Devil Mountain Double 2005

The Devil Mountain Double covers some of the most remote areas of the San Francisco Bay Area. This part of Livermore Valley, looking up to Morgan Territory, isn't very remote at all.

The Quack Cyclists work very hard to take care of the riders. We try to put on a good spread, even if many riders just want some form of energy drink.

Probably 50 miles of the ride are in areas with no cell phone coverage. The only way to stay in touch is with HAM radios. A big thanks to all the radio operators who give up their valuable time off to help us. Some SAG vehicles even get outfitted with a HAM/GPS based unit that automatically reports their location back to rider central. Very high tech.

This was the first rider into Morgan Territory rest stop. DMD isn't (usually) a race, but it is cool nonetheless.

Jesse, a big wig with Quack Cyclists :), came up with these amazing bike racks. Made of PVC, all the pieces are numbered and the ends are color coded. Somebody made carrying bags for each kit and Jesse made a color diagram. Even so, the first two or three times we put them together, it was a real head scratcher. George and Ken make it look easy here.

Nifty bike racks, doing a fine job

All kinds of riders and all kinds of bikes take on the 200+ miles.

Jeannie mixes up an energy drink for one of the riders. She was at Morgan Territory before 7:30 AM and working at Pet the Goat until 11 PM. These events take as much work to put on as they do to ride. Of course working them is slightly less painful.

Annie's custom tandem is painted a nice sedate 31 Flavors.

These guys are a little less antsy, but just as ready to go.

When you are ready to go and your friends aren't, what can you do?

A rider crashed going down the road into the valley, AKA The Plunge. This narrow, steep, twisting section of road can be tricky. This rider hit some mud while slowing, went off the road and flipped the bike. He was not seriously hurt; just a few scrapes on his arm and hands. His bottles, shown here, imply that it was much worse than it really was.

The rider is fine, the bottles need washing, but this wheel is toast.

While we were driving up Mines Road , we met this rider who was having some bad luck. His tire had a 1 inch gash in it, and even with a boot to line the tire, he blew his spare. This is near mile 130, and riders are spread out over 35 miles of twisty country road. The SAG vehicles are just as spread out and we guessed that this rider would have to wait as much as an hour to see a SAG vehicle. Since he wasn't excited about that we gave him the tire off Veronica's bike.

The "front" side of Mt. Hamilton, looking toward San Jose.

Sierra Road is a vicious climb. Three and a half miles of unrelenting suffering. The road climbs about 1800 feet, for a grade of about 10%. For comparison, some roads with a 10% grade in San Francisco get stairs in the sidewalk. This is a tough, tough climb - even if you haven't already ridden 150 miles.

We stopped at the top of Sierra just to take some photos and cheer the riders on.

Some riders managed to put on a smile at the top.

This rider was not dressed like Liberace. I think his jacket was actually black. It was made of some reflective material, probably illumiNITE. It picked up the flash from the camera.

More illumiNITE

Going the wrong way to admire the sunset.

As the sun slowly sinks in behind the clouds, we have time to enjoy the sunset, while the riders keep going

Veronica rings some cow bells to encourage these hardy souls on.

This group of four was hanging together for the whole ride. They are holding a chart that shows the elevation profile for the ride.

At the mini-reststop beyond Sierra Road, one must take time out to Pet the Goat.

Sometimes, the goat wants to just take in the view

More illumiNITE, this time with Alto, the goat

Quite a spread for a mini-reststops

The San Jose night sky, from the Pet the Goat stop.