Conference noted::bicycle

2568.0. "1993 Davis Double" by ARTIE::ALVIDREZ () Mon May 17 1993 19:38

Well, I've got my first Davis Double under my belt and I survived in good
shape.  Total time including rests was just over 12 hours.  The distance
of the ride is listed as 201 miles, although my Avocet only registered
196...heck, I'll take their word for it.

The first 35 miles is flat-flat-flat through the Central California farmlands, 
then starts climbing through the hills of Napa and Lake Counties for about
95 miles, then returns back to the farmlands for the last 70 miles of
mostly flat and downhill roads.  Conditions were great -- slightly cool
at the start with a temperature of 56F, warming up to the mid-80s in 
the mountains, then high clouds and upper 70s at the end.  Crosswinds
slowed us down a bit at the end.  I started out with shorts, Alto Velo jersey,
and warmies, and just dropped the warmies at the start of the climbs.

I rode with a group of seven riders in a team called Strada Sempre Duro,
a USCF-sanctioned team which has a number of excellent distance riders.
This team has done the Davis Double many times and is very experienced.
Otto, the team leader, told me that I should have patience in order to
complete this ride in good form.  He also told me not to get carried
away at the beginning of the ride by resisting the temptation to jump
into the huge-and-fast pacelines that start out, thereby saving my energies
for the climbs and the finish.

We rolled out at 5:20 AM, just light enough to see the road and other
riders.  The pacelines formed and we jumped in anyway clocking speeds 
between 25 and 29 MPH through the flats.  There were a couple of very fast 
tandems from local clubs which led the field so we didn't have to work too 
hard after jumping in.

We stopped at the first rest area at 30 miles, then decided to stay in the
saddle for the next 45 miles to the rest area at Pope Valley at mile 75.
The first major climb of the day called Cardiac broke up the field, and
the climbers from the group charged ahead.  I decided to exercise patience
and stayed back, just ahead of the last rider in our group up the hill.
As I crested the top, I hooked up with a fast tandem going downhill (ah,
bliss!) and caught up to the rest of the group waiting as they regrouped
for the last rider.  Then, we hooked up with another fast tandem through
the hills around Lake Berryessa...until the tandem somehow broke their
chain and we lost a nice pull.  We made it to the 75 mile mark in good
shape anyway, averaging 20 MPH.  Another 20 miles of rollers put us
to the next rest stop at mile 93.

At mile 95, there is the climb to the highest point in the ride, and
here I exercised patience again, being the last climber in the bunch.  
Also, I decided to stop and use the porta-potties near the top of the climb
where the rest area featured a water stop with Hawaiian music and women
in hula skirts (what a hoot!).  On the descent, I worked with a group
which caught our other slower climber at the lunch break at mile 115.
Up to this point, I had been having a great ride, I still had lots of
energy, wasn't very sore or tired, and thought to myself that I had 
already done a century!

After a quick sandwich, it was off to the climbs again, this one a series
of hills called the Resurrections.  I wanted to save myself for this last
climb as well, because once you've climb the Resurrections, all the major 
climbing would be over.  This time, I dropped a couple of other riders in the 
group, but stopped to regroup at mile 130.  Another couple of easy climbs, 
and it was all over, and I was eager for some downhills.  Unfortunately, 
once we passed the major downhills and hit the easy downhill slopes, the 
roads turn rough and ugly -- and this is the part that really fatigues you.

On the rest of the flats, we organized into a nice paceline, each of us
working to take pulls for a couple of minutes.  We picked up some other
riders from local teams in the area and let them do some of the work.
I still had some energy reserves, so as we came to city limit signs 
on a couple of towns on our route, I decided hammer down and win the sprint
to the city limit sign.  After my second sprint, the field seemed to
fall apart and some of the faster riders took off leaving the rest 
of the pack disorganized and in the dust.  I caught a lot of flak from 
Otto about staying put, especially when he and some of the other riders 
were starting to feel pain, fatigue, and soreness of the last 50 miles.
At this point, there was no more chatter, no more friendly bantering,
and we were all just slugging out the last 50 miles.

We made one last rest at mile 179.  Here they had volunteers waiting to 
park your bike and a small inflatable wading pool filled with water for you
to dip your feet.  Ahhhhhhh!!  There as also a guy with a hose waiting to
hose you down.  After this rest stop, there was only 20.4 miles to go.  
I made the mistake of not visiting the porta-potties at this point, and it 
would cost me later. 

We hit the road and organized into a paceline, but went a bit slower since we
were tired, sore, and grumpy.  I took a couple of good pulls and still had
some energy left to finish.  At about mile 192, we go over the last "hill",
an overpass over highway 505 --  not much of a hill, but it was marked in
spray paint by the race organizers.  There was a surge to see who would make
it to the top, and I decided to go for it and won the prime.  Big mistake,
I just blew my wad.  I also was drinking a lot of water so I wanted to
explode in a big way.  There is a rest stop at a firehouse 7 miles to the end, 
and I wanted *sooooo* badly to stop, but the pack decided to blow past it.
At mile 197, we make the final turn onto the main highway taking you back
to Davis.  There was a lot of cross-traffic and I missed the turn with the
rest of the field, so I got OTB'ed bigtime.  Once I finally made the turn,
I was so far behind I decided to drop myself and relieve by bladder behind
a tree on a sidestreet.  Once that was over, I jumped into another paceline
and made it to the end five minutes behind my group.  When you reach the 
end, there are folks sitting in lawnchairs on the grass at the high school
who applaud you as you make your way to the finish.

Doing a ride like the Davis Double sure gives you an appreciation for RAAM 
riders, or pros who put in back-to-back 140-mile stages.  (Two days later, 
and I'm still needing a noontime nap.)

AAA

    Wow !  some report.  Sounds fun.

    Congratulations!!!
    
      Chip

sounds like fun. do you happen to know how many feet of climbing there are?