az_cyclist

Is this weekend. I will be riding it, along with 10-15 other Arizona Bull Shifters.

Who else is riding it?

Rick@OCRR

Not me. I had hoped to but still having lower back issues (as I did on the Camino Real double in Feb.). Going to PT and doing exercises to help my back but it's not all good yet . . . far from it. In my dreams I am hoping to be able to ride the Hemet Double . . . have to wait to see how realistic that is.

I went in for a bike fitting too but the fitter told me the bike fit was fine (no changes) but that my body was all out of alignment . Hence the PT time.

Rick / OCRR

az_cyclist

Sorry to hear about your back, Rick. Had hoped to see you there.
And thanks for reminding me about Hemet. I am going to book the hotel tonight

cccorlew

I'm in. Sorry to hear Rick@OCRR is out, he's pretty amazing on these events. Heal well, Rick.
And let's pray for not having wind like 2 years ago, OK.

I've got my bike ready, and now my inner teenage girl is wondering what jersey to wear... Triple Crown? 50+? NorCal Bike Forums? La Vie Clare? Decisions decisions...

Here's what I did today.


New chain and cassette for Solvang Double by ccorlew, on Flickr

Dudelsack 

I must be at this hobby too much, because I think that photo is pure beauty.

cccorlew

Me too. I shot that for my blog, where i wrote just before posting here:

Seriously, is there much that's prettier than a new chain on a new cassette? This one is a Wipperman 10sx. I bought one at theNorth American Hand Built Bicycle Show in Sacramento a while ago. It shifted well, and went on easily using their Connex link. But best of all the darn thing just lasted and lasted. I could still squeeze out a few miles, but I'm putting this one on in honor of the upcoming Solvang Double. I've had an Ultegra cassette waiting to be mounted for a long time, and this seemed like a good day for that too.

Wippernan claims their chains last a long time because of the "stainless steel inner links and nickel-plated outer link plates." I don't know if that's marketing or science, but the last one sure did better than any other chains I've had.

qcpmsame 

I'm in full agreement, that shot is jut pure lustful art, to my warped engineer's mind. And the Solvang, that one is on my "I really wish I could do this ride" list (it keeps growing by the day from reading the posts here.) Which cassette did you go with, Curtis?

Bill

cccorlew

I hate to admit it, but it's a 12-30. I don't really need it for Solvang, but I really like having that low gear in general.
I ride a lot of hills here. Mt. Diablo for one, and after 3000+ feet of climbing that final 18% wall tells my 60 year old body to grab the lowest gear I can find.

qcpmsame 

Why feel that way about your choice, the gone but not forgotten 41 might want to judge by cog selections but with your experience.....

The fact you are still perking tells me you used good judgement so far, we won't discuss any poor or younger choices, what happened at 25 stays at 25. And, a 30 bottom isn't very low anywho.

Rick@OCRR

Thanks Curtis, My back was so bad after Camino Real that I decided to seriously try to fix it before trying another double. I am seeing a PT who is also a cyclist, so making progress (not fast enough for me, but that's the way it goes). My next realistic goal is Hemet . . . see how I do there. Putting Devil Mountain off until next year.

Regarding the 30t low gear, no worries, I have a 32 low (with a 34t low in the front). True, I don't use the 32t often, but I'm very happy to have it there when I need it.

Rick / OCRR

Rick / OCRR

az_cyclist

I have an 11-28 cassette. So far it has been good enough, but having a 30 does sound good.

Biker395 

Hey .... I use and 11-28 with a triple!

You're reminding me of my bike shopping tales from years ago. Shop after shop tried to talk me into a compact double. Finally, aghast at trying to tell them I knew what I was talking about and knew what I wanted, I said to the twenty-something triathlete salesman:

"Listen. When you're over 50 and riding double centuries ... double centuries that at 180 miles, send you up an 18% grade for a couple miles or so ... when you've been there and done that, then you can talk smack about whether I should get a triple or not. Until then ..."

Regrettably, I'm going to miss the Solvang DC too. My son's getting his Eagle Scout pix and priorities are priorities. The weather sounds perfect though, so have fun!

az_cyclist

by all means enjoy the Eagle Scout ceremony. There is plenty of time to ride doubles after that.

So far my 50/34 compact and 11-28 have been good enough. My Trek 1500 had a triple (52/42/29) and a nine-speed casette.

Terex

If I miraculously revert to the form of my late 50's, I'd love to do it some day. Such a great area to ride. Should have done it five years ago...

qcpmsame 

+1, congrats to your son on achieving the Eagle rank, Scouting is one thing I fully support, I kind of miss my days as a Unit Commissioner for the Gulf Coast Council.

Bill

VaultGuru

Hi All:
Loved the doubles I rode and hate the injuries I am also having to recover from. My riding buddy gave me a book called Core Advantage by Tom Danielson, a pro rider. He co-wrote it with his PT. I shared the book with my PT and she initially said that she has seen at least a dozen books like this, and none of them were worth anything, but she would review it. At our next session, she recanted her earlier statement and said that it was the best book she has ever seen on cycling injury recovery, and she ordered one for herself. She did eliminate several exercises as inappropriate for by injury issues.
Hopefully, a combination of your PT work and the exercises in this book will help you get better quickly.
Cheers

Biker395 

Thanks! He pretty much finished it with his our collective foot up his arse. Honestly, I left the advancement completely up to his discretion ... until he was life and only 2 merit badges and a project from Eagle. You get that close, you gotta finish the deal. When it's all said and done, I think he really learned a lot ... confidence if nothing else. And in life, confidence counts for a lot.

cccorlew

Curtis Corlew in Bicycle Land: Solvang Double Century 2014

Ride report and photos.

qcpmsame 

Great report and pics, Curtis. Who knew you were a secret vintner and winery owner (or is it a you are a secret wino? never mind.....) glad that you had an enjoyable ride, this takes me back to when I first joined in here in 2008, everyone was talking about Solvang in posts, I was hooked and it is on my list of rides to try and get to do one day.

Bill

az_cyclist

Nice report and pics, Curtis

az_cyclist

Here is my Solvang ride report
My long weekend started last Thursday. The Tues-Thursday group ride was flat, easy, and relatively short..35 miles or so. Over half of us on the ride were going to be riding Solvang. During the ride one of the guys mentioned there NOAA forcast for Saturday was temps in the 50's and scattered drizzle. This meant I needed to pack a few extra items, just in case.

I was going to be driving alone since a few other guys had already paired up to car pool, and others were going a day or so early or staying a day later. Not a big deal, but I didnt buy a GPS until last Monday and I didnt have much time to learn it. I could get a route to the destination, but not the route I wanted. It was not bad driving on Friday.. and it is a pretty straight shot on I-10. I stopped in Highland (between Redlands and San Bernardino) for lunch and to fill up again. not 30 minutes later, between Fontana and Azuza, I got stuck in a traffic jam due to an accidant near Arcadia. It took me an hour and 45 min to go 20 miles. I did make it to Buelton (where the ride started and our hotel was) just in time to join the guys for dinner.

I got up at 3 Saturday morning, the temp was 50, and there was no rain or drizzle around. Great start! I decided to wear my wind vest rather than the jacket (which I rolled up in my camelbak) and wool arm warmers. I didnt wear my knee warmers but did take them. I met the other guys (9 of us ) and we went over for the 5 am start, the earliest you could start. There must have been 40+ riders starting that early. My new Ay Up lights were great. You start climbing after about half a mile, and it got steeper. Our first turn was on Foxen Canyon Rd, which was on the route of the Tour of California last year. We had 2 climbs in the first 20 miles, then a nice decent (which we would have to climb at the end of the ride). We also saw a calf that had gotten on the wrong side of the fence and was running along side of us My shoulders and chest got fairly cold on the decent, but after that I felt fine, temperature wise, the rest of the day. It stayed overcast until about 10 or so, when I switched to my sunglasses. The first sag was at 39 miles, and the second at 80 miles (in San Luis Obispo). I was still feeling good and strong. Just as we pulled into the second sag my arms were starting to feel a bit warm so I took off my arm warmers then.

After the second sag it stayed sunny the rest of the day, and we had some rollers and relatively short climbs from there to Morro Bay, where we turned back south again. The lunch stop was at 108 miles, on the other side of San Luis Obispo. I had an auxiliary batter for my Garmin, but, it shut down when I plugged it in. It recharged enough to finish the ride, but, it started a new ride. It would have been better if I could have had the entire ride together, but , no biggie. We had turkey subs from subway for lunch (Planet Ultra, who orgainzes the ride, has great products at lunch and the sags). One guy with us had started falling back on the hills. At lunch he told us to go on; that he could make it but he needed a slower pace.

About 18 miles after lunch we had a nasty little climb aobut 3/4 mile long. Last year I was in the small ring of my triple (a 29). This year I would be climbing it in the 34 of my 50/34 compact, but my 10-speed cassette has a 28 for the largest cog, which was good enough. After that climb it was just some rollers with a bit of a tailwind, then a few miles of a crosswind before the first sag after lunch, which was after only about 30 miles (the sags are closer after lunch). I still felt good, other than my sitbones were a bit sore. After a few more miles of crosswind, we had a nice 15 mph tailwind all of the way to the last sag at 163 miles.

The last sag is where I hung it up last year; I was just losing energy and could not force myself to eat,so I knew I was starting to bonk. I didnt have that problem this year, and after a cup of noodles, a coke,and a v8 (and more chamios buttr), we rode out for the last 29 miles. Riding up Foxen Canyon was an attention getter. I found out later at dinner that climb is called the Wall. At this point 3 of our group were smelling the barn, and the guy who is our nominal leader (72yo, has ridden 53 doubles) told them to go ahead. One other guy was struggling, another rider stayed with him, and three of us waited at the top of the Foxen Canyon climb. After a short regroup (shoot, a couple of times on that climb I was down to 6 mph), we headed out again. It was still light, we were going downhill,and the country was beautiful.

We had 2 more climbs on Foxen Canyon Rd (fortunately short) then it was downhill back to the start. We finished , 192 miles, in just over 13 hours. We were about 10-15 minutes behind the other 3 Bulls, and 3 of the wives were there at the finish to cheer us on. It felt great to finish the ride!
About 30 minutes or so another group of Bulls finished. That group of 4 riders started at 6:30, so they finished in 12- 12.5 hours. They are obviously stronger than us, and one of them was completing his 100th double. The people from Planet Ultra had a big banner, which we and the other riders signed, and some cake.

Dinner was part of the deal, so after a shower we met back at the Marriott (where the ride was organized). We had several choices, but beer with a huge burger was the most popular one! It was a great time socializing after the ride.
We met for breakfast the next morning at Paula's Pancakes in Solvang. They feature Danish pancakes. I think all of us had almost the same meal: two eggs, two pancakes, either sausage or bacon ( I had bacon). This is my standard breakfast the day after a double.
The drive home has great, in just under 9 hours.

https://www.strava.com/activities/123475710

https://www.strava.com/activities/123475708
The Hemet double is up next, in April.

cccorlew

Nice report, and a good ride.I don't know how you guys ride so fast.

az_cyclist

Thanks. We had group that had similar conditioning and strength. That helped, and we had one guy that was just strong as heck. I bet he pulled at least 100 miles.

jppe

Congrats Dwight! That is just super! I'm sure easily riding on past where you quit last time was a huge rush just knowing you were that much stronger.

I need to get out and do one of those some day-we just don't have many organized doubles around here to speak of. I'm just guessing that my time would be comparable to what you folks rode it in so it feels doable. If I use our December Centuries as a gauge (100 miles, 4000 ft of climbing in 5 hr 30 mins) and assume I'd go a little more moderate pace since it is 200 miles then that would put me at about the same time. It also looks like there is a touch more climbing in the back part than the front part.

Based on your experience (Curtis and Dwight), if someone were comfortably doing weekly centuries, would that be sufficient training or is there a need to throw in a century+ training ride a few weeks in advance. I've done 200 miles in a day but it was about half the climbing of Solvang-maybe half as much climbing. I've also done 160 miles in less than 8 hours but the conditions were perfect with even a little helping wind and only about 3000 ft of climbing. I'm not sure who was actually on the bike that day!

cccorlew

Heck yes. I've heard that there is no reason to train beyond 60 miles. I don't know if I buy that, but it does make a little sense.
For me a double is a lot of mental. I know I'm toast after a regular century, so why do I thinkI can do a double. Yet I can, and the first 100 doesn't seem as long as a regular century.

Your century time is faster than any of mine ever. Clearly you could do a double if you wanted to.