Franz Kelsch

There is a difference of opinion as to wether the Terrible Two (TT) or the Devil Mountain Double (DMD) is the most difficult double century. The DMD has more climbing but the TT often has the heat. This year the DMD had the best (or worst) of both worlds. A large group of ACTC members take on this challenge, including Brian Canali, Pat Dougherty, Paul Duren, Ken Emerson, Joe Farinha, Gary Franck, David Hoag, Franz Kelsch, Deborah Lefferts, Barbra Murphy, Lane Parker, Lyresa Pleskovitch, Russell Stevens and Benjamin Waters. Brian Chun decided to do it unspported!

All the club members who I spoke to had major issues to deal with, some more extreme than others. Here are some lessons learned.

• Don't try a tough double only 12 days after running a marathon.
• General conditioning is not sufficent. Targeted training for distance, climbing and riding in the heat are needed.
• With the hot weather take a Camelbak in addition to two water bottles. Most everyone was running out of water between some of the rest stops. That is the receipe for dehydration.
• Have good lights. Both myself and Pat had to help some other riders because we had good lights and they did not.
• Don't take this on as your first double as Brian Canali did (but he make it)!

This turned out by far the most difficult bike ride I had ever tackled. I felt good in the morning as we climbed Mt. Diablo and then Morgan Territory, and was riding fast enough clear to the Mines Road rest stop. After another brief stop there I headed for the junction. I looked at my watch when I hit about the half way mark of 103 miles and roughly 10,000 ft. of climbing and saw I had taken 7.5 hours. Not bad, I thought,so that meant I could finish in about 15 hours, or around 8 pm. But then the problems began. People were dropping like flies. I usually do well in the heat, but something seemed to have gone wrong suddenly. I started to feel weak and sick.

I was completely out of water by the time I hit the lunch stop at the Junction. I decided to take a long lunch, maybe around 30 minutes, unlike the Solvang Double where I was shoving food down and then jumping back on the bike. I was feeling a bit better as I headed toward Mt. Hamilton where I was able to draft behind a tandem. I started the climb up the backside of Mt. Hamilton and felt strong again, but I was worried about running out of water again so I was conserving it, but probably too much.

About half way up I started to cramp, big time. All of a sudden I couldn’t even peddle and I felt sick to my stomach. I had to get off the bike and sit in the shade. I looked at my legs and they were drenched in sweat. I had never seen that before because usually in California the sweat evaporates about as fast as you you can generated it. Then I started to lay down on the dirt along side the road. Some other riders were stopping around me, doing the same. The SAG drove by and I motioned to them all was okay, becasue I was NOT going to be SAGed in. After about 10 minutes I tried to get back on the bike but the cramping started again and was very painful, so another 10 minutes on the ground. I then tried a 3rd time and I could not peddle. I decided to start to walk the bike and try to work it out. I walked to the spring and drenched myself. That plus the walking helped and I was finally able to get back on the bike and finish the accent. I knew once I reached the summit it would turn a bit cooler and I was then confident that I could make it, but would need to do so with a slow pace and lots of resting.

I spent a long time at the Crothers rest stop. I was trying to get my stomach feeling better, give myself some time to hydrate and hopefully have it cooler before doing the last major climb up Sierra. Four riders were being SAGed in from there. When I did start up Sierra it was still 85 degrees but I was able to keep from cramping again by riding slow. I was very glad I had followed the advice to bring my old bike with the triple crankshaft. I don't think I have ever climbed up Sierra so slow before. Lots of people were walking their bikes. A rest stop past the summit is where I had sent my lights forward and it was a good thing because I needed them. The sun was just setting and I had to ride half of Calaveras in the dark. It was cool now and I found myself riding fast again, like in the morning.

I arrived at Sunol, the last rest stop at 9 am and learned from a club member there who had DNFed that several others had also. I was not going to give up at that point, so continued on chasing some riders in the dark. I was close behind two fast riders and noticed the lead one didn't have any lights at all. They made the right turn to go up Palomares and bam! they both went down hard, slipping on gravel (which was hard to see at night). I was lucky that I avoided hitting them. I helped them to get up and used my lights for them to check themselves and their bikes. We then started the climb and I went ahead, not wanting to be around those guys any more. I was climbing well now but most people were still climbing like a tortoise.

I found one other rider who I had ridden part of Caleveras with and we rode together to the end. He mostly was drafting off me, but he didn't have a very bright light so I didn't mind waiting for him at the top of the climbs. The last 10 miles seemed to go on forever. It was a great feeling when I finally arrived at the end, just past 11 pm.

Lane Parker

I felt really strong up to the Mines rest stop at Del Valle. I was even able to find an ice cold Coke in the cooler and those always give me a boost, probably psychological more than anything but this Coke didn't seem to help me. I felt like I was eating just the right amount at all the stops and getting plenty of fluids but about 5 miles into the Mines Road climb my body decided DMD was an SDI (super dumb idea). It started with cold chills on both my forearms, then cramping in my stomach, finished off with light headedness. I nearly fell over at one point when realized I should be turning right but was veering left.

At about 8 miles into Mines I had emptied both water bottles that I filled at the stop. My buddy Jimmie who pulled me through Tierra Bella came up and when he saw my empty bottles handed me one of his. I greedily took it and within 15 minutes that was gone, too. As riders passed me one-by-one and my cadence dipped down to 50 on the relatively easy Mines climb and power to a measly 110 watts, I knew that Mt Hamilton wasn't likely. For the first 90 miles I didn't set any land speed records but I was feeling very strong and pulled a few people through some of the flats. It took me 7 hours to get to the Mines stop but then another 2.5 hours to ride the next 25 miles to The Junction.

There were so many people stopping at The Junction, the QuackCyclists were having a hard time SAG'ing them out so I called my wife to come get me. As we drove up Mt Hamilton we saw the carnage that DMD had wrought with riders every 50 yards or so struggling to the top and by now it was about 4:30, 11.5 hours into the ride. If those people kept going I'm sure they didn't get back before 1AM. My wife made me promise no more doubles but that's not gonna happen. I did say I wouldn't ride any of the really hellish doubles, at least for awhile. I plan to crank out Davis in a couple of weeks. I hope it's not 97 degrees on Cobb Mountain.

Russ Stevens

Those LDTR rides must really be paying off.  David Hoag, Gary Franck and I took the top three positions out of the entire squad of 5:00 a.m. riders from the Devil Mountain Double and were only passed by two 6:00 a.m. riders.  Our final times were approximately 14:25 for me, 14:35 for Gary and about 14:55 for David.
 
I credit much of our success to our ability to stay together and pace line with each other.  The three of us rode together from the start all the way to the back side of Mount Hamilton.  Our group formed sort of a critical mass that other riders latched on to, occasionally forming pace lines of as many as 15 people. Also, it was very nice to have Dave and Gary’s company all the way down that lonely Mines road.
 
It was an extremely tough day.  Although we escaped the high winds at Patterson Pass (all the windmills were actually stopped), we did face a mild head wind down most of Mines Road, San Antonio Valley Road and Mount Hamilton.  Much worse than the head winds, however, was the heat. The 90 degree temperatures caused severe salt loss and cramping for almost everyone, even the elite riders.  By the time I left the Marriott Hotel at 9:00 p.m., only 40 people out of over 200 had arrived and another 40 people had already taken a DNF.  
 
Many kudos to the quack cyclists who clearly run the best double centuries in the state.  Their level of support and encouragement is matched by none.  
 
My only regret: I was so tired by the top of Sierra road that I completely forgot to pet the goat. In fact, I have no recollection of even seeing a goat, although I am sure it was there.  
 
Thanks to Brian Chun who rode most (if not all?) of the course unofficially, taking photos of ACTC riders along the way.  
 
Finally, congratulations to all of the other ACTC riders who participated in the Devil Mountain Double.  I think we had at least a dozen members registered for this ride.  ACTC now not only has great rides, a great events and great people, they also have some very impressive ultra-distance riders.  I don't think any club has as many members riding as many long-distance endurance events as we do.  
 
Before ACTC, I never would have even dreamed of accomplishing the things I have been able to accomplish in the past two years with the club’s help. ACTC is a club to be proud of and one I feel very lucky to be part of.  

Deborah Lefferts

I finished in good spirits, however, a little tired. I was shooting for 12A. I started off feeling very good, until Mt Diablo. I came in later this year, 2:35A, but I had a very hard time in the beginning. I had trained for 5 months and I was feeling stronger this year. Plus, I had completed a 125 miles north part of DMD in less than 11 hours. And also I came in second on Hemet and Sheila came in fourth. Not bad for old woman (me) and a woman (Sheila) for doing her first double.
  
I started cramping on Altamont Pass and kept cramping until Mines Rd rest stop. And my head was not into the ride. Plus, I had been unable to keep food in me Thursday and Friday. I forced myself to eat on the ride. Most of day, I wanted to vomit. I was thinking of DNF climbing Patterson Pass, but I got to the top of the Pass and my head was into finishing and I had taken something to stop the cramping. And I thought I only have two more hard climbs back of Mt Hamilton and Sierra. And kept thinking of kissing that goat and what type of reward that person would receive who gave the goat the best kiss. And when I got to Mines Rd rest stop and Joe was there. He was very disappointed, he was DNF. He kept saying, “I have Never DNF. I have Never Quit a double”. He gone out on Mines Rd and had to return, because of the cramping. I thought well lets see how I do on Mines Rd. Joe had at least tried. I had forgotten about all the climbing on Mines. I went through 100 oz of water from Mines Rd to the Junction. Thank God for the Sag drivers. I run out of water at mile 12 on Mines Road. I saw the Sag at mile 14. He poured cold water over me and filled my bag. I felt good through Mines Rd.
   
When I pulled into the Junction; there were about 30 to 40 people.  Barbara, Ben, Lane were there too. I did not sit down or stay long. Several people were DNF at this point and I did not want to let this impact my mind. I had already pulled my mind out of any negative thinking. As I was leaving the Junction, a good looking guy offered me a beer. Now that look back on that offer, I have come to the belief that I real have a problem. I prefer a goat to a good looking guy. Ben and I rode from the Junction to the base of back of Mt Hamilton. I climbed the back of Mt Hamilton with no problems. I knew from mile 5 to mile 3 is the hardest part of the climbing. I had time my self climbing this goat on Russ’ 12 goat ride, 54 minutes total. Mile 5 to mile 4, 14 minutes, mile 4 to 3 mile, 14 minutes, mile 3 to 2, 10 minutes, mile 2 to mile 1, 10 minutes, all climbing 54 minutes and to the top 56 minutes. So, I knew what it would take. I was very surprise during DMD from mile 5 to 4 and mile 4 to 3, I completed each in 14 minutes, but mile 3 to 2 went 17 minutes. However, overall climbing was completed in 62 minutes. I had figured 10 to 20 percent longer. I was very happy with my climbing and I did not stop.
 
I rolled over the top of Mt Hamilton feeling great, 7:06. I had a great descend. The sunset was beautiful. A bright pink to red lights through the Santa Cruz hills hid the sun. I practiced descending according to Lane’s email. I was in heaven, I just enjoyed descending. I had reached the top without stopping and it was a beautiful day. It is funny how a person can start a day good, then go to a bad day, and then back to a good day.
 
Then on to Sierra, the first part was hard, because of the pitch. I had to stand to climb this part. However, with a clear night the yellow and orange lights were impressive across the valley floor. I reached the top of Sierra’s rest stop without stopping and I was surprised again. My comment was, “Is that all the climbing and I thought there was more. I was asked if I needed anything. Ken Holloway said, “Only a picture with the goat”. I gave the goat a big hug, no kiss. The goat was not excited about see me. And I pushed on to Calaveras in the dark with almost a full moon; I was feeling good I had not struggled up Hamilton or Sierra.
 
The last two climbing, were easy too. I was just tired from being out soon long. I went to bed at 4A and got up at 6:30A. Paul Duren gave me a ride home. I have no plans on doing this ride again; else I am in better shape next year. NO TT for me this year. And why do we keep doing this ride to hell and back?
 
I meet Bernard on the Altamont Pass. His story was impressive. He had been paralyzed for 6 months, been through chemo, had lost 100 pounds, second year of riding, and this was his 3 rd double this year. And he came in 5 minutes after me. Looks like he will be joining ACTC LDTR group too.

Brian Chun

My version of a self supported DMD:

I started at 5:20am, solo, with the intent to finish the DMD if safety is not compromised, via self support. My main concerns were: 1. continuation of the mild heat wave our valley experienced on Friday, 2. Patterson Pass headwinds, and 3. the lack of piped water along the Mine's Road and Palomares segments, but as I joked with Patty Doughtery earlier, let's not overanalyze this route, just get on the bike and ride!.

As I expected, I did mug most of the lead riders, including Russ Stevens, Barbara Murphy, and Ben Waters (photos), with my Canon during my climb up Summit Road. I would not recommend the G6 for action sports photography due to significant shutter lag. This time Ken Emerson got away! Use a later model or a Sony.

At the top (photo), riders were streaming in regularly with one already stopped by rear wheel mechanical (photo).

My descent, and the rest of the ride were uneventful other than the high number of other riders coming up Mt. D from the north gate and the Mt. Ham Challengers streaming down Mines road, including, in the lead, Jon Kaplan, Nina Yeats, and Sue from WW (no photos), and several DMD riders resting in the shade along the Mines ascents. ( I was happy to cross another rider on a freshly minted custom 2006 Eisentraut "A" on lower Mines; yes folks, 30 years later, "Uncle" Al is still brazing!).

I enjoyed the earlier pass thru Morgan Territories with Michael, a local rider, as we crossed several others along with Deb, and found it cool and breezy along the way, and even along the Patterson climb, with just enough breeze to keep cool during the climbs. Deborah Lefferts was stuck with what appeared to be a "Bike Down"mechanical with the SAG hosts at the base of the last pitch of Patterson. Concerned about my ability to arrive at Mines by 1pm, I continued on, until I joined Ben Waters from Mines to the Junction old CDF.

Ben and I made a couple of Mines stops, one for water from the Pedalera hosts (photo) and one for oranges, summer sausage, and fresh frozen sliced mango. Later it was just myself investigating the new CDF station for water (closed) and the old station across from the Junction Bar (hose bib with rusty water). This is were I stopped to soak my bandana, dilute my juice cocktails, and head off solo to Mt. Ham, not meeting anyone except for a heavier set woman climbing the last part of the staircase after Isabel creek, and being crossed several times by the red sag van, truck and the Corolla with at least 7 bikes racked on top.

I reached Mt. Ham a bit after 6pm and used their dining hall hose bib liberally, then zipped up for the bumpy ride down, detouring via Crothers to Alum Rock Park for a restroom stop, then heading up to Sierra, meeting the DMD hosts around the backside at about 9/10 pm. They told me that a Bob Choy (sp?) was the first one to come thru, at around 5 PM, looking very strong.

Calaveras was lonely so I tailed a Scandanavian male rider until I crossed, enjoying his super bright headlights along the way. His comment was the heat slowing his progress during the day.

Not wanting to risk being on any more rural roads in the middle of the night, I went right at the Sunol "Y" section, stopping at the local Raley's market for a short sit to ascertain a flatter return to homebase. I ended up doing a neighborhood Dublin/San Ramon Maze Roller Ride using parts of Alcosta, Montevideo (sp.?), Foothill, two 680 underpasses, one 580 (Foothill/San Ramon Valley Blvd) and one 680 overpass (Bollinger Canyon) to get back to the San Ramon Marriot a little after midnight. Even though I omitted the Palomares/Crow Canyon/Norris Canyon night segment, my total mileage for my 19 hour trip came to 207.

In summary, I was happy to have opted for a safer version of the DMD with nice weather, no mechanical problems (Eisentraut B double with 7 speed Mega Drive worked fine), some souvenir photos, plenty of self supported fresh food and water, and a spouse grateful for me returning home in one piece. My nightmare fear was some incident with myself or another rider falling off Palomare Canyon in the dark with no immediate aid, so I was glad to hear that Ben Waters and Barbara Murphy were able to buddy up for this last segment!

I would recommend my version of the DMD for conditional ACTC consideration as there are plenty of bailout options towards the end, and lots of recovery along Calaveras and Sunol.

If I were the host, however, I would saturate the end of the route with volunteers along the roadways during the night with high powered beams and walkie-talkies, and in a paid event, equip each participant with a reliable transponder method for instantaneous tracking due to the high risk of falling off the roads along the steep canyon areas, and/or have more stringent prequalifiers in the selection/registration process to reduce risk and overalll budget costs for support and materials.

KUDOS to all of you for having the gumption to do this event, whether your primary objective was a nice social cardiovascular workout, a lean and mean race to the finish, something in between, or all of the above.

My thanks to Ben for our excursion up Mines, and to Russ, Ken, Deb, Pat, Dave, Barbara and Ben for aping for the camera and shouting Hello on your way down from Mt. D's summit during my anxious morning rollout of Northern California's premier double century climber

Joe Farinha

First of all I believe that all the cyclists that attempted to finish this year's DMD are pretty accomplished riders, but since this past Saturday was by far the hottest day of the year, none of us had any chance to train in the heat.
  
Like everyone else I expected to finish the ride, and I even had expectations of finishing better than two years ago, since two years ago I had mechanical problems that slowed me up for about 11/2 hrs. In the beggining was even able to keep up with the elite riders ( Gary, Russ, David , Franz & others for a good portion of the ride)
  
The heat was a factor early as we climbed Mt Diablo, I already could feel there was heat trapped around rock city, and at other portions of the climb.Yet I felt good there, and all the way to the Morgan Territory climb, and even after we started the Morgan Territory climb I wasn't feeling that bad, but decided to slow down a bit as muscle twitching was already apparent on my quads.
  
I was caught by a fast group of young riders approaching Altamont Pass, and rode with them for about 5 miles, but  when the climb started the twitching returned, and off the back I went.
  
I continued paying attention to my heart rate, and tried to hydrate as much as possible, while keeping my speed at a reasonable pace, when I started climbing Patterson Pass the twitching was now muscle cramps!
  
At the mini water stop at Patterson Pass, before the last hill I stopped for water, since my bottles were empty. The temperature on the road was now probably in the nineties.
  
When I reached the Mines rest stop I decided to take a prolonged rest of about twenty minutes, eat, and hydrate as much as possible.
  
I took off after drinking a V8 and eating what seemed to be a whole watermelon!
  
Eight short miles later I was cramping, and now had stomach problems, so I pulled off to under a tree and rested for a while! I hadn't felt this bad in a quite a while!
  
I knew I wasn't even close to the Junction or better yet to the bottom of the backside of Hamilton, so I made the decision to go back to the Mines Rest Stop.
  
I saw many of my friends, and heroes continue on, and knew that they would face a very hard ride ahead, but my body was telling my mind that Saturday wasn't meant to be.
  
When I arrived at the Mines Rest Stop again, I saw Deb, Ben, and others being smart, and taking their time, then I asked when they could SAG me back , and I was told it was going to be a while so I decided to ride to the hotel.
  
When I asked how far was the Hotel from the Mines Rest Stop, they told me it was 23 miles with very little climbing, but yet it took me over two 1/2 hours to get there!
  
I was nauseated, exhausted, but relieved that I was able to get back to the Hotel parking lot.
  
Congratulations to all that finished what I believe to be thet hardest ride I've ever participated on!

Ken Emerson

Well it's time for me to chime in. It was only about 20 minutes into the ride when a rider crashed HARD into the center divider sending people all over the place. He came close to collecting me up in the mess. Mt. Diablo was uneventful after that. I started to have feet problems on Morgan Territories and when the heat of the day on Patterson Pass was reaching in high 90's, I was in trouble.

I made it to RS #3 and cooled down, gave my feet a well rest and off I went climbing to lunch. As the
heat rose my energy dropped. Made the lunch stop and barely could hold anything down. Rested 15 minutes and
off again to back side of Hamilton. When I got to Isabella Creek I was moving @ about 4mph struggling to
go on. My feet were on fire and couldn't stomach the climb up. That was it for me. DNF!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THAT FINISHED A TOUGH RIDE.