At 5am at the Red Roof in S. Deerfield the alarm clock starts blaring, "I'm a loser babayyyyyy, so why don't you kill meeeeeeeee!", by Beck.. I was staying with Doug Jansen and we both just started laughing. We were out to ride the Deerfield Dirt Road Randonee, one of the most difficult rides imaginable with 112 miles on mostly dirt roads with over 14000 ft of elevation gain (as reported from my GPS download after the ride). The "Loser" chorus would ring back over and over again in our heads the rest of the day as we punished ourselves on climb after climb with double digit gradients. We gulped down 2 cups of coffee-flavored water and headed to the event. Breakfast of hard boiled eggs, bagels and peanut butter, and some really strong coffee took the chill off (a little). It was 50 degrees and after 2 months of training in 90 degree with max humidity there was about 650 cyclists with single digit bodyfat standing around shaking.
A fairly elite group of cyclists formed with Jonny Bold, Kevin Hines (both in their 2010 CX National Champion kits), Doug Jansen one of the top hillclimbers around, Jay Gump, John Funk, and a bunch of other guys who could pretty much ride the legs off me. We all went off at 630. With the windchill now thrown into the mix we were pretty much begging for the first climb to hit so we could warmup with the effort. It didn't take long as we hit a couple quick 7% climbs just a couple miles into the ride. The pace we were keeping seemed fairly casual, but the veterans who had done the ride before were warning us that it was a real long day and you'd pay badly if you went out too hard too early. Looking at my power meter jumping into the mid 300's for minutes at a time I was thinking that they were probably on to something.
With the hot, dry summer we've had the dirt roads were super loose. Lots of loose gravel and washboard to deal with. On the climbs, especially the steep ones, it meant you couldn't stand up since your rear wheel would just spin on the gravel. The descents were white-knuckle, hair standing on the back of your neck kind of downhills as you'd approach speeds of up to 40mph while trying to dodge holes, rocks, and avoid the washboard that would send your bike out of control. Like most people in the ride, I was on my cyclocross bike with wide cx tires and cantilever brakes. If I was on skinny road tires I would have been flatting constantly so the cross tires were a great decision. The canti brakes, on the other hand, are pretty good for slowing down, not real good for stopping. Coming hot into some intersections straight out of a steep downhill proved a little more than the brakes could handle at times, but luckily, we were so far out in the wilderness of western MA and southern VT that we would spend an hour or more at times without seeing any cars.
With the legs softened up by over 6000 feet of climbing in the first 45 miles the real climbing begins with Archambo Road. A quarter mile wall that hits 28% grade on what can best be described as a bony, rutted out jeep path. Our group of about 20 riders came around a corner and there was an acceleration to hit the climb. I thought it was kind of dumb to sprint to the climb so I just kind of stayed at the back of the group, finding out immediately that I was the dumb one as rider after rider that failed to clean the climb came off their bikes and started walking up. Because the path was so narrow, there wasn't much room to ride around dismounted riders. I had the 2 cyclists directly in front of me both come off their bikes simultaneously about 50 feet into the climb. I tried to get around them but my only line was off the side of the path into some loose rocks and there was no way I was getting out of it on two wheels. Because of the steep pitch, there was no way to remount so it was hike-a-bike to a point about 3/4 of the way up where there was a driveway that you could get back on your bike. By the time I got back on the bike, much of my group was re-formed and gone over the top, and of course, drilling it. After Archambo Rd there is a short descent and then there's a monster climb up Hillman Rd which some people insist is the hardest climb of the ride, although I think Patten Hill at mile 98 is way harder, if only because you've already climbed over 10000 ft and you're 100 miles into a ride and you are absolutely smoked. Hillman is about 12% avg grade for the first mile, levels out briefly, then continues to climb for a total of 2.5 miles. I climbed my ass off to catch back on to the group, I could see them about 300 yds in front of me and they weren't getting any closer so I knew they were putting in a serious effort themselves. The last thing I wanted was to be riding the last 60 miles of this ride solo, but I also knew if I went too far into the red right now I'd really be in trouble later in the ride so I kept my effort right at threshold, heart rate at 93% max. Once I crested the hill there was a lot of twisty downhill and I couldn't see the group for long stretches of time. It's fairly demoralizing when you can't see the people you're chasing since you start to think that you'll never see them again. After a couple miles I caught a glimpse of them and then started reeling them back in, finally catching them after another mile or so of chasing. Doug saw me back in the group and was a bit surprised that I caught back on saying "thought we might have seen the last of you back there".
Shortly after, at about mile 64 we hit the lunch stop. More fig newtons, some salty stuff and a sandwich and we're off again.. Before leaving I had to use the outhouse. I'm next in line and Doug rides by with Dave Penney and says we're going to head off, we'll soft pedal, you can catch us. I'm thinking, "i'm 45 seconds away from being ready, you're going to make me chase you? Thanks (dick!)". The lunch stop is placed down by a river and a covered bridge in the middle of nowhere. Really incredible spot. They give you all kinds of sandwiches and snacks and then you hit the road and you immediately hit another relentless dirt climb, this one is 1 mile at over 8%, followed by a quick downhill right into a 2 mile climb at 5%.. I caught Doug and Dave soft pedaling at the start of this second climb, wishing that I had the luxury of soft pedaling up the post lunch climbs instead of working to catch back up to them.
About 70 miles in everything hurts. There's been 9000 feet of climbing, my quads are burning, feeling like cramping is imminent, my ass hurts from sitting on my CX bike which in the past I've only used for races that last 45 minutes where you're not even in the saddle for most of that time. My triceps were actually feeling like they may start cramping from all the pulling on the bars during the climbs, my shoulders and neck ached from the white knuckle, bone rattling dirt descents, my lower back was knotted up from the repeated efforts. I find myself counting off the miles which makes it go even slower. Every corner you come around has another climb. Every climb comes with another dire warning from Doug "you think that's bad, wait till you see Nelson Rd".. "you ain't seen nothing yet, wait till Patten Hill!". I set my bike up with a 34x28 as its easiest gear for this ride. On the first couple double digit grades of the day when I was fresh I found myself reaching for a gear that wasn't there. Now, 6hrs into the ride faced with the worst climb of the day at 98 miles I'm wondering if I might have to walk it. I'm looking at my GPS, and I see the words "Patten Hill Rd" ominously approaching. Patten Hill starts out with an 18% wall that gradually levels out to 12% and then finishes at something in the single digits. It's steep, loose, bony, and seems to go on forever. We come around a corner and see the wall. Doug has nicknamed Dave Penney, "Pain Cave Dave", and for good reason. He goes at such a wicked, relentless pace up these climbs that it just leaves you shaking your head. Dave hit the wall first and I just put my head down and followed. I hit my threshold power level and just stuck it there for the next 16 minutes, which was sheer agony this far into the day. I passed a couple riders walking their bikes, and I was only going marginally faster than they were on the steep, loose gravel.. At the top of the climb we hit the last rest stop of the day, refilled water bottles, ate another handful of fig newtons and got ready to finish the day. I asked the woman at the rest stop, actually it was more that I begged her "the rest of the ride is downhill or flat, right?".. She says "it's just 13 more miles and there's one little bump you have to go over".... She was such a liar. There were 4 climbs anywhere from 0.5 to 1 mile long, anywhere from 5% to 10% grades. The punishment just never seemed to stop. On the final climb of the day, a nasty 8% mile stretch, Doug and I are side by side and he starts belting out "I'm a loser babayyyyyyy. So why don't you kill meeeeeeeee!". We came into the finish area 9 hours after we started with a ride time of 7:59. 112 miles, over 14000 feet of climbing, 9 fig newtons, 4 energy gels, a mozzerella/basil/tomato baguette, 4 hard boiled eggs, a bagel with peanut butter, a banana, some jerky, 7 bottles of water, 4 pieces of watermelon, a black raspberry ice cream cone, all of which covered maybe half the 5000 calories expended during the day. There's a river running next to the base area which we jumped in to clean up. You know the feeling you get when it's 95 degrees out, max humidity, and you walk into an air conditioned room? This was 1000x better than that.
The D2R2 was one of those challenges that's been on my list for a long time. The stunning beauty of the route is in sharp contrast to the brutal nature of the ride. It is the most difficult ride I've ever done, and one that I will most certainly do over and over again in the future (as soon as I'm able to forget how much it hurt).
