idoru2005

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?

calamarichris

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.

jmX

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.

idoru2005

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.

idoru2005

@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...

calamarichris

Ooh, a wedding! How funnnnn!


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.

idoru2005

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!

calamarichris

First time? Really?

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

cervelo4me

im in

calamarichris

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!

mtrider05

This should be good.

egress91506

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.

calamarichris

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!

idoru2005

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.

idoru2005

After this event, I'm sending my cranks arms to this guy (https://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.

egress91506

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.

jmX

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.

egress91506

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.

calamarichris

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.

egress91506

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.

idoru2005

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.

jmX

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.

calamarichris

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, 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...

jmX

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.

calamarichris

Whaaaaa...?!?!


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....