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Pre-ride photos
of the Campy Only fixed gear, which we used in this year's DC
Official info on Soma frames: www.somafab.com |
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Wheels for our
DC effort were built by Tim Brockett at Branford
Bike (a Campy Only sponsor and great wheelbuilder!) |
Photos from the
ride to Rest Stop 1 (Farnham Ranch)
Ride Notes: Ron and I had decided months before to do
the Davis Double on fixed gear bikes. He has been riding
fixed for several years; I only started this year. Our
plan was to ride for fun, not time, and to finish at all
costs--"Death Before DNF." We left Davis at
about 5:20 a.m. with a group that included Bo, Sandy, Dan, and a
few others. They had planned to hang back with us (they
could go much faster on the flats), a plan that fell apart about
five miles out ... We caught up with the Bo group at the first
rest stop, and never saw them again. |
Early morning-sun is just
coming up |
Ron makes an unscheduled
rest stop |
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Arriving at Rest Stop 1 |
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Waiting for the
port-a-potties |
Bo Yule--the last we
would see of him |
Sandy (above and right)
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Riders arriving at RS 1 |
Heading toward the day's
first climb |
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Bottom of the dam |
Starting up to Rest Stop
2 |
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Photos
from Rest Stop 2 (Monticello Dam) and later
The climb to Rest Stop 2 was our first test of climbing, and
came just before the first real downhill. We were both
surprised to find ourselves passing other riders on the uphills
(and not surprised to be passed by freewheeling riders on the
downhill side). At this point, we were still feeling fine. |
Rest Stop 2, at
Monticello Dam |
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After RS 2, a little more
climbing to the summit |
First real downhill--a
test of our ability to spin at 140 rpm! |
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The peak at Moscowite
Corners |
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Photos and
video from Rest Stop 3 (Winery picnic area)
64 miles into the ride, and Ron and I were still doing
great. The terrain on this part of the DC is mildly
rolling, suited pretty well to our 69-gear-inches gearing.
Check out the video--we were definitely looking down on all the
cyclists who needed gears to get this far! |
Rest Stop 3 |
Ron's fixed gear |
More potty lines... |
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Video commentary on the
ride so far. How the French scoff + more |
Photos and
video
from
Rest Stop 4 (Pope Valley) and later
76 miles, and we felt easily as good as we would on
"regular" bikes. One of the highlights of this
stop was CHP Officer Ericson, who shared tales of the nine
bicycles in his collection, which includes a special 1976
Olympics-edition Paramount track bike. Leaving this stop,
we caught up with a group led by Amy Rafferty (former president
of the Davis Bike Club). We would end up playing leap-frog
with the Amy Group for the rest of day; Amy reminded us that we
were "beaten by girls" as they passed us. |
Arriving at Pope Valley
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Beautiful oak tree shades
the rest stop
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CHP Officer Ericson owns nine
bikes--eight of them Campy equipped! |
Rider #1, Amy Rafferty,
led an all-girl paceline |
Away goes Amy's
group. "Beaten by girls!" mocked Amy as they
passed us
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Topping out a small
summit |
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Gratuitous self-portrait
by Eric Norris |
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Arriving at Middletown,
and on to Big Canyon
It felt good to stop! 95 miles in, and it was really
starting to feel good to get to a rest stop and let our legs be
still for a few minutes. Just outside this rest stop is a
small, "grinder" hill of about 10% grade--my
most-feared climb of the ride that turned out not to be so bad
after all. We switchbacked a bit, stood on the pedals, and
steamed on to the top. The climb after the Big Canyon rest
stop averages somewhere around 6 to 7 percent--again, having no
choice of gears and nowhere to shift down to, it became almost
easy (almost) to climb. Another downhill and a few rolling
miles would take us to lunch. |
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Arriving at
Middletown
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Middletown rest stop |
Watering up |
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Ron pauses on the way to
Big Canyon |
Campy Only's Eric Norris |
Eric's calf, with the
fixed gear drivetrain |
Passing through the Big Canyon hamlet
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Heading for the "big"
Big Canyon climb |
Arriving at Big Canyon
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Big Canyon rest stop |
Miles to the next stops |
Heading through downtown
Lower Lake |
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Lunch
at Lower Lake
The biggest thing on our minds at lunch was what came
afterwards: The major climb up Resurrection, and the
relatively hard run-up to the base of the Resurrection
climb. We lucked out with the weather this year--temps
peaked in the 80s (I have been on the ride when it's fully 30
degrees hotter). It was on this ride that I began to
consider how much the so-called "fixed gear flywheel
effect" was coming into play. Yes, the climb was
hard, but really (really!) not that much harder than on a
regular, geared bike. |
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B and L Bike Shop's Beth
Annon works on bikes at the lunch stop
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Leaving lunch--next big
climb is Resurrection |
Cool clouds |
Topping a summit |
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The Oasis--just a little
more climbing to the top! |
Last stretch to the top
of Resurrection |
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At
the top of Resurrection
The top of Resurrection meant that we had basically
finished the climbing--from this point on, the ride was mostly
downhill, and then flat back to Davis. We were feeling
very confident at this point. |
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Arriving at the Resurrection rest stop
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Campy Only's Eric looking
more tired here than we really were (really!) |
Resurrection rest stop |
Resurrection rest stop
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After the big descent off
Resurrection |
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Ron heads for yet another
small summit |
Back in Yolo County! |
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Guinda
Rest Stop and Beyond
160 miles from Davis, and our butts and legs were finally
starting to feel it. Not being able to stand and coast
meant that our posteriors had been subject to 160 miles of road
noise, and it was starting to show. Leg speed was also
going down--our cruising speed, which had been up around 20-21
in the morning, was slowing down to about 19 mph. Still, I
managed to pull a paceline for a few miles. |
Guinda rest stop |
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Heading for the new
mega-casino |
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Pacelining on the flats |
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Farnham
Ranch rest stop ... Almost home
178 miles, and yet another sighting of the Amy Group.
We all camped out here for a while, Ron and I resting butts and
legs for a while. |
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Farnham Ranch rest stop |
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The Amy Rafferty
group--again! (Amy says, "Are you stalking me?" |
Shadows on the roadway |
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Wheat ... |
... and rice ... |
... and long, long roads to the
finish |
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Last
Rest Stop: West Plainfield Fire Department
Yes, it's only 7 miles from the finish, but Ron and I voted
unanimously to stop here. |
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Arriving at the last rest stop
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Last rest stop |
We had to ride into this
headwind |
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Watermelon guy
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Campy Only's Eric Norris,
with 7 miles to go
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Sundown--we made it to
the finish in daylight (barely)
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Heading for Davis!
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The
Finish!
Back in Davis! We felt great--good enough to have a
little dinner courtesy of the DBC and then hop back on the bike
for another four-mile ride back home. Next year, we'll be
back on fixed gears! Post-ride, I felt great the next day;
it took a couple of days for our legs to really feel the effects
of 62,000 pedal strokes! |
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At the finish
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Campy Only's Eric Norris at the
finish, 15 hours, 30 minutes after starting |
Checking in the riders |
