Penumbra of Climbing
andy| June 21, 2010 10:16 amOn Saturday I did Terrible Two and with that completed California Triple Crown Stage Race.
Here is a recap:
- Mulholland Double ~ 208 miles, 16,470+ feet of climbing
- Devil Mountain Double ~ 206 miles, 18,600+ feet of climbing
- Terrible Two ~ 200 miles, 16,480+ feet of climbing
It was totally awesome; I recommend to everybody.
As for the individual doubles I did so far, here are my comments:
- Solvang Double ~ great first double. It is relatively mild and the scenery is great.
- Davis Double ~ looking at the profile it would seem easy, but it is really hard because of 100+F all day. Make sure to start early, get those flat miles in as quickly as possible and have insulated water bottles.
- Mt. Tam Double ~ lots of climbing, but you do it early in the ride. I recommend this one to everybody.
- Knoxville Double ~ shares a lot of roads with Davis Double. When I did it it was not nearly as hot and it was still hardly bearable.
- Mulholland Double ~ absolutely mind blowing scenery. It is a lot of climbing with one of the longest climb towards the end.
- Devil Mountain Double ~ unlike Mulholland, which has relatively mild climbs, this one is in your face climbing. Just when you recover from one climb, there comes the next one. The toughest climb is Sierra road at 160 miles. And to hit you again, there is another climb at 200 miles.
- Terrible Two ~ pretty nice scenery of Napa and Sonoma. That said, Sonoma county has in my opinion the worse roads in the area. Be prepared for some serious potholes, gravel, non-paved roads, etc.
From organization stand point, anything organized by cycling clubs is best. Knoxville Double and Devil Mountain Double trump everything else. Their organizers go above and beyond. Mt Tam, Terrible Two, and Davis come close behind. Lots of quality doubles, for example Mt Tam and Terrible Two, will have valet bike service at the rest stop. This way you can go grab some food, while they take care of your water bottles and your bike. Solvang and Mulholland on the other hand are organized by Planet Ultra, which for some reason has some serious organizational problems. They do rides on awesome roads, but they do beginner mistakes, such as forgetting water, running out of food, no sunscreen, etc.
But hey, go out and ride!
