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Devil Mountain Double, 1997
by Jennie Phillips
Subtitled: The Ride from Hell, To Hell, and Back!
Firsts and Lasts
The first double century I decided to do only 3 days before the event, which
was probably good because I only missed 3 nights of sleep in anticipation of
it, instead of stressing out 2-3 weeks ahead of time. The first time I've
ridden 206m in one day (probably the last). The first time I've climbed
18,100ft in one day (definitely the last!). The first time I've both started
AND finished a ride in the dark (would like it to be my last). The first time
I've spent an elapsed time of 16hours on a bike ride - I have renewed respect
for folks who do this on a regular basis, they're mental toughness and spirit
are incredible! The first time I've ridden on Patterson Pass Road (what an
unexpected little pitch just before the crest). The first time I've dropped
Karl and David before the first hill (more on that later!).
The first time I've done the Devil Mountain Double...AND THE LAST. Been
there, done that, don't need to do it again! (But then again, they say that
pain subsides and the brain forgets it in time?)
Karl Schilling, David Steele and I started out at 5am. There was also to be a
6am start time. Almost 60 people started the ride, with a large majority of
them finishing! The course was open as long as folks were willing to stay on
their bikes and according to the ride coordinator Sunday afternoon, the last
rider finished at 3:50am Sunday morning. There were a total of 4 women on the
ride and the ride coordinator believed that all finished! Although it rained
steadily well into the night on Friday, we fortunately had ZERO rain the
entire morning/day/night. The roads were wet in the wee hours but they were
fairly dry by the time we reached the top of Mt. Diablo. David had 2 flats
within the first 15 miles and as it turned out Karl stopped to keep him
company on both of them so I made it to the Diablo summit before either of
them (remember my earlier comment about `dropping them'? Well, the truth comes
out).
Climb #1: Mt. Diablo
We weren't allowed to start the ride prior to 5am because the gate at the
bottom of Diablo didn't open until 5:20am. I arrived at the gate to find a
monster-of-a-man park ranger right at the gate, looking quite intimidating but
nicely wishing us luck as we rode by. (We found out later that Pinney had to
pay Diablo to open the gate early for us) We eventually climbed above the
clouds and the view was as if you were in an airplane taking off from San Jose
and climbing above a sea of fog. I was able to turn my lights off at 6:09am
and we had a gorgeous view of the sunrise on the climb. We were able to drop
lights off at the rest stop at the top. I saw Karl and David coming up as I
was descending so I just decided to keep riding since I knew they'd catch me a
some point anyway. And Karl did...at the top of Morgan Territory.
Climb #2: Morgan Territory
It was a quiet climb. I had hooked up with `Dave from Concord' on the Diablo
climb and we had an incredibly quiet ride up MT. No one was around us, though
we kept expecting the 6am hammer riders to come whizzing by (they never did!).
Dave and I chatted most of the way up but when it started getting steep, we
both automatically shut up and got focused on the hill. I had a flat about 50
yards from the rest stop at the top so my timing couldn't have been
better...floor pump! Karl pulled in right as I finished fixing the flat and
he/Dave and I took off together....for what would become a threesome that
stuck together the entire ride. (Dave was especially thankful because
otherwise he would have been this ride solo...NOT A FUN THOUGHT).
The Climb that wasn't a climb: Altamont Pass
For some reason I was thinking that Altamont Pass was a climb but it really
was insignificant. We had an awesome tailwind heading out on it....I relished
this moment in the 53-13 combo...there weren't too many opportunities for it
on the ride.
Climb #3: Patterson Pass
Well, we paid for the Altamont Pass tailwind on this road....had a nice
headwind (actually, it probably wasn't that bad BUT I was having the first a
couple of mental crises that I was trying to work thru). I thought I had
ridden this road before but was obviously mistaken because I was NOT expecting
a climb. As Petey would say, it was a pisser of a pitch about 1/2 mile before
the crest.
This section of the course had us off and on parts of the Wente Road Race
course. The folks working the RR must have known what we were doing because
some would yell words of encouragement as we went by...that was great! As we
pulled into our rest step at Wente Winery, lo and behold, whom did we see?
The Royster! We knew he was racing in it and our timing couldn't have been
any better....he had just finished the race when we pulled up! We drank
up/ate up and then Roy joined us for the next section of our ride.
Climb #4: Mines Road
It was a bit warm on the first part of the climb and I felt my nose burning.
What little sunscreen I had applied at 4:30am had somehow worn off (imagine
that). Some dude came from behind and as he passed, asked if we were doing
the RR or the Devil Mountain. I replied the latter and he said `me too, it's
easy today'. I would have smacked him for that remark but it would have taken
to much energy to grab my pump! Dave and I just looked at each other and
rolled our eyes (yes, I know, a little envy on our parts, eh?) Found out
later that his name was `Ohm'....I decided that really stood for `Oh Help Me,
why AM I doing this ride?!?' Well, all it took was a little carrot (i.e.,
Ohm) dangled in front of Karl and Roy, and they were off the front with Ohm.
They vanished quickly into the distance. About 15+ miles from the junction, I
saw Roy heading back my way. He swung back around and kept me company for a
few miles..that was nice because it took my mind off my `I want some real
food, not bike food' cravings!
All along Mines Road, there were hordes of bird watchers. At one point, they
lined both sides of a narrow stretch of the road, holding their big cameras
and binoculars. It was really neat...felt like I was in a criterium for about
100 yards! The Junction store was PACKED with motorcyclists, a few bicyclists
(not on our ride), and those gosh-aweful huge groups of bird watchers! No way
I could wait in line to order a sandwich (food was free there if we showed our
number) so I just headed back out to eat cookies and chips they had_.I was
grateful to Karl for then giving me half his turkey sandwich!
Climb #5: Those pesky smaller climbs BEFORE you hit the backside of
Hamilton_yes I'm calling those `baby goats'.
The wonderful quietness of a back wilderness was shattered with the explosion
of gunfire in the not-too-distant area. Most have been some serious target
practice... and the person must have been a bad shot because he/she kept
firing. Gee, were we the targets? Distant bodies in lycra outfits, moving
steadily along (for the most part), looking tired and weary_could be an
interesting target for someone who probably otherwise is used to just shooting
at wild pigs and turkeys!
Climb #6: The backside of Hamilton
As we crossed Isabel Creek, I slapped that puppy of a cassette into the
28-tooth cog and gritted my teeth for the 1st extreme test of the day: doing
the backside of Hamilton after you've ridden 130miles and about 10000ft.
Karl, on the other hand, just took off and was out of sight very
quickly....That boy was feeling a little TOO good at this point in the ride.
As for Hamilton for me? We've all been there before...need I say more?
OK, I will say that I arrived at the top and saw Karl joking, laughing,
drinking shots and smoking an illegal cigar with the RAAM guy (Peter Popp) and
Andreas Shultz (Land Rush winner). OK, reality was that Karl was looking
mighty spry at the top, while one of the other guys was soon-to-be losing his
lunch. Karl and I `dropped' the RAAM guy and Andreas as we left the top
(come on, let us have our little moment in the sun, regardless of the
circumstances!).
The descent down Hamilton was_.well, it was a descent! YEAH! Another one of
those rare opportunities for the 53-13 combo (I was missing my 53-12 on that
one but hey, I'll give up that 12 any idea in order to have my 28 cog for the
steep stuff!). We all did, however, complain at the bottom that our feet went
numb on the descent from the constant pressure on the pedals. A right turn on
Crothers took us to the next rest stop_at Tim Shocker's house! Karen was
there waiting for us with camera in hand to capture on film the relief that we
showed for having the backside of Hamilton behind us! She was
wonderful_.fixing us sandwiches, getting us drinks, offering us anything and
everything! Having been through a similar ride (Terrible Two), she knew
exactly what we were going through. After a brief respite, we put the lights
back on our bikes and took off for what the ride sheet dubbed as `Heartbreak
Hill'.
Climb #7: SIERRA
Sierra by itself is a grind but do-able. Sierra coupled with another goat or
two can be menacing `cause you don't want to wear yourself out before the
other goats. Sierra after 156miles and ~14,000ft is downright silly (OK, I
had another word in mind but I'll keep this report fairly `clean'). Sick,
steep Sierra_..the 28 cog felt like it was only a 21 cog! The pain is still
too fresh so pardon me if I prefer NOT to recount too much about that climbing
experience. Karl did actually admit to having a hard time on Sierra_sure!
Don't ya just hate it when someone says that after they've climbed out of
sight quickly at the start of the hill and seem completely recovered/at ease
by the time you reach the top of the hill?!? We had one goal once we reached
the top of Sierra: get thru Niles Canyon before it gets dark!
Climb #8: Calaveras
Even though that right hand turn onto Calaveras after the screaming descent
off Felter is short, I was NOT looking forward to it. Every pitch like that
now took a get-in-your-28-and-out-of-the-saddle effort. But after we reached
the top of that short pitch, the rest of Calaveras seemed like a piece of
cake! I guess it's all relative to what you've climbed previously. We had a
nice tail wind from Calaveras to Sunol.
The next rest stop was at the train station in Sunol. Those disgustingly
bad-for-you salty cup-o-noodles tasted AWESOME and Karl and I both chowed
down. It was fairly windless as we headed thru Niles Canyon_before dark, yeah!
Emergency vehicles screamed past us and we came upon a MAJOR accident right
under the railroad crossing before the right turn onto Palomeres. A car was
upside down on the right side of the road and traffic was stopped in both
directions. The police officers were very nice and got us around the accident
almost immediately.
Climb #9: Palomeres
As we headed up Palomeres, we all were thankful that we hadn't been in that
area when the accident occurred! Palomeres was a piece of cake_.I think we
were all getting finish-itis and again, the climbs are all relative after
awhile. Again we were very fortunate to descend Palomeres just before it got
really dark. We turned our lights on as we turned left onto Palo Verde.
Climb #10: Norris Canyon
A quick stint up Crow Canyon and then we turned onto Norris Canyon for our
final little climb. We deemed it a climb because of where/when it comes in
the ride. There is, though, a short 7.5% bit just before the final crest.
The clouds were started to break out overhead and saw that it was almost a
full moon. We_OK I_was whooping and hollering as I reached the crest of
Norris Canyon. The giddiness I felt Friday nite as I wondered what in the
hell I was embarking upon was returning as I realized what we all had done.
And of course, knowing that the final 3 miles were all down hill certainly
helped the feeling of excitement_as did the knowledge of knowing there was hot
lasagna waiting for us at the Marriott!
The Finish
We rolled into the Marriott at 8:58pm. They poured sparking cider for us and
we toasted each other_.Dave, Karl, Ron (a 4th guy we picked up at the Crothers
rest stop), and I. After they took our photo, we all exchanged
hugs/handshakes and made our way to our cars in the darkness. It hadn't sunk
in yet. We moved in slow motion. There were hot showers and a Jacuzzi waiting
for us inside. We had no bathing suits but did have spare clothes so the hot
showers were heaven sent! Within 5 minutes after showering, hot lasagna,
salad and garlic bread arrived_.what a glorious feast! We all sat around
stuffing our faces, exchanging war stories of the morning/day/night and
feeling marvelous (OK, that last part is stretching it a bit). Around
10:45pm, figured it was best to head home_but didn't get to bed until almost
1am `cause I was just too stoked (and exhausted) to calm down enough for
sleep! I woke up at 6am on Sunday morning with the entire previous day's
adventures rushing through my head. I stumbled out of bed to grab my laptop,
hopped back in the sack and began document this wondrous event.
I only hope that if Karen Langeman ever sends me an email suggesting that I
do something like this again, I dig up this documentary and remember the
pain clear enough to `Just Say No'. Seriously, though, Karen - thanks! I
wouldn't have done this ride without your encouragement!!!!
And special thanks to Karl because there is no way I would have done this ride
on my own. He easily could have finished ahead of me but instead chose to
ride with me (with the natural exception of blasting ahead on the hills) and
most importantly, FINISH with me so we could share this crazy ride end
together. By the way, while I made good use of my 39-28 combo, Karl did this
ride with a 39-23 (yep, the boy slummed and swapped out his 40 chain ring for
a 39 chain ring). I don't know how he did it - awesome!
Congratulations to David for earning his Triple Crown on Saturday - what a ride
to finish on!
Ride Details :
206 miles
18,100ft UPHILL (as Donny would say)
14.4 mph ave Ride Time
14:30 hours Ride Time
15:58 hours Elapsed Time
Total riders started: 58 (ACTC riders - David, Karl and I - made up 5% of
the rider population!)
6 riders finished ahead of us.
Last Finisher came in at 3:50am Sunday morning.