Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1998 14:56:48 -0700
Subject: TandemTomSarah survives the Devil Mountain Double

I'm pleased to report that after what was probably, for me at least,
the most difficult day of cycling I've ever had, TandemTomSarah was
successful in "whipping the devil" at this year's Devil Mountain
Double.

The day started out very well, we put in a very respectable 1:20 for
the climb up Diablo, in spite of the fact that neither of us was
working hard at all. Morgan Territory was a breeze as well, with our
legs still relatively fresh. On the descent of Morgan Territory, we
hit 52 mph into what must have been a pretty stiff headwind. I have
never heard such loud rushing in my ears.

Between Morgan Territory and Altamont, we spotted emergency lights
from a ways away. I intuitively suspected it was a bike related
accident. Sure enough, someone had been hit by a car under unknown
circumstances. We stopped to do the requisite gawking, then realized
we were doing no good and continued on.

Altamont, as usual, was somewhat of a joke. I still have doubts that
this is actually an upgrade. Last year I reported that I climbed the
pass at 18mph with a tailwind. This year we climbed portions of the
pass at 25 - 30 mph. I'm going to have to get out a topo map to see if
there is actually any uphill along this section.

We first started to feel the onset of fatigue on Patterson Pass. For
the first time we found ourselves in our low low 26/28 gear just
barely cranking along. In fairness this is a really steep climb.
Toward the top we spotted a slow moving tandem up ahead, and realized
it was one of the Fresno tandems which had started an hour ahead of
us. I immediately started mouthing off about how we were going to take
first place among the mixed tandems. Sarah was skeptical and preferred
to wait and see.

At the rest stop at the bottom of Patterson Sarah and I both had a can
of V-8 juice (among other things). Later on during the climb up Mines
Road, we both started feeling miserable and I was unable to get any
food down other than Sarah's precious stash of pretzels, which she
generously gave me without hesitation. We later suspected the V-8. As
we were eating, a suspicous looking group of cyclists all wearing
matching jerseys with brightly colored stars and comets showed up,
stopped, and proceeded to gawk and take pictures of us in our
debilitated state. We chatted and pretended to be in good spirits for
their benefit. Finally we got going again, and managed to make it to
the lunch stop at the junction, where we spent a leisurely 45 minutes
or so regenerating.

Later, climbing the back side of Hamilton, things started getting a
little dicey. In hindsight this was the hardest climb of the day. I
lost count of how many times we stopped to rest. At one point I did
manage to choke down 3/4 of a power bar, which did some good. Our
speed hovered around 4.5 mph all the way up the hill. I amused myself
by calling out the remaining elevation gain every few hundred feet or
so. When the number finally got down into the 400 ft range, we perked
up and started to feel like we just might survive after all. Once over
the top, we managed to remain in good spirits all the way down in
spite of sand all over the road and those two annoying intermediate
upgrades.

After refueling at the bottom of Hamilton, we were ready to tackle
Sierra. In spite of its formidable reputation, we were amply prepared
by the rest stop where a cup-o-noodles and many other goodies had been
consumed. We cranked down into our low low gear and took it easy, and
made it to the top with no significant difficulty. I should mention
that the sun went down somewhere along this climb, and knowing full
well that our 2.5 hour battery would never last until the finish, I
decided to keep the light off during all of the climbs. At under 10
mph I feel pretty safe with no lights, as long as there is a distinct
white line on either side of the road, which there was. At 4 mph, I
could close my eyes and still feel safe.

On Calaveras Rd, I probably turned the light off and on a dozen times
because of the constant rollies. We were spooked in the dark sections
under the trees when even the white lines were barely visible. Often
we'd hear animals rustling around in the woods. We were both thankful
to be on a bicycle-built-for-two, and I looked forward to the
downhills as much for the opportunity to turn on the light as for the
rest from pedaling.

At the rest stop in Sunol, there were two baskets of strawberries
which I made quick work of. We also had another cup-o-noodles. One of
the workers there proclaimed that we were the first mixed tandem to
come through, and that Sarah was the first woman to come through.
Since we had left as late as possible, at 6am, I felt sure that the
mixed tandem record was ours. Even if the Fresno tandems caught us,
they had still started an hour earlier. At the pace we were going, it
wouldn't be much of a record, but it would be a record just the same.
We departed Sunol in high spirits.

Niles Canyon was truly a white knuckle affair. At least this year I
had a superb light to see by. But the traffic was no better than last
year. I was terrified by passing vehicles on more than one occasion.
After about 3 miles we turned off onto Palomares (not a moment too
soon).  I switched off the light and we cranked away up the hill in
darkness with only the sound of a rushing stream to keep us company.
At the summit I switched on the light as we descended into Castro
Valley. Once in Castro Valley, I noticed the light starting to go
dim. This was of course not a pleasant realization at all. I kept the
light off on the heavily travelled section up Crow Canyon Rd, trusting
on my illuminite to keep us safe. In a few places I had to turn on the
light because I was completely blinded by oncoming traffic. Once we
turned off onto Norris Canyon Rd, we were in the dark again, and I
realized after a few seconds of testing that the light had not gone
dim at all, is was the surroundings that had gone bright. The battery
was fine.

We cranked away up Norris Canyon in good spirits, crested the pass,
zipped down into San Ramon, and the ride was done. We arrived right
about midnight, or 18 hours total ride time. My odometer read 206 and
my Vertech read 18700 ft. Craig and Lorna were waiting around, along
with Mike. We swapped war stories and ate lasagne for a while before
heading home to bed.