JimmyNH

That's Breathless Senior, sir! Climbing Oak Glen from both sides is more than Jack Rabbit + Oak Glen once. Plus the rest of the enchilada.

JimmyNH

When I saw the forecast, I thought you'll be the only rider. Normal people (like CalamariChris) wisely chicken out in circumstances like these.
Good show Rick! 8:40 on that course and in those conditions is badass!
Still, the Breathless Agony FAQ #1 in my book is: why people do this ride?

jimincalif

I was definitely asking myself this yesterday during the last part of the second Oak Glen climb! I imagine different people have different motivations. For me, I got back into riding back in late 2013 and couldn't imagine doing rides like this nor could I imagine ever wanting to. Then as I got stronger I found that I enjoyed the personal challenge and sense of accomplishment. My first ride up GMR was last year with some of these guys here on Bike Forums. After I did that ride I thought maybe I could do Ride Around the Bear. And now BA. I started feeling the "high" from doing it about 1/2 way up Oak Glen the second time. At that point I knew what was ahead and based on how I was feeling I knew I could make it even though there was a bit more agony still to overcome. I'm sore and tired today, but still on my high.

Rick@OCRR

No worries JimmyNH, An easy ride even with the rain and cold. Except, well, I did suffer on the 2nd Oak Glenn climb. It would be interesting to see how many riders decided to DNS this one! It was amazing to see the long line of riders coming up to Angelus Oaks and Damnation Alley as I was coming down!

Must have been a pretty good turn-out regardless of the weather.

Rick / OCRR

UMan

Some pics of the Jack Rabbit Trail mud puddle.



Ron

PhotoJoe 

I love that in all the pix, the Grim Reaper is wearing bright white NB athletic shoes.

Rick@OCRR

Good to see you on bikeforums Ron! Always good to have another OC Rebel on here. Thanks for the photos; I didn't take any . . .

Rick / OCRR

Lesper4

Rick I heard it was 175

TrojanHorse

They had well over 400 names in their registered list. 175 would be a tremendous disappointment (not that it costs them anything)

Rick@OCRR

True, they just bought too much food and drinks but that's not tragic. They did have great support, quick to get through early morning check-in, friendly folks at all the checkpoints and first class event in spite of the weather and regardless of the route change. I got rained on quite a lot climbing Oak Glenn the first time, a little more on the decent but only mist and spitting rain after that.

Still, I think we all earned Rule #9:

Rule #9

• // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
  
  Rick / OCRR
  
  

jimincalif

Amen to that Rick! And yes BA was very well run.

Looks like I have an opportunity to go to Onxy from the other side this Sunday with OCW's bear training ride. Pizza Port on Sat, Running Spring to Onyx and back on Sunday, my butt already hurts!

TrojanHorse

I think I spent more time worrying about rain than actually getting rained on.

I thought the weather was fantastic for a long day on the bike.

Rick@OCRR

I'm going to be up in Big Bear next weekend but couldn't find anything about the training ride on the OCW site. Would maybe like to join in so please advise details or a link. Thanks!

Rick / OCRR

Rick@OCRR

The results are in! I finished in 119th place in the men's division with a time of 8:28.

For some reason the link won't copy . . .

Rick / OCRR

jimincalif

Congrats! I'm in at 132 with a time of 8:37. I'm happy with that for my first time! Here is the link, hopefully it posts OK:

2016 Breathless Agony Pass 4 Ride Report, Photos, Videos, and Results

Rick@OCRR

Thanks for posting that link; funny thing but this site doesn't get along well with my work computer. Wouldn't work for me!

My time was a disappointment since I was an hour quicker last time I rode it but . . . I was in much better shape when I rode it last time too. This time I was just riding to finish so I spent too much time at the checkpoints plus I really struggled on the 2nd Oak Glenn climb. Big picture though, good enough for me for this time. This was the 5th or 6th BA for me.

Rick / OCRR

TrojanHorse

What's with all the penalties? It looks like they all have times for all 4 rest stops, so what gives?

jimincalif

Riders may have been penalized for not checking in at Sylvan Park.

jimincalif

Of course since the route was different the times aren't directly comparable. The distance and total climbing to rest stop 4 is similar on the routes, but Oak Glen from Bryant averages something like 2% more than the final climb to Onyx. I looked at 2016 results compared to the prior 3 years, just looking at the men's results for all 4 passes:

2016 2015 2014 2013
Percentage of finishers with times 6:00 or less: 6.1% 13.2% 9.6% 16.7%
Number of finishers under 5 hours 0 8 3 8

So compared to the prior 3 years this year had none under 5 hours and a significantly smaller percentage doing it in 6 or less. While it's not conclusive as there is no way to control for the different riders each year, it does suggest that the 2016 route to rest stop 4 was a bit tougher/longer than the original route. Of course the return from Onyx includes about 900 feet of climbing that we did not have this year returning from Beaumont, but that's off the clock either way.

TrojanHorse

Supposedly there's a 15 min penalty for failing to check in at the start or any rest stop, but all the ones I mentioned had times for those checkpoints. That's why I was asking.

jimincalif

But they don't show the final time back to Sylvan on that report. So even if a rider checked in at all the rest stops, if they didn't check in at Sylvan, 15 min. penalty - I assume they do this just to account for everyone.

calamarichris

Accountability is important enough to warrant such penalties IMO.

TrojanHorse

Nobody shows a final time back to Sylvan, but you're probably right since that's the only piece of data missing. Actually, some people are missing checkins at RS2 and did not get a penalty.

Rick@OCRR

One of our OCRR riders, Julia, finished 2nd in women's but had a penalty for not checking in after the finish. She protested the penalty since she was one of the first ones back to the park in Redlands and was successful in getting the penalty removed. Apparently then didn't have check-in set up yet when she arrived.

I would say "Well, sucks to be so fast then!" but I won't since I only wish I was as fast as Julia (she passed me on Damnation Alley after starting and hour-plus after me!) and she did say "Hi Rick!" when she rode by me . . .

Rick / OCRR