Here's a brief account of my first-time experience with D2R2 accompanied with a lot of pictures.
The event is well-organized and seems to have attracted a huge following since its inception in 2005. I heard it has exceeded its 1000 maximum participants this year. Looking at the people who showed up, you would be surprised at just how wide a range of demographics there are among the riders. There's no fixed mold or category to put a D2R2 rider in. It's not a race for the hard men only. Some folks who came certainly wanted to live up to that reputation but most folks, as I observed, came mostly just to have a good time and to enjoy the challenge as well as the beautiful scenery and the camaraderie. Almost everyone that I saw wore a big smile all day, really just taking in all the fun. The more serious ones inadvertently wore a Rapha. Ha! Sorry, I couldn't help myself in taking a shot there but there's some truth in there somewhere. Some folks take themselves far too seriously. Relax pal, have a good time.
Before I start showing the pictures, a couple of others things I picked up from riding this event for the first time.
A) Tires - My $14-a-piece 35mm Panaracer Pasela bought on sale four years ago worked JUST FINE in those roads in the dry conditions. No issue whatsoever, zero puncture, I took some air out at Mile 2 and got them to around 65-70 PSI in the rear, that was perfect.
B) Gears/Steep Climbs - I borrowed the wheels from BBDave-pal and it got 11-32 cassette on it. With my compact setup in front (52-34), I have no problem getting up all the major climbs of the day and they ARE major, some pretty steep but mostly around 10-12% and going about 3/4 to a mile long. I know I had a good day and rode a good pace when I still felt relatively fresh near the end without any tingling sensation of a cramp. Granted I wasn't killing myself to shoot up the hill like a few - what I did was to just get into a rhythm, play a song in my head or whistle and just slowly grind up the slopes and keep my breathing under control. It was completely doable for anyone with the right gear setup. Just ride at your own pace.
C) Navigation. After all this is a randonneur event but I cheated. I hate navigating while I am riding or taking pictures so I completely relied on Dave-pal to lead me in the right directions. Having done the ride maybe twice now, he knew his way around pretty good, we only got slightly off track heading towards the lunch break but got back pretty good in less than 1/2 mile. There are so many folks on the road, it's entirely possible to wait for someone to come by if you are lost and just follow them.
D) Hairy descents. Yep, respect the hills. There's no HERO in this event. You want to bomb down that hill with aplomb, be my guest, go for it. I would rather play the little chicken or mouse, depending on your animal of choice for timidity. My theory is, with a wife and six kids at home and them letting me come to this event, my primary responsibility is to get back to them in one-piece, the last thing they want to get is a phone call. Even with the extra precaution, there's one stretch of downhill where I came close to crashing, for some reason, maybe it's because I sat up slightly above the saddle to relieve some pressure at the beginning of the run-in and it sort of sent the bike into a shimmer and boy, the whole thing was shaking so hard, and basically floating over a sheet of ice, swaying side to side. I have no other explanation why I survived other than by the grace of God. Yes, I did try to relax and not put on a death grip on the handlebars, I did avoid seizing up the brakes, more like feathering and tapping them once in a while to shave off some speed, and I did sat back down on my saddle quickly and scooped further back to shift the CG and the weight...maybe I do know a thing or two about recovering from a shimmer but it all happened so fast, I didn't even get a chance to clamp the top tube with both thighs. Fortunately, I came to a stop safely at the bottom of the hill, looked back and saw on the faces of riders that seemed to tell me they are not faring any better and just had similar white-knuckled experience. I think we were all caught by surprise just how quickly we were gaining speed and the pile of soft little gravel that was lining the road really posed a challenge to staying upright. At the place where I stopped, I saw someone had dropped an insulated water bottle, I picked it up and put it in my back pocket and rode on. Fortunately, the rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, that was the only scary moment.
Okay, picture time! LOTS OF THEM....take you time...
Also, do me a favor, I like to keep my pictures at a relatively bigger size so that my pals can feel the full impact of as close to being on scene as I did. But that also means, please...please...and I mean, please don't use "QUOTE" and repeat the whole roll of film of pictures when you comment, because that will just make the thread a lot longer than it needs to. I know people get excited sometimes, that's okay. ; )
Also please refrain from commenting until I have got everything in the post in the next 5-10 minutes. There's a fixed number of links I can include in each post and I am only allowed to submit a new post every 60 seconds...so as not to interrupt the flow. THANK YOU!
Without further ado, here's what I got in my film reels (taken with Canon S100), starting in chronological order...enjoy! :
Took a few pictures of D2R2 bikes at the tentage and met a few forumites at the beginning of the ride.
Nick (AngryScientist) showing his clogged-up road cleats.
MrMoose
My apology, didn't quite get the names and the faces were blocked.
