchlight. I dump my gear under the bed and climb on. The bed squeaks with every move I make and is less than comfortable. There is a lot of snoring going on. I'm so tired that I do sleep for about an hour when, I guess, the noise of other people getting up and the light streaming in wakes me. I'm sufficiently uncomfortable that I decide I should just get up and get going, given that I have a real hotel waiting for me at the end of day 3.

Day Three

I hit my drop bag and dump my day two clothes. The good news is that I can travel a bit lighter as I'm going to pass through the other drop bag location before I reach my hotel so I don't need to carry the change of clothes. However, I do need all the Perpetuem to keep me going. I'm completely out of batteries now, so from this point on I won't have the Garmin. I've had enough of control food so I decide to pass on breakfast at the control and instead stop in at the bakery I found on the inbound which is only 7km away. There is simply no equivalent of the French bakery in the US; in France the croissants are warm and just melt in your mouth. On a ride like this you can eat pretty much anything and everything you want, so I loaded up.

If you recall, on the inbound in the dark, I had disputed the notion that Loudeac to Tinteniac is mostly flat. Well, it turns out that it really is mostly flat at least until you almost reach Tinteniac, and I make good time. The weather is pleasant and I am confident the rain is over. I also feel part of the ride again as there are plenty of riders going my way now. They probably had a few hours more sleep than me though. There is another secret control on this section which was nice as they had more snack-like food available. I chatted with one US randonneuse from the 90hr group on this section; it was kind of bittersweet because I (and she) knew she couldn't possibly finish in time a that pace and yet she still had so far to ride with that knowledge.

I rolled into Tinteniac around midday and, much to my surprise, there was Jack Holmgren and SFR admin Rob Hawks just getting ready to leave. This really lifted my spirits. They are both great guys and Jack has a really dry but always-on sense of humor. They ride faster then me and I hadn't expected to catch them up at all. I'm guessing I made up some ground on people with my scant one hour sleep in Loudeac. The control food options aren't great, especially if you happen to be vegetarian (I'm not), but I eat anyway. Halfway through I realize I am eating a beef tongue. Normally this might make me gag, but like I said, on a ride like this...

It's an easy three hour run to Fougeres, this time in the light of day. I run into Jack at the control again and this time I leave ahead of him as I'm in and out in a hurry. It's a long climb out of Fougeres to the plateau that leads to Villaines. As on the inbound there are lots of roadside stands with drinks and snacks and I stop at a couple. Also plenty of people clapping their hands as we ride by. It seems to me that we are slowly climbing a staircase as we keep hitting short climbs followed by more flat land. My memory of the latter half of this section is definitely sketchy because of the rain and thunder, but it gets hillier than I remember close to Villaines, with some steep valleys to traverse. On one of these sections I come across an English speaking rider who is clearly worse for wear; he's riding ok but the words coming out of his mouth make no sense. I think he might be hallucinating.

Finally, we descend into Villaines, which is one crazy scene. It's a small town and it seems as if the entire population is out in the street. They have an inflatable archway leading to the control, and music from loudspeakers. It's very cool and I really wish I was staying here for a while, as I had originally hoped. Unfortunately the hotel was full so I had to settle for Mortagne, another 50 miles further on. Given that it's about 7pm, I do need to eat, but the cafeteria has a long line. Fortunately, there is a bar that is selling ham and cheese baguettes and soup, which absolutely hits the spot and I have double helpings. I find my drop bag in the failing light and load up with the change of clothes, fresh headlight battery, and supplies for tomorrow. I'm so confident of the weather that I decide to dispense with my rain jacket, something I will regret later.

It's pretty much dark by the time I leave, but there are plenty of riders with me. In fact tons. I guess I've caught up with a lot of 90 hr riders who have to be done by between 12pm and 3pm the next day depending on which wave they started in. Since it's 230km to the finish, they definitely need to be on their way. At one point I recognize a voice behind me and its SFR rider Debra Banks. We chat for a while but then I have to stop to put on my knee warmers as it's getting colder. I can tell already that the decision to ditch the rain jacket was a mistake, not because it's likely to rain but just for the added warmth. There is a fair amount of up and down, more than I remember on the outbound. Lots of people are clearly very tired and are just crashing out by the side of the road. Much as that isn't really appealing, I'm tired enough to consider it, but I've got that hotel waiting. I'm actually more sleepy than I've been and I'm definitely in a kind of fog. I'm also experiencing some mild hallucinations, mostly in my peripheral vision. Nothing scary. I'm getting seriously worried about how much longer I have to go to get to the hotel. Fortunately at the next town there is a refreshment stand. I slug a couple of cups of coffee and then add a bunch more to the Perpetuem in my water bottle! The coffee works wonders and I emerge from the funk. Unfortunately it's still over 20km to Mortagne. It's getting colder too. Eventually Mortagne comes into view by which I mean the lights of the town way up there on the hill. It's a serious climb up to the town and then a ridiculously steep ramp into the control. The place is buzzing with riders but I'm just interested in finding my hotel. It's 2am. I had made myself a basic map ahead of time and also get directions but still get lost as it's hidden in a courtyard up a side street. Eventually I almost stumble into the front door.

As I'm entering a group of 90hr SFR riders are just leaving the hotel! That's what you have to do to get in by midday even though it's less than 90 miles to the finish!

The room is really nice and it's a shame I'm going to make such little use of it. The shower is fantastic and, after a bit of preparation I set the alarm for 6:30, which should give me plenty of time to get in, and crash out in a very comfortable bed - it was, but pretty much anything would have been at that point.

Day Four

I woke at 6:15am with excruciating pain in both my knees. I'll admit I was really quite panicked as this was way beyond anything I had experienced in the past - generally I don't suffer knee problems while biking. I figured I'd better get in the shower and try to loosen them up. It worked after a while and I decided that I must have slept with my legs locked in one position. The bed covers were pretty tight and I'm used to a duvet, so I think I just didn't move much. Still scary though.

I'm out and on the road by 7am, so that's a comfortable 10 hours to cover the 140km go the finish. There's a nice descent out of Mortagne but then there are more hills. On this section I run into several people I know including SFR rider Jonathan Beck. While riding with him, we have a very scary experience. A rider from Belgium is also riding with us and on a fast, twisty descent, he moves to the left of the center line with a blind curve ahead. A BMW comes around the bend very fast and he manages to cut back in with about a second to spare. He's very lucky to be alive.

Classic PBP View

I also run into Phelan who I haven't seen since Loudeac. He's doing well and pushing the pace so I drop off. I also meet up with Jack Holmgren and we ride together for quite a while. Jack is suffering with saddle issues and is riding much slower than usual. After a while he tells me to go ahead, but I wait for him in the next village as I need some food. We ride slowly together for a while and take photos of each other lying on a bench at a famous view of a stately home. Jack says it's a classic PBP photo. Then we come across a rider suffering from Shermer's neck. Jack is quite the expert on this and stops to fix the rider up with an inner tube brace. I take a break down the road and we meet up again. By now we are on a long flat run in to Dreux and I suggest that he drafts me in. It doesn't work so I go on ahead as I'm feeling pretty good and riding well. We meet up again at the Dreux control and ride out from there together after some seriously good pastries. Although we're tired we share a real sense of excitement at being so close to the finish - only 50km to go!

Ironically, we come across yet another Shermer's neck sufferer and at that point we part company for good as Jack once again administers his skills. Shortly after I meet up with a young 90 hr rider from Singapore who is worried, rightly, about whether he is gong to make it in by his cutoff. We chatted about randonneuring in Singapore and California, and many other things, as we ticked off the miles. Eventually we came to the one remaining short but steep climb in the forest before hitting the rolling countryside in to Saint Quentin. At the summit the mileage to go was marked and I remember thinking that my friend from Singapore was really on the cusp. Shortly after we were joined by another rider in the same position and the two of them picked the pace in what I must admit I thought was a lost cause. I wasn't in any hurry having about a two hour cushion, so I let them go. Eventually we reached suburbia and the final run in. It was a bit tedious with lots of traffic lights. They had posted signs at 15, 10 and 5 km to go. I must say the km seemed more like miles! But ultimately we reached the big roundabout leading to the finish control where there were lots more cheering spectators. Then into the gym to hand in the brevet card and get the final stamp. I met up with the Moulton riding Brits again outside so we must have taken almost the same overall time, although I hadn't seen them for the last two days. My final time is just over 82 hours. I have no idea exactly how much time I actually spent on the bike, probably about 60 hours, but I do know that I only got 7 hours sleep in total, which is way under my plan.

We got a ticket for one free beer (well lager) in a tent by the exit, where I was happy to see the Singapore rider and hear that he had made it with a few minutes to spare! I can't imagine the stress he must have felt especially waiting at all those traffic lights.

So off to the hotel for a well earned shower. I'm feeling surprisingly good, and not especially tired. Had a couple of hours rest before heading out to dinner with a bunch of SFR riders at one of the restaurants near the hotel. A great time is had by all and no holding back on the food. Yummy profiteroles!

A good nights sleep but didn't sleep in much, which is a surprise. Feeling ok and and after a large hotel breakfast, including lots of croissants, it's time to pack the bike into the case. Unfortunately it's raining again so there is competition for the space in the covered tunnel by the hotel. It takes longer than it should but I'm done by lunch time. The final celebration is the evening dinner for all the American contingent that booked through the Des Peres travel agent. It's fun and I meet up with my buddy Ken Shoemaker for the first time, so we have a lot to talk about.

The journey home, unfortunately, is a nightmare. Breakfast is at 5am, but I'm good at that by now, then it's off to the airport in the buses. There's a lot of concern in the group that's flying to East Coast as a hurricane has shut down most of the airports. So they have no idea what's going to happen. I'm the only one not flying Air France so I part ways and catch the shuttle to the British Airways (BA) terminal. After waiting a while, there is an announcement that the flight will be at least two hours delayed owing to a problem with the inbound aircraft. This eats up most of the cushion I have at Heathrow for the connection to San Francisco. Of course, this being Heathrow, we are put into a holding pattern for about 20 minutes before landing. I'm sure I'm going to miss the connection now unless the SF flight is also delayed. No such luck and we are met at the gate by a young man, whose job I do not envy, who has to deliver the bad news and escort us to the agents who will try to rebook us. I'm assuming there's not much chance of that as most of the US flights have already departed, so I am expecting to have to stay in London and flight the next day. However, the agent manages to get me on a flight to Vancouver and then an Air Canada connection on to SF. I have to wait a couple of hours to get my boarding pass so I get the full English breakfast gratis courtesy of BA. Then some really good news is that I get upgraded to business class!

The flight to Vancouver is super comfortable in business class and it's very nice to just stretch out and watch movies and read. I'm bit worried about my ankles as they have swollen up, partly from the ride and partly from the lower cabin pressure. At Vancouver you have to go through Canadian customs and US customs so it can takes a while. I'm not even sure if my luggage made it onto the plane. It seems to take forever for the luggage to arrive but I still have 45 minutes before the SF flight. Unfortunately that's not enough as you are not allowed to enter the US customs zone later than one hour before the flight leaves. In fact it's all shut down for the night. So I am stranded in Vancouver for the night and am pretty unhappy and tired at this point. But BA puts me up at the airport Sheraton and books me onto an 8am flight the next morning, which isn't so bad. Apart from Air Canada trying to charge me extra for my bike suitcase, which I'm having none of, the rest of the trip is uneventful and I finally arrive home midday Sunday.

Aftermath

I was surprised that I hadn't experienced the usual immediate post-ride extreme fatigue. However, I made up for it by feeling just worn out physically and mentally for much longer than usual, about two weeks. I heard of other riders who contracted various nasty bugs, likely due to weakened immune systems, but fortunately that didn't happen to me. I actually jumped on the bike trainer on the Tuesday to do a recovery ride. That went ok but I realized that the problem with my left hamstring had not healed and in fact seemed worse than when on PBP. I resolved to do plenty of stretching and just light riding on the trainer. Unfortunately, about two weeks later I developed pain in the medial area of my right knee while on the trainer. The pain is reminiscent of I experienced with a meniscus tear in 2008. However, other movements, like closing the knee tight doesn't hurt, so it seems more likely to be arthritis. This is not good news so I have decided to drop all my plans for further 200K and 200M rides for the remainder of the year and try to rehab the knee slowly over time. The hamstring also isn't completely repaired at the time of writing, five weeks after PBP. One good thing is that the ankle was fine during and after the ride. I also didn't suffer any saddle issues for which I credit the Boure shorts, which were far more comfortable than the Pearl Izumi I used to wear.

Conclusion

So, in the end, I have mixed emotions about the whole PBP experience. On one hand, I was lucky that I was able to rehab the ankle and do the ride at all. On the other, I've ended up with a similar condition a year later. Both of these conditions are very likely to have been caused by the repetitive stress incurred in endurance rides, of which PBP is undoubtedly the most difficult that I have attempted. No doubt about it, a 1200K event is a test of physical and mental endurance, and the way PBP is organized seems to me to make it tougher than it should be. I can't help remembering the number of times on the ride where I thought how nice it would be to stop in one of the delightful villages and enjoy a leisurely drink or meal. That's no doubt possible for some riders, but not at my pace with the ever ticking clock of PBP. I'm questioning whether I wouldn't just prefer to tour an area at a leisurely pace rather than race through it as a randonneur. So overall I'm left feeling a sense of achievement for having completed a ride that most people can't even imagine attempting, but balanced by a fear that I may have placed a dangerous level of wear and tear on my body.

I know people who have done multiple PBPs and can't wait for 2015. Personally even if I get healthy and stop worrying about repetitive stress injuries, I'm unlikely to do PBP again. The way the ride start times and ride lengths are organized just makes it very difficult to avoid a lot of night riding and/or unreasonably long stretches on the bike. With hindsight I wish I had known how much more difficult the course was between Loudeac and Brest, as I would probably not have chosen the 84 hour ride. That's one reason for writing such a detailed description, so that it may serve as useful input to new riders in 2015.

Terrible Two 2011 - More terrible this time

2011-06-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I was at my peak climbing ability having knocked off the DMD and AA8, the latter just a week earlier. This year, thanks to my bout of ankle tendinitis and other issues, plus a focus on Brevets and Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP), I am definitely nowhere close.

In 2009 I was still quite worried going into the TT a I hadn't finished a hilly double in under 18 hours - the DMD had taken me 18:10. However, cool temps (and cloud cover), plus the fast first 50 miles with pacelines made a big different and I shocked myself by finishing in daylight at 15:05 ride time. This year was definitely going to be different.

Since the focus is on PBP, I am riding my "brevet" bike, a steel Waterford with dynamo headlamp. It runs a few pounds heavier than the Trek carbon 5200 I rode in 2009. The weather is pleasant with a forecast high of only 82 at Healdsburg. However, the forecast is for sunny skies and there is no doubt that the baking effect of the sun will be felt.

Primarily I'm using this as a PBP training ride, even though the terrain is completely different - PBP having no big climbs or grades, just endless rollers. But there are people who swear by hill climbing as the best way to get into shape for every kind of riding. In my pre-ride confidence I've set up to ride a 200K on the Sunday, to practice the art of getting up after a hard ride and doing it again, something that you have to do three times at PBP.

It's unusually cold at the start and I'm regretting not having my arm warmers, something that as reinforced as we run into a low-lying fog blanket shortly after the start. I meet Becky Berka at the start and wish her well, knowing that she is going for a well earned podium spot in the CTC stage race. I also run into Veronica Tunnicci who I've seen on lots of SF Randonneur rides . She tells me she did the Alpine Challenge the previous week like I did on 2009 but, like me, is worried about the cutoffs on his one.

As is the pattern so for this year, I can't hold my spot in middle of the pack like I used to, so I eventually find myself at the back. I meet a group who are going my pace but it turns out they are only planning to ride to the lunch spot! I really should have re-read my 2009 post before the ride because I have forgotten how steep the grades are on the TT. Trinity Grade which is the first climb up and over into the Napa valley reminds me of what's to come. On the somewhat hairy descent I am slowed by a volunteer coming in to a bend and sadly see a rider down in the road. Later I hear the sirens and the paramedics heading up.

So being at the back there are no pacelines to join, and I end up pulling a lone member of the "Red Peloton" group who are only going the the lunch stop. Later another guy joins us and eventually moves the front but then sets a pace I can't keep up with! So I drop off. Then to my surprise I'm in Calistoga and realise this can't be right. So I pull out the route sheet and sure enough I should have turned right to get the Silverado trail about miles back. I ask directions at the gas station and it's easy to get back on course, although I still mess around and make a wrong turn, eventually ending up at the turn off the Silverado trail where there is a SAG wagon directing riders. He doesn't seem to be surprised that I'm coming the wrong way. Technically I'm disqualified now and the route I took is a couple miles shorter and I do know someone who owned up that on another ride. As I'm leaving the rest stop the guy I couldn't keep up with earlier shows up from the opposite direction so he went even further than I did before realizing his mistake. Later I see the Red Peloton lady coming in so she must have gone as far as where the ride rejoins 128 before realizing her mistake. So drafting me wasn't a great idea after all but then she is only going to the lunch stop. The moral here is to always have the route slip in view and don't blindly follow others.

I'm about 40 minutes slower leaving the rest stop than 2009 which means it's going to be tricky to make the lunch stop cutoff. There are one way restrictions on 128 at two places and is indicative of how much the TT is like a race that organizers told everyone at the start that they would be taking numbers there and subtracting each person's delay from their final time. However they weren't extending the lunch cutoff by the same amount. The Geyser climbs are not too bad and the buffer effect of the red-light delays means that I do pick up a couple of pacelines on the runup. I catch up to Veronica at the rest stop and we run into the lunch stop together. The gravel sections on the Geysers are just as gnarly as ever even with 700x25 tires.

We reach the lunch stop with 5 minutes to spare so its a frantic rush to fill the bottles and grab some food to go. I really could use a break, as I've ridden 111 miles with essentially no rest. I remark on how tough the cutoff is to make but, later I realize, it's actually very accurately computed. In 2009 I left with hour to spare and made up another 80 minutes. But if you only just make the cutoff you obviously are unlikely to make up any time; indeed you my lose even more (see below).

But there is no rest for the wicked or slow, so I'm out of there onto the dreaded Skaggs Springs Rd, built by the Army Corps of Engineers, none of whom had obviously ever ridden a bike. The surface is unusually good for his ride but the grades are relentlessly in the 10-13% range. The sun is mostly out so it feels hotter than in 2009. Lots of people are walking their bikes on this section. I am confident that they will not finish. I get an inside thigh cramp towards the end of the first climb so at the rest stop I down salt tablets and the V8 I didn't have time for at "lunch". In what will be a repeated event from now on arriving riders announce that they are done for the day and are Sagging in. I've never been on the tail end of a ride before; it's an interesting experience, but one I could do without. I riding as hard a I can without blowing up, so that's pretty depressing. Veronica leaves just a few minutes ahead of me but I never see her again until the end.

At the water stop just before the summit of the second climb, I realise I won't make the closing time of the next proper rest stop which is 17 miles away and at the top of the dreaded Rancheria wall with its 18-20% grades. The descent down is fast but I remember the rollers along the river so the clock runs fast. This the section of the TT where the miles seem long. The miles before lunch do go by fast but in the afternoon you keep looking at the bike computer and wondering if it's working properly. On Rancheria I try the "paper boy" style of climbing where you switchback across the road thus trading a bit of distance for grade except for the quick hairpin turns at each end. Not a good plan on a busy road (some idiots do this on Ebbetts on the Death Ride) but this road has basically no traffic.

I reach the rest stop 20 minutes after closing but it's still open and the good news is it is possible to make up time on the relatively short and flat section on Hwy 1 down the coast. The temperature drops at the coast but it's clear and sunny and, heaven, the surface is new and quite wonderful, and the views spectacular. There are rollers, in fact a total of 1000' feet of climbing, but I make up the time and reach the rest stop on Ft Ross Road with 5 minutes to spare. I'm getting pissed that I've ridden hard all day and am chasing cutoffs everywhere. Kitty Goursolle and Rob Hawks are working the stop and they take good care of me. The soup is great but I leave promptly, remarking that I just can't wait to do another 15% + climb. More paper boy climbing - it's getting harder to push those pedals but I made it up. I pass someone wearing Hammer shorts walking their bike (not a great advertizement) who wants to know how much more. Then on the the very steep and narrow pitch my paper boy plan doesn't work. On the left turn across I can't make the turn as I'm essentially at 0mph and topple over. No harm done fortunately except to my ego. After yet another bumpy descent we get to do it all over again, although the grade isn't quite as bad, but by this stage every hill seems steep. The light fails on the descent into Cazadero and I realize two things. First, I really wish I had my headlamp and second, making the 11:00 cutoff for CTC credit is looking distinctly iffy. I meet up with guy wearing a SF Randonneur jersey who is riding a unmarked bike that turns out to be one of the 2012 Specialized models, which he gets to test for them. He likes a lot, more than the 2009 model.

As we drop into Cazadero, and am I so glad to be off the Ft Foss road, the temperature drops about 10 degrees, reflecting the temperature inversion that has been a feature of the day and again I wish I had my arm warmers. I lose my riding partner when I have to stop to put on my rear light and he rides off with the Hammer Gal who has caught us up. She was much braver than me on the Ft Ross descent.

It's a grind into Monte Rio, although River Rd is freshly paved which is nice. The rest stop is wrapping up for the night as it's 9:55. There's no way to make the cutoff now so I relax and call Jenny to let her know my status. She thinks I've finished but I tell her the ride has humbled me. I also decide at that point that there is no point in doing the 200K the next day as this ride has taken enough out of me so she can expect me back earlier. A couple of the riders show up who think they can make the cutoff but it's 16 miles and a climb up the Bohemian Hwy so I don't think so unless their second name is Armstrong or Contador.

They pass me in a hurry on the flat section out of town but we three end up riding into the finish as a group as they realize on the climb that they can't make it. A SAG wagon guides us in, stopping ahead to point out the turns - it's pitch black by now. It has to be said that the volunteer support on this ride is above and beyond expectations. The clock isn't running any more and nobody is very interested in taking our numbers since we won't be getting CTC credit, being 20 minutes past the cutoff. Veronica is at the finish and I'm pleased to hear that she made it. I grab some food to go and head for my hotel. Can't eat much of it though as my stomach is still grumbling about the total Perpetuem overload it has received today.

So how am I feeling immediately after the ride? The good news is that I finished in control, and enjoying the sensation of being on the bike apart from the lousy road sections. My ankle has held up to a day of really tough climbing - four months ago a I couldn't even stand up on the bike and the last big climbing ride I did was Knoxville in September. Could I have made the CTC cutoff? Probably, if I had pushed myself closer to the limit, but that would have made the ride much less enjoyable. After all, if the DMD had the same time policy as the TT, I wouldn't have made the cutoff on that ride in 2009. As always I had moments where I considered giving up doubles altogether. Will I ride the TT again? Probably, unless a heatwave was forecast, but on a different bike and after more hill training. The Waterford is a great brevet bike but climbing hills isn't its forte. And how do I feel this morning? Pretty good, not as fatigued as usual an definitely could ride again, so that's good news for PBP.

Levi's Gran Fondo

2009-10-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

Levi Leipheimer, the US racer, lives and trains in Santa Rosa area and conceived of a Gran Fondo, a tradition in Italy, as a way to enhance further cycling in the area and a way to raise money for a variety of causes, including bring the Tour de California back to Santa Rosa. A Gran Fondo, e.g., the Gran Fondo Campagnolo, is a race, in the sense that it is timed, but open to the masses, and I mean masses. Several thousand riders typically participate in a Gran Fondo, and there were the maximum 3500 signed up for Levi's. A Fondo typically includes rides of several distances, and Levi's had a Piccolo Fondo of 35 miles, a Medio Fondo of 65 miles and the Gran Fondo of 100 miles.

I'd signed up way back in May when it was first announced, not thinking that it would attract so many riders. The only other ride that compares is the Death Ride. The difference being that, whereas Death Riders start pretty much whenever they want, everyone started at the same time in the Fondo. Well, notionally, as obviously you can't just unleash 3500 riders on the street at the same time. The way it worked was that we all lined up in a snake-like formation in the parking lot of the Finley Community Park, supposedly order by riding speed. The snake started rolling at 8:15, but it was a good 10 minutes before our segment rode through the start/finish arch.

I'm used to showing up and riding pretty much straight away, so this a little strange. Particularly as I chose not to spend any more money on hotels for bike rides and so drove up the morning of the event. Registration was from 6:00 to 7:30 and the organizers had been warning of parking problems and long lines at registration on the day. Evidently they scared enough people into arriving Friday evening because the word was that registration Friday was a zoo, whereas it was a breeze on Saturday, as was the parking, as they had lots of office parking lots available close by. But I still had a lot of time to kill after registering. I knew several people who were planning to ride and met up with fellow double century veteran Becky, and several old friends from her previous cycling club in Beverley Hills.

In the snake waiting to start

The organizers certainly had the roads well covered with volunteers and all the junctions out of town had police stopping traffic and waving the riders through.
Overall the standard of route marking was excellent and the rest stops were well stocked and the volunteers were very helpful. I didn't care much for the energy drink they provided, so stuck to water and the Hammer gel I had brought with me.

At first the ride went fine as we traveled on the mostly straight roads heading towards Sebastopol. There were also lots of people out cheering and ringing cowbells, like it was a real race, which continued for most of the day. Unfortunately, as soon as we hit the hills and a few sharp turns, the sheer number of riders caused major bottlenecks, and we came to a stop several times. It thinned out again on the Bohemian Highway on the way to Monte Rio but this was ride where, like the Death Ride, there is never a moment when you can't see a cyclist either ahead or behind you. At Monte Rio, and the first rest stop, the Medio Fondo turned off, so the number of riders thinned out some more, but 1500 were signed up for the Gran Fondo, so not by a huge amount.

The Beverley Hills Gang (and me) at Cazadero rest stop

After riding on 116 by the Russian River for a while we turned right towards Cazadero, and another rest stop, before tackling the climb up to King Ridge, the focus of the ride. I had never ridden this segment before and it is a good as advertized. It's a tough climb up to the ridge, similar to Kings Mountain, and then great views and a steadier climb to the high point. I always like ridge hikes and ridge rides are just as good. There's something special about riding high above everything. I ran into Randy and Chris, also friends met on doubles, on the climb but unfortunately never met up with then at lunch as hoped. Perhaps they stopped at the lemonade stop, which we passed on. After a partial descent we hit the lunch stop which included some nice Italian bread sandwiches to set the Fondo tone.

Lunch Stop
The volunteers were warning newbies about the descent immediately after lunch and it was pretty technical. It looked like one guy had crashed and later we saw an ambulance headed that way. The descent was short and only led to another climb, one that went on way longer than I expected. Not having studied the map carefully I had assumed that we went over the ridge to the coast and then down Hwy 1. In fact, we climbed steadily up to another ridge that paralleled the coast. I finally figured this when I caught sight of the ocean and realized that we were riding parallel to it.

Eventually we had to get down and we rode past two signs warning of 18% grade, only to find ourselves still doing rollers on the ridge. Finally, at the third sign, you could see we were finally going down as the coastline was spread out before us.

Final warning!
It was a truly epic and fun descent and only truly steep at the very top. We came onto Hwy 1 just before the town of Jenner at the mouth of the Russian River. The wind was really blowing on the coast, fortunately from the North West, and provided a great tail wind all the way to the start of the Coleman Valley climb. We were cruising at 20mph just soft pedaling and hitting 30 with nominal effort. The frequent left to right bends around creek entrances on Hwy 1 were great fun, as the full force of the wind was behind you entering the bend.

Coleman Valley is a tough climb from the coast, although not up to Fort Ross standards. It was my third time on it this year and the first time it was not socked in by fog. The views were great but since we were now riding NE, we were constantly buffeted by side winds once we got up onto the ridge.

Looking North from Coleman Valley climb
Eventually we reached the cover of the trees and started the descent and climb out to Occidental. Unlike on the Mt Tam double, this time I managed to stay on the right side of the road on the hairpin on the descent. The warning signs posted by the organizers were a timely reminder and now I think I know what happened on the Mt Tam ride. I remember having real trouble bleeding off speed before the bend. It turns out that the surface just before the bend is incredibly bumpy and I think I just flew into it last time so had reduced braking effect.

After the final rest stop at Occidental it was an easy run in, reversing the morning route, until they routed us onto an unpaved bike path for a couple miles. Not a pleasant experience on a road bike! Eventually we hit paved roads again and then were riding back into the park and through the finish arc, to yet more cheering and cowbells.

After dumping the bike in the van and a quick rub-down and change of clothes it was back to enjoy the post ride meal and a can of beer. Although I never saw Levi on his bike, I did get to see him at the post ride press conference. They are keen to make this an annual event and I think that would be a great thing for cycling in the area. Would I personally do it again? I'm not sure. I've got somewhat spoiled by the low rider numbers at double century rides, and there is no doubt that the accident risk is increased with large numbers of riders, not all of whom ride safely. However, it bears repeating that the ride was extremely well organized, the traffic was very light and it is a great route. So maybe!

Complete photo album on Facebook.

Ride Stats
Total ride time: 8:12
On bike time: 7:16
Distance: 103 miles
Total Climb: 8940'
Avg speed: 14.0 mph

White Mountain Double

2009-09-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

This double intrigued me since, like the Alta Alpina 8-pass challenge, it was new to CTC this year and also claimed great views of one of my favorite places, the Sierra Nevada. Plus, one of my new biking friends, Becky, had ridden the test ride last year, and recommended it.

It's a long drive to Bishop from the Bay Area and my memories of June's ill-fated Eastern Sierra double still linger. On that drive, I had to go over 88 instead of Tioga Pass, as the latter was closed for snow. This time the temperatures threatened the other way, with a forecast high of 97F in Bishop on ride day. This could mean triple digits for the desert areas we would be riding through in the heat of the day.

Traffic was light, as the tourist season is winding down, and it was a pleasant drive over the Tioga Pass. I usually like to have a short warm-up ride the day before so, although it was getting late, I stopped off just before Mammoth Lakes and rode around the June Lake loop, a nice 20 miler, with a fun descent down 395 to get back to the car. This meant that it was already dark by the time I got to Bishop and checked in.

This was a timed ride and there were two start times, 4:15 and 5:15, with strong encouragement to take the earlier time for all but the fastest riders. That's not me, so I was ready to go at 4:15. In the pre-ride briefing, the organizers made a big thing about not switch-backing on the White Mountain climb, due to faster riders descending. The suggestion being that the climb was going to be uber-steep.

About two thirds of the riders, who numbered 96 in all, started at 4:15. It was pleasantly cool in Bishop and, knowing how hot it was likely to be later, I was just wearing a sleeveless vest and no arm or leg warmers. I almost regretted this as the temperature dived noticeably as we left the town limits and got progressively colder as we climbed. First, however, we had about 15 miles to go down 395 to Big Pine. There was almost no traffic but at one point a police car came by and told us all to move onto the shoulder. Not legally required, of course, and only a few people complied partly as you had to cross the nasty rumble strip to get onto the shoulder. Of course, in normal traffic, it makes perfect sense to ride on the shoulder but it seemed quite unnecessary at this time.

Soon we were turning left onto 168 and starting the climb. We quickly passed the turn to Death Valley, where we had gone on the Eastern Sierra ride, and settled in for the long climb of over 6000'. This would be my longest and highest climb on a bike. It's quite hard to tell the grade in the dark, but it didn't seem overly hard anywhere. Mostly I was concerned about how much colder it was going to get! At one point I heard a rider in front of me evidently talking about the Gold Rush Randonnee, and then I realized that he was talking to Kerin Huber, who I have met on several doubles. So I pulled alongside and introduced myself. It turned out to be Chris Hanson, a name I recognized as he is also a friend of Becky. We rode together up to the first rest stop, at a left turn off 168 that heads up to the Schulman Grove, the top of the climb. Chris announced that it was 45F at this point. The good news was that the sun was just starting to touch the hillside ahead so I knew that we would feel its warmth very soon. However, I could have used a hot chocolate at this point rather than iced water! Anticipating hot conditions, I was wearing a Camelbak for the first time ever. Normally, I hate things on my back when I am riding, but the small Camelbak wasn't bothering me so far, and it was a convenient delivery mechanism.

Kerin and Chris had rushed off, so I climbed the second phase solo. The climb certainly had some steep pitches but they tended to level out quickly before picking up again. So it didn't have that relentless grade that makes a climb really tough. There was another rest stop midway, and I loaded up with a few more calories.

Sierra Nevada from White Mountain Climb
The final 1000' was quite tough and it was good to crest over a rise and see that there was a short descent to the grove and rest stop. We were given a bit more weight to carry at this point, by way of a spent CO2 cartridge, with a White Mountain sticker. Supposedly we were to hand this in at the finish as proof of reaching the summit.

Bristlecone Pines at the Schulman Grove
The descent was somewhat technical, with a sharp drop off to the right side at first. The 5:15 starters were coming up the lower section as I descended and many of these would overtake me as the ride progressed. The rest stop at the base was all packed up and ready to move on but they said it was all downhill to next stop in the Deep Springs valley. The ensuing descent down 168 to the valley was really fun, twisty, but clear sight lines and no traffic. It eventually started to flatten out and you could see the road streaking straight as an arrow through the valley floor. We were definitely in a new environment now, extremely dry, flat, valley floor, with alluvial fans flowing from the mountains flanking it. No sign of human habitation anywhere.

Descent to Deep Springs Valley
The rest stop was at the far end of the valley where I met up with Kerin again. The staff were being very hygiene conscious and I almost got my wrists slapped for helping myself to a potato; they insisted on serving us. Kerin and I rode off together towards the short climb through Gilbert Pass, which was followed by a long downhill into another valley called, ironically, Fish Lake. We were going to be in this valley for quite a long time, including the lunch stop outside a bar called Boonies in Dyer. Lunch was at an early 89 miles, as opposed to the more typical 110. Not much choice really, as this was essentially the only habitation on the entire route. On the way to lunch we crossed into Nevada. For a while we rode two abreast but I was having trouble keeping at Kerin's pace, so in the end I drafted her into lunch, which was very agreeable! Fish Lake valley actually has some agriculture, hence the human habitation. They must be pumping water from an underground acquifier.

After lunch it was more of the same. We tried to guess the distance to landmarks, which looked close but were typically five miles away. Eventually we started a gradual climb out of the valley, and reached a welcome water stop, as it was pretty hot by this point. Although the road continued onto Bishop, we had to get our 200 miles in, so we turned right, up a short climb, and then down past some very colorful hills into, yes, you guessed it, another valley, this one even bigger than the previous two. The valleys and ranges just go on and on in Nevada; you can go all the way to Salt Lake City through endless terrain like this.

The Road to Nowhere

This valley was a little more busy with traffic as Hwy 6 runs through it from Bishop and connects with Hwy 95 that heads to Las Vegas. To make the mileage we actually turned right on 6 and continued to the junction with 95 and the famous "smoothie" rest stop. They were good, made with fresh peaches. I was getting concerned about sun exposure at this point and was disappointed to find that there were no public supplies at the rest stop; fortunately I was able to "borrow" some from one of the volunteers.

The Smoothie Rest Stop
It's always good when you reach the turnaround point in a long ride and this was it. All we had left to do was the 78 miles on Hwy 6 back to Bishop. The bad news was that it was now the hottest part of the day and we had a long climb ahead of us. Riding on the flat in the valleys provided a breeze just from the bike speed but as we started to climb that disappeared and it started to get uncomfortable. I had been drafting Kerin on the flats and holding my own on the hills but, as the grade crept up slowly towards the climb, I couldn't hold her pace and had to let her go. The grade increased steadily; since the road is dead straight, you can see it rising, seemingly forever, in front of you, which is mentally tough. On a typical twisty climb, you don't quite know what's coming, which allows for a more optimistic attitude. After all, it could end just around the corner!

There was another welcome water stop midway and then easier going to the real rest stop at a junction just before the final climb to Montgomery Pass. I was tired enough to sit in a chair for a while, eat a PBJ and drink a V8 and a Coke. Then off to tackle the final climb. I mistakenly thought we had to climb to 7800', another 1500', so I was very happy when I saw the summit at 7100'. The descent from here to Benton was memorable, ten miles long, initially a few bends but then a long straight run out.

Boundary Peak on descent from Montgomery Pass
At Benton, now back in California, was the final "soup station" rest stop. Sounds good, but it was only CupNoodles. The home-made Miso soup at the Sunol rest stop on the Devil Mountain Double still takes first prize for cuisine. One very nice touch, however, was the bottles of Starbucks Frappucino. I poured two of these into my water bottle for the final 40 miles.

Forty miles is a long way on a bike. Even if you average 20, it's two more hours in the saddle, and at the end of a double it can seem interminable. It was light when I started, but clearly it was going to be dark by the finish. After a few miles a paceline of four guys came past and invited me to hop on, which I did. This upped the average speed to about 22, with about 2 minute pulls each. Strangely, at the end of my third pull, I looked behind and saw that they had dropped off; odd as I hadn't been pushing the pace. Shortly after that I caught up with the amazing Gerd, who is 76, and still puts in very creditable times. He had drafted me for a while on Mt Tam, so I offered to pull him in to the finish. Not much later the paceline caught us up and we hopped on again. It was dark by now, which makes pacelines even more tricky, so I was watching the wheel in front of me very carefully. And yet again, they dropped off, this time on my second pull. Too bad, now I had to pull on my own for the final ten miles. The temperature was dropping now and the cool air was very refreshing. We could see the lights of Bishop but they seemed to get closer very, very slowly. Eventually the road turned west and I knew we were on the last leg to the junction with 395. A short jog up main street and we rolled in to the Ramada at about 20:15.

Overall a good ride, one that would be impossible without organized rest stops (or towing a trailer with supplies). It would be good to do in a group of 4-6, to be able to paceline or chat through the somewhat boring flat sections.

A more complete set of photos can be be found in my Facebook album.

Ride Stats:
Total time: 16:00
On bike time: 14:06
Distance: 198.3 miles
Climbing: 11808'
Avg Speed: 14.1 mph

"Winning" the Triple Crown

2009-09-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

In my previous post on the Knoxville double, I mentioned the California Triple Crown (CTC) Awards breakfast and the fact that first-time winners like me were asked to identify ourselves and enumerate the rides we had done. (A "winner" is anyone who completes three doubles in a single year, although "earn" might be more accurate since you are only competing against yourself). In the interests of time everyone kept it brief, but I'm sure some people would have liked to have said more about their experience. So here is what I would liked to have said.

Hi, my name is Mick Jordan and I've been a bike commuter all my life, but I only started recreational riding a couple of years ago, when my knees told me that it might be a good idea to give up running and playing soccer. On my very first and then longest organized ride of 78 miles in 2007 (The Tour de Cure), I drafted a rider wearing one of these Triple Crown jerseys. To be accurate I was just following him, as I didn't now about drafting then. I remember thinking, wow, 200 miles in one day, how is that possible, he must have been a lot younger when he did that. But looking around this audience I see that I was wrong on that one! In fact the average age of CTC riders is surprisingly high. The next year, when I rode the Death Ride, I saw more of these jerseys and finally had to ask people how they did it. The answers boiled down to riding longer and longer until you get there. So no magic secret.

I was intrigued, but I still had my doubts. In fact. in January of this year, I made a decision not to try for the CTC. At that time I decided that there was something crazy about a bike ride that you couldn't finish in daylight (I didn't know about randonneuring then). But it kept nagging at me until I decided I had to try one, so I signed up for the Solvang double, which is correctly advertised as a good first double. I slowly built up my training mileage until I got close to 200 miles and had a good time at Solvang, meeting and riding with some great people. I also had my first experience of riding in a paceline, which was fun, and I hope not too scary for the people behind me.

Next up was the Devil Mountain Double, from the sublime to the ridiculous! Although I like climbing, I was really quite nervous about the DMD, but I had a great time, discovering how a group of people can help each other conquer adversity. Finishing the DMD in a reasonable time is still the highlight of my year, and it is unquestionably my favorite ride so far, one that I plan to ride every year from here on. By this point I was hooked!

Next came Davis where in the 100 degree weather I had my low point, feeling as tired as I have ever felt on a bike at the top of the Resurrection climb. I was so tired at the end that when I called my wife I told her I was alive but beyond further conversation and I'd call in the morning.

Then I DNF'ed by choice at 6500' on the Easter Sierra, not wanting to risk hypothermia in the hail and snow on a re-routed ride that I wasn't mentally enthused about doing. I still don't regret that decision and I had fun climbing Tioga pass in the afternoon instead. The next week was Alta Alpina, where I took (and used) my ski pants and gloves, and just barely made the cut-off for the 8th pass. A great ride destined to be a classic in the CTC series.

I didn't really want to do the Terrible Two so soon after Alta Alpina, but a co-worker was riding it, so we car-pooled and room-shared. I was really, really, unsure I could make the 10pm cut-off for this ride as I hadn't completed a hilly double in less than 18 hours, but cool weather helped me to finish in 15 hours, which I still can't quite believe, the only double I completed in daylight. My co-worker, who's admittedly half my age, came in an impressive 28th!

The year was rounded out with Mt. Tam and Knoxville, with White Mountain to come, and then I'm done. My only regret is missing the Central Coast due to family commitments, which prevented me from completing the Stage Race series. I've had a great time, made some great new friends, and been impressed by everyone I've met. There are some truly awesome people in the CTC. It's a great organization and the volunteers are fantastic. I exceeded my initial goal of the Triple Crown and made it into the Gold Thousand mile club, which will be my annual goal from here on out.

A big thanks to everyone who helped and supported me this year, especially my wife Jenny, who had to put up with a lot of weekend absences!

Knoxville Double

2009-09-20T14:57:00.001-07:00

So where is Knoxville you ask? Prior to this ride I had no idea. Well, it's not an actual place, at least not any more. A ghost town perhaps? It is a recreation area managed by the BLM, close to Lake Berryessa, and there are several roads like the Berryessa-Knoxville road suggesting there might have been something more there in the past. Anyway, it is out in the boonies, and is the logical center around which this ride forms a figure of eight.

Knoxville is put on by the Quackcyclists, an informal group of dedicated cycling enthusiasts, who also put on the more famous Devil Mountain Double in the spring. They have a well deserved reputation for very well organized events. There is a also a tradition of holding the California Triple Crown (CTC) Awards Breakfast on the Sunday morning after the ride.

I decided it was time to put something back into the CTC by volunteering at this double. There are many ways to do this including manning rest stops on the day of the ride but, since I wanted to ride, I decided to help out on Friday getting the food for the rest stops and packing it all up ready for the volunteers to collect on Saturday morning. There are six rest stops and about 250 riders to provision for, which makes for a lot of food and drink. I left Palo Alto at 7am and was busy until about 4pm, including a trip to Costco. Now I know what those big flatcarts are for!

It got pretty toasty in the afternoon, about 102F, which had me a bit worried as this ride heads into some pretty hot and dry terrain with not a lot of shade, similar to the Davis Double. Fortunately the forecast was for a small cool off, but clearly the afternoon temperature was going to be in the 90s.

As I'm checking into the hotel where many Knoxville riders are staying, I notice that the woman checking in ahead of me has both a prosthetic leg and a Lance Armstrong bracelet, so I ask her if she is riding tomorrow and she says yes. More on this story later.

This isn't a timed event, and they let you start early so I decided to try to beat the heat on the morning climbs by starting at 4:30. The ride starts and ends in Pena Adobe park in Vacaville and quickly heads west and then north into the back country. I ran into Ken Shoemaker and Kitty Goursolle at the start, who are well known randonneurs, and recently completed the 2009 Gold Rush Randonnee, which covers 750 miles with a 90 hour time limit. They were proudly wearing their recently arrived commemorative jerseys. I'd never actually met either of these two in person but had met Kitty virtually on Facebook through a mutual friend. So it was neat to meet them in the flesh and chat to them as we rode out through the suburbs of Vacaville. It was already warm, about 70F.

We were riding in a small group for a while and then Ken and I ended up pulling away a bit as we climbed up Mount George before a fast descent into the Napa Valley. The temperature took a big dive as we descended into the valley, dropping about 20F, and I almost wished I had a jacket with me. We cruised up the Silverado trail for a few miles into the first rest stop at about 36 miles, which we had covered in just over two hours. The sun was up now, although still hidden by the hills we had just come over.

First light at rest stop #1 in Napa Valley

Ballooning is a popular activity in the Napa Valley and they were getting an early start today

The next segment was easy going with a nice paceline on the remainder of the Silverado trail, then through some pretty countryside in the Pope valley before the first real climb over Mount Howell. A sprightly guy passes me but I catch him at the top and we get chatting. He's about my age and happy to be back in employment after several years of semi-forced retirement. Later in the day I see him walking his bike up a hill with leg cramps. He managed to finish the ride, I'm happy to report. The route sheet warned of the "wicked fast" descent off the ridge and indeed it was like a bob sled run with some nasty increasing radius turns. The road surface was unusually good however. I'm sure racers would reach 50mph here. On the short climb to the west shore of Lake Berryessa, I chatted to a 71 year old ex-racer from England. Will I still be doing doubles in my 70s I wonder? I didn't notice at the time but evidently I lost a water bottle on the bumpy descent down to the rest stop by the lake. Since I did not want have to do the rest of the ride with only one bottle I climbed back up to look for it, but it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, Mike Deitchman, who was working the rest stop, offered me a spare. Unfortunately, it was only available because he had had to drop out of the ride owing to a fractured bike-frame. Later I would learn that there was more to this story.

At this rest stop I met up with Lego Andy, who I had ridden with at Solvang, when we were both riding our first double, and then on the Waves to Wine ride as he is the team captain for Tivo. Andy was riding this one solo so we teamed up and would ride together almost to the end.

Mick and Andy at Rest Stop #2

Climbing up from Lake Berryessa
The next segment is the one that I wanted to get over before it got hot as it is a long slow climb, with a steep finish, of about 20 miles. Up till now the temperature had been pleasant but the morning clouds were gone and the sun was beginning to bake the earth. Lots of streams crossed the road, which was in a valley, with primitive concrete fords. Generally the road surface was poor; not a much traveled road. Saw people walking along the road carrying shotguns as this is a hunting area. Glad we weren't considered prey. You could see that we had a climb ahead as there was a massive cliff covering the view ahead that we somehow had to get over. Eventually it got steeper and hotter and we saw some people walking their bikes, not something you see much on doubles. We met up with Debra, who I rode for while with at the DMD and Mt Tam. We were glad to see the mini-rest stop at the top, at over 2000', as we our water bottles were nearly empty.

Andy climbing past scorched earth on Knoxville Rd
We still had 15 miles to go to the lunch stop, but there was a great downhill to start. Unfortunately, one one section we both hit a rut in the road and Andy drew the short straw and got a pinch flat. Pretty efficient tube change and Lee Mitchell's SAG wagon arrived on the scene in a timely manner with a foot pump to avoid having to use a CO2 cartridge.

There was a bit more climbing before lunch, and the route markers had exceeded themselves by spray painting "last climb before lunch, honest" on the last (big) hill. Lunch was at a small park in Lower Lake under a great open but roofed area with tables and benches. Nice burrito assembled on the spot and lots of fruit, salty snacks and V8 juice. We're feeling a bit pooped at this point and probably stayed too long.

The toughest climb is after lunch, as often seems to be the case! There were rumors that there was an eight mile flat run in, but this proved to be false and we start climbing, albeit gently, almost straight away. This climb is up Cobb Mountain going to 3000'. We were doing it in the reverse direction from the Davis double. In fact, much of the route back follows the Davis double in reverse. It's probably the hottest part of the day, definitely in the 90s, and much of the climb is in the sun, so it's tough. We stop at one point in some shade for a break; remember it's not a race! The altitude does moderate the temperature a bit, the grade lessens, and the larger pine trees start to provide more shade so the the final section is quite enjoyable. The descent on the back side is fast and long, on mostly good road surface. The sign warning of 11% grade is a hint that it's going to be fast.

It is a long descent all the way down to Middletown, which we pass through quickly - there's not much population in this area - thankfully. Shortly afterwards we come across an SUV being pulled out of a ditch and CHP holding cars in the opposite direction. There were no cars ahead of us and none behind so, as we had been most of the day, we are two abreast. As we passed the officer he said "you can't ride two abreast", which surprised me. Subsequent research shows that this is a somewhat muddy and often misinterpreted area of the law in California, as described here. A close reading of the law, however, makes it clear that the officer was incorrect. Since there was no same direction traffic, the normal "ride as close as practicable to the right" rule does not apply.

A little later, after we turned off and were on a really long straight road with hardly any traffic, again we ride two abreast, but going single when a car approaches. A few cars pass us by pulling into the center of the road, leaving plenty of room, nothing usually coming the other way. Then this truck comes up. I move over in plenty of time but he doesn't pull to the left at all, and passes us with maybe 1-2 ft clearance. We both are a bit spooked and use our arms and voices to indicate he should have moved over. About 30 yards up the road he stops and puts the truck into reverse. We're thinking the guns are coming out next! We probably should have just stayed behind but we overtake him and I can't help mentioning the 3 feet of clearance. He says to "stay off the road" or words to that effect. Now I'm worried he might run us off the road but thankfully he just passes us, this time with reasonable clearance. Reminder to self: must stop engaging with bike-unfriendly motorists!

It's much the same crew from rest stop #2 who've moved to rest stop #4 by Detert Lake, where a slight breeze is blowing, but it's still hot. We have now done two thirds of the distance, which is one of the tough points in a double, much of it mental. At least there isn't a big climb ahead of us as there is on some of the tougher doubles. However, we're both feeling quite tired. I decide I've had enough of flavored energy drinks and switch completely to water with just a squeeze flask of concentrated chocolate and espresso Hammer Gel. It tastes good and washes down well with water. The other virtue of water is that you can pour it on your head when it gets two hot. I put some pieces of ice in the gaps in my helmet as a slow release equivalent. It's great until it runs down onto my sunglasses. Jason, who I met at the same time as Andy at Solvang, comes in complaining about leg cramps. He isn't reduced to walking but can't stand on the pedals or push hard. Evidently the heat is taking it's toll.

Leaving Rest Stop #4
It's twenty five miles to the next rest stop on the south-east corner of Lake Berryessa, mostly easy going with some rollers, then a short climb and twisty descent to the lake. The sun is starting to drop but it is still beating down on the exposed rest stop. Ken and Kitty are there and leave ahead of us. Then mutual friend Becky arrives on her own, wearing her new stage race jersey, just as we are leaving. She's in a good mood as she's coping well with the heat.

There are several short climbs on the next section and I can see that Andy wants to get done, whereas I'm too tired to push the pace, so I tell him to go ahead while I soft pedal the hills. About halfway I get caught by Becky and we ride the remainder of the way together. Here I learn that Mike's frame damage was actually caused by a four bike paceline crash that she was involved in. Fortunately, no-one was hurt.

It's true that as we get closer to the central valley it's getting hotter even though the sun has set behind us by now. By the time we get to the final rest stop it's dark but hotter again. Ken and Kitty are still there, so we must have made good time. We don't dally as the finish is only thirteen miles away and real Italian food awaits us. The run in on Pleasant Valley Rd is fairly traffic free but, oddly, several cars coming the opposite way blows their horns at us when we are riding two abreast. I've read that the new LED lights like mine can seem like main beam car headlights to oncoming drivers, so perhaps that is what they were complaining about. Or maybe we just made them nervous.

The post ride meal is great, really good food, and ice cream bars for dessert. I think I had three. My opinion is that the post-ride meal, although not ubiquitous, is one of the best parts of double centuries, as it is a time to wind down, swap stories and generally bask in the feeling of achievement. Just packing up an driving off after such an adventure doesn't seem quite right.

Some people are driving back home but others like me are staying for the annual CTC Awards Breakfast which takes place at the park at 8am next morning. All us first time CTC "winners" get to identify ourselves and say what doubles we did to get the triple crown. The real purpose of the event though is to induct people who have done 50 doubles into the CTC Hall of Fame. This is done in mystery style as information about the person's history is revealed by the CTC head honcho, Chuck Bramwell, who is apt to get a bit choked up over some of the stories. He does a great job, and keeps things moving along at a good pace. Some of the stories are impressive and Chuck's favorite line is "Is that inspirational or what"! The most emotional story relates to Karen, the woman I met at the hotel check-in. It turns out that she has an incredible athletic history including many IronMan triathlon finishes and double century rides. She was hit by a car a couple of years ago and suffered a badly damaged ankle. After trying for months to rehabilitate it after surgery, she eventually decided to have it amputated and be fitted with the prosthetic leg. She completed her 50th double on Saturday and was duly inducted into the Hall of Fame. Her incredibly positive attitude that came through in her acceptance speech was, indeed, truly inspirational.

Ride Stats

Total Ride Time: 16:24
On Bike Time: 14:07
Distance: 203.5 miles
Total Climb: 13460'
Avg Speed: 14.4 mph

Waves to Wine 2009

2009-09-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

The Sun Team
Finally after the months of build up, the day arrives. We're done fund raising, in a difficult year, so all that remains is the actual ride of 150 miles from San Francisco to Healdsburg over two days. Since I am riding this with Jenny on the tandem, it's equivalent to back to back century rides on my single bike.

On Friday I check the weather forecast and see they are predicting showers for Sunday afternoon. Not what I wanted to hear as it might spoil the the end of ride festivities at Lake Sonoma. What they don't predict is the thunderstorm that wakes me at 4am on Saturday morning. Not a good omen. We're up at 5:30 and on our way to San Francisco just after 6am, to the new starting venue at UCSF Mission Bay campus. We are treated to a fine lightning display as we drive north, which looks nice but is a bit unsettling for the ride prospects. The UCSF campus isn't quite as convenient as last year's AT&T parking lot, as it's a lot more congested and has a parking garage. We are fortunate to have a VIP parking pass due to being in the top 150 fund raisers last year, which allows us to avoid the garage, but the VIP lot is tight and almost full already. We see Mary Jo in the same lot, but it's clearly going to be tricky meeting up with the rest of the team. Cell phones do have their uses! We dump our bags on the truck that will drive up to tent village in Cotati.

The teams get a head start and can leave at 7am but, after finally coalescing as a team, we don't get off until 7:15, riding through a fairly narrow causeway onto the streets. Then it's along the waterfront all the way to the Golden Gate bridge. It's not raining but the road is wet and there are plenty of slippery metal hazards on the roads. There are a lot of cyclists; some 2000 registered for the event, a few probably got put off by the weather.

Already the endless parade of cyclists fixing flats has begun; it's always worse in the wet. With the number of riders out and the wet conditions, the path up to the Golden Gate bridge is pretty tricky, especially for the tandem's long wheelbase. I'm glad to get off the bridge. which is over a mile long, as we are constantly being buzzed by faster single riders and there are tricky, slippery, chicanes at the towers. We enjoy the descent into Sausalito and, as typically happens on the tandem, pass a few singles. It seems they have moved the rest stop this year from the mudflat next to Mike's Bikes to a big parking lot a bit further on. This is much better, there are lots of portaloos (crucial for the first rest stop!) and the food is better than last year (so they did hear my feedback)! We lost everybody on the team on the ride to here but meet up with those not doing the 100 mile option, who have raced ahead. In particular we pickup John Pither whose goal evidently is to draft the tandem for as long as he can, which turns out to be the entire two days.

Thunder is rumbling again and I wonder what the next section over the hills to the coast is going to be like. Fortunately it's early, and the weather is not encouraging for a beach day, so traffic is reasonably light, which is good, as the ascent to Ridgeway is really twisty and narrow. We meet Lego Andy, who I rode with on the Solvang double century (it was the first double for both of us), on the way wearing his Tivo ears. Andy is doing the 100 mile option, of course. I'll probably ride some with him next week at the Knoxville double so we part company today. The climb is long enough to get the heart pumping and as we near the crest the clouds come down and the wind picks up; altogether unpleasant. We stop for me to put my jacket back on and head off down to Mill Valley. Once off the top the conditions improve and the road is actually dry so it's fun. After passing the Pelican Inn, the closest thing to an English country pub that I know of in these parts, we start the steepest climb of the ride up to the coastal ridge. It starts raining again but eases off quickly. This climb has some 10%+ sections of grade and it's longer than I remember and I call the summit too soon, to the chagrin of Jenny and John. Most single riders would pass us on the hills even if they match our speed on the flat, but John elects to stay behind us up the hills also, to avoid going too fast and blowing up.

Once on the ridge, it's rollers for a couple of miles before the descent into Stinson Beach. This is usually fast and a lot of fun but today the road is very wet at this point and my legs get covered in dirty road spray and we have to take it slow on the bends. John is honing his downhill drafting skills. There has evidently been an accident at the stop sign in Stinson, but we can't see what happened. The Stinson Beach rest stop is in the beach parking lot and, unlike last year when they had run out of pretty much everything, they are well stocked. We must have been right at the back of the pack last year because there seem to be a lot more riders around us this year.

A damp Jenny and Mick at Stinson Beach Rest Stop
Long ride from here to Point Reyes with lots of rollers and just one significant climb through Dogtown and then past the section where Garland crashed last year. John is still drafting. We nearly get cut up by the tail rider on a fast moving paceline that is too close for my comfort. On the section between Olema and Point Reyes we experience the seemingly obligatory bad interaction with a car. Sadly ironic because Jenny had earlier expressed the hope that we could get through the day without such an incident. We're approaching a slower rider and in my mirror I can see two cars close together behind, then a gap to a third car. I make the judgement that we can pass the slow rider in the gap. As we draw level the rider calls out "Car back"(she is wearing a mirror also). We pull past and in and the car now blows his horn as he overtakes and then the passenger leans out and screams "%^$#*&! ride single file". His tattoos are scary. I foolishly escalate the confrontation by giving the guy the finger. Darn male hormones! Jenny says the slow rider called out "asshole" and was sure that she was referring to me and not the car. We argue about whether the incident was my fault or not all the way to Point Reyes. My opinion is that the car occupants weren't keen on cyclists period and had become increasingly frustrated over the course of several miles passing the endless stream of cyclists some of whom, it must be said, were riding two abreast even when not overtaking.

Although it's still early, I wish the Point Reyes rest stop was the lunch stop as it's over halfway, but we have lots more rollers to deal with before that. The 100 mile route peels off here following the Mt Tam double route inland and onto the Marshall wall. Since it also includes another 2000' of climbing it adds about 3 hours to ther ride, and we are not ready for that, so we stay on the 75 mile route along the coast. Eventually we arrive at the lunch stop, where it was sunny last year and very picturesque on Tomales Bay. Not so today, as it's still overcast. The burrito is a bit dense and uninteresting but real food is welcome.

Only twenty miles to go now as we head inland on the Tomales-Petaluma road which has been paved since last year and is much improved as a result. A couple of steep climbs but we have a tail wind and make great time to the last rest stop. It's almost not worth stopping but Jenny's getting a bit saddle sore so any opportunity to stop is welcome. The final run in seems very fast and we arrive at the tent city in Cotati just before 3pm. The cool weather really helped on the stretch after lunch which would normally be pretty hot. John drafted us the whole way.

Last year we were so tired we just went straight to the hotel but this year we are going to shower in the amazing shower trucks (what a great invention), and enjoy the free food and wine, after parking the bike in the bike corral. Team Sun has again raised enough money to get a shade tent with tables and chairs, but sadly we don't have a banner this year. We are right between Tivo and Google. No sign of the 100 milers yet, so we hang out drinking, eating and chatting. It's partly sunny here and very comfortable.

Mick and Jenny at the Sun tent
Thomas and Shannon show up around 5pm having completed the 100 mile route but by then we are ready for the hotel and some R&R. The hotel shuttle takes forever as our hotel is the last on the loop. Remembering the panic last year for the morning shuttle, I decide to try to extract a ride from John as payment for letting him draft us all day and he agrees to pick us up at 7am.

Ride stats:
Total Ride Time: 7:32
On bike time: 6:09
Distance: 78 miles
Average speed: 12.6mph

Day 2

Knowing that we don't have to worry about the shuttle allows us to have a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. On the way back in the car Mary Jo calls to tell us that they are stuck at their hotel sitting in a shuttle that isn't even going to leave for 15 minutes, so they likely will miss the team photo at 7:40. I'm almost embarrassed to tell her that we are in John's car, especially as it turns out that they were staying at the same hotel.

We drop off our bags again and pick up the bike. I'm always a teeny bit nervous that the bike will not be there! Unfortunately, as feared, Mary Jo doesn't quite make it in time for the photo slot. The weather looks promising as we roll out just before 8am, and I predict a sunny day. Ha!

Leaving on Day 2
Day 2 is quite a bit faster than Day 1 as there is less hard climbing. However, there are endless rollers even on the notionally flat sections. John discovers his rear tire is a bit soft and only has time to pump it up a bit before we leave. He's hoping for a foot pump at the first rest stop and possible a tube change, but no luck. The sun comes out for 30 seconds, which turns out to be it for the day.

Thomas, Mary Jo and Marco at Rest Stop #1
Indeed, it starts to drizzle as we leave the rest stop and it's quite chilly. Pretty hilly segment to next rest stop, which is at the bottom of a descent, making for scary bike interactions. John still drafting. As we are leaving, Mary Jo's husband Steve has to avoid a wandering bike and crashes into some bikes laying on the ground. It looks bad for him and the bike but miraculously no damage to either.

Some of the Sun Team at Rest Stop #2
A short uphill and then fast downhill follows the rest stop and we nearly touch 40mph and lose John who then has to work had to keep with us on the fast flat section that follows. Then it's more rollers along the ridge into Sebastopol for lunch on the green. Like the burrito yesterday the lunch sandwich is very plain, quite nostalgic for us English in fact, just bread and meat. I'm converted to the US sandwich by now and miss the extras, finding it quite hard to swallow. The faster riders in our group are still here but take off before we do. John finally gets his rear tube replaced by the mechanic. Since it looks like rain we don't dally and set off towards the Russian River through more pretty countryside and lots more rollers. John is still drafting. The next rest stop is just past the single track bridge over the Russian River where, incredibly, we meet up with a tandem team that we met at exactly the same rest stop last year.

Jenny and Mick at Rest Stop #4

Now it's the final run along Dry Creek Valley, which is covered in vineyards. Although the valley is very flat, the road runs along the edge and as a result has plenty of small rollers to contend with. Some people love these and some people hate them. I'm ok with them provided I can stand and power over the top, but if they start to feel like real hills I'm less enthused. They are definitely more of a nuisance on the tandem than a single. John is still drafting but as we make a left turn almost loses his rear wheel and discovers that the rear tire has flatted again. So we replace the tube, getting pretty grimy in the process. The final rest stop, which is not really necessary as it's only 8 miles from the finish, is off the main road at a winery in the middle of the valley. It's nice enough to make the trip. We discover Rick, who never misses an opportunity to sit, lounging in the Clif Bar chairs and we join him for a while.

Lounging at Rest Stop #5

The Three Musketeers (Mick, Jenny and John) at Rest Stop #5

The final run in is pretty fast but it starts to rain about 2 miles out and doesn't stop this time. This is not just a shower. It's ironic; this is one of the hottest places normally but it has rained two out of the three times I have been here this year and almost rained on the third (the Terrible Two). Note that John is still drafting.

Arriving at the Finish

Ride stats:
Total ride time: 7:06
On bike time: 5:25
Distance: 74 miles
Average speed: 13.7 mph

Immediately on arrival at the finish we load the tandem on the truck for delivery back to San Francisco and hit the shower trucks. Or should I say truck. For some reason there is only one this year, leading to a 20 minute wait for the men but, in a reverse of the normal bathroom situation, no line for the women.

The end of ride festivities are a bit damp, but they have big tents to keep out either the sun or the rain, and the food and beer is good. Then its time to load up on the coaches for the ride back to San Francisco. It rains pretty much the whole way so clearly we were lucky that the rain didn't start earlier. A slight downer on arrival at at UCSF as our bike is still on the truck and we have to wait about 30 minutes. Fortunately there is a coffee bar open that is doing good business. The ride home on 101 isn't fun as it's raining hard and drivers are still driving like it's dry. There's one truly frightening section just after SFO where there are no cat-eyes and I can barely see the white lines and have a really hard time staying in my lane. Then two semi-trucks overtake me, while drifting out of their lane and completely blind us with spray. Mercifully the cat-eyes return and we survive the ride and get home about 8:30.

Final Waves to Wine Training Rides

2009-09-06T13:44:00.000-07:00

One week to go to the Waves to Wine ride 2009, so it's time for the final training ride(s). Since we have to ride Saturday and Sunday, we'll emulate that this weekend, however hard it might be to get on the bike on Sunday.

It also happened to be our 27th wedding anniversary on the Friday, so Jenny decided that we should go for a night at Half Moon Bay and then ride the coast on Saturday. We stayed at the Old Thyme Inn, a nice B&B on Main St and had a great dinner at the Crab Landing, a new restaurant up at Princeton, near the site of the famous Mavericks surf break.

We fixed on a 10:00 start, just in case anyone else on the Sun team wanted to come over the hill to join us, but there were no takers. So after a late breakfast of pancakes, we were ready to hit the road. It wasn't especially easy to find a place to park all day in Half Moon Bay, as everywhere seems to be limited to two hours with the threat of being towed. Eventually we fixed on a shopping center parking lot where the only limit was no overnight and no commuter parking. I figured we just about met those conditions.

The weather was still cloudy, as is typical for the time of year, as we warmed up on the easy rollers towards the Tunitas Creek turn-off. Then up the first climb to the junction with Stage Rd where we had a decision to make; to continue on the Hwy 1 down the coast, or go inland. Since it was still cloudy at the coast and would be hotter inland in the afternoon, we chose the latter and headed down Stage Rd to San Gregorio village and the left on 84 towards Old La Honda. We stopped at Sullivan's bar to top up the drink supply (the market has closed) and then retraced our tracks back to the turn off to Pescadero. Stopped to help a rider who had broke her chain, except that it turned out that we were missing a key part of the chain tool. A timely reminder to fix that and also carry some SRAM PowerLink chain links for quick repairs.

Next up is the longest climb of the ride, Haskins, which climbs to 1100' and has some 8-10% segments. We are pretty well warmed up and do a pretty good job on it, then we get the bonus of the long downhill into Le Mar. While there were quite a lot of cars on the way up, we are blessed by a complete absence of cars on the descent. Nice cruise into Pescadero, a few rollers, but the usual mild headwind on the final run in. Another decision point; lunch now or after doing the Gazos Creek loop? Since we are halfway in miles and it's 1pm, we opt for lunch now.

The sun's out and its a beautiful day in Pescadero, and there is live music in the garden at the Deli, which is a truly wonderful place to stop. Inside and outside seating, and a brick pizza oven. Today's band is "Saxyman and the Ladds" who, just as we are leaving, start into one of my all-time favorite tracks, The Weight by the Band, so we have to stay a bit longer.

I pulled into Nazareth
Was feelin’ about half past dead
I just need some place
where I can lay my head
‘Hey, Mister can you tell me
where a man might find a bed?’
He just grinned and shook my hand
And ‘no’ was all he said.

Retracing a bit, we pick up Cloverdale Rd that heads out on the inland route to Gazos Creek passing Butano State Park along the way. It's the hottest segment yet as there is no shade on the first section and the sun is full out. It gets shadier on the final run in to Gazos Creek and you can feel the cool coastal air. Gazos Creek State Beach has nice views with a portable reset room so we usually stop there even it means crossing the road. Now we get the trade off for going inland early as there is now a headwind back to Pescadero on Hwy 1, and we take about a 5mph hit to our usual pace. There's a fair amount of traffic but a decent shoulder. As we reach Pescadero State beach the clouds are advancing south and that coupled with the traffic makes continuing on Hwy 1 less attractive, so we turn inland back to Pescadero village and take Stage Rd to San Gregorio. This route has more climbing but, hey, it's a training ride! On this stretch Jenny suggests we hit the coffee shop then the beach and then Sam's Chowder restaurant to round out the day, which seems like a great idea to me.

We pass the ranch with the iron warrior where, as usual, sheepdogs are being trained in the field adjacent to the road. Several tourists have stopped to watch the show. I guess it's pretty novel to many but having grown up in the UK, not so to us. We stop at San Gregorio store for more Gatorade for the final push, and as usual, there is large crowd enjoying a drink from the bar, including Saxyman himself, but without the Ladds!

One more grind up Stage Rd, where Jenny and I practice standing together, which is quite tricky on a tandem, especially the da Vinci with it's independent coasting, where being in sync is not enforced. Then the fastest descent of the day down to Tunitas Creek where we hit 43mph. A few rollers and we are soon back in Half Moon Bay, where the weather is deteriorating and it is starting to drizzle as we pull into the parking lot. So we decide the beach isn't such a great idea and decide to skip the coffee shop and head straight for chowder after a change of clothes. Unfortunately, Sam's Chowder shop is right on Hwy 1 and thousands of other people seem to have to same idea. So we push onto Princeton to see how busy it is as Barbara's Fish Shack. I'm expecting a zoo but, amazingly, there's no line and we get a table immediately. The fact that you actually have to turn off the highway probably helps, but our timing was good as by the time we are done, the wait is 45 minutes.

It's really drizzling now and the roads are quite wet. Hard to believe that in just a few miles east of here the sun will still be shining, as indeed it is as we crest Hwy 92 and return home via 280.

Saturday ride stats:

Distance: 69 miles
Ride time: 6:49
On bike time: 5:23
Total Climb: 3705'

I'm feeling pretty pooped on Saturday evening and wonder whether I'll be feeling like getting on the bike in the morning. However, an early night seems to do the trick and I'm feeling pretty good, with just a slightly stiff left shoulder, which is not unusual after a tandem ride. The extra force needed to control the front wheel of a tandem puts quite a bit more strain on the upper body.

We decide to do the ride up to Canada Road with a stop at Woodside bakery on the return leg. We hit the road at 9:30 and take the Page Mill/Arastradero option to Portola Valley, past the newly christened Palo Alto University, where our eldest son starts a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology next week. It's a beautiful day and the clouds that were pushing in so strongly last night have all disappeared. Lots of riders are out on the Portola Valley loop as usual. As it's Sunday, the upper section of Canada Rd is closed for Bike Sunday. So no cars, but inline skaters, kindergarteners on bikes with training wheels, etc., make it slightly tricky. Indeed, on the return leg, with the entire road to play with, we see a teenage boy run off the edge of the road and somersault into the ditch. He seems ok, thank goodness and has plenty of help.

We practice our standing some more on the final rollers before the final descent into Woodside. I'm feeling pretty strong now which is a good sign for next week; I guess all the double centuries have helped. Jenny is hanging in there well, but beginning to feel a little saddle sore. The reward is stopping at the Woodside Bakery and sharing a guilt-free Neapolitan slice!

One more climb over Sand Hill and then back through Stanford to home.

Sunday ride stats:

Distance: 36 miles
Ride time: 3:10
On bike time: 2:43
Total Climb: 1697'

So a total of 105 miles and 5400' for the weekend. I think we are in good shape to actually enjoy next weekend's ride!

Ebbetts Century (200k)

2009-08-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

I found this ride a while back on one of those websites that has a calendar of upcoming centuries. It had the virtue of offering guaranteed entry into the 2010 Death Ride for the first 100 registrants. I had failed to crack the web-based Death Ride registration this year because I just didn't have the patience to keep hitting the reload button for 30 minutes waiting to get a connection. So this seemed a neat way to finesse that issue and get in a tough training ride before the upcoming Waves to Wine ride and the Knoxville double.

Usually I would drive up on the Friday for a ride this distant, but that had to change when Jenny had to reschedule her party to celebrate surviving the six month probationary period in her new job at the Palo Alto library. My tolerance for early morning starts has improved since I started riding double centuries. I figured I needed to leave by 3:00am to be able to start the ride at 7pm. No big deal, after all I started riding the Alta Alpina earlier this year at 3:30am!

The nice thing about an early start is that the roads are mostly empty. However, they are working on just about every freeway it seems, and the 238 ramp to 580 was closed, requiring a detour through the back streets of Hayward. Finally got to an open 580 ramp just before Castro Valley, where the previously uninteresting names, Palomares Canyon and Crown Canyon now resonate with memories of the Devil Mountain Double, especially in the dark.

The temperature is still in the 70s at and hits 84 on the down slope to the Central Valley, no doubt due to the compression of the descending air. In the 60s east of Stockton and reaches a low of 48 at Bear Valley at 7000'. Funny, it feels colder than the start of the Alta Alpina, and I wonder if I have enough warm clothes. Since I arrived in plenty of time, around 6:30, I head off to the lodge to get changed into the bike gear and hit the coffee shop for some breakfast.

This ride is a small affair, put on by a Mom and Pop shop that run outdoor activities out of Bear Valley. Mom and Pop are manning the registration desk and handing out route maps and explaining that you have to get stickers at key points, just like the Death Ride. No stickers, no entry to the Death Ride!

Getting ready to ride

I know it's going to be warm once the sun comes up, so I just wear my lightweight jacket, no leg or arm warmers. The ride is is centered around Bear Valley and so doesn't start out heading for Ebbetts. Instead there is a 20 mile warm-up back down Hwy 4 to Dorrington at 5000' Since this downhill with just a few rollers, this is a fast start and the jacket is welcome. There is some smoke in the air from a fire in Yosemite, but evidently it's much better than Friday. Still I can feel it in the breathing.

Rest stop at Dorrington

However, the sun is coming up and feels warm. Time to shed the jacket for the climb back. Lots of riders, including me, sporting Death Ride jerseys so the lure of the guaranteed entry is clearly a pull. The sicker requires entry to the bar of a saloon, which is full of old outdoor expedition regalia, including an oxygen canister from Everest. And I thought they all got left on the mountain.

It's an steady 5-7% grade on the way back and I don't get passed by too many riders, and at least they are younger than me, well no grey hair anyway. We don't go quite as far as Bear Valley before turning off towards Spicer reservoir. I hadn't studied the elevation profile and thought this might involve a long descent and climb back, but it's mostly level because the reservoir is evidently a major hydro-electric generator with a big dam. The ride reminded me a lot of the Blue Lakes segment on Alta Alpina, except that it was a lot warmer already.

At Spicer Reservoir, smoke haze evident

Back to Bear Valley, a 58 miles, for lunch. I'm there at 11 and with Ebbetts coming up, I didn't feel like loading up on burritos, so I stuck to the usual energy snack food. By now the smoke has dissipated and it is a beautiful sunny day with temps in the 70s. So now the real climbing begins as we head up towards Lake Alpine, where it is very tempting to stop. I imagine a swim on the return leg.

Let the climbing begin

Lake Alpine

After Lake Alpine the road climbs up to a ridge at just under 8000' and there are a few rollers until the highest point is reached at the Pacific Grade summit. The descent to come promises to be fast as this is the stretch with the infamous 24% grade. I can see the road way, way down in the valley. I manage to snag a photo from another rider who then flats on the start of the descent. It's 1000' down to Hermit Valley, where the Death Ride and Alta Alpina have a rest stop and so does this ride.

At the top of Pacific Grade

At this point I realise that I am going to be at the top of Ebbetts at 1pm and that is the turn around point. Evidently, having the ride proceed down the east side of Ebbetts rather than do the Dorrington leg is beyond the logistical capabilities of the organizers which is a shame. So I decide to do it unsupported as the only descent of Ebbetts this year was the wet and, therefore, slow descent on Alta Alpina. I ask the rest stop staff what time they are there until and they say 5pm, which surprises me as I can't imagine anyone taking that long for the century. I tell them that I am going down the east side and to call out the cavalry if I'm not back by 5pm.

At the top of Ebbetts

It's fairly warm going up Ebbetts west, but at least it's not raining! I grab a sticker from the bag on the pine tree and start the descent. There's been very little traffic so far and I meet just a couple of cars on the way down, which is a fun descent, especially the run-out which seems to go on for ever. Finally I get to Wolf Creek where the exposed part alongside Silver Creek begins, past the Monitor Pass turn off, and down towards Markleeville. There's quite a head wind here, but I console myself with the thought that it will help climbing back. I don't really want to go the whole way to town but I have to get some more liquid, so I pull into the Carson River campground store a couple of miles out and I'm happy to see they have a well stocked cold drinks cabinet and ice cream, which I have been thinking about for a while now as my reward. I can't wait while the cashier rings up some fishermen's beer supplies, so rip the wrapper off and have at it.

Another warning

It's a lot hotter down at 5700', probably 90, and I load up with three bottle of Gatorade for the 3000' ascent back to the top. The now tail wind does indeed help and I'm back a Wolf Creek in no time, and starting the long gradual ascent to the real start of the climb, past the cabin where the loose ladies serenade the Death Riders. It's all very quiet today. I snap a shot of my Garmin as I hit 100 miles on this section.

100 miles!

The start of the climb, with about 2200' to go is indicated by a cattle grid followed a short wall to get your attention. But it's cooled down a bit and there is plenty of shade on this section. I spot the 7000' sign which is totally misplaced as it's at 6700'. Eventually the trees thin out and there is a tough, exposed, section that grinds on and on until the lake at 8300. During this climb I'm wondering how I managed to finish the Alta Alpina as I'm feeling pretty tired and on that ride I had well over 100 miles on my legs, loads more climbing and 3 passes still to do. It is (a lot) hotter than on that ride, which definitely has an effect, but I think it's more a case of the quote from Greg Lemond that "it doesn't get easier, you just get faster". Well, the first part is certainly correct. I'm not getting much faster but I can go a lot further now. Each climb is hard, but there's something left in the tank at the end. I take a bunch of photos on the climb and it's notable how much just that short rest helps to recharge the legs.

11000 ft Silver Peak from Ebbetts

I am definitely hot and tired by the time I reach the lake, so I decide it's time for the "head dunking" that I discovered when hiking in the Sierra. A couple of tourists are amused by this so I get them to take a photo. Unfortunately I don't have enough hair now to make the point!

Cooling off at the lake just below Ebbetts summit

Only another mile and 500' to the summit, but there are a couple of steep pitches which are hard. But finally, I'm there and for the first time ever don't stop as there is no rest stop. It's a great traffic free descent back to Hermit Valley and I roll into the rest stop at 4:10, just shy of four hours round trip. The staff are suitably impressed! To my amazement there are a bunch of riders at the rest stop; remember I just added 30 miles and 3 hours to the official ride. So either these folks started very late of they are very slow. But one of them is wearing a Triple Crown jersey and the other an Alta Alpina jersey (although not a finisher jersey), so I don't think it's the latter. Another woman says she did start late and also had two flats and has had better days. Whatever, she drops me pretty quickly on the start of the Pacific Grade climb!

I take one bottle of water this time so that I can pour it on my head on the upcoming legendary grade. I'm looking for the 24% as I ascend, but my Garmin never gets above 20 and is mostly in the 10-15 range. So I think it's got to be on the inside of one of the hairpins. Anyway the executive summary is that it's over-hyped and I never even feel my front wheel get loose, which is a good sign of serious steepness. Certainly, this climb in no way compares with either the Gualala wall or Fort Ross on the Terrible Two.

Once at the top, it's along the ridge and, after what seems a long time on the rollers, down to Alpine Lake. I'm running way too late for a swim and the the water on the head has worked well on the way. By now I'm at that mental stage where I'd really be happy if there were no more hills, but there is a short climb out of Lake Apline and then the rides ends by visiting the Bear Valley Ski Area, which is another 500' up a side road. The woman who dropped me on Pacific Grade is coming down as I grind up. Eventually I arrive at the parking lot to be greeted by the staff from the Hermit Valley rest stop, who are once again enthusiastic about my efforts. But to get the sticker you have to descend to the ski lodge, find the bag on the pole and then climb back up! But then it's a great descent back down a very nice road surface all the way to the start of the ride, where they have a welcome post-ride dinner.

View of the Dardanelles and Sonora Pass from the ridge

So now it's past six and I have the drive back to Palo Alto ahead of me. The store with the restroom where I was going to towel off and change has just closed but, the organizers offer me a shower in the hostel at the back of the building. Luxury and major brownie points for them!

The temperature is 72 at Bear Valley and climbs steadily as I descend until it reaches 94 at Angels Camp, where I stop to call Jenny, and lay in a Mocha with an extra shot to stave off sleepiness. Dusk is starting as I traverse the twisty but beautiful section of Hwy 4 between Angels Camp and Copperopolis. I just love the band of oak tree studded grassland that runs all the way down the Sierra foothills just above the Central valley. Just before the descent to the the valley floor, perfect timing reveals a truly fantastic sunset, with a broad band or orange across the sky. I'm not quite oriented at first, but then I realize that the mountain outlined sharply against the orange is Mt Diablo. The glow seems to last forever until I finally drop too low to see it.

The total trip time as about the same as the Mt Tam double, with 4 hours of on bike time replaced by 4 hours extra driving. I think I'd do it again. I think it would be better if the 100 mile option replaced the Dorrington leg with the east side of Ebbetts, but the unsupported 200K variant worked pretty well.

Stats
Distance: 130 miles
Total ride time: 10:45
On bike time: 9:50
Total Climb: 13718'
Average speed: 13.3mph

W2W Training Ride: Kings Mountain Rd

2009-08-08T15:41:00.000-07:00

Fresh from our success climbing Old La Honda a few weeks ago, I suggested we try Kings Mountain this week. We did this last year, but I was on the single bike. It's officially a tougher climb than anything on the Waves to Wine Ride. Well, the climb up Hwy 1 from Mill Valley has a steeper sustained grade but it is much shorter. Kings is about 1540' of climbing in 4.3 miles, as shown here. I've ridden it countless times on my single, and it's one of the "passes" on my Pensinsula Death Ride. However, never before on the tandem.

We started at Gunn High School, which is just behind our house, and the meeting place for many Western Wheelers rides. There was one lone cyclist waiting for a WW ride; it turned out he was 30 minutes early. The group consisted of Garland, Dave, Josh and Sue and us. Jenny and I rolled out at 9:25, 5 minutes ahead of the others, en route to Woodside by way of Foothill, Alpine Road, Portola Valley and Mountain Home Rd. It's a familiar ride by now and a nice warm-up on modest grades. At Woodside we met up with John who had come all the way from the Dublin in the East Bay. Josh, who had to be back early, had elected to do a timed ascent of Old La Honda and meet us coming down Kings.

While climbing on the tandem is definitely harder than on a single, I'm always pleasantly reminded that we have very low gearing available so, although we may go slowly, we do not blow up and can spin at a comfortable rate. The Da Vinci has four front chain rings, 24, 36, 48 and 60 and we climb steeps in the 24. The cassette is an 11-32, so we can get well below 1-1. And, yes, we can pedal downhill in the 60-11 if we are so inclined - not usually! We see Josh on the first third. He's not entirely happy with his 19 minute time on Old La Honda - I'd be ecstatic - and slightly pissed that he didn't really pay attention to my warning that there was a lot more climbing between Old La Honda and Kings!

We stop halfway for a break as we haven't really mastered the art of standing often enough to relieve the stress on the glutes on long climbs. John is keeping us company - it's his toughest climb to date - but the others are way head. Jenny is in need of food and the captain is remiss in not having brought any supplies. Fortunately, John has plenty. I had suggested to the others that they ride back down and pull/push us up but there is no sign of them as we head up the steepest section towards the summit. Eventually we see the "stop sign ahead" and its a sprint finish to the top - not! About 55 minutes, which is respectable. The others are waiting patiently for us!

Lots of rollers initially on the way to 92, past the Kings Mountain Volunteer Fire Station and the Buena Vista restaurant, then a long, long, runout at a modest grade to 92. Our turn to leave the singles in the dust as we hit 40 on this section. Then onto 92, which is good practice for Hwy 1 as there is no bike lane and quite a bit of traffic usually. Today, there are long lines coming the other way heading to the coast.

Then a rather bizarre experience. We're doing 35 and a group of cars are staying well back, matching our speed, which I appreciate. I've learn't that staying close to the right on a road like this is an invitation for a bad driver to try to pass too close and since there is a ton of traffic coming the other way, it's not safe today, so I'm in the middle of the road. And we're doing 35 anyway. They do get to pass on the final flat section across the reservoir and the fourth car back blows his horn and shouts something out of the window. As luck would have it, they stop at the light and I ask them what their problem is. The answer is "you have all that f^%&!$^g room, why don't you move over". Remember, this is the fourth car back! And, of course, there isn't room. Some people! You sometimes forget that, while most of the people in the Bay Area are entirely well behaved, there are still some crazies out there.

Nice ride back along Canada Road, initially past the very scenic reservoir, aka Hetch Hetchy water holding tank, and then by the not so scenic 280 down to Woodside. We stop for some food - love the fruit tarts at the bakery - and then head back down Whiskey Hill and up Sand Hill, through Stanford, to Palo Alto.

In the end, it's 47 miles, 3100' climbing, 3:40 on bike at average speed of 12.8. Good training ride! Nearly two-thirds of the first day's W2W distance and 75% of the first day's climbing.

(Not) Mt Tam Double Century

2009-08-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

At Goat Rock before final descent

Ride time: 15:03
One bike time: 13:50
Distance: 200
Climbing: 16700'
Avg speed: 14.3

Let's get the title out of the way. This year, Mt Tam state park would not provide use permits for any organized event, due to state budget cutbacks, so the ride could not follow it's normal route that includes the summit of Mt Tam. Too bad but maybe they got some people's attention. This being America it will no doubt be solved next year by a new "user fee" (not a tax!).

As part of my budget cutbacks, I decided that it was possible to drive up and back to the start/finish in San Rafael from Palo Alto, so saving on hotel costs. The downside was having to get up at 2:45am and drive for over an hour before riding and, perhaps worse, drive back afterwards when dog-tired.

Big turn out for this double, the parking lot was pretty full already by the time I arrived at 4:15. Long line to check-in so I guess lots of people had the same idea of driving up on ride day. Several people, including me, wearing the Alpine Challenge finisher jersey. Didn't see hardly any at the Terrible Two. It's still somewhat of a rarity as only 42 finished the inaugural ride this year.

Since this was the final leg of the Triple Crown Stage Race the ride was being timed and there was a mass start at 5pm. You could leave earlier provided you handled the playing card with your number on to a volunteer when you started - I wonder if anyone had the Ace of Spades? I waited for the mass start looking for people I knew. Spotted Jay of Pumpkin Cycle fame looking very motivated. Introduced myself to friend of a friend, Joan Grant, who was fresh off the Race Across Oregon.

Dropped off the main pack shortly after the start as hit two red lights in succession (with traffic) but reeled a few people in on the climb up to Goat rock. Riding in the dark outside city lights is very weird as you have absolutely no reference points except the lights of the bikes in front. We finished the ride on the same road in the light but I didn't recognize any of it. A left turn and a run down to San Geronimo to Francis Drake, a road I've driven many times on the way to Point Reyes, but never ridden on the bike. Into Fairfax and onto the Bolinas-Fairfax road that climbs and descends to Alpine Lake before beginning the climb that would reach Mt Tam normally. Meet up with Debra who I rode some of the DMD with on this stretch and she tells me about her travels on the bike in Italy - much envy. See a tandem team I also recognize from then DMD making a pit stop on a hairpin, and climbing out a car comes down a bit too fast and then obviously pisses off the stoker who lets forth with a tremendous stream of invective! At the Ridgecrest junction to Mt Tam we continue on and descend to Bolinas and the first rest stop. Thankfully the road is dry and the descent is easy.

Lee "Fuzzy" Mitchell's SAG van climbing Bolinas-Fairfax Rd

An old guy I guess is in his 70's,but wearing a triple crown jersey, politely asks me if he can draft on the flat section past the lagoon into Stinson Beach. Then we turn up the Panoramic Highway and climb back to the ridge. Some way up it turns foggy and my glasses fog up on the descent down to Mill Valley. On the way up I met up with a guy who was about my pace, but whose name I somehow never learned, who I ride with all the way up to Point Reyes and beyond. There was a small rest stop on the coast ridge above Stinson and so we skip the Bolinas rest stop this time, as it requires turning off highway 1. With hindsight that was a mistake as the next rest is a long way and I really needed more food. After Point Reyes we turn inland heading towards Petaluma. This is a nostalgic section for me as it is where Jenny and I first rode a hired tandem, and ancient 1970's Schwinn with shifters on the down frame. As I recall we managed to drop the chain on this section downshifting the front chain ring. A short climb took us up to the Nicasio reservoir followed by a longer climb and then a left turn into the next rest stop at a local school in the middle of nowhere on Hicks Valley Rd.

I was seriously hungry by this stage and loaded up but keeping with my new plan of not wasting time at rest stops didn't hang around and left riding solo towards Marshall. Nice valley ride followed by a long climb before dropping back to Hwy 1 at Marshall. Somewhere on this climb I get passed by a group that includes the old guy who drafted me earlier!

Now back on familiar territory, riding the small rollers on 1, one of which my Garmin showed at 12%, past the Waves to Wine lunch stop and then turning inland to Tomales. I hadn't studied the route and though we just continued onto Valley Ford on 1, but no, a detour via Dillon Beach, involving more climbing. Good signage! Valley Ford was a familiar and welcome sight and the rest stop was at the school where we had met for the tandem rally ride the previous week. Coincidentally met one of the organizes, Nancy Wu, who was riding the 200K. Grabbed a quick lunch and as I'm leaving see Joan Grant coming in, not happy as her back is causing her grief. I must have passed her at the rest stop I skipped as she was definitely ahead of me at the start.

Lunch at Valley Ford

Fuzzy Mitchell at Valley Ford

Now we do the Coleman Valley loop which starts out with a series of big rollers on Hwy 1. After the last one I'm looking for the nice descent into Bodega Bay when there is a route turn onto Bay Hill, which climbs even higher but does skip the traffic in Bodega Bay. Back on Hwy 1 it's a short run to the right turn on Coleman Valley. Last time I rode this was in reverse on the very wet Wine Country 200K in May. Coleman Valley is the steepest climb on the ride, 14% by Garmin for a mile or so. A mini rest stop and checkpoint at the top and then a fast descent. Scariest moment of the ride as I can't bleed enough speed off for a sharp right turn and drift completely over to the wrong side of the road. Fortunately nothing coming, but shortly after four cars appear. Could have been nasty. Really should have been on the drops as I think part of the problem was that my tired hands couldn't apply enough brake pressure from the hoods. Another climb out from the base of the descent then onto Joy Road and then via Freestone back into Valley Ford. Picked up a paceline on the final stretch that was to stay together all the way to Petaluma. Kind of quiet at Valley Ford this time as the Century riders are mostly all long gone. Stuff my pockets with cherries! Great ride into Petaluma, tail wind for a lot of the ride, and a real pelaton, riding two abreast, due to the lack of traffic. Everyone is too tired to ride hard though, so it's mostly a social experience.

The pelaton riding towards Petaluma

No-one wants to spend too long at the Petaluma rest stop as the finish beckons. After the initial climb out of Petaluma, it's really an easy ride in. One more rest stop in Nicasio that a lot of people skip but I pull in for one final fuel up, not knowing quite what lies ahead. Easy climb up to Goat Rock, were signs and a volunteer are warning about the descent, where my friend Sue crashed and broke her collar bone last year. Fairly long flat section into San Rafael arriving just at 8pm, a little slower than I had hope for but still respectable. What is surprising to me is that my time is the same as for the Terrible Two which is considered a lot harder. Embarrassing moment as I fail to recognize Jay of PumpkinCycle in his street clothes so completely that I actually say "Do I know you?"! Decent meal and even better ice cream. Bad news is that the showers are being dismantled, so it's a sweaty drive home in the car. Good news is that I'm not so shattered that the drive will be a grind. Stop in at Starbucks for a Mocha with extra shot to help me stay awake.

Overall it's been a great ride through yet more spectacular scenery in this incredible state. No truly tough climbs but all those rollers certainly add up.

Grizzly Peak Sonoma Tandem Rally

2009-07-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

This Saturday Jenny and I went on the Sonoma Tandem Rally, a ride organized by the Grizzly Peak club, who are located in Berkeley. As it was a couple of hours drive from Palo Alto, and Jenny had the weekend off work, we decided to make a long weekend of it and went up on Friday and did a hike to the beach at Point Reyes National Seashore. Very cloudy at the coast.

The ride started at Valley Ford, on a side street with lots of head in parking. Most people had driven up on the day including the tandem couple I had met on my Peninsula Death ride the previous week. I think there were a about a dozen tandems and a few singles, most all from Grizzly Peak. I recognized one couple that I had met on the Solvang double and I knew the organizers, Nancy Wu and Mark Abrahams by reputation, and remembered seeing them on the hot, hot, Davis double.

This was a really wonderful ride, with a wide variety of scenery and just enough climbing to make it interesting. There was some traffic at times, and the roads generally did not have bike lanes, but most drivers were well behaved. The ride started off inland heading for the village of Occidental, and then along the Bohemian Highway to Monte Rio. This was familiar territory for me as last part of the Terrible Two comes in the other direction.

Lunch was in Cazadero at Raymonds Bakery in the redwoods. We were advised to order ahead, which we did, to minimize the wait when we all arrived simultaneously. It's a great spot for lunch, well off the beaten track, with plenty of inside and outside seating.

After lunch we headed back to 116 and off to the coast. Pretty strong headwind on the way down. Not quite so foggy at the coast as Friday but still pretty grey. Tough climb up to Goat Rock State Beach and then nice rollers and bends into Bodega Bay, where we regrouped for the final segment. Really big rollers on the way back inland to Valley Ford, and got into the 60-11 gear pedalling down the last hill without spinning out. Unfortunately I had forgotten the bike computer, so I have no idea how fast we were going, or how much climbing we did overall, but I estimate 2000'. The distance was 52 miles and the total ride time including stops was about 5 hours. Quite a step up from our previous ride and getting close to the magic 75 mile number we need for the Waves to Wine ride. We are both really stiff today, not from the cycling, but from the hike!

The photo of us at the top is at Valley Ford store at the end of the ride.

A very well organized ride and hats off to the organizers, Nancy and Mark, who also did a good job of making sure the stragglers (usually us!) didn't get left behind.

Pensinsula Death Ride

2009-07-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

This is training ride I put together last year when I was preparing for the Tour of the California Alps, aka the Death Ride. Since I missed the 2009 ride, I decided to do the training ride this weekend as Jenny had to work Saturday. I needed a long ride, as I haven't done one since the Terrible Two in June and the Mt. Tam double century is in two weeks. They say you lose your endurance in a couple of weeks.

This is a pretty tough ride that I built up to last year one pass at a time. In the end, after doing the real Death Ride, I decided it was every bit as hard. While it doesn't have the altitude component, the climbs are steeper on average and all the descents are technical. In the end its 15600 feet of climbing and 141 miles from our house in Palo Alto. It would be about 135/15500 if you started at the park and ride at 280/Page Mill. This is not a ride for people who don't like climbing. I estimate that there is about 5 miles of actual flat road on the entire ride.

I started at 6:30, it was nice and cool, but no need for a jacket or leg warmers. While the forecast was for temps to top out in the upper 80's, I carried my lightweight Pearl Izumi Oyster jacket because I never go to the coast without a jacket as the weather is so unpredictable over there.

The ride climbs six passes; a pass being defined as climbing to Skyline Boulevard on the ridge. The first and last passes are the toughest. As you might guess, the first climb is Page Mill. This is a long climb, about 10 miles from the 280 junction. It's not the perfect climb because it actually has some short descents on the way, but it makes up for those with some steep grades. After a short warm up on easy grades, it kicks up sharply and hairpins its way up to Foothills park. Because of that, there's often more traffic on this section, but not at 7am! Immediately after Foothill the grade picks up sharply to just beyond the junction with Moody Rd. A bit of relief then steady grade until a down section before the toughest section, one particularly steep hairpin, and then steady 10% or more, the steepest part of which is also exposed to the full sun. After that it's kind of mixed but with a couple of steep pitches, one 16% that doesn't seem like it's much when you start, and then the famous "wall" which my Garmin 305 claimed 20% after yet another short descent. I think this is where the San Andreas goes through as it's just before the Los Trancos open space reserve with it's Earthquake Trail. One more descent to where the dirt road that Alpine Road becomes joins in, and a final easy climb in a nice shaded section to the junction with Skyline. As I'm climbing I realize there is a temperature inversion as its getting warmer as I get higher.

At Skyline, you are not actually at the highest point. The right turn on Skyline climbs higher as does Alpine to the west. Only the left turn on Skyline descends but that is short lived as the road eventually climbs to 2600' at Saratoga gap. The ride continues west on Alpine, climbing to 2400' at the entrance to the Russian ridge open space preserve, where they seem to have had a controlled burn recently. The descent on Alpine is probably the most technical of the whole ride, in part because it is often foggy, and the road can be wet. But not today, this is probably as good as it gets, and the first time this year that I have not donned my jacket. There's a nice open section to start, but plenty of bends, until you reach a short flat section with great views to the south, then more bends down to a fork in the road with one branch dead ending at Portola State Park. Alpine continues, now in the shade and narrower, on and on until a sharp hairpin marks the descent into the canyon and more hairpins. This is where the temperature often takes a sharp dive as the canyon sees very little sun even in midsummer and today is no exception. I have been seriously cold here in the past but today it's just bearable without the jacket. The 15mph sign marks the end of the steep stuff and it's a mile or so alongside the stream and past some pretty big redwoods to the junction with the road from Old La Honda to Pescadero. We'll be taking that later but for now we turn right, meeting highway 84 and into Old La Honda.

There's a running race to the coast today and a small crowd of people hanging out getting ready. I continue up 84 to the junction with Old La Honda Rd and take that back to Skyline. Old La Honda is one of those roads which you can see snaking up ahead of you on the hillside and when you get to that section you have great views to coast and, of course, the lower section of the road you just came up. Eventually you enter the redwood forest again where the road gets very narrow. Not many cars come this way, but I've had a few close shaves with bikes on the wrong side of the road. There is a short wall of 16% to reach Skyline where there is inevitably a group of riders looking tired after having climbed the east side. The pass is in a dip, so it's a short climb out either way. I go left to 1780' and then it's a long downhill to Skylonda where highway 84 crosses. Turning left I head back down 84 to Old La Honda, which starts off at a very gradual grade but picks up later. There's no bike lane and the first section is endlessly twisty and cars heading to the beach often back up waiting to pass. No cars at this time of the morning, thankfully. There's a market at Old La Honda which is good for picking up extra fluids but its been closed the last few times I've been down. A casualty of the recession perhaps. Since its a long way to the next source, I beg some water from the bar. The runners have left on their way to the beach by now.

Then its back up Alpine, which is about a 45 min climb from the 15mph marker for me, to the Skyline ridge at 2400'. There's lots of 10%+ grade on the lower sections of Alpine and if its hot, the top section, which is 7-9%, feels as bad because its exposed to the sun. Down 200' to Skyline then left and back up 200' to the summit just before the big parking area at the Vista point where all the bay is spread before you. Unfortunately today, the smog in the valley is the most obvious component of the view. It's mostly downhill with a few rollers from here, past Windy Hill, back to the junction with Old La Honda. The ride continues on to Skylonda, so covering this section of road twice and then down 84 east. This is a fun descent, not usually too many cars and it's twisty enough that except for the odd boy racer, you can keep ahead of the cars. At the base of the hill, the ride peels off on a sharp right turn along Portola Rd, to meet up with Portola Valley Rd, where we turn right and head for the base of the climb up Old La Honda. Portola Valley Rd is part of the famous "loop" ride which is very popular.

It's getting hot already and this is pass number four, 6000' and four hours into the ride. OLH is a steady climb, no crazy grades just a consistent 7-9%. I've done it faster, even when tired, but today it takes me 30 minutes. At the top, we retrace the short trip to Skylonda for the third time. In the past I've gone back down 84 again to Woodside for lunch but this time I'm trying a variation that continues along Skyline to Kings Mountain and descends that to Woodside. It's more climbing, back up to 2350', but that's the point! Unfortunately, I'm getting low on fluids so it's a bit of a grind. Fun descent on Kings, especially the smooth road surface after Huddart park.

Woodside is the lunch stop, with 72 miles and 8000' covered so far. Robert's grocery has the basics and across the street is the bakery for special goodies and caffine shots. I usually do both. As it happens I run into some old friends outside Roberts from my soccer coaching days. In keeping with the spirit of the ride I'm wearing my 2008 Death Ride kit and they spot this and ask if I did it this year. No, unfortunately, but they did it on their brand new Co-motion tandem which has one of these new fangled Gates carbon belts instead of the conventional timing chain. We chat about the Death Ride and riding in general and I am humbled to learn that they can (both) climb Old La Honda in 22min on their singles and the same time on the tandem! Still the stoker was a tri-athlete in her younger days and they appear to have BMIs in the low teens.

I end up spending about half an hour longer than I had intended to but, heck meeting people is half the fun. One reason for not taking too long for lunch is that it is hard to get going again. There's a short warm up en route to the base of Kings which then climbs steeply. Kings is one of those climbs that is easy to break into segments, which is all part of the mental aspect of climbing. Kings has three, the first is twisty and steep up to the Huddart Park entrance. Then the road surface deteriorates and its a consistent medium grade to a dead straight wide and exposed section that seems out of place with the rest of the road, then steep again to Skyline ending in a narrow tunnel of redwoods at 2100'. Dead opposite is Tunitas Creek which we'll be coming up toward the end of the ride, but for now we turn left and head up Skyline, retracing the inbound route to lunch. This involves just a short climb and then a nice long descent to Skylonda, followed by a descent down 84, for the second time, to Old La Honda and the road to Pescadero. This time we stay right at the junction with Alpine Rd and head up Hoskins Grade. This is a fairly short 700' climb through the redwoods but for some reason it always seems longer than I expect. You know you are close when you see the "Horse Camp 1000 feet" sign. The problem is that whoever placed the sign was measurement challenged, as it's more like 1000 yards. The summit tops out at 1100' and then there is a great descent with several fun hairpins and rollers into Loma Mar. It's really a very pleasant ride at this point for several miles until the headwinds from the coast start to pick up. It was on this stretch on my first organized ride, the Tour de Cure in 2007, that I followed a guy wearing a Triple Crown jersey, with the "200 miles in one day" logo. I remember thinking that that was, first, impossible and, second, nuts, but now I'm doing them! I was wrong on the first but right on the second.

The headwind on the way into Pescadero typically gets worse but is alleviated eventually by one of those few stretches of flat road. The deli and grocery store at Pescadero is terrific, with a real old time feel about it, but sporting a brick pizza oven, inside seating and an outside beer garden, sometimes with live music. Ironically I run into another old friend from the soccer era, which adds a bit more time. I know pretty much exactly how long its going to take to get back from here and I really want to leave by 4pm, which I manage by the skin of my teeth.

The route follows Stage Rd through San Gregorio, where it crosses 84, and then up to the junction with 1. There are three small climbs and descents of about 300-400' each on the way and, despite the warm weather inland, the fog is blowing in pretty hard and I almost put on the jacket. If it's sunny there are some great view of the ocean along the way, but not today. At the junction with 84 is the (very small) village of San Gregorio, but which also has a very cool store that is popular with bikers (with and without engines). I don't usually stop having just fueled up at Pescadero. This is one of many bailout points on this ride and I have taken it in the past. A right turn on 84 will take you all the way back to Skylonda at a fairly leisurely grade, unlike Tunitas Creek where we are headed next. From the junction with 1 it's a fast descent down to the bridge over Tunitas Creek and then a right turn. Now we are traveling on the same road as the Amgen Tour of California and we have a lot to thank them for as, no doubt to avoid embarrassment (and possibly lawsuits) the steep midsection of the road was paved just before the tour last February. I once made the mistake of descending Tunitas in it's old condition and was absolutely shaken to bits by the end, as the surface was more pothole than tarmac. It's 10 miles from the coast to the summit, with a fairly long lead in. Then as the canyon closes in, it gets dark, usually so much so that I take my sunglasses off, and then it gets steep, 10-12%. There are three hairpins that delimit this section. The surface is now mostly excellent except that, curiously, they left one section of about 1/4 mile in its original condition, perhaps just as a reminder of how bad it used to be. At the second hairpin there is a "slow" sign, for no apparent reason, perhaps left from the construction. I am certainly in obedience! Some wag has also painted "N miles to go" on the surface at 5, 4 and 3 miles". The steep section eventually ends, indeed it almost looks like the summit, but the cruel trick is that you are still three miles from the end. The road deteriorates again, the pros were probably reminded of Belgium cobblestones on this section, and three miles at 3-5% grade never seemed so long. It's all S-shaped and you keep rounding a bend thinking, this must be it, only to see the road snake the other way again. Eventually when you do reach Skyline, it's almost an anti-climax as the grade drops to zero and you almost overshoot it.

This is another bail-out point. Just head on down Kings and back. But for the full credit you must climb back along Skyline through Skylonda to Old La Honda and descend that. If you wanted to get 150+ miles you could go left all the way to 92 and then back along Canada Rd to Woodside. Either way, the route ends up on Portola Valley Rd with the easy 1-2% grade up to the junction with Alpine, being careful to watch for the local sheriff at the stop signs! Then down Alpine, up the short hill on Arastradero, past the open space parking area and down to the park and ride at Page Mill. I have one more short hill on Arastradero to get down to the flatlands of Palo Alto. Total ride time was 13:05, on-bike time was 11:16, for 141 miles and 15600' of climbing. Definitely a Death Ride!

W2W Training Ride: Old La Honda

2009-07-11T15:22:00.000-07:00

So, just a short year ago on this day, I was doing the the Death Ride, which was my first ever really hard ride. I'm missing the carnival atmosphere of 3000 bikes a bit, but not the lines for everything at the rest stops and the dangers inherent in that many bikes on the road.

Today a small number of the Sun Waves to Wine Ride team, Pom, Steve, Mary Jo, Jenny and yours truly, did our own little Death Ride by climbing up Old La Honda Road to Skyline. OLH is not as tough as Page Mill or Kings Mountain but it's a very consistent and steady climb. Someone apparently calculated that Lance Armstrong would take 13 minutes to climb it, but most riders are happy with a time in the 20s. The Western Wheelers bike club use the time as a way to categorize riders for club rides.

After warming up on the route we took two weeks ago, Arastradero, Alpine and Portola Valley, we were ready for the left turn up the hill. I knew we took somewhere around 40 minutes last year on the tandem, which was then our very first real climb. We were a bit further along in our tandem training at that point, but my climbing legs are in better shape after the hilly double centuries in June. We made it to the top in 41 minutes this time, without stopping. When I checked the bike computer log, I was pleased to see that we had improved our time by 5 minutes. Pom, however, showed us the way with a stunning time of 18 minutes, which puts him in the "into thin air" category of the Western Wheelers.

Nice descent down Woodside Road with absolutely no cars on our tail and cruise into Woodside for a deserved treat at the bakery. Then back via Portola Valley to the park and ride at Page Mill, saying goodbye to Steve and Mary Jo, and then one final hill before the cruise back to the flat lands of Palo Alto. Total of 33 miles and 2700' climbing. Time for a nap!

The State of California (from a Bike)

2009-07-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

In the last three months I've ridden five double centuries in the Triple Crown schedule, ranging over quite a wide area of the state from Solvang to the Bay Area to the Sierra and Sonoma County. Specifically, Solvang Spring, Devil Mountain, Davis, Alpine Challenge and the Terrible Two.

Biking is a good way to see the countryside, you often ride back roads where you might not take a car and you travel at a pace that lets you see the sights. Yet 200 miles covers quite a lot of ground. My executive summary is that California is truly one of nature's marvels. Every single ride took me through stunning countryside, most of it unspoiled by man, and I have barely scratched the surface of what the state has to offer.

It's just too bad that, with a few notable exceptions, e.g., the Golden Gate bridge, man's contributions, particularly the recent ones, don't come close to living up to what nature provided. In fact in many cases, the man-made stuff is truly hideous and is an affront to the natural surroundings. For example, I can't get the ugly, out of proportion, housing developments in the Diablo valley out of my mind. There is obviously something about wide open spaces that bring out the worst in planners. Of course it is not lost on me that, without the tarmac road surfaces that are a by product of development, none of the double century rides would be practical. But something has gone badly wrong in recent years. The early development in California, which is where most of the rides go, was scaled appropriately and didn't overwhelm the natural surroundings. Not so any more. Whenever I see a new subdivision in the middle of nowhere, I worry that next year when I'm riding the same route, another one will have sprung up, and endlessly on, until I'm riding in exurbia wherever I go. Because, make no mistake, the developers would happily pave over the entire state in the name of economic growth and "progress". With luck we will run out of fossil fuels before that can happen.

Waves to Wine Kickoff Ride, 6/27/2009

2009-06-27T15:54:00.001-07:00

And now for something completely different!

Today marked the start of the training for the MS Waves to Wine ride. A bunch of the Sun team from last year, most of whom are returning riders this year, got together for a kickoff/reunion ride.

We had originally planned an afternoon ride followed by an evening BBQ, but the weather forecast of temps in the mid-90s persuaded us to ride in the morning and BBQ at lunch. Good call,the ride was pleasant but by lunch it was hot enough that we chose to eat indoors even with backyard shade. I was sooo happy that the Terrible Two wasn't this weekend.

We started at our house in Palo Alto and headed up Page Mill Road to do the Portola Valley loop with Woodside as the turnaround point. For Jenny and I, this was the start of the tandem season. It felt a bit strange after my single road bike but we settled in pretty well considering the long layoff. The change from Shimano to Campy shifters always tricks me as the lever shift has the opposite effect. Plus you can't easily see which gear you are in on a tandem from the front.

I was happy to be starting late, after three consecutive weekends of double century rides starting at the crack of dawn. As we got onto Alpine Road we ran into people coming the other way on the Giro de Peninsula ride. The police were out in force and, unfortunately, were taking the opportunity to do a bit of fund raising by ticketing bikes for not following the letter of the law at stop signs. One member of our group got hit up at the right turn into Portola Valley Road, which has got to be one of the most ridiculous places to ticket a bike. It's obviously a fund-raising exercise not a safety issue. So that was a bit of a downer. We cruised down to Woodside, being very careful at all the stop signs, spotting another rider getting a ticket at the Mountain Home junction.

Iced latte at the Woodside Bakery and then back to Palo Alto via Sand Hill and Stanford. 21 miles, 1:30 on bike time, average speed 13.9. Not bad for a first outing. 10% of a double!

Terrible Two - Not So Terrible This Year 6/20/09

2009-06-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

Ride time: 15:05
On bike time: 14:06
Distance: 200
Climbing: 18044'
Avg Speed: 14.1

The unseasonably cool weather stuck around for one more weekend despite warming up sharply on Thu/Fri. Whereas the cool was a problem in the Sierras it was a boon in Sonoma County keeping the maximum temperatures on the Terrible Two way below average, which frequently top 100.

Josh Beisel, Sun's Fitness Center manager joined me for this ride. Well, he rode in the van and we shared a room, but that was about the extent of our interaction as he was off with the lead pack for the actual ride. He was well rested by the time I rolled in to the finish at 8:35pm having finished two and a half hours faster in 12:32. Awesome!

I was actually quite worried about finishing this ride in the official time limit of 16:30 (17:30 for triple crown credit) as I hadn't previously done any hilly double in less than 18 hours. The cutoff for leaving the lunch rest stop seemed particularly tight for 11o miles by 1:45pm.

The ride started in Sebastopol at Analy High School which required a short drive from our hotel in Santa Rosa. Analy HS must have one of the smallest parking lots of any high school in the US and and by the time we arrived it was jammed. Luckily we managed to squeeze into possibly the last remaining space else we likely would have missed the mass start at 5:30am. This ride is much more like a race than other doubles; they have a big digital clock counting down to zero for the start and the same clock showing your ride time when you arrive at the finish.

Mass starts freak me out a little as they are always a bit crazy, everyone is excited, so the chance of a crash is quite high. Fortunately, this one went off safely and the riders quickly separated into two main groups, the racers (including Josh) and the rest. The course starts by traversing Santa Rosa with a scout car that supposedly can trip the many traffic lights. This was partially successful but the group was split a couple of times by the light going red. After Santa Rosa it was out towards Glenn Ellen and then up over the Trinity Grade into Napa Valley. Trinity Grade was quite steep but nothing I hadn't encountered before (unlike later on) with a fast descent into Napa Valley. Although I descended by myself (hills always break groups of riders up) a big group of riders eventually joined me waiting to cross onto highway 29. This was good because we formed a paceline that ran all the way to the first rest stop in Calistoga on the Silverado trail at a good clip. It's got to be one of the longest first segments of any double at 55 miles. Worried about making the lunch time cut-off, I am in and out of the rest stop quickly, initially solo, but quickly caught up by a smaller group of riders from the earlier paceline. So we motor fast up through the Alexander Valley to the turn off for the Geysers. I recognize some of the route from the rainy Wine Country 200K back in May.

The paceline breaks up as we start the climb into the Geysers. This is where is usually starts to get hot, but not today, its cloudy and still quite cool. The Geysers is an active geothermal area and the road has about six patches where it is there is no tarmac, just hard pack with some gravel. I'd told these exist because the ground is unstable and prone to washouts but the first two of these on the ascent look fine to me - it just looked as if they forgot to pave it. The Geysers has a double summit but the grade is fine and there is a rest stop at the top of the second summit. Some of the guys from the paceline had got away from on the hill but efficient rest stop management means I'm on my way before they are. Of course they catch me on the descent and now the non-tarmac sections are much more hairy. I'm amazed how fast these guys go through these sections as I feel very unstable. One guy says he is also a mountain biker so it doesn't faze him. But my wheels just feel very unstable. The descent seems to go on for ever and road surface is pretty bad and I feel like the bike (and me) is being shaken to bits. This is a continuing theme for most of the ride. Eventually we get down and cross the valley back to Warm Springs dam for lunch. The pacelines have really worked wonders for the first half ride time of 7 hours, which is I figure is the fastest 110 miles I've every done with any hill climbing involved. So, so far so good.

Its completely clouded over the the lunch stop and almost looks like it might rain. The last time I was here on the Wine Century it was pouring. The time before that was the finish of the MS Waves to Wine ride last September, when it was a little warmer. Everyone at the rest stop is incredibly helpful, making me a sandwich to order, filling my water bottles with the magic juice (I've now fixed on Perpetuem Caffe Latte as my favorite endurance ride drink). As I'm standing eating my sandwich, a couple of guys (see photo below courtesy of Bo Crane) who evidently were just out riding and happened on the rest stop, are curious about the crazy people who do these double centuries and ask me lots of questions. Fame at last!

Eventually I escape and start off alone, 45 minutes ahead of the cutoff, where, traditionally, the TT gets truly terrible; Skaggs Springs, the road built by the Army Corps of Engineers to replace the road flooded under dammed Lake Sonoma. This is two steep climbs to 2000' with a 1000' drop in between, almost all of it exposed to the sun where temperatures are often 90-110. Thankfully it's a lot cooler today but it's still hard enough to make me wonder that would be like. Remembering how I struggled at the Davis Double in 100 heat on modest grades, I do wonder if I could handle these grades of 10-12% in those temperatures. Early on in the first section my chain jams on a front chainring shift. Usually this is fixed by a quick back-pedal but not this time. At first I'm worried that the rear derailleur is broken but I eventually realize that the chain is actually jammed between the large and medium front chain rings. I manage to free it and breathe a huge sigh of relief as everything seems to be working ok again. There's a water stop at the top of the first summit and I grab a bag of peanut M&Ms and reward myself with two and a shot of drink every 100' up the second climb, where the sun has come out and it's getting a bit more uncomfortable. Fortunately the road gets shadier half way up and its easy going to the summit and then down the long descent and runout to Camp Gualala and the next rest stop. That was a long 25 miles, but everyone at the rest stop is exulting about how easy it is this year compared to the usual torture. One guys lectures me quite seriously that in a normal year this section pushes you to your absolute limits.

The bad news is the next section, while shaded, is known as the Gualala "wall". And indeed, this is the steepest climb I've ever done (so far). It's only a mile long and 900' of elevation but the grade is a sustained 16-18%. I actually switchback across the road in a few places. But my 28-27 low gearing gets me up without too much pain and it's on to the coast and Stewart's Point. At one place I encounter a fallen tree that, while not big enough to bother cars, requires me to dismount and carry the bike over it. Fortunately, this was not on a steep downhill section! I'm dismayed that there is another short climb before reaching the coast but eventually I arrive at highway 1. It's beautiful at the coast, no fog and a nice tailwind. I haven't seen many bikes lately but eventually a couple catch me up and I catch their draft for a while. One guy I recognize from last week's Alpine Challenge, who I overtook on my frantic race for the Monitor pass cutoff. This time he has the better of me as eventually I can't match his pace and he pulls away. I never see him again until the post-ride dinner.

Eighteen miles later at the Fort Ross rest stop is where I pick up my lights and battery extender for the Garmin Edge 305 bike computer. Ironically I'm not going to need the lights today as it's still only 5pm with just 37 miles to go on the longest day of the year. I'm beginning to get that manic thirst and down a cup of noodle soup, a V8 and half a Mountain Dew and a bunch of melon and (very good) strawberries. Like Gualala, there is a reluctance to leave the rest stop as up next is the dreaded Fort Ross climb, that is considered by many to be the toughest of the ride. This turns out to be just as bad as the Gualala wall except that it lasts for 1500' and twice as long. As I look up and see people on the hill I begin to question whether the eclectic mix I just put in my stomach was such a good idea. My speed is barely 3mph on most of it and midway I pass a tandem that had actually overtook me on Skaggs, walking up. Later I saw them being sagged in; a shame to have got so far and not finish. The climb is shaded by redwoods until the final section which is now in bright sunshine. The hills look beautiful. Fort Ross is another double summit and we drop down to 900' before climbing back to 1500' before the final descent into Cazadero. The road surface is really bad again on this section.

On this section I meet up with a guy who I get talking to and he mentions the Eastern Sierra double. Some if what he says sounds familiar and eventually, seeing that his bike and apparel are orange, I realize that he must be Jay from the Pumpkin Cycle blog who wrote the excellent post on the recent Eastern Sierra fiasco. Amazing coincidence. We rant for a while about that and other double-related stuff.

Once we get back on highway 128 the surface improves and magically we find another paceline that gets us into the last rest stop at Monte Rio in short order. Only 17 miles to go now. I head out alone and reach a T-junction that I can't find on the route map. I'm pretty sure I should go left but then I see Jay coming up the road to the right. He claims that getting lost is one of his things, but that we are definitely on the right road. There are no other riders to confirm that but we press on. We climb steadily up to Occidental and then turn left towards Sebastopol. I'm very glad when we start descending and I ask Jay, who rode this section yesterday, if we are done with the climbing. He says yes, but it's a lie and there's still a couple more short hills. Finally we hit a flat section and then turn onto High School Road for the last mile. Great reception at the finish, the digital clock showing my (personal) record for a hilly double and lots of people clapping and cheering. Josh is waiting patiently and seems (pleasantly) surprised to see me this early!

In another extraordinary coincidence I meet another old friend, Bo Crane, from Palo Alto at the finish, who used run the Palo Alto AYSO youth soccer program during my tenure as head coach a few years back. He's also a biker but he's here cheering on a friend who came down from Oregon to do the ride. He snapped this picture of me.

Great post-ride meal and then Josh and I decide to head back rather than stay an extra night as we are done so much earlier than (I) expected. He graciously offers to drive as I'm not sure I would be safe. I'm feeling pretty beat up; my arms in particular are aching from all the bumpy descents.

So now I've done the top three "radically difficult" doubles, Devil Mountain (DMD), Alpine 8-pass Challenge (A8) and the Terrible Two (TT), in one year. Ironically, I did my best time by far on the TT, which I was most worried about. Obviously I'm in better shape than when I did the DMD back in April, but it's still interesting to try to rank them. The TT had a lot more fast flat riding than I had expected, which helps get the average speed up, but the after-lunch climbs are monsters. The DMD and the A8 basically have no paceline riding at all, it's either up or down all the time. I'm sure the TT would be much, much harder in normal, hot, temperatures, so I think it definitely deserves its title. My personal enjoyment ranking is: DMD, A8 and TT. I score the TT last because the road surface is truly awful for long periods, whereas the A8 roads (and views) are fantastic. The DMD is somewhere in between but overall gave me the biggest sense of achievement and the still-green countryside is truly magnificent in April. All three rides are incredibly well supported with fantastic volunteers.

So, given that the TT is only a week after the A8 I'm not sure I'd do it again. It would almost certainly be hotter and tougher and I'm no fan of heat. Check back next year!

Alpine Challenge Double (aka Death Ride +++) 6/13/2009

2009-06-18T21:38:00.002-07:00

I made it (just). Stats from my Garmin 305 (with handy battery extender):

Ride time: 19:00
On bike time: 16:41
Distance: 198
Climbing: 21416'
Avg speed: 11.8

I went up a day early to acclimatize to the altitude and stayed at
Kirkwood. Lots of snow still around and temps in the 50's on arrival. Friday dawned frosty but sunny and I went for a warm up ride in the late morning to Silver Lake and then up to Carson Pass and back. Clouds gathered during the afternoon and some light rain.

Riders were assigned start times and I had the earliest possible at
3:30am, although a few people evidently started even earlier. Saturday was cloudy with temps in the 40s, warmer than I expected but early cloud never bodes well in the Sierra. After my debacle at the Eastern Sierra the weeks before I was better equipped, at the cost of extra weight. I had two layers, arm warmers, leg warmers, bootees, three pairs of gloves(finger gloves, cold weather bike gloves and ski gloves), ski pants and a handlebar bag to put it all in. In the end I wore everything at various points in the ride. Oh, I forgot the essential but practical fashion accessory. A cool blue Walgreen's disposable shower cap. Lightweight, easy on/off even when riding, keeps the rain out and the cold on descents for the hair-challenged among us. Also a good way to meet new people as it invites comments -;)

The start was at Turtle Rock park just north of Markleeville, 30 minutes drive from Kirkwood (there's very limited accommodation much closer). I got a scare at the start as I tweaked my left calf muscle in the parking lot. Initially I thought this would be a show stopper as every time I dropped my heel, pulled back or pushed hard it reminded me sharply that it wasn't 100%. So for the first half of the ride I babied it and did most of the work with my right leg. Now you know why single leg training is important! Fortunately it improved through the day and by the end I was able to push pretty much full out. Never would have made it otherwise.

The ride starts by descending into to Carson valley and traverses along the foothills parallel to 88/395 and then up Kingsbury grade towards Lake Tahoe. The first rest stop and turn around was at 7300' where it was cold and damp. Ski pants and gloves on for the descent which was fun. Back in the valley it was light and you could see the great views we missed in the dark on the way in.

After stopping to remove the descending gear, hit the the second rest stop, where there were more volunteers than riders just before the climb up from Woodfords to Hope Valley at 7000' and then up to the top of Luther Pass at 7700'. I was trying to be efficient at the rest stops, just grab some food, fill up drink bottles and leave. I.e., no rest! After Luther it was back down to the Hope Valley and then up to Carson Pass at 8500' by 10am. I'm really happy with my schedule at this point. Still noticeably colder above 7500' and occasional spots of rain. Notice that the whole course is basically an out and back affair centered around Hope Valley and Markleeville. Of course, this allows you to spot the leaders coming down while you are going up. A right turn and a very scenic ride up to Blue Lakes at 8200'. On the way the sun comes out and I actually take off my jacket and put on my finger gloves! I'm also passed by Triple Crown Stage race contender Robert Choi, who probably started two hours after me. Everyone has their name and number very visible on their back. Had to duct tape one of my (not Titanium) water bottle cages which had broken at the rest stop. Weather turns cloudy and cold again on the long descent back to Turtle Rock for lunch. Useful to have access to the car for gear modifications, but I'm not changing anything as the weather on the next pass, Ebbetts, looks ominous. Quick sandwich and I'm on my way. No cell phone coverage anywhere so I can't call home with an update. It's just after 1pm, 111 miles, and I'm still feeling good about the time because I know how long it has taken me in the past to do the remainder of the ride. However, the fact is you still have 3/4 of the regular Death Ride to do and the two toughest passes.

It's a long ride in to Ebbetts, but pleasant alongside the Carson river and I've pulled down the leg and arm warmers. Ebbetts has the steepest grades, 12% in places, but I find it easier than I remember, probably because I recently lowered my lowest triple chain ring to 28. Half way up with the sun out, I even stop to take off by bootees! Short-lived experiment as by 8000' the rain is back and its getting really cold again. The summit is the highest point at 8750' and the rest stop has hot chocolate! Back on with the ski pants and gloves for the 5 mile descent to Hermit valley. It rains most of the way down, but at least no hail this week! Soup at the bottom rest stop, off with the rain gear and back up. Of course to starts raining again near the summit. Several people under the "sun shade" wrapped in blankets waiting it out - I don't think they are going to finish. More hot chocolate and I see it's nearly 5pm and I wonder where all the time has gone. The rain that started on the way up has stopped but the road surface is wet nearly the entire length of the descent and wet enough at the top to soak my bootees with spray. Ebbetts is the one pass with a tricky descent so its annoying that its wet, and I have to go slow. I also lose my water bottle three times from the flaky cage and the bumps and give up on it after the third time.

I turn onto to Monitor pass at 5:45 and catch one guy for about the third time and ask him how he's doing and he says ok but he doesn't think he's going to make it. I had forgotten that the cutoff for descending the East side of Monitor is 7pm. That's 8 miles and 2500' feet away, similar to Page Mill and I know how long that takes me when I'm fresh - very, very tight. And at this point I have 150 miles and
15000' on my legs. Another guy passes me, and asks me how far it is and curses when I tell him. So we team up and thrash up the climb. Of course the leaders are coming down already. There's a lot of 8-10% grade to start with and I'm worried I'm going to blow up. Once we reach the second section where the grade is 6-8% it's still tight time wise and we are passed by one of the many SAG vehicles and we ask him to drive up to the top and ask about an extended cut-off. He says not to worry as there are people 20 minutes behind us who are asking the same, and anyone who gets this far deserves to finish. We don't slack off however and make the rest stop at the 8300' summit bang on 7pm. No time for stopping as there is food and drink at the bottom of the descent. It turns out the the rest stop organizer enforced the cut off anyway and we are the last but one riders allowed to descend.

The descent to Topaz junction at 395 is one of the classics, ten miles, great surface, easy curves, just two benign hairpins, good visibility, minimal traffic and fantastic views. Hit a steady 45mph on the lower section and cruise into the rest stop to fuel up for the climb back, which is actually the longest of the day at 3300' and those ten miles. We team up with the last guy down, who also happens to be from Palo Alto, and start back up. He is struggling a bit so I elect to stay with him at a slower pace. It takes two hours to get back and it was dark and pretty cold by then. The SAG drivers hang around waiting for us to drop!

I estimate the temp was in the thirties above 8000 all day - it was 35 by the time I got back to Kirkwood which was ten degrees colder than when I started out in the morning. Back at the rest stop I request hot chocolate for my bottle, don the ski gloves one final time, but not the pants - there's one more climb back to Turtle Rock and I can't climb in them - and set off down solo (my teammate on the climb has a buddy who missed the cut off). It's a long cold descent and I realize I left the water bottle!. I have no idea how fast I'm going but I have the road to myself and my AYUP (http://www.ayup.com) lights are fantastic so it's pretty quick. Thankfully no wildlife, e.g., bears or deer, make an appearance on the road. The six miles back from the junction of 4 and 89 to Markleeville is something of grind but there is cell phone coverage in Markleeville! So I call Jenny to let her know I made it. The final 400' climb back to the park seems to go on forever but then there is the sign, lights and post-ride dinner (always a winner)! I check in, pick up my 8-pass finisher jersey and chow down with a bunch of very tired looking people.

For the record, the fastest time was by the person who won the Terrible Two last year - 13:01 - just amazing.

Overall this was a very well organized and supported ride, that is
destined to be a classic. I am so glad that I was able to finish it in
its inaugural year. There were surprisingly few riders, even for the
"build your own ride" variant, i.e., you could do the Death Ride (in
reverse) if you wanted and about 60 people did that, given how many people fail to get into the actual Death Ride every year. I must say I really like the atmosphere and support of the club-hosted double centuries.

Next weeks it's the Terrible Two - hope I recover in time!

Eastern Sierra Double Fiasco 6/6/2009

2009-06-18T21:38:00.001-07:00

Well, I "DNF"ed (bailed out) of the Eastern Sierra Double on Saturday, as I felt it was more important to be able to ride next week than put myself at risk of hypothermia. The whole experience was very frustrating and made me seriously question the judgment and competence of the organizers, Planet Ultra.

The ride was supposed to be out of Bishop, north to Mono Lake via Mammoth Lakes, then east on 120 across the valley and south back on 6 to Bishop. When I checked in they said they were changing the route owing to the weather but at that point they had no details of the new route.

The "weather" was not a typical late system front that would have impacted all areas including the valley, but was predominantly a moisture feed that was being picked up by the mountains to create localized weather. I drove over from San Francisco on Friday and had to go north over 88 as 120 and 108 were closed. There was no weather in the central valley but the cloud and some rain/snow was evident over the Sierra. However, once down into the valley on 395, the weather was fine all the way down to Bishop. It was a little cool in Mammoth owing to the altitude and you could see the rain/snow on the peaks on both sides of the valley. The forecast for Saturday that I saw was for similar to slightly better conditions than Friday, which is why I was surprised to find out about the route change.

I heard a rumor that one plan was to ride 100 miles down 395 and 100 miles back. That would probably have been relatively weather free, but not significantly better than the standard route (and a lot less interesting!). The alternate route they actually chose was a disaster because it violated one of the basic rules of the prevalent weather pattern, which is to stay away from the mountains because that is where the bad weather is. The alternate route, which we learned about at the start at 5am, had us going South to Big Pine then east towards Death Valley on 168/Death Valley Road (and then back again). Admittedly it was unlucky that the particular area we headed into had the bad weather brewing so early, but the western flanks are the most likely places for precipitation in the Sierra. [For example, on my way home, I rode up Tioga Pass with no precipitation, but it rained solidly from 8000' to 3000' on the western descent.] Although the route up Death Valley Rd didn't go that high (7000') it was surrounded with plenty of high enough peaks to create weather. Indeed as we rode down it was ironic that it was clear north up to Mammoth but obviously developing weather in the area we were headed into. Unlike the original route which had plenty of bail out options and possible shelter early on, riding 25 miles into total wilderness with no shelter or bail out options was very high risk and likely to produce exactly the result that the route change was trying to avoid. I personally bailed 12 miles out just shy of the summit when it started to hail. At that point we were facing another 13 miles out at that altitude, then a return and then a long descent, all in potentially appalling weather conditions, i.e., between 2-3 hours. That seemed like a pretty good recipe for hypothermia to me, even when reasonably well equipped for rain. Even though I bailed pretty quickly, I was very cold indeed by the time I got to back to the valley where thankfully, but no real surprise, it wasn't raining.

After checking out of my hotel I drove north to Lee Vining and could not help feel depressed as to to how good the weather was there for riding. As I had wanted some climbing at altitude I rode up Tioga Pass and back, without any precipitation. By the time I returned it had clouded over some and I could see some isolated showers to the east. So, we might well have got wet on the second half of the ride, but it would have likely been short in duration, unlike in the mountains [and the second half of the alternate route was into that area anyway].

The ride up Tioga saved the day for me. I haven't heard the fate of the rest of the riders. I saw a handful who had been sagged back to the hotel just as I was leaving, who said they were so cold they couldn't hold their bikes straight. And I know some people were up there without real rain jackets. I just hope they all got back ok.

Davis Double: Ice socks, paddling pools and rattlesnakes 5/16/2009

2009-06-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

The heat wave duly arrived on Saturday making for a tough ride. Although I finished a couple of hours faster, at times I felt worse than on the Devil Mountain Double. Despite being advertised as such, Davis is definitely not an easy "first" double (in the heat), Solvang is much easier for a first timer. Started at 5, did the first 100 by noon, but didn't get in until 9, owing to spending increasing amounts of time at the later rest stops recovering from the heat, which was around 100 in the heat of the day. Evidently it was even hotter last year!

The tough thing about Davis is that the easy stuff is at the beginning and the end, when it is cool, and the hard climbing is in the heat of the day, and you do get to 3000' at the 100 mile mark. The after lunch section is the killer though. Although it only averages 5% grade, the climb to the top of Walker Ridge ("Resurrection") is at the hottest part of the day and with full sun on your back. At the rest top just before the summit, I have never felt more drained and had my first real experience with "hot foot". After that it's pretty much downhill and small rollers but the heat intensifies if anything. The final runout on the flat is fast, and it's amazing how much better I rode once the sun dropped below the ridge.

A nice touch, and probably critical in staving off heat stroke, were the "ice socks", provided at the rest stops. Drape one around your neck and it's good for an hour or so of cooling. At the later rest stops they also had paddling pools, which were a boon for relieving hot foot.

I counted six sqished rattlesnakes on the road.

Total fluid intake: 3 gallons of gatorade/water, 2 cokes, 2 mountain dews, 4 V8s and copious quantities of water melon.

Based on this I'm guessing that the Terrible Two really is the hardest double, since it has the same potential for heat, twice as much vertical and a hard time limit. They say you shouldn't attempt the TT unless you can finish Davis in 13; that's 3 hours faster than I managed it.

Devil Mountain Double 4/18/2009

2009-06-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a ride! A little hot but glad the heatwave hadn't started two days earlier!

The Devil is 206 miles, so an hour longer riding time than previous double at Solvang (193). Started at 5am - took me 18:15 total with about 2 hours at the 9 stops on the way. At least I got in before midnight! Fastest time 12:12 - amazing!

Although its tough, it is a fantastic ride through some amazing scenery - definitely a classic. The highlights were riding up the east flank of Mt Diablo watching the sun come up and the wildflowers in the San Antonio valley before the climb up the east side of Mt Hamilton. The toughest part for me was not Sierra Rd (at 155 miles) but the climb up the east side of Mt Hamilton. It's hot, has a lot of 10% grade and seems
to go on for ever.

I can really recommend my AYUP lighting kit (http://www.ayup.com). Two guys elected to ride in front of me on Calaveras road because even from behind my light was stronger than theirs. The small and light battery, nominally 3 hours, lasted 4.5 with no sign of dimming.

Solvang Double 3/28/2009

2009-06-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

Completed my first double on Saturday at Solvang. As advertised it is a good first double. Mostly flat, very fast if you are in group and can set up a paceline. I picked up one in the morning and averaged 25 for a few miles. Lucked out with very good weather, sunny all day, no real wind. Sunday going home the fog was back and well inland. I finished in 13:45 total, 11:50 actually on the bike.

I rode the afternoon with Andy Cedilnik from Tivo, who is the Waves to Wine captain for their team! Highway 1 almost claimed another victim as at one point the road edge has crumbled away and Andy, who had let his attention wander, almost fell off the edge, much as Garland did on Waves to Wine 2008. Fortunately he just managed to hang on to the road but it was close.

Next up is the Devil Mountain Double on 4/18. Sublime to the ridiculous.