My DMD Report:
My friend from the UK and I set off with the 6am group of perhaps 25 riders at a fairly brisk pace. There were already some breaks happening by the base of Diablo but we didn’t worry as our game plan was to ride steady on the climbs and hard on the flat sections. We also wanted to throttle back for the first 100 miles as we suspected the second half could be brutal. Our final tactic was to spend a little time as possible at the rest stops.
Diablo was nice and refreshing and went past incident free with exception of a mountain lion running out in front of my mate near the base. We were making good time at this point .
The next climb of Morgan Territories didn’t go so well and we had to stop for a while to sort out a minor problem just as the climb started. Once we got on the climb we started catching lots of people but near the top we got badly held up by what seemed to be private sag vehicles L. We saw these vehicles many times through the day. The rest stop was pretty overcrowded and we wasted loads of time inline at the bathroom (at least I got to chat with Marco).
Patterson Pass was warm and the climb itself was thankfully not too windy. Although my legs didn’t feel great we were still making great progress and catching people.
The climb up Mines road was hot and difficult especially as my mate really started winding up the pace on the flatter bits. We were down on the schedule we thought we would be on so my poor wife who had been waiting at the junction for 1H45 minutes to meet us has already set off back home. We stopped to talk to her for a while on the descent to “Ruthies” then pushed on for the Junction. The Junction rest stop was very crowded and we burned way too much time there. I also reckon I overate a bit as this marked the beginning of a difficult patch for me.
The climb up the backside of Hamilton was very hot and a real strain on the body. I was in some significant abdominal discomfort and the heat didn’t help. My drinks were warm and unpalatable and the climb seemed never ending. The rest stop with ice cold water near the summit was fantastic. Near the top my mate who until this point had seemed superhuman started to cramp badly. He seemed to recover on the descent where he left me for dead even managing to keep up with a few sport bikes for a while. The bumps on Hamilton were tiring for me and when we arrived at the next rest stop I felt pretty beat. At this rest stop I decided to risk a change to Gatorade which ended up making me feel even worse.
Sierra road was horrible. I felt totally overgeared and it was an absolute grind. I ended up stopping twice on the way up in the shade (First time I have done that on a hill for many many years). I felt pretty spent but not in a bonk type of way. The descent down to Calaveras was fun and Quite cool.
Calaveras itself was where I hit my low for the event. My stomach cramps were getting worse and my legs felt hollow, My Mate Andy also had another cramp bout going up the wall. We decided we would ride Calveras easy and have a proper rest stop at Sunol.
The extended rest at Sunol worked wonders and I felt much better. We kept a fair pace up Palomares, which was nice, and the temps were cool . My legs were definitely feeling it and my mate had to wait for me a few times as the gradient got steeper. By the time we got to Norris Canyon it was dark but fortunately cool. We just rode tempo up this final climb and descended like demons back to the finish.
It was an incredible experience and my friend from the UK (since childhood) was awesome company and support for me. Everything was aching when we finished.
Central coast next