MetinUz

I arrived in Furnace Creek as the sun was setting on Friday, got a campground site, checked in and got my number. I was planning to drop off my light, but realized it had been left back at home. I had to make do with a 1/2W backup light and a camping head-light.

Next morning, I woke up to the sound of raindrops hitting the tent, ominous looking clouds overhead. Got ready and rode the half mile to starting line. There were three wave starts at 7, 7:10 and 7:20 for the double century. I started in the last wave as the rain was tapering off. The first rest stop was at mile 25, the roads had already dried by the time I got there.







The next leg was retracing the steps back, then turning off towards Scotty's Castle at 3000 ft, mile 68. This section is common to single and double centuries, yet I still found myself riding alone for the most part.









Scotty's Castle is the lunch stop for both century and double century riders, but double century riders climb another 1000 ft and then ride 25 flat miles in Nevada to highway 95 junction, then come back for the lunch. The flat portion took little over an hour, where I saw exactly 3 riders going my direction. I was going at least 19mph, over 25 mph at some sections using less than 100W, so I knew there was to be some suffering on the way back. I also saw groups of riders clumped together going the other way, including a tandem drafting off another one.





It seemed everyone was anxious about the return leg, watching others to avoid riding alone. I left and caught a group of 3 riders. One fell off the back, three of us took turns pulling against the strong headwind. This was by far the most unpleasant section, I could go no faster than 13 mph, the other two guys pulling at 14 and 15 mph. I was happy beyond words when we reached to California border and the road dipped down into the canyon.



The lunch (at mile 121) tasted as good as anything could, and I felt like I was almost done. There was a just a short detour to Ubehebe crater, gentle downhill descending about 2500 ft over 35 miles, a 7 mile, 2000 ft climb, and descend to finish.

MetinUz

The road to the crater had been recently paved, and it didn't take long to descend then climb a few hundred feet to the rim of the crater. After an obligatory picture, I was back on the road to the next stop, some 40 miles down.





At this point, the sun was setting and the wind showed no intention of slowing down. As I had to pedal hard downhill, I had the distinct impression that the road was uphill both ways. Fortunately, two guys with Mission jerseys passed me by, and I was able to hang on to their wheel the whole time. I had to work hard in a few spots to avoid getting dropped, and the rapidly setting sun and my meager light convinced me to hang for dear life. I could not even switch out of my prescription sunglasses, so I arrived at the rest stop in high fashion, wearing sunglasses at pitch dark.





After a long rest, I joined a long line of red lights flickering up the hill at a pretty constant 5 or 6 percent grade. This for me was the most enjoyable part, chatting and watching the bright stars overhead. Then it was a fast descent in darkness and a paceline back to finish at Furnace Creek. 197 miles, 14:45 total time, 9200 ft elevation gain.

Overall, I had a pretty good time. My second double century, first time in Death Valley, first time taking pictures on the bike. The scenery does get boring sometimes, the wind was brutal at times, yet the ride has enough going for it. Smooth pavement everywhere except Nevada, good support especially considering the remoteness, and challenging enough to make it interesting. It did not look like it at the start, but it was a gorgeous day to be out.

idoru2005

Nice pix! My wife and I both did the century. Our first! It was an awesome day. We camped out too. Spot 85. Where were you?

cccorlew

Great report and photos. Thanks, and congratulations. That seems pretty fast to me.
I love how the road surface changes between CA and NV.

JourneyLightly

Yes, great photos and report! Thanks for sharing!

DanteB

Great job! I wished I would have felt better, I really wanted to do this ride.

rumbutter

Great photos and ride report!

I finished in just under 12 hours on my recumbent which was my goal. It was a funny old event characterized by an unusually wet start then more usual sunshine and strong winds. Temperatures were pretty mild all day.

The event started off fast as usual with 4-5 guys hammering at the front. It was raining and pretty miserable for the first 15 miles and pretty soon I was on the back of a leading group of 5 riders. We had a good fast paceline going but one guy was just too strong and kept ripping everyones legs off.Unfortunately I got dropped on the first rolling climb of the day but managed to chase back on by the Mesquite Sand Dunes near Stovepipe Wells. We all worked together pretty well until the drag before the turn off for Scotty's Castle where the strong guy put the pace up and I got dropped. 30 miles in and I ended up riding the rest of the event on my own.

The climb up to Scotty's Castle was characterized by a strong tailwind and I got caught and passed by two riders but I knew better than to go too hard on this section. The climb up to 4000 feet was long but not too bad. The next section (the 267) was horrendous as usual with a bumpy road surface, strong winds and featureless roads. You can see the turnaround for about 10 miles but it never seems to get any closer. I passed one guy on this section but got passed by two others who were really hammering it. A recumbent should have been an advantage here but the road was so bumpy it was miserable.

The way back to Scotty was characterized by strong head/cross winds but the surface was better so I enjoyed it more. The descent was much bumpier than I remembered and had such a strong headwind you had to keep pedalling hard to make progress.

I was dreading the next section up to the Uhebe crater as last time I rode it was worse than Paris-Roubaix but they had resurfaced it and it was now pretty smooth. The climb up to the crater is pretty steep and my legs showed some signs of cramping. I also got lungs full of dust from passing vehicles that caused me some difficulty for the next 20 miles. I didnt get caught by anyone on this section and by my reconning I was running about 6 or 7th on the road. The descent back to valley had strong headwinds but I just concentrated on keeping my speed up. I actually enjoyed this section as it was also nicely resurfaced. I was tired but kept up a good speed and caught 4 riders.

The last section included the climb up Mud canyon which was absolutely horrendous. It starts of at 5% then increases to 6% then 7% and the last two miles are 8%. My legs were screaming at me from mile 5 and the last mile and a half were pure torture and I was relagated to a very low gear. There was nothing I could do on this section but watch riders on proper bikes ride away from me. I passed one at the rest stop at the top but never saw two of them again. The descent down Hells gate was spectacular and gave my legs some time to recover before the final 15 miles back to the finish in pitch black. I finished pretty strong but very tired.

spingineer

So this means you completed the triple crown, all on a recumbent? You are a bent triple crown winner! I just had to say that!