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09-30-08, 01:13 PM
The schedules worked in my favor this year, so I was able to ride the Knoxville Double Century, after having to miss the '07 ride due to working Interbike. In '08 Interbike was the week following Knoxville, so no worries. Well, except that my "recovery" from Knoxville would be five days of working Interbike. No problem, right?
The Knoxville Double starts and finishes in Vacaville, CA (a few miles east of San Francisco) so the first bit was a 6 hour drive from SoCal on Friday, thankfully car-pooling with two other 50+ (actually 60+) double century fanatics, Tom Parkes and David Slaton in David's RAV4. No problems other than the roof rack releasing David's Merlin at speed (70+ mph), the bike hitting the car roof with a loud "clunk!" but thankfully holding on by the rear wheel strap! No damage to bike, rack or car, thankfully, though David's heart rate must have shot up when he heard the clunk and saw his bike dangling off the back as he looked in his mirror!
No further drama, as we drove to Pena Adobe Park in Vacaville, checked in, got our numbers, route sheets, and visited with the Quack Cyclists who present the Knoxville Double every year. Scott (one of the Head Quacks, I understand) handed me my Knoxville Double jersey (photo to follow, hopefully) and a pair of Quack socks (I'll try to get a photo of these too), then we off for Italian pasta carbo-load dinner, and to sleep (yeah, Motel 6 again!) by 10:00 PM.
Morning came way too soon (3:15 AM wake-up call), but being familiar with the routine, we were all dressed, kitted, breakfasted (is that a word?) and tires properly pumped for a 4:30 AM start a Pena Adobe. My plan was to ride with Tom, at least until daylight, since the first part involves lots of tricky turns and Tom knows them well! David would be riding with his friend Ulmont, and Ulmont with his friend from Taiwan, Jason. Jason had never ridden further than 60 miles at time before, but he is a racer, so Ulmont (with whom he works at Intel) was planning to mentor him on his first double. Now Knoxville has 12,500 feet of climbing, so not the perfect first double in my opinion, but Jason was ready (at least mentally).
We had planned to start together, but like most plans this one fell apart, and rather more quickly than most! Tom and I did start together, not sure exactly what happened with Jason, David and Ulmont . . . Thankfully not too cold at the start (56 deg.F), so shorts, jersey, arm warmers and a vest kept me quite comfortable. The first major climb is Mount George, and a good warm-up really since it doesn't get steep until very near the top. I stayed with Tom up this ascent, even though I could have gone faster, since I knew it would be a long day, and no point in hammering this early! David and Ulmont rode past without even noticing us, they were going so fast (and carrying on a conversation at the same time . . . not fair!). No idea where Jason was!
By the summit of Mt. George we noticed a bit of daylight breaking through the darkness, making the descent a bit faster than we would have gone in complete darkness, but a tad slower than we'd drop in full daylight. Nice sweeping corners mostly and nothing too sharp, so fairly fast and safe. The descent off Mt. George dropped us into Napa Valley, so pretty much one vineyard after another all the way to the first checkpoint at 35 miles, with a light mist hanging in the valleys at daybreak. I had started with two large bottles and left my Camelback empty for the first climb, but filled it now with Sustained Energy and Chocolate Hammer Gel; still too cool to add ice! Friendly Quacks at the checkpoint had fruit, muffins, bagels, hot chocoate, etc. all being consumed by hungry cyclists.
Saw and greeted a few riders I knew, had a bit to eat, then Tom was ready to hit the road again. Beautiful time of the morning to be riding through Napa Valley; sights, sounds and smells all good and kind of cliche "Great to be Alive!" feelings though here. We caught up to two 70+ riders out on the road, the Very Famous Dave Evans and his friend Clem Bartoli, talking with them for awhile just prior to the start of Major Climb #2, i.e. Howell Mountain. I started this climb at Tom's pace, but pretty quickly notched it up, feeling totally awake and strong at this point, dropping Tom fairly easily. Three girls passed me, and when they saw my OCRR jersey they asked if Chuck Chen was here (having ridden with Chuck on Central Coast and Terrible Two doubles), so I gave them the bad news, but they had an idea why (his wife wants him in church choir practice on Sat. mornings!). When I got back I told Chuck that his "girl-friends from Fresno" were missing him!
Howell Mountain is a long climb (9 miles?), and not horribly steep overall, with 5 and 6% common but it does ramp up to the occasional 8-9% just to get your attention! Rode with, passed and got passed by lots of riders along here. Took off arm warmers and vest as the morning was heating up, but still felt comfortable at my climbing pace. The desecnt off Howell is tricky (lots of decreasing radius turns), but I remembered that from prev. years, plus there's a HUGE warning on the route sheet "Dangerous Descent!" so sometimes, I guess, it does pay to be extra careful! That said, I did pass several riders on the twisty drop off Howell, so some were riding even more carefully than I :D. As the descent flattened out I passed Kitty (who is much faster than me, really) and a bit later on passed Doug Patterson (who is much-much faster than me, usually) so I realized I was pushing too hard, too soon, and needed to back off a bit and conserve.
I caught up to a good sized peloton along here (with Kitty and Doug eventually joining too), and drafted my way into the 2nd checkpoint (at 62 miles) on the shores of lovely Lake Berryessa. After giving my number to the Happy Quack with the clip-board, I hit the food tables (Costco chocolate muffins!), lathered on sun-screen, re-filled Camelback with Sustained Energy, Expresso Hammer Gel this time, and as much ice as I could stuff in. As I walked back to grab my bike, I saw my good friend Terri getting ready to go too. Great timing! I gave her a big hug, then we took off up the Very Famous Knoxville Grade together, sharing stories, and what all we've been doing since we last talked (Cool Breeze Double Metric)!
Now the Knoxville Grade (after which this ride is named) is essentially a 30 mile climb, with the really, really steep bits pretty much at the end. Before the steep starts, however, you spend a good amount of energy climbing gentle rises (some followed by short descents) whilst dodging pot-holes and a multitude of broken bits of pavement. Thankfully there were very few motor vehicles along here, and mostly pick-ups driven by hunters in full hunter-camo-kit. Not sure what they were hunting. No, cyclists not in season! We had a good bit of luck as we approached the really steep section, as a cloud moved in front of the sun, which seemed to drop the ambient temp. about 10 deg.F! Terri has one of those fancy bike computers with the % of grade reading, so she would call out ("10%, no now 11%") as we climbed. Not sure if I wanted to know, but when we hit 14% at least I knew why it hurt so much. And yes, I was in my 30t x 27t low granny for this bit!
As we neared the top, we went through a tunnel and shortly thereafter saw a photographer Quack (Ravi) sitting on the side of the road, recording the agony in each cylists expression! See photos to follow, i.e. agony of Rick followed by the agony of Terri.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/bikephoto1/RickonKnoxvilleGrade2008.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/bikephoto1/TerriBoykinsonKnoxvilleGrade2008.jpg
You can see the tunnel in the background, and see that our friendly cloud had moved on by the time the photos were taken! After another couple of miles of climbing (8 - 9 % thankfully), we arrived at a Mini-Checkpoint at the Knoxville Summit, and mile 78. As soon as I gave the Happy Quack Girl my number she called out "Shiela, Rick's here!" Sheila (with whom I'd ridden the Hemet Double) gave me a hug, plus she was all smiles (as usual), dressed in full hunter camo (as were her fellow Quack workers at this location). Plus, she had gallons of chocolate milk to distribute, filling cups and bottles for lots of thirsty riders. I introduced Sheila to Terri, but then Sheila said I'd already introduced them at the Eastern Sierra Double.
So you think I can remember that :)? Great to be at the summit though, and only 1,000 feet to climb before lunch.
There were, thankfully, some descents in the 30 miles before lunch, but with the miles, the day getting a bit warmer, and three major climbs on our legs, the ride from that previous checkpoint into lunch seemed to take quite a long time. Finally rolling into the Lunch Checkpoint, Middletown, CA Lower Lake County Park (at 107 miles), we saw Chuck Bramwell (the CA Triple Crown Guy) already rolling out! Lunch at the Quack Cyclists is a custom sandwich, made by cheerful Quack sandwich chefs, and in my case turkey on sour dough bread with lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard. A bag of crispy Cheeto's on the side and a cold Mt. Dew made me a very happy camper! Maybe not as good for me as Sustained Energy, but a whole lot more fun to eat! Terri had a peanut butter sandwich, which she said didn't go well with the sour dough bread, but overall we decided we were doing fine. Yes, the longer than usual stop for lunch probably helped!
I was noticing a bit of a chafing problem on left upper leg (guess my Bag Balm had run out!) but thankfully Terri had a mini-pack of Chamois Butt'R in her bag. Once I applied that to the offending area . . . problem solved! Thanks so much for that one Terri! Before leaving lunch I topped off my Camelback (lots of ice this time!), plus both bottles, since I knew we had a long steep climb soon after leaving lunch and a long way to ride before the next checkpoint. The next climb does start pretty quick after leaving Middletown, over the highway and left onto some little traveled road. Then four miles of gentle climb before the right turn onto Loch Lomond leads to the painful ascent of Cobb Mountain. While not the 14% of the Knoxville Grade, Cobb is over seven miles of 9 - 11%, so it really does get your attention (yeah, into my granny again!). Terri and I were suffering up this climb with an older gentleman on a recumbent (looked 60+ to me, though I didn't ask), trading back and forth who was in front and who was trailing. Good to see recumbents out on doubles, though I don't see them very often.
I also rode with a Rivendell rider through here, and had a great conversation about his bike, how the fittings were "Grant Petersen Approved" (with the exception of his clipless pedals), down to the bar-end shifters and fat (700 x 32) tires. We both subscribe to the Rivendell Reader, so lots to talk about Grant's various ramblings, but I let him go and waited for Terri at Cobb Summit, though she really wasn't very far back. The descent off Cobb is fairly straight and boring, but at this point in the ride, boring (at least on a descent) is not such a bad thing. Once the descent flattened out it was fairly level and easy, with very little motor traffic, all the way to the next checkpoint (Detert Reservoir “Pelican Lake”) at mile 135.
This checkpoint was staffed by a very funny and cheerful bunch of Quacks, who fortunately they had plenty of Mt. Dew and ice on hand. I filled both bottles with ice and Mt. Dew, more Sustained Energy in my Camelback . . . but there was one problem. These Quacks had comfortable fabric chairs for the weary riders, and once I sat down; it was Very Difficult to get back up! It just felt so good to be off the bike seat, and much more comfy than the hard wooden picnic tables at lunch. Not sure exactly how long we stayed, but Terri and I just sat there talking with various riders and Quacks . . . maybe half an hour or so, i.e. way longer than a normal In-N-Out checkpoint stop. At some point we "did the math" and figured that we'd better get back on our bikes in order to make it to the next checkpoint (a bit over 25 miles away) before dark, since that next checkpoint (lake Hennessey) is where we'd pick-up our lights.
I should point out that, in the morning, we usually start with relatively small and lightweight lights. These stay on the bikes all day (you can see them in the photos), then at a checkpoint about 30 miles from the finish, we pick up our heavy duty lights (Nite-Rider, Princeton Tech, etc.) for better lighting when there will be more traffic (usually) and we will be more tired (always). When we pick up our heavy duty lights, we still keep the small ones with us for emergency use, i.e. if the big light fails, or we need a light to change a tube, etc.
That said, we did hook up with Dr. Jerry Brown (who rides with the Rebels sometimes), and talked with him for several miles after the Pelican Lake checkpoint. Then we dropped him on a long climb and fell in with a friendly groupetto (six or seven riders), sharing times at the front, checking the back to make sure no one had been dropped, and generally keeping a steady pace until the long descent to Lake Hennessey. For some reason, I felt really good there, leaning way into the corners, not even thinking about braking, but very connected to the bike, alert to the road, and (probably) not as careful as I should have been. Nothing tragic happened though, and I pulled into the Hennessey checkpoint (mile 160) well ahead of Terri and the groupetto.
The efficient Quacks had our light bags arranged in alphabetical order, so easy to find, then a few minutes to fit the headlight and battery (mine is Princeton Tech), and the rear flasher. Dr. Jerry caught up with us here, so we talked with him again, plus one of the groupetto leaders was talking about how he'd had his vasectomy in his backyard, and had it filmed. Proving (I guess) that you just never know what you'll hear about on a double century :). And no, I don't know why he did that. In other news, I ate a Cliff bar, drank yet another Mt.Dew, but passed on the hot dogs, noodle soup and/or hot chili that the Quacks were cooking at this location. Eventually we found our way back to our bikes, and shoved off into the next (immediate!) climb. We weren't feeling too spunky on this one, but slogged up at a fairly decent speed (7 - 8 mph), and were much relieved when it leveled off a bit. Fifteen miles (approx.) in it was time to stop and turn on all our lights, with the sun setting at what seemed to be a quite rapid pace.
Back on the road I told Terri that she had so many lights on her bike, it would make a Christmas tree jealous :). But in this case, that's a good thing. I made an additional stop to put on my arm warmers as the night air was cooling quite a lot. Great time of night too, with billions of stars overhead, and a kind of "one with the universe" feeling that comes with riding at night in the mountains. Conversation was still flowing rapidly though here between Terri and I, so the miles passed quickly, at least until we hit the big climbs near the end of this stage. I'm thinking there were three long climbs followed by long descents, but there could have been four. And these were fairly steep (guessing 6 - 7%) but nothing as steep as some we'd climbed earlier in the day. Once past the dam, and down "Cardiac Hill" (which you climb on the Davis Double), it was an easy ride (mostly downhill) to the final checkpoint at mile 187.
We hit the final checkpoint (Pardehsa Store) a little past 9:00 PM, and even at that hour the Quack checkpoint folks were happy, super-cheerful and encouraging. Rumaging through the cooler, Terri was disappointed not to find a Mt. Dew. Upon hearing of this sad situation, one Quack whispered to Terri, "I think I have one in my car . . ." To which Terri responded with a happy/grateful "Well then, hook a sister up :)! Of course, no Mt. Dew for me (guess they're only saved for attractive females!), so I settled for a Pepsi, not that I was too concerned with only 13 miles to the finish.
Leaving the Pardehsa checkpoint we picked up a ragged groupetto (looked like most of the group from earlier in the day, plus one rider on a fixed gear bike), and took off into the darkness headed for Pena Adobe Park. The rider who seemed to be the groupetto leader took the lead position, but was going at a rather moderate pace, even considering we were (mostly) climbing at this point. He wasn't going fast enough for Terri, in any case, so she pulled to the front and I rode up next to her, forming a double pace line up the dark road. We'd go to single file when the occasional car would come by, but then quickly re-form when the car passed us. I was feeling good at the front, so didn't motion anyone to come around for probably seven for eight miles. When I finally looked back, there was only Terri beside me and the guy on the fixed gear. We'd inadvertantly dropped everyone else! I was amazed, since I was thinking that these guys were just enjoying sitting in the draft . . . guess not!
Regardless, we were near the end by this time, the final miles spent talking to the fixed gear rider about just how he could do all these climbs and descents with a fixed gear, and a fairly high one (48 x 17) at that. He said, really, it wasn't so bad except for the super steep parts, either up or down. I didn't check to see if he had a brake fitted or not . . . Long about 10:00 PM we rolled into the Park, did our final check in with Frank (Garfield) Neil, and had a look at the wonderful post-ride feast the Quacks had prepared. Lynn Katano (CA Triple Crown Social Director) and Eric Smith (as seen on Tour of CA and Tour of MO) overseeing the food. Huge green salad, boneless chicken, lots of pastas and bottled water to drink. I was surprised that I was so hungry after all the Sustained Energy I'd had during the day!
After dinner Terri took off for her hotel, and I went looking for David Slaton (who I thought would have finished long before me). I checked with Garfield, and he said, "Ah, no, David Slation hasn't finished yet." How could this be? I was concerned about David, but also about me since all my warm (non-cycling) clothes were locked into David's RAV4. Somehow, when you're not riding and just standing around, cycling clothes just don't keep me very warm! I asked Eric if he had an extra jacket or sweatshirt. No. Then Lynn said she had an extra jacket, but it was a woman's small (great for Lynn, too small for me!). Still, beggars can't chose, so I put it on, as much as possible. Warm and fuzzy, yes, but small. Then Garfield said he had a windbreaker in his car, so he got that for me, which I put on over Lynn's jacket. Then Lynn brought me a huge cup of hot chocolate, and I knew I was going to survive!
About half an hour later Tom Parkes finished, and he had heard some of the story re: David. Essentially, Ulmont had broken a pedal spindle (Look Ti) and crashed, so he was out (already headed back to LA by this time). This left David to take over the mentor job and take care of Jason. And that's why he was still out there. Okay, so no worries. An additional half hour later David and Jason appeared, and overall no worse for the wear. David later told me that he'd had to slow way down to keep Jason in sight, but to have completed such a tough double as his first double was quite a good accomplishment in any case.
We were back to Motel 6 Vacaville by midnight, and up at 6:30 AM on Sunday for the CA Triple Crown Awards Breakfast, at (you guessed it) Pena Adobe Park. It didn't start until 7:00 AM, really, but Tom was the head egg-cooker, so he (thus we) had to be there early.
The breakfast and awards were all over by 10:30 AM, so it was back to the RAV4 for the long journey back to SoCal. Then, with far too little sleep, I was off to Las Vegas for Interbike at 7:00 AM on Mon. morning. But that's another story. And yes, working Interbike is far more difficult than riding a double century!
For more Knoxville and Quack details, pls. go to: http://www.quackcyclists.com/Kx08/KnoxvilleDC.htm
Apologize for any typos, but will edit to correct as soon as I spot them (I know they're out there . . . )
Contgratulations for reading all this! Sorry it got to be so long, but it was a long day of cycling.
Rick / OCRR
The Knoxville Double starts and finishes in Vacaville, CA (a few miles east of San Francisco) so the first bit was a 6 hour drive from SoCal on Friday, thankfully car-pooling with two other 50+ (actually 60+) double century fanatics, Tom Parkes and David Slaton in David's RAV4. No problems other than the roof rack releasing David's Merlin at speed (70+ mph), the bike hitting the car roof with a loud "clunk!" but thankfully holding on by the rear wheel strap! No damage to bike, rack or car, thankfully, though David's heart rate must have shot up when he heard the clunk and saw his bike dangling off the back as he looked in his mirror!
No further drama, as we drove to Pena Adobe Park in Vacaville, checked in, got our numbers, route sheets, and visited with the Quack Cyclists who present the Knoxville Double every year. Scott (one of the Head Quacks, I understand) handed me my Knoxville Double jersey (photo to follow, hopefully) and a pair of Quack socks (I'll try to get a photo of these too), then we off for Italian pasta carbo-load dinner, and to sleep (yeah, Motel 6 again!) by 10:00 PM.
Morning came way too soon (3:15 AM wake-up call), but being familiar with the routine, we were all dressed, kitted, breakfasted (is that a word?) and tires properly pumped for a 4:30 AM start a Pena Adobe. My plan was to ride with Tom, at least until daylight, since the first part involves lots of tricky turns and Tom knows them well! David would be riding with his friend Ulmont, and Ulmont with his friend from Taiwan, Jason. Jason had never ridden further than 60 miles at time before, but he is a racer, so Ulmont (with whom he works at Intel) was planning to mentor him on his first double. Now Knoxville has 12,500 feet of climbing, so not the perfect first double in my opinion, but Jason was ready (at least mentally).
We had planned to start together, but like most plans this one fell apart, and rather more quickly than most! Tom and I did start together, not sure exactly what happened with Jason, David and Ulmont . . . Thankfully not too cold at the start (56 deg.F), so shorts, jersey, arm warmers and a vest kept me quite comfortable. The first major climb is Mount George, and a good warm-up really since it doesn't get steep until very near the top. I stayed with Tom up this ascent, even though I could have gone faster, since I knew it would be a long day, and no point in hammering this early! David and Ulmont rode past without even noticing us, they were going so fast (and carrying on a conversation at the same time . . . not fair!). No idea where Jason was!
By the summit of Mt. George we noticed a bit of daylight breaking through the darkness, making the descent a bit faster than we would have gone in complete darkness, but a tad slower than we'd drop in full daylight. Nice sweeping corners mostly and nothing too sharp, so fairly fast and safe. The descent off Mt. George dropped us into Napa Valley, so pretty much one vineyard after another all the way to the first checkpoint at 35 miles, with a light mist hanging in the valleys at daybreak. I had started with two large bottles and left my Camelback empty for the first climb, but filled it now with Sustained Energy and Chocolate Hammer Gel; still too cool to add ice! Friendly Quacks at the checkpoint had fruit, muffins, bagels, hot chocoate, etc. all being consumed by hungry cyclists.
Saw and greeted a few riders I knew, had a bit to eat, then Tom was ready to hit the road again. Beautiful time of the morning to be riding through Napa Valley; sights, sounds and smells all good and kind of cliche "Great to be Alive!" feelings though here. We caught up to two 70+ riders out on the road, the Very Famous Dave Evans and his friend Clem Bartoli, talking with them for awhile just prior to the start of Major Climb #2, i.e. Howell Mountain. I started this climb at Tom's pace, but pretty quickly notched it up, feeling totally awake and strong at this point, dropping Tom fairly easily. Three girls passed me, and when they saw my OCRR jersey they asked if Chuck Chen was here (having ridden with Chuck on Central Coast and Terrible Two doubles), so I gave them the bad news, but they had an idea why (his wife wants him in church choir practice on Sat. mornings!). When I got back I told Chuck that his "girl-friends from Fresno" were missing him!
Howell Mountain is a long climb (9 miles?), and not horribly steep overall, with 5 and 6% common but it does ramp up to the occasional 8-9% just to get your attention! Rode with, passed and got passed by lots of riders along here. Took off arm warmers and vest as the morning was heating up, but still felt comfortable at my climbing pace. The desecnt off Howell is tricky (lots of decreasing radius turns), but I remembered that from prev. years, plus there's a HUGE warning on the route sheet "Dangerous Descent!" so sometimes, I guess, it does pay to be extra careful! That said, I did pass several riders on the twisty drop off Howell, so some were riding even more carefully than I :D. As the descent flattened out I passed Kitty (who is much faster than me, really) and a bit later on passed Doug Patterson (who is much-much faster than me, usually) so I realized I was pushing too hard, too soon, and needed to back off a bit and conserve.
I caught up to a good sized peloton along here (with Kitty and Doug eventually joining too), and drafted my way into the 2nd checkpoint (at 62 miles) on the shores of lovely Lake Berryessa. After giving my number to the Happy Quack with the clip-board, I hit the food tables (Costco chocolate muffins!), lathered on sun-screen, re-filled Camelback with Sustained Energy, Expresso Hammer Gel this time, and as much ice as I could stuff in. As I walked back to grab my bike, I saw my good friend Terri getting ready to go too. Great timing! I gave her a big hug, then we took off up the Very Famous Knoxville Grade together, sharing stories, and what all we've been doing since we last talked (Cool Breeze Double Metric)!
Now the Knoxville Grade (after which this ride is named) is essentially a 30 mile climb, with the really, really steep bits pretty much at the end. Before the steep starts, however, you spend a good amount of energy climbing gentle rises (some followed by short descents) whilst dodging pot-holes and a multitude of broken bits of pavement. Thankfully there were very few motor vehicles along here, and mostly pick-ups driven by hunters in full hunter-camo-kit. Not sure what they were hunting. No, cyclists not in season! We had a good bit of luck as we approached the really steep section, as a cloud moved in front of the sun, which seemed to drop the ambient temp. about 10 deg.F! Terri has one of those fancy bike computers with the % of grade reading, so she would call out ("10%, no now 11%") as we climbed. Not sure if I wanted to know, but when we hit 14% at least I knew why it hurt so much. And yes, I was in my 30t x 27t low granny for this bit!
As we neared the top, we went through a tunnel and shortly thereafter saw a photographer Quack (Ravi) sitting on the side of the road, recording the agony in each cylists expression! See photos to follow, i.e. agony of Rick followed by the agony of Terri.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/bikephoto1/RickonKnoxvilleGrade2008.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/bikephoto1/TerriBoykinsonKnoxvilleGrade2008.jpg
You can see the tunnel in the background, and see that our friendly cloud had moved on by the time the photos were taken! After another couple of miles of climbing (8 - 9 % thankfully), we arrived at a Mini-Checkpoint at the Knoxville Summit, and mile 78. As soon as I gave the Happy Quack Girl my number she called out "Shiela, Rick's here!" Sheila (with whom I'd ridden the Hemet Double) gave me a hug, plus she was all smiles (as usual), dressed in full hunter camo (as were her fellow Quack workers at this location). Plus, she had gallons of chocolate milk to distribute, filling cups and bottles for lots of thirsty riders. I introduced Sheila to Terri, but then Sheila said I'd already introduced them at the Eastern Sierra Double.
So you think I can remember that :)? Great to be at the summit though, and only 1,000 feet to climb before lunch.
There were, thankfully, some descents in the 30 miles before lunch, but with the miles, the day getting a bit warmer, and three major climbs on our legs, the ride from that previous checkpoint into lunch seemed to take quite a long time. Finally rolling into the Lunch Checkpoint, Middletown, CA Lower Lake County Park (at 107 miles), we saw Chuck Bramwell (the CA Triple Crown Guy) already rolling out! Lunch at the Quack Cyclists is a custom sandwich, made by cheerful Quack sandwich chefs, and in my case turkey on sour dough bread with lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard. A bag of crispy Cheeto's on the side and a cold Mt. Dew made me a very happy camper! Maybe not as good for me as Sustained Energy, but a whole lot more fun to eat! Terri had a peanut butter sandwich, which she said didn't go well with the sour dough bread, but overall we decided we were doing fine. Yes, the longer than usual stop for lunch probably helped!
I was noticing a bit of a chafing problem on left upper leg (guess my Bag Balm had run out!) but thankfully Terri had a mini-pack of Chamois Butt'R in her bag. Once I applied that to the offending area . . . problem solved! Thanks so much for that one Terri! Before leaving lunch I topped off my Camelback (lots of ice this time!), plus both bottles, since I knew we had a long steep climb soon after leaving lunch and a long way to ride before the next checkpoint. The next climb does start pretty quick after leaving Middletown, over the highway and left onto some little traveled road. Then four miles of gentle climb before the right turn onto Loch Lomond leads to the painful ascent of Cobb Mountain. While not the 14% of the Knoxville Grade, Cobb is over seven miles of 9 - 11%, so it really does get your attention (yeah, into my granny again!). Terri and I were suffering up this climb with an older gentleman on a recumbent (looked 60+ to me, though I didn't ask), trading back and forth who was in front and who was trailing. Good to see recumbents out on doubles, though I don't see them very often.
I also rode with a Rivendell rider through here, and had a great conversation about his bike, how the fittings were "Grant Petersen Approved" (with the exception of his clipless pedals), down to the bar-end shifters and fat (700 x 32) tires. We both subscribe to the Rivendell Reader, so lots to talk about Grant's various ramblings, but I let him go and waited for Terri at Cobb Summit, though she really wasn't very far back. The descent off Cobb is fairly straight and boring, but at this point in the ride, boring (at least on a descent) is not such a bad thing. Once the descent flattened out it was fairly level and easy, with very little motor traffic, all the way to the next checkpoint (Detert Reservoir “Pelican Lake”) at mile 135.
This checkpoint was staffed by a very funny and cheerful bunch of Quacks, who fortunately they had plenty of Mt. Dew and ice on hand. I filled both bottles with ice and Mt. Dew, more Sustained Energy in my Camelback . . . but there was one problem. These Quacks had comfortable fabric chairs for the weary riders, and once I sat down; it was Very Difficult to get back up! It just felt so good to be off the bike seat, and much more comfy than the hard wooden picnic tables at lunch. Not sure exactly how long we stayed, but Terri and I just sat there talking with various riders and Quacks . . . maybe half an hour or so, i.e. way longer than a normal In-N-Out checkpoint stop. At some point we "did the math" and figured that we'd better get back on our bikes in order to make it to the next checkpoint (a bit over 25 miles away) before dark, since that next checkpoint (lake Hennessey) is where we'd pick-up our lights.
I should point out that, in the morning, we usually start with relatively small and lightweight lights. These stay on the bikes all day (you can see them in the photos), then at a checkpoint about 30 miles from the finish, we pick up our heavy duty lights (Nite-Rider, Princeton Tech, etc.) for better lighting when there will be more traffic (usually) and we will be more tired (always). When we pick up our heavy duty lights, we still keep the small ones with us for emergency use, i.e. if the big light fails, or we need a light to change a tube, etc.
That said, we did hook up with Dr. Jerry Brown (who rides with the Rebels sometimes), and talked with him for several miles after the Pelican Lake checkpoint. Then we dropped him on a long climb and fell in with a friendly groupetto (six or seven riders), sharing times at the front, checking the back to make sure no one had been dropped, and generally keeping a steady pace until the long descent to Lake Hennessey. For some reason, I felt really good there, leaning way into the corners, not even thinking about braking, but very connected to the bike, alert to the road, and (probably) not as careful as I should have been. Nothing tragic happened though, and I pulled into the Hennessey checkpoint (mile 160) well ahead of Terri and the groupetto.
The efficient Quacks had our light bags arranged in alphabetical order, so easy to find, then a few minutes to fit the headlight and battery (mine is Princeton Tech), and the rear flasher. Dr. Jerry caught up with us here, so we talked with him again, plus one of the groupetto leaders was talking about how he'd had his vasectomy in his backyard, and had it filmed. Proving (I guess) that you just never know what you'll hear about on a double century :). And no, I don't know why he did that. In other news, I ate a Cliff bar, drank yet another Mt.Dew, but passed on the hot dogs, noodle soup and/or hot chili that the Quacks were cooking at this location. Eventually we found our way back to our bikes, and shoved off into the next (immediate!) climb. We weren't feeling too spunky on this one, but slogged up at a fairly decent speed (7 - 8 mph), and were much relieved when it leveled off a bit. Fifteen miles (approx.) in it was time to stop and turn on all our lights, with the sun setting at what seemed to be a quite rapid pace.
Back on the road I told Terri that she had so many lights on her bike, it would make a Christmas tree jealous :). But in this case, that's a good thing. I made an additional stop to put on my arm warmers as the night air was cooling quite a lot. Great time of night too, with billions of stars overhead, and a kind of "one with the universe" feeling that comes with riding at night in the mountains. Conversation was still flowing rapidly though here between Terri and I, so the miles passed quickly, at least until we hit the big climbs near the end of this stage. I'm thinking there were three long climbs followed by long descents, but there could have been four. And these were fairly steep (guessing 6 - 7%) but nothing as steep as some we'd climbed earlier in the day. Once past the dam, and down "Cardiac Hill" (which you climb on the Davis Double), it was an easy ride (mostly downhill) to the final checkpoint at mile 187.
We hit the final checkpoint (Pardehsa Store) a little past 9:00 PM, and even at that hour the Quack checkpoint folks were happy, super-cheerful and encouraging. Rumaging through the cooler, Terri was disappointed not to find a Mt. Dew. Upon hearing of this sad situation, one Quack whispered to Terri, "I think I have one in my car . . ." To which Terri responded with a happy/grateful "Well then, hook a sister up :)! Of course, no Mt. Dew for me (guess they're only saved for attractive females!), so I settled for a Pepsi, not that I was too concerned with only 13 miles to the finish.
Leaving the Pardehsa checkpoint we picked up a ragged groupetto (looked like most of the group from earlier in the day, plus one rider on a fixed gear bike), and took off into the darkness headed for Pena Adobe Park. The rider who seemed to be the groupetto leader took the lead position, but was going at a rather moderate pace, even considering we were (mostly) climbing at this point. He wasn't going fast enough for Terri, in any case, so she pulled to the front and I rode up next to her, forming a double pace line up the dark road. We'd go to single file when the occasional car would come by, but then quickly re-form when the car passed us. I was feeling good at the front, so didn't motion anyone to come around for probably seven for eight miles. When I finally looked back, there was only Terri beside me and the guy on the fixed gear. We'd inadvertantly dropped everyone else! I was amazed, since I was thinking that these guys were just enjoying sitting in the draft . . . guess not!
Regardless, we were near the end by this time, the final miles spent talking to the fixed gear rider about just how he could do all these climbs and descents with a fixed gear, and a fairly high one (48 x 17) at that. He said, really, it wasn't so bad except for the super steep parts, either up or down. I didn't check to see if he had a brake fitted or not . . . Long about 10:00 PM we rolled into the Park, did our final check in with Frank (Garfield) Neil, and had a look at the wonderful post-ride feast the Quacks had prepared. Lynn Katano (CA Triple Crown Social Director) and Eric Smith (as seen on Tour of CA and Tour of MO) overseeing the food. Huge green salad, boneless chicken, lots of pastas and bottled water to drink. I was surprised that I was so hungry after all the Sustained Energy I'd had during the day!
After dinner Terri took off for her hotel, and I went looking for David Slaton (who I thought would have finished long before me). I checked with Garfield, and he said, "Ah, no, David Slation hasn't finished yet." How could this be? I was concerned about David, but also about me since all my warm (non-cycling) clothes were locked into David's RAV4. Somehow, when you're not riding and just standing around, cycling clothes just don't keep me very warm! I asked Eric if he had an extra jacket or sweatshirt. No. Then Lynn said she had an extra jacket, but it was a woman's small (great for Lynn, too small for me!). Still, beggars can't chose, so I put it on, as much as possible. Warm and fuzzy, yes, but small. Then Garfield said he had a windbreaker in his car, so he got that for me, which I put on over Lynn's jacket. Then Lynn brought me a huge cup of hot chocolate, and I knew I was going to survive!
About half an hour later Tom Parkes finished, and he had heard some of the story re: David. Essentially, Ulmont had broken a pedal spindle (Look Ti) and crashed, so he was out (already headed back to LA by this time). This left David to take over the mentor job and take care of Jason. And that's why he was still out there. Okay, so no worries. An additional half hour later David and Jason appeared, and overall no worse for the wear. David later told me that he'd had to slow way down to keep Jason in sight, but to have completed such a tough double as his first double was quite a good accomplishment in any case.
We were back to Motel 6 Vacaville by midnight, and up at 6:30 AM on Sunday for the CA Triple Crown Awards Breakfast, at (you guessed it) Pena Adobe Park. It didn't start until 7:00 AM, really, but Tom was the head egg-cooker, so he (thus we) had to be there early.
The breakfast and awards were all over by 10:30 AM, so it was back to the RAV4 for the long journey back to SoCal. Then, with far too little sleep, I was off to Las Vegas for Interbike at 7:00 AM on Mon. morning. But that's another story. And yes, working Interbike is far more difficult than riding a double century!
For more Knoxville and Quack details, pls. go to: http://www.quackcyclists.com/Kx08/KnoxvilleDC.htm
Apologize for any typos, but will edit to correct as soon as I spot them (I know they're out there . . . )
Contgratulations for reading all this! Sorry it got to be so long, but it was a long day of cycling.
Rick / OCRR