“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” -John Muir
General Information and Ride Rules – Please Read!
Click here for 2018 Eastern Sierra Double Century Results
Click here for results from prior years.
2019 Entry Fees:
Earlybird until January 31: $120. Until April 21: $135. April 22-May 19: $145. Beginning May 20th we’re unable to accept payment online; but until midnight Thursday before the event, you may make an online reservation using the SignUp botton and pay $160 (cash only) at check-in in Bishop.
Please read our registration and cancellation policies.
** If you’re planning to ride and know you can bring a volunteer to help out, you may email us in advance of signing up and we’ll provide a coupon code to use during registration for an instant 20% off. The volunteer earns an entry to a future single day event for only $25. If the volunteer is a non-rider then YOU can have the entry. So you get two nice deals: An instant discount for promising to bring a volunteer, and a $25 entry fee for your next event.
Registration for 2019 will open in January. Click the SignUp button to register online and pay by credit card (processing fees apply). Please read our new cancellation policy before registering. To pay by check, download and mail in this form. Your mail-in form and check must be received no later than May 19th.
Event jerseys may be ordered at the event. Delivery in late August.
Start/Finish Location:
For 2018: Cielo Hotel (formerly La Quinta Inn), 651 N Main Street in Bishop. Call 760-873-6380. You must call the hotel directly to get our Planet Ultra group rate of $??? per night (plus taxes), which includes a continental breakfast. You must book no later than May 1, 2019 to get this rate.
Check-In:
Friday evening from 7pm to 8:30pm and Saturday morning from 4:30am to 5:00am at Cielo Hotel.
Start Times:
“Mass” start at 5am for riders needing 13-17 hours to finish. All riders expecting to finish in under 13 hours must start at 6am.
NEW! Riders needing more than 16.5 hours may opt for the Tourist division during registration and start as early as 4:00am. Please familiarize yourself with the Tourist rules.
Checkpoint Closing Times Strictly Enforced:
Checkpoint opening and closing times, listed on the route sheet, are strictly enforced. Typically, only checkpoints #2 and #3 present a problem for slower riders, as the route is front-loaded with climbing. If you miss either CP #2 or CP #3, you’ll be asked to turn around and ride back to Bishop on Highway 395. No exceptions.
Time Limit:
17 hours unless you choose Tourist rather than Timed. Course closes at 10:00pm.
Twilight, Sunrise, and Sunset:
Twilight begins 5:03; Twilight ends 20:41. Sunrise is 5:33; Sunset is 20:11.
Lights and Gear Drop:
If you leave your lights at the start, your bag will be waiting for you at the Whitmore Park checkpoint. We do, however, encourage you to carry your lights yourself. That way if you need them, you’re guaranteed to have them. If there’s any chance that you’ll be out past sunset, you MUST have both a headlight and a taillight attached to your bicycle, and you MUST wear a reflective ankle band on both legs.
Lunch Bag Drop:
Because we know some folks have special dietary needs (or are very particular about what they want), you may bring 3 lunch-sized brown paper bags (like the ones you took to school in 2nd grade; and absolutely no larger) filled with your special foods. Drop the bags off at the start, and we’ll deliver them to these checkpoints: Crowley Lake, Lee Vining and Sagehen Summit. Please mark your bag(s) with the location where you want it. Bags will be discarded when the checkpoints close. So please make sure you pick up your bag, or don’t care that you won’t get it back.
Routing and Navigation:
Planet Ultra route sheets include lots of information to help riders navigate the course. For example, we tell you if a turn is at a stop sign (SS), traffic light (TL) or T-intersection (T-int). We know that riders prefer course markings; however, many of the towns/cities/counties specifically forbid it. Further, your Planet Ultra staff travels to the event location the day before to make everything happen; so we can’t mark the course in advance. If we have the manpower, we’ll do our best to mark the course (unless it’s forbidden by our permits, otherwise illegal, somewhere that locals would be really upset about it, or the turn is at a place that’s very obvious, like a big green highway sign). Our experience is that riders get lost whether the course is marked or not; and fewer riders get lost when they’re mindful of where they are on the route sheet. Please understand and take responsibility for navigation.
Route Sheets and GPS Files:
Route sheets are available in excel format to registered riders if requested via email between 2 weeks and 5 days before the event. We can’t guarantee that advance route sheets will be 100% accurate. Though not anticipated, last-minute routing changes may be required.
You may also download a map and GPS file from RideWithGPS.com. Please note that advance route sheets and gps files are provided as a courtesy and you use them at your own risk. Planet Ultra doesn’t guarantee accuracy. Please further note the following very important caveats:
- The ROUTE SHEET is gospel. Whenever the route sheet and the GPS unit disagree, the route sheet is correct.
- A GPS can (and will) route a rider over a cliff. There’s really no substitute for the human brain, so please use yours.
- Never depend solely on a GPS. Bring your route sheet, and know how to follow it.
- GPS batteries on many “bicycle” GPS units may not last for a century. Make sure you’ve arranged for additional power.
- Click here for the RideWithGPS.com map. You may download a GPS file from this page.
Route Description: A mass start through the city streets of Bishop will quickly head out of town. After a fast, flat warm up heading north through the cattle ranches of Round Valley, the climbing begins in earnest! Ascending up from Round Valley to Crowley Lake, the Old Sherwin Grade winds through pinion pine and juniper woodlands while following Lower Rock Creek to enter Mono County and the heartland of the Eastern Sierra. After cresting Sherwin Grade, a rider friendly 1800′ climb, you are greeted by the startling views of Mt. Ritter and Mt. Banner, and the serrated ridge of the Minarets in the northern distance. North a few miles further awaits Lake Crowley and the grassy bed of Long Valley. Further north en route to Mammoth Lakes, you pass Hilton and McGee Creeks; the mouths of their canyons filled with huge glacial moraines empty into the valley from the Sierra high country.
Leaving Long Valley, you’ll quickly enter the town of Mammoth Lakes, famous for its world class ski resort. You’ll climb gently, but quickly, around the outskirts of town and head out of town and north via the Mammoth Scenic Drive. After a short climb cresting the 8,041′ summit of Deadman Pass, you’ll enjoy a well deserved descent as you head to the June Lake Loop where you’ll enjoy the incredible views of June, Gull, Silver and Grant Lakes.
Once you’re back on 395, you’ll enter “The Land of Mono” as you head to Lee Vining and a nice lunch stop. Enjoy the views of Mono Lake, a million year old body of water ringed by eerie tufa towers, volcanic craters, mountain peaks, and high desert silences. Mono Lake has no outlet; over the thousands of years of its existence, salts and minerals washed into the lake have become concentrated as waters have evaporated. Though Mono Lake has been called a “dead sea”, it actually abounds with life. No fish live in the lake, but populations of brine shrimp and brine flies adapted to the exceptionally high concentration of salts provide a plentiful food supply for more than seventy species of migratory and nesting birds.
Leaving Mono Lake, you’ll head south on Hwy 395 to Hwy 120 through the Mono Crater area. Take time to look around as you climb between these craters en route to the high plains at Sage Hen Summit, through red lava canyons and over to Benton Crossing Road, which is new starting in 2018. Benton Crossing is a beautiful quiet road that takes you around to the back side of Crowley Lake and back to Bishop via Hwy 395.
This course has about 12,400 feet of elevation gain, more than half of which is between mile 16 and mile 80. As doubles go, it’s not that tough and the views and roads are so incredible, you won’t even notice the climbing that it does have!
Personal SAG Vehicles: Not allowed! If you bring one, you’ll be disqualified from the event without a warning. The definition of a personal SAG is any vehicle (motor or otherwise), anywhere on the route, operated by someone other than Planet Ultra staff, that is providing any type of aid, assistance, or motivation, or taking photographs, or simply out cheering. Please understand that our permits simply don’t allow dozens of extra vehicles on the roads or at the checkpoint locations. Imagine the traffic from all those cars! If you’re bringing someone with you who wants to be out on the course, please have them contact us and join our volunteer staff.
Volunteers: We always need volunteers! Click here for info about available positions.