Planet Ultra

I have ridden 20 double centuries (5 of them organized by Planet Ultra), numerous unsupported brevets ranging from 120 – 600 miles, and a ton of centuries. NEVER have I encountered the type of superior, snobbish attitude that this bunch puts out on any other ride. I don’t have complaints about the food (Subway sandwiches are not atypical for distance events). However, I do resent having rest stops that run out of food and/​or water (especially if they are near a town, for goodness sake). The organizers are being well-​compensated for their efforts and should make sure that their riders (who, after all, ARE the customers) are well-​taken care of.
I didn’t participate in the Solvang Spring Double Century in 2011 (I had ridden the prior 4 Solvang Spring Doubles but was out of the country this year). From all accounts, it was a sufferfest: cold weather and hard rains were the order of the day. A bunch of riders didn’t even choose to start, given the miserable conditions. The DNF (Did Not Finish) rate was very high. Given all this, the PU people had the nerve to bitch out their riders (i.e., their CUSTOMERS) as follows:
«And now — a note about the DNF rate. This might sound like a rant, and maybe it is, but it’s also a serious observation — so take note:
Rain and very cold temps were in the forecast all week. So WHY, OH WHY did so many of the riders who had to be SAG’d in (putting a HUGE and UNNECESSARY STRAIN on our staff) show up without appropriate rain gear??? Why spend money on an entry fee, a hotel, fuel for travel, meals, etc. and then come to an event completely unprepared??? It was absolutely shameful how many riders failed to bring a waterproof jacket. Dozens of shivering, soaking wet riders wearing nothing but jerseys and shorts (and maybe drenched wet arm warmers) piled into SAG vehicles all day long. Seriously??? What were y’all thinking??? In the future, when rain is a sure thing at a Planet Ultra event, riders will be inspected at the start and pulled from the event if they don’t have at least a jacket. We do expect riders that are at the double century level to take responsibility for their safety and health; and to also consider the volunteer staff that is really out there to help riders RIDING, not riders quitting because they came unprepared. Enough said.»
In other words, the riders made the STAFF’S (!) jobs unpleasant because they had to deal with a bunch of frozen, soaked riders. POOR BABIES! Remember this unpleasant missive the next time you consider signing up for one of PU’s events. I know that I certainly will.

Planet Ultra no longer runs the Death Valley Double events. Those are now run by Chris Kostman’s AdventureCorps, who also run the annual Furnace Creek 508 race and Badwater ultramarathon.
In my book, however, Planet Ultra is a far better cycling event organizer and support team. They run and support top notch California ultradistance cycling events such as the Eastern Sierra double, Solvang double, Mulholland double, Heartbreak double, and now the new Hoodoo 500 in Utah.
Make no mistake, however. They are a for PROFIT company, unlike many NON-​profit organizations (e.g. bike clubs, charity collectives) that typically put on centuries and similar bike events. It doesn’t make them bad, but being profit driven, they clearly will be less GENEROUS than most other event organizations. So dial your expectations accordingly.
Specific examples? The food spread at their events won’t be as appealing as one might see at, say, the Grizzly Peak Century, the Grizzly Century, the Sierra Century, Wine Country, etc. In fact, rarely will you find that Planet Ultra even serves a post-​ride meal. They’ll insist that the majority of their participants actually express no interest in it. I find this a little hard to believe, but um, OK.
Another example: too few portapotties at rest stops, necessitating longer waits for most participants, or – worse — indirectly promoting acts of, er, relief on private property or the perimeter thereof. Not cool. For this reason, you’ll notice PU likes to choose rest stop venues with public facilities.
All told, the typical participant at their events has very specific needs that differ from many other century cyclists. And Planet Ultra covers the basics pretty damn well: Hammer endurance products, minimal frills for food at rest stops, but generally good fuel for the long haul. AND, most importantly, the experience in selecting a volunteer corps who really know how to run the support operations well.