Heartbreak Double Century 2014 Report - A true heartbreaker

At the finish at the Host Hotel. Boy, was I glad to be done with this one!

This past weekend, May 17, 2014, I participated in the Heartbreak Double Century, a difficult ride featuring 202 miles, about 16,000' of climbing, and this year, high winds and heat. It didn't go as planned — Paul Chuck and I were scheduled to do the Triple Crown Stage Race on the Tandem, and the Heartbreak is the #2 installment in the Three Event Stage Race Series. Paul had a bike accident mid week and had to pull out of the series. I decided to forge ahead alone, on the single bike, to duke it out with the rest of the crew. Unfortunately, I'm DQ'd from the series, as once you start the series on a tandem with a particular partner, you must complete the series on tandem with that same partner. seems a little harsh and unfair. Oh well, I paid my money, I'm mentally and physically prepared, so time to suck it up and go for it. I completed the ride in a time of 12 hours 24 minutes, which was good enough for 9th overall on the day. I had a top 10 goal, but mid-ride, it didn't look like it was going to happen, I'd set my sights too high! I wilted in the heat, but persevered. Here's how it went down:

After Paul C gives me the negative on his ability to ride, I'm devastated. We'd planned on this series being a focus event for the year. The particular events this year are somewhat tandem friendly. It may never happen again, and by the time it does, I'll likely be pushin' up daisies. We had a good run last week at Central Coast Double Century, round one, posting a decent time even with two flats, and we were ready to do even better at Heartbreak with a clean run. So I have to deal with the changes and disappointment. I contact my friend Carl Sanders (currently second place in the series) and arrange a carpool. We travel to Palmdale, CA on Friday afternoon, and check into the host hotel, the Holiday Inn Express.

Dinner, check in, pin numbers, prep bikes, socialize with riders, the usual stuff, and hit the rack early... But not before Carl and I discuss rest stop strategy. Where to stop, which ones to skip, etc. In morning, it's a frantic breakfast. I head to the lobby for 2 cups of coffee, and bring them back to the room. Carl has some cold cereal, and I have some bread pastries, with PB & J, some yoghurt, and a banana. More coffee from the room pot. Wheel the bikes down the hall, take the elevator down to the lobby, roll out the door to the start.

Me 'n Mister Sanders at the start. Good to get a shot now, since I won't be seeing him all day.

Gathering at the start, ready to go. Deborah Bowlin (red t-shirt) gives final instructions.

Game on, we start at 5:15 AM, in the pre-dawn light. The first task is about 20 miles of gradual uphill into a 10+ mph headwind. Anyone who thinks the top Double Century riders aren't legit, would be in for a good lesson here. The average speed for the first 20 miles, uphill, and into the wind, is near 21 mph. A select group of riders, about a half dozen, do the work at the front, while the rest of us just hang on. I'm just at the tail of this elite group, in good position. After the first few miles, the group is down to about two dozen. On the short, steeper rises, my power meter is reading 450 Watts. On a double century, I should never go over 300 Watts for short efforts, and on longer efforts, the number should be much lower. It's a time bomb.

The lead group, stretched out single file, plows into the wind, uphill, at 21 mph.

At about mile 25 there are a couple of stiff, but short climbs. I'm mid group, and there is a split. An elite group of 12 drops the other half. I'm at the tail of the lead group. I know these guys are faster than me, but my goal, which I now realize is optimistic with this crowd, is top 10. I know I should ease up and stay with the second group, but I forge ahead anyway, only to be dropped shortly, to be left in "no man's land."

Cal Erdman drops a water bottle, and circles back to retrieve as he knows he cannot continue with one bottle. The front group is drifting ahead, and as I watch Cal recover and try to chase down the lead group, I follow his wheel for a bit, then realize it's futile. Cal isn't going to catch those guys, and neither am I, so I let Cal go and watch him struggle to catch. He doesn't.

Prior to the ride, I thought about a plan to skip the Lebec rest stop, at mile 50, to save time, if I had enough fluid, since it was off course a bit and would consume too much time. But water consumption was too high during the hard early effort, so it would not be possible to skip that stop. However, since I'm dropped and alone, I decideto stop at the early 30 mile rest stop, top the fluids, then try to blow past Lebec, at 50 miles, without stopping. An alternate strategy that could work.

I stop, and Eric Hjort, a rider from Oakland, CA, also rolls up, we both top off and continue together. Eric is a big, strong rider, and we ride together for a bit, and try to help each other, but it seems there is a bit of a mismatch. I drop Eric on the climbs and descents, but he's much stronger on the flats. I decide to stay with Eric and work together. After we get over the "Old Ridge Route" with a shitload of climbing, we pass Quail Lake, with Eric doing most of the work.

Eric is a big, strong Lad, and tows me along Quail Lake before the climb to Gorman, CA.

As Eric and I climb to Gorman, along the Grapevine near Hwy 5, I look over my shoulder, and see the second group behind. Well, crap, I should have just stayed with this group and saved some matches. Eric and I ease up and let the group catch us. We latch on and forge ahead to Gorman.

The second group catches Eric and me before Gorman, and we latch on.

Further up the road the group stretches out. Final rider is Peter Stark. I won't see him all day until the end, and we'll finish together.

As we pass through Gorman, one rider in the second group takes off. The rest seem to soft pedal, nobody wanting to chase. Then one rider goes, and I follow. We drop the rest of the group and catch the rider in front as we roll into Lebec. I make a major mistake here as I am not sure of the turn. I want to skip the Lebec rest stop, but I am not certain about how to do that. I stop and review my cue sheet, wasting precious seconds, as the rest of the second group catches and passes. Once again, I've gone off the front, wasting matches, then getting caught. May as well be banging my head against a light post.

I begin the climb up Frazier Park Mt. Road, leaving the second group at the Lebec rest stop. Cal had stopped at Lebec, and passes me part way up. I can't hang with him and I don't try. He's focused on trying to chase down the leaders, a big task.

Soon three riders from the Fremont Bike Team pass me at a pace I can manage, so I latch on. These are three good riders working well together, and I stay with them up the big climb toward the 3rd rest stop, Frazier Mt. Park Rd, that heads West from The Grapevine.

We come upon Cal, who is stopped at an intersection, doing some route finding, and we catch him as he is consulting the cue sheet. I can relate! Once he's back on track, he makes quick work of catching and dropping us. Considering how much time he's lost now, he does well to move up and finish 5th, making up much time on the latter half of the course.

Three riders from Fremont Bike Team set a good pace up the climb.

Next we have a wicked steep descent, up and over a bump, followed by another climb up to Rest Stop #3 at Apache Saddle. The Fremont boyz can all ride, and it's fun descending with them, but I let them go on the steep climb up to the rest stop. I arrive, and do my usual quick in 'n out. I leave ahead of the Fremont guys.

The next stretch is fabulous on Mil Potrero Hwy. Gorgeous, remote terrain, with vistas for miles. Just spectacular. I'm alone, but thoroughly enjoy rolling along the ridge, up and down, taking in the spectacular view of the valleys, plateaus, canyons, and flat lands thousands of feet below.

Fabulous riding along Mil Portrero Hwy

Vistas form Mil Portrero

The beautiful Mil Potrero Hwy

A long, fun descent to Hwy 33 follows, and I pass many of the Century riders.

Descending to Hwy 33. Photo courtesy Highway One Photos

Then continue West on 33, then turn South. Crosswind here, and I'm not going well. Fatigue is setting in. I'm just at 100 miles and fading badly. Uh-Oh. I remind myself that the first 100 miles has been into the wind and features nearly 10,000' of climbing... but it doesn't make me feel any better.

The Fremont boyz catch me, and make an obvious effort to blow past me such that I cannot get on. I respect that, so I don't jump and join them. They are doing their thing as teammates and don't want another rider. They disappear in the distance... I'm depressed and alone, fighting the wind, feeling like I am going backwards. I truly miss being on the tandem here, for its superior speed on the flats, and the guaranteed company of another rider!

I'd decided to skip the upcoming lunch stop, so I roll through, passing the Fremont Boyz, thinking I have enough water to make it up Heartbreak Hill. It doesn't occur to me at the time that Heartbreak Hill has earned its moniker for a reason. I continue on, and enter a gorgeous Arroyo.

In the beautiful Arroyo after blowing past the lunch stop I try to pretend all is good.

I turn left on Lockwood Valley road to begin the long ascent of Heartbreak Hill. Boy, did I misjudge the water. I've got maybe a half bottle, and I have this huge, scorching hot climb ahead! I'm f%$#ed! Well, as I roll ahead, I see a vehicle pulled over with what looks like a couple dudes with water jugs. Huh? Is that a mirage? Is it a miracle? Turns out Debbie Bowlin (event organizer) has placed a volunteer at the base of the big climb with some water jugs and ice! Halle-f'n-lujah! I top off and carry on. Nonetheless, the legs are done. I crawl up Heartbreak Hill, and it gets steeper and steeper. I'm still passing all the century riders, but I know the double century riders behind me are gaining ground. I'm hurting.

Heartbreak Hill. It goes up and up, steeper and steeper, switchbacks, through the notch on the upper right, then climbs more.

I finally get over the top of Heartbreak and cruise into the rest stop. One volunteer there, a cheery and very friendly woman, decides to take care of me. I get a soda, some food, fill my bottles, and whip out my "ice sock," fill it with ice, strap it around my neck, and I get under way. I cool down and feel some relief, though I still don't seem to have much power. It's really hot, and I'm really tired.

I slog along the rollers and descents, and now the Westerly winds start to become favorable. It's a long, fast descent to Lebec, with a few uphill rollers. We are intermingled with the Century riders at this point, so there are people to ride with, though I don't really get much help.

Once in Lebec, I again skip the stop and head up the climb to Gorman. Nothing in the legs. A triathlete dude, Colin Stokes, who was in the original fast 12 group passes me, as he'd apparently stopped in Lebec. I'm thinking, here we go, I'm going to get passed again and again, as I'm cooked and moving very slowly.

I continue on to Gorman, down along Hwy 5 at the Grapevine, then on to Old Ridge Road, where I face a big climb. I crawl up this thing, with no energy. I don't know my position, maybe top 10, maybe not. But one thing for sure... I will lose many places if I don't keep moving at a good clip.

Near the final rest stop with 30 miles to go, Alfredo Tadeo passes me on a climb. He does a huge sprint by me to make sure I can't get on, then nearly collapses over his handlebars. Kind of a bone head move, there is no way I'm going to to grab his wheel, even if he passes me gently. I arrive at the final stop, bummed about being caught. I fill up my ice sock again, fill bottles, and then I am devastated, as three more riders arrive at the stop. And I know there are many more coming! The hounds are on the chase, and I'm weakened prey.

I get my sorry ass out of there and get on the road. Peter Stark passes me convincingly on a climb, and I congratulate him on a strong finish. But I decide it's time I quit feeling sorry for myself and Harden the F^*% Up. I increase my speed and ignore the signals of pain from my body. I catch Peter, and figure if we work together, perhaps we can avoid being caught by the others. Peter is cooperative, and a good guy to ride with.

I take a wrong turn, trying not to miss the turn we were warned about, overcompensating. Immediately, I question myself, and consult the route sheet. Nope, wrong way, so I get back on the route with Peter and we forge ahead, unfortunately losing a couple of minutes, and making it easier for the chasers to catch.

Then Alex Berthillier catches us. Crap. But... turns out Alex is super strong. He gets out on the front and just drills it. He doesn't seem to care whether or not Peter and I contribute, and tows us along at nearly 30 mph on the slightly downhill, tailwind section. I somehow get my legs back, knowing I need to stay with this group and keep moving. We finally roll back into Palmdale, just a half mile from the finish, and we miss a stop light. As we wait for the green, Eric, who I rode with early in the day, catches us, demonstrating how fast he was rolling on the final section. In the last 20 miles, I do like two pulls, Peter does none. Alex carries us all the way in. A big shout of thanks to Alex!

Alex and Peter wait at a stoplight in Palmdale. Eric catches.

We roll into the finish together, check in, and discover we share a 9th place finish. I didn't think it possible, but I did preserve my goal of a top 10 finish.

Epic hard day.

Check in at the finish. Fast guys already cleaned up. Left in black shirt, Cal Erdman 5th, foreground red shirt, Max Mehech 3rd, right green shirt, Carl Sanders, 2nd. Colin Stokes, in blue in back, 7th. Julie Stokes in green top. Not pictured, Joel Sothern 1st, Brook Henderson shared 3rd with Max Mehech, Rod Palomino, 6th, Alfredo Tadeo, 8th Lori Hoechlin 1st F (14th overal), Kirsten McDaniel 2nd F 24th overall.

9th Place finishers, 12:24, (l to r) Peter Stark, Alex Berthillier, Paul McKenzie

After a good dinner, and some socializing, Carl and I hit the rack for some sleep. We head back Sunday morning to check out the trains on Tehachapi Loop where a train passes through a tunnel, then loops back around over itself. Look closely at the photo and you can see the train in the tunnel on the right side of the image, literally passing under itself. Incredible. We talk more about trains and geology on the ride home, than bike riding. Next up... Mt. Tam Double, on the home turf.