Heathpack 

It is pretty epic, three events in 6 weeks with a total of 335 miles and 35,000 ft climbing. I started out just wanting to be a finisher, then I was hoping to place well, now I'm just going with "doing well for me". We'll see how it goes. Tomorrow is going to be really hot and heat is my nemesis. But a good test of some trying some new heat management strategies, so even though conditions won't be ideal, I'll get something out of it, one way or the other.

RollCNY

@Heathpack, in the worst of the heat, when all seems the bleakest, look up the road and picture Mutton the Beagle running ahead, his incessant barks beckoning you ever onward.

Heathpack 

Haha, hallucinations are not far from it.

This ride has one really hot section. They call it "Damnation Alley," no kidding. It's at the start of the 30 mile climb up to Onyx Summit, the first 6ish miles. Steady 5% climb, zero shade, no switchbacks, just a straight climb, typically with a slight tailwind (not enough to help you, just enough to make the air really still). Damnation Alley ends with a hairpin turn and more climbing, but as soon as you make that turn, you have a slight head/cross wind. I'm estimating the effective temp in Damnation Alley will be 85-88F at 9:30am when I hope to get there. So about an hour of that and then things get better. After that hairpin turn you have another 4ish miles of climbing and then a rest stop.

Interestingly, there's a decent climb before you get there, its called Oak Glen. Overall climbing section is 7 miles, 3 miles gradual stuff and then 4 miles steep. The steep stuff tops off at 16% but is something like ave 7.5%. Lots of false summits and sections where it looks like you're going downhill but you're actually going up hill. Messes with your head. I hope to be on that part of the course at 8:30am and forecast temps will be 75F already.

There is the potential for a really slow ride if I somehow start to get behind on the early parts of the course, because even running 45 min- 1 hour behind, the heat will start to become a huge factor. Once you get past that hairpin turn, however, you are just going higher and higher, and it will get cooler and cooler. At the summit, which is 8300 ft of elevation, the forecast high is around 60F.

So the key thing is to not get behind early on. Not that I've spent any time considering ride strategy or anything.

Trsnrtr

Mid-ride stop for fuel. Honest, it was my wife's idea.

Mmm, ice cream. by trsnrtr, on Flickr

Ramona_W

I'm getting excited about tomorrow. I got a lighter weight helmet and a hydration pack and two pair of shorts arrived in the mail and are waiting to be tried on. LoP says the tandem is currently shifterless but I'm sure that condition won't last.

WhyFi

Nice knife.

BillyD

I can see you put up furious resistance . . . that smile is a smile of exhaustion.

Trsnrtr

Wow, just like Christmas.

3alarmer 

WhyFi

There's talk of a possible Super El Nino this fall/winter.

3alarmer 

3alarmer 

LesterOfPuppets

Tandem is very shifty now. Put on a pair of SRT-800 X-Rays!

LesterOfPuppets

Sad to see a broken man like that.

LAJ

Looking at @3alarmer's posts, it sure looks like California has plenty of water. I don't get what all the hubbub is about.

PhotoJoe 

They said that this for this year, too. I think they know not of what they speak.

PhotoJoe 

I know you jest, but this is what's left of a jailhouse in the former town of Trimmer Springs. When the Army Corps of Engineers built the dam to make Pine Flat Lake (outside of Fresno), they just left it there. I've been waterskiing at Pine Flat all my life and I've never seen this. You can see the high-water mark on the hill in the background. Yah, we're a "tad" low on water. Nothing a little duct tape won't fix though. Right now, it's a metal-detectors playground.

LesterOfPuppets

Big bike auction going down in Vienna pretty soon!
Dorotheum - List Lots

Sweet Gitanes starting at €150:



This full susser is sweet, but 2000 starting bid:


Oh mama!

RollCNY

I think someone said super burrito, someone else misheard it, and Californians started buying snow shovels and umbrellas. Least that's what I heard.

PhotoJoe 

Based on WhyFi's advice, I'm going to start building an ark. I trust him more than the weather "experts".

Trsnrtr

I owned and raced this exact bike, a Gianni Motta Personal 2000 with Campagnolo Super Record components.

And, my avatar is a pic of the super cool Gianni Motta.

LesterOfPuppets

That's a Guerciotti, actually.

I'd rather have the Motta, personally, super hot!

Trsnrtr

Argh! You're right. Between the pic quality and my poor eyes, I couldn't read the name. Anyway, I loved that Motta and won a crap-load of races on it. However, I'll be the first to admit that after subsequently owning newer and more modern bikes that I'd rather ride new stuff. It's sortof like 60s and 70s muscle cars; fun to reminisce about but I'd rather drive a new car any day.

That old frame has been re-grouped.

3alarmer 

...That's what I think, too. I turn on the tap and water still comes out, so what's the problem ?

Here's two more shots of the lake at Tahoe, this time looking down on the town of Kings Beach:
Note the extent of beach. it's kinda like the tide is out up there, except it's not coming in any time soon. The lake level dropped so low last fall that the outlet to the Truckee went dry, so they have been maintaining it with an emergency reserve to try saving the fish in there, but I don't think there are many left now, and the summer is only now upon us.

Velo Vol 

wut