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, which just happened to be this one in 1987, The LA Wheelmen Grand tour.
Go figure....look at me now.
My plan was to do my 200th in 2024 but my health had other plans. While supporting some friends on an ultra-marathon race in June of 2024, I caused a compression fracture in my lumbar spine area by lifting a heavy ice chest in a wrong manner.
To make a long story short.....I thought that it was just a pulled muscle and just had a sore back.
I was fine to do a The Wheelmen Double-Double Century at the end of June in 2024. I didn't Blog about this event because it just was not that fun since my back bothered me so much.
I got through the 300 mile first day just barely and after the 100 mile second stage, ended up with severe stenosis in both legs which really hindered my standing and walking. (my legs would go completely numb when walking more than 5 minutes.)
I really believe that I aggravated the fracture so much that I did it to myself by doing that event. If I had known I was riding with that serious of an issue, I would not have done it.
After many tests, spinal x-ray and MRI, they found the compression fracture in the L4-L5 area. The nerves were badly being pinched in that area and there was a lot of arthritis also.
I had spinal surgery in November and was off the bike for about 3 months. I was walking and hiking right away but couldn't bike. I ended up gaining about 15 pounds all in the wrong area. Around my waste.
I set the goal to work hard and get enough recovery so I could finally do my 200th Triple Crown event at the Grand Tour at the end of June 2025 on the same event, one year later. It would be my first double century in a year. I think I may have been able to get through one of the earlier events but I wanted to train properly for it, plus, it is close to home so my family and friends could come out.
I used a structured training plan leading up to the event and did not push it, getting plenty of rest along the way.
Event Day
I finished my training period two weeks from the start of the event and tapered well with plenty of rest.
Port Hueneme, where the event is started from, is only about 40 minutes from my house, so I drove in to the start.
First 40 mile loop
We all started with a large group at 5am. We had a group of around 35 riders starting with us.
My crazy fixed gear friend Robert offered to pull me all day. What a great guy, but I was a little apprehensive about trying to stay with him at my age. He is just a young kid. He assured me that he would slow down for me if necessary and wait at the top of the hills. (I'm not a strong climber, especially now!)
Another brother in arms, Tony also came out on his fixed gear to ride with me. This would be only his second ride on outside roads since he did the 860 mile Race Across the West with Robert as a two man fixed gear team last year. (He trains indoors on rollers.) Tony did RAW solo on his fixed gear in 2018, I believe. Tony was our crew chief when we did RAW in 2014. He was also my crew at my solo Silver State 508 in 2016 along with my friends Victor and Ellen.
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| My buddy Tony giving me a hand. |
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| My friend Ron did the first loop with us before he took off on the highland course. Ron did my 100th double with me back in 2011. Rode with our group all day that year and documented our finish with a great video. I wish I could find it. We almost crashed the tandem riding into the parking lot at the finish on a speed bump. |
We did the first loop really fast, averaging around 18 MPH on the flat roads. There was only one hill on this first loop and my friend Tony, on a fixed gear bike, pushed me up most of it giving me a big boost. It was something. I caught up to the group on the descent just as we hit Las Posas Road.
We made it back to the first rest stop at 40 miles really fast where we all topped off our water and got some food.
Some of the group did not stay long and some stayed a little longer. We now had a little smaller group which was fine.
Port Hueneme to Moorpark 40-66.2 miles
After a short rest, we headed out to check point 2 in Moorpark, about 26 miles down the road with some gradual climbing along the way.
The temps were still pretty cool but the sun came out as we headed inland to Peach Hill Park in Moorpark. It got pretty warm and ended up a little off the back when we did the final climb out of the Santa Rosa Valley. They all waited for me though.
We arrived at the park at around 9am.
It was awesome. My wife, our two amazing daughters, my son in law, and my grandkids were all there cheering me on. It was GREAT!!
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| From left to right: Tony, Robert, Granddaughter, little Isla Jade, Me, Ginny, Grandson Mateo, my daughter Nicole, her husband Matt, my oldest daughter Cherisse (Isla's mommy) |
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| Thanks for the nice picture Cher!! |
Moorpark to Ventura 66.2-90.3 miles
On the next stretch it was mainly flat to slightly down hill till the next rest stop in East Ventura.
We made it in pretty short order but I was pretty tired by the time we got there. We lost my buddy Tony somewhere along this stretch. Turned out he got a flat. We waited for him at the rest stop and he showed up a short time later. I needed the rest anyway. It felt so good.
Ventura to Ojai 90.3-113.6
Next stop Ojai, and the most climbing on the route. It is also the warmest part of the ride, sometimes reaching 106 degrees Fahrenheit climbing to town.
At one point, my friend Tony disappeared again. Robert went back to see what happened and couldn't find him. He finally called him and it turned out he had more tire problems and was going to get a ride to fix it then meet us later up in Carpentaria.
I felt really good until we did the final climb up to Ojai. It slowed me down a bit and I started to feel a slight onset of cramps. To avoid this, I slowed down and drank down a small bottle of pickle juice. It worked wonders and I did not have any cramp issues. I rolled into Ojai feeling toasted a bit but all in all pretty good.
At the park in Ojai we took about a one hour break. I had a great ham and cheese sandwich with lots of mustard and a Pepsi. I felt pretty good but I knew with the warm temps, that I would not be able to push too hard in the headwinds getting back to Ventura. Even though it was mostly downhill, its still tough when you have a headwind blowing up the hill like it does on this part of the course.
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| Ron heading up into Casitas Springs |
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| Casitas Springs. The birthplace of Johnny Cash |
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| Robert and Ron goofing off. |
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| LUNCH!! |
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| My friend and team mate from the Hoodoo 500 team Wise Owls, David. |
Ojai to Carpentaria 113.6-144.1
This stretch was tough for me. I think I was right in thinking that the food in my stomach was going to take a long time to digest and slow me down, making me sluggish. I felt good with no stomach issues, but I just didn't have any power left in the legs. I think my body was just trying to digest the food and my legs were paying for it. I think it is really related to my age. My metabolism has slowed down so much in the last few years. I dont seem to need as much fuel when riding, allowing me to go longer distances at a steady pace, but I just dont recover as fast after putting more fuel in the body, especially solid food.
I really had a hard time staying with my group heading down to Ventura. I kept getting dropped on the very easy climbs in the headwind. I couldn't stay on their wheel and would burn myself out trying to catch up. I was toast once I reached the coast so when we got on PCH heading north, I just let them go and dialed it back to my training pace. Luckily there was not too bad of a headwind heading to the next checkpoint. It was more of a crosswind. It wasn't too bad.
The kicker climb up to the checkpoint toasted me but I made it. I took a good break and talked with friends who were there before heading north to Summerland and the turn-around point.
Carpentaria to the finish 144.1 - 190
After the final checkpoint, we made a short ride into a slight headwind up to the south side of Santa Barbara area. A town called Summerland. From there we turned around a little short due to construction which made the ride about 4 miles shorter which was fine with me.
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| At the fire station about ready to roll. |
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| Nice tail wind at this point. Look at the flag in the background. |
We now had a great tailwind and we were hoping it stayed that way. It was not particularly strong but it was great, none the less.
The rest of the ride was just a fun cruise down the coast. I was feeling much better and had no problem cruising at the pace my friends were setting. We made one short stop at the Sea Cliff Fire Station to top off our water and use the bathroom before heading for home.
Our final trek took us back through Ventura, Oxnard and Channel Islands Harbor, before finishing in Port Hueneme.
We rolled in to the finish in daylight at a little after 7pm.
I was feeling great at the finish with all the fanfare. My friends had set up a party with cake, pizza and all kinds of goodies.
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| My friend Quynh presented me with this awesome plaque that he made. Thanks buddy!! |
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| And a cake!! |
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| Teresa and Kermit. A couple very special people. |
I cannot tell my friends enough, how much I appreciate them. It was amazing!
Thank You to everyone who came out to ride with me on this very special day and to all those who came to the party afterwards. It really means a lot to me.
A big thanks to Teresa (Tiger), Kermit, Ira and everyone with the LA Wheelmen, who helped organize this very special day.
I have said it before and I will say it again.
The best thing about the ultra-cycling community is the people you meet along the way!!
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