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2002 Davis Double Century
(Saturday, May 18 in Davis, CA)
See also my photo album
from this ride.
Before the ride:
I picked up my friend Kristin, my roommate for this ride, in Berkeley on
Friday afternoon and we headed over to Davis. We beat the weekend getaway
traffic and arrived in Davis at around 2:30 and checked in to our room at the
Hallmark Inn in downtown Davis. We
were hungry so we grabbed a bite at a Middle-Eastern/Mediterranean place
downtown and walked around for a bit. We met Kristin's friend Alex at the
hotel, and drove over to Davis High School and checked in. Afterwards, we
partook of the happy hour at the hotel, met Kath, went out to a pasta place
for dinner, and retired for the evening.
I woke up at 4'ish, suited up, chugged down a bottle of Spiz, we met Alex, and
we all rolled out. Since the hotel is under 2 miles from the start/finish and
parking is limited there, we biked over there. I had a cup of coffee to warm
up (and get some caffeine in me), we met a bunch of Kristin's friends
Lawrence, Barit, and a bunch of others whose names I forget, and hit
the road for real at around 5:20.
Miles 0-47:
It wasn't quite fully light when we rolled, so I had my headlight on. There
were a lot of other riders on the road, and we made our way out of Davis.
Several pacelines formed up, so I hopped on one of them that was going around
20mph and we cruised towards the hills.
It was a lovely sunrise, so I dropped off the back of the paceline to take
some pictures. I'd lost Kristin & Alex when I joined the paceline, but I
figured I'd meet them at the first rest stop. I pulled into the first rest
stop (23mi) in short order and grabbed some food and waited for Kristin. I
ran into Deb, who I'd ridden with on the 2001 Davis
Double just as Kristin arrived, and we all headed out together. Alex must
have gone by while I was at the stop, and we didn't see him again.
Deb is a strong rider, and went ahead on a fast paceline. It took much
self-control to not hop on it myself, but I was trying really hard to keep my
heart rate in a comfortable zone, so I let them get away. After riding past
some lovely vineyards, I caught up with Deb and we rode up SR128 ("Cardiac
Hill") above Lake Berryessa. This was an easy climb, and we talked and
enjoyed the lovely scenery. Before long, we pulled in to Markley Cove and
rest stop #2 (48mi). Deb was in and out in a flash, but I wanted to take a
little longer. I mixed up another bottle of Spiz and ate some fruit and
PB&Js. Kristin arrived shortly, and we headed out after she ate.
Miles 48-75:
We continued climbing Cardiac for another 2 miles and enjoyed the lovely
scenery. I bombed down the backside of Cardiac and hit 51mph - wheeee! I met
up with a nice fellow wearing a 2001 Knoxville
jersey and we rode together along Hwy 128. This is a lovely rolling stretch
of road and the miles passed quickly. Before long, we turned onto Lower
Chiles Valley Rd and the 3rd rest stop (64mi). I again stuffed my face and
used the facilities, waited a few for Kristin to arrive, and we headed back
out.
After a few miles, we turned on Chiles & Pope Valley Rd. This, too, is a
lovely rolling road with virtually no traffic. There were plentiful
wildflowers in the fields, and the weather was perfect. We soon arrived at
rest stop #4 (76mi). I mixed up some more Spiz and chowed down on various
munchies. I was determined to not let caloric defecit get the better of me
this year! I met two cyclists, Emily and Ivan, wearing Grizzly Peak Cyclists jerseys and thanked them
for the wonderful Grizzly Peak Century a few
weeks earlier. Turns out Emily is the ride director for that ride! After
stretching and filling our bottles, Kristin, Emily, Ivan and I headed out.
Miles 76-105:
We went past Hubcap Heaven, which is always fun to gawk at, and enjoyed more
nice scenery. We climbed Honey Hill, a lovely little climb, then descended
and rolled past Detert Reservoir. We lost Emily & Ivan on the descent,
but would see them later. This is my favorite stretch of road on this ride as
its perfect terrain for me (I'm strongest on flat or rolling courses, and
relatively slow on large climbs), and it has almost no traffic at all. The
weather, in the mid 70s, was a huge improvement over last year's blistering
heat! After a little while, we arrived at Middletown High School and rest
stop #5 (95mi). We didn't spend long at this stop, and just topped off our
bottles and got some grub.
We turned onto Big Canyon Rd and climbed a short little hill with absolutely
awful road surfacing, then continued on Big Canyon for quite a ways. Big
Canyon is nicely shaded, and not too steep. We weren't going terribly fast up
it, but it was a comfortable pace. I saw the same fellow from last
year riding a single-speed cruiser bike, and I was passed by someone on a
mountain bike - I hate it when that happens :-). The road turned more
upwards, but still not steep, and rest stop #6 (105mi) was upon us. We just
stopped a couple of minutes here, then rode onwards.
Miles 106-133:
There was another 1.2mi of climbing on Big Canyon, which was just lovely! It
had great views over the Canyon, and was verdant. Again I was happy for the
wonderful weather and not suffering in near-100° heat as we climbed. We
arrived at the summit, the highest point on the ride at 2175 feet, then
started the descent to Lower Lake and lunch. A couple of miles after the
summit, my seat felt odd, and when I stood, it fell right off - ACK!! On
further inspection, the clamp that holds the seat to the seatpost sheared off
- arrgh! Kristin called the ride HQ on her cellphone and they sent a SAG
vehicle to pick us up. They said there was a well-stocked mechanic at the
lunch stop which was just a few miles down the road. After a little while,
the SAG car pulled up - a Mercedes SUV with a bike trailer. At least we were
going to travel in style ;-) The driver was very nice, and told us about the
communications setup they had. Very elaborate - they had an airplane circling
Clear Lake with a repeater so the radio signals could get to Davis! We soon
arrived at the lunch stop in Lower Lake and I went over to the mechanic's
tent. Happily, the mechanic had a spare seatpost! She installed it, I
adjusted it to my liking, Kristin & I grabbed some food and water, and we
headed back on our merry way. We lost about an hour and a half due to my
problem, and missed out on the fun descent of Big Canyon - rats! Still, we
only shorted a few miles, and were going to have 4mi extra anyways from riding
from and to the hotel.
The route headed north on Hwy 53 for 6 miles. This is my least favorite bit
of the ride, as its a pretty busy road and there was a bit of a headwind
slowing us down, but before long, we turned off on Hwy 20 en route to the
climb up the Resurrection. Before that climb, however, there was a fast, fun
descent where I again hit 50mph :) The Resurrection was much, much easier
than last year, as I'd been training much smarter, and the weather was far
more pleasant. Warm, but not hot. Its a scenic climb, and we soon arrived at
rest stop #7 near the top (133mi). I had another Spiz (I was getting tired
of drinking thick choclately liquid by this point, but I needed the
calories!), ate some pretzels and such, and drank 2 cans of V8. There was a
little girl on the back of a tandem - she was 10! She was carrying a baggie
of McNuggets & fries and made sure everyone knew that they were hers and
she wasn't going to share them :-) After a few, Kristin & I headed back
out.
Miles 134-165:
After a little bit more climbing, I bombed down the backside of the
Resurrection at a fast pace, then enjoyed the wonderful scenery when the road
levelled out a bit. After a little ways I turned onto Hwy 16, and 8 scenic
miles later, I pulled into rest stop 8 (148mi) to pee. I didn't see Kristin,
so I figured she'd skipped this stop and I headed out quickly.
I continued on Hwy 16 along lovely Cache Creek, through the small town of
Rumsey, and finally caught up with Kristin in Guinda. After 6 miles of gentle
rolling hills, we arrived at rest stop 9 (165mi) at the Canon School. Despite
my eating tons, I was pretty hungry - uh oh! I had my last bottle of Spiz, a
cup-o-soup, lots of cookies, and PB&J, and some fruit. Lawrence pulled
in, a little bit after we did. Kristin & Lawrence picked up their lights,
and after relaxing a little while, we all rolled out.
Miles 166-200:
We rolled along still on Hwy 16, past the Cache Creek Indian Bingo Hall.
Traffic picked up considerably after the casino, but 7 miles later we turned
off on Road 85B. The rest of the ride would be on numbered farm roads until
we got back to Davis. A handful of turns later, we rolled into rest stop #10,
in the same location as rest stop #1. We didn't stay long at all at this
stop. Two women were at this stop without lights, and the staff said they
could only continue if they were with a group that did have lights. We
volunteered, as did another group that was there, and the lot of us rode out
together. After a little ways, Mia (one of the lightless riders) and I pulled
off the front as I wanted to go a bit faster (as I often do on the final legs
of a long ride). We rode along at a good clip, eventually reaching the last
rest stop (mile 193). We had tasty chili, regrouped with the other riders,
sans Kristin and Lawrence, who skipped this stop, and all rode out for the
last 8 miles.
My butt was getting rather sore, but there was only 30min of riding left tops,
so I endured. Fred, one of the riders from the other group, pulled us along
at a decent pace back into Davis, then I pulled us the rest of the way to
Davis High School. We rode in at 10:25, and that was that! Congrats to
Kristin on getting the California
Triple Crown! We checked in, had some rice, beans, and chicken, hung
around for a little bit, then biked the last 2 miles back to our hotel. We
had a bottle of hard cider, then crashed out.
It poured on us driving back from Davis on Sunday - we really lucked out on
the weather for this ride!! This was the most comfortable I've ever been
after a double (not to say that I was exactly comfortable, though!), with a
minimum of aches and pains. I might actually be ready to try the Terrible Two
in a few weeks (eek!)!
Ride Stats:
| Distance: |
195.6mi |
| Total Time: |
17h 7m |
| On-bike Time: |
12h 47m |
| Average Speed: |
14.3mph |
Average Speed
(including stops): |
11.4mph |
| Maximum Speed: |
51.2mph |
| Total Climbing: |
~7200 ft |
| |
| Difficulty: |
4 |
| Support: |
5 |
| Food: |
5 |
| Route: |
4.5 |
| Overall: |
5 |