Southern Inyo Double Century 2020, Spring edition.

This is one of my favorite places to ride. In the high desert, at the foot of the Southern Sierra Mountain Range.

The event is put on by Inyo Ultra and there are a number of different courses associated with The Southern Inyo Double.

This year for the spring event, it was offered once again as a Double-Double. This means that you can either do the main double century which is on Saturday or do the double-double which encompasses doing both events during the weekend.

They also have a moonlight double century during the summer which is run at night.

This springs event course started in Ridgecrest, Ca. right next to the sprawling,  China Lake Naval Air Station.
This is right near the epicenter of the 7+ magnitude earthquake in the area recently. I didn't see any sign of the damage there at all while there.

The first half was a ride out to Randsburg and Johannesburg before heading back to Ridgecrest via Trono Road and Hwy 178.
The second half took us north and up Hwy 395 to Olancha and back.

The second day, for the people doing the Double-Double, went up Hwy 395 to Hwy 190 in Olancha. Then they rode out to the Death Valley National  Park entrance sign before turning back. They then rode back to Hwy 395 via a loop around Owens Lake to Lone Pine before heading back to Ridgecrest. The second-day course is the same as the Southern Inyo by Moonlight Double Century.

I came into town on Friday morning and did a short 30-mile spin on some of the route prior to helping out with check-in Friday evening. I did the event on Saturday and I then got up early Sunday morning after day one to check-out the day two riders. It was really great to see everyone.

The base entrance across the street from the start hotel.

With my two good friends Tony and Kevin. Tony and Kevin were doing the Double-Double.
Tony on his fixed gear bike.
Tony did the 2018 Race across the West on his fixed gear.
He was the first-ever 60+ rider to complete that race on a fixed gear.
Kevin is an 11 time 508 Hall of Famer.

2017 RAAM women's winner and 2016 RAW overall winner Sarah Cooper, came all the way from Iowa to do the event.

I saw many friends at check-in and during the ride. It was a great time the night before.
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Start to mile 27.8

I started the day with a bunch of friends, as usual. We all rolled out at around 5am. It was still pretty dark out.

There were some groups who started as early as 4am.

I don't know what it is, but through all my training I have a nice even heart rate and I am able to really pace myself just right, to stay in a good steady rhythm with a good average pace over a long ride. 

Maybe my HR is elevated due to all the extra weight I am carrying in the pack on my back plus on the bike for long events. 

But as I have gotten older, on event days, I seem to start off with a much higher heart rate and it takes me quite some time to get my second wind before it settles into a good rhythm.

The same thing happened on this event again. I thought I was pacing myself well but then everyone started picking up the pace. My average HR was too high so I just backed off and let them go so I could maintain my normal pace. I still felt a bit off so I just cruised. (Over the whole day, I got stronger and stronger as the day went on. I could have easily done the second day judging by how I felt on Sunday after the first day.)

In Ridgecrest the day before the event, the temperature and wind conditions were just perfect. Not too cool with very little wind. On this day though, it was a different story. There was a storm moving in on the west coast and the winds were forecast to be 15-25 mph with gusts to 45. It was supposed to be much cooler too with cloud cover in the morning. 

The first section had a lot of climbing into a light crossing headwind for 8 miles to our turn on Brown Road in Inyokern. 

The Brown Road section was really nice. No cars, smooth road and a gradual climb to Hwy 395 on the way to the first checkpoint at just under 28 miles. The whole section was into a gradually increasing headwind though it wasn't too bad yet.
The roads were amazingly nice with hardly any traffic!!

I was starting to feel better although my HR was still higher than I would have liked it. I just rode steady and started passing a number of people, some that had started early and some that started at the same time as me but none of my group yet.

I got on Hwy 395 for a nice gradual climb to a summit into the wind before I hit the descent to the first checkpoint.
At this point, I decided to just keep going without stopping. I had plenty of food and it was so cold that I had not taken in that much of my fluid yet. I had plenty for the next section.

Heading toward Randsburg at sunrise

Heading toward Randsburg which is in those mountains in the distance.

Mile 27.8 to checkpoint 2, mile 63

I didn't see any of my friends at the checkpoint so they apparently didn't stop either.

This was the section that I really wanted to do. It has the Randburg Climb and Trona Road from the original Furnace Creek 508 bike race.

I crewed a few times at that race but never got to ride those areas and I was anxious to do it. 

There was a really nice descent to get down to the Randsburg climb but unfortunately, the wind was really getting strong now. It turned out to be a headwind the whole way down so it was impossible to get up any good speed or to relax and recover from the climbing prior to the rest stop.

I made the best of it and met a couple of guys from up north, one of whom was doing his first double century. 

I made the turn for Randsburg and took a break to strip off my jacket for the climb. 

The climb up to Randsburg is a long agonizing climb when it's hot but on this day I had a strong cold tailwind and the sun was just rising. It was a beautiful climb. I loved it. 

Randsburg mining town

I made it up to the town of Randsburg pretty fast and it seemed much easier than I anticipated. Even though my heart rate was somewhat high, I had no trouble breathing and had good power. I opted though, to just take it easy and go at a steady pace.

Randsburg is a neat old mining town with quite a history.  

I rolled through the old town but didn't take my usual pictures as it was so windy I didn't take my hands off the bars for fear I might lose control.

The next town we went through was Johannesburg on Hwy 395 before making the turn on Trona Road. 

Highway 395 rolling through Johannesburg. Next turn.....Trona Road.

Trona Road was my favorite road of the whole ride. This road has some amazing views and some epic hills. On the event this year, we now had a blazing tailwind of 25-30 mph. Wow....did that feel good. It made the climbs feel easy and made for great recovery on the descents. I really started to feel strong at this point in the ride once I got a little recovery from fighting climbs and wind together. 

Heading down Trona Road with an amazing tailwind.

My friends Steve, Gloria, and Ray on Trona Road. The views were just amazing.

I did stop at checkpoint 2 to fill my bottles and grab some food. The wind was really howling up there and I really have to hand it to the crew who were manning that stop. It felt brutally cold in that wind and I was exercising. I would have been freezing out there just standing around. For that reason, I made it a quick stop. 

Mile 63 to lunch. Mile 81

Less than 20 miles to lunch. I was happy because it had been tough on me to this point. I was feeling strong but still not myself. 

One little climb and then I had an unbelievable descent down to Hwy 178. The tailwind was so strong at this point that I could hardly slow the bike down. I was feathering the brakes much of the time worried about crosswinds and still was descending near or slightly above 50 mph.

After the turn on to Hwy 178, it really got tough. 

We now had a 25 mph crossing headwind, gusting to about 35 mph. I felt like I was riding my bike at a 45-degree angle leaning into that wind. A few of my friends actually got blown off the road into the dirt.

This is where I really started to get my second wind. (no pun intended). 

I put it in a bigger gear and just stayed at a steady pace, getting out of the saddle and grinding into it. It was also a gradual climb too so it was pretty tough.

I saw my friend Daniel in the distance so I used him as a carrot and just kept it steady until I caught up. He was suffering badly. The road was too narrow in the wind so it was too dangerous to ride alongside and talk. I just told him I would see him at lunch and forged ahead. 

 Once I got to the summit of that highway and could see Ridgecrest in the distance, it got a little easier. still windy but there was a slight descent so I could keep up a little bit of speed to get into town. 

Dropping back down heading west toward Ridgecrest and lunch. The Southern Sierra in the distance and the sprawling naval base to the right.

I made it to lunch way earlier than I anticipated so I felt good. When I got there between 10:30 and 11, I saw all my usual friends eating. They had not been there too long.

The lunch was amazing. It was supplied by my club, Adobo Velo. We had some amazing soup and pork bun as well as all the other usual stuff you have at a good lunch.

Lunch to Coso Junction. Mile 81 to 119

We rolled out of lunch with most of our morning group together.

Some who started with us in the morning did not stop for lunch or made a very short, stop.

We cruised west on Hwy 178 toward Inyokern once again into a crossing headwind but now it was much stronger than in the morning before sunrise.

My good friend Margaret.
She was riding really strong. Her coach has just done an amazing job with her training in the past few years. She has become an amazingly strong rider.

We pushed pretty well into it at a steady pace allowing our food to digest a bit before making our turn north at 8 miles from Ridgecrest.

Now we had a great reward.  TAILWINDS!!!

We made a quick stop to strip off some clothes because now we would not have the wind chill. It was still cool and in the '50s but much nicer with a tailwind.

Flying up Brown Road

We were looking for Gilligan and the castaways but couldn't find them.

Dee and Shelby flying up Brown road with the Sierra up ahead.

We flew up Brown Road to Hwy 395 at easily over a 20mph average speed.

Daniel turning on to Hwy 395 from Brown Road

Once we headed north, we started the climb to the high point on the ride. The elevation max was just above 4,000 feet elevation at the summit on 395 just north of Coso Junction our next stop. 

Even though most of this next section was uphill, we still moved at an incredible clip with the tailwind we had. It still doesn't mean it was much easier because you are tempted to still push hard even though you have a little help.

It was such a beautiful day now with some really beautiful cloud formations coming off the Southern Sierra mountains. This section was really nice but we were all cringing at the thought of the turn around in Olancha. I was praying that the strength of the southerly winds would die down some. We all didn't want to ride the final 50 or so miles into a 25-30 mph headwind. 

Highway 395 north

Ron, Robert, and Rick

Highway 395 north

We made it to the Coso Junction checkpoint really fast. The wind was really howling when we got there. We sat down, took a little break then headed up the road to the turn-around point in Olancha.

Coso Junction to Olancha. Mile 119 to 135.4

Leaving the checkpoint, we had a nice flat section with the tailwind until we started the climb up to the high point of the ride. It isn't a bad climb because we were already up at about 3,400 feet. 

Once over that little climb, we made it to the turn-around really fast and took a long break. 

Olancha is a neat little place. It is right near the cut-off for Death Valley via Hwy 190 and a great place to ride a bike. There is a great loop you can start either from Olancha or Lone Pine that takes you around Owens Lake past the little town of Keeler. One of my favorite sections of the original Southern Inyo Double course and part of the second-day course. The second-day course if doing the double-double is the same as the "Southern Inyo by Moonlight" double century held in the summer months.

Olancha Check-point. Hiding behind the gas station from the wind.

As I looked to the north from this check-point, I was thinking that it looked like the wind was blowing from another direction up there. It was just the way the dust from the Owens Lake looked. It didn't seem to be coming in a southerly direction. It seemed to be moving to the right while I looked north.

Could it be that we may have a wind switch to help us get back? I wasn't counting on it but who knows. 

Olancha to the final stop at Coso Junction. Mile 135.4 to mile 152

After stuffing our faces with food to try and put in some much needed calories for the fight against the wind, we headed out. 

Just about the whole way to Coso Junction we had a pretty bad head wind. 

We stayed in a pace line and took turns taking a pull at the front to give each of us a rest from the wind. It was a really good strategy.
I couldnt take any pictures during this stretch while in a paceline. Just too windy!!

Up to the point where we reached the high point of 4,000 feet before Coso, all we could maintain in a paceline was between 9-13 mph. The slower sections were where we had a hill on the course (which I think I got most of). We then had that nice descent down to the check-point and guess what.

WHEN WE GOT THERE THE WIND HAD ALMOST STOPPED AND WAS STARTING TO CHANGE TO A WESTERLY INSTEAD OF OUT OF THE SOUTH.

What a difference from when we were there just a few hours earlier.

My friend Quynh was manning the check-point and he had made some amazing soup for all of us. It was so good and it really helped top off our gas tanks.

Eating the amazing soup!!

Thanks, Quynh!!!

The final push. Coso Junction to the finish. Mile 152 to mile 190.

Now all of a sudden we were rolling at 15-17 mph with a crossing tailwind from our right. There were a few sections that has some really nasty crosswinds coming down the mountain passes that almost blew us down but all in all it was so much better than earlier in the day and a great way to finish the ride. 

I was actually starting now to finally get my rhythm going and I felt better than I had all day. I was getting cold though as the sun started to set behind the Sierra Range. 

Down we went, passing the town of Pearsonville. We have used this place as a starting point for our epic events up to Sherman Pass above Nine Mile Canyon and Kennedy Meadows.

We made the turn back on to Brown Road with a great tailwind now making it back to the turn in Inyokern pretty quickly, not really that much slower than we had on the way out with the really strong tailwind.

A little photo art.
Rick, rolling down Brown Road with China Lake in the distance.

My friend Rick ended up getting a flat tire not long after our turn on Brown Road. While waiting, I took a few pictures and then my friend Margaret and I started getting the chills and shakes from the cold so we started riding to warm up. 

Ron checking out the amazing sunset over the Sierra.

Such a beautiful afternoon.

Margaret and I ended up finishing together at around 6:30 PM with the rest of our little group pulling in not long after. 

It turned out to be a great ride but I could not imagine going back out and doing it again the next day unless the conditions were better. 

It turned out that the winds were not quite as bad on day two of the Double-Double but it was bone-chilling cold. They had temperatures below 32 degrees for about 4 hours in the morning with wind on top of that and an average temperature in the mid 30's for just about the whole morning. 

Yikes .....those are some tough people that finished the Double-Double.

A big thanks go out to Hugh Murphy and the crew at Inyo Ultra for another epic event.

 Hugh used to live for these types of rides and I guess he just wants to toughen all of us up. 

Thanks to George Chung and the whole Adobo Velo gang for the amazing lunch and post-ride dinner.

A big thanks go out to my posse who let this older guy hang with them. I hope I didn't slow you all down too much. LOL!!


Here is the link to ALL the pictures I took:   https://link.shutterfly.com/PW4ojFIZ54