The competition was incredibly close this year. Rupert Brauch, Age 32, from San Jose came in 1st Place in the Stage Race: he was 1st on the Devil Mountain Double, tied for 1st on Central Coast, and 3rd on the Terrible Two. Rupert started riding the Double Century circuit in 2001 with Davis, Knoxville, and the Fall Death Valley. He really came on strong with his 2002 Stage Race Performances!! Congratulations to Rupert!!

In 2nd Place this year was Daryn Dodge, Age 42, from Davis. Daryn is Mr. Stage Race himself: he won the Stage Race in 1996, came in 4th in 1999, came in Second in 2000, and earned an Honorable Mention in 2001!! Congratulations to Daryn!!

In 3rd Place was Robert Choi, Age 41, from Rohnert Park, California which is South of Santa Rosa. This was Robert's first year on the Double Century Circuit!! Here's how close the competition was: Daryn Dodge only came in 2nd Place by 5 Minutes over Robert!! On the final Stage, the Terrible Two, Robert almost caught Daryn at about mile 170, but a car forced him off on a narrow road and he rode into the hillside. Robert sustained many nasty cuts and bruises, but kept going and finished just 9 minutes behind Daryn. Daryn was completely unaware that Robert was catching up and had him in his sight when the accident happened. However, Robert's preserverance brought him in ahead of Kenny Owens in 4th Place by only 8 minutes!!

An Honorable Mention is certainly in order for Kenny Owens who came in 4th Place by only 8 minutes!! After the first 2 Stages, Kenny was ahead of Daryn by a scant 4 minutes. On the final Stage, the Terrible Two, Kenny and Daryn were riding together briefly after lunch, but on a steep climb at about mile 125, Kenny ran into some cramping problems and suddenly dropped off the pace. Certainly, Kenny gave it everything he had and is to be commended for an incredibly strong race!!

In the Women's Division, 1st Place this year goes to Catharina Berge from Visalia. Catharina completed her first Double Century last year with the 2001 Tour of Two Forests Double ... but that was just a little warm up ride for her most amazing ride at the 2001 Furnace Creek 508 where she won the Women's Division and came in 2nd Overall!! Catharina is a Swedish Phd student studying at UC Davis. Her time on the Terrible Two of 11:35 broke Muffy Ritz' 1995 woman's record by a whopping 50 minutes!! Congratulations on a very impressive Stage Race, Catharina!!

In 2nd Place for the Women this year was Laura Stern from Menlo Park. Laura is certainly no stranger to long distance cycling after having a legendary ride in the 1989 Furnace Creek 508 where she took an early lead and held it for 240 miles which included leading the entire men's field!! She ended up as the 1st Woman and 3rd Overall that year. A big congratulations on a great comeback for Laura!!

In 3rd Place for the Women was Jennie Phillips from Danville. No stranger to the Double Century circuit, Jennie had completed 13 Double Centuries from 1995 to 2001!! Jennie had a fantastic Stage Race and we tip our hat to her 3 great rides in 2002!! Congratulations, Jennie!!

In the Women's Division this year, an Honorable Mention goes to Rebecca Smith from Portland. This 53 year old cyclist has had a great year: she qualified for the Race Across America with her Race Across Oregon results. It is also a great result for someone that does not reside in California. She was only 26 minutes behind the Third Place winner!!

Rich Boettner and Liz Gomez were doing so well on their Tandem after completing both the Devil Mountain Double and the Central Coast Double. However, the Terrible Two has a long history of being extremely brutal to tandems and the final Stage took it's toll on Rich and Liz's tandem. They hit a rock at about mile 85 and flatted the front tire. With the tire fixed, they continued on, but the sidewall of the tire gave out, causing a blowout. Descending at the time at 30 mph, Rich managed to keep the tandem up and stop even though they were riding on the front rim. Apparently the rock that caused the flat had also ruined the sidewall. Unfortunately, both tire and rim were beyond repair. With no spare wheel around to borrow, they decided to DNF and were very happy to have not crashed.

Everyone who completed the 2002 Stage Race is to be commended. Our hat is off to each of the 41 Finishers ... just to complete these three Extremely Difficult Rides is a major accomplishment!!

California Triple Crown Stage Race Plaques will be presented to the top 3 Men (Rupert Brauch, Daryn Dodge, and Robert Choi) and the top 3 Women (Catherina Berge, Laura Stern, and Jennie Phillips) at the Awards Breakfast to be held on 9/22/02 ... so please plan on attending so we can give you the credit you deserve. Kenny Owens will also be awarded an Honorable Mention Plaque. Unfortunately, we didn't have any Tandem finishers this year, but the top 3 Tandems teams will also receive a plaque in future years.

You don't have to do anything special to sign up for the Stage Race: In 2003, all you have to do is to sign up for and ride your heart out on the 3 Doubles in the Stage Race!! Of course, that's much easier said than done!! Also, if you ride any Stage on a tandem, you must ride all three Stages on a tandem with the same partner.

The California Triple Crown lays down this challenge: be among the select few who are able to finish the Stage Race!!

Congratulations to all Finishers in the 2002 California Triple Crown Stage Race!!

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