NOT AN ENTRY LEVEL DOUBLE CENTURY
First and last 50 miles self-supported. NO SAG between Lebec and Palmdale.
Click here for 2022 Heartbreak Double Results.
Click here to see results from prior years.
Held in conjunction with the Heartbreak Hundred, double riders start in Palmdale and join the century route at mile 50. The next 100 miles are the same as the century; so you may qualify for the King of the Mountains Century Challenge if you wish. The first and last 50 miles are brevet-style. There is no SAG between Lebec and Palmdale (and no transportation from Lebec to Palmdale). You may, and we do encourage you to, have private SAG meet you in Lebec at mile 150; and provide leap-frog style support for the duration of the event. You may be required to show “proof” that you completed every mile of the course by submitting your personal Strava record. When you finish, you’ll text your finish time. If you don’t text when you finish, you won’t get credit for the ride.
2023 Entry Fees*:
Until May 20: $140.
Late Entry- May 21 until noon May 24: Make an online reservation and pay $160 at the door.
Entry includes chip timing with overall and age category results for the KOM portion if you completed Mulholland and Mt. Laguna; California Triple Crown credit for official finishers; roving SAG and fully stocked checkpoints from the start through the KOM part of the route with water and a great selection of food and snacks.
Please read our registration and cancellation policies.
* If you’re able to recruit an event volunteer, please email us before signing up and we’ll give you a coupon code to use during registration for an instant 30% off.
Please READ THE RULES and the cancellation policy before signing up!
Use the SignUp bottom to register online and pay by credit card (which includes a small service fee).
Until May 20th you may click here for instructions to pay by Venmo or Zelle; or use a volunteer credit.
We highly recommend purchasing the event cancellation insurance.
Start/Finish Hotel:
Holiday Inn Palmdale, 38630 5th St. West in Palmdale (Palmdale Blvd. exit off the 14 freeway), (661) 947-8055. Group rate: $149 King / $169 Dbl Queen (plus taxes) – includes breakfast Sunday. Please use this link to take advantage of our group discounted rate. Rate expires April 26th.
The Holiday Inn is nice and clean and the staff is very friendly. They have a heated swimming pool, hot tub, work-out room, wireless access and coffee maker in your room. The restaurant has reopened for 2023 and the food is good! Yes, there are surrounding hotels which are less expensive – but most of them are total dumps.
Check-In:
Friday evening 7-7:30pm; Saturday morning 4:15-5am – in the Holiday Inn lobby. Please don’t be late. We need to start the ride ON TIME!
Start Time:
Riders needing more than 14 hours: 4:30am
Riders less than 14 hours: 5:30am
Time Limit:
18 hours; unless you choose Tourist instead of Timed. Course closes at 11:15pm.
The course has rolling closures from aid station to aid station.
Aid station closing times are listed on the route sheet. Once an aid station closes, so does support end along the course prior to that aid station.
Twilight:
Twilight begins 5:13; Twilight ends 20:27. Sunrise is 5:42; Sunset is 19:58.
Lights and Gear Drop:
If there is 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. Please do not under-estimate the time you’ll need to complete this event. Come prepared with a very good light and batteries, plus at least one non-blinking taillight and lots of reflective gear. You may drop lights at rider check-in and pick them up at the Lebec checkpoint at mile 150. Please carry you lights if you believe you might not make it to Lebec before dark.
Because we know some folks have special dietary needs (or are very particular about what they want), you may bring 2 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 Lebec and Ventucopa. 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: Stop sign (SS), traffic light (TL) or T-intersection (T-int). The course will not be marked. Please understand and take responsibility for navigation. Make it part of your experience.
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. GPS links below are preliminary and may require changes closer in time to the event. PLEASE make sure you have the correct route in your GPS the day before the event.
Please note that advance route sheets and gps files are provided as a courtesy and you use them at your own risk. Please further note the following very important caveats:
Route Description:
The Heartbreak Double Century has over 16,000′ of elevation gain. This spectacular course showcases some of the most quiet, beautiful, dramatic, and unknown regions of California. There is essentially no traffic and the route explores an area that most of the participants will never otherwise visit. There is less than one “junk mile” on the entire course. Veteran riders can attest to all of this, while rookies will take away that sentiment after completing this challenging and rewarding cycling adventure.
The early morning air in the high desert can be cold, but as you leave Palmdale and enter the Angeles National Forest, you’ll warm up quickly. The first section of the course to Three Points is fairly fast with rolling hills. En route you will pass the towns of Lake Hughes and Elizabeth Lake while most are still sleeping. Leaving Three Points, you’ll climb some more while cutting over to Highway 138 on Pine Canyon Rd and Ridge Route. The wind here generally blows from the west, and it’s not uncommon to have a headwind on the way to Gorman and Lebec. Your first checkpoint is at mile 50 at the Heartbreak Hunded start in Lebec.
The next 20 miles are mostly uphill, though there are some very nice descents along the way. As you climb toward the summit of Mt. Pinos, take time to look around; the scenery here is truly beautiful, as the high desert gives way to alpine forests and gently sloping mountain meadows. Look to your left at Lake of the Woods and see the road you will be descending later in the afternoon, then look ahead at the road that will take you higher into the mountains. Deep in the mountains you will Apache Saddle, your next checkpoint. As you refill and refuel, contemplate the fact that you have already accumulated about half of the 15,500′ of climbing that you’ll conquer this day.
Leaving Apache Saddle, prepare yourself for one of the most rewarding stretches of road in all of Southern California. You will primarily descend for 20 miles along the ridgeline that divides the Lockwood Valley on your left from the huge Central Valley on your right. Look around for wildlife as you ride through the Los Padres National Forest and the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge. The descent continues at Highway 166. A left here and another onto Highway 33, and then you’ll be a few miles from checkpoint three at “Santa Barbara Pistachio Company” in “downtown” Ventucopa.
Leaving Ventucopa, you will follow the beautiful Cuyama Valley and Cuyama River to a left turn at Lockwood Valley Road. Rookie or veteran, you are in for a treat. As you enter Lockwood Valley you will encounter a gradual climb that just keeps getting steeper. As you reach the infamous Heartbreak Hill in the hot afternoon sun you will learn why it got that name. Checkpoint four is just beyond the “heartbreak” summit.
Leaving Heartbreak Hill, you’ll descend and climb your way to Frazier Park and your final checkpoint at the Holiday Inn Express. Leaving Lebec and Gorman, there is a short climb to the overview of Quail Lake and the California Aqueduct. As you descend to Quail Lake you should be greeted by a “world class” tailwind that has been known to blow riders all the way to the turn onto Ridge Route and then across on Pine Canyon to Three Points. Leaving Three Points there are two noticeable climbs as you otherwise descend towards the finish line in Palmdale.
Personal SAG Vehicles:
Riders may have private SAG beginning at mile 150 until the end; but at no other time. Private SAG may provide leapfrog support only. Absolutely NO FOLLOWING. If your personal SAG is on the course before mile 150, you will be disqualified. The definition of 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 to any rider, or taking photographs, or simply out cheering. If you’re bringing someone with you who wants to be out on the course before mile 150, please have them contact us and join our volunteer staff.
Volunteers:
We always need volunteers! Click here for info about available positions.