February 17, 2018 – Lori Hoechlin and George Vargas placed 4th overall at the Camino Real Double Century with a time of 10:59.  Our goal was sub 12 hours with a secondary goal of beating our 2017 time of 11:28.  The 2018  had a little more climbing finishing it sub 11 hours was a huge surprise.  We wish to thank Planet Ultra for putting on the event.  We also wish to thank all the volunteers spread out throughout the course.  We only stopped at 2 aid stations all day but we do appreciate the comfort of knowing there were more aid stations and friendly faces to assist us if we needed it.  Lastly and more importantly, I wish to thank my training/racing partner, Lori.  She was simply amazing throughout the day with steady power production and great companionship. I have now completed my 48th Official California Triple Crown Double Century.

The weather was fantastic.  Sure it was chilly in the morning but it warmed up nicely and it never got too hot.  It was in the low 40’s in the morning and mid 70’s during the day.  The winds followed their typical patterns i.e., calm in the morning as we headed South from Orange County and East into the hills of San Diego North County and then onshore which is head/crosswinds as we headed North back to Orange County.

This course has an enormous amount of “stop and go” because of all the traffic lights in Orange County.  In the morning when riding through Orange County and then in the afternoon/evening on the return to the finish line there is so many annoying traffic lights.  It is a little more bothersome getting the tandem rolling back up to cruising speed.  But it’s a level playing right?  Everyone has to stop at them … legally.

(we are missing 1.6 miles because of a Wahoo Bolt Snafu at the beginning of the event)