Southern California - DEATH RIDE July 12th...

Soooo, who got in?


I'm in!

This was my goal this year after doing KOM last year...so here goes.....
I would LOVE to be able to complete all five passes, but honestly I am not sure about that.
Lets do some training rides!!

Karen :)

Soooo, who got in?


I'm in!

This was my goal this year after doing KOM last year...so here goes.....
I would LOVE to be able to complete all five passes, but honestly I am not sure about that.
Lets do some training rides!!

Karen :)

Very Cool Karen!!!!! There's a bunch of peeps on the NorCal Forum going too! I'm sure they will love chasing you up and down the passes :D

I got in but I have to go to a family reunion back in Michigan. I'll have to head up there and ride the rout solo sometime.

I'm in, but you already know that.

I have no doubt that you will finish all 5 passes, anybody that can complete all 3 KOM events is capable of finishing all 5 passes.

I'm sure we will have lots of training rides as we discussed yesterday.

I'm in, but you already know that.

I have no doubt that you will finish all 5 passes, anybody that can complete all 3 KOM events is capable of finishing all 5 passes.

I'm sure we will have lots of training rides as we discussed yesterday.That's where I come in right?;)

That's where I come in right?;)

You bet, why do you think we are doing Sea to Summit....

I was planning on doing the Tour of the Tujunga's, counter-clockwise, starting from the Santa Clarita side on April 19th. With the initial climbs over Little T and the long climb up Mill Creek, I thought it would be good training for Breathless. Would you like to join us? Once we got to the top of Mill Creek, depending on the weather, maybe we could keep going up the road towards Mt. Gleason.

I did the Death Ride in 2005, and while it was difficult, and I did train for it . . . the Death Ride itself was easier than I thought it would be from looking at the profile and reading the reports of other riders.

Having all the other riders to talk to as I ascended at my ave. climbing pace of 6 mph really helped pass the time too. My worst enemy on The Death Ride was the tedium, and the conversations helped battle that.

Of course, there's no way I could talk on the descents!

Plus, keep in mind that my time was pretty slow: 11:45 for all 5 passes and back to the park. Don't know when (or if) I'll be inspired to do it again!

Rick / OCRR

You bet, why do you think we are doing Sea to Summit....

I was planning on doing the Tour of the Tujunga's, counter-clockwise, starting from the Santa Clarita side on April 19th. With the initial climbs over Little T and the long climb up Mill Creek, I thought it would be good training for Breathless. Would you like to join us? Once we got to the top of Mill Creek, depending on the weather, maybe we could keep going up the road towards Mt. Gleason.. Sure that sounds like fun. The road to Gleason is great but the last 1 1/2 mile after the dirt part is STEEP

I signed up last night -gulp-. It will be my first time doing this ride.

Anyone have any suggestions on cabins or camping? I did some searching and there seems like a there are a few lodges and campgrounds in the area. I was thinking of bringing the family up for a few days to have a nice trip. It looks like the main road through Markleeville is closed off at 5am. So what do most people do? ... stay in Markleeville or just take some other road in.

I signed up last night -gulp-. It will be my first time doing this ride.

Anyone have any suggestions on cabins or camping? I did some searching and there seems like a there are a few lodges and campgrounds in the area. I was thinking of bringing the family up for a few days to have a nice trip. It looks like the main road through Markleeville is closed off at 5am. So what do most people do? ... stay in Markleeville or just take some other road in.

The road through Markleeville stays open all the time, in fact the road is open to the base of Monitor/Ebbetts passes. As far as places to stay, you can camp at Turtlerock Park, which is the official start and finish area. Basically you are camping in a field with alot of other riders. If you don't have a place to stay in Markleeville forget it, they sell out a year before the ride. Your best bet would be condo rentals in Kirkwood, any accomaditions that you can find in South Lake Tahoe, or you can stay in Minden, NV.

They close the road off at Markleeville the morning of the event. It's opened back up later on... I think from the base of Monitor to Markleeville opens at noon, or whenever it is that Monitor is opened up again.

You wouldn't want to "camp" at TRP with the family. It's more like everyone parks their cars/vans real close together in a parking lot. Not real family friendly camping, especially if you want to sleep much.

I'm in! Payed my registration today.

I'm sure this has been asked, but I'm too lazy to read the whole thread...

Is anyone planning training rides around the Glendale/Burbank/Pasadena area? I've been doing hill repeats around the restricted roads in Griffith park to prepare for Mulholland challenge and I was thinking that kind of training would probably work out good for the death ride. Any other suggestions?

Also, is anyone planning on doing any altitude training?

I'm in! Payed my registration today.

I'm sure this has been asked, but I'm too lazy to read the whole thread...

Is anyone planning training rides around the Glendale/Burbank/Pasadena area? I've been doing hill repeats around the restricted roads in Griffith park to prepare for Mulholland challenge and I was thinking that kind of training would probably work out good for the death ride. Any other suggestions?

Also, is anyone planning on doing any altitude training?

If you watch the threads there are always rides in the Santa Monica mtns, and up on Angeles Crest. Because of the length of those climbs, they will help you get ready for the DR. The AC rides usually are higher up in altitude. In May and June, a few of us like to drive up to the base of Mt. Pinos, and do climbing repeats up there. 8 mile climb with 2300 of elev gain. We usually do 3-4 climbs in the day, altitude is from 6000 to 8300 ft, very similar to the altitude for the DR.

i'm in.. now need to book a place to stay

I did the Death Ride last year and it was really tough. I would say it was harder than the Breathless Agony, which I have also done, due to the fact that you never drop much below 5,000 ft. in elevation. The weather last year was HOT and windy. I did not think the weather would play as much of a roll as the topography, but it did. The ride is really crowded for the first two passes, so If I had it to do over again I would have just sat in a slow pack for the first few hours until the ride spreads out more. I pushed pretty hard at the beginning to try to get through the crowds which made me pay in the end.

I am a pretty strong climber so I thought a 53/39 would be fine but I really wish I had used a compact crank set for this ride. My legs were beat by the end, making me recruit a lot of muscles which KILLED my back. I will not be doing it this year (other obligations won - July is a rough month for taking a trip) but I look forward to doing it again with a partner to share a little of the work on the very few flats there were.

For Training I would recommend as much time at elevation as possible. I did Mt. Laguna a bunch, Kitchen Creek and Pine Creek. The descents are pretty spectacular, the only problem is there are A LOT of people bombing down the hill with competing lines so bring new brake pads!

i'm in.. now need to book a place to stay

There isn't much local and it fills up long before the event. I've either camped there or stayed in South Lake Tahoe. It's only a 45 min drive. Look on line and find a motel that's off the main road, it'll be quieter.

I'm doing it for my first time this year, and honestly the thing that I'm most stressed about is how the hell I'm gonna find a place to stay / figure out where everything is, and where the hell I'm gonna leave my car on the morning of. It's sorta daunting to think I'll just drive up there a day or two before and "figure it all out." Hopefully I can pick up some good advice here. I saw something about turtle rock park parking lot being closed?

TRP has a small parking area and it'll be full of people camping. If you arrive the morning of the ride you won't find any parking there, they won't even let you in so don't try. But there's nice wide shoulders on the road for like two miles before TRP if coming from the north, i.e. Tahoe, and also some to the south as well. There's a lot of parking on the side of the road, you won't have a problem finding a spot. Usually the only other cars on the road are also Death Riders so when you get to where cars are stopping and parking, stop and park with everyone else. When you're ready to go, you may have to ride a bit to get to the official start. If you want, you can skip that part on the way back; you'll have done the full mileage.


There's a side road on the other side of the highway from TRP. Don't park there, you'll get a ticket or towed. Take a look at the road shoulder before you drive onto it; in a few places it's soft gravel and I have seen cars get stuck.

If you're stressed about finding a place to stay make reservations in south lake tahoe now.

I knew some guys that got a campsite a few days before the ride so I was able to stay with them the night before the race. (no cell phone coverage made even that difficult though) I did see a bunch of people that were throwing out their tents on the side of the road and calling it good for the night. I did not get the feeling that the Sheriff was that bothered by it. This is a huge event and I have the feeling that the rules just bend a little when the DR is in town, it does bring in a pretty good chunk of change to the local economy after all. You can also check out the Kirkwood area, there are a lot of Condos in that area and it is not to far from the start. Avoid staying on the other side of monitor pass on the 395 because Monitor is closed the morning of the ride and you would have to get up really early to get over it before they closed it.