ConstantRider

Anyone thinking about doing the Mt. Tam Double? I just signed up. It's on Saturday, August 4th.

Some of the best roads in the Bay Area, although I'm not sure I really want to try to do them all in one day. I'll probably be scouting out the Coleman Valley climb this weekend, which is the one part of the route I haven't ever ridden.

flaco

I did it last year. It was great, maybe the best ride I've ever been on. I wish I could do it again this year. As far as the climbing, at least most of it is in the first half -- Bay Hill and Coleman Valley are the last really hard ones.

spingineer

... but it's 14,000 feet of climbing!!!!

flaco

Yeah, it adds up. But Mt. Tam is not to be missed!

jeffremer

That's a reason to do it, not a reason not to do it.

I'll probably sign up for the double and bail if I don't make the time cutoff.

spingineer

Did you do Devil Mountain's Double? I guess by your reasoning, you should do DMD because it is 18,000 feet of climbing ... no thanks.

ConstantRider

The website says it's 15,000 feet. Which for me will be a great incentive to drop ten pounds between now and then.

Jeff, do you know when/where the cut-off point actually is? The website describes where the two bail-out options are (i.e., the places where you can change your route to shorten the ride) -- but while it mentions a "cut-off point" too, I can't find anywhere where it describes when/where the cut-off point is.

flaco

If you don't make it to Valley Ford by the cutoff, they won't let you do the Bay Hill/Coleman loop. Can't remember what the cutoff time was.

ConstantRider

Thanks. I'm gonna do that loop this Saturday to see what I'm in for.

jobob

I'll be doing the 200K, which has only 9000 ft of climbing.

"only 9000", she says. oy.

ConstantRider

I rode most of the Coleman Valley loop yesterday. (Didn't do Bay Hill though, just stayed on Highway 1.)

I hit Coleman Valley Rd. only 30 miles into my ride, and it was tough. Hard to imagine doing it at mile 130 after climbing to the top of Tam.

The descent down Joy Rd. was pretty steep in some places, and bumpy and pot-holed throughout. I rode it on 23c tires but will probably use at least 25c -- and maybe even 28c -- for the actual ride.

K&M

The Mt. Tam Double is one of the best. Great route/great support. We did it on the tandem a couple of years ago and had a lot of fun. In spite of all the climbing (my Polar 720i logged a little over 15,000 ft.), it wasn't all that epic. Mt. Tam and Coleman Valley aren't nearly as punishing as the climbs you'll find on rides like the Terrible Two and Devil Mtn. doubles (it helps that Mt. Tam comes right at the start of the ride). Don't let the total amount of climbing scare you away from this excellent ride!

SV Commuter

Show of hands, who's doing the Mt. Tam Double this year?
I'm thinking of registering, it'll be my first double (just started road biking this spring, done two centuries so far). Would prefer less climbing for a first double but my choices are limited if I want to do one this year...

spingineer

Brad,
Mt. Tam is one of the 4 events in the Cal Triple Crown Stage Race. They take the 4 toughest double centuries, and if you finish them all, you've completed the Stage Race. I generally wouldn't recommend Mt. Tam as someone's first double, but I'll leave it up to you.

I might do Knoxville, which is end of September, which is 12,600 feet climbing. You might try that. There are no easy doubles left in the year.

uspspro

wow. I don't know if I am ready for that double.

I am considering the Mt. Tam 100 mile option or the 200 K.

Anyone want to ride any of those?

SV Commuter

I might do the 200K instead. I'm wanting to try to do the California Triple Crown or even 1000 Mile Club next year, and my interest in trying the Mt. Tam double is to get an idea how much I have to train next Spring. If I do it, it's very possible I will take one of the bail-outs, or I might just do the 200K because that will at least give me a taste of something longer than a century.

SesameCrunch

I'm seriously considering it. Probably Century or 200K, not the double .

ConstantRider

This will be my approach -- might as well start it and see how I do.

But I've already done one double and one 300k, and it may be that jumping straight from a couple centuries to a fairly hard double, which it sounds like is what you'll be doing, may not be the best idea.

Before I did the 300k, my longest ride was a 200k, and on the 300k I really ended up straining my knees and had to take nearly a month off the bike afterwards. I don't think the leap in distance was the only reason for that, but in retrospect, it probably couldn't have hurt to increase the distances more gradually.

On the other hand, plenty of riders make the leap from centuries to double-centuries with no problems at all.

If you do go for the double, I'd encourage you to try out some of the route beforehand. I did a 106-mile ride this weekend that included the Marshall Wall and most of Mt. Tam (I stopped at the Ridgecrest/Pantoll junction instead of going all the way to the top) and I was pretty tired by the end of it. The thought of adding 94 miles, complete with wind and rollers up Highway One and the Coleman Valley climb, was daunting to say the least.

BlastRadius

Couple of buddies of mine are doing the Marin Century (they are bored with the Mt. Tam route).
I may end up doing the Marin Century as well (less climbing).

uspspro

Don't wimp out man.

spingineer

My friend Lynn Katano is a hall of famer in the Cal Triple Crown. She's done about 85 doubles in her career. Needless to say, she has some experience in riding doubles. She says she'd be "impressed" if I completed the Mt. Tam double ... so I guess I'll stay unimpressive ... i.e. I'm not doing Mt. Tam Double.

PlanetU

Actually, Mt. Tam is NOT one of the Stage Race events -
but it is very challenging. It's a beautiful course, and I highly recommend it.
:-)

spingineer

Oh, I thought it was ... oh well ... I stand corrected. Thanks.