200 Quest 2024 (Part 2)

 Little did I think back in the mid-80s when I did my first double-century, that I would be able to accomplish 200 doubles in my lifetime. After all, I did say "I am never doing this again", after my first one. Go figure....look at me now. 

As I write this, I am already over the 200 mark but they are not all official "California Triple Crown" double centuries. I have completed 197 California Triple Crown Doubles including the one I am writing about here.  

My hope is to finish the final 3 in 2024.

I am not quite sure where my 200th will be at this point but I hope to do it before the Triple Crown Awards Breakfast in September. I want to do it close to home so my family and my friends can be a part of the ride. 

First up for the year, and completed, was The Camino Real Double. My plan to do The Mulholland Double this year fell by the wayside as I only finished the first-century portion of it. I just wasn't feeling it, so I called it quits early. 

                                                                                                    Solvang Double Century 

                                                                                            (John Clare Memorial Spring Edition)

I have done The Solvang Spring Double countless times over the years, from its inception back in the 90's. I lost count of how many I have done. 

The latest route starts in Buellton California and goes east through Solvang at the start in the early morning. It then goes through the area again at the finish while going back to Buellton.

This year we had rain at the start and scattered throughout the day. 

I opted to start at 5am since I am not that fast anymore and didn't want to finish too late in the evening. 

Getting ready to roll in the rain

Buellton to Checkpoint One

It was raining pretty well at the start but was forecasted to stop about an hour after the start. 

My ride did not start out too well! In fact, it started out REALLY BAD!

While I was riding through the dark and rainy road, just a little over a mile from the starting point, I suddenly hit a pothole or some sort of debris on the road. The impact caused me to crash violently. I was thrown into the curb on my right and then was propelled through the air along with my bike, and landed in a deep ravine beside the road. During those few seconds, I was thinking that I might break some bones upon landing.

I believe that I was fortunate to have some guardian angels watching over me. I say this because I had a bit of a hard landing, but thankfully the bushes below helped cushion my fall. Although I was hurt when it happened, I am grateful that the outcome was not worse. I thought my day was ruined before it even began, but it turned out okay in the end.

Someone helped me get my bike back up to the road since it was too steep for me to carry it up to the road myself.

I checked the bike out, fully thinking it was trashed, but it was in good shape. The only thing I lost in the crash was my helmet mirror. It was buried in the bushes somewhere. 

Upon feeling stiffness and soreness in my back and neck, I contemplated riding back to the start to DNF (did not finish).

After some consideration, I made up my mind to take it easy on the course for a while. My plan was to assess how I felt when I arrived at Foxen Canyon Road, where we were supposed to turn right and make our way to Santa Maria. This would be the point where I would make a crucial decision - whether to turn left and head back to the starting point or continue on with the ride.

After facing a few stops and losing some time, I decided to continue on with my journey. While my body was sore, I didn't experience any negative sensations in my limbs. I rode cautiously up the Foxen climb before reaching the first checkpoint, which was about 38 miles away. The rain had ceased, and the sky was clearing up. However, the road was still muddy and wet.

I quickly took some Ibuprofen, filled my water bottles, and hit the road, still feeling a bit stiff.

It seemed that news of my accident had started to spread among the rest stops, as everyone there seemed to already know about it. As I have a lot of acquaintances in the ultra community, word had apparently gotten around. Many people were surprised to see me arrive at the rest stops despite the accident.

Checkpoints One to Two

The next section of the ride was really nice. 

After getting past all the muddy mess in the farm areas, we headed up Bull Canyon to Hwy 166. 

Bull Canyon was a stunning location. Once we reached the top, we enjoyed a smooth descent towards a road that runs parallel to Highway 101, leading towards San Luis Obispo. This stretch of road was equally picturesque, with a few rain showers that only slightly brushed past us.

"I regret not bringing my camera due to the forecast of heavy rain. I managed to take a few pictures with my phone, but it was difficult with my full-fingered gloves on. I had to stop and take off my gloves to capture an image. Unfortunately, something happened that put me in a mental funk, which is unusual for me."

I spent a lot of time riding by myself and passing other people during this stretch. I also got passed by the really fast people who had started at 5;30 and 6 am behind me. Some of them were just flying in big, fast, pace lines. 

I stopped to strip all my rain gear off at this point and was passed by my friend Kevin Walsh. He had heard also of my crash and asked me about it. I have known Kevin since the very early days before the Triple Crown. We used to do the old doubles together back in the 80s and early 90s. Despite some health setbacks, Kevin is still one of the fastest guys out there on the circuit. 

I made a quick stop at the second checkpoint and headed out on the loop around San Luis Obispo.

San Luis Obispo Loop

The loop went out toward Morro Bay on Hwy 1 before turning south at Cuesta College. 

It was an easy climb over the hills to Los Osos and back to the checkpoint, which served as our lunch stop. 

The weather appeared threatening to the east, and I hoped it wasn't raining during lunch.

The hills above Cuesta College

The hills above Cuesta College

The hills above Cuesta College

Checkpoint 2 and the lunch stop were held at Adam Bramwell's house. Chuck Bramwell, Adam's dad, is the head of the California Triple Crown Double Century Series. I have known Chuck and his son Adam for many many years. Chuck and I rode the very first Triple Crown Doubles together back in the early 90's. Chuck's kids used to play with mine at the rest stops in Death Valley while our wives manned the checkpoints. Those were some great days!!

Also manning checkpoint 2 and the lunch stop were my friend Memo and his wife. Thanks so much to ya'all who took such good care of us!!

Lunch stop

Adam Bramwell and I at the lunch stop. He used to fly kites in Death Valley with my daughters when he was little.

During lunch, I spotted the man who assisted me in getting out of the ravine earlier in the day when I crashed. He was amazed to see that I was still riding despite the accident. Unfortunately, I didn't get his name, and I wish I could thank him properly in this story.

I talked to Adam for a bit at lunch, had a sandwich and some more Advil, and rolled after about a 45-minute stop. 

It was now off to the coast at Shell Beach before heading back inland. 

Lunch to Guadalupe

I was all by myself again for about 20 miles after lunch. I had passed many of the early starters as they were still at lunch when I left. I still had some of my friends ahead of me. I was not sure whether I would catch them at the slow pace I was going. I just kept it steady knowing about the nasty climbs coming up after Shell Beach. 

Allow me to share some details regarding the upcoming section.

 The most challenging part of the ride is right after departing from Shell Beach. I remember it vividly from the 2022 event when I participated with my friend Margaret on my tandem bike. It was the first time they had included this segment in the course.

We climb into the Arroyo Grande area through the coast mountains entering the area on Price Canyon. We turned onto Ormonde Road, a beautiful climb that resembles a rainforest with oak trees and mossy areas.

As we turned onto Noyes Road, 🤔 I realized that we were on the same road where we had an unexpected experience while riding the tandem bike back in 2022. The road is approximately 7-tenths of a mile long and has a steep incline of around 12-16% 😰. This climb was extremely challenging for me, as my back was sore from the previous crash, making it difficult to get out of my saddle 🤕. I had to take a break once to stretch and replenish my electrolytes 💦.

 After conquering the steep climb, there is a 10% grade on Hwy 227, which is followed by a pleasant and long descent towards the town. I felt great during the descent and even managed to pass three people who had previously overtaken me while I was stopped during the challenging climb.

After climbing up onto the large mesa, we could see the Oceano and Guadalupe areas below.

There is a rolling road in this section with a few short climbs. Then, it descends into the farmlands and reaches the quaint town of Guadalupe and the checkpoint.

As I was climbing up the steep slope towards the mesa, I caught up with my friend Ron Ng. Ron and I completed my 100th double century together back in 2011 on The Grand Tour Double. He was riding behind me when I had the accident and witnessed it firsthand. Ron was accompanied by his friend David, who also happened to be one of the official photographers for last year's Carmel Valley Double Century.

We all chatted a bit at the Guadalupe rest stop with our friends Shelby and Evan who were running the stop. 

Guadalupe to Los Alamos

Together, we left for the next stop in Los Alamos with a steady tailwind. It wasn't particularly strong, but it was still a tailwind.

I was still in some pain from the crash and pretty stiff at this point. I took some more anti-inflammatories and just rolled easy with Ron on this whole next stretch.

 We just took it easy all the way to Los Alamos. 

On the final stretch to the stop, we had an amazing rainbow right in front of us. This meant some rain ahead.

We experienced a brief rainstorm mixed with hail for about 20 minutes which stopped just as we arrived in Los Alamos.

Ron took this picture of the rainbow rolling toward Los Alamos. Great shot Ron!

This is the stop with the Ramen Soup. Nothing tastes better at this point on a ride than a cup of hot soup with a lot of sodium in it. It just rejuvenates you!

I guzzled one down as fast as I could and filled my water bottles for the final 25 miles or so, and we were off. 

Los Alamos to the finish

Three of us rolled off together for the final climbs and descents to the finish. Ron, David, and I.

 Ron and David are both from the Bay Area up north. This was David's second double century. He is a strong rider, especially on the climbs. 

We cruised up Aliso Canyon as it started to get dark and more clouds came in.

Aliso is a nice climb with a very nice, smooth road. 

After making a right turn back onto Foxen Canyon, we returned to Buellton. The climb up Foxen was steep but thankfully not too long. However, on the descent of the other side, we had to be extra cautious due to the potholes. It was particularly challenging in the darkness, so I took it slow and steady to avoid any accidents. On a positive note, there was no more rain, which was great news.

After the initial climb over Foxen, we had two more bumps to get over on the way to the finish. 

In the middle of the Foxen descent, lies the Foxen Wall. This is a short, steep wall, where Foxen Canyon Road veers left from Zaca Station Road.

I had a tough time climbing up this part of the road with my sore back.  However, I managed to make it over and now I have a nice, easy descent back down to Ballard Road. After that, there will be one more small climb left.

When we got to the summit of Ballard, I was only with David and we stopped for a bit for Ron. It was starting to rain again so we kept rolling cautiously in the dark dodging the potholes. 

Turns out that Ron had stopped to fix something with his lights and was quite a way back. He ended up getting hit with a downpour when he was on Ballard Road. 

We rolled into the finish around 9pm with no rain.

I was so beat that I just went up to my room, took a shower, and went to bed with only one Ensure Plus protein drink for dinner.

I actually slept pretty well after the crash and didn't experience too much pain. Although I was stiff, there was no serious pain in my ribs or intercostal muscles, which was great. I just had a stiff back. After returning home a few days later, the stiffness did get worse, but there was no significant pain. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that I was lucky to have some divine intervention on that day.

The following morning, I had a huge breakfast with my good friend Kevin Walsh at the local Danish Pancake House. It was so delicious!

A big thanks to Deb, Brian, and the crew at Planet Ultra for another great event. The support was great as usual. 

My stats for the ride:

• 192.18 mi
  Distance
 
• 14:07:33
  Moving Time
 
• 8,538 ft
  Elevation
• 
  

Next up...The Hemet Double Century.