I Left My Light in San Rafael: Mt. Tam Double Century Ride Report

Vital statistics:
*200 miles
*18,000 vertical feet
*13,000 calories burned
*Total time: 13 hours, 30 minutes
*Interval between sight/smell of decaying roadkill throughout ride: 10 miles

3:30AM is early to wake up for anything. I tried hard to get to bed early, but still only managed about 5.5 hours before the alarm went off. Quick breakfast, out the door, breezed through registration and I was standing at the start line at 5AM for the Mt. Tam Double Century- 200 miles through some of my favorite roads anywhere.

I had heard that lights were mandatory so I had that on my handlebars. My Garmin Edge computer also runs through its battery in about 5 hours so I had a AA battery pack in my saddlebag as well with a cord running to the USB port on the computer. It marked the first time I have had a USB cable on my bike- not a milestone that thrilled me, but so be it.

We rolled out in the dark and were off. The opening miles rolled by and then we were on the Fairfax Bolinas Road. I found myself in the front group and felt comfortable, so I stayed with it. We got to the top and turned onto Ridgecrest. There is a gate at the top that opens at sunrise and I was pleasantly surprised to see it open, since we were pretty close to sunrise when we hit it.

This thought turned out prophetic, as the gate was closed at the other end of the road. When I got there one of the sag vehicles was stopped and a volunteer was on the phone with a note of urgency in his voice as he explained the situation. Meanwhile, rider after rider squeezed through a small opening in the gate and rode on.

Shortly after a quick stop at the mile 43 aid station to drop my light with the volunteers, I realized it had been several hours since my last actual meal and I was starting to feel hungry. I made it to the next aid station at mile 83 and scarfed a bunch of food. This is where my troubles started.

I got on my bike to see 2 of the others in my group riding away about 30 seconds ahead. I chased hard for about 5 miles and got close, then the two joined up with 3 more from the group I had ridden with earlier. More chasing, but the gap steadily opened and I gave up after about 10 miles. A mile later I hit the bottom of a big hill spent from the hard effort, and still with a full stomach. I never really recovered from there.

The rest of the ride was basically solo and uneventful. Coleman Valley Road was very hard. The aid stations got more and more difficult to leave. At mile 120 I was ready to be done; the last 50 miles were a death march with sore knees.

This marked my first double since 2004. I had a goal in my calendar to complete three this year, and the plan was nearly derailed when a back injury took me off the bike for two months in April and May. I have ridden once over 60 miles since March and I definitely felt the shortage of base fitness. Still, it’s one down and two to go. Next time around I’ll definitely treat it as base training and consciously keep my HR down. The next one is in late September, followed by Death Valley in October. After that, I’ll have a great base going into next season, and then I think I’ll be done with this fetish.

Oh, and after leaving my light at the aid station, I got to the finish too addled to remember to pick it up. Fortunately I put my phone number on the bag- I hope I get it back!

45 Years on a 3-Speed

A teammate recently turned me on to this amazing story of a German guy who started riding his bicycle around the world in 1962 and never got around to stopping. The article is five years old, but assuming he is still at it he will have been riding continually- as in no home- for 45 years!

Plenty of people (myself included) have thought about dropping everything and setting off around the world, but I wonder what kind of personality is required not just to do it, but to keep at it permanently. I know I would not enjoy the loneliness and lack of long-term relationships- at least in any conventional sense.

Some interesting highlights of the trip:

*He’s done the entire trip on the same three-speed coaster brake bicycle

*He’s lived on an average of $0.50 per day (I think this what the article says), supporting himself selling slides and postcard notebooks. $20,000 earned in Japan in 1971 lasted him 6 years!

Polite insistence pays off

I wrote the other day about a guy who bought my entry to the Davis Double Century and did the ride, but neglected to send me the promised check for the entry fee. It took me about 5 minutes to get his work and home addresses and his cell phone number. I called his cell and left a polite voicemail saying I hope he’d enjoyed the ride and could see his way clear to settling up soon.

Since he’d ignored my two prior emails completely, I wasn’t expecting much, but lo and behold a check arrived today for the full amount. I’m a happy man. Paul- if you happen to read this, thanks for not making things any more difficult.

Things that piss me off on a Friday afternoon

I registered for the Davis Double in April, but ended up unable to ride it. About 2 days before the event I finally got in touch with the organizers, who introduced me to someone to buy my entry.

There wasn’t time to collect a check before the event, so I emailed the guy, Paul C, with my registration info and told him to send me a check as soon as he could. He thanked me and promised to do so.

The DDC results list shows that he finished, but no check ever showed up. I emailed him twice to follow up, but never got any sort of response.

I’m willing to believe that he had family/medical/personal emergencies that started the moment he got home from the ride and continued unabated to such a degree that he couldn’t write and mail a check, nor even follow up with a 5 word response to my emails. I’d rather believe that than think the guy is just trying to take advantage of me.

Unfortunately for him, a Google search of his email gave me his work address, phone and his cell phone number. The Davis results show his city and zip code, and a zabasearch.com query using that info gives me his home address as well- though their free data is not necessarily up to date.

I just called and left a message on his cell phone. I can’t wait to hear what he says.

Bike Rides to Look Forward to

So I am stuck. My kids are now old enough that I can think about consistently getting exercise again. However, time is still limited and juggling work, family and personal time is hard. At the same time, riding the same roads over and over with no real goal isn’t that exciting- it is more fun having goals to work toward.
All of which is to say that I want to figure out how to actually train for things instead of just riding around. But how far should I go? The easy choice is to focus on the Death Ride next summer. I rode it once before and it would be fun to do it again and see if I could go faster. Since I am going to the effort of getting that fit, I figure I might as well do some other events as well.
There is a thing called the California Triple Crown for people who ride 3 California double centuries in one year. That might be fun, and you can get a snazzy jersey for completing it.
And of course, I have developed a longing for a Leadville belt buckle that is wholly disconnected from the fact that I don’t have a mountain bike.
So the real question is- with all these goals in mind, who can I talk into doing the events with me? Riding around all those miles (not to mention the travel time) by myself doesn’t seem nearly as exciting.