Southern Inyo Double Double Day 1

Race Report: Inyo Double Double Day #1 (Randsburg / Olancha Loop)

Ridgecrest, CA

The realization hit me that completing two 200-mile races back-to-back in one weekend is something that I should take seriously. Before this, my approach has been loading my stuff up in the middle of the night, driving to the race start and jumping out ready to take on the day. With that in mind, I booked a room for three nights near Death Valley National Park and am thankful that I had this foresight going into the weekend!

I arrived Friday night at 10:00pm and transitioned as quickly as I could to get settled in for the 4:00am wake up and 5:00am race start at the Econo Lodge. I’m getting a better rhythm of getting all my gear prepared and ready to go. I confirm everything is charged (2 headlights, phone, headphones, taillights, GPS – Garmin 830 Edge, and the travel charger). Then I go through the gear check list, shoes, socks, shorts, shirt, gloves, glasses, helmet, arm sleeps, light jacket, Chapstick, Visine, Biotin, cycling lubricant. Last, of course I check all the normal cycling tools, spare parts and nutritional stashes of gummies, salt, and a few solid food items for emergency use if I am feeling bonked between aid stations.

The ride started great. We had about 50 or so cyclists hitting the road and easily made our way through town and towards the nearby hills. It felt like we had a decent headwind the first 20 miles or so, but I was fresh so it didn’t bother me much. A disproportionate amount of the 7,000+ feet of climbing was in the first quarter of the ride. It was nice to knock it out early. We had a steady climb going Southbound on the US-395 and then turned onto Garlock Road for a steady descent over a few miles before an almost 9-mile, 1,500+ foot climb up to the high point followed by a very fast descent on the way back to the US-395.I’m still readjusting to the long downhill sections. To be honest, it’s the time in my life I pray the most continually. It’s when I am the most present and attentive in my life. Literally, I grab onto my handlebars in a relaxed constant grip, point the wheels forward and focus on the wind and the road. I am both exhilarated and terrified as I fly down hills at speeds in the 40’s and occasionally low 50’s. I went down the first hill as usual with this approach. I usually feel comfortable going full speed downhill, I just don’t want to throw the dice too many times at that speed. An error has major consequences vs. my usually slow speed crashes which thankfully are few and far between. On the second long downhill stretch I tapped on the brakes to keep my speed down about 10 mph from what it could be. As a few other cyclists peddled their hearts out and went by me, so I decided what the heck I’ll let it go full speed again. Within about a minute I went zooming by them and coasted it out to the bottom of the hill. I would say that recumbents on a steep downhill are as much as 15 – 20% faster than a standard bike simply because of the aerodynamic forces of being in a mostly prone position vs. a standard cyclist that is vertical into the wind.

Just after 80 miles we returned to the starting point for lunch and then were back out on the course heading out about 15 miles and then connecting to the US-395N. I’m practicing a vegetarian diet for Lent so I couldn’t eat the main dishes for lunch. I went with a coke, chips and a cookie. As I left back out on the course, I realized I was heading out towards the desert and really not in a good nutritional place. I made the decision to pull a “Gay Hunter” move and went to a burger joint to buy a large chocolate shake, Beyond Burger and a large fries. My training partner and good friend Gay has a funny story from a very hot day on an Ironman when she ran into a restaurant and got the largest milkshake they had and proceeded back out on the course. Those around her were impressed and envious of her innovation. I ate the burger and fries onsite. I couldn’t get through the milkshake so I rode with it in one hand for about 5 miles until I slurped the rest down.

Once I made the turn back onto the US-395N it was about 50 miles up the road and 50 miles back. There were a few slow steady climbs up past 4,000 feet and then we turned around at a gas station just before taking the right turn to head towards Death Valley National Park. We had a pretty gnarly headwind on the way back for about 10 miles. I was mentally preparing myself to experience this the rest of the way home. I had heard rumors that we might have between 30 – 50 mile an hour gusts and that it could be an interesting and long ride back to Ridgecrest. I took some time to pray and get myself in a good headspace and half joking with God that either he give me the resilience to push through what was ahead of me or give me a tailwind that drove me back to the start.

After taking a stop at the rest area where the incredible support was at the aid station, I noticed that the wind had calmed down a bit. I started down the hill and could feel the tailwind picking up behind me. It was still daylight and my goal was to make it to the 160-mile mark before I would require my headlight. As my speed continued to increase, I ended up making it to 180 miles before needing my headlight. It was such an incredible feeling going so fast returning back to the hotel. I was grateful and appreciative of the fortune after a pretty intense day.

As I was praying, I told God, “Alright, thanks for the fair winds. If you want to make it obvious that your hand is in this make it apparent.” As I shifted off the US-395 onto Brown road, I could feel the gust behind me and literally on the flats leading back to town I was going too fast to pedal. I was flying down the road at about 30mph through the final few sections. I made the final turn onto Inyokern Road and coasted the last 8 miles to the finish at the Econo Lodge for an unofficial time of 13:55. At the 12-hour mark I had anticipated the likeliness of being out on the course another 3-4 hours fighting the winds and gratefully I made it to the finish before 7pm and was able to head to bed early for a nice full recovery before day two!