Comments (0)

By admin, September 9, 2006 8:30 pm

Steve sets his sites on the Triple Crown Hall of Fame after setting a new club record for total double centuries completed.

Most of us don’t often get a chance to ride with Steve Berry. After he moved to Brisbane four years ago, it’s always a treat to see Steve show up for a weekend Club ride. It usually means however, that he has a double century coming up and needs the miles – not that riding with the club isn’t worth the drive! So who is this guy? Unmistakable with his knee–brace and Camelback, if you meet him at the start of a Club ride, chances are he’s already been up Mount Diablo and will be looking to log in 100+ miles for the day.

Steve is on his way to the California Triple Crown Hall of Fame (50 or more double centuries.) After completing 5 this year, Steve set a new record (32) for total number of double centuries completed by a Diablo Cyclists Club member. Ron Rogers is second with 31, and Don Cartwright is third, with 24 (completing 10 in 2006!)

Between them there are certainly many stories to tell. The following is an article written by Steve giving us some insight into how he got started and just what is it about riding 200 miles in a day that is so darn intriquing?

by Steve Berry

I was up early to go for another bike ride.  My lights were charged, my bike prepped, and my gear set out and ready to roll.  I had done this so many times before that it was routine by now.

27 years later (fast forward through working in Yosemite, joining the Marine Corps, getting married, graduating from UC Davis, and raising two kids), I decided it was time to start riding again. My left knee by then was shot from blowing it out too many times playing softball (including rupturing the ACL) and then tearing the meniscus while training for a marathon (and that is why I wear a knee brace when I ride). So riding a bike again was about my only available form of outside exercise.

We lived in Clayton at the time, with the Mitchell Canyon gate to Mt. Diablo less than 10 minutes from our house, so it was only natural for me to get a Mtn. bike. Over the years I started riding on the weekends with a group of riders organized through the Clayton Bike shop (same owner as Encina in Walnut Creek) and even ventured out of town for some group rides and a couple of races (after upgrading my bike to a carbon-fiber with front suspension–SWEET!). In fact it was while riding on Mt. Diablo one hot evening after work that I met (now) fellow Diablo Cyclist Sarkis Soghomonian. (Little did we know back then that a few years later we would both be doing almost all of our riding on roads.)

In Dec. of 1996 I had a retinal occlusion in my left eye. A vein ruptured flooding a portion of my retina, and leaving me with permanent partial vision in that eye (that’s why I wear my helmet mirror on the right side). Diabetes was ruled out, but hypertension can also be a cause, and exercise is a great way to control high blood pressure, so all of a sudden I had a real “purpose” to my riding.

In Feb. of 1997 I was approached at work by a guy that was a “roadie” and then a member of the Diablo Cyclists (Michael Caine).  He said he and a couple other fellow Del Monte employees (including Mark Abele) were planning on doing the Chico Century and asked if I wanted to do it as well (they were all buying matching jerseys for Team Batik with a big Del Monte logo on the front). I told him I only had a Mtn. bike, and besides I didn’t know if I could even ride that far.  He noted I still had 2 months to train and offered his road slicks for me as a “challenge”. I bit.

For those two months I diverted my efforts from the fire roads and trails of Diablo to the roads around Diablo.  I got lost the 1st time I did Morgan Territory (had NO idea where I was when I got to the Livermore side of the Mtn.), but in subsequent trips I just kept trying to get faster and faster.  By ride day I felt prepared, but had still not done more than 55 miles in a day.

The day before the big ride I showed up for my first “Club” ride.   It went from Countrywood to Crockett and back, and on that ride I participated in my very first pace line–what a rush. I also met other riders that would be going to Chico later that day, including Ron Rogers.  That night I met a gaggle of Diablo cyclists in Chico for dinner, including Doug Goodwin, Craig and Brian Martinelli, Dave McKenzie, and too many others to remember names.  I felt a bit like a fish out of water with all those “experienced” riders, but was enjoying the fact that indeed I was opening a new door (if only I really knew!!!).

I spent the next day riding “easy” (no heart rate monitor back then) and it seemed like all I really was doing was following (trying to chase down?) one Diablo Cyclist jersey after another.  I can remember at one point being in a small pace line with Ron Rogers going about 24 mph.  After dropping the other riders it was just the two of us.  He commented that I should get a road bike and then like him and several others in the Club I too could ride like this ALL DAY LONG.  The thought did not really seem too appealing, but then it also seemed like a challenge (Geez I hate that!!!) and when I too had to drop off his wheel I have to admit I was both impressed and envious (and yes, a little disappointed in myself).

So I joined the Diablo Cyclists and started riding with the Club each Sat. and Sun. morning.  Ron got tired of seeing me on my Mtn. bike so he loaned me his old (purple) Trek.  My first road bike!  And he loaned me a heart rate monitor too.  I guess at that moment I officially became a “roadie”.

I did a few more centuries during ‘97 and ‘98, and it was early in ‘98 that I set my sights on the Death Ride.  I kept seeing other Club members with the cool DR jerseys from previous years, and I just had to get me one.  But the one jersey that intrigued me the most was that of the Terrible Two–but I could NEVER imagine riding that far in one day, and doing that much climbing!  And doing it within a time limit!

My son came home from Cal for the weekend and went with me to the ‘98 DR, and worked as a volunteer at the Monitor rest stop.  We camped in the Turtle Rock Park parking lot at the start of ride in Markleeville with Ron, Brian, Mark, Amy, and several other Diablo Cyclists and we both had a WONDERFUL weekend.  That night after successfully completing the ride (5 passes) and sitting around drinking wine and watching the shooting stars (and satellites) I realized that indeed I had one more goal to accomplish–the Terrible Two.  I had almost a year to get both physically and mentally prepared.  But heck, if one is going to do the TT, why not shoot for the Triple Crown.  And heck, while at it, how about the 1,000 mile club.  So the personal gauntlet was down.

But first I had to buy MY own road bike.  When I first saw that red, white and blue Trek 5200 in the window at Encina I was like a kid in toy store.  I called home and said, “Honey, can I” (Of course I had to use that same line this past year when I got the new Litespeed.).  I was ready.

1999 began with the Death Valley Double, then Solvang, and Hemet .  OK, the Triple Crown was in the books.  Then a little local ride, the Devil Mtn. Double, and a big gap until the Eastern Sierra and then–THE TERRIBLE TWO.

Thirty two doubles later I can vividly remember almost every detail of that first year.  (I also now have the Triple Crown Jersey and tee-shirt with all the rides on the back, and I even bought the coffee cup which I use at work almost daily.)

That Death Valley Double is fondly (?) remembered by Tom Nelson (his first double as well) and me both.  He, Ron and I were about 60 miles into the ride and leading a very long and fast pace line when Ron said something like, “Are you ready boys?” Well, we ratcheted it up a couple of notches and people started falling off the back.  As I looked down at my heart rate monitor I remember thinking hitting 185 bpm early on my first double was probably NOT a good idea.  But I couldn’t just slow down–could I?  (Funny, that thought never entered my head that day).  Oh, and it was on this double that I first experienced a “bonk”. Tom, Ron and I were climbing the long grade before lunch just chatting away and all of a sudden I reached the end of my extension cord–and yes, it was almost that sudden.  I told them to go on, and after laying down resting a while–and hurling–I felt great the rest of the day.  Tom and I had driven down together and stopped in Tehachapi for breakfast on the way back.  What is it about a big breakfast after a big ride?  Boy was that good.

I remember Solvang to this day for 3 key things:  The fast pace lines on Foxen Canyon, the VERY strong head-winds from the 1st rest stop all the way to Morro Bay (with long pace lines echeloning out into the street), and the wickedly fast pace lines from Los Osos down to lunch.  Oh, how could I forget the 4th key thing?  The (now) traditional breakfast at Paula’s.  Now THAT is a breakfast!!!!  Tom, Ron, Vic DeOrnellis (sp?) and I rode together a lot that day, and I slept on the floor in a motel room filled with bikes and bodies.  Too much fun!

Hemet is meaningful because that is where my wife and I went to high school (and met), and my in-laws still lived there (back then).  I was the only Diablo Cyclist that did Hemet that year, and the real reason I did it was because it was a good chance for us to drive down and visit.  I can remember leaving their home to drive to the motel where the ride started and having to scrape the ice off the windshield.  I must have had 6 layers of clothes on–GEEZ it was cold.  At the first rest stop I took off layer one, and then got into a 5 man pace line over by Lake Mathews .  I could smell diesel fuel, but that is often used as weed abatement for fire breaks next to the road, but it wasn’t until I went down and started spinning wildly on the road that I realized it was on the road.  (At the next rest stop other riders said they had seen it splashing out as a bus passed them.)  Fen Pervier (has done 40 total doubles) was right behind me, and how he missed me as I went down I have no idea.  He stopped (which is how I met him) and helped put me back together.  While I was evaluating my road rash and thinking how bad I now smelled (we used diesel in Viet Nam to burn off the toilets, so I HATE that smell to this day!!!!) Fen took off his vest.  Yes, he was wearing a TT jersey. I told him that was why I was there, a TT training ride (aren’t they all?)  We stayed together the rest of the day, and at the car at lunch (it is basically a figure 8 course with lunch at the start/finish) he showed me his Triple Crown shirt from the year before with 11 completed rides (they only had 12 then, and I don’t remember what it was that prevented him from getting the 12th, and he was bummed about that).  He had aerobars and ended up pulling me most of the rest of the way. We finished with Chuck Bramwell (Mr. Triple Crown) and finished like 7th, 8th and 9th.  Not too shabby–oh, and I got aerobars right after that.  (Note: next time you see me wearing tights, look at my left hip.  Yup, same tights, same two holes.).  Oh, and when we finished I told Fen I was concerned about being able to do DMD (just the next weekend). He said, “You won’t have a problem!”

When one lives in Clayton it is just a little hop, skip and jump to the start of the Devil Mtn. Double in San Ramon. It is nice being close.  But when I set the alarm the night before I had done the math wrong and got up 30 minutes later than I needed, so I started out late, and rushed I pulled into the Marriott parking lot and Ron, Brian, Vic and Tom were mounted and waiting (not so patiently).  NOT a good start to the day.  Ron took off like a bat out of hell. I think his goal for the day was to 1) set a new PR and 2) set an unsupported course record.  My goal was to finish–just finish.  I didn’t care WHEN, just do it!!!  I don’t remember a lot about the day except seeing Ron on the massage table at the lunch stop at the junction on Mines Rd and thinking that he looked like death warmed over.  I grabbed some food to–go and hit the road.  I hate hate hate Mt. Hamilton .  It is just SO boring.  I don’t mind the physical effort it takes, but I just HATE (did I say that already) the incessant mind numbing plodding that it takes to get to the summit.  I did allow myself one 5 minute break off the bike in the shade, but every minute I was looking over my shoulder waiting for Ron to catch me.   Earlier in the day, on flats going into Livermore I got into a paceline with a guy and we ended up staying together the rest of the day.  So even though I didn’t have Ron, or Tom or Brian or Vic to finish with (very late in the dark) I did at least have company. The next day I stayed on the couch ALL day with a feeling of accomplishment that I have not experienced after any other ride.  That ride is an ass–kicker!

Eastern Sierra has become my favorite double.  It is just so beautiful out on the eastern side of the Sierras.  In 1999 Tom Nelson and I drove out together, and started the ride with Ron.  It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling strong, so Ron and I dropped Tom and hammered to Lee Vining.  Heading toward the Sage Hen rest stop after lunch Ron suggested to me and another rider with us that if we had any gels, that then would be a good time to use them–and then he took off.  There was nothing I could do.  All of a sudden my legs were like columns of cement and I could see him just getting smaller and smaller into the distance.  When I got to the rest stop at the “summit” I could hardly walk.  I sat for about 10 minutes, ate and drank, and then understanding that there were some good downhills just ahead, I took off.  Within a couple of miles I felt like nothing had happened (I had now made it through my 2nd bonk).  After the last rest stop at Benton I led a 30 mph (tailwind aided) 5 man pace line most of the way to the finish (including John Clare (now in the Triple Crown hall of fame) who said he was too tired to pull!  Grrrr).  I had hoped to catch Ron, but no such luck.  And boy did Tom and I have a great breakfast at Denny’s in Bishop the next morning!

THE Terrible Two Finally.  It was hard to believe this day was actually here. Ron, Brian, Steve Walker and I all started together. Ron and I got separation from Steve and Brian in the fast pace lines on the Silverado Trail, and then Ron dropped me right after the 1st rest stop as I had to make an unscheduled pit stop.  But when I got to rest stop #2 at the top of Geysers Ron was still there.  I rolled before him, and as with the DMD spent the rest of the day looking over my shoulder.  After the Camp Gualala rest stop I felt great and started hammering.  As I rode by one rider she commented, “What are you doing, don’t you know what is ahead?” Well, no, I didn’t–but I do now!

I rode all the way from Fort Ross to Rio Vista with John Clare, and felt so good at Rio Vista that I didn’t even bother eating–BIG mistake.  About 2 miles down the road, with John and I sucking the wheel of a tandem I hit the wall and had to drop back (bonk #3).  It only cost me a total of 10 minutes, so instead of finishing in a tie for 77th I tied for 91st–but I did learn an important lesson about eating.

When I finished and saw Ron, Brian and Steve in the dinner area I was aghast!  When did they pass me? I was exhausted, but was I also delirious?  Unfortunately they all had to sag in. So I was the only Diablo Cyclist to finish the TT that year, and I also accomplished a VERY big personal goal.

When I got to work on Monday Michael Caine (the guy that started all this craziness) asked if I had done the TT, and told me a relative of his was on the ride and had been taken to the hospital in an ambulance. This turned out to be Peter Burnett. (He and I have now become good friends, and have roomed at several doubles since then.) That was his first double, and after lunch all he did was drink straight water which led to severe hyponatremia–and hospitalization for a week. He has since turned into a VERY fast (and smart) rider, does brevets, and did PBP two years ago.

So it was June 1999, and my cycling goals had been achieved. I can remember being on a Club ride later that summer and Ron and I talked about how it would be cool to do 2,000 miles in doubles in 2000.  So that  became my goal.  But when it came time (around Xmas 1999) to start training for the upcoming “season” I just couldn’t get myself motivated to do it.  I was simply burned out. For the next 16 months I maybe touched the bike once a month and didn’t ride anything longer than 30 miles (I did a lot of hard walking in the hills of San Francisco at lunch to get my exercise).

Then I read Lance’s first book.  It was April 2001.  I had a little over two months until the Terrible Two. Now I was motivated again. And the Chico Century was my first “training” ride for the TT (seemed fitting).

About 4 years ago we moved from Clayton (after 12 years) to the other side of the Bay (Brisbane) to be closer to our jobs and shorten our commutes. This has created two riding problems though. The cold weather and wind in Brisbane make if VERY problematic to do summer evening rides after work, and driving back out to Countrywood to ride with THE CLUB adds about 2 hours of drive time, which some times just isn’t there–so I don’t get to do Club rides now as often as I would like.

I plan to keep riding doubles for a while.  My goals now are to get into the Hall of Fame (50 total doubles: 32 down, 18 to go) and to have completed each course at least once (I still have Heart Break, Tour of Two Forests and Bass Lake remaining). The Diablo Cyclists are normally well represented at most doubles, and it is now fun to see and ride with Don, Kitty, Jay, Jack, Mike and Doug, and we all enjoy seeing Doug G. (Mr. Pahrump) out there as well, especially when he is driving sag.

This year I did the Chico Century again (after volunteering at DMD the day before).  When I got to that stretch of road where Ron had dropped me back in ‘98 I cranked it up.  I was by myself, down in my aerobars, and going 27-28 mph.  I was passing people by the score.  Several guys tried to jump on but didn’t last long.  It made me grin.

Comments (0)

By admin, September 7, 2006 6:48 pm

by Stephen Herrick

Ever wonder how many pedal strokes you would have to turn if you rode 100 miles? (Come on, admit it, you think about it all the time…) Well, if you’re on a bike that shifts gears and can coast down hills, then you would need a wheel rotation sensor to count it out for you, or the best you could do would be to estimate. However, if you’re riding a fixed gear bike, then you can actually calculate the answer pretty accurately. You’ll need to do some conversions, and you’ll need to understand something about gear ratios and gear inches, also called virtual wheel size.

Your gear ratio compares the relative sizes of your front chain ring and rear cassette, and is easily calculated by dividing the number of teeth on your front cog by the number of teeth on your rear cog. Since the chain ring is attached to the crank set, and since the rear wheel is spinning at the same speed as the cassette when you are not coasting, then the ratio of pedal strokes to wheel rotations will be the same as the gear ratio. In other words, if a roadie is in her big 52 ring in front, and in her 13 ring on the rear cassette, then 52 divided by 13 = 4, so her wheels will be rotating exactly 4 times for each pedal stroke.

To understand chain inches and virtual wheel size, picture an old penny-farthing; the antique bike where the rider was perched up on top of a large wheel with the pedals mounted directly on the hub of the wheel. These wheels grew to about 60” in diameter, or about 15 and ¾ feet in circumference. Each pedal stroke turned the wheel around once, and so the distance that the bike traveled forward was exactly the circumference of the wheel. Calculating chain inches/virtual wheel size of a bike with cogs and chain is like trying to figure out how big the wheel on a penny-farthing would have to be in order to move you the same distance forward with each stroke. Figure out your gear ratio, (teeth in the front divided by teeth in the back,) and multiply that by the diameter of your tire in inches. So if the roadie in her 52 / 14 was on a standard tire with a diameter of 27.6 inches, then her virtual wheel size would be (52 divided by 14), times 27.6 inches, which equals 110.4 inches, or a little over 9 feet high! Her distance forward per pedal stroke would be the same as the circumference of the wheel, (Diameter X Pi = Circumference) so 110.4 inches X 3.14 = 346.7 inches, or 28 feet, 11 inches.

Okay, back to the fixie and his century. Let’s say he’s using a pretty standard set up for a fixed gear bike with a 42 front chain ring, and a 17 back cog. 42 divided by 17 equals a gear ratio of 2.47 wheel revolutions per pedal stroke.

Now take the gear ratio of 2.47 and multiply it by the circumference of the tire, and you’ll get how far the bike moves with each stroke. A standard 700 mm diameter road tire converts to a circumference of about 7.2 feet.

2.47 times 7.2 feet = 17.82 feet. That’s how far forward a fixie goes with each stroke.

Using 5,280 feet in one mile, divided by 17.82 feet per pedal stroke = 296.29 pedal strokes (revolutions) per mile. Multiply that by 100 miles and you get:

29,629 turns of the cranks to ride a fixed gear bike for 100 miles!

Summary:
Gear Ratio = Front Cog divided by Rear Cog
Chain Inches, or Virtual Wheel Size = Gear Ratio X Wheel Diameter in inches
Distance Traveled per Single Pedal Revolution = Gear Ratio X Wheel Circumference
Pedal Revolutions per Mile = 5280 feet/mile divided by DT/SPR (in feet)

If you like this kind of thing, and you want to see what the numbers would be like on your bike, follow this link to a great web site for calculating just about any gear set up.

http://www.jbarrm.com/cycal/cycal.html

Comments (0)

By admin, September 9, 2005 8:27 pm

by June Stephens

June and Stephen were on vacation AGAIN… this time our destination was Southern Oregon with stops in Northern California.

We left on August 4th and spent a couple of days near Chester and Lake Almanor (Shasta County.) We had always wanted to ride through Lassen Volcanic National Park, as according to “Bodfish,” California Dream Cycling, by Chuck “Bodfish” Elliot, this ride is “the best road ride in California.” We might agree, as the park road (which climbs to 8,512’) offers incomparable views of Mount Lassen, the surrounding terrain and the valleys below. The vistas were much enhanced by the late season snow still covering much of the landscape. If you visit Lassen, take time to hike along the Bumpass Hell trail to view the park’s main geothermal area, revealing bubbling mudpots, fumaroles and steaming hot springs. Other hikes showcase the park’s numerous lakes, creeks, and waterfalls.

We left Shasta County and drove to Roseburg, Oregon, then east along highway 138 following the North Umpqua river to a forest service campground near the town of Glide. After selecting a site over-looking the river, we unpacked our over-sized tent, queen size deluxe air mattress, reclining camp chairs, wine selection and prepared to “rough-it” for the next four nights.

We took a break from the bikes and enjoyed a two day guided raft trip on the river. We explored a different section of the river each day, returning to our beautiful campsite afterward. The rapids were mostly class 2-4, C-O-L-D, but fun!

On Wednesday we drove to Diamond Lake and followed the Diamond Lake – Crater Lake Challenge route (Falcon Publishing, Road Biking Oregon Guide Book) that we downloaded via Trails.com. We began at the South Shore Picnic Area at Diamond Lake and started climbing immediately. Our climb was interrupted briefly as Stephen waited in line to pay the $5.00 entrance fee into Crater Lake National Park. We finally reached the rim of the lake and were rewarded by the incredible vista of Crater Lake, with Wizard Island erupting from the vivid blue water. The very hilly 33-mile Rim Drive circles the lake and offers many fabulous viewpoints where we stopped to marvel at the beauty and impressive geology of the area. We rode the loop in a clockwise direction and as we approached the south eastern side of the lake the road led away from the rim and past Scott Mountain with views of Upper Klammath Lake to the south. We stopped for lunch at the historic, elegant Crater Lake Lodge and sat out on the veranda enjoying the fine cuisine and yet another awesome view of the lake. After lunch and a short climb we completed the loop and headed down, down, down out of the park and back toward Diamond Lake.

We left the Umpqua River area and continued our vacation with a stay in Ashland that included a visit to the Oregon Shakespeare festival and an outdoor concert featuring the Best of Opera. The Siskiyou Velo bike club of Ashland has an excellent Web site with a great ride library and we found a fun ride out of Jacksonville to Applegate Lake and back. The beauty and relaxed, uncrowded lifestyle of Southern Oregon is evidenced by the many retirees from California that we met!

Finally, on our way home we stopped for a night and camped on the side of Lewiston Lake, which is just south of Trinity Lake. We found a quaint little campground with only 6 sites, right on the lake shore. We got up the next morning and finished our vacation with a quick spin past a fish hatchery, through the town of Lewiston and up to the dam at Trinity Lake.

All in all, we had a great time and really enjoyed the balance of riding, hiking, rafting, exploring, and just hanging out.

Comments (0)

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

Comments (0)

By admin, June 7, 2005 8:42 pm

By Tom Roberts

Near the end of last year I met a woman. Technically I didn’t meet her until Jan. 1 of this year, but we had begun corresponding near the end of last year, so I’m going to say we met last year. (relax Charlie, this is mostly about biking, but I have to set the stage.) Many of you have met this woman, she goes by the name of Marti, but it’s not her real name. In the interest of honesty, I’m going to refer to her as Martha in this story. That might not be her real name either, but at least it MIGHT be her real name. Anyway, Martha and I met and started dating. As we continued dating, we found that we liked each other more and more. I won’t bore you with the details, but as we got to know each other better and better, Martha confided in me that she’d never been to Hawaii and had always wanted to go.

Well, going to Hawaii had never been very high on my list of things I wanted to do before I died. I had spent most of my life going to work, coming back home, and trying to keep the wolves from the door. I had just recently discovered Yosemite and wanted to spend more time there and in other State and National Parks communing with nature. In fact, Martha and I had spent an enjoyable week camping with my uncle and aunt in Yosemite. She had never been there. But I decided that if Martha wanted to go to Hawaii and if we could afford it, we would go. Heck, I even enjoyed going shopping with her. Hawaii would have to be pretty good if it was with her.

Long about July Martha and I became engaged. At about the same time, we decided that when we got married, we would do it in Hawaii. We started researching Hawaii. One of the first things I found out was that it didn’t cost an arm and a leg. This made me feel better about it. See “trying to keep the wolves from the door”, above. In our research, we found that the best island to visit, if you could only visit one, was Maui. It is said to be the most romantic of the islands, plus if you get married somewhere else, you can’t get a “Just Mauied” T shirt. Anyway, we found that there were lots of things to do on Maui.

When I first got into recreational cycling about 10 years ago, I knew absolutely nothing about cycling except what I’d learned as a kid. Oh, I’d heard of Greg LeMond and the Tour de France, but I had no idea what it was. I had no idea that LeMond and all these other guys could ride 2000+ miles in three weeks. I had no idea that old fat guys like me could ride 100 or more miles with the proper training. In fact, when I got my first bike as an adult, I thought riding the whole 14 miles of the canal trail was pretty good. But as I got into cycling more, I learned a lot of information about cycling.

Somewhere along the way, I heard about this mountain, Haleakala, in Hawaii that people rode down. It must have been after I’d learned a lot about cycling and had come to respect how hard it was to climb UP a mountain. My initial response to going down this mountain was “Where does the feeling of earning something come into this. I wouldn’t want to go down unless I earned the descent by going UP first.” But I never thought much more about it because I never intended to go to Hawaii. There were just too many other places I wanted to see first. As I was doing my Hawaii research, I decided just out of curiosity to see what island in Hawaii this big mountain was on. Lo and behold, it was on Maui!

As Martha and I had been dating, I had started riding fewer miles. And easier miles. For example, last year through mid August I had done about 3800 miles including several Diablo climbs, this year only 1700 and only 1 or 2 Diablo climbs. Martha tried to encourage me to ride more and spend more time with my friends, but somehow, when given the choice of climbing Diablo with Clint or spending time with Martha, she usually won.

Now I had this big conundrum. I was going to “The Mountain”, probably for the only time in my life, and I wasn’t in shape to climb it. Would I do what I said I’d never do? Would I get a ride to the top and ride down? Well, I decided I wasn’t going to be like all those other people. I was a real cyclist (whatever that is) and a real cyclist earns his descents. So in mid-August, I decided I was going to climb Haleakala and I started training.

It wasn’t like I’d quit riding. I was still climbing through the Oakland hills on Friday, but I wasn’t getting the extra 20 miles to Danville and back. And now my Wednesday ride was over Willow Pass instead of Diablo. So I wasn’t totally out of shape, I just wasn’t ready for Haleakala. I was probably in 1 pass Death Ride shape and needed to be in 3 pass (or 4 pass) shape if I had any hope of conquering Haleakala. Because of other things going on in my life I wasn’t able to ride as much as I had in the past, but I WAS able to intensify my riding. My main training increase was to change my Wednesday ride to Diablo from Willow Pass. The first time I tried it in mid August was a little tough. I had to stop a couple times, but I made it to the junction. My time wasn’t great, but it was OK (for me). I felt like something the cat drug in, but I made it to the junction. My next couple rides were about the same times. But each ride I felt a little better.

My last 3 Diablo rides were among the best I’d done in a couple years. Let’s face it, even at my best I don’t climb fast. But I CAN get to the top of whatever climb I’m trying if there’s enough daylight and if I’m in good enough shape. For Haleakala, daylight wouldn’t be a problem. The record is about 3 hours. I figure if I can do it in 6 hours, I’ll be doing good. In fact, if I can do it at ALL, I’ll be happy. And my last training ride on October 1 was encouraging. I climbed all the way to the summit. My time wasn’t particularly good (or bad) but I felt pretty good the whole way. I felt like I was as ready as I’ll ever be.

When Martha and I flew into Maui on Friday, Oct. 3, my first view of Haleakala, from the window of the plane, was of a mountain covered in clouds. I would learn in the week we were there that that was the way it was pretty much all the time. Once we landed and I got to look at it from the ground, I was a little surprised. I had expected to be craning my neck to look up at it because it was so high. But it just looked like a big hill to me. I thought that maybe it was because it was so far away that it didn’t look more impressive. But I discarded that idea almost immediately. Maui isn’t very big, about the size of central Contra Costa County. I thought for a second that maybe they used a different unit of measurement in Hawaii, but of course they don’t. Then I tried to visualize Mt. Diablo and compare the 2 mountains. I realized that Mt. Diablo doesn’t really look impressive from Walnut Creek, but I had expected a mountain that was 2 1⁄2 times as tall to LOOK taller than Haleakala did. We drove about 5 miles up Haleakala highway because I wanted to get a little closer and I wanted to look for a good place to start from if I actually decided to do the ride. I hadn’t reserved a bike and I didn’t know what to expect from the weather. I still wasn’t sure that all the pieces would fall into place, but I figured if they DID, I’d find out if Haleakala was really as tough as I had expected.

Martha and I had a few things to do on Maui before I finally had to decide whether to climb Haleakala, so the next few days were pretty busy. We were staying in Lahaina, and I did have a few minutes to visit West Maui Cycles to see if they might have a bike I could rent. I had tried to find out over the internet if anyone had a bike that would be appropriate for me without much luck, so I was fully expecting them not to have anything. I talked to a young guy named Jamie who was very helpful. It turns out they had TWO rental bikes that would work. Well, there went THAT excuse, it looked like I was actually going to have to do this thing I’d been talking about.

Monday evening I went to West Maui Cycles and rented a red Giant OCR3. It had Sora shifters so the shifting was different from STI, but I didn’t expect to do much shifting. This time I talked to Scott at the shop who suggested starting early because it often got windy and wet in the afternoon, so our plan was to leave Lahaina at 6 and start up the mountain at 7. When I say “our plan” I mean Martha and me. She was my support for the ride. We arrived at Haleakala Highway shortly before 7 A. M. only to find that traffic was bad and I couldn’t start where I’d planned. I had planned to start at about 500’ elevation where the road starts going up hill. As it turns out, by the time we found a place to start, we were closer to 1500’, but I didn’t really care because I still wasn’t sure I could even do the whole ride.

Most places you look to find out about Haleakala say it’s 38 miles to the summit. I believe that’s measured from Paia, which is at sea level and is where they start the annual “Cycle to the Sun” ride every August (www.cycletothesun.net). They claim the ride is 36 miles, but I don’t know where they start and finish. Based on several different sources, I believe I started 30 miles from the summit at about 1500’ elevation. I took 2 bottles of Sport drink and a couple Clif bars with me and the plan was for Martha to drive a few miles up the road and wait for me, at which point I’d refuel as needed. I also popped a couple Ibuprofen just as a preventive. The weather was mostly clear. There were clouds at about the 7000’ level, but it cleared up again above about 8000’.

Anyway, I started riding at 7:15 and immediately dropped the chain shifting to the small chainring. I got it back on with a minimum of trouble and started riding again. The start of the ride was pretty deceptive to me. The road looked almost level but my speed was similar to what I do climbing Mt. Diablo. The grade actually was pretty much the same most of the way. The average is 5% and it doesn’t seem to me that it varies much between 4% and 6%. I continued climbing through farm and pasture land, stopping for a minute or 5 every 1⁄2 hour or so for food. The ride continued uneventfully like this for the next 2-3 hours.

As I continued to climb, I was passed by numerous groups going down the mountain. There must have been at least 20 and maybe 30 groups, each with 15 or 20 riders. I guess riding DOWN Haleakala is pretty big business. But I never saw another roadie, either going up or down the mountain. It appeared that I was the only one to be climbing the mountain today. As I approached the 5000’ elevation, I passed my wife and yelled “5000 down, 5000 to go”. She was stopped across the road from one of the groups of downhillers who had stopped to rest from their arduous trip down the mountain. She told me the leader had yelled “here comes the cheap ride” to his group and she yelled back “Hey, that’s my husband”, at which point he stumbled all over himself apologizing and explaining he hadn’t meant it as an insult.

At about 10:15, I noticed that the wind had started to pick up and it had gotten quite cloudy. Shortly after, I passed the 6,500 foot sign, followed by the 10 mile marker where my wife was waiting for me. Up until this time, I had been talking into a tape recorder, mostly to record time and distance information. My entry at this time was “approaching the 10 mile marker, stopping to rest … and gloat”. I felt great. I didn’t feel like I’d climbed 5000 feet at all. I didn’t really feel like I’d even been climbing. I told my wife how good I felt and said “I can do another 10,000 feet today”.

One of the guys at work had joked about starting a pool to see how far I got. I pulled out my cell phone and called him and said “Tell whoever bet I’d get to the top that they won. The only thing that will stop me will be weather or a broken bike, because I feel great”. About this time, it started to drizzle. It wasn’t bad, and it wasn’t cold. Martha was concerned, but I told her wet was ok, windy was pretty much ok, and as long as I don’t get cold, I’ll be fine. But I gave her the tape recorder and put on my jacket and wind breaker. The drizzle picked up a little, but it was probably 65-70 degrees, so I got pretty soaked, but I wasn’t cold, so the wet didn’t bother me much. This continued for about an hour. I would pass Martha from time to time and say “I’m fine”, although I probably looked like a drowned rat. Gradually I climbed out of the rain and the warmth of the sun dried me off.

The major part of the climb is on state highway 378. There was a sign at the start of the highway that said “Mile 0” and another with the mileage to the summit. I thought it said “Summit 25 miles”, so at each mile or altitude marker I was doing mental calculations of how many more miles and how many more feet I had to go and how much time it would take me. There was a sign saying “Altitude 8000 feet” between mile 15 and 16 and my mental calculations told me either:

1. The climb would level off because 2000 feet in 10 miles was only about a 2% grade, or
2. There were less than 10 miles to go, because a 5% grade would only take about 6 miles to climb 2000 feet, or
3. One of the signs was wrong, or
4. I was getting altitude sickness.

I didn’t think it was altitude sickness because although I had been warned about this, I had no symptoms. As I was pondering the other choices I passed the “Mile 19” marker and shortly thereafter I passed the “Summit 2 miles” sign. It was apparently #2 and the sign at the bottom of the mountain said “Summit 21 miles”. I still wasn’t really tired, but I felt rejuvenated. Two miles and I’ll be at the top. Less than 20 minutes.

Many of you know I’m really good at breaking bike parts. Well, Haleakala was no exception. As I was climbing toward the summit with less than a mile to go, I hit a fairly level spot and tried shifting to the middle chain ring. I’d spent most of the day in the small chain ring and I was smelling the barn and had a chance to get in the middle ring and pick up some speed. I dropped the chain again! I wasn’t standing, I wasn’t even pedaling very hard. I figured I’d just put the chain back on and finish the ride. Not so simple. The chain was stuck between the chainstay and the small chainring. I got it unstuck pretty easily but when I got it out I found one link was bent at nearly a 90 degree angle. I couldn’t straighten and I couldn’t ride it.

But I was too close to the end to quit. I could either remove the bent link and maybe make the chain usable. I had the tools, the skill, and maybe a spare chain link with me. But it was less than a mile; I decided to hoof it. I walked the bike to the lower parking lot where I met Martha and told her what happened. We talked, rested, and then she asked if I wanted to put the bike on the car and drive to the top. I said no, that walking counted if you took your bike and I was walking the bike to the top! So I did. We looked around and took some pictures and then I started back down. I went about 1⁄4 mile down and my glasses fogged. I stopped, waited for Martha, and said “I already know I can go down, let’s put the bike on the car and ride down like sane people, so we did.

All in all the ride wasn’t as tough as I’d expected. Maybe it was so easy because of the physical and moral support I got from my new wife. She was just wonderful. Maybe it was the training, though I don’t think I did enough to feel as good as I did. Who knows? When I returned the bike to West Maui Cycles I dealt with a third guy named Dave, who I think was the owner. I explained to him about the bent chain and what had happened. I also said that although it wasn’t West Maui Cycles’ fault, I didn’t think it was mine either. But the rental contract I signed had stated that I was responsible for damages to the bike. We talked for a while and in the end, I paid for the damages, but he charged me what I thought was a minimal (and fair) amount. I may talk to my friends at Shimano again about the durability of their components.

I had originally planned to sub-title my article “Turns grown men into little boys crying for their mothers”, because I thought that even if I was able to finish I’d be pretty much wasted. But since I felt so good after the ride I’ve decided on the following sub-title, stolen from Keith Packard – “Just another ——- bike ride”.