June 25, 2005--The morning of the 30th annual Terrible Two double century dawned, well, overcast.  And the weather stayed that way most of the day, treating riders to some of the best weather ever for this perennially tough double.  To commemorate the ride's anniversary, the organizers decided to return to the "old" course, which added 11 miles and 600 feet of climbing, pushing the vertical gain to more than 16,500 feet.  This year's course avoided the killer "Rancheria" climb on Skaggs Springs Road, taking us instead on a rolling--and overall, hillier, if less steep--route through the hamlet of Annapolis and the Sea Ranch development.

Did we mention great weather?  The sun made only a rather brief appearance this year--a welcome change from two years ago, when our thermometer read 118 degrees on Skaggs Springs.  This year, we didn't see the sun until almost the summit of the Geysers climb--and then lost it again on Skaggs Springs.  The trip down the coast from Sea Ranch to Fort Ross was cool (with a reasonably good tailwind).  The last stretches through Cazadero and Monte Rio, conversely, were a bit sunny and nicely warm.

The Santa Rosa Cycling Club once again showed their organizational prowess, putting on one of the best-organized rides we've seen.  They deserve kudos for a job well done, and for raising the bar every year.  It will be interesting to see how they top themselves (again) next year.

Campy Only's choice of machines today was our Campy Only Sachs, equipped with a 39x28 low that was just about right.

As usual, email us if you would like a slightly higher-res version of any of these photos.  We'll be happy to oblige.

Driving to Santa Rosa	A little hard to see, but here are the rider numbers laid out before the ride AUDIO!! Click to hear the pre-ride instructions we received	Heading out from Willowside School.	A paceline of more than 200 bikes	In the Napa Valley	Robert Mondavi winery
On Hwy 29	Hwy 29		Looking back at the paceline	Rest Stop 1, in Calistoga	RS 1
	Heading for Geysers VIDEO!!	Starting the Geysers climb	Partway up, we rode into the cloud deck!		A rockslide. No, it wasn't sliding when we got there
Almost at the top of the first Geyers summit, and we saw the sun for the first time		Rest Stop 2, at the top of Geysers VIDEO!! Arriving at Geysers	Looking back at the clouds and fog	Watching for riders	Racks of bikes
Starting the descent	The Town of Mercuryville, Pop. 2	Lunch!	Yet another gratuitous shot of Campy Only's Eric Norris	More bikes	Nice rack
On Skaggs, we saw the sun again	Climbing Skaggs Springs	Nice little vista VIDEO!!	Rest stop at the top of Skaggs Springs--a tropical paradise		Campy Only's Eric Norris ... again
Camp Gualala VIDEO!!	Nice selection of goodies here		Starting the climb to Annapolis	Very pretty scenes in Annapolis
Back on the Coast			Top of Fort Ross Road ...	... and more fog
		Monte Rio rest stop	Monte Rio	Finish!!!

More Ride Photos | Last Year's TT | webmaster@campyonly.com | Campy Only