Solvang Double Century (Spring) 2022

 

The Solvang Double Century is one of my favorites. It is one of the older Triple Crown Events and would be my 181st Triple Crown Double Century.

I think I have done this event more than any other. It is just such a beautiful area to ride a bike.

This year I planned to do it on my tandem with my friend Margaret. 

 I did have a little anxiety about how I was going to do at the event since my cardiologist put me on a beta-blocker medication. I have been doing really well on it during training. I just wasn't sure how I would perform on the tandem on a double. 

I am about to turn 70 in a couple months, but my brain tells me I am in my 50s.

Turns out, I felt great!

____________________________________________________________

Margaret and I have been riding tandem on and off, for a couple years now. We have done some great training rides as well as some virtual double centuries during Covid. 

This would be our first real organized double century after events have opened up with the easing of Covid restrictions. 

The last time I did this on my tandem was, I think 2017, with my good friend Teresa (Tiger) Beck. 

She has since been riding tandem with her guy Chris, who did Solvang with her last year on the tandem.  They are a really strong team. 

Pre-race dinner with Margaret, Ron, Kevin, and Chris

This year we had a forecast of rain, which did not surprise me. This area is known for either wind or rain. Last year it was the wind. This year it was rain. 

Margaret and I both came prepared. We had so much gear that I decided to use my very large rondonneauring bag so we could stow all the stuff. It worked very well.

The Tandem (AKA Stealth) is loaded down with the heavy Rondo Bag. 

I drove up to the event with my friend Ron the day before. This was to be his 50th Triple Crown Double Century. He would now be in the hall of fame. A great accomplishment. 

Our plan was to start the ride at 5:30 am. We ended up starting around 5:40 with many of our usual group of friends. 

Our group consisted of Robert Mann, Phil Auriemma, Ron Iseri, Chris Bergstrom, and Chris Therrien. Kevin Walsh, another in our group, started much later and caught us later. He hung with us for a while. We had a few others tag along at the start who we didn't know. People do like to draft a tandem you know. 

We usually have Robert's wife Dee with us but she sat out the ride and went wine tasting with another of our group, Sybil. Teresa Beck just had a complete knee replacement so she was helping out and then came to meet us at the last rest stop. We really missed having them all with us, especially Teresa (Tiger) Beck. She is always the life of the party and probably the best ambassador to ultra-cycling out there on the road!

Mile 0 to 38.2

Buellton to the outskirts of Santa Maria

As we rolled out, the weather was not quite as cold as in the past but very damp. I had to keep wiping my glasses of all the moisture right from the start. 

We first headed southeast through the town of Solvang to Hwy 154 where we turned west and rode through the Santa Inez Valley for a while.

Solvang and the surrounding wine country is an amazing place to visit. I really need to come up sometime just to sightsee. I have yet to do that in all my years coming up here for this event. 

 It was still dark so there wasn't much to see. It was cloudy but not too much pea soup type of fog which can really be bad in the area sometimes. 

At mile marker 14.5, we turned off of the highway onto Foxen Canyon Road, we had a pretty large train of riders drafting us. (Everyone wants to draft a tandem!!)

 One of our friends got a flat so a couple stayed back with him as we moved forward up Foxen Canyon Road and the infamous "Wall" climb. 

It took me a while to warm up but I was feeling great as we made good time to the foot of the first little climb. We dropped it into the low gears and just motivated up "The Wall" into some very damp clouds at the top. We were pleasantly surprised to see that we were not that far behind the single riders in our group and we were actually catching some other riders that started earlier than us. 

I was very cautious dropping down the steep backside on the damp pavement. I think I was breaking the whole way down. I am a lot more cautious nowadays.

We rolled past the famous Fess Parker Winery on our right just before the final summit on Foxen Canyon which just seemed effortless compared to other times climbing that bump. I was feeling really good. 

We now flew down the other side toward Santa Maria to the first checkpoint at mile marker 38. We accumulated a large number of wheel suckers along the way as we passed many riders. (Some accelerated to get in our draft, some didn't.)

Rolling into checkpoint one.
The checkpoint was manned by our friends Jennifer and Alan.

Mile 38.2 to 78.85

From checkpoint one we had a long flat stretch into Santa Maria before making a right turn at mile 47.8 and climbing Bull Canyon Road to Highway 166. 

Again we did very well on the climb and stayed with all our friends to the top. 

The next stretch to checkpoint 2 was our best as far as speed is concerned. We were able to carry a very good pace all the way to the next stop in San Luis Obispo. We were all just flying on the rollers going from Santa Maria to the Arroyo Grande area!

The course changes somewhat during this section due to construction. We really liked the new approach to SLO and other changes coming later. There seemed to be a bit more climbing but it was a lot nicer. 

We made a very short stop and rolled as we knew we would be coming back soon for lunch.

Checkpoint 2 and later the lunch stop after the loop around SLO.
 The stop was manned by our good friend Melinda Clare and Adam Bramwells family.

Mile 78.85 to 100.1

SLO Loop

Now we're on a loop course through SLO  and to the west. We then looped back on a really nice road that went through Cuesta College then over the hills to Los Osos Valley where we turned back into SLO for the lunch stop at the same location as checkpoint 2. 

These two checkpoints were at a local house owned by Adam Bramwell who is the son of Triple Crown Head, Chuck Bramwell. It was a great stop with a large park and bathrooms across the street. 

We ate lunch and then rolled.

At the lunch stop with Adam Bramwell. 
Thanks for being such a good host, Adam!!

Mile 100.1 to 139.2

SLO to Guadalupe

It started raining pretty well just about right when we got back on the bike. We were lucky thus far with just a few sprinkles. It rained for about 30 minutes before it let up and was nice.

We now rolled over to Shell Beach, which is a neighborhood of Pismo Beach, before climbing the hills to the east through Price Canyon. 

We took a road called Ormonde Road. This had some tough climbing on it!!

 We had one long climb that was a steady 12%. We were climbing for a while at 4mph. It just seemed endless, and Margaret and I were really struggling. 

We got it done although we both felt pretty spent after. We then had another less steep climb before dropping down to the Orollo Grande vicinity again.

From there we got some good recovery for a while before another tough climb, which I like to call "The Mesa Climb". 

This climb takes you from the flats up onto a large mesa overlooking the area. 

We cruised at a steady pace in our low gear to the summit before stopping to strip off the rain jackets. It was now getting too warm for the jackets. 

The mesa has a bunch of rolling climbs with a couple good descents on it. We made good time through this section before dropping down to the valley floor again where we were maintaining between 17-20 mph to the next checkpoint in Guadalupe, Ca., again leading a large train formed behind us. 

We took a good long break here. Maybe too long. 

Mile 139.2 to 165.7

Guadalupe to Los Alamos

The weather looked like it was going to clear up at this point and there was very little wind which is highly unusual for Guadalupe. Last year we had a 25-35 mph tailwind leaving Guadalupe and all the way to Los Alamos.

We rolled out a little behind our group to Ca Highway 1 where we made a right turn and headed southeast. We slowly rolled up the rear of all our friends and I decided to just take advantage of their draft for a chance to recover a little. It was really nice although it was a little more stressful trying not to rear-end my friends with the heavy tandem. I was coasting a lot. 

After passing Black Canyon, we start a long steady climb toward the turn to Vandenburg Air Force Base. We break off to the southeast before the base. 

Many Solvang Doubles in the past went up Vandenburg Grade and right by the base. It is really cool. One year we actually had a missile launch while riding past. 

We were nice and recovered and were able to just sit in the rear and keep up with the group on the climb with very little effort. I was feeling the whole time like I could have gone much harder and passed but I decided to wait until we reached the descent. 

On the downhills, we really had to pass. 

That heavy tandem just drops like a ton of bricks and I would have been on the brakes the whole time. 

We hung back a bit at the top of the climb and then just coasted until we got to the split in the road. 

At this point, Highway 1 goes to the right and up to Vandenburg AFB. We were to take the road to Los Alamos which was the left split, but we had to merge all the way across two lanes of busy Highway to get on it.

As soon as we saw an opening in the cars, we punched it and merged across, passing just about everyone. I then settled into my aero bars and got in cruise mode on the flat road doing about 25mph.

We could see rain squalls ahead which looked like pouring rain in the hills. It turned out to be very light so I didn't put on my rain jacket. I was wearing a wool long sleeve base layer and it did just fine even when it was wet, keeping me warm until the next checkpoint. 

As we started a gradual climb again, most of our group caught up. It was at this time that someone got a flat tire. 

It was now raining pretty well so we kept going, because there was no cover, while someone stayed back and helped. 

I think this was the fastest I have ever done this section without a tailwind. Even with a slight uphill grade, we were making 16-20 mph on this section on the heavy tandem. We again started picking up solo riders who were suffering on this stretch like I had so so many times in the past. We asked them to tag on the back for a draft. 

One of them was my good friend Ron Ng.

Ron did my 100th double century with our group back in 2011 on the LA Wheelmen Grand Tour Highland Course. It was a great memory and we had a great time all riding together on that day. We have not done much riding together since he moved up to the bay area. 

Into Los Alamos, we rolled with a huge craving for the "Cup-o-Soup" they always serve there. There is something about that large amount of sodium that really helps a double rider recover for the final hills to the finish.

We always have a lot of fun at this stop. Teresa, Dee, and Sybil were there to greet us. We again stayed way to long. 

I saw my friend Peg Miller there. She was working the rest stop. Peg was my teammate at the Silver State 508 on a 4 person mixed team a few years ago when we raced with the late, great, Grace Ragland. It was such a sad loss losing Gracie. I only knew her for a short time but felt like she was family after that race. 

Peg and I will be racing the 508 again this year on a 4-person, mixed, Team White Owl. 

Mile 165.7-193.5

Los Alamos to Buellton

The rain stopped just before Los Alamos, and then it looked like it was going to clear up. It was short-lived though.

From this stop, we now headed over to Alisos Canyon for a climb through this beautiful canyon to Foxen Canyon and the return to the Solvang area. This is also another great Santa Barbara County wine-growing area. 

Alisos is a nice steady, 6-mile climb to the summit before turning on Foxen at about 6.5 miles. 

Once on Foxen Canyon, we had to climb a couple really tough climbs for a tandem. 

The first took us past the Zaca Mesa winery for a real grind to the summit of the mesa. We were both just spent and it was raining so that drained us even more. We didn't have the legs left to stand and get out of the saddle so it made it a real grind being planted on our seats in one position. We just hunkered down and got it done. 

The descent down the other side was very rainy and scary on the tandem. It was now getting dark and it was very hard to see any potholes so I just crawled down until the road straightened out a bit. 

Now was the final really hard climb..."The Wall" on Foxen Canyon Road. It is shorter on the west side but steeper. Only around a half-mile but at the end of a double century, it feels longer.

Again we crawled up.

The descent on the other side was less technical with fewer turns so I was able to see better up ahead and let the bike do its thing. The road was not that bad either with the better pavement. 

On these last two descents in the pouring rain, I could feel Margaret in the back with her head down against my back just hiding from the rain. I do act like a pretty good windshield.

We now had one more climb...Ballard Canyon Road.

This is a short climb but it's the descent back down to Solvang that is so brutal, especially in the dark or rain. 

The road is very rough, to begin with, but also had many hidden potholes that are so jarring. I don't know how many of those we hit. 

Again I just had to crawl down and let most of our friends go since it was so sketchy. The tandem just accelerates so fast. You have to really be on top of it or before you know it, you are going too fast to avoid something on the road.

We made it through the rough part and rolled into the finish around 8pm. 

Margaret did a stellar job stoking the fire and I felt great the whole time. I am so proud of her. She has not been riding tandem that long and has really become a great teammate and stoker. We felt really in sinc most of the ride. 

Below is a short little video compilation. Conditions were not very conducive to picture and video taking on this event.

A big kudos go out to Ron Iseri who entered the prestigious California Triple Crown Hall of Fame by finishing the Solvang Double Century!

A huge congrats Ron!

Thanks to all the great volunteers on the ride. The rest stops were great and a lot of fun.

A big thanks to Deb and Brian at Planet Ultra for another stellar event. 

Stats:

• 193.55mi
  Distance
 
• 12:13:27
  Moving Time
 
• 8,114ft
  Elevation

2021 Silver State 508 Ultra Marathon Bike Race. A rookie mistake, but it didn't matter anyway.

 I don't think I have ever been so well prepared for an event before this one.

I was feeling better at the start than any other ultra-race I have done. My training was more on track than in the past too. 

At the young age of 69, I was very conscious of my limits. 

This year I was going to attempt doing the race in the self-supported Rondonneur Division.

For those that don't know, in this division, you have to be self-sufficient and will have no support crew. You have to be prepared on the bike and make sure that everything you may need to pick up along the way is put in drop bags to be left at the time stations. Rondonneur riding is how I usually train on all my long treks anyway.

In training, I was maintaining a pace that would easily have me finishing the race in under 45 hours without even working that hard. One of my training rides was The Tour of Two Forests Double Century, which I rode from home to the start. This was a very tough double with very tough climbing. 250 miles total with over 2/3 of the 508 climbing. I also did a 300-mile training ride fully loaded up to Lompoc and back, leaving at 9pm.

 (My overall average speed on these training rides that were way tougher than the course at the 508 were a good indicator of my fitness going into the race)

All of this was good but left out one important factor....weather conditions on the course. 

This year on the race I had to call it quits with just under 200 miles in my legs, and after mulling everything over, I think I know where I went wrong, very wrong. 

I have to say this though. 

If I had not made the mistake early on, I really don't think it would have made a difference in the final outcome. All of the self-supported division racers on this year's race did not finish and they were all much younger than me. Only 4 of the solo-supported racers completed the race.

Here is my story.

I left home a little early for Reno, Nevada where the race is located. 

I decided to make the trip in 2 days to get acclimated to the higher altitude and dry air on the racecourse. 

My buddy Victor let me stay at his condo in Mammoth Lakes for a night. His place is near the village and is at an altitude of just over 8,000 feet. 

When I got up to Mammoth, the first thing I wanted to do was do go for a short bike ride. I wanted to do this for 2 reasons just so I could sleep well up there and to prime my legs a little at a higher altitude than I would be experiencing at the race. 

I also was drinking Pedialyte Sport electrolyte drink as a pre-load. I have had a problem since getting older of getting dehydrated just traveling to these very dry climates. At the Eastern Sierra Double Century this year, when I got out of the car after the trip to Bishop, Ca., my hamstrings were cramped and I almost fell out onto the street. 

Riding toward Lake Mary. The road was closed due to the forest closure as a result of the fires. No smoke on this day though. 

The Lake Mary bike path

The Mammoth Lodge area. All downhill back to the village from here.

I did a ride of about 12 miles with about 1,700 feet of elevation gain up at altitude. I just took it easy but I could really feel the altitude in my breathing. I climbed up to just under 9,000 feet at the Mammoth Lodge.  That night, I slept like a baby. The first time I have slept that well at altitude in a long long time. 

The next morning I left for Reno and arrived plenty early to get my bike inspected and get myself checked in for the race. 

Getting my bike set-up approved by, race official, and none other than RAAM winner Cindi Staiger. 

My mugshot

I saw many of my Adobo Velo clubmates at the inspection and check-in. It was great to see all of them. Many were doing the race and many were supporting racers. 

Then came the pre-race meeting. The race director Robert Panzera did a great job and made it a fun meeting. 

We all got together for a group photo of all the races before the meeting closed. 

I had a great Italian dinner with friends, (Thanks Dee and Robert!), and then it was back to the hotel for early retirement. The solo race was to start at 5am. 

We started on time. The temp was really nice. A cool 57 degrees requiring me to only start with a vest and arm warmers. 

We did the neutral roll out a bit too fast and it took me a while, at my age, to get my second wind. Then the pace car made a wrong turn on a Hwy that you could not make a U-turn on so we all stopped and either jumped the center island or went backward on the same side of the road in the opposite way of traffic. Everyone was split up and already racing pretty hard for quite some time before the pace car caught up just before the start of actual racing at the turn toward the climb up Geiger Grade.

I was very prepared. I was probably carrying too much on the bike, but after last year, with the crazy storms we had, I was ready for anything. 

I  had my real cold-weather gear at the time station in Austin Nevada at mile 185. I was prepared for rain at any time just in case. 

Stage one: Reno to Silver Springs

48.8 miles

Elevation gain: 2,996’

Maximum elevation: 6,710’

The climb up Geiger Grade was the easiest I have ever done. I was not particularly any faster because I was carrying everything but the kitchen sink on the bike, but my breathing was great and I just felt wonderful. 

I followed one of my fellow Rondo riders up the entire climb. He was doing it on a fixed gear. I really admire those guys. 

My much younger friend Robert was doing it on his fixed gear with a crew. He just flew up the mountain and disappeared. 

Over the top, I went and as I descended into Virginia City, I was feeling great. I really had not even finished one bottle of water because it was so cool on the climb. I never really felt the need to drink. 

In hindsight, this was the beginning of the problems which were to come in just over 100 miles. 

I was carrying 3 bottles on the bike and my plan was to make sure I downed all 3 in the first 48 or so miles to the first time station in Silver Springs. I had my small Camel-back in my drop bag at Middlegate for the climb up Carroll Grade and into Austin. I was going to leave it there for the evening while I did the out and back to Eureka. Then I would pick it up in Austin on the way back.

Part of the problem was I was using the brand new bottles that I received with my entry at check-in. These were awesome bottles, but brand new, and the nipple on the bottle was not broken in yet. It was really hard for me to get a good flow of water. I should have brought the bottles I had planned to use. It was a bit too hard for me to squeeze the new bottles hard enough to get enough water in each squeeze. My bad. 

I just flew down out of Virginia City on the 6-Mile Canyon descent to the turn on the Highway. After that, I kept a steady pace to the time station in Silver Springs. I rode some of it with a fellow Rondonneur who was from the San Francisco area. 

When I got there, I had only drunk 1.5 bottles of Tailwind Endurance which I was using as my electrolyte/fluid source. I was feeling really good at this point just pacing myself. I was going a little harder than I had in training though and I could feel it a bit. 

Stage 2: Silver Springs to Fallon

31.35 miles.

Total miles: 80.12

Elevation gain: 266 feet

Maximum elevation: 4,462

I did not stay too long at Silver Springs. I just filled my bottles, drank and Ensure Plus, and headed out. 

I pushed pretty hard to Fallon, knowing that it is a pretty short stretch. One thing that was troubling me was that from the turn-off Six Mile Canyon to where I was now, there was a headwind. Not too strong but just enough to make it hard.

Most of the way, I would see my friends from my club, Adobo Velo, leapfrogging their solo riders. I was staying just ahead which surprised me because I was carrying so much weight. Maybe I was pushing too hard. The Rondo riders who I had gone over Geiger with, were still behind me. As far as I knew, there was one Rondo ahead of me. He was a very strong French guy who I talked to a little bit on the neutral section. 

It was pretty smokey and ugly heading toward and into Fallon.

I rolled into time station 2 feeling very good. I had only taken down one more bottle. It was still pretty cool out. 

I was treated to a really awesome air show by the US Navy as I approached the time station. I must have seen 30, F18 Super Hornets and F35s take off from the Top Gun School at NAS Fallon. They were turning and burning after takeoff right over the time station. Really cool. 

I guzzled down another bottle, drank an Ensure again and some food, then filled my 3 bottles.

Stage three: Fallon to Austin.

106.4 miles

Total miles: 186.7

Elevation gain: 5,049’

Maximum altitude: 7,245’

This next stage is broken up into two sections for the Rondonneurs. 

The self-supported riders get another stop about halfway to Austin, just past the town of Middlegate at the turn on to Hwy 722, where they can leave a drop bag with supplies.

This next section was pretty tough. It is not particularly hard but one of the long stretches that just seem never-ending. This is when the headwind started getting a little worse. It was fairly flat until getting to Sand Springs Pass but seemed way harder with the headwind. In years past doing the race, I always had no wind or a slight tailwind on this stretch. The weather seemed to be changing. The wind kept switching on this stretch. 

Sand Springs Pass looking south. (This would be the return trip. Actually easier than north-bound)

Over Sand Springs Pass I went and then a nice relaxing downhill to bank some energy. (the above picture is the north-bound descent.)

Then it was over Drum Summit before a long flat section to Middlegate. I then caught up with another Rondo whom I had forgotten about, just before the time station. There were 2 in front of me, not one. 

This guy was an Italian Cyclist but he was currently living in the US. Really nice guy. We chatted for a bit at the Rondo stop.

The wind was howling at the Rondo stop. A sign of things to come? At its current direction, it would be a crossing headwind up and over Carroll Grade. Stuff was starting to blow over at the stop and I was getting a little concerned. I downed another Ensure Plus, some solid food, and a soda. Oh... did that soda taste good. 

Resting at the Middlegate Rondo Stop.                                    Photo credit: Robert Panzera

I still felt pretty good when I left the stop into a pretty nasty headwind. It was not all that hot compared to other years. The wind seemed to cool me off a bit but it also had the effect of drying me out too. 

My quads were starting to burn a bit so I backed off a little bit. I talked to my new Italian friend for a bit as we made the turn at the little ranch that signifies the start of Carroll Grade.

I now was carrying 3 bottles, two with Tailwind Endurance Fuel and one with just plain water. I now was wearing my Camel-back which I had half-full. I thought this would be enough fluid but I was wrong. 

I was feeling really good right up until the first signs of trouble!

I was putting some distance on my new Italian friend and actually holding my own pretty well considering all the weight I was carrying. I saw a number of my club-mates who were on teams that were catching up with the solos now. They all started at 7 am and being on a relay team, are able to carry a much faster pace than solo riders. 

The first sign of trouble was a very slight inner thigh cramp which I was able to work out. I guzzled down a bottle of my endurance fuel which is high in electrolytes.  In the past when I had a slight tinge of a cramp, I could handle it by drinking down some electrolytes and it would go away.

Not this time!!

I was fine for a while. I got out of the saddle on a little kicker section feeling really good. When I sat down and started pedaling, both my quads started cramping. I dropped into a very low gear and that seemed to help. Now I started drinking down as much fluid as I could. 

On this short stretch, I drank down 2 bottles of electrolyte fluid, one bottle of water, and my Camel-back. Now I started realizing that I had made a rookie mistake. I didn't drink enough when I felt it wasn't necessary. 

My bad!!!

I was now running out of water and I was only about 2/3 of the way up Carroll Grade.

I stopped to stretch out the cramps and as soon as I tried to get off the bike, both my hamstrings cramped. I stopped for a while and stretched. 

I re-mounted and spun my easiest gear up the hill. 

The steeper, switchbacks were just up ahead and I knew I was not far from the summit. 

In all my other 508's, this climb just did not seem all that tough compared to the things I ride in my local mountains. It is a whole different animal when you are dehydrated. 

Nothing seemed to help. 

The next time I clipped out my hamstrings and quads cramped. Then the arches in my feet cramped and I almost fell over because I couldn't get my cleats un-clipped. It was time to walk.

I wanted to keep moving forward. Having already lost, maybe 30 minutes, I was losing ground fast. None of the other Rondo's passed me though so that was encouraging. They must have been having trouble also or just took long breaks on the way up. 

Some of my Adobo Velo brothers saw me and offered me some pickle juice. That big glass of pickle juice and the dill pickle in it tasted so good. I gave them a huge thanks and kept walking.

It really hurt my back to walk up that hill. I walked at about 2 mph to within a quarter-mile of the summit.

 After 3 attempts to get back on and almost falling over with cramps, I was able to get back on when it leveled a little bit. 

Over the summit, I went. 

I was able to work out the cramps by just spinning and recovering on the long descent off of the grade. I was actually feeling pretty good, but I could not push very hard and had no power. 

As the descent opened up to an iconic view,  I had a crosswind from the south which was pretty hard. I knew I would have a tailwind now going into Austin and time station 3. 

The road made a slight left turn at the big ranch and then I had a blazing tailwind that I could not take advantage of. I was not even pushing hard in a lower gear just spinning at 20 mph when I could be going 30 in this kind of wind. 

I stopped for a minute to take in some food, thinking that maybe I needed some calories to bring my power back. At least I wasn't cramping anymore. 

Note: I have had the next situation happen before and after countless tests, scans, halter monitors, and cardiologist visits, my cardiologist diagnosed it as being caused by dehydration and just doing this type of thing at my age. From my cardiologist's mouth. "You  can get away with it when your younger, but your heart is a muscle and things change when you are older."

One of the reasons I take in more electrolytes just getting to the race.

I know when to recognize it now and know when I should stop and recover. 

I have never had it happen at a race though. Only a couple times in training and on one double century event in the past 5 years.

 Every time it has happened, it was after eating when stopped....every time!

                                           Just before my food break and it all hit the fan.                                             
Photo credit:  Robert Panzera

 

Well, I took in some solid food hoping that I would recover some of my power. I was not having the feeling of bonking at all, I just felt I had not been eating enough. 

My heart rate was down at about 118 when I stopped to eat and I felt fine while eating. 

As soon as I came to the first little kicker of a hill and got out of the saddle to push a bit....again with no more cramps...my HR ramped up to 180 and I was not even working all that hard. 

I have felt this before and knew exactly what was happening. My doctor explained it this way. When you are a dehydrated athlete, and eat too much solid food on a hot day, and you ask your heart, which is a muscle, to put in a hard effort, your heart has to work too hard to not only deal with the dehydration but deal with trying to digest the food you just ate at the same time. It can't handle it.

Well...long story short...I slowed way down and had a hard time just keeping my HR below 150. On the climb over Railroad Summit, I was in the lowest gear and just taking it easy at an HR of about 150. On descents, it would go down to 125 but as soon as I tried to push the pedals at all it would go up to 150 again.  

I could have made up so much time on this section! There was a blazing fast tailwind but all I could do was push easy and coast. Sad!

At the top of Railroad Summit, one of the solo riders crew was there and they asked me how I was doing. I was totally out of water now and was just praying someone would show up. 

They topped off my bottles and I was on my way. 

You could see the weather change starting as I rode into Austin. The smoke was clearing and clouds were forming. Bells were going off in my head.

I kept thinking about the climb to Austin and then the climb out of Austin to Austin Summit. One of the hardest climbs. My plan was to recover at the time station and re-hydrate. I would be riding into the night and the temps would be cooling way down. I knew if the winds improved, I could recover nicely on the bike. I do much better in the cold than other people. Must be my Swiss heritage.

Well...the climb to the time station after the right turn on Hwy 50 just took everything out of me. Lowest gear and I barely made it. 

When I stopped and checked myself in, all that was going through my head was the forecast of 30-40 MPH winds for the following day coming out of the south, southwest. 

I was about 1.5 hours later at the time station than when I did it solo with a crew back in 2016 and finished in 42 hours. I knew I could do it if the weather was as usual on this course, but was thinking that it would be virtually impossible if the forecast was correct, especially after my dehydration incident. The beautiful clouds that were forming as the sun was setting, some of them Lenticular Clouds, was a sign of the weather change!

I sat down and started putting some warmer clothes on. It was unusually warm and still in the '60s in Austin. It usually cools down much faster. 

My heart rate was still at 150 and was not going down yet. I guzzled a bottle of electrolytes and it started to recover some but just not enough.

Not long before this, I noticed that my friend Robert, who was doing the race on his fixed gear, solo, was stopped and his crew was at the time station with him. I heard Dee, Robert's wife yell out to me. 

Rob was having dehydration problems also and had cramped on Carroll Grade also. I cant imagine cramping and trying to climb on a fixed gear bike. 

Knowing that if I decided to quit, I was on my own as far as finding a ride back to Reno, made my next decision much easier. There was also that thing about the weather too. 

Also...I am almost 70 years young and if I left for the next time station in Eureka 70 miles away with nothing in between but a desolate desert in the dark,  Remember, I was riding self-supported. 

I usually just love riding all by myself out in the middle of nowhere but this was different. 

I asked Dee if I decided to call it if they had room for me and my bike. I offered to join their crew and ride with them the rest of the race supporting Robert. They said absolutely. 

Robert started up the hill as they moved things around to make room. Luckily they had a giant van but it was still tight. 

I walked over to the official's table and gave them my GPS tracker. I told them I was calling it.

We drove up the hill and caught up to Robert just before the summit. The wind was howling in a headwind now as he went down off of Austin Summit to Bob Scott Summit. He was fighting the wind on his way down. It was still unusually warm. 

We got about 20 or so miles out when Rob just stopped. The winds were killing him and he said he was overheated even though it was in the '50s outside. 

He wanted to go down for a 45-minute nap. 

We moved the bikes outside and down he went. 

We all took a little nap, then the alarm went off. 

Robert was still feeling pretty bad when he woke up. He didn't look very good either.

His crew would spend over 2 hours from the time we stopped trying to get him to recover but it just wasn't happening. 

The crew was discussing all the time scenarios and how he had plenty of time to finish even if it took him till 5 am to get to Eureka. Then he would have 25 hours to do 250 miles on the return. Totally possible considering there is actually less climbing on the return.

This is when the same discussion came into play that I was having with myself in my head, about the weather forecast.

Long story short...after a very long discussion...it was decided that Robert would call it also and save himself for his upcoming 24 hour time trial race in a few weeks. Again the weather forecast was one of the main factors I believe. 

As it turned out, we both made the correct decision!

There is no way we could have finished when we saw what came to pass the following day.

The wind was already starting to come up out of the south when we arrived back at the hotel in Reno at around 3-4am.

After the sun came up, it progressively started to get stronger...MUCH STRONGER!!

I still had to stay in Reno one more day to retrieve my drop bags on Sunday morning after the time stations close and they bring them to the finish. Robert and his crew were off Saturday morning for home.

After saying goodbye, I drove over to the finish to hang out the rest of the day.

Final words:

The wind started howling so bad at the finish line in Reno that the entire finish line needed to be taken down and things literally tied down. I helped Robert Panzera, the race director, attach the 508 banners to his van at the finish with Gorilla Tape but that didn't work. It almost blew away and he had to take it down. 

Winds were gusting out of the south-southwest close to 40mph I would estimate. At one point the t-shirts and boxes of trophies started blowing across the street next to the finish line. It was crazy. 

I really felt for the race director, Robert. This was all such a bummer.

The few solo racers who came in next reported very dangerous cross-winds descending Geiger Grade. This prompted Robert to put out an emergency text to all competitors and their crews that it would be allowable to shuttle riders down the grade in their support vehicle to the bottom. 

Seeing how bad the wind was down in Reno, I could only imagine how bad the crosswinds must be up on that big mountain on that very fast descent. (I was very scared a couple of years ago doing that descent with just the normal winds in the afternoon.)

On my phone, I was watching the GPS tracker and seeing that people on their southbound trek were riding at a snail's pace. I could only imagine trying to do that self-supported. As it ended up, none of the Rondonneurs finished. I don't think any made even back to Middlegate before calling it quits. 

Only 4 solo riders finished. (I had made the right call in quitting.)

11 solo riders did not finish, 7 of them Rondonneurs. 

It was a tough year with conditions, in my opinion, tougher than the storms and weird conditions of last year. High winds can make it so tough to finish this type of race in the desert where you are totally exposed. 

I will be back next year on a team to finally snag that Hall of Fame for the race which slipped by this year.  This year was going to be my solo 500 swan song.

Not sure, at 70 if I will have another solo, non-stop RAAM qualifier in me, but who knows. Stranger things have happened. 

 

 

15th Anniversary Hoodoo 500 Ultra Marathon Bike Race

 

What can I say about The Hoodoo 500? 

Well...it is the most spectacular race out there if you take into account the beautiful course, the incredible difficulty, and the wonderful people involved every year.

This would be my 6th year doing the race.

This year for my favorite race, I asked my friend David if he wanted to do it on a team with me. We would be doing the 2-person Stage Race as a 70+ team.

He answered me back right away with an enthusiastic.....YES!

David is really the star of this race!!

In his early 70's, David had a bad cycling accident with some serious broken bones almost a year from the date of the event.

 10 broken ribs, collapsed lung, re-injured shoulder (separation), cracked neck vertebra, cracked vertebra mid-back, broken pelvis ( places) with displacement.

He was unconscious for a few hours with no memory of the trauma event so may have had a concussion 

When I asked him, I thought it would be good for him to have something to train for during his recovery and I was right. I may be wrong, but I  think it gave him some extra motivation. Wow.. what a comeback!

At first, I thought we might be able to self-crew the race but finally decided to ask around to see if anyone would like to be our driver/crew.

Stepping up was our good friend Julie who we both have known for many years. Julie and her husband Colin crewed for my late friend John and me when we did the LA Wheelmen Grand Tour Quad on Johns's tandem in 2014. I have done many rides and events with Julie. 

We left town a little early so we could get a bit acclimatized to the dry air and higher altitude of Southern Utah.

The race started on a Friday. We left on Wednesday and arrived in Saint George in the late afternoon.

My idea was to do like I did back at some of my former races. Have a day ahead to do a short bike ride to acclimatize. It worked well.

We went out for a 28-mile ride on the first part of the race route. Julie drove the support vehicle course to familiarize herself with the route. We met her out on course and rode back to the hotel with her. 

Later in the afternoon, we had check-in and the race meeting for the stage racers.

Rider check-in: Our mug shot with crew chief Julie Stokes

The non-stop race started on Saturday so their meeting and check-in was on Friday while we were racing our first stage. 

Check-in and the meeting went well. We then went out for a great dinner at Pancho and Lefty's Mexican Restaurant across the street.

STAGE ONE: St. George to Escalante. 

196.6 miles. 11,890 feet elevation gain.

The forecast was for a warm day, but it was nice and cool at the 7 am start.

We all had GPS tracking units so the public could follow our tracks throughout the race. For the team racers, the tracking unit acted as a baton. The rider who was on the road was required to be carrying the tracker.

You can click here for the GPS tracking link and replay the race on the tracker by pressing the replay button. 

The first 7 miles of the course was a neutral start where all riders stayed and warmed up at a leisure pace following along with a pacer who would take us out of town. 

David and I did the neutral start together, then David was going to do the first relay pull. 

Our plan was to do 45-minute splits on the bike depending on whether the support crew had a place to stop. It worked out very nicely. 

Julie devised a sign set-up. She made 3 signs. One that said 30 minutes left, one that said 15, and a triangle that meant the next time would be the transition to the other rider. The signs worked great.

David took the first pull toward the town of Washington. The course was great at the beginning. A long ride on Hwy 7, a nice wide highway with a huge shoulder. 

I took the next pull into Hurricane where David took over once again. He then did the climb out of town and on to a good climb and toward Arizona. I took over into Arizona, then we switched off a few times until the next turn which was at mile marker 60.3. 

Getting ready to roll on day one.

Waiting in the van between pulls

The section heading toward Arizona was the hardest for me. On this year's race, it was a slight uphill that didn't look like one, with a headwind. I really struggled for some reason. Not far before the turn at mile 60.3, I got my second wind and just came to life. Not sure what happened but when I saw the turn toward The Coral Pink Sand Dunes, I woke up and it seemed effortless. 

It just felt effortless at that point as I pushed toward the next turn at mile 88. It was getting hot with temps around 100, but it did not seem to phase me. David did great too. This was such a beautiful area. The pictures just don't do it justice. 

I took the baton from David a ways before getting on Hwy 89. 

The course just keeps getting more beautiful the farther you get into the race. 

I was now bombing down a really nice descent toward Time Station One in Orderville. 

I took a long 17+ mile pull since it was mostly downhill. We switched at the time station which ended up just about 9 minutes longer than my 45-minute session. I was feeling great. 

We had some great climbs and some great descents on Hwy 89 before our turn on Hwy 12. We had a tailwind and crossing tailwind on this section. The temperature was still in the 90's but it felt a little better than the 100+ we had near the Sand Dunes. 

David took our team on to Hwy 12 toward Red Canyon, one of the most beautiful places on the course. 

We switched off just before the long bike path that goes from Red Canyon to Bryce Canyon State Park. 

Rolling up the Red Canyon bike path

Julie having a little fun in Red Canyon

We switched off right near the time station at Bryce and David took the pull down the descent to Tropic and through the infamous "Notch", a beautiful cut in the mountain with the road going through. 

The course was really getting more and more beautiful as we went along. 

David climbing through "The Notch"

This is just on the other side of the notch. So beautiful!!

We rolled through Escalante-Grand Staircase switching a few times before David took the final climb before Escalante. 

Starting one of the final pulls toward Escalante

From what the race organizers say, this is the single toughest climb on the course on day one.

We told David we would switch about halfway up. We lied!

We missed our only opportunity to pull over so we went on up to the top and waited. To our surprise, David came up over the summit not long after we got up there. 

He did awesomely and made that climb look so easy.

David looking good on the toughest climb on day 1

At the summit. Escalante hear I come!

I took the pull from the summit for the blazing, 18-mile descent to the time station in Escalante.

I made it to Time Station One just before 7 pm with plenty of daylight. 

Day one was a success. 

Julie ordered pizza and it was ready not long after we finished so she went and picked it up. We relaxed for a while and then crashed so we could recover for day 2, the toughest section of the race.

PIZZA!!

STAGE 2: Escalante to Panguitch. 

171 Miles. 10,794 feet of elevation gain.

Stage two is arguably the toughest section of the race, whether you are doing it solo or on the stage race. 

If your choice is the solo race, you do most of this section in the dark and cannot see the stark beauty of this amazing section from Escalante, up on to the infamous Hogsback and over Boulder Mountian. As a solo, you will see first light somewhere on or near the climb out of Loa, Utah to an 8,600-foot summit with Boulder Mountain looming at your rear. You then have pretty cool or downright cold temps all morning until out of the Kusharem area. 

On the stage race, you get to see this amazing course in daylight but it comes with one caveat. 

Heat and wind, which is why I say this is the toughest section, especially on the stage race. 

This year it was hot, but not as windy as previous years so we got very lucky. The heat made up for it though. 

We rolled out of Escalante with David taking the first pull. We stayed at our 45 minute time intervals until we got to Boulder Mountain. We then switched to 20-30 intervals, especially on the steeper lower slopes. 

David finishing off one of the first climbs on day one above Escalante on a cool morning

Me climbing to the infamous "Hogsback". This grade...about 15%

This whole morning section was spectacular as usual. There was a little smoke in the high cloud layers from the California wildfires but it was not too bad. It was nice and cool the whole morning. 

Climbing 9,600 foot Boulder Mountain out of Bolder Utah.

It was beautiful up there

Up and over we went. I took the final pull over the 9,600-foot summit feeling fantastic. 

It was now down down down off the mountain. 

This descent is not all descending though. There are a few little climbs on the way down. We switched off once and David took it down to just before the beautiful Torrey Utah area. 

This was the toughest section of the day for me. The worst of the headwind on this day just happened to be from Torrey to the Loa area. It was getting rather warm too. 

I just geared down and kept a nice steady pace. 

Coming down to a lower altitude, I started to feel really good.

Next up...The nasty climb out of Loa!

I will never forget the first time I did this climb.

My first time doing Hoodoo, I did it solo. 

It was my first RAAM qualifying race back in 2014. 

Why I did the toughest of the US RAAM qualifiers on my first one, we will never know. All I know is that I got it done and had a blast with crew chief and friend Victor Cooper and my two daughters Cherisse and Nicole as my crew.

I had just had a 2-hour sleep stop in Loa at the time station laid out in the van with the heater going because it was in the low 30's outside.

As first-light came, I was about halfway up this tough "stair-step" climb to 8,600 feet. It just seemed never-ending as a solo racer. 

My very first time up this brutal climb out of Loa. 2014 and very early after just waking up.

This being my 6th year doing the race and doing it this time on a relay team, it just seemed too easy.

2021 climbing out of Loa with Boulder Mountain behind me.

I took the really steep lower section and then we hit some road construction. David took the baton and took it to the summit. We could not do a switch due to the following car that led us to the summit with one-way traffic. We waited for David up there.

I took it from there and bombed the very long descent into a headwind, to the town of Kusharem. 

I then had tailwinds and 100+ degree heat for quite some time. 

David and I relayed a few times through this section and eventually had a crossing headwind which was a little worrisome. We were thinking of the infamous headwinds going into Panguitch.

It was a long, hot, slog out of Kusharem as usual.

Rolling down the valley out of Kusharem Utah

Once we made the right turn on the Hwy, we had a slight headwind but it was not too bad. 

On this year, this stretch heading into Panguitch just seemed way too easy. 

From Circleville to Panguitch, we had no headwind, in fact, we had some tailwind. Go figure.

David and I switching in Circleville Utah

Anyway...I was the last one to pull us into Panguitch with lots of light to spare in the day. Day 2 was done and dusted and we had a great time. Now for fish sandwiches thanks to our awesome crew Julie!

Finishing up day 2. Woo hooo!

STAGE 3:  Panguitch to Saint George

152.6 miles. 7,920 feet elevation gain. 12,000 feet elevation loss!

Day three started out great but it was a little cold. The temp on my bike in the sun read 46 degrees but the crew in the car said it was 42. Luckily, we were climbing the whole time. 

I started first and just needed a vest. My hands got cold and numb, but knowing that I would be climbing right out of the box, I didn't mind. It would be warming up soon enough to perfect climbing temps in the mountains. 

The first kickers out of town are the steepest part of the climb to Cedar Breaks. Short but pretty steep when first starting out. The cold dry air affected my asthma and I had to use my inhaler. Once the sun warmed me up a bit, my breathing was amazing all the way up to the 10,600-foot summit. 

We both felt great on this third day. David was amazed at how good he felt. He was climbing like a beast and made it look effortless. 

Climbing out of Panguitch at sunrise.

Climbing out of Panguitch at sunrise.

My last pull toward Cedar Breaks. 10,600 feet 

                                       

  My friend Rick and I climbing toward Panguitch Lake. Rick was doing the solo stage race.

Two old guys huh Julie? 

Doing this climb as a relay just made it seem to go by so quickly. We seemed to fly up to the summit.

I was so happy that we were doing the whole climb up to Cedar Breaks this year.

The past few years, the course cut over through Duck Creek to the main highway which goes to Cedar City. That highway was very stressful, with not much of a shoulder and heavy RV and off-road enthusiast traffic hauling their toys. It was pretty scary depending on the time of day you were on it. 

The original course cut across through Cedar Breaks National Park and brought us to the summit of this highway so we only had to descend it to Cedar City. This was not quite as bad but still stressful.

The new course was fantastic!!

We did the climb up to the summit where we used to turn into the park on the original course, but this year we turned right instead of left which dropped us down through the Ski Resort of Brian Head to the town of Parowan, which is just north of Cedar City. 

David about to summit at Cedar Breaks

It was an amazing 16-mile descent and very beautiful.

David did the final section of the climb to 10,600 feet and then the descent.

I switched with him in Parowan.

The next part of the course was great. Fast and with rolling hills. I was flying until I made a mistake on the course. I was flying through a small town on "The Old Spanish Hwy" when I came to a fork in the road that looked like both sides got on the Interstate 15 in different directions. I knew we were not going on the freeway so I turned around and stayed on that old highway southbound. 

In about 2 miles, it turned to a dirt road. I called the crew and told them I thought I messed that turn-up. I rode back 2 miles and found the crew driving toward me at the turn. 

Turns out that the road did go straight and paralleled the main highway on the opposite side from where I was. I lost quite a bit of time with those extra 4 miles but was back on track. I road a little longer as Julie drove up ahead and got David ready.

We flew to Cedar City, approaching from the northwest side, missing all the traffic and congestion. 

We turned right and were off toward the town of Newcastle. Pretty much the home stretch once we got there. 

We actually had a crossing tailwind on most of this section but it was getting hot. 

Through Newcastle, we went with a tailwind to Enterprise. 

Flying toward the finish

Go, David!!

Rolling down Snow Canyon.
I just couldn't miss this picture so I pulled my phone out for a quick snap

Rolling down Snow Canyon
I just couldn't miss this picture so I pulled my phone out for a quick snap

David took the climb to the summit from there, the last major climb of the race. 

I then took the baton to the town of Veyo where we switched off at the pie shop.

It was really getting hot now and was over 100 degrees. Our next meeting point was going to be the parking lot at the entrance to Snow Canyon Park. At this point, we were going to ride the final 14 miles to the finish through Snow Canyon together.

It really got hot descending down through the canyon. We saw 115 degrees on our bike computers as the radiant heat coming off the ground. (the heat we were actually feeling)

When we got to the bottom we heard a growl coming up behind us.

It was non-other than our good friend Teresa who was on a 4-person relay team doing the race not stop. She just flew down the hill and was really motivated to get a course record. We rode with Teresa to the final little, really steep kicker, near the finish. She then hung back as we finished so she could meet her team at the corner to ride in together. 

What a fun race it was this year doing it on a team once again. 

Finished. With ice-cold towels around our necks and medals.

A huge congrats to my teammate David for overcoming those injuries and coming back to do the Hoodoo 500. Just amazing.

Thanks to our awesome crew, Julie. She did a stellar job taking care of us. We had such a fun time racing having her there. 

A major congratulations to all my other friends doing the race and to those I don't know who completed it. 

Hoodoo 500 humbles the best of them and this year did not disappoint. 

A big shout out to Nate Loyal Bike Fitting! The improvement in the comfort while riding as well as efficiency has been amazing. I feel like an idiot, waiting so many years to get a professional fit. 

A big shout out to Deb and Brian as well as all of the volunteers at the Hoodoo 500. An epic event once again. 

Compilation video of the race.

Here is the link to all the photos: 

https://link.shutterfly.com/dAKcp1voIjb