2014 Eastern Sierra Double

I did the Eastern Sierra Double Century this past weekend with my good friend, Steve Capie. I did it on a new frame I am still getting used to; the Soma San Marcos.  My ride data is here.

The Eastern Sierra Double is by far the most picturesque, most unusual terrain and climate zones of any ride I have done. I found it even more interesting terrain and unusual place to ride than the Death Valley Double.

It starts and ends in Bishop, CA, at an elevation of about 4,500 but goes over Deadman and Sage Hen passes, both of which are over 8,000 feet, around June Lake and up to Mono Lake. Here is someone's ride with gps route from 2013 and my buddy, Steve's elevation profile is below.

Elevation profile for 2014 Eastern Sierra Double Century (Courtesy of Steve Capie)

The weather we had was close to perfect. It was mid-50s at the start in Bishop but temps rose 10 degrees there in just 2 hours. In fact, by early afternoon Bishop was seeing high 80's. Fortunately, by that time of day, we were already far north of Bishop at higher elevations and lower 70's temperatures.

On the other hand, it was very, very dry and there were winds of 5-15 from all directions most of the day. I needed 3, 20 oz water bottles between stops. Yet even though the air temperature was low 70's, the intense sun at these elevations without the wind was unpleasantly hot!

The climbs are gradual. Rarely do you see any gradients over say 7%. On the other hand, because the climbs are gradual, you spend a lot more time climbing than you'd expect for a 10,000 foot day. The high elevations effected me some in that my breathing was a bit more labored but I otherwise felt fine.

The descents on this ride are fantastic. I hit 50+ mph on several occasions.  There are few places where turns require braking. The road surface is great to excellent for 90% of the ride. On descents rarely are there trees or other things to shade the road surface and obscure your view of hazards. In addition, most of the route is over roads not frequently traveled by cars. On the other hand, you do wind up riding maybe 30+ miles on highway 395. But, the shoulder on these miles is great.

I think the most stunning part of the ride was June Lake Loop. The climate zones and terrain change so dramatically in those 20 miles and it is all very, very pretty. June lake looks like something out of an idealic mountain getaway and Grant lake looks like the Dead Sea.

The only downside I see to this ride was the food choices at rest stops. Many riders who have done the ride before know this aspect of the ride and carry extra food in backpacks. There are only 6 stops over the whole route but they are strategically placed for level of effort required to traverse the interveneing terrain.

Because most of the climbing is in the first 100 miles, it took us 8.5 hours to finish the first half and 5.5 hours to finish the second half. It was only the second time I have finished a double in daylight.

I highly recommend this ride to anyone wanting a beautiful but slightly challenging double century. I really wish I had stopped to take a lot of pictures. But, sadly, I was often not in the mood to slow down my pace or stop.

The official finishers list is here.