Southern California - Anyone else doing the AdventureCORPS Fall Death Valley Century?

Next Friday (Oct 28) I'll be heading up to Death Valley along with calamarichris, to do the Fall Death Valley century. Any other BF members participating in the event?

I am I am I am! (Finishes reading your post...) ah nuts.
I'm really looking forward to it, even though my training and spin form have been in the toilet this season. :)

Back when registration opened months ago I figured I should check with the wife just to make sure there was no plans for this far off date months in the future...turns out I'm going to a wedding for a friend of hers. DOH!

See you guys at the spring events.

Yeah, I can't wait. I've been toying with the idea of doing the Ultra. But I know I'm not prepared for it. Another idea I'm toying with is bringing my lights and doing a night ride after I've rested a few hours from the century... I know, it's probably too much to ask of my body. But hey, there will be folks out there doing the double...It would be fun to join them on the climb to Hell's Gate. I'm totally looking forward to doing the climb to Dante's View on Sunday morning.

@jmx, not sure you'll be seeing me at either of the Spring DV events. I still have to redeem myself for not completing the Mt. Laguna Classic back in 2009. So I'm going to focus my time and $$ on that event. Then my wife and I are planning to do Death Ride in Markleeville in July..

But dang, I sure would love to go to the Corpscamp, which includes Hells Gate...

Ooh, a wedding! How funnnnn! :lol:
http://photos.weddingbycolor-nocookie.com/p000010395-m62944-p-photo-180680/Blue-Wedding-Reception-is-it-going-to-be-boring-.jpg

Gack--women inflict those torture sessions on us just to make us earn the honeymoon.

I wouldn't beat yourself up over Mt Laguna, Idoru. This year was my first time, and it was The Hardest CenturyI've Ever Done. (Even harder than l'Etape.) I should have known something was up when I was the only guy at the start line who didn't have a compact crank.
Haw-haw--look at all the sissies with their pathetic little compacts! (Oh, wait... :( )
I'm currently building a bike with a triple with Mt Laguna (and maybe saving my cleats) in mind.

Have fun on your post-century ride, and sorry I'll be too busy retoxing to join you. http://www.chiefscrowd.com/forums/images/smilies/zh_smilies/toast2.gif

Ooh, a wedding! How funnnnn! :lol:
http://photos.weddingbycolor-nocookie.com/p000010395-m62944-p-photo-180680/Blue-Wedding-Reception-is-it-going-to-be-boring-.jpg

Gack--women inflict those torture sessions on us just to make us earn the honeymoon.

I wouldn't beat yourself up over Mt Laguna, Idoru. This year was my first time, and it was The Hardest CenturyI've Ever Done. (Even harder than l'Etape.) I should have known something was up when I was the only guy at the start line who didn't have a compact crank.
Haw-haw--look at all the sissies with their pathetic little compacts! (Oh, wait... :( )
I'm currently building a bike with a triple with Mt Laguna (and maybe saving my cleats) in mind.

Have fun on your post-century ride, and sorry I'll be too busy retoxing to join you. http://www.chiefscrowd.com/forums/images/smilies/zh_smilies/toast2.gif


Oh you should have seen the way we were re-toxing after Hell's Gate 2010, and we didn't even ride it! We biked up to Artist's Palette the next morning. That was the first time I ever rode hung over!

first time I ever rode hung over!

First time? Really?

You have much training to do, Idoru-san... much training...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGfgaZa4zJY
Banzaiiii!

im in

Really? It's perfect for your first century, C4M. Very easy--not even 9,000 feet of climbing.
Are you riding it with your deadly pedals, or the safer platform-kind?
Looking forward to riding it with you! :thumb:

im in

This should be good.

I'm riding the century with two friends. I'm hoping I have more fun with it than I did on the spring DV ride. That one was quite an adventure.

I'm riding the century with two friends. I'm hoping I have more fun with it than I did on the spring DV ride. That one was quite an adventure.
You can say that again. Do NOT bring clothing based on the forecast in Death Valley! I'll be wearing my usual La Vie Claire colors and sparkly-white Liberace shoes if the forecast is good, but definitely bringing along a jacket and knee-warmers too. I was hypothermic on the Spring ride!
http://www.calamarichris.com/images/110507-letape4b.jpg

You can say that again. Do NOT bring clothing based on the forecast in Death Valley! I'll be wearing my usual La Vie Claire colors and sparkly-white Liberace shoes if the forecast is good, but definitely bringing along a jacket and knee-warmers too. I was hypothermic on the Spring ride!
http://www.calamarichris.com/images/110507-letape4b.jpg


Look for this guy ^^, and you'll probably find me. I'll be wearing last year's Death Valley Velo Club kit, with black AdventureCORPS arm-warmers. Riding a white and red Specialized Allez.

I wouldn't beat yourself up over Mt Laguna, Idoru. This year was my first time, and it was The Hardest CenturyI've Ever Done. (Even harder than l'Etape.) I should have known something was up when I was the only guy at the start line who didn't have a compact crank.
Haw-haw--look at all the sissies with their pathetic little compacts! (Oh, wait... :( )
I'm currently building a bike with a triple with Mt Laguna (and maybe saving my cleats) in mind.


After this event, I'm sending my cranks arms to this guy (http://bikesmithdesign.com/Short_Cranks/shorten.html) to get a 2nd set of pedal holes drilled, and probably putting on a mtn cassette on my bike. The guy who "won" Mt. Laguna the last two years is a huge proponent for running shorter crank arm lengths. He's been playing around riding with crank arms as short as 80mm. And he's a beast of a climber. I'm going to give it a try for next season.

Look for this guy ^^, and you'll probably find me. I'll be wearing last year's Death Valley Velo Club kit, with black AdventureCORPS arm-warmers. Riding a white and red Specialized Allez.

I'll keep an eye out for you. I'm riding a white Giant TCR with red accents and one friend is riding is riding a polished al Cannondale with lime green tires. It must have been dark when we put together our bikes, but we'll certainly stand out.

Yeah, I was hypothermic and just plain beat on the spring ride. Looking back at my HR, cadence and speed stats, it looked like I was climbing for 9 hours.

I'm hoping I have more fun with it than I did on the spring DV ride. That one was quite an adventure.

Spring DV was so epic. I felt like a soldier on a battlefield trudging ahead against that headwind (both ways!). I can't say I'm hoping for conditions like that again, but I certainly enjoyed myself.

Hells gate a month later was a cake walk. Perfect weather, easy climbs, more of a vacation than a war.

Spring DV was so epic. I felt like a soldier on a battlefield trudging ahead against that headwind (both ways!). I can't say I'm hoping for conditions like that again, but I certainly enjoyed myself.

Hells gate a month later was a cake walk. Perfect weather, easy climbs, more of a vacation than a war.

The headwind both ways was demoralizing. I remember suffering on the way out to the turn around point and thinking that at least the way back would be fast with a tail wind. Had that tailwind for a few miles on the way back and then got slammed with a headwind again. I was suffering more on that ride than I did on Breathless or Heartbreak.

Do you guys have any goals for this one?
It took me nearly 7 hours to finish Hell's Gate, but I was hypothermic and spent over an hour in the rest stops. Also, a 27-tooth rear would have been a better choice for that steep section in Artist's Canyon.
Goal for Saturday is to remain fluid & relaxed through the whole ride and still average at least 222 Watts over the duration.
Be nice to break 6:30, but the desert wind laughs at the schemes of feeble mortals.

Haven't really set any goals for this one. Had a time goal in mind for the spring DV ride, but my setting a goal was the reason that the wind gods punished me. Lesson learned. But I would like to break 6:30. Doh. Lesson unlearned.

Well, let's work together and beat 6:30 then.. My personal goals are to keep moving, reduce time spent at the stops, and don't sit on the grass at Scotty's Castle. I'd like to be back at FC enjoying the swimming pool with plenty of daylight to enjoy.

Just so I can feel like I'm part of this weekends excitement, I've started tweaking my riding position in prep for the spring event....new aerobars, lower bars, deeper drop...the wind will not 0wn me next year like it did in 2011. Hoping to get my CdA down 20% compared to last year.

Chris, 222watts for 6-7 hours....I'm envious of that.

Chris, 222watts for 6-7 hours....I'm envious of that.

You sure you want to change everything right before the ride Jmx? Only thing I'm changing is to an 11-tooth, so I won't be spinning out for more than an hour on the final descent. And I'm leaving the aerobars at home this time--seems like there were only a few short stretches where we weren't climbing interminably, or shrieking down that mountain at speeds unsafe for an aerobar.
And thanks, but there's nothing to envy until it's done. :) 222W is the goal, but we'll see... I "averaged" 231 in March (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/75728911), but turns out that didn't count, because I was working off the non-zero average. :(

Found my pics from March. Be in identical colors and bike on Saturday...
http://www.calamarichris.com/images/110326-chr-hgh.jpg
http://www.calamarichris.com/images/110326-chr-hgh1.jpg.jpg

You sure you want to change everything right before the ride Jmx? Only thing I'm changing is to an 11-tooth, so I won't be spinning out for more than an hour on the final descent. And I'm leaving the aerobars at home this time--seems like there were only a few short stretches where we weren't climbing interminably, or shrieking down that mountain at speeds unsafe for an aerobar.
And thanks, but there's nothing to envy until it's done. :) 222W is the goal, but we'll see... I "averaged" 231 in March (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/75728911), but turns out that didn't count, because I was working off the non-zero average. :(


I'm not changing anything right before an event, I'm not doing DV until March. Got that whole wedding to go to.

As for the aerobars, you realize the Fall DV course is totally different than Hells Gate right? I think the first and last 30 miles are semi flat with rollers. Aerobars are also useful in the Spring DV event since the route is mostly flat for 80-90 of the 100 miles.

... you realize the Fall DV course is totally different than Hells Gate right?

Whaaaaa...?!?!
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRXLuNmQIipjVLBgeuN88qjBQwvFcwO-_9oY1lcbI60ohHNwX_Swcxb959fTQ

Some days I'm very, very glad I check in at this forum. I'm a little disappointed, because I was looking forward to that sustained climb, and bombing back down that thing, but it will still be great I'm sure.
Now to check the course map....

http://caketalk.typepad.com/.a/6a00e553cb542a88330105365c3b34970b-pi

Well, let's work together and beat 6:30 then.. My personal goals are to keep moving, reduce time spent at the stops, and don't sit on the grass at Scotty's Castle. I'd like to be back at FC enjoying the swimming pool with plenty of daylight to enjoy.

Moving, reducing time at stop and no sitting on the grass. Ok, I can do all of that. 6:30 range seems doable considering the total climbing numbers. But when I looked at last years results, 6:30 time was in the upper 25% of the riders. That's not usually where I reside. No sure what to make of the previous results.

Well, let's work together and beat 6:30 then.. My personal goals are to keep moving, reduce time spent at the stops, and don't sit on the grass at Scotty's Castle. I'd like to be back at FC enjoying the swimming pool with plenty of daylight to enjoy.

I might be on board. So long as there is an understanding that if I drop off, we all agree there is no weirdness or hurt feelings. If the wind is howling, we probably won't be able to safely take up the whole road to form our echelon.
Jmx's revelation has really thrown me a curve. I was looking forward to that sustained climb, but now I'm wondering if I should bring my aero wheels, or if the crosswinds would be too much for them.
Gosh-heck, I just went out and bought a new cassette with an 11-tooth for a little traction on that sustained descent we're not even going to be doing now.
My goal remains unchanged: fluid, supple form through the entire event and a 222W average; I don't care what time I get, if I can manage that, I'll be perter'na rutting buck at the finish.
Whoever's first: please have decent beer waiting for us on the grass to go with the finish-line's pizza...Agreed.?

Whoever's first: please have decent beer waiting for us on the grass to go with the finish-line's pizza...Agreed.?

I'll agree to this!

Hahaha...

After you...
No after you...
Please, I insist...
http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/mb3.JPG

The forecast has suddenly jumped up to a high of 95 for Saturday!
Don't forget the sunscreen and salt tablets!
http://www.irondaughterirondad.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cycling-in-the-heat-TDF-1961.jpg

Good luck you two! Don't forget to drink LOTS and LOTS of water!

I'm in the process of training for my first century with climbing(I have done two before but they were almost completely flat)
I really wanted to do the death valley Century, but I have no way of going out there. So instead I'm doing the Tour de Foothills century.

Egress! Where are you man? Darren's phone died and we waited out on the grass with the beer and the bearded guy who looks just like Sergei Velov from American Flyers.
We're heaving to dinner shortly. Darren's wearing a dark blue "Hurley" shirt, and I'm the tall, chubby blonde dude wearing the tan shorts and tan Weird Al Yankovic T-shirt. Come find us and we'll buy you a beer or six!
I hope we can meet for a beer, and I hope you had a successful time too! We really lucked out with the weather today! http://forums.youthrights.org/images/smilies/rockon.gif

Sorry we missed you Egress.
We're heading for a short 25-miler up to Artist's Drive and back. I'm still wearing the La Vie Claire colors and Idoru's wearing the black/red Adventurecorps jersey.
Beautiful morning here in the desert! Hopefully we'll run into each other.

Sorry we missed you Egress.
We're heading for a short 25-miler up to Artist's Drive and back. I'm still wearing the La Vie Claire colors and Idoru's wearing the black/red Adventurecorps jersey.
Beautiful morning here in the desert! Hopefully we'll run into each other.

Sorry I missed you guys too. I texted Darren yesterday morning, but I bet you guys had already started riding. We ended up in the 7:40 wave and I think I saw you descending from Scotty's Castle as we were climbing it. It was a great day out there. Weather was great, no wind to speak of, etc. My friend and I ended up getting on a train (and doing most of the pulling :notamused:) to the second rest stop. You guys must have been killing out there. Total time on the bikes riding for us was under 6:30, but we spent too much time at rest stops (hour total?). We ended up picking up two other riders from our original train and rode with them pretty much the whole ride.

We drove back shortly after finishing the ride. My son has his black belt test today, so I needed to be back. Would have liked to spend the evening drinking and hanging out. Next time.

So did you "win" the thing or what Chris? Thats you with the sub 6 hour time right?

So did you "win" the thing or what Chris? Thats you with the sub 6 hour time right?

That was him alright!

Yay for me, I finished first! Where did you see the results?
I was just happy to have met my goal (228Watts [non-zero average] and 19.6 avg speed.) I came apart on the last 20-miles, but I carried on and sacrificed a little skin off my junk to break 5:30 moving time.
Admittedly the heavies were probably riding the ultra and double. And there were some genuine animals in that bunch. I felt pretty mighty when I got to Scotty's Castle and Chris Kostman was still briefing all the volunteers and they were surprised to see me there so soon, (Helmet-tag! This guy's one of ours!).
But as pride inevitably does, it all came crashing down when I grabbed my bike to leave. Some veiny fellow came in just as I was leaving and I asked him. "Century?"
"No, double."
I'd just ridden 54 miles pretty quickly and was getting ready to ride back, but this guy was going to ride that much PLUS ANOTHER CENTURY!
I'd always admired the guys at the front, and it was a special treat to be that guy yesterday.
It was also especially awesome to lay around in the shade of the palm trees at the finish line, eating pizza & potato chips, drinking sweet-barley Belgian-style beer with Idoru, meeting strangers (and some strikingly beautiful women!) and hearing all the accents and stories. People came from Britain and even Georgia to do this ride, but I can understand why.
The Adventurecorps culture is really a beautiful thing and every time I do one of their events, it banishes my cynicism and restores my faith in humanity's goodness. No exaggeration. It's utterly awesome.
And it was cool to be Idoru's sidekick on this one. I'm usually jealous of jerks married to hot women, but Idoru's hot wife is entirely justified. Such an awesome, awesome dude.
Going to bed now, but I'll have some pics of our morning ride to Artist's Drive up tomorrow.
Please let me know where you saw the results!

Hey Chris, I'll make sure the lil lady reads your compliments. The results are on Montana Timing's website:

http://www.montanatiming.com/wp-content/uploads/Final-Report.txt

BTW, some guy in the 7:30 wave bumped me into 9th overall for the century. Oh well, it was such a great weekend. You're a pretty hilarious guy. You had me in stitches for a great part of the weekend. Looking forward to seeing those pics from Artist's Drive.

Man Chris, great job. I'd love to see the garmin connect link if you have one. Maybe you should try the 150mi event in March now that you've conquered the 100mi test.

The results are at montana timing.
http://www.montanatiming.com/wp-content/uploads/Final-Report.txt

Looks like Idoru did pretty nicely as well. Congrats.

Egress! Where are you man? Darren's phone died and we waited out on the grass with the beer and the bearded guy who looks just like Sergei Velov from American Flyers.
We're heaving to dinner shortly. Darren's wearing a dark blue "Hurley" shirt, and I'm the tall, chubby blonde dude wearing the tan shorts and tan Weird Al Yankovic T-shirt. Come find us and we'll buy you a beer or six!
I hope we can meet for a beer, and I hope you had a successful time too! We really lucked out with the weather today! http://forums.youthrights.org/images/smilies/rockon.gif

Dude, I found Sergei! In real life: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~helge/

Hahaha--I thought he said his name was "Hagar"!!! LMAO--he never corrected me when I kept calling him that.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz0crdfxKN1qzyp0vo1_500.jpg

Here's my Garmin junk (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/125556264). Such a great, smooth road; and we really lucked out on the weather.

Will have the Artist's Drive photos up by COB today. Back to work!

Good job guys! Hope some of you seen me. I was in my 1984 Centurion Comp TA with downtube shifters. Did the double.

Good job guys! Hope some of you seen me. I was in my 1984 Centurion Comp TA with downtube shifters. Did the double.

Great job doing the double on a classic!!!! How did you do? I didn't see too many classic bikes out on the road. Have a pic of your centurion?

Hahaha--I thought he said his name was "Hagar"!!! LMAO--he never corrected me when I kept calling him that.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz0crdfxKN1qzyp0vo1_500.jpg

Here's my Garmin junk (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/125556264). Such a great, smooth road; and we really lucked out on the weather.

Will have the Artist's Drive photos up by COB today. Back to work!

Make sure to post the Garmin data on the Artist's Drive ride too!

I did 13hr. 13min. I saw the following classics: 1984 Trek, 1986 Miyata, talked to a guy with a 76 something (didn't know what it was), 91 Masi, 91 Merkx. My lowest was a 42/28. I was hurtin on that last climb. I don't have pix of the ride but here's a pix of the Centurion on Friday morning on way up to Death Valley

225203225204

Artist's Drive ride with Idoru (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/125556217).

Triplebutted: I remember seeing your sweet Centurion up on the roofrack. Sorry we didn't get a chance to buy you a beer. Next time. I'll probably be volunteering at the Spring Century, and riding Hell's Gate. See you then?
I nearly brought my '86 Schwinn Peloton this weekend, but that bike probably doesn't count because of the 7800 drivetrain & brifters. :) But I'm never riding my '84 Masi Gran Crit in that harsh, unforgiving desert! Some bikes are for riding and some are for lookin at.
http://www.calamarichris.com/images/100721-pelotonback.jpg

That's SWEEEEEEEEEET Peloton!!!!!

Yah, I think I'll be doing Hell's Gate. I rode that darn Centurion on Mt. Laguna with the same gearing. Next year, I'll stick a triple on it just for Mt. Laguna. Been looking for the proper Shimano 600 Triple just for it. If not, I'll just get a cheapo one. I've never thought I needed a triple for a road ride before but that Mt. Laguna was a freaking painful!

all bikes are for riding and none are for lookin at.

ftfy

I've never thought I needed a triple for a road ride before but that Mt. Laguna was a freaking painful!

Thanks! Funny you say that. I'm currently building up an identical Peloton frame (24-inch though, not another 25-inch like the one pictured) with a triple, also 7800-everything, precisely because of how much walking I did on Mount Laguna earlier this year. (That third climb was moider!) I should have known something was up, because I was the only one at the start line who didn't have a compact.
http://www.nexternal.com/reparto/images/da-triple.jpg

T I should have known something was up, because I was the only one at the start line who didn't have a compact.

I was warned but I didn't believe them. Hahaha. I was sure wrong! I'll probably just get an el-cheapo triple from bikeisland. I got home yesterday and the Centurion was stripped. Need to clean it up and put a 39 chainring up front.