Terrible Two 2007 Results

The 2007 edition of the Terrible Two double century—on Saturday, June 16—took place on another day of not-so-terrible weather, leading to a low rate of attrition and a high rate of success and satisfaction for most participants. But, as has become the norm, it was a very near thing: all week long, leading up to the big day, it had been triple-digit hot in the region. (105° in Healdsburg on Thursday.) But the forecasts called for a cooling trend, and on Friday night, Mother Nature’s big air conditioner finally kicked in. The Pacific Ocean fog rolled in and hung around until the riders were halfway up the Geysers. The official high in Cloverdale on Saturday—our traditional benchmark—was only 86°, and that translated to bike thermometer readings of high 80’s to high 90’s on the exposed ridgelines of Skaggs Springs after lunch. Toasty, but not terrible. On Sunday however, the offical high in Cloverdale was right back up to 97°, which would have turned Skaggs into an inferno. How lucky can you get?

285 riders took the start, almost identical to last year’s record field of 286. (That includes three tandems, so 282 official starters.) Unlike last year though, when hot weather contributed to only 55% of the riders taking home their coveted “I Did It!” t-shirts, this year, with such pleasant conditions, 212 riders (75%) made it in by 10:00 pm and 229 finished altogether. 229 total finishers is a new record.

Up at the front end of the field, the results looked much the same as last year. Santa Rosa’s Brenda Phelps was again the first female finisher, in a time of 12:05, and for the sixth year in a row, Mr. TT, Brian Anderson, sat atop the men’s pile. But at least this year, the Santa Rosa homeboy had to work for it. His time of 11:11 brought him to the finish just five minutes ahead of Sebastopol’s Marc Moons. That was his closest margin since he finished tied for first in ’02 and ’03.

It’s fascinating to see how Anderson goes about this business. As is well known by now, he doesn’t lead early, but is patient and saves something for later in the day. A look at the time splits tells much of the story. He was in 27th place, 16 minutes behind Moons and the other front runners at the Geysers stop. By lunch, he was 12 minutes behind; by Camp Gualala, 8 minutes behind. And at Fort Ross, when Moons rolled in, the workers said, “He’s right behind you.” Marc turned around and looked, and sure enough, there was Brian, standing right behind him.

They started up the fearsome Fort Ross climb together, but Brian soon began to inch ahead. Marc was at his limit and told Brian to, “Go for it!” But Brian graciously replied that he wasn’t going for anything, but just trying to survive. (This is reminiscent of 2005, when he apologized to Paul McKenzie and Ray Plumfoff for having to drop them on the Annapolis climb.) In spite of his “just surviving” protestations, Anderson put four minutes into Moons by Monte Rio and one more for good measure by the finish. As good as Anderson is on the climbs, Moons feels he’s at his best as a rolleur, hammering out the flats and rollers. He’s wicked quick on the downhills too...a real advantage on the TT’s steep, technical, rabbit-hole descents.

At the finish, Anderson hung around long enough to shake Moons’ hand, then did his usual modest fade, leaving quickly and riding back home to Santa Rosa. An enigmatic and intriguing figure.

Phil Hornig finished third, nine minutes adrift of Moons, but he was close enough to stay ahead of Moons in the final standings in the California Triple Crown Stage Race. (Defending Stage Race champ Robert Choi of Rohnert Park had been in second in the standings, but didn’t enter the TT.) Tony Lee of Petaluma—another SRCC regular—was next in the standings with a four-minute lead on David Fisher going into the TT. They finished together in 11:50, tied for 8th, so Tony gets the final podium step in the Stage Race. That’s the second year in a row that Sonoma County boys have occupied two of the podium steps in the CTC Stage Race.

Second behind Phelps in the women’s division was Theresa Lynch of Palo Alto and Janet Martinez of Pleasanton was third.

All three tandems entered in the TT finished, led home by Robert and Barbara Fletcher of Vacaville in a time of 14:25, with Curt Simon and Rebecca McClelland of San Rafael not far behind. James Kern was the only recumbent finisher, cranking out a very snappy time of 13:19, which is a new short-course record, although still a ways from Eric House’s ’bent record of 12:53 on the old long course. Former winner Ken Eichstadt was again out there making the impossible look somehow plausible: he did it again on his fixed-gear. The oldest finisher was William Oldham at age 69—third oldest ever—and the youngest finisher was Matthew Wilson of Sebastopol, aged 18.

As far as we have been able to determine, there were only two accidents of any note. Once was nothing much at all, but the other was quite a story. Steve Berry of Brisbane finished the ride to claim his sixth TT tee, but out on the Black Mountain descent to Cazadero, he had crashed on one of those tricky tree-root pavement bumps that make that stretch such a minefield. Front somersault at about 35-mph. After sorting himself out, he got back on his bucking bronco and finished the ride. Then went to the emergency room. Several hours, x-rays, and CT scans later, it was determined he had a broken neck! Obviously, not the kind of broken neck that everyone fears, but still a pretty big deal, and it will feel even more like a big deal after a month in a neck brace. Steve gets our True Grit-No Brains Award for 2007.

The Analy High School campus in Sebastopol once again served as the start-finish venue, and it was as nice this year as last, with a regular circus of festivities in the school plaza after the ride. The route changes introduced last year, including the switch to Analy, should have resulted in a route of exactly 200 miles. But the Hwy 101 construction detour in Santa Rosa last year added half a mile to the course. Now, with the detour gone, we are happy to note that the 2007 version of the Terrible Two was exactly 200.0 miles...and that is the first time in its 32-year history that the miles have been on the button.

Finally: thanks to all of the 150+ SRCC members and friends who volunteered before, during, and after the event to make it such a success. The e-mails from happy riders let us know how much all that energetic and cheerful work means to them. You are all the best!