HTFU Time for me this weekend! Rule #5 in action . . .
 

Okay, here I go . . .

Even though I crashed; hit the deck at about 15-16 mph last weekend on the Palm Springs Century. Pace line crash (had just told myself to get off of this un-even speed pace-line!:() went down so fast didn't even get my hands off the bars.

Result: two road rash places on my left leg/knee, two on my left arm/elbow, one on my hip, one my shoulder, plus three bloody fingers on my left hand. I rode to the next Checkpoint, where they had a first aid tent and two young Navy medic dudes cleaned my wounds, bandaged me up and sent me on my way.

I finished the Century, Garmin details here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/443011443

Plus I tweeked my back somehow, in the crash, so lots of lower back pain led me to my chiropractor (Saralie Liner, who is a famous local Ultra cyclist) and she re-set my back yesterday, so hopefully that will stay good.

Why? Because tomorrow I have to HTFU to ride el Camino Real Double Century, which I signed up and paid for long before the crash noted above. 200 miles, 8,000 feet of climbing on what should be a pretty nice day.

It won't be pretty, but as long as I finish under the 17 hour time limit, I'll be happy. Wish me luck on Rule #5 ! Rules link here: http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/
Camino Real link here: http://planetultra.com/portfolio/cam...ury-poker-run/

Rick / OCRR

PS: Will report back on Monday regarding just how bad it was out there on the double:thumb:.

Good Luck, Rick! There will be a few Bulls there. I had hoped to ride it, but had other obligations that will keep me in Phoenix.

Good luck Rick! Remember the vitamin I, and I know you'll kick ass. :thumb:

Hard core. You got my respect.

Git some!

Thanks Victor,

Yes, I remember and will have some "vitamin I" along for the ride. Plus, I think they have it at the checkpoints? Anyway, I will have my own so should be okay.

I have four centuries under my wheels (plus lots of climbing rides) in 2014 already, so crash and back pain aside, I feel (pretty much) ready.

Rick / OCRR

+1

:thumb:

Good luck Rick, hope you have a good ride and not hurt to much.

Sorry to hear about the crash. It sounds like your front wheel crossed over the other riders back wheel.

Good luck.
I went down on the 5th of October after hitting a dog during a group ride. Concussion, road rash, broken tooth, pulled shoulder muscle, and a nice black eye. The next weekend I did 100 miles on the first day of the San Antonio MS150 (second day was rained out)
It hurt a lot too ride, but I staggered 600MG of Ibuprofen and 350 of Tylenol, so I was taking one or the other every two hours.

Watch the back injury and work with your chiropractor. After five months I am still having trouble with my shoulder and neck.

Good advice turkey9186, that is my plan.

Exactly right jppe. He nailed his brakes for some real or perceived reason and I went right into the back of his bike. Hit the deck with my hands still on the bars, it happened so fast.

Well, the good news is, I finished the double. The actual course was a few miles short of 200, but I wasn't complaining; just happy to finish.

Here it is on Garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/446254437
Here it is on Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/113768636

I was very fortunate to ride with a super-experienced Ultra Cyclist, the Very Famous Isabelle Drake. Family issues had kept her off the bike more than usual so she said she was going to be slow. With my crash last weekend and my back issues, I knew I would be slow too. So we were a good match. Plus we're good friends and we'd ridden the Hemet Double together last year, so overall, having Isabelle to ride with was a huge blessing. I should also add that she's attractive, intelligent, charming and has a wonderful sense of humor. And (very important) my wife has met her and is okay with me riding with Isabelle; so all is good:).

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=364685The Very Famous Isabelle Drake!

We started in the early morning darkness (5:30 AM start), lights on, with a flat roads warm-up at the start before climbing some local (Irvine, CA) hills on our way out the coast. Big picture, I was faster on the climbs, she was faster on the descents. I didn't worry (or try to keep up) with Isabelle on the descents since I knew I'd catch her on the following climb. Kind of cold in the morning too, riding up Laguna Canyon, with a low of 37 Deg.F. Okay . . . not cold for some of you, but for SoCal, that's very cold!

Out on the Pacific Coast Highway (simply PCH locally) the sun was up, we were both feeling good, no worries. At the first checkpoint (mile 39) we took off our vest (Isabelle) and jacket (me) but left the arm warmers on since it was high 50's by this time. Very nice through the next bit, keeping up a good pace on the protected bike lane in Dana Point, then through the marked bike route (not PCH!) through San Clemente and eventually onto the marked and protected bike route through San Onofre (watch out for surfers!) and into Checkpoint 2 in the middle (pretty much) of the San Onofree campgrounds at mile 54.7.

Note: Beach Boys song "Surf City" mentions San Onofre! Took off knee warmers here, got a few things to eat (the micro-sized cinnamon rolls were good!), filled bottles, took some "Vitamin I" (ibuprofen to ward off back issues) greeted lots of friends, either other double riders or those working the Checkpoint (including Chris Hedberg, my favorite Checkpoint worker), and took off still feeling good as the day warmed up (63 Deg. F) here, as I recall. At the end of San Onofre Isabelle made a short bathroom stop, but otherwise rolling on well to Las Pulgas and the entrance to the 5 Freeway shoulder. Along here riders have the option of going through Marine Camp Pendleton (which I usually do) but Isabelle had some bad experiences there, so it was the freeway shoulder for us, about 7 miles with 70 mph-plus traffic but on the positive side, we got some good residual "draft" from the passing Semi-Trucks ("Artics" if you're British).

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=364686Isabelle Drake on the left, me (mostly obscured) drafting right behind Isabelle.

After the exit from the freeway (Oceanside, CA) it was but a short ride over to another bike route (this one a MUP) with Isabelle pulling strong and several guys happy to ride her wheel as she pulled the pace line to the exit on North River Road. This is a narrow 2 lane road but fortunately the cars and truck gave us adequate room (and no hassle) as we wound along to an intersection with CA Hwy 76 then another quick turn back onto North River Road. We saw several riders along here as they passed us, conversed for awhile, then dropped us like the proverbial bad habit. That's okay though, everyone needs to ride at their own speed, and we did the same with riders we passed.

It was turning into an absolutely beautiful day, with warm sunshine and no wind to speak of, as we happily rode along, eventually up the longish climb to Checkpoint #3 at mile 87.7, otherwise known as lunch. Isabelle headed to the bathrooms first, as I surveyed the lunch table. It was Subway sandwiches (Turkey, Ham and Swiss, should you be curious) plus I also met bikeforums.net poster (hamster) whose real name is Eugene, as he was cutting sandwiches in half, making them much easier to handle. Lots of friends were here, David and Ulmont, Larry Carter, Frank Neal (running the show) Debbie Pearl, Jeff Nickoll (and his friend Mary, riding her first double) plus lots more that don't come to mind right at the moment. Additionally, I filled both bottles, took more Vitamin I, drank a Mt. Dew and ate a few Oreo's for desert.

Directly after exiting Checkpoint #3 we started a long climb, so rather than wait for Isabelle I took off up the incline at my usual climbing speed, talking with lots of riders from the Adobo Velo (Filipino) cycling club. A girl from our club wanted to join Velo Adobo but since she's only 1/2 Filipino, she wasn't sure she could. Thankfully the Velo Adobo riders said "No problem!" so I thought, "Anne will be happy to hear that! At the top of the first climb I waited for Isabelle, and we rode the next section together, lots of lovely roads with beautiful scenery, kind of on the border of Escondido and Bonsall CA. We did our usual routine with Isabelle dropping me on the descents as I caught up and then dropped her on the climbs, but it all worked out and we were together at the end of this section. It was getting rather hot bt now, up to 96 Deg.F according to my Garmin. As a result, we were getting rather low on water; both bottles we low on my bike!

Fortunately we weren't far from civilization at this point, and once back on Hwy 76 we were able to stop at an ARCO station to refill. We saw several other riders there too, stopped for the same reason, including several from the Arizona club "Bull Shifters." Isabelle knew a couple of them, so they had a fun time introducing The Very Famous Isabelle Drake to their team mates (Isabelle telling them "My kids don't think I'm famous."), and otherwise having a good time filling our bottles (and those of other riders) with the gallon of cold water she'd purchased from the rather amazed (at how many miles we were riding) ARCO clerk. I took more Vitamin I here, since I was feeling a twinge of back pain, but still nothing serious a this juncture.

Re-tracing our earlier miles here for awhile, back on the North River Road, back on the same MUP from this morning, back to Oceanside and back on the I-5 freeway shoulder, going the opposite direction (North) this time. We had ridden with the Bull Shifters on the MUP and though Oceanside. Once on the freeway, one of the stronger Bull Shifters took a very strong pull for several miles, I was next in line so when he handed it off to me I took off at what I thought was (pretty much) the same speed. As it turned out . . . I was very wrong. When I was finished and motioned the next rider to come around . . . no one was there. I looked back along the freeway . . . no cyclist in sight. Yikes, I'd unintentionally dropped the lot (including Isabelle of course). I rode on the Las Pulgas exit to wait and while there saw and spole with another friend (German guy named Olaf) who was having a bit of a rest. Eventually the other riders came though, and finally Isabelle, as we took off together up the bike route.

No big news along here, except the back pain was getting more irritating, but still only 4 or so on a 1-10 scale. There for sure, but not horrible. It was cooling off quite a bit by now, so as we pulled into Checkpoint #4 , I was thinking about adding my arm and knee warmers back on. I set about doing that, but just as last time, lots of friends and other riders to greet here. I ate a couple of Fig Newtons, a PB&J sandwich, and some funny Welches fruit-gel treats, plus put more in my jersey pocket (room now with knee and arm warmers out of pockets and back on knees and arms). Oh, this was mile 135.8 for those of you keeping score. I took a couple more Vitamin I here, hoping to reduce the back pain, and I think it may have helped some. Unfortunately, Isabelle realized that her headlight had somehow, somewhere, dropped off here handlebars, leaving her lightless for what were sure to be very dark finishing miles. It was about 3:30PM now, so no immediate worry, but we started looking for solutions! The SAG truck drivers (Steve and Teresa) didn't have any lights, so we decided to stop at a bike shop (San Clemente Cyclery) which we knew we would pass, several miles up the course.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=364619Photo of me at Checkpoint #4. Photo by Lynn Katano.

Very Fortunately, the bike shop noted above had an excellent light for Isabelle (as a bonus, it was on sale!), so the woman behind the counter (very friendly and helpful) helped Isabelle fit the new light and we were on our way again, Isabelle much more relaxed having solved her missing light dilemma. She had thought about calling her son to deliver one of her lights at home but then realized that none of them were charged; so pretty useless at the moment! The next miles passed harmlessly enough, with some motorists harassing us as we rolled through San Clemente, but otherwise no problems. Well there was one. I noticed that my bike was leaning a bit, not much, maybe 5 Degrees, but I recognized this as anther symptom of my pinched-nerve-in-my-back problem. Kind of scary with 50+ miles still to go! I told myself, "Okay, time to HTDFU Rick!" No matter what I did, the bike wouldn't straighten up, so I tried to reassure myself ("Yeah, sure, I can ride a tilted bike!":() and continue on with the ride.

So continue we did, back through Dana Point, then up through San Juan Capistrano, over Ortega Highway, though the new route, thanks to Isabelle informing the ride organizers, took a turn though a quiet neighborhood, cutting out most of the (very busy) Ortega Hwy. After a short bit on Ortega we started the ten mile climb up Antonio Parkway. There are a couple of short descents on Antonio too . . . but very short. I stopped at the top of the first big section to plug in my Garmin re-charger - which I meant to do at lunch, but forgot. My Garmin reminded me with a "Low Battery" message, so overall no worries as I had it well plugged in before Isabelle hit the summit. As we continued up Antonio I told her about my bike-leaning problem and as she rode behind me she could see it was getting worse; maybe ten degrees of lean now. Making things worse yet, the extra lean was putting more stress on my left arm as I struggled to keep the bike in the bike lane (it wanted to veer into the traffic lanes!). So now, at mile 156, I was starting to fight a battle that would plague me until the finish. HTFU time for sure!:(

Antonio seemed to be an infinite climb, very difficult but still do-able and I was climbing better than Isabelle, even with my handicap, so I would wait for her every few miles. At the top of Antonio Parkway (finally!) we turned onto Santa Margarita for a short time before hitting the multiple switchback descent of Trabuco Canyon, and from there a short ride to Checkpoint #5 at the local mini-store. Here I knew it was getting bad as I struggled to simply walk after getting off my bike. I felt my whole body leaning to the left. Isabelle had to pee again, as did I , finally (my first time of the day), so I waited for her to get done at the plastic mini-potty before taking my turn. It was so dark I had brought the headlight off my bike so I could see what I was doing, but fortunately everything came out alright and I was able to get my bib shorts and jersey back on (still standing a bit crooked!).

Unfortunately there was a little (12"?) step down from the level of porta-pot to the ground, which I totally missed in the dark as I stumbled, knocking my (already road-rash-decorated from my crash last Sat.) knee into a stone wall, breaking it open again. Not good, but it was under my knee warmers so I didn't mention it to Isabelle as I (eventually) hobbled back to where she was, talking with other riders. She could see I was unstable on my feet and asked if I wanted to quit. "NO!" I said, really not wanting to DNF so close (35 miles) from the finish. I found a Coke to drink and asked her to get me a PB&J sandwich. But she never came back with it so I went looking for her, eventually finding her talking to someone, yet I noticed my PB&J in one of her hands! I pried it out of her fingers as she apologized profusely (after 150+ miles on the bike, it's easy to get mentally distracted, I know) for forgetting me. No harm done though, as I ate the sandwich and drank the Coke, visualizing the next climb (Live Oak, very steep) and the twelve miles of Santiago Canyon following the descent off Live Oak. I put some cream on my lower back before starting out (Camphor, Menthol, Methyl Salicylate for you medical types) hoping that would kill some of my back pain (by now about 8 on that 1-10 scale) which, really, I think it did (help).

I did okay on the Live Oak climb, trying to stay to the right as it is very narrow and there seemed to be a lot of motor traffic for this late at night (though now that I think about it, probably about 7:00PM on this climb), bike at about 15 Degrees lean now, feeling it (between my legs) in my odd saddle angle too, but able to plod up the climb, the last very steep part of it in my 34 (chain-ring) and 32 (cassette cog), but not stopping and actually passing two other riders (not bad for a cripple, I thought to myself :thumb:) then over the summit and the chilly descent into Cook's Corner. I stopped there to wait for Isabelle at Cook's, took more Vitamin I, even though I knew it was unlikely to do much good. I also took time to put my jacket on, getting it zipped up just as Isabelle and a couple other riders went by ("Keep going, I'll catch you!" I yelled as they flew by). Next was a long, but not too steep climb up Santiago Canyon from Cook's Corner. I've done this climb countless times before, but last night it seemed infinite. I passed Isabelle and her companions about half way up, forcing myself (mentally and physically) to "Stay in the bike lane for God's sake, Rick, you will die if a car hits you!" and similar self motivating, and hopefully life extending, comments to myself as I rode along.

Santiago Canyon from this side is actually mostly descent (thankfully) losing about 1,200 feet as it rolls (with two climbs, Dump Hill and Irvine Lake) before the final long (but not too steep) climb which takes you to a descent over the Toll Road (thankfully all green lights this time!) to a left turn (watch for traffic behind!) on Jamboree where I got stuck waiting for the left turn arrow (no cars behind me to trip the light). A tandem couple joined me and we (not so patiently) waited for a green. Eventually got one (thanks to unknown motorist!) and down Jamboree we went, then up a kind of a big-bump climb, where I waited at the summit for Isabelle to catch up. When she finally did, she was riding with someone, so I made a selfish mental note that it would be okay (tried to convince myself) to ride off and leave her with this thoughtful (I hoped) gentleman.

This was mile 184.7 so close to the finish, which I had prev. noted on the route sheet was 194.7 miles (not quite 200, but I was not inclined to complain at this point! Riding down Jamboree (long descent) with Isabelle and her friend I found it difficult to keep the bike in the bike lane, my bike still tilted at about 15 degrees and back pain quite significant (9 on a scale of 10) now. I waited at the next turn (Portola) but then I just went into "selfish" mode, hoping that Isabelle would be okay with the other gentleman, I took off on the gentle climbs on Portola, eventually made the final turn onto Sand Canyon, and the finish was (almost) in sight. I came up behind the same tandem couple, stopped at yet another red light (welcome to Irvine!). The stoker (lovely girl) told me "Burt Road is the next turn." I replied, "Well, yes, that's the finish hotel; I guess you're not from around here?" She laughed, "No not at all, from Northern CAL" she replied.

And so we finally rolled into the finish, seeming like so long since we had started this morning. My total time was 15 Hours and 23 minutes, of which, 13 Hours and 14 minutes was actual riding time. I got off the bike and walked (unsteadily) to the timing desk to give the girl (Jennifer) my number but she'd already read it off my helmet, so I was officially finished. Doug Patterson, who had finished awhile before, looked at me and said, "Ah, Rick, you don't look too good, are you okay?"

"No," I replied, not okay. Very bad back pain, pinched nerve in my back, I was riding with the bike all leaned over for the last 50+ miles, now just happy to finished." Jennifer gave me a little "ticket" that was good for a dinner at the local Knollwood Café; this meal for all riders who finished before 9:00PM (I looked at my watch: 8:44). So that was a nice bonus. I struggled up to my room, took a shower, had a nice meal from Knollwood's (some wonderful chicken tacos with chips and salsa) put on some more back cream and dropped into bed. It didn't take long to get to sleep!


Big Picture, I did have to HTFU, but I finished! Thanks to all the Planet Ultra volunteers who made this double do-able for me and a Very Special Thank You to the Very Famous Isabelle Drake for staying with me, even when I was a cripple!

Rick / OCRR

Maybe less road rash on wet pavement .. ?

Congratulations and thanks for the report, Rick.

Bill

Great achievement after your fall and a great write-up the ride. California is a wonderful place for cyclists to live and ride all year round.

Thanks Gerry, It was a difficult ride, at least for the last 1/3rd of it. And yes, California is pretty wonderful, weather wise, all year round. The traffic sucks but other than that, I am very happy to be in Southern CA!

Rick / OCRR

Epic! Yes, you have quite a lean going in that one picture. Been there, done that. Generally, riding (either on horseback or bicycle) helps a tweaked back, but 200 miles might have been too much of a good thing!

Great job, Rick, and great report.

I wanted to ride El Camino Real this year, but had obligations in Phoenix this past weekend. I have not seen any reports on FB from the Bulls who did ride, except for a pic Lynn Kitano took of Mike Sturgil, who finished double # 98

I didn't get the names of any of the Bull Shifters that Isabelle and I rode with but they are all nice guys and very strong riders. Isabelle asked about Mike Sturgil but the Bull Shifters said he was way up the road in front of us. Sorry you couldn't make this one; it was a beautiful day!

Rick / OCRR

Great job, Rick! Sounds like I missed a good time (except for the stumbling part). :D

Way to go Rick! When I first looked at your picture I noticed it has a dinstinct lean that I recognized from when I've had back issues. I wish our weather would allow us to do more climbing this time of year. Probably another several weeks before we can think of getting up into our mountains.

Excellent ride report and very inspirational!

To ride 200 miles through pain that would keep most people in a prone position is simply incredible. Now whenever you're faced with adversity and the thought turns to HTFU, you'll be able to look back at this ride for your inspiration. Truly an amazing accomplishment!!

I haven't looked at the Garmin link yet, but on a double century, how difficult is the second 100 miles compared to the first? Of course I'm asking about when your healthy and injury free, not this pain filled endurance double.

Thinking about new goals this year, maybe I've found one.

Well done! You're an animal with multiple 2014 centuries this early. (Waiting for the ice/snow to go away around here)

Hi GFish, I would say it's no more difficult, in terms of the actual cycling, to ride a double than it is to ride 100 miles. Mentally, it's hugely a matter of looking at the complete 200 miles as the end goal. When you get to the 100 mile point you want to have enough left, physically, to do the 2nd 100.

In order for that to be the case, you have to eat and drink correctly, dress properly for the weather, and not make any mistakes following the route sheet. If you have taken care of all of that, the actual "cycling" won't be any more difficult than it is on a century.

Yes, you will be out there longer and yes, it is normal to lose a bit of mental sharpness when you're that tired (not any more so as I get older, thankfully!) but overall and big picture, not that different from a century.

There are lots of double century riding tips on the CAL Triple Crown Website too. Here's a link to the Training Tips page: http://www.caltriplecrown.com/training.htm

The other thing to consider, to more directly answer your question, is how much climbing is there on the first 100 compared to the 2nd hundred. On Eastern Sierra, for example, the climbing is "front-loaded" with only the Sage Hen climb after lunch. On Bass Lake Powerhouse, it's "back-loaded" with 85 flat miles before the real climbing starts. So there's that too.

Any questions?

Rick / OCRR

Thanks Rick, great information.

A double is beyond my ability for now, but certainly something to work towards. My primary focus this year will be finishing stronger on a century. Just keep riding and working harder, hopefully I'll get there one day.

I think you could probably do a double; they're a lot easier than they sound. At first, 200 miles sounds like a huge distance but once you've done it a few times it seems quite manageable and really, not that tough. From where you live, the Single Day STP (Seattle to Portland) would be an excellent first double for you. Not too much climbing, a huge amount of daylight hours and wonderful support. Think about it!

Rick / OCRR