This past weekend, I rode the Davis Double for the second time. So far, it is still the longest ride I have completed. I attempted the San Francisco Randonneurs 400k last month, but fell short at the 135 mile mark. I had hoped to do my first Super Randonneur series this year, but there is always next year.
I met up with a couple of people along the ride, but my main goal this time around was to ride at my own pace the entire time. This entailed not waiting for anyone else at rest stops and not having people wait for me either. I kept my rest stops brief (some of them under a few minutes) just long enough to fill my water bottles, eat a couple of banana halves, and grab a PB&J sandwich for the roll out.
This turned out to be a great approach for me. I met a lot of people along the way and ended up leap frogging a lot of riders throughout the course of the day.
I ended up completing the course about an hour and a half faster than last year. I brought the bicycle that I typically ride on brevets with 30c tires, fenders, and a front bag. I expected the set up to slow me down slightly, but I think the combination of stopping for as little as possible along with riding a lot this year so far helped. It was also a bit funny to hear people’s reactions as I passed them. One young UC Davis alum kept racing me up a climb not wanting to be overcome by my heavy setup and he openly told me so. Another older gentleman commented that I brought out my commuter for this ride.
Not a ton more to report other than this ride went really well. The new 2011 goal is a California Triple Crown, so I’ll be planning to do at least two more double centuries this year.
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