XDV Carmel Valley Double Century 2023

 

The back story

California's Central Coast is one of the most beautiful places on earth to ride a bike!

I cannot believe that I have never done this event before or ridden on these roads.

I believe this was the 8th year for this event. 

In past years, I have not been able to do the Carmel Valley Double because it was on the final weekend of August, which is Hoodoo 500 weekend. For most of those years, I was doing the Hoodoo 500.

I was all signed up to do it last year but due to a medical issue in the family, I had to cancel. My entry was rolled forward to this year and luckily it was scheduled for September 9th, 2 weeks after the Hoodoo 500 which I did this year. 

The event is put on by XDV Cycling Club and my friend Dzung Dang.

This is an amazing club with such friendly support staff!!

I first met Dzung while riding The Oceanside Double Century in 2014. I was on my tandem with my good friend Teresa Beck.

 He was riding with us from the Ramona area to Julien when a speeding pickup truck hit him in the shoulder with its right-side mirror. He is one tough dude!! He did not crash and kept on riding although his shoulder was banged up pretty bad. 

No, he is not getting a ticket.... He is reporting it to the CHP.

He actually finished the ride!!   You can read the whole story here.

This year's course was changed up a bit from the original course due to damage done by rains in the last few years. 

The latest course is an out-and-back to Big Sur with some added leg-killer climbs both on the outbound route and the inbound route. 

I arrived in town the day before, got checked in at my hotel, and then went over to rider check-in. They had a nice dinner for the riders too. It was great. 

I saw a number of my friends there too, including Kirsten, who was doing her 150th Triple Crown Double Century.

Kirsten got a special number!

My friend Ron, holding the beer, used to live down near me.

My friend Memo was helping with check-in.

The event

                                                                        Outbound

 104.9 miles  +8,152 ft/ -7,772 ft

It was an early wake-up alarm for me as I was planning to start the ride at 4 a.m.

I am no longer a spring chicken at the ripe young age of 71, plus I did not know the course, so I opted for an early start. 

I love riding in the early morning hours. It is my favorite time to ride and you will, many times, find me training at these times in my homehood of northern LA and Ventura Counties. 

To my surprise, when I looked at the weather, there were thunderstorms all around the area. I am so glad I brought my rain jacket. I packed it, as well as a vest and arm warmers just in case there was not enough rain. I didn't want to get overheated in the jacket. 

I rolled out of my hotel room to a small rain shower, and lightning flashes in the distance, that lasted only a couple minutes as I rode to the fairgrounds for the start. 

The course started out in the town of King City with a really nice roll to the north before turning west toward the coastal mountains of Central California.

We went through the small town of Greenfield before crossing Hwy 101 and turning onto East Carmel Valley Road.

After a night of almost no sleep, (I don't sleep well on these road trips), I was feeling really bad starting out. I rolled really easy for the first 15 miles or so. 

Carmel Valley Road takes you over the coastal mountains to the beautiful town of Carmel.

 The first rest-stop was at 20 miles and I opted not to stop. I had plenty of food and fluid to do the first 50 miles or so, plus we were starting the climb over the mountains. I was starting to get my rhythm so I kept going. 

The roads were wet on and off at this point which told me there were showers around. It was not cold and in the low 60s. Very tropical feeling for this part of California. There were beautiful lightning flashes and thunder periodically in the early morning darkness. It was absolutely beautiful!!

Heading up the climb at first light. Too bad I couldn't catch the lightning in the photo!
My friend and super climber, Peggy rolling up ahead.

This part of the climb was so beautiful just before the sun came up. 

Big thunderheads all around

Just before the summit of the climb. 

It was close to a 20-mile ascent up over the mountains which started off gradual but got a little steeper as you got closer to the summit. Then we had a long descent with a few rollers along the way, into the Carmel Valley.

I stopped at the next rest-stop which was at Cahoon Summit before heading down. I topped off my bottles, ate a few snacks, and headed down the hill. 

My friend Dzung was everywhere. He showed up dropping off supplies at this checkpoint. 

My friend Dzung brought more supplies to the stop.

The pictures just don't do it justice. You just had to be there!!

 

Resting my steed in the stall. 

Just as we were getting down toward the coast, the ride organizers threw in a nasty out-and-back climb, Robinson Canyon. ( this climb would turn out to be nothing compared to the one they threw in at 150 miles on the way back!!)

It's a 5-mile climb that has some 10-14% sections with most of the steeper stuff in the last mile. It was a tough one!!

Looking up one of the steeper sections of Robinson Canyon

On the way up, I ran into my friend Ron who had started closer to 3 a.m. with Kayla who was doing her first double century.

Kayla didn't start riding a bike until March of this year and she picked this ride with about 15,000 feet of climbing, as her first double century!! 

Who does that? She is one tough girl!!!

Ron and Kayla. Kayla was just too happy all the time...LOL!

Ron and Kayla climbing Robinson Canyon

The last section to the top was tough but I was feeling surprisingly good now while climbing. 

I guess my race up in the high altitudes of Southern Utah at the Hoodoo 500 race (Nomad Division), actually did me some good. I felt pretty much recovered thus far. I Rode self-supported rondo style on that race, so I was carrying a lot of extra weight. It did me some good I think. 

Grunting up to the top 
Photo credit: C David Boyer

Right after I got there, I topped off my bottles, ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and was ready to roll back down the insane descent to the Carmel Valley. The road was still really wet in places so I would have to take it easy. 

The awesome crew at the top. You can see a fire in the distance to the left. 

There were a bunch of fire trucks flying up the hill with sirens blaring on that narrow road. There was a lightning-caused fire that you could see from the top of the climb.

Heading down near the top where the road was dryer.

I made it slowly down and rode the final miles to the next rest-stop at Carmel Bicycle in Carmel by the Sea. Riding through the outskirts of Carmel was really nice. 

The food at the checkpoints was amazing. At this one, they had a really tasty soup made with rice and chicken. It was so good!! Did I mention the support for this event is just amazing?

I had a great surprise here. 

My good friend, Tom, who was my best man at my wedding 46 years ago, was at the rest stop to meet me. Tom lives in Monterey, just up the road. I told him I was going to be up there doing the ride and was wearing my SpotGen3 GPS tracker. He was tracking me and timed it just right to meet up there. It was great to see him as it has been quite a few years.  

My buddy Tom

Just before I left to head southbound up to Big Sur, my friend Kirsten rolled in. This was her 150th double century!! What an accomplishment. 

I don't get to ride with Kirsten for long, usually,  because she never stops at the rest stops for more than a minute. On this day, she was enjoying herself much more and taking some breaks. 

On this day, I would get to ride with her for a whole segment of the course. All the way to the lunch stop in Big Sur. 

I took a long break there talking to my friends Tom and Kirsten. Kirsten, her friend Joyce, and I rolled out together for the next leg which would take us through Big Sur and to the lunch stop.

Now came arguably, one of the most beautiful stretches of road you can do on a bike, the California Coast through Big Sur.

Kirsten's 150th double century

Rolling toward Bixby Bridge with Kirsten and Joyce

It didn't disappoint with both the beauty and the climbing. There are some tough climbs on the coast. 

We had a slight tailwind which seemed to be getting stronger as we headed south. It did not bode well for the return trip. 

Photo opp.      Joyce

Rolling over Bixby Bridge

We made it to the lunch stop between 12-1 pm.

Lunch at the Big Sur Taphouse.

With Hoang Q Nguyen and Dzung Dang.   Thanks for the awesome support guys!

Kirsten didn't hang around and hit the road right away. I sat down and took a half-hour to eat an amazing bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, served up by my friend Dzung and the crew of amazing staffers at the stop. 

I topped off my water bottles and hit the road a little after Joyce. (I sat around talking too much which I often do...LOL)

Inbound

 99.2 miles   +6,959 ft / -7,331 ft

I found the next stretch the toughest so far. 

It was not too bad leaving lunch and I actually got another long break while I had to wait for a traffic stop due to work on the roads. 

I met a guy named Stefan, who is from Northern California, at the stop and we ended up riding a lot of the next stretch on and off together. 

Before we got out of the hill area, Stefan ended up way ahead of me. I was so full from lunch, I couldn't get my engine running quite right yet.

After we cleared the hills, we hit the wind!!

It was really strong out of the west at about 25 mph. I was so glad that I had my aero bars on the bike. 

I just got down in the aero bars and slowly started reeling a few people in. I could tell the wind was taking a lot out of people as they were really slowing down and I was making up some time. 

When we got to the area where the Pacific Coast Highway is nestled up against the mountains, the wind was not so bad. 

I think it was hitting the cliffs down to our left and then blowing up over us, giving us a little break. 

When I got to Bixby Bridge there was a bad crosswind that was pretty challenging.  Once over the bridge, things got better but now there was more climbing before reaching Carmel again.

Heading back, and what a tough headwind!!

Crossing the Bixby Bridge on the return. Some pretty bad crosswinds here!

Stefan, Joyce, and I rolled into the checkpoint together around 3 p.m. I think. 

We didn't hang around too long before heading out. 

Now, we had a nice tailwind blowing us up Carmel Valley Road back toward King City and the finish.

We had one big obstacle though, Cachagua Road, at around 150 miles into the ride!

Stefan and I rode together up Carmel Valley Road and paced each other. Joyce had left a little before us. She is a much better climber and, although we could see her up ahead, we never could quite catch her. 

The first section of Carmel Valley Road was gradual and not too bad. 

I started to get a little hot foot due to the warmer temperature so I decided to stop at the turn on Cachagua Road.

I loosened my shoes, guzzled down my Tailwind Endurance Fuel, and took a short break. Stefan took a break as well. 

In hindsight, I think it would have been best not to stop and cool down.

We got back on our bikes and made the right turn. OMG....

This climb at 150 miles was as tough as many that I have done in all my years of riding ultra-endurance events. 

Not as hard, as say, Decker Canyon, on the Mulholland Double Century, which was also at close to 150 miles on the old course. (That one was insane!!)

The climb immediately kicked up to around 10% for quite some time. I believe the climb up the front side of the road was around 3 miles. I saw a maximum percentage of around 14% on my computer. It was hard.

We then descended down to the rest stop.

I stopped only long enough to top off my water bottles and grab a little food. 

I looked back and my new friend Stefan was nowhere to be found. I am not sure what happened to him. He must have stopped for a break. That climb was relentless.  

The rest stop was staffed by some of my Adobo Velo brothers. It's always great to see your club-mates out on these events. 

I had a slight descent now but the climbing was soon to start again in jest.

 I then went straight on a small descent instead of turning left. It was really easy to miss because it says "Continue straight", but the road turns left. (It wasn't straight).  I was wondering how many others would make the same mistake. 

Thank God my GPS told me I was off course because I didn't have to climb up too far to get to the spot where I went off course. It was like a Y intersection. 

Well...I was now climbing back up to the Carmel Valley Road.

The climb back up to Carmel Valley Road was not easy. With tired legs, it's pretty tough. 

I kept seeing Joyce up ahead but could not quite catch her. I was gaining on her though. She was riding with a really young guy and they were climbing at a pretty good clip. 

I caught up to them on Carmel Valley Road but had to stop to go to the bathroom so I let them go. 

The remaining climb up to the summit was just beautiful. 

The sun was getting low on the horizon behind me. The colors were amazing. 

The only thing I didn't like was that the bugs came out in droves. 

Since I was climbing and there was not any wind, I could not go fast enough to stay ahead of them. They were buzzing all around my head and my face and it was driving me crazy. 

I even surprised myself by being able to do interval sprints on the hill to go faster than the bugs. LOL!!

 It really surprised me to see how much I had left in my legs when I put my mind to it. It was pretty funny actually!!

I made it to the checkpoint which was just below the summit of the climb. They had so much good stuff there. 

I took a good long break. 

There were a whole bunch of people there refueling and topping off bottles for the final run to the finish, including my friend Peggy. 

I first saw her in the morning when we were climbing out of the valley. She is a really strong climber and that was the last I saw her until now. 

I wanted to get down the technical part of the descent before it got too dark, so I rolled after about 20 minutes. 

Just a spectacular evening. This is why I do this crazy stuff!!

It is close to a 35-mile descent to the finish with some rollers in between.

I got down the technical part just before it got really dark and then just cruised at a steady easy pace to the finish. 

I did not stop at the final rest stop which was 20 miles from the finish. I had plenty of liquid and fuel for 20 miles more so I just paced myself to the end. 

I did not realize that Joyce had stopped at that rest stop as well as others I was following. I did not see them until they finished a short time after I rolled in. 

The final stretch was dark and mostly flat to slightly downhill. I had a cross-wind as I rolled across the valley once again to my right turn. It was rather pleasant but the roads were rough in a few places forcing me to stay out of my aero bars. 

I now had 11 miles to the finish and a tailwind. The road had a few short climbs and then it was a gradual flat ride to the finish.

I finished feeling really good.

I think that my Hoodoo 300 self-supported race a couple of weeks prior, really got me in shape for this tough climbing double. 

Double 192 was in the books and I was so glad I did it at The Carmel Valley Double!!

I finished around 9:30 p.m. and the post-event party was going strong. 

A huge congrats to my friend Kirsten on completing her 150th double century!!

The food was great. I wolfed down a plate of pasta and some soup.

When I was ready to leave and head back to the hotel, my new friend Stafan rolled in. 

Stefan and I as I left for the hotel.

A huge thanks goes out to Dzung Dang and all the crew at the XDV Club. You all put on an amazingly well-supported event! 

What a beautiful course. 

Thanks to my buddy and supporter Quynh for setting this trip up north for me last year. I had to cancel last year but made it this year and I'm so glad I did!