PrincessZippy

I was thinking (bear in mind it's 4:45 AM) that the 200 K this weekend would be a good training ride for the folks considering the Davis Double. I rode the 200K in 2006 and it's 131 miles, 4700 feet of climbing. Especially if you have never done more than a century, it's a good way to ease up to the longer mileage on a pretty well supported brevet.

It's an out and back route to the Grange Hall, so you do both sides of Cardiac, which isn't as bad as it sounds..

Davis does take day of sign ups. Start time is 7 AM. You have 13.5 hours to complete the ride. It took me 9:37 in 2006.

Veronica

jobob

Errr, I'm hoping to finish it in under 12

redspoke

Regarding day-of registration do you know if there's a cutoff on the number of participants? It doesn't say on the website.

I was planning on doing a 60-mile club ride on Saturday but this sounds wayyyy more fun and challenging. I need to get more of these in by STP-time...

Weather forecast is mid-60's and mostly cloudy... Perfecto!

PrincessZippy

I don't know if there is a cutoff. I hope not, since I'm planning on doing day of sign up. :-)


Veronica

redspoke

The wife was amazingly supportive of the idea. Cool!
I'll be there unless the weather is crappy.

P-Zipp--> Are you a RUSA or DBC member? I'm neither. I don't have any plans of doing a 300k+ ride in the foreseeable (sp?) future.

redspoke

I was going to offer to be a driver if anyone from Sac wants to carpool, but you may end up riding home in waiting for my slowness to get in...

PrincessZippy

I'm a RUSA member. Once upon a time I was thinking about PBP. Then I realized that I really like to sleep.

Veronica

redspoke

I kept reading the DBC page going "What the (bleep) is PBP?" since there's no asterisk or anything. I finally got it when I went to the RUSA webpage... Durrrr!
Give me a year or two to get back into all the lingo... I still don't know what the term "shill" means. Maybe I don't wanna...

oaklandcyclist

Nice to see you in these parts too, Veronica. Lisa and I will be @ the D200 this weekend. Yep, on the fixies. Should be a much easier course on them than last year's 200 (Cantelow, Monticello).

PrincessZippy

You guys are just crazy! But it will be nice to see you again. Just don't bring the rain okay.

Veronica

spingineer

Crazy???? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy

oaklandcyclist

Nope, no rain in the forecast. The spell is broken!

Rushfan

I'm in the DBC. An email went out today that if you want to register same day, show up 45 minutes early. Good luck with the ride, if I had more miles in I'd join you.

jobob

Can I borrow your motorcycle?
- Jo.

oaklandcyclist

Nah, I'd be depriving you of a much more rewarding ride.

redspoke

I plan on finishing in daylight (between 9 and 10hrs), but I'm thinking some lights would be a good idea just in case of unexpected delays... Lunch at REI!!! I was hoping the Planetbike rear I ordered with my dividend would be in by now but it looks like Monday. I'll just have to return it when it comes in. Hmm. Ankle reflectors too.

jobob

Isn't that what someone said before the Davis Double last year?

redspoke

9:07... Right where I was shooting for. Man! That was a full day of riding.

PrincessZippy

Davis 200 K
131. 9 miles
4800 feet of climbing
4 pounds lost

Bad mix of Sustain and Gatorade, too much Gatorade, lead to stomach issues early on.

Andy, the fireman from Seattle, pulled me all the way to the base of Cardiac. Thank you Andy! Andy looked really familiar to me. I've never been to Seattle, but he's been to Walnut Creek and was at the last Rivendell camp out. It really is a small world. He was in Davis to apply for a position at the university. Talking with him kept my mind off my stomach. Andy left me in the dust at Cardiac, and I rode essentially by myself, into a headwind, to the turnaround at the Pope Valley Grange. I did have a little chat with Lisa and Alfie as they passed me on their fixed gears. Towards the end I was having to conserve my water as my ice hadn't melted yet. At the turnaround, I ate half a banana, drank the Red Bull I had been carrying with me and 2/3 of a Sprite, called Thom, refilled my bottles and headed out.

I had a pretty good tailwind back to Cardiac. I played leapfrog with Andy. He caught up to me after lunch. I passed him while he was stopped at a store. He caught up to me again on Cardiac, scared the bejeesus out of me that time. I was in my own little world, climbing, when he he said hello. I think I jumped six inches! It's a a good thing I have helium in my tires. I passed him when he stopped at a picnic area. He caught me for the last time when I stopped at a little store. The store did not have any regular Red Bull. I made do with a lemonade and bought some peanut M&Ms. I was still having stomach issues and was hoping non "funny food" would sit a little better.

After my stop at the store, I had 30 miles to go and I was pretty miserable for many of them. The roads were flat, but twisted in different directions going around farms, sometimes I had a headwind, sometimes a tailwind. But my upper back was killing me! I felt like my vertebrae were being squashed into each other.

My strategy to get through this section was every time a car passed me I would stretch out my back as best I could. It wrecked havoc on my average speed to coast so much. The last ten miles I could not find a position on the bike that didn't hurt my back. I eventually undid the zipper fully on my vest and that helped a bit. I've come to the conclusion that my AV vest constricts my shoulders too much. I had the same problem, although not quite so painfully, on last week's ride.

I don't usually lose any weight when I ride. I'm pretty good about staying hydrated and I definitely drank more than normal yesterday. I didn't get a dehydration headache, so I'm not sure what's up with my weight. But I wouldn't mind if they stayed gone. Oh, and that was 4 pounds AFTER getting dinner at Jack in the Box!

V.

spingineer

Nice ride report, Veronica. Wow, 4 pounds! You must have really burned a lot of calories battling headwinds. Knowing me, I'd probably gain 4 pounds on an organized ride. I remember one support volunteer telling me "It's not a true organized ride unless you've gained some weight on a ride".

Good job ...

jonathanb715

Wow, tough ride. It's encouraging to see someone who has a tough day still work through it and finish the ride - well done!

And speaking of small worlds - I think I met Lisa & Alfie last December through a mutual friend - we were volunteers helping build bikes at the Turning Wheels for Kids event. They rode their fixies down to San Jose, and we were in the same group.

JB

jobob

Herein lies the difference between Veronica & me.

I was on the same ride. I thought I was ready & I was really looking forward to it.

My back & shoulders started hurting at about mile 30, and over time my neck and legs joined in, and then my head started pounding. By the time I reached Moskovite Corners at mile 45 I decided there was no way I could gut this one out, and I wanted off my bike NOW.

(As an aside, my back almost never hurts on a ride, especially after only 30 miles. There was definitely something else going on.)

So, I got off my bike, called Lee (who had driven me up & was in the area but was currently on a ride and wouldn't be there for over 2 hours), laid back in a sunny spot on the decking at the side of store, and alternately watched the world go by & dozed.

On one hand, I feel like a wimp for not sticking it out and bailing so early into the ride. It's becoming pretty obvious that I don't have the kind of tenacity one needs for these long distance rides.

On the other hand, this is supposed to be fun, and I was most definitely not having fun. I didn't even want to attempt the last 20 miles to the control at Pope Valley, even though I knew I would have been able to score a Haagen-Dasz bar at the Pope Valley store for my effort (the store & restaurant at Moscovite were closed for renovations). That's how much fun I wasn't having.

I guess I'm more just disappointed because I really felt I was ready for this ride. But I knew it wasn't going to get any better, and my tolerance for discomfort is very low. I'm such a princess.

(fwiw, I think I am coming down with something, I'm still achey and I definitely don't feel good. The guy across the hall from me at work who was wandering around with the Transatlantic Death Flu all last week is a dead man. )

SesameCrunch

I dunno, Jobob. I think you're guilty of having good judgment...

jobob

Thanks SC. Veronica had some really sweet words of encouragement for me as well. I luvs you guys.


And well done, redspoke !

redspoke

D'oh! I was behind you twice Veronica and never put it together... When you were going up Cardiac talking to Andy I was the guy right behind you for a bit and I was also behind you in Davis at the start for a bit (you were wearing shorts that said "Veloci something or other on the back" right?). I rode with Andy for about 20 miles after that. Great guy! I hope he gets the job at UCD. I was leaving the turnaround when the fixies came in. I'll meet you all someday...
I was surprised I had a much better 2nd half... I had tailwind from Winters to Mace Blvd in Davis so I was going over 20mph most of the time. When I got slapped in the face with that wind on the last 5 miles my toes started hurting really bad!!! That's never happened before. Made it. Slept very little last night and coached NorCal MTB all day today... It'll hit me tomorrow when I get to work I'm sure...
Glad everyone made it back without too much trauma.