Steve's Cycling Blog

4-6-2013: The Mulholland Double Century is one of the toughest events on the California Triple Crown calendar. This would be my 112 th California Triple Crown Double. 200 miles with over 16,800 vertical feet of climbing in and around The Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It was rumored that it was going to be the last time the event would be held so I did not want to miss it this year. This year I opted to work the ride as part of the staff and do the event as a staff ride. I put messages out of my intentions and only got one taker to do this awesome ride with me. I did the event with fellow staffer Terri Boykins who is also a Triple Crown Hall of Fame inductee from a few years back. This was her 63 rd California Triple Crown Double. We had the awesome support of my friend Ken Mathis who drove the course carrying all our gear, food...etc....etc. We met Ken at the ride start in Agoura Hills for a 4:30 am start. We got off a li

The Solvang Double Century is one of my favorites. This year I again did it on the tandem bike with brother in law, Vince Paradero. We started out after 6am in the frigid cold. I think it was in the low 40’s. We had wonderful conditions this year with favorable winds all day. The first climbs through the hills of the Santa Inez Valley were just effortless and we felt great. Jeff ahead of us climbing Foxen Canyon We made the summit of the Foxen wall a little after sunrise and plummeted at full speed down to the first check point. I checked my rear wheel at this point and I noticed that I could not even turn it because it was so out of true. I trued up the wheel, got water and nourishment and we headed out with a train of people into the morning headwind. We knew this would mean good tail winds later so we did not let it get to us much. The wheel suckers behind us getting close to San Luis Obispo We trudged into the wind and made our way up t