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Davis Double Century '98![]()
Morning of the Ride!
The Ride! Mile 16-50, I lead with Brent and Lonnie drafting. I draft off of two tandems twice, but both times Brent and Lonnie are dropped so I slow it down. We stop at every rest stop to check for Paige or any messages she may have left behind. A few of the stops remember her and say she's still on her quest for a spare crank arm bolt and has sagged to the next stop. Mile 100, Brent has knee pain and can't ride and Lonnie complains about the possibility of pneumonia from riding in the cold rain (neither of them brought rain gear even when it was a possibility in the forecast). They try wearing garbage bags and newspaper for insulation, but it doesn't help so they both bail and decide to sag the rest of the ride. I'm fine in my rain jacket so I hammer on. I ride for about an hour in the rain. The cold doesn't get to me until I stop for lunch. Mile 100-165, I hammer a few hills and then I catch up to Patch Man (real name is Dan, but he's now been dubbed Patch Man since he's sewn like 7 Davis Double Century patches onto his jacket), and we ride the next 60 miles together until he wants to stop for chili at the fire station and I go on with the following I've picked up. Mile 165-200, I lead since I'm the only one with the NiteRider Light. At mile 165, there are just two of us, eventually I had 10-15 riders behind me at the end (their AA or AAA operated lights have died over 3 hours). Most of them were only going about 9mph looking for road markings and potholes with their badly illuminating lights until I came cruising along at my 15mph pace and they all dropped in line behind me. They would've either had to stay out there an extra hour in the cold making their slow way in or sag in. I called out stopping/slowing/right turn/left turn while watching for road markings and potholes. The person behind me just zeroed in on my tail light and so on behind that person. It was pretty cool to have three people at the end thank me and shake my hand for leading them in the final 20+ miles. I finally finish at 11:06pm and Brent, Lonnie, and Paige are waiting at the end.
Conclusion
Mileage Recap
Misc Notes
Speed and Climbing Notes
The above was ridden about a year after I purchased my first road bike (not counting the 10-speed from high school days or the bmx bike from grade school). I've since ridden many double centuries at a much faster pace.
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