Heartbreak Double 2014 ‘Fault Zone’

[Carl Sanders]

Uplift - A few final encouraging words exchanged with my traveling companion, Paul McKenzie, and we set of at the 5:15 AM start from the Palmdale Holiday Inn parking lot. Approximately 70 Double Riders take to the high Mojave Desert for the second Stage of the California Triple Crown series. Twenty or so of us push the pace up a 50-mile gradual climb along the San Andreas Fault. I hope that I won’t crack with this early morning extended effort.

 

My attention on this Stage will be to keep Rod Palamino in sight at all times, who after Stage One had three minutes up on me, finishing second, 20 minutes behind Joel Southern with a time of 11:26. Additional Stage podium challengers present this morning were and Calvin Erdman, 13 minutes back and Maximiliano Mehech, 22 minutes behind me after Stage One.

 

The jagged route profile covering 202 miles and 16,000+’ of climbing looked more like a seismograph registering two powerful 6.0 and 5.5 magnitude earthquakes, than a bike race.  We would travel out and back along the first 50-mile section, and complete a 100-mile loop in the middle with a separate group of single century riders.

 

Convergence - South of the mighty Sierra Nevada granite batholith, the Garlock and San Andreas faults merge at Lebec along I-5, the 50-mile mark for double century riders and the start/finish for century riders. Only the day before, the Amgen Tour ran their Stage Race through this very same location on what would be our return leg. This was truly the current epicenter for southern California road cycling.

 

Rapidly, our lead group of twenty riders whittles down to ten, then six and finally four by Lebec. Cal appears to have fallen back to retrieve a dropped water bottle. Joel, myself and Rod then pick up a few strong century riders at their start and begin our ascent up Pine Mountain

 

Decomposition - Up Pine Mountain, before Apache Saddle, Joel pulls away from Max and I, but is followed closely behind by Rod. Our century riders disappear. I hold back, knowing that the 70 miles of climbing thus far have started to tear and erode my being.

 

Also, I hear that Joel is after a KOM for the century portion of this ride. I don’t dare try jump on that train. Rod ultimately tails off Joel and rejoins Max and I, appearing a little worse for the effort. Max then attempts a jump on Rod and I after the Apache Saddle aid, but we quickly reel him back in and then let him drift off the back as the road tilts downward and our speed rapidly accelerates.

 

Weathered - Down along the epic Mil Potrero HWY from Apache Saddle, atop an exposed expansive ridge, astounded by the expansive views of the south San Joaquin Valley to our right and the transverse Tehachapi Range to our left, Rod and I trade long leads over rollers dropping us to the 100-mile mark and low point along the course.

The prolonged effort and desiccating winds leave me parched. Sun-baked, we motor on past the sage and rabbit brush, beneath withered pinyon pine and sparse juniper. The wind and sun seems to have varnished my face and skin, now encrusted with a rime of salt.

 

Deposition - Off the Ridge and onto the alluvial fan below, where the mountains have crumbled and washed into the arroyos, Rod and I plus a couple of fast century riders we’ve just over taken, now ride echelon into the stiff cross winds. Rod fades off the back before the lunch stop at mile-110. I dash in, quickly guzzle more water, gobble a PB&J and top off my bottles and jump immediately back on the road.

 

Heat and Pressure - Climbing out from lunch stop, the temps begin to soar into the triple digits as the grade pitches skyward. I contemplate underlying forces, relentlessly pressing rock against rock, rider to bike, tire to hot asphalt. Tucking temporarily in behind the many century riders now spread out before me, I march upward into the fiery cauldron toward the aptly named Heartbreak Summit. Just past the Summit, I quench my nagging thirst again and stuff my face with brownies and half a banana at the mile-126 aid station.

 

Continental Drift - Trading pulls with century riders until their finish at Lebec, I opt to skip the rider chaos at this, the second to last aid stop, and charge ahead solo, just 10 minutes behind Joel on the return trip back to Palmdale. On empty again, my bottles drained, the mind losing focus, I’m eager for drink and fuel at the final Three Points aid station around mile-170. Refreshed and buzzed on a cold soda, I jump back into the ring for the final round.

 

Geologic Time - ‘A watched pot never boils’ I remind myself. But staring down at my Garmin, the cumulative mileage and elevation gains come on slower and slower as the end nears. A strong tailwind now pushes me home, back along the San Andreas Fault, downhill over the few rollers we climbed so many hours ago in the cool early morning air. Joel seems impossible far off. Time seems extended now, moving slower and slower as I continual glance back over my shoulder, expecting to be overrun by my closest Stage Contenders at any moment.

Back to the Hotel with a 10:55 overall time, I congratulate Joel already relaxing in the hotel lobby, sipping cold ice water, reveling in his 10:37 finish time. Very impressive.

Shortly after me, Brook and Max roll in together with an 11:11 time, followed by Calvin at 11:31, then Rod, limping in on a bum knee at 11:44.

Paul, without his tandem partner out due to an accident last week, rolls in solo with a group of other solo riders in ninth place at 12:23.

 

Good times.

 

With a decisive second Stage finish, I now move from third to second place in the California Triple Crown Stage series.

 

One game left: Mt. Tam Double, August 2, 2014. Anything can happen.

[shiloh]

impressive