2016 Southern Inyo Double Century

                                                                                                                                                       Cover Photo: Victor Cooper

The Southern Inyo Double Century is one of my favorite events. Like any event near the mountains and desert there is always the chance of adverse weather conditions.

Two years ago we did the test ride of this event and we had one of those days where all the right things went together to make for a tough and windy day. We all got through it and had great memories of that day. After all……you have to expect that type of thing when you are doing any event of this distance….anywhere!!

Last year we had perfect conditions for the event on the inaugural event.

2016 had something entirely different in store for us.

I drove up a little early on Friday since I did not have to work. I went up with both the tandem and my single bike. My stoker Teresa had some minor surgery during the week and we wanted to be prepared just in case she had to pull out. 
(The plan was if she could not continue, I would ride the tandem solo until making one of the passes through Lone Pine and pick up my Specialized. The event passes through Lone Pine a number of times.)
 When I got up to Lone Pine I went for a nice little ride out on part of the course. I rode out to Keeler on Hwy 136 to the junction of the 190 and back. It was a really nice ride with a little bit of a head wind going out there and a nice tail wind going back.

When I returned I went to the event hotel where everyone was slowly coming into town and congregating before check-in. I was staying with my good friend John and his wife Melinda so I was going to wait around for them to arrive.

We all knew the forecast for event day so we were planning to start a little early before the forecast storm was to come in.

The forecast was for a very nice and pleasant day but in the evening they were calling for the winds to pick up and a chance of rain beginning as soon as 7pm.

Part one:      Lone Pine to Coso Junction                                                                            Mile 0 –38.7

I was doing the event for the first time on the tandem this year. With only about 8,000 feet of cumulative elevation gain on this event, it is great for a tandem.

My stoker Teresa and I rolled out of Lone Pine at about 5am. They had a stagger start this year and we were all timed on the event.

Rolling up Hwy 395 southbound                                                                                                Photo: Victor Cooper

Victor Cooper checking out the sunrise on the 395                                                                            Photo by: Teresa Beck

The first part of the course took us south to Coso Junction along Hwy 395. This Hwy used to be dangerous in the old days with no shoulder for bikes. Now it is re-paved with a good shoulder and no traffic on Saturday mornings. It was great. We started off in the dark and then experienced a beautiful sunrise along the way near Owens Lake and the Olancha area. The sun was bathing the snow-capped Sierra. It was beautiful.

Rick and Ellen riding south on 395                                                                                                      Photo: Victor Cooper

As has been for the past few tandem rides, I felt very uncomfortable on the tandem as if I am not fit properly on the bike and need to get a bike fit. Right from the start it just felt like I was working too hard even though we were not going that fast and taking it easy. I know it is a heavy tandem but this was a pretty flat course and it just felt too hard which was reflected by my average heart rate. On my single bike, I would not even be working very hard at the speed we were going. I need to get that figured out.

We cruised easy the first 30 plus miles to the junction and the first check point. We made a quick stop and headed back northbound.

Part two:  Coso Junction to Hwy 190/136 junction.                                                     Mile 38.7 – 70.2

Having mostly rolling terrain southbound to Coso Junction, we now reversed our course and headed northbound on Hwy 395 toward Olancha. We had a nice tail wind going on this stretch and climbed nicely until we reached Hwy 190 where we turned toward Death Valley. There was a water stop just after the turn but we opted to keep going since it really was not that long from the turn around.

We now had 14 miles to the next check point where Hwy 190 and Hwy 136 meet. It is fairly flat with a few gradual climbs on this section. It seemed to take much longer than in previous years even though the weather was really nice with no wind to speak of. (Even a small hill can feel much steeper on my tandem).

We rolled into the check point and took a long break. We all ate and talked for a while before heading out. This is the spot where we got buzzed by F-18’s last year. This year we didn’t see one plane. I think they may have been grounded due to the bad weather in the San Joaquin Valley.

Part 3: Hwy 190 junction to Death Valley sign and return for lunch in Keeler.    Mile 70.2 – 111.3

Wishing to get buzzed by planes, we left the checkpoint. The weather was still perfect!!

For those of you who got buzzed the last couple years, here is a video of the whole Hwy 190 stretch for the next segment to the Death Valley Sign from Owens Lake. 

The only difference is……this video was taken from the cockpit of an F-18F super hornet at 500 kts and 200 feet off the ground and it only takes him 3 minutes to cover way more than the distance we went.
You can see the lake at the start and Hwy 190 below as he turns and burns to follow the Hwy. Gun-sight pass is at about 40 seconds.
 It ends with him diving into the canyon called Star Wars Canyon (Rainbow Canyon) , before climbing out over the Panamint Valley. 
If you look very closely you might even see the Death Valley sign and dirt parking lot just before he makes the high-G turn where the 190 bends before the canyon. (It is best watched in theater mode on YouTube.) 

There are many military low-level training areas out in the Sierra and adjoining desert. This particular section is called “The Jedi Transition”.

It is a transition to cut across and intersect the other side of the low-level training course they call “The Sidewinder Low-level”. 

On the military map below you can see the transition labeled as it exits the Sierra Foothills and cuts across Owens Lake. (There are many more videos taken by these pilots of the training in this area on YouTube)

The "Sidewinder low-level" military training route

Now came a long climb to the Death Valley entrance sign on Hwy 190. We first had to climb the rollers of Gun-sight Pass.

My friend Victor always gets some great shots on this pass.

Climbing toward Gun-sight pass

Gun-sight pass in the distance                                                                                                       Photo: Victor Cooper

Tony on his Fixed Gear bike heading up Gun-sight pass

Then it was a long consistent climb to the turn around with a couple flat sections and short descents. It really seemed endless on the tandem but we knew that there would be a big reward on the way back. The winds were starting to pick up as we headed south-east toward Death Valley. The sky was starting to cloud up also so we knew things were starting to go downhill.

We arrived at the turn around feeling pretty good and made a short stop before hitting the road.

The weather was absolutely perfect so far on the event. There was a little wind but it wasn’t bad and the temperature was perfect.

We now had a tail wind as we climbed back west-bound on Hwy 190. We had a rise to climb for a few miles before what seemed like an endless downhill to Gun-sight Pass. We were riding with our friend Quynh and we told him to go ahead since we knew of the downhill and the tailwind. The tail wind didn’t help us much on the tandem but we would take it just the same. We thought we would catch our friend but never did before lunch. I think the wind just blew him over the hill and down to lunch!!

We rolled over Gun-sight pass for a nice fast descent and then some rolling hills before the lunch stop at Keeler.     (Here are some historic pictures of Keeler, Ca)

 You could see in the distance that the wind was kicking some dust up on Owens Lake already. Signs of things to come? It kept going through my head that we shouldn’t waste too much time at lunch because it would take us quite a while to do the climbing section after we roll through Lone Pine.

Rolling into lunch                                                                                                                  Photo: Melinda Clare

We rested for a short time, checked out the historic looking old gas station and antiques at the check-point then had a sandwich. Inyo Ultra had a guy making custom sandwiches for everyone. It was great. I had a ham and cheese......YUM!!
We made it quick. We wanted to beat the rain if we could.

Part 4: Keeler to Horseshoe Meadows Check-Point.                                                    Mile 111.3 –133

Off we went for a westbound trek on Hwy 136 toward Lone Pine where we would once again meet Hwy 395. This section was just effortless. We had one, maybe two, little roller climbs but then it was mostly just flat with a tail wind to Lone Pine.

This section just has the most beautiful view of MountWhitney and the Sierra!!!

Rolling toward Lone Pine on Hwy 136. Things are looking a little more threatening!                 Photo: Teresa Beck
Look at the dust starting to kick up on the lake.

Rolling back toward Mount Whitney and Lone Pine. Teresa found a nice place to stow her banana!

You can still see the top of the Sierra at this point.                                                                   Photo: Teresa Beck

We reached Hwy 395 and headed south once again for about 2.5 miles where we were to turn and climb Lubken Canyon. We stopped for a bathroom break at Diaz Lake before our turn. The winds were starting to come up pretty good as we headed south on the Hwy.

Once we made the turn on Lubken, it was up, up, up! This climb started right off with about a 10% grade near the bridge then it mellowed again for a little bit. It then kicked up a few times over 14% with some a little higher on the percentage scale. 

Climbing up Lubken Canyon road                                                                                                Photo; Teresa Beck

Looking to the rear while climbing Lubken Canyon Road                                                                     Photo: Teresa Beck

This is an extremely beautiful climb!! Mount Whitney and the Sierra are right in your face. It was spectacular!! I really felt close to my creator at this point and I think Teresa would agree. This is why we ride!! It just totally took the mind away from the struggle of that climb on the heavy tandem bike.

The cows were talking and mooing at us as we rolled to our turn on Horseshoe Meadows road. (You can hear them and the cowboy herding them on the below compilation video....LOL).
This section was also a good climb but not as steep as Lubken. It was more straight and unforgiving though. We passed many riders who got off their bikes to rest and just walk at this point.

Climbing on Horseshoe Meadows Road.

For those who don’t ride bikes and don’t know this climb, Horseshoe Meadows it the road that you can see from Hwy 395 that just zig-zags up the side of the mountain just before you reach Lone Pine.

The check-point was at the foot of that climb and the foot of the Sierra. It was no easy task getting there though with 130 miles in the legs!!

We saw a whole bunch of our friends descending as we were just about a mile from the stop. We couldn’t help thinking that we were not that far behind everything considered with the climb and all.

We rolled in and shared a coke before taking a picture with some of our Adobo Velo brothers. They went on ahead as we nourished ourselves for a short time.

Part 5: Horseshoe Meadows to the finish.                                                                       Mile 133 – 198

 

Now we had a blazing descent. Teresa got this awesome video of the descent off Horseshoe into the Alabama hills dropping to Lone Pine!

What a beautiful view of the Owens Valley and the lake. DWP has been re-watering the lake the past few years and it is looking much better with some water in it.

We were going so fast that we somehow missed the turn on Sunset road which was a little different than the old course. We kept going and dropped down out of the Alabama Hills to Whitney Portal Road which was the old course. Down…down….down we went into a nasty headwind but still doing close to 40 mph down that descent. We passed our club-mates on the way down. They must have stopped to take pictures.

We again hooked up with Hwy 395 but this time right in the center of Lone Pine. We rolled into the strong headwind to my car where we picked up a few things for the last 50 miles around the lake.

I changed one wool shirt and put on my “Showers Pass” body mapped wool base layer  Now I was ready for whatever nature would throw at us……I thought!!

Leaving Lone Pine, we now were back on Hwy 136 once again heading on to the east side of Owens Lake and toward Death Valley National Park.

 Behind us and to our right was Mount Whitney and the Sierra as well as the zig-zagging Horseshoe Meadows climb in the distance. There was not much of a sunset this year compared to the last couple of years. The storm was now moving in with a vengeance and we feared we didn’t start early enough!!!!

It was not too bad as we rolled in an easterly direction but as soon as we got up against the hills and made a more southerly turn toward Hwy 190, the wind started to blast us right in the face.

Now I really had the chance to use my aero bars which I had put on the tandem just for this sort of thing.

We started on this road by ourselves but, being on a tandem and much heavier than a single bike, we cut through the wind better. We slowly started to reel in people who were fluttering out in that terrible headwind. As we passed each one, we slowed just a little and told them to get on our wheel. To our surprise, they all heeded our advice.

The maelstrom begins. Giant dust cloud ahead!!

Our new friend  Ray and one other latch-on as the nasty stuff begins.

 Everyone knows that it’s better to be behind a tandem in the wind than by yourself!! First it was one, then two, then three, then four and finally I think we had five or six people behind us.

We now could see the Owens Lake bed in the distance. The wind was bouncing off the hills to our left and blowing large amounts of sand across the road in huge gusts. We were still able to keep a fairly good pace all things considered. We still had plenty of light at this point and we could see gigantic dust storms up ahead over the lake and blowing in our direction. This was a really tough stretch and much worse than we had it on the test ride a couple years earlier.

All that kept going through my head at this point was the terrible headwind I had in Utah on the Hoodoo 500 going into the city of Panguitch. It was very similar except I did not have dust on Hoodoo.

I still can hear Teresa in my head saying……”Are we riding into that sh#@!t” and I said yup!!!

We rolled into the Keeler check-point with a pretty good group behind us. We wanted to make it quick but many of the others were pretty well spent and needed a longer break.

We grabbed a quick drink and rolled back into the wind. Now it was getting darker so I turned the lights full. The clouds were looking furious.

We were both discussing that…..”Maybe when we make our right turn on the 190 that the winds will now be crossing tail winds”……NOT!!!! As we were to soon find out.

Here is a video of the section on Hwy 136 and 190. The first part of the video was taken from the tandem as we just started to hit the bad wind. Tony, Rick and Ellen were about 20-30 minutes behind us. The dark part of the video was taken by Tony as he rolled toward Keeler and then on Hwy 190 heading south-west where the winds were gusting from 40-70 mph from our left. 

It was manageable but really crazy to say the least!!

We made our right turn on Hwy 190 and we noticed we now had about 3 people behind us. The wind was not quite as bad just this second as we started the 14 mile, very easy section, to Hwy 395 in Olancha.

This would turn out to be the longest and toughest 14 miles I have ever personally ridden in all my years of cycling. I had some really tough ones over the years, all with different types of conditions, but as far as absolutely violent weather……this one takes the cake.

Many people had different stories about this stretch. I think it just was hit or miss whether you got hit by the violent sections or not. That is the nature of gusty storms. Some get lucky.

For those of us who hit this section as it got dark and later…..it was a ferocious beast we were about to fight.

The wind got progressively worse as we rolled south-west bound.
 We now had a mountain to our left but I remembered from the morning and from years past that after that hill it opens up to an area of Dunes. Big sand dunes are formed by what? Wind and lots of it and I was worried about what was to come.

As we got a few miles into this stretch the winds really started buffeting us from our left with sand storms coming across the road. For the time it was similar to what we had already been through on the 136, down at our feet and crossing the road. Then it got vicious!!!

I first saw the monster when a car passed us for the first time. Usually at night in the desert air you can see a cars lights go on forever and ever. It looks like they are close but they can be miles and miles away.

The car didn’t get over a couple hundred yards ahead of us when it just disappeared in thin air!!

I was thinking oh….crap….here we go!! The first of many 40-60 mph gusts hit us at this point. The weather service said they clocked gusts out there over 70 mph!! I believe it. I have ridden in 60 mph winds before and this was worse.

 The sand and small rocks were blowing horizontal to the ground and now hitting us in the face. It hurt like hell and was really noisy hitting our helmets. I was so glad I was on a heavy tandem bike at this point although it was really tough to keep it in a straight line. I had a death grip of the bars for what seemed like forever and I could not take my hands loose until the wind let up just a little. The entire time, Teresa had her head down and eyes closed……for over an hour!!

It seemed like this section took us forever. I did not stop the entire time on this 14 mile segment and it took us 1 hr 35 minutes to do it. That is scary sad.

I never looked back the entire time and couldn’t tell if any of our riders were still with us. We passed many along the side of the road and some pulled in behind us…..I think. We passed my friend Steve Burns who experience the winds at Hoodoo 500 and I mentioned to him that this reminded me of the Panguitch stretch. It was so loud in that wind, I don't think he heard me!!

At last we saw the 395 in the distance between sand gusts.  Just like riding in Death Valley for many years on the double century course there…….you can see things for many miles and it is much farther away than it appears. Teresa kept saying that it was only a couple miles away.....Not!!

After a very, very long time we finally reached our turn in Olancha and the check point. Wow was that tough.
To our surprise we still had one rider who stayed with us. A very tough guy named Ray from the San Diego area.

 Many stories will come out of this one but the crazy toughness of our ride……unfortunately …..Was about to get much, much worse.

Now we had a nice tail wind the whole way back….right?

Well the lady at the check point warned us of some areas up ahead that are known for some precarious wind conditions during normal wind events……not necessarily when a storm is blowing over the Sierra.

I was very cautious and rolling easy now to recover after stuffing my face with food which I really needed. I couldn’t even eat on that windy stretch.

We climbed for a little bit out of the towns of Olancha and Cartego. The wind conditions were really nice and it was raining. It actually felt really good after all that wind and sand!!

The shoulder on the 395 is really nice but there is a couple areas where the rumble strips are a little too far to the right with not as much shoulder. The roads are slick as a baby’s bottom with no bad asphalt with the exception of the rumble strips which are meant to wake people up if they get tired and swerve toward the side of the road while driving on this dark Highway. They woke me up in a very different way unfortunately!!

The area we were on was called the Willow Dip according to ride organizer Hugh Murphy. We were descending pretty fast with a tail wind on this gradual 2.9% grade. I was very cautious and did not feel as though I was going very fast. The road was nice and straight with absolutely no cars to be seen in either direction.

It was raining lightly and the roads were wet but not too wet

In the blink of an eye…..the following happened….as Teresa and I remember it.

A big rain squall came up with a blinding gust from our right which blew my very heavy tandem into the rumble strips. The rear end of the bike started to fish-tail and on a tandem this is not a very easy thing to get out of on a slick road.

I knew that if I tried to straighten the bike out too fast on the slick road that we would go down hard right in the middle of Hwy 395 and that would not be very pretty. 

There was no traffic at all in either direction so I made the split second decision to cut straight across the highway on a 45 degree angle, all the while, slowly straightening the bike out without braking too much.

All I remember is that something happened which threw the bike out of total control and in a split second we flew into the side of an embankment full of big bushes at high speed. 

Teresa said she thinks another big gust hit us but I’m not sure. It happened like I said…..in the blink of an eye, maybe we hit something, I can’t say for sure.

   We hit with such force that I was planted into the bushes and hill like a pile driver. I couldn’t even move. Teresa hit me from the rear very hard. I was so buried in the bushes that Teresa had to break the bushes off of me before I could move. 
  My first thought was whether she was OK and it was the first thing out of my mouth. She had been hit by a car not long ago and was just recovering from many of her injuries. This was not good!

  She said she was ok and I felt ok while I was laying there. I still cannot believe the amount of force I hit that hill with.

  As soon as I tried to move my abdominal muscles I felt a popping in my ribs under my arm pit and below my scapula area. I had felt this before when I cracked some ribs on the Solvang Double many years ago.

  I got up and felt ok with no pain yet. My handlebar was twisted 45 degrees. I was now worried about the bike and wanted to finish the ride as long as I could ride. (after that effort in the wind, we would have crawled to Lone Pine to finish this event)

  My friend Rick came along and loosened my head-set. He straightened the handle bars and checked the brakes and levers. My helmet light was also knocked off of my helmet and the mount was broken. This was the light I had to finish with because my bar mounted light was running low. We had about 15 miles to go.

Here is the close up of the section we crashed on from my GPS file. The red line on the right bottom is us coming from the south and heading north. You can see us veer across the Hwy from right to left and into the dirt where we hit. The line on the left is us going southbound in the morning at the start of the ride.

We got the bike back together with Ricks help and were on our way. Teresa said she didn’t feel bad at all but I knew that this may change in the morning. I was not so lucky. I could really feel things moving up in the upper rib cage area. I could not stand up out of the saddle and use my quads without pain in my left quad just above the knee. I figured that my leg must have hit the aero bars which stick out to the rear of the handle bar.

We gingerly rode back. Our friends Rick, Tony and Ellen from the above video in the wind, stayed with us for a while but the tailwind was so good that they just blew up the hills and in the flats. Rick hung back to stay with us since we were having an issue with the light. Teresa had to hold the light over my shoulder since the mount was broken. (I had some duct tape with me so I could have taped it to the bar but didn’t want to waist the time since we were almost done)

We stopped one more time to take a personal break and when Teresa was off the bike and off the road, a giant gust of wind came up and blew the rear of the tandem into the road while I straddled the top tube. It was like a little tornado and came from the other side and blew the bike the other direction. This was happening when my stoker was taking care of business down in the dark. You can imagine that there were a few expletives being yelled at nature at this point!

The rest of the ride was uneventful and we rolled into Lone Pine to the finish a little after 10 pm. We were on the side of the road probably almost 30 minutes gathering our wits before we headed back.

First thing I noticed when I sat down and checked-in was a large knot on top of my thigh the size of a baseball and it was filling with blood. I needed to get ice on it.

Many prayers were said on the bike on this day and we both thanked the Lord that we were brought through this ordeal safe.

Here is the compilation video of the ride: 

We have many people to thank.

When I got back to the hotel, Melinda Clare had some ice ready for me and I iced my leg right away. Before I went to bed the swelling went down and my leg felt better. I was starting to get some pain in ribs and that was not fun.

The following day we had our traditional breakfast at "The Ranch House" in Olancha. We took over the entire restaurant with one big cyclist party. It was great. We took the below picture before leaving for home like we have done the past two years.

A great big thanks go out to Hugh and Kermit for another great event. This was an epic and challenging ride and we loved it despite all that happened.
Thanks to Rick for all the help fixing the bike up when we went down. Don't know if I could have done it myself in my condition at the time. Thanks to Tony and Ellen for hanging back for us.

Thanks to all the volunteers who did such a great job out there especially those who helped out in the night-time hours when the storm blew in.

Thanks to Team Clare.....John and Melinda Clare....for putting me up for the evening and taking care of me. That Chili was great Melinda.....thanks!!
Thanks especially to my awesome stoker Teresa Beck for being such a mental rock on these rides. Nothing seems to discourage you. You just get stronger!! (Sorry I dumped you in the dirt. :-/ )

And as always, thanks to my amazing wife Ginny for putting up with my long training hours and being gone for the events. You are my rock!

Here is our Garmin Data from the ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1075032214

Here are all the pictures from the event by a number of different contributors:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10207106031942058&type=1&l=54c1a073ac&__mref=message

Mulholland Challenge 2016 (New Course Staff Test-ride)

A little prelude to the ride report:

This year The Planet Ultra Mulholland Challenge century and double century is a whole new course.

The KOM (King of the Mountains) course was shortened some but included more climbing which made for an even more difficult century.

I had my hand in the mapping of the second half of the double century.

Debra of Planet Ultra asked for my assistance in mapping the new course since I live and ride the roads in the area all the time.

We, together, made up, in my opinion, an epic course for the double and the single century event.

For those who read this ride report prior to the event, I hope it helps you prepare for this very difficult event.

We made up the new course long before the event which is scheduled for the 9^th of April.

I organized a pre-ride of the course so we could get feedback on the new course and sent out a message to many of my friends and asked if they would like to join me.

The test ride was scheduled for February 27.

Again as in past years, my friends Nicole and Hal graciously volunteered their house for our starting location and opened it up for us to relax at the half-way point of the double which is also the finish of the century (on the staff ride). The actual event starts and finishes at the Sheraton Agoura Hills.
They even had pizza and spaghetti and meatballs for the double century riders at the end, in the wee hours.

 (The house is a couple miles from the actual event hotel so the mileage is virtually the same as the event.)

Thanks Nicole and Hal!!

We had a group of 13 riders start at 4:50am. Some were just doing the King of the Mountains Century Challenge and a few of us, myself included, were planning on pre-riding the double century course.

Planning to do the century were some of my Adobo Velo brothers and sisters, Jerold, Beto, Celine and Rosalie. Also doing the century were my friends Julie, Nicolette and Ellen. On the fence and playing it by ear as far as the double were Terri and Daniel. They wanted to see how they felt at the half-way point.

Committed to the double were Keith, Quynh and Tony.

(Tony was doing it on a fixed gear bike….OMG!!!)

A group of 4 very strong riders, David, Judy, Pete and Jeff, started a little after 6am and were planning on riding the whole thing self-supported. We had some support for the century later in the morning.

The last two years, I did this double century staff ride on my tandem with my ultra-stoker Teresa. Both years were epic and difficult rides on my tandem with many bike problems not to mention doing 17,000 plus feet on the tandem. (You can read those stories in my previous ride reports)

With about 13,000 feet of elevation gain in the first 106 miles of this event, it was very difficult to map the second half without making it a ride with over 21,000 feet of elevation gain. I had to put some flat recovery miles in there somewhere. I finally came up with a great option which is one of my training rides I have done over the years although I do it from my house in the San Fernando Valley.

It encompassed climbing Westlake Blvd after the halfway point back to Mulholland and to the top of Latigo Canyon before descending to the coast for a nice long recovery ride northbound along the coast. It then takes you through the farmland of Camarillo and Moorpark before climbing back to Hidden Valley via upper Potrero Road to the finish in Agoura.

198 or so miles with 18,600 feet of elevation gain is what I came up with. 15,700 feet of elevation gain in the first 125 miles or so. This ride is a climbers dream. I just hope that people won’t be so mentally shot after the first century that they don’t go out for one of the most beautiful parts, the climb to the coast in the late afternoon so they can experience the beautiful sunset along the coast.

                                                                                                                                                                   

Getting ready to roll. From the left: Rosalie, Beto, Celine, Jerold, Keith, Me, Quynh, Ellen, Daniel, Terri, Tony and Nicolette.

     

Part one:  
Mulholland South, Topanga Canyon, Old Topanga Canyon, Stunt Road and Piuma South-side ascent and north-side descent. Cold Creek road to Mulholland.                                                         Mile 0-46

It was chilly and in the mid 40’s when we started in Agoura Hills. We rolled over to Mulholland Hwy via Cornell Road. It got colder and colder as we approached the intersection of Mulholland and Las Virgines. It was 34 degrees on the descent to the junction and we were glad we had a climb coming.

It was, again, a magical morning up there. It really reminded me why I love to train in the wee hours of the morning up there. It is so beautiful at first light that you become addicted to it.

On the old course we used to turn right at this junction and descend to the coast before heading south on PCH to Topanga Canyon. We would then climb the canyon from the south to Old Topanga. This year we went straight on Mulholland which was much nicer than that section on the coast.

Rolling up Mulholland

Up Mulholland we went and it got a little warmer by the time we reached the top of 7 minute hill before dropping to Calabasas. We took a long break here and re-grouped.

Now we descended down to Mulholland Drive before turning right to climb Topanga Cyn from the north side, a fairly easy climb. It was just starting to get light and looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.

Daniel looking good and warm

It was warm at the top but the temperature dropped about 15 degrees by the time we reached Old Topanga down in the canyon. Now for another long and beautiful climb, one of my favorite local climbs. There are a few good kicker sections of this climb as you are nestled among beautiful oak trees and a beautiful creek bed. The sun rose on this section and it was great and warming nicely. We had a great descent back down to Mulholland where we made a left turn and back tracked now for our next climb, the infamous, Stunt Road.

Up and over “the wall” in Calabasas, we went before the long descent to Stunt.

Nicolette climbing Stunt Road

Daniel on Stunt

Stunt road is about 4 miles with 1,400 feet of elevation gain. It takes you up to the Saddle Peak area.  There is a water fountain on the right in a driveway the homeowner put in for cyclists. We stopped there to fill up with fluids.

There are spectacular views of the Santa Monica bay and Catalina Island for up there.

Saddle Peak view of Santa Monica bay on a different day

Looking down at Malibu

We did a small re-group up here but riders of different abilities were already starting to spread out.

We now rolled down Schueren Road to do our next climb. Piuma Road…..south side.

More epic views on this short climb as we again looked down at Malibu and the Santa Monica Bay.

Over the top we went for the amazing descent down the North side of Piuma. This is one of my favorite climbs coming up from the Malibu Canyon area. This road was the final climb on the Double Century on the old course and is a real beast to do at the end.

I took a video of this descent and here it is for your enjoyment:

We made a right turn onto Cold Canyon for yet another climb. This one is very steep for a short period near the top. About 16%.

Next up, Mulholland Hwy all the way to the coast including the infamous Rock Store Climb.

Part 2:
 Mulholland Hwy to PCH and Yerba Buena Road.                                     Mile 46 - 72.3

This is the map and profile of this section for the actual event. (The road was closed on the staff ride so we took a slightly alternate route but the elevation and distance were virtually the same).

After our left turn on to Mulholland Hwy we had a nice gradual descent down to Malibu Canyon where we crossed Las Virgines road and started climbing again.

Terri climbing at Malibu Creek State Park

We climbed above Malibu Creek State Park, backtracking our course from earlier in the morning where we all braved the cold. The temps were now perfect for climbing as we rolled passed Malibu
Lake and Peter Strauss Ranch where the checkpoint usually is on event day.

Next up…….the infamous Rock Store Climb.

We passed the famous “Rock Store” on our left and started the climb. At this point we all stopped to fix a flat tire and our SAG support showed up with perfect timing with Cokes and support.

Nikki's tire is fixed and we are ready to roll

Some of the rest of the group caught up also. The 4 late fast riders, David, Pete, Judy and Jeff, passed us at this point. They looked like they were pushing pretty hard.

We now started up the Rock Store. This is a really popular climb for cyclists and motorcyclists alike. The people on the motor bikes can be a real pain though because they are always racing up and down the climb.

I rolled up with my friend Tony. He was doing the double century on his fixed gear bike. This is just amazing to watch. He keeps telling me its not that hard once you get used to it but is just looks painful! Here is a video of Tony climbing Rock Store on his fixie!!

We slowly paced ourselves to the top where we took a break and re-grouped with the SAG vehicle. I was asking people if they knew if Mulholland was still closed where the brush fire was and no one knew. We would alter our course slightly if it was.

We continued the beautiful ride on Mulholland, past the winery. We passed the camel farm on the right but did not stop this year. When we reached the junction of Mulholland and Westlake Blvd. we waited to ask people if the road was still closed down below. Some cyclists came up and said they went down and were turned around.

We took the detour option down Decker Canyon to the coast instead of taking Mulholland down. This added about 200 feet of elevation gain to our ride but the mileage was 3 tenths of a mile less. (Almost a wash)

We got to PCH where we ran into my friend Quynh who had gone up ahead of us on Rock Store. A cyclist told him that Mulholland was open so he descended it, only to be turned back by the CHP so he had to do 5 bonus miles back up the hill to get back to Decker Canyon. He had just gotten to PCH when we got there.

We rolled up the coast to our next turn, Yerba Buena Road. This is right at the start of Ventura County and next to Neptune’s Net restaurant. It is a really a popular place along PCH.

Part 3:
 Yerba Buena to Cotharin Road and Pacific View.  Deer Creek descent with PCH southbound to Decker Canyon.                                                                                                 Mile 72.3 - 87.3

The climbs keep getting progressively tougher on this first century of the double. We now climbed up Yerba Buena which is a canyon climb with not much of a view. The mountains up ahead look beautiful but are nothing compared to what is ahead.
 Arguably the most beautiful view in the Santa Monica Mountain are Cotharin Road, Pacific View and Deer Creek roads.

From Yerba Buena we made a left turn on Cotharin Road. This was a tough one. 18% is what my Garmin was telling me in a few sections and 10-12% on much of the rest to Pacific View.

Here is a video of some of our group climbing one of the 18% sections on Cotharin. Check out Tony on his fixed gear bike. All I can say is…….dude…….that is amazing!!!

There is a spectacular view of the ridge from this road before rolling up to Pacific View. This is also where the giant ice cream cone is and the airplane house which you may have heard of on the news. I didn't see them though.

 Daniel, Nicolette, Quynh and I rolled over the top and down Deer Creek on this spectacular day. We stopped to take some pictures and rest our hands from the breaking on this section.

Here are a few pictures and a video of the area.

Deer Creek is a dangerous descent of about 11%. You are on the brakes the whole time because it is scary fast. This is where I destroyed my rear wheel on the 2014 staff ride when I overheated the rear wheel on my tandem causing the tire to explode. We finished the ride with about 5 hours off the bike thanks to help from our fellow rides. (You can read that story if you want in 2014 event post)
This is not a descent for the foolhardy and many with carbon wheel-sets have had their wheels fail on this dive to the ocean!!!

Nikki on Pacific View almost to Deer Creek summit

Quynh and Nicolette on Deer Creek

Here is a video taken from one of the vantage points with Quynh and Nikki coming down. Check out the parasailer who dove over us.

After this amazing and beautiful descent we made a left turn on PCH for a nice southbound cruise to Decker Canyon for a real beast of a climb.

Part 4: 
PCH to Agoura Hills. Finish of the Challenge Century (staff ride)                            Mile: 87.3 - 105.4

Now came the toughest climb for all of us. The climb up Decker Canyon from the coast is steep and long. It is usually hot too. This climb came at approx. 160 miles into the old double century course and is much easier when doing it with fewer miles in the legs but very tough non the less.

We rolled slowly up the lower steep section before the big switch back where there is a little bit of a breather section to catch your breath. It then kicks up again big time and just when you think it is going to level a little, it starts to kick up again. This climb pretty much finishes at the Decker Canyon Fire Station. We stopped here for water, to eat and re-group some. Nicolette, Quynh and I re-grouped here. Tony, Daniel and Ellen were at the bottom starting up about when we got there and my friends in the Adobo Velo crew were on the climb up Yerba Buena and Cotharin.

Next climb……upper Encinal Canyon to Mulholland.

This climb really is hard. It starts off with a nice descent from Decker but then you have to climb out of the canyon you dive into. It is not particularly steep, it is just straight and one of those that doesn’t quit until you get to the top.

We reached Mulholland and now came an A ticket ride.

We descended Mulholland past the winery and down the Rock Store descent. This is an epic descent with many twists and turns before reaching the bottom.

We passed Peter Strauss Ranch again. (This is usually a check point on the event but with the course change this year, I am not sure if this will be the location.)

The course now takes a right turn on Lake Vista Drive. This is a beautiful detour off of Mulholland and brings us around Malibu Lake. We re- join the course on Cornell road back to the finish of the Century event.

We rolled into Agoura hills around 3pm completing one of the toughest century courses around.

Nicolette, Terri, Ellen, Daniel, Julie, Rosalie, Beto, Jerold and Celine were done and tired. Nicolette, Terri and Daniel decided to stick with the century and called it an epic day in the saddle. That 100 miles is tougher than many double century rides! A big congrats to that crew!!

Part 5:
Agoura Hills to Latigo Canyon Summit to  PCH                                                      Mile; 105.4 - 130.3

After taking a long break at Nicole’s house and stuffing our faces, Tony, Quynh and I set out to finish the new double century course. The faster riders, Judy, David, Jeff, Pete and Keith were on their way for the second half.

This is the part of the course that I mapped to try and turn this tough event into a double century. The second half of the event on the actual event day will be done Brevet style which means that you will be basically self-supported. There are plenty of places to stop for supplies and water along this final section once you are over the mountains and on the coast.

 Personal support vehicles are encouraged and will be allowed on this second half of the course during the event I believe. I believe they must offer support to others if needed.

Our friend Ellen who did the century ride, graciously offered to be our support for this second half of the double century after she rested up a bit at the hotel and cleaned up while we were climbing to the coast.

From Agoura Hills we spinned quickly though Westlake before climbing the North side of Westlake Blvd. This is the road that eventually becomes Decker Canyon. We were now climbing over the North side of it.

Westlake starts out with a gradual climb before kicking up to 17% on the wall that just kicks butt. It then flattens to 8% with some 10% sections before the left turn on Mulholland.

It was a grunt on that climb but felt good after a long break and a nice warm-up getting there. I got to the top and waited for Tony and Quynh. They arrived shortly after I got there.

We now made the left turn getting back on Mulholland once again.
Keep your eyes out to the left a little less than a mile down the road if you want to see our friends the camels!!

This little section of Mulholland was really beautiful at this time of day. The sun was beginning to set and the sky was beautiful. We descended down to Kanan Road where we made a right turn.

It was about ½ mile to our turn on Latigo Canyon. The climb up the north side of Latigo was beautiful. Tony was commenting on the sound of the crickets and frogs as we climbed to the first summit of Latigo.

Looking down Latigo Canyon from above with Santa Monica Bay below. People who reach the top before dark will get this amazing view.

The Latigo Canyon climb from the coast is one of the best climbs in the area. It is one of those great climbs with many switch-backs and false summits. On the way down from the summit, it is a long descent with a little climb in the middle to get over one of the false summits.

It was still warm at the top but as we dropped into the canyon the temperature dropped about 15 degrees in a few places and I started getting the shakes. Then it warmed up again when we got to the coast so I didn’t need to put my leggings and jacket on just yet.

Part 6:
The easy recovery, (It seemed like one to this veteran), section and the final climbs and the finish.                                  Mile: 130.3 - 198.8

We rolled northbound now on Pacific Coast Hwy on the coastal roller hills. Ellen caught up to us shortly after we got on PCH and we made a stop at Zuma Beach to put on our leg covers and jackets. It was starting to get chilly and you just get colder with that many miles in your legs. She brought us a whole giant bag of Arby’s roast beef sandwiches. Oh that was a good rest stop……..thanks Ellen!!

We now felt great heading up the coast past the area where we had been earlier in the day, Deer Creek and Yerba Buena. I made a suggestion to Tony that maybe we should detour up Deer Creek for a little extracurricular climbing and he just grumbled as he spun his fixed gear to my rear…..haha!!

We really cruised this section up the coast at a good pace until we came to the naval air station. We then took a little break before heading over to Hueneme Road and our turn north-east bound toward Moorpark.

We rolled in the night through the farmland of Camarillo and Moorpark on Lewis Road and Santa Rosa road. These roads were as smooth as a baby’s bottom until we reached the upper part of Santa Rosa road.

There are some rumble strips in this section which are not usually a problem when I am out training but on this day, apparently, there must have been some work going on in the area because there was a lot of gravel we had to avoid in a few areas. ( I am going to go out and check this out prior to event day since I live fairly close and bring my broom just in case.)
There was a little more traffic than usual heading to Moorpark because I think some sort of event was getting out somewhere. (On event day for those doing the double century, this area should be ridden with some caution in the dark. There is plenty of shoulder to the right of the rumble strips but be careful of any gravel in the road. )

We made it up the minor hill to Moorpark for the next real climb on the event, Old Norwegian Grade. This is a short climb but has a lot of history. Check out the embedded flashing lights in the pavement warning drivers of the curve coming near the top. It’s pretty cool and we hadn’t ever seen anything like that before on any of our events. We were sure that we were seeing other cyclists up ahead with their flashing tail lights.

Over Norwegian Grade we went and we made a right turn on Olsen Road for a nice gradual descent through the town of Thousand Oaks. This grade has historical significance as the settlers of the area built it. Read the hyperlink. Very interesting.

Olsen Road became Lynn Road as we cruised into Newbury Park for some more rolling hills before our final climb. This area has plenty of places to stop for those doing the double century event self-supported.

Now for the final climb.

Many people remember the climb on Potrero Road at The Grand Tour Highland Double Century. I usually captain the check-point on this ride.

On the Mulholland Double we do not do the lower, steep, section of Potrero Road.

We made a left turn on Reino Road which took us to the upper section of Potrero where the Grand Tour check-point is.

We climbed this final climb into Hidden Valley, rolled through the chilly valley and made the turn on Lake Sherwood drive. (There is a water stop at the fire station here).

Around the lake we went before hitting Westlake Blvd. once again and rolling through town a short distance to the finish at Nicole’s house.

When we arrived, Nicole and Hal had Costco Pizza for us and spaghetti and meat balls!

We rolled in after midnight after a long day in the saddle. It was an epic climbing day but Tony, Quynh and I did not really push the pace very hard all day.

The fast double crew had finished a couple hours before us.

An epic day in the saddle on a great course.

I think this course would be great to have on the Triple Crown Stage Race one of these years.

Congrats to all my friends who finished this tough century course.

Congrats to all those who finished the pre-ride of the double course. What a day in the saddle.

Thanks to Nicolette’s husband and son for giving us support on Mulholland and the coast in the morning.

Thanks to Nicole and Hal of course for offering their place to do the ride from and relax after. (Hope you didn’t get too many complaints from the neighbors.)

Thank you Ellen for the awesome SAG support on the final section of the double century. We had a great time didn’t we?


I really hope that there are more people who sign up for the Double Century option this year. It is a great course and very challenging for those who love a challenge. It is not for the faint at heart though since there is 15,600 feet of climbing in the first 120 miles of the ride. All that said......if you fuel properly and are prepared.....you will recover when you roll up the coast on this section before the final climbs to the finish.
I personally would love to keep this double on the schedule. Its amazing!!

Thanks to Planet Ultra for accepting my double century course option for the test ride. I hope everyone likes it.

Here is the compilation video of the entire ride: