Terrible Two:
My riding buddy, Scott McKinney, and I commuted to Sebastopol Friday night where we slept in the parking lot of Analy High School. At 4:20am, after about 3hrs sleep due to a loud party somewhere near the parking lot, everyone started arriving for a 5:30am start and waking up if they slept in the parking lot. The meal the night before was Chicago style pizza, a salad, an apple (with peel because the fiber helps make certain that pizza isn’t carried for 200 miles the next day) and a glass of red wine. Before bed I ate some peanuts and drank about 16 oz of water with my iron and anti-oxidant suplements. Hydration on Friday evening was not as effective as it should have been for a ride in 100 degree heat. So I changed the breakfast plan from a bagel to 20 oz of Perpetum, about 10 oz of water and a few Endurolyte tabs. Just before the pre-ride meeting I also grabbed a half of Costco sized chocolate muffin. On board at the start were 2 large water bottles of Perpetum and one 16 oz disposable bottle of water in my pocket plus 6 shots of Hammer Gel, 3 Powerbars and 2 Gu packets (in case the Hammer Gel stopped going down later in the day) along with a baggie of secret pills. (Endurolytes and Centrum – the multivitamin for old people.)
For the preride meeting Scott and I positioned ourselves near the speaker. Not knowing exactly what direction we were leaving the school, we managed to be at the back of the 316 rider field. That meant the first 10 miles were less relaxed than they should have been because we had to move up to the front during that early warm up from Sebastapol thru Santa Rosa. It was nice to see all of the different riders whom we’ve run into at other double centuries. The lesson we learned is to not get comfortable until you are where you want to be because although you can see the pace car up front it doesn’t mean the peleton is one continuous group. Several times I found we were jumping from group to group to get near to the front.
The ride through Santa Rosa was different and felt like a circuit at the end of race rather than the begining of a double century. I can only guess we were avoiding some obstacle in the main road or that Santa Rosa wanted to sell it’s downtown district to the peleton. In any case, the Terrible Two earned it’s reputation by heading uphill soon after leaving Santa Rosa about 12 miles from it’s start. One cool thing about the early morning was the frequent specators out in front of their house just to see the riders riding passed.
Scott and I got separated on the first climb called Trinity Grade. On the way up though I went passed Michael, who rode with Scott and I for 80 miles in Solvang and probably 60 miles in Davis this year. We keep track of Michael because he is also from Sacramento. I also went passed Craig and Jenny on their Titanium Tandem. Bad news: They flatted and crashed into a guardrail at 40+ mph maybe 10 miles later on the second decent, braking their forks and Craig’s collar bone. I didn’t see Craig and Jenny’s crash but I saw another crash on the way up Trinity that happened about 5 feet to my left when one guy had a chain issue at the same time someone in front of him changed lanes. The guy went down and displayed why colar bones are always the thing that breaks on cycling crashes in slow motion for me on the technocolor big screen. I think the lesson is, don’t put your hand out when you fall because it’s not going to slide on dry pavement. Another lesson learned on the Trinity climb is to find out where water will be handed out so you don’t carry an extra pound to the top of Trinity grade where you find out someone is passing out the same bottle of water you have stashed in your jersey pocket.
The back side of Trinity has a highly technical decent with hairpins posted at 10 and 15 mph. Last year this section was wet from the morning dew. This year it was dry. And thank God it was, because a dude who seemed to know what he was doing flew by me when I was doing about 40 mph. If that guy was going under 50 mph I would be surprised. I had never seen someone decend like that guy did and just hoped he sprouted wings if he flew off the side.
Not only did I loose Scott on the first big climb but I lost contact with the lead pack going up Trinity too. That wasn’t so bad because I found myself riding with Paul McKenzie. Paul is the captain of the tandem I rode with on the Devil Mountain Double that had Catherina Berge as stoker. Cat finished 7th in the 2005 edition of RAAM and was the only woman finisher that year. They were in the California Triple Crown stage race but Paul was sick during the second stage. Cat rode it alone and posted a time that kept her as the lead for the women, but it didn’t count because she was on a tandem for one leg. Paul is quite slender and rides sponsored by Cliff Shot. He and I were able to get back onto the lead group in the Napa Valley and ride with them to the 55 mile Calistoga rest stop.
The first stop was quick since a bunch of us planned to make a pit stop when we got out of town rather than stand in the porta-poty line. Probably 30 out of the 50-70 strong peleton that entered the rest stop left together. The bad news is that a missed arrow on the road cost me and 2 other guys to never get back onto the leaders after the pitt stop. Luckily for me, a different Michael that I have ridden with in about 3 other doubles, was wise enough to acknowledge that we were doing a huge effort and not reeling in the lead group. Secondly most of the leaders would just roll away from us when we hit the 9 mile Geysers climb to rest stop #2 at 85 miles. So, we took it easy.
At the second rest stop at the top of Geysers, now in 90+ degree heat, I thanked Michael for his wisdom and decided it was time to just enjoy the fact that I had been close enough to see the lead group rounding the first corner on Geysers, nearly 80 miles into the ride. After about 8 minutes at the stop, Scott McKinney rolled in and I thanked Michael again for being so wise. Scott, Michael, myself, and a team called Godsend with 5 guys from the Bay Area rode down from the top of Geysers to lunch at Lake Sonoma near 110 miles. Somewhere in this section we turned over the first 100 with 8000 feet of climbing in only 5 hrs 45 minutes. If only the second 100 were that fast. (Unfortunately the day did not cool off.)
After 20 or so minutes at the lunch stop we hit the infamous Skaggs Spring Road which rolls up and down for 30 miles before bottoming out below the El Rancheria climb that seemed to average 12% for about 2 miles. On Skaggs Spring my thermometer consistantly registered 103 degrees. I believe this is where I realized it was a good thing I hadn’t filled my bottles with anything but water after the top of Geysers where I left with one bottle of Perpetum and one of water. I was also thankful I had taken on a 6oz V8 at every rest stop along with eating a handfull of strawberries, water mellon, and Enderolytes. At one water stop on Skaggs Spring (the organizers put water on two of the major peaks on this road) they had iced towels to drape over your head and shoulders. I found this to be very refreshing.
Focusing on hydration at the expense of nutrients cost me a strong second half. But it left me hydrated despite the nano-water facets on the surface of my skin pouring liquid out of my body in a vain attempt to keep itself cool. At around 150 miles we hit the coast at Stewarts Point and headed south to Fort Ross with a tailwind for 10 miles, a pace near 30mph, and a temperature slightly below 70 degress. At the Fort Ross we were told we were about the 30th riders to come through. So, the heat had the same effect on most other riders as well.
From Fort Ross we headed inland again on the last big climb. Those who had never done the Terrible Two were probably disgusted to find out the climb out of Fort Ross at mile 160 was every bit as steep, though a little shorter, than the EL Rancheria Climb back at mile 145. From there it was onto Atazcadero and Occidental through some beautiful redwood forests before heading back to Sebastipol.
Unfortunately there was an 8 mile section before the last rest stop where I had miscalculated water supplies and was left riding for nearly 1/2 hour without water. Thinking it was mostly downhill after the Fort Ross climb I had emptied about 1/2 a bottle on my body for cooling effect. Well, it wasn’t all downhill and that 1/2 bottle was about what I needed to keep from hitting a slight dehydration. Luckily I took on another V8 (I believe my 8th for the day) about 10 oz of water and 1/2 a Coke. An hour later when we reached the finish I had recovered from the dehydration but not from the pains of having done 200 miles with 16,500 foot in 13 hrs 35 minutes. Climate variances, while contributing to the beauty, significantly affect to the diffculty rating of Terrible Two.
The results have not been posted yet but Scott and I should be in the top 30. That’s 1 hr faster than last year for me and 33 slots better in the overall standings. ( One heck of a job by Mr. McKinney on his first TT! )
