2023 Events: Spring and Summer

 

Tour of Two Forests

The ride patch from the 1991 Tour of Two Forests.
This event also went over Heartbreak Hill. 

Starting off the spring I was asked to pre-ride the updated Tour of Two Forests route. 

The route was changed due to the large landslide on Hwy 33 above Ojai, Ca. This area was also damaged back in 1993. The course change that year created the current Heartbreak Double Century course. (That course is still used to this date)

This year we did a course that was tough but easier to ride self-supported. (the live event this year was actually a self-supported ride)

We were doing it early to check out the location of stops and to see where any trouble spots were as far as re-supply for food and water. 

Alternate 2023 course

I rode with my friends Memo who lives hear locally and Peggy who came down from the bay area.

We met at the Santa Clarita ride start.

The ride took us down the Santa Clara River Valley past Piru, Fillmore, and Santa Paula before heading up Dennison Grade to Upper Ojai Valley. We then descended to the wonderful town of Ojai. The Santa Clara River area has quite a flood history over the years.

This part of the ride is the only part that is on the original course. We could not climb Highway 33 north of Ojai to Lockwood Valley due to the storm damage from this year's massive storms. 

Rest stop at the Santa Clara River

From Ojai, we headed down to Ventura and Oxnard, before heading east on Santa Rosa Road to Moorpark.

From there it was through Simi Valley, over Santa Susana Pass, and into Chatsworth before crossing the San Fernando Valley.

The tough part was yet to come.

 After making a loop around Hansen Dam, we climbed Big Tujunga Canyon Road to Angeles Forest Hwy. 

This is a tough and long climb, plus it was pretty warm. I really fell behind my friends on this section, dealing with dehydration after pushing a bit too hard for my age trying to stay with Memo. 

They waited for me at the turn. Next came a very long climb to Mill Creek Summit on Angeles Forest Hwy.

A great reward for all the climbing was to follow.  A long descent.  Into Acton, Ca we dropped, before some more climbing in the evening on the westbound return to Santa Clarita. The return roads were really nice.

All in all, the ride went well for me and was good training chasing my friends. Peggy is a super climber and she just disappeared on the longer and steeper climbs. Memo has been training really hard for some big races in the fall and is riding really strong. They kicked my butt!!

We all had a great time and we finished around 9PM.

Heartbreak Double Century

The Heartbreak Double has always been one of my favorites. 

From its inception as the re-routed Tour of Two Forests back in the early 90s till now it has been a really popular double century to many.

This year, I decided to do it on the event day after working the event as a staff member for many years.

During many of those years, I did Heartbreak on my tandem and as a staff ride with my friend Teresa (Tiger) Beck. We did some epic double centuries on my tandem.

The event start is only about 50 miles from my house so I drove from home early for a 4:30 am start in Palmdale.

The wind was forecast to be pretty strong out of the west-northwest and it sure was. 

I rolled out into a mild headwind as we headed with a small group toward Lake Elizabeth and Lake Hughs. It is a constant and gradual climb with only a few descents getting to Lake Hughs. From there it kicks up more to our turn at 3-points and up Pine Canyon.

Once we made the turn in 3 Points, we had some tough climbing to get up to the Old Ridge Route before descending down to Quail Lake and Hwy 138.

On this first stretch, I rode with some of my Adobo Velo friends but I was mainly focused on just pacing myself. The wind was getting worse as the sun started to rise which is pretty normal.

I rode with my friend Kirsten for a while and had some good airplane conversations. Her husband is an avid pilot with some really cool toys to fly. ( I should hit them up for a ride sometime)

Kirsten is a very strong rider and climber. Her asthma sometimes makes it hard for her to warm up which was a plus for me because I could keep up with her. 

After a while, I let her go and I continued on mainly by myself to Gorman and the first checkpoint at around 50 miles. 

The wind was brutal from Hwy 138 and Gorman Post Road heading to Gorman. I almost got blown off the bike a couple of times while climbing Gorman Post.

After summiting Tejon Pass, I descended to Lebec, which is just below the pass, checked in, and took a short break to fill up my water bottles and food stores. 

The Heartbreak Century starts in Lebec and the Century riders had already left. It was just the double-century riders who start in Palmdale. 

When I arrived, my friend, Kirsten was just leaving. She does not stop much at these events. 

This would be her 149th double century I believe. 

I rolled out now for the very long climb to Pine Mountain Club and Apache Saddle just a few miles above there. 

It is a long steady climb with a fast descent just before climbing to Pine Mountain Club. The final climb to the town is a beast with a 14%+ grade. 

On the first stretch up to Frazier Park, I actually had a nice cool tailwind for a while. It was warm with no wind on the climb to the club and Apache Saddle. 

Heading to Pine Mountain Club and Apache Saddle

I struggled for a bit on that climb to the club and Apache but finally made it. 

My friends Brook and Kevin were manning the stop. It was good to see them. 

Now I had a mostly 20-mile descent down to the Maricopa Hwy. There are a couple pretty bad kickers in the middle but it was some nice descending with crosswinds. 

Maricopa Hwy runs between the San Joaquin Valley and Ventura. We were only doing the part from our turn onto the Highway, up the Cuyama Valley on Hwy 33 to our turn on Lockwood Valley Road. The Tour of Two Forest route usually goes over Maricopa Hwy from Ojai to Lockwood Valley Road, but as I have said above, was washed out in storms.

 There is quite a bit of traffic but it was quick because we had a blazing TAILWIND to the turn on Hwy 33!! 

I blazed on this stretch and made it to the turn very quickly, probably the fastest I had ever done it.

Up Hwy 33 I went for the stop for lunch at the Santa Barbara Pistachio Company in Ventucopa.

I was not the last to make it to lunch which was a good thing.

I wolfed down a sandwich and a few other riders came in. 

One was my friend Phil, better known as "Punxsutawney Phil". 

We decided to just ride the whole final 100 together. 

We left lunch for the long slog up to Lockwood Valley Road. 

If we were to go straight at the turn we would be climbing over the mountains into Ojai, Ca, and then the coast in Ventura. This is the most beautiful and desolate part of the Maricopa Hwy.

We still had a nice cool wind.

Lockwood Valley Road goes from Hwy 33 all the way to the Frazier Park vicinity. It is a long gradual climb before reaching the first pass, the toughest, Heartbreak Hill.

 From there, we have a descent and the second pass which is Lockwood Summit. The final pass is Owls Barn Summit, before descending toward Frazier Park at Lake of the Woods. 

On a very hot day, the climb up through the valley can be very tough. On this day we had a nice cool tailwind so the air was not "dead" and sweltering. The road continuously gets steeper as you get closer to Heartbreak with some switchbacks close to 14%. The final summit is more like 8% but after the long slog up the valley, it is really tough. 

Heartbreak Hill with Lockwood Valley below. 

The next checkpoint was just over the summit. We guzzled, talked to our friend Jennifer who was manning the stop, then proceeded down the hill. 

Up next was Lockwood Summit

Phil and I at Heartbreak Summit.

Lockwood Summit just seemed too easy. So many years doing this event on the tandem and just dying at this point in the event had me thinking it was going to be so tough. In other years when doing it solo, I just pushed too hard early on, and I was totally depleted by this point. 

This year, I guess I had paced myself well by not trying to stay with the fast people. 

Phil and I made it back to Frazier Park and Lebec pretty quickly once we got to Owls Barn Summit. 

We took a good long break at the 150-mile marker in Lebec then headed back to Palmdale. 

We still had plenty of light left and it did not get dark until we were headed down Pine Canyon off of the Ridge Route. 

The climb from Hwy 138 on the Old Ridge Route was tough. Not super steep, just long!!

Once at Pine Canyon we had some downhill coupled with some steep ascents before hitting the main road back to Palmdale. 

We had a couple really tough climbs in the dark with virtually no traffic before hitting the long descent back to Palmdale.

I got a second wind once I got over that final summit. I just felt great.

We hammered back to the finish making up lots of time, but then we noticed something weird.

We could not see the hotel when we were right there at the turn.

Turns out that the power was out and we could not see anything, even in the parking lot. 

Phil was staying at the hotel and he was not happy. People were milling around in the parking lot and some just sitting in their cars because they could not check-in. Phil had to walk upstairs to his room.

I said goodbye to Phil and hit the road, feeling pretty good. My muscles were sore and stiff but I was not all that sleepy. The ride home was nice.

Double Century number 189 was in the books.

 Grand Tour Double-Double Century.

Yes, that does say Double-Double Century.

The Grand Tour is one of the oldest and longest-running double centuries in California.

The event has so many options for everyone. 

You have the choice of a lowland or highland double century, triple century, or quad century. The quad century has a 24-hour time limit in order to get credit. 

In the past few years, they have added a double-double option. 

When this was first offered, it entailed doing the double century twice in 2 days. 

This year they changed the rules a bit. On the first day, you must complete the triple century in under 24 hours. The next day, you do a century loop. You have 36, elapsed time hours to complete the combined rides, you cannot get much sleep after the triple unless you complete it really fast. 

This would be my first time doing the double-double and I think that this new format is better. Mentally, it is easier after finishing 300 miles knowing that you only have to do a century the next day. (Just my opinion)

At this event, I would be acting as a staff member along with one of the officers on the board of the LA Wheelmen. His name is Ira.

We were tasked as course sweepers. 

We would leave a little late and do the event by coming up the rear to notify the checkpoint captains where the last riders are. 

It would be a very long day in the saddle but very fulfilling. 

There were only about 20 brave souls doing the Double-Double. 

The course for the double and triple centuries is the same except that the triple departs to the north up near Santa Barbara for an out and back to Gaviota before turning back south. 

The double century riders turn around in Summerland which is in the Montecito area. 

Ira and I would be sharing a hotel room so I drove out to the event hotel on Friday night. 

This event is so close to home that I usually just drive out in the morning early. This time I would hope to get plenty of rest and see many of my friends at check-in Friday night. 

The Grand Tour used to start in Malibu, but due to permit issues and some of the traffic issues on parts of PCH, the start was moved to Port Hueneme in Ventura County. 

I arrived at the hotel around 5pm and hung out with friends for a while before heading across the street for pizza at a really good pizza place. It was so good!!

After dinner, we all hung out for a while before getting to bed for the long weekend ahead.

Check-in

Ira and Teresa at the Check-in table

Part One: The Lowland Triple Century

After a 4:30am alarm, we got started around 5:30. 

There were some riders who started in a large group around 3:30. This group included some double-century riders as well as some doing the triple century. 

There were quite a few riders who started before us. According to the roster, the only riders left were the really fast people who can just crush a double century.

There were over 120 riders doing the event. Quite an uptick from the past few years with all the Covid issues and such. 

Ira and I just cruised through the first 40-mile loop which took us through Camarillo before heading back to Port Hueneme. We stopped for coffee and donuts in Camarillo since we were not in any particular rush. 

Below is the map of the first loop. Click here for the Ride with GPS info.

The 40-mile start loop

We rolled back into the start hotel as some of the slower riders were just leaving, so we were catching up a bit already. On our way in we saw the large groups who had started earlier, on their way out. (The second part of the course goes out on some of the same roads.) We did lots of waving since we knew many of them. 

We hung out at the start for about an hour, eating breakfast and just taking it easy. Some of the faster riders had not caught up yet since some started as late as 6:30-7.

Below is the rest of the lowland triple-century course. Click here for the Ride with GPS info.

Balance of the Triple-century

We rolled out after breakfast and headed now toward Moorpark and checkpoint 2 at Peach Hill Park. 

Along the way, the highland course riders break off and do a more hilly course which takes them up Portrero Road into Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks before going to Moorpark. Portrero is a really brutal climb. I have done it many times at this event.

The ride to Moorpark was effortless since we were just cruising. We passed a few people and then waited for them at the checkpoint to make sure they got there ok. We notified the checkpoint that they were the last riders after confirming that the fast riders had already come through that were on the lowland course. Some of the highland riders had not checked in yet. (We were not responsible for the highland riders on the other course)

Staffer Daniel looking good at Peach Hill Park.

We took off from Peach Hill Park with the last lowland riders and rode with them pretty much the whole way to the next checkpoint in Ventura. This section was flat but with the usual headwind coming off the coast. It was a long drag with lots of traffic in some parts. 

We rolled into the Ventura stop to find a number of riders still at the stop. We hung out there for a bit to wait for a few riders to catch up to us. I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a Coke. It was so needed at that point.

It was through the town of Ventura and up to Ojai next for lunch in the park. 

The temperature was cool for a change on the climb to Ojai. We passed the birthplace of Johnny Cash in Casitas Springs along the way.

                                           

The climb up Creek Road on the last stretch to Ojai was great this year. A newly paved road and the temps were only in the 80s. Traditionally, it is over 100 degrees at this point in this event. 

Giant slingshot on Creek Road

  

Ira on Creek Road

We rolled into lunch as a couple of the last riders, which is the whole plan. We had passed 3 riders fixing a flat on the way up Creek Road who did not need our help, and we had 2 riders still behind us. The lunch stop captain informed us that most of the highland course riders had come through already.

From the Peach Hill stop, the highland course goes up into the mountains above Moorpark for a climb over Grimes Canyon before heading to Ojai via the Santa Clara River Valley and Santa Paula. They climb Dennison Grade into Upper Ojai Valley before descending to Ojai and the park for lunch. A much nicer course than the lowland which we had just done. 

Teresa, Ron, Ira, and I, at lunch in Ojai.

Ira and I had a sandwich and headed out for the slog up the coast. We now descended down the hill to Ventura again and headed north up the coast to Rincon Point, the next checkpoint.

It was nice to get back into the cool air but the headwind up the coast was not too fun. It was not as bad as years past though.

After a beautiful roll on the Pacific Coast Hwy, we rolled into Rincon in the late afternoon.

There was a huge group of riders at this checkpoint. The highland riders come over Casitas Pass from Ojai after the lunch stop. This checkpoint is right where the Hwy from Casitas hits Hwy 1. A perfect meet-up point for the checkpoint. 

Ira with 90-year-old, Gerd. He completed the lowland double.

All the courses now would head north together. We were pretty much done with our duty to sweep the double riders. They would be turning around in Summerland which is just north of Carpenteria in the Montecito area.

The triple century and quad riders would now be heading north through Santa Barbara and Goleta before getting on the Hwy for the Gaviota turn-around.

We had a checkpoint in Goleta at the bike store. It was not too bad rolling through Santa Barbara around dinner time. The main drag was not all that crowded as I think everyone was at dinner or on their way home from a long day in town. We got through pretty quickly and climbed out of there via Hope Ranch. It was really nice at sunset.

Rolling through the Hope Ranch area of Santa Barbara

Ira rolling through the Hope Ranch area

Goleta checkpoint with Shelby being herself. 

We rolled into the Goleta stop a little after sundown, changed into a little warmer clothes, changed glasses, and ate some food.

We again took a long break.

Now for the long night ahead.

We rolled down Hollister Blvd. to the 101 Hwy pretty quickly. The shoulder on the Hwy is large and it was really clean for a change. There were a few spots with gravel but nothing was an issue. 

The only issue was the "Sundowner" winds, coming out of the canyons to our right and blowing out over the coast. This area is notorious for these winds and they can be very bad! 

From that point, we get on the Hwy to Gaviota and back. It is about a 36-mile out-and-back. 

We arrived at the checkpoint in Gaviota at around 10:30pm. They had pizza waiting for us thanks to Ira making arrangements the day before. Thanks, guys!

We were the last triple-century riders to arrive just as planned. We were not that far behind the rest. There had already been riders who called it quits also. 

We rolled out now with a crossing tailwind which was diminishing as we headed south. The roll back to the South was much easier now. We were fully self-supported now since all the checkpoints were closed on the route back. (That is no problem on this course).

We made it quite fast back through Goleta and Santa Barbara.

When we reached Rincon Point with about 35 miles to go on the triple century, we noticed 2 guys huddled next to a building. One was trying to call someone and the other was shivering and kind of in the fetal position. 

It turns out, they were lowland double-century riders who had gotten lost, took a wrong turn, and ended up climbing up into the mountains instead of heading up the coast. They must have gone many-many miles off course because it was 3am!! We were at Rincon at around 5 and there were only 5 lowland riders behind us at that point. (They were not the ones behind us). They must have been there when we were at that stop or were already on their way. 

Long story short. One guy was ok and in good spirits. The other guy was getting hypothermic. We had to make sure he took down a bunch of food and keep him moving so his engine was producing heat. We nursed him back at what I would calculate was an average speed of 9mph that last 35 miles with many stops. We had to really keep an eye on him because he could barely keep the bike straight. Thank God there were no cars at that early hour. 

As we got closer to the finish, he improved some.

We rolled into the finish just as it was getting light out, we checked them in, they thanked us and we went back up to the hotel room to shower and sleep. Tomorrow we go again. 

Part two: The Quad Loop. The final century. 

Click here for the Ride with GPS link.

The final Century

Our plan was to get around 2 hours of sleep and then roll out for the final part of the double-double.

The plans changed a bit with the early morning rescue, so we got a little less sleep and started a little later than planned on the final stretch. 

We ended up starting around 9:30 for the final 100-mile course. 

The back story on the final century:

A few years back when the course was changed to a different start location, the ride organizers asked me to design a century course in the area with a certain amount of climbing that was a little different from the other course. 

I added a part of one of my regular training courses from home into the new course. It had a bit of climbing with a few that could be a little challenging in the heat. Some of it was on the highland double route. 

The course starts in Port Hueneme then heads up to Simi Valley and the hills of the Wood Ranch area before dropping through Simi for a little bit before heading west to Moorpark. 

It is then a climb over Grimes Canyon to Santa Paula before returning through Ventura, Oxnard, and part of Camarillo to the finish. 

Ira and I rolled out of the hotel and just took it easy. We both felt pretty stiff and sore, not to mention tired.

The human body is amazing though. Once we got our second wind, we started feeling better. We may have been a little slower than the day before, but we were riding pretty strong. 

It was much warmer than Saturday though and we could already tell it was going to be hot on Grimes Canyon, not to mention we already had a tailwind heading east which only meant one thing on our return.

Our plan was for lunch in Simi Valley and that is exactly what we did. We stopped at Carls Jr and had hamburgers. I have to tell you...a hamburger never tasted so good.

I felt great after.

There was considerable traffic getting out of town but we made it through ok and into Moorpark.

We turned on Spring Street for the long climb up to Hwy 23. We just took it easy after eating especially in the heat. We did have a nice cool breeze from our right which helped some.

The climb over Grimes Canyon was hot with dead air, which means there was no cooling air at all. It felt somewhat like a blast furnace at times. 

Over the top, we went for a nice dive out of the canyon to the Santa Clara River Valley. 

Ira on South Mountain Road heading to Santa Paula

On the next stretch before the town of Santa Paula, we started getting texts and calls about some riders who had crashed and needed help. They were also lost too.  They were quite a way ahead of us and needed someone to pick them up. 

Long story short...after many calls and texts, we found someone to go out and check on them. They were lost and someone had minor injuries and a broken shifter. They still wanted to continue though. My friend Ron, who lives in Camarillo, rescued them by getting them back on course allowing them to finish. 

We continued toward Santa Paula after getting this resolved. The headwinds were terrible and it was quite warm. 

We finally made it to the Oxnard area where we made a left turn and it became a blazing tailwind. We flew into Camarillo before heading southwest with a crossing tailwind to Point Mugu Naval Air Station pictured below. 

By now it was 7pm and the winds were dying down. We took a break at the missile park before riding to the finish which was about 7 miles down the road. 

Ira with an awesome F-14 Tomcat

F-4 Phantom

We rolled in at about 7:30 and just caught the guys who were lost. Guess what?? One of them was the same guy who was lost the night before at Rincon Point!!!

I had another great summer of riding these events. 

Now it's time to tune up for the upcoming Hoodoo 500 Ultra Marathon Bike Race in Southern Utah. A few long training rides to come prior to the race but mostly just maintenance miles.