Death Ride Tour of the California Alps

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Death Ride Tour of the California Alps - CycleTour

View Member's Race Log View other race reports

Markleeville, California
United States
85F / 29C
Sunny

Total Time = 10h 30m
Overall Rank = /2800
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/

Pre-race routine:

This was not a race but an extremely well organized ride..pretty good nights rest at a nice hotel..wake up 4am..bagel, yogurt, Hammer bar for breakfast in room..30min drive to start..some clouds and about 60 degrees. Markleeville is 5500ft.

Event warmup:

None..get on the bike and ride!

Bike

10h 30m
124 miles
11.81 mile/hr

Comments:

What a great accomplishment!I highly recommend this ride..well worth the trip.

What would you do differently?:

Not drop my wind breaker off at the car before Carson Pass even though I had not needed it all day!

Post race

Warm down:

Nothing..just walked around the park.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing...used Hammer Nutrition HEED, Perpetuem, and a variety of their capsules..I felt energetic and non-fatigued all day and after the ride..felt great on Sunday also.

Event comments:

If you do this ride make sure you train with plenty of climbing and time in the saddle. Great ride to see what you are made of!

Last updated: 2009-05-04 12:00 AM

Biking
10:30:00 \| 124 miles \| 11.81 mile/hr
Age Group:	0/
Overall:	0/2800
Performance:	Good
Wind:	Some
Course:	15 mile ride to Monitor Mountain..as much as 8% grade..over the top..down the other side..back up again..2 passes done..35mph decent..short ride to Ebbett's Mountain..very tough ride up..7-12% grade..hairpin turns..as I always tell my wife when she asks "how was your ride"..I say it was hard fun..down the back side of Ebbett's and back up again..developed an intermittent creak comeing from my bottom bracket, I think..just had it greased before the Boise 70.3..had a mechanic check it out on top of the pass..of course it wouldn't make the noise..another fast decent down Ebbett's..saw a guy lying on the side of the road with another rider at his side..he hit a 1ft deep pot hole and went over the bars..the ambulance showed up as I passed him so i didn'r stop..had lunch at the bottom of Ebbett's..sat under a shade tree with a guy who happened to be the guy helping the downed rider I passed..he also happened to be a Paramedic..he also obviously came down the mountain faster than me!! I think the hardest part about heading to the 5th pass was we had to ride right past the start line and past our car parked on the side of the road! Pretty tempting but there was no way I was going home having done only 4 passes. Off to Carson Pass with a steep climb to start for a few miles..then it mellowed out for a ways before it got steep again..it wasn't anything like some of the 12% grade on the other passes but it was the end of the day and I had ridden about 85 miles and climbed 12,000ft already! It was a tough ride up. And as tradition would have it, it rained when I was about 2 miles from the top..guess what I left at the car when I passed it? Yep..my wind breaker..I took cover under a big pine tree with some fellow riders and put on my arm warmers, long fingered gloves, and ear muffs. I headed back out..the rain had let up some..it stopped after 5 minutes..I finally reach the top to the cheers of the onlookers..it was very chilly..so glad I had the extra clothing..I got my 5th sticker on my number to prove I did all 5 passes and my 5 pass pin..I ate a smackeral..signed the huge poster only 5 pass finishers can sign and headed down. It was pretty chilly for the first few miles but the sun came out, the road dried up and the 35-47mph decent down the mountain was a blast! Back to the park, waited for my buddy who also completed all 5 passes, ate a great dinner and back to the hotel for a shower and some relaxation..I was going to say a good nights sleep but Gregg snores too loud for that!
Road:	Rough Dry	Cadence:
Turns:		Cornering:
Gear changes:		Hills:	Good
Race pace:		Drinks:	Just right

Post race
Weight change:	%
Overall:	Good
Mental exertion [1-5]	5
Physical exertion [1-5]	5
Good race?	Yes

Evaluation
Course challenge	Just right
Organized?	Yes
Events on-time?	Yes
Lots of volunteers?	Yes
Plenty of drinks?	Yes
Post race activities:	Good
Race evaluation [1-5]	5