by Deborah Hoag

My goal for the year was to complete the stage race (the three hardest doubles). I had completed Muholland (the first one) when there was more than a 40 percent DNF. I then went on to complete Central Coast, and I had a great ride. But, I knew going into the Terrible Two, this double will be the breaker. I knew my weak points on this ride. The heat would add time and the last 17 miles I would be a struggle. I was prepared to deal with last 17 miles, I knew I needed to focus and push through it. And I needed every minute. Breaks would be 5 to 7 minutes, lunch would be under 20 minutes.

After training since Oct 2007, I was as ready as I could be. We had been checking the weather all week. The weather Gods said the temperatures would be around 80 to 90 degrees. However, that evening we heard there would be very high temperatures on Saturday. The morning started great, we left early to the ride start. What happen next, we realize we had made a big mistake by not driving to the ride start the night before. David and I could not found the ride start (the road to turn on to the school). The start time was 5:30. We left the hotel at 4:50. It should have taken us 15 minutes to get to the ride start. We finally found the start location at 5:45. We finally rolled at 5:55 AM. We missed the mass start.

I was willing to take the chance to DNF. A no show was not in the cards. I chose to ride. I knew I need every minute and the heat was going to be bad. But, I needed to take the chance. I focused and rode very hard. I did not waste any energy on thinking about the late start. I was just surprise; this was last thing I expected. I passed 3 people on the first climb (Trinity). I was counting them down. We hit the first rest stop 2 minutes before closing time. We missed the first rest stop, which took us a few times to find it. David and I had a great ride out to the Geysers, I was on and working hard. The last two weekends of training rides before TT, I tone down my drive. It was great I could turn it on when I needed to. By the Geysers, I had passed 15 people. However, on the Geysers it was very hot (107 degrees). Geysers is like climbing several Los Trancos in a row. When I reached the top at 12:15 PM, I knew I was not going to meet the lunch cut off time of 1:45. The year I finished TT I hit the Geysers at 11:30 and the heat was not an issue then. With a 12:15 time, I backed off and enjoyed the ride. I realize the pain was going to end early today. We reached lunch at 2:10. I may have gotten in at 2 PM, if I focused and rode hard. I had completed 110 miles in 8 hours with 14 minutes off the bike. But, between the late start and the heat, TT was not going to happen this year.

We had a great ride back with 4 other cyclists from lunch. So, we did 150 miles, and saw some very pretty country. Well, I am checking out fixed gears (Pake a screaming green). I want to have fun for the rest of the year. Next year the Stage race? And four of the hardest doubles? TT is what makes the stage race. Next year TT?????