Since I started doing doubles in 2009, I've gradually been getting faster at them. Last year, it took me about 16 hours and 40 minutes to complete my first official double. This year, I've been averaging around 15 hours and 30 minutes. So with the Solvang Spring Double, I wanted to see if I could complete it in no more than 15 hours and zero minutes.
I started my ride at 5:17am. I decided this time not to wear my jacket, because I figured it would get warm very soon. Plus, I was always sick of wearing my jacket for an hour, and then having the damn thing tied around my waist for the rest of the day. But I kind-of wish I did, because it was pretty cold riding in the Central Coast region at that time of the morning. But it motivated me to ride even faster! So I plowed through the darkness towards Santa Ynez, and then up towards Foxen Canyon. By then, the sun was starting to rise. It is truly amazing to see the sun rise while riding your bike!
I climbed Foxen Canyon, with determination to make it to the first rest stop which was still about 20 miles away. When I arrived, I did what I needed to do, and got back on my bike as quickly as possible. It was still cold, and my teeth were starting to chatter. Not a good sign.
I pedaled really hard towards Santa Maria in an effort to warm up. I then headed on out towards Nipomo. At this point, I was at about 60 miles, and on a double, that's when I usually get my "grumpies". This time, though . . . no grumpies. I was feeling good, and riding strong (despite the nasty cross wind). I paced off of a few people, and led the pace for a few others. I kept a very strong pace on Orcutt Rd., which is a 8-mile (feels like 80-mile) stretch into San Luis Obispo. But unlike my last Solvang double, this time I was feeling good, even if I was starting to get hungry. But Rest Stop 2 took care of that.
I was at mile 80, and it was 10:30am. It looked like I might finish my first hundred around noon; which is amazing for me.
I left Rest Stop 2 and climbed a few rollers through San Luis Obispo. I then hit Highway 1 out to Morro Bay. With a nice tailwind, I was able to maintain a pace of about 22-23 miles per hour (for me, that's fast). I breezed into the mandatory checkpoint in Morro Bay (right across the bay from the famous "rock"), got my bib marked, and headed south on my return to Buellton. And it was only a little after noon.
I rode through Morro Bay State Park, which was beautiful except the road leaving the park is awful. It was so bumpy that one of my taillights went flying off of my saddle bag. I went back to look for it and could not find it. Oh well . . . I had to keep moving. Besides, I had a backup light. (See, this is why you always have backup lights with you!!!) Heh . . . wouldn't it be nice if I finished before dark! Then I wouldn't need any of my lights. Hah! Fat chance! . . . or was it??!!
After mourning the loss of my precious taillight ($20) I fought through headwinds biking back towards San Luis Obispo. I arrived at the lunch stop at mile 118 around 1:30pm. I was really doing great time.
I then headed south towards Pismo Beach. I was getting a little tired, so I slowed down a bit. But I was still feeling pretty good. I biked through Pismo and Oceana, and then hit Highway 1 on my way out to Guadalupe. I've been down this road before, and every time I ride out to Guadalupe I'm always tired. And it seems to take forever to get out there. Not this time. The whole ride out there went pretty fast. I arrived in Guadalupe around 3:30pm.
I then hit the 166 "express" out towards Santa Maria, which always has a nice tailwind. I then turned down Black Rd. and then over to Highway 1. Now I can't be certain, but I think I ended up in a paceline on Highway 1, because a bunch of riders were right behind me, and didn't bother to pass me. And they must have been drafting since they were awfully close to me. I caught up to another rider, and decided to make him the front of the paceline. So here we all were, drafting off of each other, helping each other climb Highway 1 on our way towards Los Alamos. Eventually, the people behind me decided I was going too slow and passed me. Our paceline was down to 3 riders now. I was in the middle. And I decided to peel on ahead. I had an okay ride into Los Alamos, but I was starting to get hungry. Fortunately, Los Alamos was the "dinner" stop. I was looking forward to some hot soup.
In Los Alamos, I had some Cup-O-Noodles (a staple on double centuries) and chatted with a rider from San Jose, for whom this was his first double. I shared some of my experiences with him, and learned about the rides he had done. I then got back on my bike for the final stretch of the ride, which included the toughest climb of the day: Drum Canyon Road.
Drum Canyon Road really wasn't that bad. I've climbed much worse. The worst part was the crappiness of the road itself. The road was so cracked and bumpy, it was awful. It was even worse going down, since the descent was steep, and you're inclined to go really fast, but you can't for risk of damaging your tires or wheels. Finally, the road pavement got better after the steep descent, and I was able to fly over to Highway 246.
This was it!! The final stretch. Once I turned onto 246, I went all out to make it into the finish line as quickly as possible. The sun had just set, but it was not dark yet, and I wanted to finish the ride before nightfall. So I moved as quickly as I could, and soon arrived in Buellton. The left-turn-green-arrow gods were on my side, and I quickly winded my way through the little town over to the finish line. And the result . . .
. . . my goal was to finish the ride in 15 hours. Instead, my actual time was 14 hours, 3 minutes. WOW!!! My prior double centuries I finished in 15 hours, 40 minutes. So this was a huge improvement. It was not only a personal record for me, but it was also my second California Triple Crown win. I was so happy.
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