Machka 

OK, here's the "official" 2012 Double Century Thread (& Longer Rides).


When you finish your Double Centuries, post them here! And tell us a bit about the ride ... where it was, if it was solo or with a group, how long it took you, stuff like that.


Just for informational purposes, a "Double Century" is 200 miles completed as "all at once" as possible. Reasonable breaks are allowed, of course, but if you do a century on Saturday, and another century on Sunday, that's called a "Back-To-Back" century, not a "Double Century".


If you want to do one a month, like the Century-A-Month challenge, go for it! If you'd rather do just three in July, that's fine too. And if you do a ride that's longer than a double century ... like a triple century perhaps ... feel free to post about it here as well.

znomit

Got my first solo double in today.
352km.
Left home at 5am, home at 10pm.
Still struggling with nausea on the longer rides, had almost nothing to eat from 175km on.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/138800725

lhbernhardt

I've heard these "back-to-back centuries referred to as "Twin Centuries." This was back in California in the 70's. I think twin century is a simplier and easier name.

Also, despite my preference for distances in metric, I like the Imperial nature of the "Double Century." I think miles are more appropriate here.

L.

norcalscot

I don't know about the rest of the US, but out here in California rides of approximately 200 miles are referred to simply as "Doubles" or "Double Centuries". Check out https://www.caltriplecrown.com/ to see the Doubles scene here in California - there are 20 Doubles in 2012.

I'm a fan of imperial measurements for cycling distances :-)

znomit

430km ride over monday tuesday.

Aim was to ride the "Forgotten Highway" overnight.
Left home about 10am and had a really leisurely century ride(stopped for three meals!) up the coast before cutting inland to Stratford, 200k, getting there just on dark. Grabbed a pie at the gas station and got my warm gear on before heading off towards Taumarunui 150km away. Theres about 2000m of climbing in the 150km, no towns for the last 90km and a 12km gravel section. Found a school 30km in and filled up with water. Skies were clear and very little wind, one of the nicest night rides I've ever done. Lots of shortest stops initially but buckled down a bit when the fog rolled in. A few issues with sleep deprivation in the wee hours, was glad to get through to McDonalds about 5:30am.
600m climb from here and the rain set in for a few hours. Made it through to Ohakune around noon and caught the train home. Probably should have had a sleep in there and ridden the 160 km home as it was a tailwind and downhill. Next time.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/151364436

cccorlew

Davis Double Reg opened today.

Known for its outstanding support and challenging-yet-doable course, the Davis Double offers scenic roads, great food, and the satisfaction of completing 200 miles in one day. Along with SAG and mechanical support, well-stocked rest stops and a lunch stop, your $90 registration fee includes an event t-shirt and a hearty post-ride meal.

This year the DC will be held on Saturday, May 19. Online registration is via Eventbrite at https://2012davisdouble.eventbrite.com. Registration is limited to 1,000 riders; register early! Deadline for online registration is Friday, May 11.

norcalscot

I completed the Death Valley Spring Double this past Saturday. It was a beautiful day, with the usual head/cross winds for most of it. I managed to finish in daylight, which was nice. First Triple Crown double for the year, number 74 overall.

cccorlew

Congrats! You should visit the NorCal. There are a few doubles folk over there. 74 flippin' doubles? Wow! Color me blown away.

norcalscot

Could you elaborate - what is "the NorCal"??

74 isn't that much - there's at least 30 people who do the California Triple Crown series who have more doubles than that. 12 of them have at least 100 doubles each. It'll be a while before I reach that total...

jmX

I too did the Death Valley Spring double, altho I certainly didn't finish in daylight. Great Job norcalscot! What was your elapsed time for the event?

Since the original post asked for some details, it took me 13:01, ride time 11:39. As norcalscot said the day was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. Temps from 45F to 85F. Cycling under the desert night sky was by far the best part. It was my first double century; my longest previous ride was 114mi.

norcalscot

My total time was 11:13 - I didn't look at my on-bike time, but it was probably about 20 to 30 minutes less. I forgot to apply sunscreen, so I'm sporting some funky tan lines at the moment...

jmX

Congrats on that strong finish man. I assume that time got you in the top 5? I saw you leaders headed back into FC as I headed out to SPW and my jaw dropped.

leaping_gnome

Congratulations all! I want to play also, in SoCal mostly. In 2012 I've done the Camino Real DC, 14:01, and the Death Valley DC in 14:13, both total elapsed time. As you can see, I'm not as fast and usually arrive not long after dark. The weather for both was glorious. No real highlights or lowlights to share, just good days. I have also ridden a couple of 200k brevets so far this year and have a 300k planned for next weekend.

BTW, I ride C&V bikes for the C&V Century Challenge also, except I am taking it to the R-12 level, at least one C&V 200k brevet or permanent in each calendar month for a stretch of 12 months.

Jim

Holden McNeil

I registered for the CJBC (Central Jersey Bike Club) Longest Day Ride 2012. It's a 208.4 mile ride that starts in Port Jervis, NY and ends at the Cape May Lighthouse. It's esentially the "length of NJ" in one day. I did it last year and can't wait to do it again this year. We have a bigger team, are more prepared both physically and SAG/gear wise which should allow us to drop off a ton of time from last year's effort.

Here is the site: https://www.linuxha.com/other/non-ha/...ongestDay.html

and a video of our 2011 ride: https://youtu.be/-bLsw0FPyf0

Enjoy,

Nick!

Edit: I know we're not supposed to post here until we've completed it but I'm so pumped I couldn't wait.

bikenh

Well, how do you accomplish a lot of things at once. Simple ride big miles. Okay, so I'm nuts.

Had been hoping for quite a few things for quite a while now. One was to go out and see how far I could ride all daylight on the first day of winter. That went fairly decent other than running into bike problems after I had just a little under 100 miles already finished. By the time I got home...after dark, I knew I could have easily did 140-150 miles. I ended the day with 132 after riding roughly 20 miles one footed thanks to a crank arm bolt stripping out on me. Yes, my speed dramatically tanked than I had a decent 30-45 minutes off the bike while getting the bolt replaced before I could get out of the bike shop.

I wanted that ride so I could get an idea for another late spring early summer ride that I've wanted to do since last spring, a nice...roughly 250 mile daylight only ride roundtrip across NH with a short foray into ME, MA and VT.

I knew my next task was going to be trying to hit a double century before the first day of spring. After riding all winter I knew that meant getting lucky and finding a nice 55-60+ degree day in the week leading into spring. I had to get the air density to drop so I could average something more than 14.75-15.25 mph. I had to get back up to a more summer time pace around 17-18 mph.

A few other things came up that I also wanted to try to do before the first day of spring, including having my first 500 mile/7 day stretch. I did 4 of them last year and had a few close calls already this year. Doing the math it looked like if I did the double century on Saturday I could get awfully close to 600 miles in 7 days. I passed on the opportunity and almost went for the long haul ride on Sunday instead but it was still cool and the forecast for morning fog didn't make me want to rush to get out the door in the predawn hours once it had gotten light enough to be able to see.

Instead on Saturday I went out and rode 74.8 miles on my new bike that I picked up the day before. My 94/95 Cannondale frame had finally had enough and I had to replace the bike. I noticed afterwards that if I did another 70 miles on Sunday I could still manage to get the 500 miles come Monday with the planned double century ride. OOPS!!! Sunday I rode 95.1 miles instead.

Okay, I must back up and say last year I did two back to back 100 mile days and bonked bad on the second day. Granted I didn't eat while on the ride either day. Still the thought of riding 95 miles one day and 200 the next day sounded masochistic. Both Saturday and Sunday weren't 'take it easy' mile days either. Sunday was definitely one of the more upscale days I have had in a LONG time. I was worried going into yesterday, more ways than one.

I knew I was planning on taking it all the way. I wanted something that would get me as close to 200 miles as possible. I knew of the best route, but it was also the toughest route to be found in NH. 13,300 feet of vertical climbing over the two biggest free climbs in the state of NH. Mt Washington Auto Road is a toll road. I also remember from last summer the crazy statement I made back than...whenever I get the chance to do this when the humidity is less and temperature is cooler I'll climb the Kanc in the big chainring. The Kanc is 7+ miles and on average 200 feet per mile. Rt 118 is 9 miles and just under 200 feet per mile.

I knew after two big days of riding this was crazy but I wanted both the double century, hopefully all daylight, and the 500 miles in 7 days before the first day of spring. I took off at 6:37AM yesterday morning and made my way on over to the east side of the White Mts of NH. The timing seemed roughly about the same as last summer. I knew last summer I did the ride in 12:18, on bike and over 14 hours total time. This time I decided to save some time and put a fanny pack on the handlebars so I could eat on the ride and just keep moving. Normally right now when doing 100-130 mile ride I will end up with about an hour off the bike filling up water bottle, going to the bathroom, eating, etc. I knew I had to minimize the off time as much as possible if I wanted to even hope to finish the ride before sunset.

I knew last summer I hit the top of the Kanc in 6:30. This year I was running a little bit behind...6:51. I did manage to climb the entire Kanc in a 52x22 and think I could have went 52x19 without much trouble. I was just trying to keep the pace up thanks to being pushed by the limited sunlight. The climb up the steep part of the Kanc comes right at the 100 mile mark and the climb up Rt 118 comes around the 121 mile mark so both climbs come later on in the ride rather than at the beginning.

I always make up a cheat sheet that I carry with me on the long(200 miler) rides that show the ride broken up and also include how long it should take to get to each point given a particular average speed. I was seeing that I was definitely going to be pushing it close and more than likely be getting home 30-60 minutes after dark. I was still hoping to make all but the last...hilly stretch before darkness set in.

I had everything but snow throughout the day...snow on the ground but not snow falling from the sky. Around 150 miles I ended up getting soaked thanks to a 10-15 minute unforecasted rain shower. I had sprinkles earlier in the ride but the rain shower was a real surprise. I also had sunny skies, and overcast skies throughout the day. Fortunately the wind was fairly tame. It was one of the crazier days I've been out riding in a long time given the full magnitude of weather conditions I saw.

I managed to make it to the hilly stretch before I finally ran out of daylight and finished off the last 12.5 miles under very limited daylight. I pulled up to my driveway saying, give me the headlamp(don't have one that works right now, need to find the charger and see if I can shock charge the battery back to life) and I'll keep riding. I wasn't even tired. What a scary thought. I walked in the house and the very second I set down I lost all energy completely. I managed to get home about 8:16PM. So I shrank my off bike time quite nicely. Ride time was 12:40, 15.97 mph(best so far this year) and the total time was 13:39(14:09 last summer).

I ended the three day stretch with 372.3 miles(absolute NUTS). Definitely can't believe I've managed to pull off essentially two back to back days like I just pulled off. Right now I'm trying to make it 400 miles in 4 days today. Pretty much I think it won't be too difficult.

AsanaCycles

here's my effort from this year's Solvang Double: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/161192791

I was amazed to click off 100 miles in 4:54hrs.



Distance: 197.59 mi
Time: 11:35:08
Avg Speed: 17.1 mph
Elevation Gain: 8,763 ft
Calories: 12,288 C
Details
Timing
Time: 11:35:08
Elapsed Time: 12:30:52
Avg Speed: 17.1 mph
Max Speed: 43.7 mph

norcalscot

I completed Solvang Double as well.

I managed to add 2.8 bonus miles by following the old route via Black Road after Guadalupe.

Distance: 200.4
Total Elapsed time : 10:41:08

az_cyclist

I heard the Solvang Double was windy?

cccorlew

https://ccorlew.blogspot.com/2012/03/...m-solvang.html

My photos, blog entry and Strava data on Solvang, the windy double.

AsanaCycles

yes. way super windy.

stoopid windy.

AsanaCycles

wow, thats crazy fast!

norcalscot

I miss the old course, it was much faster when we used Drum Canyon (and shorter too, by about 4 miles). I managed an 8:34 on a tandem in 2005 under favorable conditions. Getting under 9 hours would be extremely difficult on the new course given the extra climbing added towards the end of the ride.

AsanaCycles

that is just amazing!

lhbernhardt

My major project this year is a California Triple Crown on the fixie. I needed to select two rides a week apart to throw my hat in the ring, as I'm planning on doing Knoxville in September followed by the CTC Breakfast. I'd heard Davis was a good first double as it was well-organized with plenty of food stops, so I put it and Borrego Springs on the schedule. Of course, they'd HAVE to schedule the southern-most double the week after the almost-northern-most double, but I had some accommodation in Reno, so Davis was more convenient than Palmdale for that Saturday.

I left Vancouver and drove my new Jetta TDI turbo-diesel to Davis on Friday, stopping at only half the gas stations I would have stopped at had I been in my old Subaru. Registration was not as easy to find as I had thought; it was on the opposite side of the park from what I had expected, and the signs were not very obvious. No, they were nonexistent until you actually got there! I had even ridden the bike from the motel, which might have made it harder to find the registration. Actually, I was kind of expecting it to be next to the US Bicycle Hall of Fame. Well, it was, sort of. I was also hoping to get in to see the HOF for free, but it was occupied by the pasta feed. And then, of course, the next day I wouldn't be back in Davis until after it had long closed.

The Davis ride was great. I started with one companion, then pace lines caught us, and pretty soon we were riding in a large group along the flat fields of the Central Valley as the sun rose. We reached the hills, which weren't bad. There were more than enough rest stops (I skipped two of them), and then we hit Cobb Mountain. So here I thought this would be easy on a fixie. The sign at the bottom of the climb said "Cobb - 7 Miles." So we start climbing. We reach Cobb, and it's still climbing, but only steeper. I know that I can pedal to a max 18% grade on the 44x17 fixed gear, and it felt like a 17% grade for the several kilometers to the rest stop, which is where I started cramping. After consuming lots of bananas and V8, I continue, but grade continued for another three km! And my legs were so hammered that they were cramping up on the descents once the leg speed was high enough, so I was braking down the descents with one foot in a pedal, the other held straight out trying to relieve the cramping. I had to stop several times off the side of the road to try to recover. Eventually, it got flat enough that I was able to pedal comfortably, and I managed to finish just after sunset, during twilight.

I then drove east, did the Motherlode Century (the metric one!) the next day, then spent a few days recovering in Reno, culminating in an easy ride around Lake Tahoe before heading to Borrego Springs. Got there early on Friday. It was REALLY windy. I rode what I thought would be the finishing route, but due to forest fires, the route was changed so that we'd come back the same way we went out - the 12-mile twisting climb of Montezuma Valley Rd.

The largest group of us, about 40-odd riders, set off at 5:14 on Saturday morning (first light). The climb, though longer than Cobb, was much easier, even with the wind gusts slamming into us from about mid-climb to the end. The temps had been comfortable in the valley, but it was wet and near-freezing in the clouds at the top of the climb. Good thing I was in arm and leg warmers and my PBP vest. I had also brought my light winter gloves, which were very necessary on this ride.

Once off the summit, things warmed up with any elevation loss. Although the first rest stop had been sparse, the second stop served hot apple pie and hot coffee, very welcome at this point. The ride to the coast was mostly descending, which is still work on a fixie. Up till San Marco, the route markings had been clear enough that I hadn't needed to refer to the cue sheet, but entering San Marco, I followed some errant arrows from another ride and ended up on a gravel road. I quickly got back on the correct route, but missed the well-hidden rest stop in San Marco. But I still had enough in the bottle to reach the lunch stop at Oceanside.

This was actually the big attraction of Borrego - to ride from the desert, over the mountains and rolling hills to California's famous ocean beaches, and back again. What an adventure!

The next seven miles was along a flat bike path, and then we started climbing again. The hardest part of the ride was the five-mile climb halfway up to Palomar Observatory. It was hot at the start of the climb, so I finally took off the leg warmers, but then a couple of miles later, at about the 2000' level, it started to get chilly again. But I wasn't about to stop again to put the leg warmers back on. so I plowed on. Approaching the final rest stop, it got so chilly that I did put the vest back on. Normally I would have just put it on while riding, but the wind was gusting and I was getting tired, so I thought it would be safer to just stop and make the wardrobe adjustment.

The final rest stop had hot soup and hot chocolate, again very welcome at this point. By the time I hit the top of the Montezuma climb (no more uphill after this), it was already dark and I had my lights on. During the day, this would be a thrilling descent, with the desert floor 2 or 3 thousand feet below just distracting enough on the tight turns. At night, though, when all you had was a pool of light thrown out by the reliable Light & Motion Urban 300 (at the 150-lumen setting), it was like descending any other road. Except the three times when I'd hit a wall of wind and the bike would come to a complete stop on the descent!

Anyway, I managed to finish by 9:04 pm, feeling more like I'd done 400 km instead of 330. Actually, I did over 340 km, as I had gone off course again later in the ride when I followed two other riders who followed another errant arrow.

Two different rides, one organized with military precision, the other a bit spotty but with its own charm. Next double: Knoxville. On the fixie again!

Luis

Homeyba

Cobb will definitely get your attention. Especially if you didn't know it was coming! Davis is a great double but it is definitely not the easiest. I think it gets the nod for newcomers because of the support.

That's a fun little climb there. It doesn't actually take you up to the observatory though. That's about ten miles up the mountain on your left after you finish the "fun" little climb on hwy 76. A great little climb itself!


Montezuma grade is great fun! That's the first place I ever touched my knee on the ground (without crashing) in a corner on my motorcycle. As far as the support goes, what you are seeing is the difference between a very large bike club with years of experience and a single long distance enthusiast doing something she really enjoys.

I think you'll find the Knoxville double on par with the Borrego Springs double in difficulty. While there is plenty of climbing there is nothing as steep as Cobb on the Davis Double. Additionally, most of the climbing is done in the first half of the ride. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun!