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Terrible Two route. 200 miles, 16,000' of climbing

This was my first time riding the Terrible Two double century. I had done two doubles previously this year (Solvang and Davis) but the Terrible Two has more hill climbing than both of those rides combined.

At Davis I got caught up in an extremely fast paceline and was hammering from the start. Then I stopped eating at around mile 150 and felt miserable for the last part of the ride. Even though Terrible Two is a harder ride, I went into it actually looking forward to going at a nice sustainable pace and, not burning out early, and hopefully having a strong finish.

I drove up on Friday and spent the night with Ramon at Motel 6 in Santa Rosa. The ride begins in Sebastapol, 9 miles to the west so unlike previous doubles, we had to drive to the start instead of just biking.

Temperatures were chilly, in high 40s, but the skies were clear. We got to Sebastapol at around 4:50am. There is no check in the night before so we had to get our numbers and pin them on our jerseys. They were also giving out flasks of Hammer gel which was a nice touch I'd never seen before at an organized ride.

At 5:30am we departed in a mass start. Since this ride is part of the triple crown stage race, having a mass start is necessary to ensure accurate times for all the riders. A pace car leads the "peloton" through the first flat 13 miles and this is considered a neutral section. The pace car keeps aggressive riders from going too fast and also helps trigger traffic signals.

Unfortunately I was at the back of the group as we left the high school and quickly lost contact with the front. It is a long ride and we had been lectured to not ride too aggressively at the start. "You can't win the race in the first 13 miles but you can lose it." As the gap opened up we began getting stuck at red lights with the pace car and lead group of bikes being far ahead. At some point around downtown Santa Rosa I also lost contact with Ramon and found myself in a group of about 30 unknown riders.

Eventually our group cleared the traffic lights and yet the speed didn't really pick up. At first I was content to sit in the pack but then realized we were going way too slow for a paceline on a flat road. Maybe 16-17mph? Even though the road had straightened out at this point I couldn't see any bikes up ahead. We were far behind and moving slowly. Then a guy passed us all going at a decent clip, maybe 20-21mph. It took me a while to react and by the time I jumped out of the group and started chasing him down it had been 30 seconds since he went by. As I pedaled I thought about my plan to take it easy and how I was doing exactly the opposite.

Eventually I caught up and found out this guy wasn't even doing the ride but had some friends doing it and was familiar with the course. He was nice and more than willing to help bridge me up to the next group of Terrible Twoers. Maybe it was my hairy legs, lack of a team kit, or my helmet mirror but he almost immediately asked if I had done a "ride like this" before and cautioned me that if I kept up the pace we were setting I would likely burn out well before the end. Again I thought back to my supposed strategy of taking it easy and again pushed that little voice of reason aside.

We got to the first little hill and started to catch a bike here and there. At the top of that hill I bid my anonymous friend adieu and never saw him again as he took off unbelievably fast on the descent. I cruised downhill at a medium pace being sure to look for the big metal plate in the middle of a turn that we had been warned about.

At the bottom of the Trinity Grade climb I finally caught up to Ramon as well as a couple guys I recognized from Davis. One of them has a rather sizable blonde mustache and got a flat tire with just a couple miles to go on that ride. I think the other guy is his brother. It felt good to catch up to some more riders and I still felt strong even after chasing them down. I settled into a steady pace on the climb and picked off more people one at a time.

There was a somewhat technical descent on the other side and then another short climb and descent before we arrived at Highway 29. There was a surprising amount of traffic on that road and some cyclists were already stopped there waiting to make the left turn. This worked out nicely because once We got a break and made the turn, there were enough of us to promptly settle into a nice quick paceline. Then someone passed us all and we jumped on behind him and our already fast paceline became even faster. This lasted for the next 19 miles until the first rest stop in Calistoga at mile 55. At this point I knew it had been the right decision to ride hard and chase down the faster riders. If I had missed this group it would have set me back a long ways and I would have had to work a lot harder, especially since we had slight headwinds on this segment.

At the first rest stop I shouted out my number to the volunteers and then made a short pit stop to pee and top off my bottles. There's a good anecdote at this rest stop to illustrate the caliber of excellence that the Terrible Two volunteers provide. Right when I was set to leave, my chain fell off up front. I was pedaling the bike by hand and working the front shifter to try and get the derailleur to pick the chain back up. I had been doing this for about two seconds when someone approached and ask if I needed help. I declined and shortly after got the chain back on the ring with the help of a little nudge from my finger. The volunteer saw this and asked if I needed a paper towel to wipe the grease off. I declined and proceeded to wipe my finger on the ground. Then I was about to leave again when a different volunteer came running at me holding a rag. At this point I couldn't decline anymore and graciously wiped off my only barely greasy finger. This level of attentiveness and of going above and beyond would be repeated all day.

After the first rest stop I was riding by myself for a while before finally getting swallowed up by another pretty fast paceline. The Terrible Two attracts seasoned riders and so people pretty much know how to ride in a group which was a treat to be a part of. There were a couple squirrely folks but overall people had skills. This train lasted about 10 miles until we eventually got to the base of the Geysers, the longest climb of the day. Immediately our group splintered. I didn't really know how big this climb was at the time but I saw many other people pulling to the edge of the road and peeing off their bikes so I followed suit. Less weight to carry up the hill I reasoned.

Geysers Road is exposed. Usually this is a bad thing but on this day the weather was cool and I was glad to have an amazing view of the Alexander Valley.

View of Alexander Valley. Click for Google Street view

I picked off a few more riders on this climb including some that looked like they were working way too hard to have a chance at finishing the ride. After all this was only at mile 80 of 200 and with only 1/3 of the climbing done. There was an intermediate descent and another final uphill before a rest stop at the road's high point of 2700'. The volunteers there were offering to park my bike and fill my bottles with the libations of my choice before I had even come to a full stop. I stuck with my strategy of one bottle of water and one of normal strength (2 scoops) Caffe Latte Perpetuem. I nibbled a raspberry bar and hit the road again after maybe 2 minutes of being stopped.

Geysers is sort of a road to nowhere. It starts at the south end near Geyserville and goes up to Cloverdale with a little spur in the middle that leads to some geothermal power plants. For this reason there is virtually no traffic. Really the only reason for anyone to be on the road is if you're a motorcycle seeking the twisties and there were only a handful of those. The initial descent past the rest stop is relatively smooth, a nice two lane road with centerline, fogline, and shoulders. Then it becomes narrow, even twistier, and riddled with potholes. I passed a couple more bikes right after I reached this part of the course and they seemed to be setting a very conservative pace, maybe because of the road conditions. At this point the bikes were getting fewer and farther between and I would go for long stretches all by myself. Such is the nature of mass starts where the field quickly stratifies with fast people way at the front, slow people in the back, and me in the middle.

This northern portion of Geysers road has a few gravel stretches to navigate. I salute the ride organizers for not hesitating to send road bikes through the gravel. We're Terrible Two riders and we don't flinch at things like that.

Gravel on Geysers Road. Click for Google Street view

Before reaching the civilization of Cloverdale (population 8000) I had picked off a few more bikes. One guy jumped on my wheel and I ended up having a chat with him and ultimately riding with him until the lunch stop at mile 111. He had entered the ride a couple times previously but never finished and was saying how hard it is to train since he drives a UPS truck and just feels like relaxing with a beer at the end of the day. I can relate. Luckily I am able to commute to work on my bike and get "training" rides in that way. I never saw him after lunch and I still don't know if he finished this time or not.

At the lunch stop I didn't eat much. I believe that overeating at lunch on the Davis Double was my downfall on that ride and so I vowed to not repeat that mistake. The Perpetuem was sitting well in my stomach and I was both energized and satiated. So I just ate another raspberry bar and a couple slices of pickle, emptied the bladder, topped the bottles, removed the arm warmers, applied some sunscreen, and hit the road.

Immediately after lunch comes one of the longest segments of the day, that stretch of pavement known as Skaggs Springs-Stewarts Point road. Motorcyclists from all over Northern California know this road. I myself have ridden it many times but never under my own power. It's a rather different experience when you have to pedal. I never realized that it goes up and down and up again and then down and back up so many times before you finally get to the Pacific Ocean. The uphill sections took a long time and I was grateful it was only about 80 degrees out instead of 100 as in some years past. The downhill sections are over in a flash. I think I hit faster speeds than on the descent of Carson Pass on the Death Ride, a descent where it's common for bikes to top 50mph.

On one of the climbs, one rider passed me which was a first for the day. It was mustache guy, a really strong rider. Then we hit the wall. I don't know the specs for this climb but I heard another rider say it gained 1000' in 1.5 miles which would mean an average grade of 12.6%. My cadence was pitiful. My biceps strained with each lunging turn of the cranks. My neck and shoulders ached. Strangely enough I don't remember my legs hurting. One person was walking up the hill. It took seemingly forever to catch and then pass him. I kept telling myself that this hill was only "half an Alba Rd" and that I had conquered Alba before. The rest stop at the top of "the wall" was "quite welcome."

From that rest stop it was a relatively quick few miles out to Stewarts Point, Highway one, and the ocean. This was as close to a spiritual experience as I've had recently. The clear skies, afternoon sun, piercing blue water, crisp ocean air will always hold a special place in my heart but to reach it after a three hours battle with Skaggs road made it immeasurably better. The emotions were almost overwhelming but in a good way.

Arriving at Stewarts Point. Click for Google Street view

I made the left turn on Highway one and was greeting with a two pleasant rewards: smooth asphalt and a massive tailwind! From this point until the left turn on Fort Ross road I averaged 24mph and wasn't even working that hard. Fort Ross road is the last major climb of the day and there's a rest stop at the base. I topped my bottles off, perused the array of snacks, and finally decided on my pre-hill meal: three strawberries. By any sane measure Fort Ross Road is rather steep and nasty of a climb. But having just come off the wall it really didn't seem too bad. There are really steep pitches but then it will ease off to "only" 8% to allow some recovery. Perhaps knowing that it was the last big climb of the day made it easier as well.

From the top of the big Fort Ross climb it is just 35 miles to the finish. I rode the first 3-4 of these by myself before a couple other bikes came up from behind me. We ended up catching one other cyclist and the four of us rode the last 30 miles together. After spending so much time alone on the road I welcomed the company and it was a nice way to finish the ride. Having people to ride with, going mostly downhill, and having perhaps a slight tailwind sure made that last stretch fly by. Great riding with you Zach, Mike, and Frank. It turns out that Frank had open heart surgery within the last year so for him to complete this ride was an amazing accomplishment.

The four of us rolled into the finish with a total time of 13 hours, 19 minutes. I logged 12:56 of riding time but forgot to stop my watch at a few rest stops at the end so I think it's more like 12:40-12:45. This was good for 40th place out of 176 finishers. Official results are posted here (pdf)

I will add one more anecdote of how amazing the ride support is. Before starting the ride I packed up my bike headlight and a couple spare batteries into a paper bag to be delivered to the final rest stop in case it was starting to get dark by the time I arrived there. Well it wasn't dark and I completely forgot about my headlight at the time. So a couple days after getting home from the ride I got an email from Bill, the ride director. He is shipping the light back to me and I'm to mail him a check for whatever the postage is upon receiving it. I've only ridden three double centuries but the support provided by the Santa Rosa Cycling Club is so far above and beyond any other ride I've ever done that I'm confident in calling it the best supported ride ever.