Originally Posted by SV Commuter
If I do it, it's very possible I will take one of the bail-outs...
This will be my approach -- might as well start it and see how I do.
But I've already done one double and one 300k, and it may be that jumping straight from a couple centuries to a fairly hard double, which it sounds like is what you'll be doing, may not be the best idea.
Before I did the 300k, my longest ride was a 200k, and on the 300k I really ended up straining my knees and had to take nearly a month off the bike afterwards. I don't think the leap in distance was the only reason for that, but in retrospect, it probably couldn't have hurt to increase the distances more gradually.
On the other hand, plenty of riders make the leap from centuries to double-centuries with no problems at all.
If you do go for the double, I'd encourage you to try out some of the route beforehand. I did a 106-mile ride this weekend that included the Marshall Wall and most of Mt. Tam (I stopped at the Ridgecrest/Pantoll junction instead of going all the way to the top) and I was pretty tired by the end of it. The thought of adding 94 miles, complete with wind and rollers up Highway One and the Coleman Valley climb, was daunting to say the least.