Karen, my wife, and I started riding double centuries in 2004.  We rode the Davis Double and the Death Valley Doubles that year.  We finished both of these in the 16 hour time frame.  There were a dozen or so riders behind us at the Death Valley Double and that made us feel great…we were not the last ones to finish.  That fall, I decided to train for the hardest double of them all, the Devil Mountain Double.  That became an obsession with me for 6 months as I rode 300-500 miles per week with lots of century rides and night riding.  I tracked the times of previous riders I know from the results web sites and expected to ride it in about 20 hours with a potential for 18.5 hours.  Half way through that ride I was way ahead of schedule and still felt great.  I finished in 15:27 which was 4.5 hours faster than my expectations.  The fastest time on that ride was a record 11:45, so I was way back from the leaders, but I was ecstatic about my time.  After reviewing the results of that ride, I checked the results of other timed double centuries and noticed some of the riders that finished the DMD with me had ridden sub 12 hour doubles.  I thought that might be in my grasp.  So my next step was to train for the Knoxville Double which is right in the middle of the California Triple Crown doubles in terms of climbing, and is exactly 200 miles.  This would make a great benchmark for me.  My goal was to do that ride in 13.5 hours or less.  I planned to ride only slightly faster than normal, but eliminate breaks and lunch.  I started with the fast riders at sunrise with no lights.  I chased that fast group for about 30 miles and got dropped as we climbed the 2nd hill.  But since I planned not to take breaks, I passed them up at the first rest area while they were in line for the porta potties.  I simply refilled my water bottles, grabbed some grapes and continued riding.  They passed me on the way to the 2nd rest area.  We played leapfrog most of the day and I finished about 10 minutes behind them with a time of 12:05.  This was a great time for me and I realized a sub 12 hour double century was possible.  Not only was this my best double century, but I had never ridden a sub 6 hour century ride before that time.  On that day I rode 2 of them back to back with a 15 lunch break in between.  Had I skipped lunch, I might have broken the 12 hour mark.  The other problem I had was leg cramps over the last 40 miles.  I had to keep stopping and stretching out to work out the cramps.  I learned that I needed more stops and a lot more water.  Cramps are generally a sign of dehydration.

 

After Knoxville, I started having severe tendonitis in my left knee IT-band and had to back off on my miles.  I rode the Solvang Double at the end of March with Karen even though I was out of shape for it.  Karen was still recovering from her accident in November when she was hit by a car, so we didn’t ride very fast.  She dropped out after about 90 miles because she was tired, cold and wet from the rain, (she actually rode another 40 miles before getting SAGged in).  I decided to keep riding and hammered it the last 110 miles hoping to make up the time.  I only stopped at rest areas quickly to refill my water bottle and grab a handful of food to eat while riding.  I did not keep track of my time over the last 100 miles, but with a good tail wind, I’m sure it was my fastest century ride ever.  I again wrestled with leg cramps over the last 20 miles but I finished the ride in 12:15.  So now I had to put a strategy together to avoid cramps and knee pain and break the 12 hour mark.  That would be for the Davis Double in May

 

The Davis Double is one of the easiest doubles since there is relatively little climbing, (7400 ft), and there is lots of support.  This year they added 800 ft of climbing and 3.5 miles because of a washout.  That made the statistics on the ride more respectable.  My strategy was to start with the fast tandems, drop off early to draft with a splinter group until the climb to Monticello dam, then work the rest of the ride on my own in my aero bars.  I took extra Cal-Mag and glycerol that week to help me retain water and prevent leg cramps.  My training had been limited to 2-3 hour rides and spinning classes to keep from inflaming my tendonitis.  I warmed up and stretched at 5:00 AM before the ride started.  The fast group took off at 5:13 AM with me in the middle of the group.  I rode the first couple of miles inside the pack and felt great.  We were cruising at 25-26mph.  We got out into the country and had a cross wind where drafting no longer helped.  The front tandems worked up to 28-30 mph and I was struggling to keep up.  After 12 minutes and 5 miles, I dropped back.  I had averaged 25 mph over that time.  I sat up and waited for another group to come by.  It only took a few moments for them to show up.  I hopped in with them and rode at 21-22 mph until the first rest area.  That was slower than I wanted to ride, but I needed the break after that sprint from the start.  At 23 miles, that group pulled into the first rest area.  I didn’t need a break.  I grabbed a hand full of grapes and kept riding without getting off my bike.  I sat up and started to eat my grapes when another group passed me.  This group held a good 24-26 mph pace all the way to the climb to Montecello Dam.  I was dropped at the start of the climb.  I took it easy up the hill, refilled my water bottles and grabbed some energy bars at the rest area.  I took about 2 minutes there, leaving that pace line behind while they took a break.  I joined up with Mark Deger at that point and rode the next several miles with him.  He climbs faster than I do, but he can’t keep up on the descents, so I left him behind on the downhill from Cardiac hill.  From there on, I was on my own.  I had over 150 miles to go and had averaged 21.7 mph over the first 50 miles.  So I started my MP3 player and got into a cadence I could continue for the rest of the day.  I skipped rest stop 3, refilled water at rest stop 4, then took a short 3-4 minute break at rest stop 5, Middletown High School, which was just before the new detour with the added climb.  I grabbed a couple of peanut butter sandwiches, filled my bottles with Cytomax and kept riding.  Rest stops 1 and 2 were crowded as I passed through.  Rest stop 5 was pretty empty.  I skipped rest stop 6 and pushed it to the lunch stop.  I passed the 100 mile mark in 5:48 including stops.  I was feeling great at that point and I did not want to stop for lunch.  But I took a short stop filling my water bottles with Cytomax again, grabbing a paper plate, making a big sandwich and wrapping it in my plate.  I stuffed cookies up one pant leg and grapes up the other, hopped on my bike and continued to ride.  I took it easy for the next 10 minutes while I ate my lunch on the road.  It was very quiet at the lunch break and thereafter.  Spencer Frink was there having lunch at that time along with only a dozen or so other riders.  When I made my sandwich, I was the first to take cheese from that particular cheese platter, and meat from that particular meat platter.  The throngs that I normally see at lunch were at least an hour behind me.  I finished my lunch just before summiting the 2nd to last climb of the day.  I folded my paper plate and stuffed it up my pants leg, dropped down into an aero tuck and flew down the mountain reaching 53 mph.  On the final climb of the day I joined 2 other riders including a very fast recumbent rider, Tim, who is doing the RAAM on a 2 man team.  I summitted Resurrection hill with them and flew down the other side.  The remaining 70 miles were mostly downhill and I was ½ hour ahead of schedule to break the 12 hour mark.  All I had to worry about was cramping and headwinds.  I rode alone for the next 60 miles with very short stops to refill water bottles at rest areas.  At the Guinda Fire Station, mile 163, I was the only cyclist at the rest area.  2 kids filled my water bottles and got me some fruit.  I didn’t have to get off my bike.  A volunteer who was keeping statistics on the rest area, told me I was the 12th person to stop there.  There were many riders ahead of me, but most of them blew on through.  The kids were very happy to have something to do.  I told them they would be very busy in a couple of hours.  From there to the next rest area I was all alone.  No cyclists were anywhere in sight.  I made my last stop at Farnham Ranch.  I was the only cyclist there too.  I stretched, grabbed food and water and continue riding.  Tim, the recumbent rider, and another cyclist, Reeve, pulled in as I was pulling away.  They quickly caught me and I hopped in with them for about 5 miles riding at 26mph.  Tim is very strong.  I wish him luck on the RAAM.  They dropped me as I was gasping for breath with 10 miles remaining.  Coming into Davis, I passed the 200 mile mark with an accumulated time of 11:37.  My ride time was 11:14:41 at 17.8 mph average.  I had 3.6 miles to go to the finish and got held up by several traffic lights.  I finished the 203.6 miles in 11:52 overall, and 11:26 riding time.  I was only stopped for 26 minutes the whole day including stop signs, stop lights, rest stops, nature breaks, and a stop to read my map when I took a wrong turn.

 

Those fast tandems that I started with finished in the 9:20 to 10:30 time range.  I have no idea how many single riders were ahead of me, but my name was the first to get checked off on my sheet when I signed in at 5:05 PM.  I was really happy about that.