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By admin, September 7, 2005 7:19 pm

by Kitty Goursolle

The California Triple Crown Stage Race is a series of three double centuries that anyone can enter by simply showing up and finishing each ride. This year’s doubles were the Muholland Double, the Devil Mountain Double and the Central Coast Double. In the fall of ’04 I decided to train for the 2005 Triple Crown Stage Race. I have never been a very fast rider, but I do have patience and endurance for long distances.Training I gradually built up my mileage from about 120 miles a week to 250 miles a week over the fall and winter. This included around 10,000 to 15,000 feet of climbing a week as well. Commuting by bike was good for 30 to 50 miles a day plus 1500–3000 ft. of climbing, depending on if I took the short way or the long way home. My logbook shows I climbed Mt. Diablo 70 times in ’04! On the weekends, I rode solo centuries with around 7000 to 9000 ft. of climbing, taking about 7 hours to finish. They became a routine for me and as the year progressed, I felt better and better at the distance. But I suffered from quite a lot of self-doubt. I never really knew if the training I was doing would be enough...

The Muholland Double–Stage 1
April 16, 2005, Calabasas, CA. The Muholland Double Century was a beautiful, tough ride. Due to some route changes, the climbing was increased from 14,000 to 16,800 ft. My attitude was to have fun, keep a steady pace going and ride MY ride. I hadn’t ridden a double since 1989, so I was feeling my way through this and “staying in the moment”. I rode alone for much of the way, which got me into trouble when I took a wrong turn and went down instead of up for a mile or two! Retracing my steps, I got back on course and joined up with a group of local riders who knew the route. One short climb was advertised at 26%. When my front wheel kept lifting off the pavement, I knew it was time to walk. I couldn’t climb it in a 30 x 27!
I enjoyed the scenic vistas of canyons and ocean and the climb up Stunt Rd. in the dark with the city lights below was spectacular. I sat around at the last rest stop at the top of Stunt, chatted with Steve Berry and the other riders and ate some very hot soup. I was having a fun time and a good day. I rolled to the finish where my sister Nancy was waiting for me with hot pizza! My time: 16:04.  Later, I found out I was the 3rd place woman. Linda Bott, in 1st place, had finished 50 minutes ahead of me. Just how much time did I lose to that wrong turn and at the last rest stop? Could I have been a lot closer to 1st? Next time out, I would be watching the clock!
The Devil Mountain Double–Stage 2
Two week later, April 30, I was on my home course, 18,800 ft. of climbing and 207 miles–all of our favorite club ride routes rolled into one. This time around, I was not going to take any wrong turns or wait around the rest stops for hot soup to cool off!  All the climbs went great, even the long backside of the Ham. I was having a great day until the bottom of Sierra Rd. at mile 151. My legs were cramping up on that climb. My Terry Firefly saddle (now in the trash!) and my butt had a terrible disagreement. My knees chimed in to the litany of pain. Things got better once the course started downhill on Felter and Calaveras, and I got to the finish in 16:45. I was the first place woman for the stage, but would that be good enough to move into first place overall?
I sat down to enjoy the great dinner the Quackcyclists had waiting, all the while watching the clock for Linda’s arrival. Three helping of lasagna went down and she still wasn’t in. The magic number, 50 minutes passed and I was high-fiving my dinner-mates. Linda arrived a few minutes later and said “You got me, Kitty!” I had a 11 minute lead in the stage race.
Central Coast Double–Stage 3
On to Paso Robles, to the final stage. The two weeks between the DMD and the CCD were pure rest and recovery. I was saddle-sore, my knee was flaring up, and I was exhausted after racing the DMD. I lost 8 pounds and took two weeks to gain them back, despite heroic efforts at eating! Still, I had high hopes for the CCD. It had less climbing (only 13,800!) than the two previous stages. During the ride, I found out how untrue that assumption would be. There were endless smaller hills and a few really long climbs, plus some headwinds. Linda set a blistering pace all day. She was not going to go down easy! By mile 88, she was 15 minutes ahead of me and I was at the bottom of “The Wall” the Naciemiento-Furgeson Road, the longest climb of the day. At lunch, mile 114, she was just leaving when I arrived. We passed each other in the restrooms! I grabbed some gel packs and left in haste, eating on the run. My fuel for the day was gel-packs, a popsicle, half a muffin and a banana. That afternoon got hot, in the high 90′s. Thanks to a cool and rainy spring, I was not acclimatized to the heat. I had to get off the bike for a few minutes in the middle of nowhere to get over a bout of dizziness and beg for water from a man out building a fence. Quitting was beginning to look like a good idea. The rest stop volunteers had run out of ice and the riders were suffering. At the afternoon rest stops, I’d barely catch up to Linda, and she’d instantly be off.
At the last rest stop, mile 181 of 209, I caught up again. Linda was resting in a chair. I got my bottles refilled, put on my lights and got another gel pac or two. She stayed down. I left in a hurry, riding alone, expecting her to organize a posse and mount a pursuit. There was none! I knew I would win if I could stay upright and keep moving. I finished the CCD in 1st place for women (my time: 14:20) and won the stage race by just a few minutes ahead of Linda.
Final Thoughts
I have no illusions about being a racer and I never went into the stage race thinking that I would be a “contender”. I still can’t believe my good luck that the dozens of women in California who could ride me into the dust didn’t show up for the series. My goal was to do something special to celebrate my 50th birthday in 2005. Thanks to riding, I have a lot of energy and feel great!
After the stage race, I recuperated and finished the rest of the season by riding the Terrible Two, Mt. Tam Double and Knoxville Fall Classic Double, plus the Markleeville Death Ride route with a few friends. I’ve done more of my solo centuries so that by now, I’ve done 14 of them for the year plus the 6 doubles. Since May, I’ve been on a new Brooks B-17. I think my seat problems are solved!
For 2006, the schedule will be a little bit kinder–DMD will be 4/30, CCD will be 5/13, then a long break until late June for the Terrible Two. I’m looking forward to riding them again, and I hope to see more of the Diablo Cyclists at the starting line!
For more information about the Triple Crown see: California Triple Crown