# Diabolical Double Gran Fondo



## fueledbymetal (Sep 24, 2007)

At 126 miles & 16.5k feet of climbing, this was easily the hardest ride of my life and quite possibly the most challenging road ride I'll ever attempt (although I'm looking for something comparably epic for next season - Harpoon B2B is on the short list!). Much tougher than the Jeremiah Bishop Alpine Loop Gran Fondo I did last year. The climbs weren't quite as long (nothing more than ~1000' at the DD), but the grades were often sustained at 15%+ whereas JB's were more around 8%. And the DD had many more of them! 

Overall it was a very well run event with a great route. The climbs often opened up to an incredible view and most of the roads were well paved. One notable exception was a ~1.5 mile section of gravel road through a forest - just when you thought you were in the middle of nowhere, you came around a sharp turn where a couple was staged that started playing dueling banjos whenever riders passed by! Great support at the aid stations and the route was well marked. 

My only negative comment is that they won't post the finishing times to see how you did compare to everybody else. The clock was ticking the entire ride, so you could see your time when you rolled through the finish, but the only recorded competitive portion was the last climb coming in to the top of the mountain. I know I finished near the top in total time, but I was spent by the time I reached the end and just maintained pace for the finish. I saw plenty of people that finished hours later than me though that left a little in the tank to hammer up the final climb. 

Highly recommended if you're looking for a challenge. 


http://www.winthefight.org/granfondo/diabolical_double.htm

:thumbsup:


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## philoanna (Dec 2, 2007)

I did the metric there in 2011. It too was awesome. I could not go this year due to a family thing, but next year am planning to do the century and maybe one year do the DD.
Congrats on your ride.


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