DAVIS DOUBLE - 206 MILES - Saturday, May 21 - 2016
This was my Most Exciting Event of the Year (so far! - More to come!) Hammer friend and teammate Karin Weller has encouraged me all season to get to this point, riding with me on two brevets earlier this year. Although she is younger and faster, she has been there for me as I get the hang of these long rides and continue to tweak my nutrition so that I feel strong late in the ride. We’d planned this one for many months, but in the final week, she was not sure she would be able to join me (life happens!) - and I had to tell myself to grow up and just go do this - lots of folks go rides 200 miles - no big deal! But I held out hope for her company and sure enough, she made it! It is so much more fun to race with a friend! (OK - this is not a race - HA! You know we‘re going to ride at a fast pace and check our stats as soon as we’re done, so…it’s a race in my head! Why ride slow, when you can ride fast! Besides, if I ride fast enough, I will finish before I get tired!)
And so Karin joined me at Motel 6 in Davis, and we prepped for an early morning start. I always take Hammer REM Caps for a good night’s sleep before an event, and they worked beautifully - up at 4am and out the door before 5. It felt so special to just ride from the motel and join the course - encouraged in this event since parking won't accommodate the 1000 registered riders. And so we say a little prayer and roll off into the silent predawn town and 4 miles later join other riders on the course. Century and double centuries are so relaxed — no pre-race jitters because there is no official start! And I don't have to ZOOM away - we ride at a warm-up pace for 15 miles or so and as the sun rises we up the pace. It’s nice to have packs of riders - we get tons of positive comments on our pink Hammer kits and my matching Rudy helmet, as Karin chats with old friends and we get some draft as we roll thru the farmlands outside Davis. I look to my right and there are lovely sunflowers peeking over the top of the high grass - so tempting to take a photo, but we are on a mission, and there will be none of that today, so I memorize it for a future painting.
The draw of a Double Century? How fast can I go and how much of this beautiful planet do I get to see today? I LOVE to ride all day, and today will be my longest one-day ride. Last year’s long races were so exciting, and I want more. More new scenery, more new challenge. There must be a lot of folks who feel like I do, because 1000 others are out here doing the same, testing their limits. My goals today are many: finish happy, which means fueling properly, or as Hammer says, “Fuel Right, Feel Great!”. I pick under 14 hours as a reasonable time, based loosely on the 8,000’ of climbing and the expected wind. That also will get us in before dark, which is a big deal to me. And I want to finish my first 200 with Karin, which may mean hanging on her wheel at the end (she being the younger and faster rider, remember! Having an AARP and Medicare card has its privileges!) I also want to ride the 4 mile dirt section without anxiety, and the same on the descents. So - with these goals in mind, we ride off into the first 100 miles of headwind and hit the hills - and some welcome sunshine - at mile 50. This is a coolish day and we are still wearing leg warmers. The climbs are long and steady, but much less steep than what I’ve done on recent century rides, so it feels easy, and a few hours later we are at the mile 95 rest stop for water and my pbj, which I pack in my hydration vest. I love this vest - easy access to my Hammer caps, which I’ve packed into small zip locks to take hourly, and storage for the rain jacket I hope I won’t need later. My gel flasks are handy, and my Perpeteum tabs are as well. Jersey pockets store my finger gloves and arm warmers. I even have my iPod in case it gets lonely out there. (It never does!) As we wait in the potty line, I spy the Most Beautiful Pink Bike I’ve ever seen! It belongs to a friend of Karin’s, and so I ask her about it - a Trek with a custom paint job; she must love pink as much as I do! It is truly breath taking! We leave this rest stop feeling energized and ready for the 4 miles of hard-pack dirt and gravel that I’ve tried to brush off as No Big Deal. I’m cautious, as Karin, with her mountain bike experience, flies ahead, but soon I am comfortable on this squirrely, noisy gravel and manage the slight descents and cornering without frustration.
We have reached 100 miles - and I feel great! It is amazing how easy 100 is, when you are riding 200. We are on schedule to break 14 hours, and although it looks like the predicted rain is on its way, we are still smiling. We’e been climbing most of the last 50 miles and there are still 40 miles of hills to go, and as we roll into the next canyon, I realize we are in the Lake County fire zone. It is hard to see so much burnt desolation, where once there was such beauty. Miles and miles go by, and we are still surrounded by burnt hillsides. I think about all the families who lost their homes, and the families in my own area who lost everything in the Butte Fire last fall, my friends and students who must restart their lives. There is plenty of time to think out here.
And the rain comes! Sprinkles become buckets, and Karin is up the road, so I stop and fish out my rain jacket and finger gloves and search for the plastic bags I’d packed for my Garmin and my cue sheet. I waste precious time, fumbling in the cold, never find them, and head into the wind and rain. We are nearly done climbing, and there is little traffic, so it is just a matter of riding along and paying attention. I’m warm, and I realize that even my feet are warm and dry in my new shoes, and I’m thankful for that. I pull into the mile 159 rest stop, the volunteers are cheering for us, and helping me with my bike - they are standing there in the rain waiting for us, and seem so happy to do it! They even grabbed and racked my bike so I wouldn't have to walk it through the mud. Karin was waiting there, but was really cold, and I wished I’d wasted less time fumbling for my gear. It’s going to be hard to warm up in the rain, but we leave quickly and get back to it. Again, the miles just fly by, and soon we have just 40 to go. That’s easy, I do 40 on an easy ride. And soon there are 30 (which is really only two 15s, which is shorter than my easiest day!), and the rain stops, and I realize that in a couple of hours I will have done the longest ride of my life - and that is a cool feeling! As we leave the mile 180 stop, my left knee begins to ache, and within a few miles, it becomes painful, then excruciating. We have returned to the outskirts of Davis and there are stop signs and traffic lights, and every time in unclip and have to restart, my knee screams at me, and I am groaning in pain. Frankly, I’m glad I am riding alone at this point, because it hurts so much that I sound pathetic. I am not very happy that I am wasting this one piece of tailwind in the entire ride! I ride on, and ask a passing rider to ask Karin to pull over when he passes her so I can see if she has any ibuprofen. And, she does! Whew! Although I never take it, I am hoping that in this case it might help, because we have 10 miles to go and I am desperate. But, as we all know, if you just pedal on, you will get there, and we crawl in…I am still smiling inside because, as they say, pain is temporary. I am about to finish my first Double Century, and my teammate and friend is there with me! Pedal on, pedal on!
And so, we cross the finish line - goals met: it’s daylight and my bike time is 13 hours, 37 minutes. Feeling HAPPY! We ride back to the hotel and even get there before dark! And although I am tired, I am not fried, and once off the bike, I’m able to walk, and I am smiling. Karin is so excited for me, and I love here energy - she's been there all day for me, and we agreed to ride through most of the rest stops, but she was always waiting there at our pre-determined ones, smiling and handing me bananas or hot tea. She could have raced the whole thing at her pace and picked up a bunch of QOMs, but with her Race Across the West just three weeks away, she rode at my pace and tapered for her big event. I am blessed to have her friendship, and as I start pulling off layers of rain-soaked gear, she is already on Facebook with her joyful post of our ride! As it turns out, we are both so excited that we spend about 15 minutes too long on Facebook and the restaurant next door closes down! Oh no! Well, we make do with the food in our room, and I check my strava stats - I even have a QOM!! What a shock. Karin’s garmin had quit working and her stats were gone, and so I know the QOM is really hers, but that means I was all-time second on some climb out there, and that is just too cool! (Remember, I’m way older than most everyone out there!) Once the final event stats are in, we are Top 6 Women for the day - of the 1000 people out there only 5 women were in front of us - and that is TOTALLY COOL! Race pace is an interesting thing in an event this long, as the rest stops can eat up time, waiting in potty lines and looking at snacks (or pink bikes!) We were always in a hustle mood and we rode with purpose.
I awake at 5:45 to head out to my TBF Women’s Cycling Class. Some would call that a grind, but I love my gals, and it is both a privilege and a joy to coach them. But first, we enjoy a real breakfast, and I inhale a waffle and eggs before I go, as we remember all the highlights from such a wonderful ride. We rode with Joy and Safety, always my prayer, and we’d done OK! My TBF gals were a blast, and thankfully I rode with barely a hint of yesterday’s pain! My legs are not tired, thanks to Hammer. I begin a four-day ride break, and I’m hopeful my knee will be normal with some rest and Tissue Rejuvenator. My week ends with 312 miles, my biggest ever, and my 4th over 300, feeling Happy and well-prepared for my summer race season. And I just may have to add a couple more 200s this year, and earn Triple Crown status!
Thank you, Karin Weller, you are The Best Teammate a gal could have! And thank you, Seana Hogan, as my mentor, who always makes me realize I can do more than I thought. Thank you Beate Danielson for training with me on some tough courses! Thank you Brian Nakagawa and Robert Baldino, for planting the seeds of randoneering and double centuries - longer rides are super fun!
Thank you Hammer Nutrition and Rudy Project - you are both wonderful sponsors, and your enthusiastic support is very much appreciated!
I wear Rudy Noyz pink Fluo multilaser glasses and LOVE them because of the crisp lens quality and the fact that I can wear them at dawn (instead of switching out to clear lenses). My helmet is the PINK Wingspan, and not only did it get a lot of great comments out there, it was comfortable all day long.
Hammer Nutrition - hourly: Endurance Amino, Anti Fatigue, Endurolytes, and Race Caps. Espresso/Raspberry gel, perpeteum tabs, and Hammer bars interspersed every 45 minutes.
Recoverite upon finishing. Rem Caps for a good night’s sleep. This regime allows me to train and race and feel good! My legs are NOT achy! My chest is tired from exertion breathing all day, and my stomach is off after a long event (ginger ale helps), but I feel good!
Pedal on, pedal on!