I took delivery of my new Calfee Tetra Pro Adventure just weeks before the ride. This meant that I would be doing my third double of the year on a different bike. This one was more suited to riding a double century, with its longer wheelbase and room for larger tires. I used the Grand Bois Cerf (measuring 29C on these Hed Jet 4 rims). I also had this bike built up with 2 bottle cage mounts on the down tube and 1 on the seat tube to make carrying 3 bottles a piece of cake.
Above, you can see the bike in full regalia, ready to start the ride. I always carried 2 bottles of Camelbak Elixir and one that had a mix of Hammer Perpetuem, endurolytes and Hammer Gel. The bento box contained the contents of 8 packs of Clif Blocks. I tried to eat one Clif Block every 10-15 minutes and alternated drinking the Camelbak Elixir and Perpetuem mixes.
We started the ride ~4:30 in the dark and fog and rode up the coast from Malibu to Pt. Mugu and then into Hueneme. This was flat with some rollers and we just wanted to get our legs going and enjoy a nice ride into the hillier section.
After some milling about in Hueneme, we finally left and headed out and into the farmlands that served as the base of the first big climbs.
My brother and I were feeling good, but you never know until the climbs begin. Fortunately, the weather was cooperating and the fog was keeping us cool as we headed upward.
This was the worst of the climbs for the day, having some sections that were quite steep. Here, Tim had gotten out in front of me, but I managed to slowly catch up and was not that far behind when we reached the rest stop on the other side.
We re-fueled and were headed out of the rest stop, when a car coming up the road forced us to stop. I couldn't get myself out of my pedals so I fell over onto my right elbow and shoulder. After I brushed off my bruised ego, we were off again, headed toward Moorpark. The shoulder and elbow hurt a bit, but didn't cause much problem during the ride.
During the next stretch, it was rolling and flat with a few minor climbs mixed in. The scenery was mostly pastoral as we worked our way into Moorpark. As we got closer to Moorpark, the ride takes you through a few areas that get a little trafficky, but you quickly work through and arrive at the park where the rest stop is located. This occurs somewhere around the 85 mile mark. Both of us were feeling great as we arrived and we were still averaging well above 18mph on the bike.
Leaving Santa Paula, you have a few miles before you start to hit the climb. It's not a particularly difficult stretch, but it is often quite hot and it takes 45-60 minutes to get up and over. Fortunately for us, the weather was still on the cool side as we started up. We were both riding well enough that we made relatively quick work of it and were soon headed downhill into the orchards that led to the lunch stop in Ojai at mile 110 or so.
Ojai was probably the hottest section of the ride, but it was still at most in the mid-80s. We were both eager to get there and get a nice bean and cheese burrito in our bellies. We probably wasted the most time here, eating and talking to other riders. We were both feeling a bit beat at that point so we tried to re-hydrate and recover a bit before heading back out on the road.
After leaving lunch, there is a set of climbs around Lake Casitas on the way to Carpinteria. As the climbs began, we had caught up to another rider and we all started the climb together. Soon, my brother was off the front and I was riding with this other guy. As we headed upward, he told me a story about how he once had his girlfriend meet him at the top of this climb with "beers and some doobies". After a while, he got out in front of me and as we reached the top, he pulled over and took a "doobie" out of a case he had in his back pocket. I didn't realize anyone called them doobies any more!
I rode on and began making back some of the time that my brother had gained, all the while glad I didn't have to follow some stoned guy down the hills leading into Carpinteria. Once there, I saw the doobie guy again, looking quite mellow and red-eyed.
From Carpinteria,we hopped on Highway 101 for a bit and rode that for about 5-6 miles. The wind was at our backs but we were feeling a bit slow at this point. We'd been working hard most of the day, pushing each other during the ride. After the section on 101, we had to do some city riding and we eventually reached the final rest stop in Nueneme. Here, we got our lights and other accoutrement out of the drop bags for the final 30 miles of riding.
We were both feeling a bit spent at this point, but we knew we were making good time so we soldiered on. It was just a little jogging around until we got back to Pt. Mugu and then we were on the final stretch of PCH on the way back to Malibu.
The final stretch along the coast comes with a nice tail wind, but it also comes with a bunch of large rollers. This last section have a little over 1000 ft of climbing in about 25 miles. At the end of a double, that's a lot to ask.
My brother's energy was flagging a bit toward the end, but I was starting to smell the barn. Up and down, up and down, we went. Tim finally recovered a bit and after having me pass him on one of the last hills, he came bursting by me on the penultimate one. I managed to catch him just barely as we turned on the last road before the finish.
We had a great ride. Our total ride time was 13:45 and our on bike time was 11:45. Just a tad over 17mph for the route. As you can see, we were happy to be done! 3rd double of the year!
The 3 doubles I've done this year have all been done on different bikes. In fact, going back to last year's Knoxville double, I've done 4 in less than a year on 4 different bikes. The Calfee Adventure performed incredibly well and I think I'll stick with it. It's perfect for this sort of ride!
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