reidconti

Accuweather is still saying 45.. I've got my fingers crossed.

Bostic

From what I read on the website, I can show up with a jacket, arm/knee warmers and ride whatever amount of the distance to top of said climb where I can toss the stuff into a bag and label it "property of bosticman" and pick it up somewhere at the end of the race?

"Clothing Drop-Off:
Drop-off of personal belongings will be available at the top of Monitor Pass and at the Topaz rest stop. Riders will receive a colored numbered label with their bib number to place on a provided plastic bag. Bags can be left with clothing drop off volunteers."

ckeizer77

In your experience did you see anyone breaking out a tent on the road side, or small roadside campsite since most if not all of the actual campsites will be taken up?

jonathanb715

I think it works ok, although I'm using some old, grubby stuff that I won't get real worked up about if they lose it. I think the "provided plastic bag" is actually provided by the riders - bring a large ziploc with you.

JB

ericm979

The DR "camping" area at TRP (actually the parking lot) is closed for construction according to the DR web site. But they also said something about allowing people to camp on the side of the road and on Airport rd, which is normally closed to parking. I have seen people put up tents by the side of the road before.

I haven't ever used the clothing dropoff. I just figure I'll be cold on the first little descent into Markleeville. The last couple years I have carried just a thin vest and arm warmers. A light jacket might be good to carry; sometimes it rains.

Right now the forcast temps look perfect- not too cold in the morning. It'll be much cooler on the passes than in Markleeville. Might even get a tailwind up Carson instead of the usual headwind!

Monitor pass weather: https://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryDaily?s=MNT
Ebbets pass weather: https://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryDaily?s=EBB

Ritterview

I might have seen a few tents, but not many. There is a grassy area to park your car in, which forms a ditch. Most of the places you'd put your tent people might also want to park in. Thus, while you were trying to sleep you'd be in constant fear of someone backing up over you. If your car isn't big enough to sleep in, you might consider renting one. You're likely to put a lot of miles on the rental, and get your money's worth out of it, if you can sleep in it you've saved money on a room.

reidconti

My car is nowhere near big enough to sleep in. It's in the body shop this week, though, so I've got a rental. I encouraged the body shop not to hurry fixing my car, but if they phone me on Friday and say it's done, I'll just foot the bill myself for the rental over the weekend, since I'm leaving friday AM.

I'm very excited about having a rental to pimp at the DR. I'll easily save $30-$40 in gas (which will more than cover 1 day of the rental if I have to pay for it out of pocket), plus very non-negligible wear on my car and tires, and this way I'll have my bike in the trunk instead of on the roof both ways.

Ritterview

I wonder how bad the smoke will be from fires? At Climb to Kaiser, it was real bad in the Valley, but not so much of a problem once to 5000 feet.

Fire info is found here.

GB Cycle

I'm in the Sacramento area and riding my second DR this year.

My riding partner and I barely got in a good training ride Saturday up in Auburn/Colfax/Iowa Hill before the smoke really started to pack in to Auburn and down towards Sacramento. I wanted to get in a couple hour ride in Monday, but the smoke here was terrible and I couldn't bear the thought of riding a trainer.

So, I packed up my bike and drove to Markleeville. The Tahoe Basin was pretty hazy, but 89 in Markleeville was clear. I road from Turtle Park up to Monitor Pass and didn't notice any smoke/haze on the way up. Some haziness looking out from the top of Monitor in different areas, but unless new fires flare up, I think it should be fine.

Ritterview

Great report. It looks fine on the Kirkwood Web cam.

reidconti

Accuweather is saying 96 saturday now. Well, I guess the heat won't be a factor till after lunch for the last pass... hopefully.

jonathanb715

Don't underestimate that ride from Ebbits to Woodford - it's a pretty long haul (especially after doing 4 passes) and it's not exactly flat either. We will almost certainly have a headwind (just because), and if heat is a problem, this is where it will really start kicking in.

Hook up with anyone nearby riding similar speeds and share the work. From the lunch stop to Woodfords is something like 20 miles if memory serves. More than a few people tossed in the towel last year while riding by their car......

JB

reidconti

Oh, yeah, I know, it sounds like the roughest part. I just like to think I have the mental toughness to do one last pass, especially if I start early and am at lunch at a reasonable hour. But if the day drags on longer than expected, and you're not headed towards Carson until the peak heat of the day, it could be a REAL killer. My goal is to try to kill those first 4 passes while it's still cool

We shall see.

Ritterview

In this pic from today it seems that the smoke affecting the Tahoe Basin is to the North, and South of Tahoe we will not be much affected. Those appear to be clouds South of Tahoe, as the smoke drifts Easterly whereas the clouds do not.

reidconti

Now accuweather has followed the other forecasters and revised down from 96 to 87. I was expecting it; looking at the historical data, the record high for Markleeville on that day is 86. 96 seemed like a stretch.

Forecast for Sunday includes "smoky".. interesting.

Bostic

Anyone have a good checklist of items? I have the standard "duh" items, bike, helmet, shoes, jersey, shorts, reg form, floor pump, energy bars, heed & nuun, sun block, windbreaker, spare tubes, co2, etc.

I changed the cleats on the shoes this morning. I always carry the keo cleat covers but the old cleats were worn down a lot.

jonathanb715

Here's mine (I always seem to forget water bottles when I drive to a ride, so now I keep a couple of extras in the car):

Check lights for bike
check brakes
check tires
pack saddle bag
clothes:
2 pairs bibs
2 jerseys
base layer
vest
windbreaker
gloves
toe warmers
long gloves
leg warmers
arm warmers
helmet
shoes
2 pairs socks
towel

Food
bananas
apple, sliced
yogurt
milk
cereal
spoon
pbj
clif bars
clif shots
clif drink
bottled water
V8

cycling stuff:
pump
lights
saddlebag
spares -tire, tubes, tools
sunglasses
waterbottles
chamois butter
chain lube
rags (for wiping down the bike)
sunscreen

I know I'm missing something, but if I knew what it was....

JB

BenRidin

You're missing a large gallon of water, soap, wash cloth, and towel to clean your self off after the ride.
Hint: leave the gallon out in the sun so it will be warm when you do your rinse.

BR

jonathanb715

Ugggh - weather advisory in effect for Markleeville - hope they're right that this will clear out tomorrow!

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
212 AM PDT THU JUL 10 2008
CAZ071>073-NVZ002-003-102300-
/O.CON.KREV.AS.Y.0001.000000T0000Z-080711T1900Z/
LASSEN-EASTERN PLUMAS-EASTERN SIERRA COUNTIES-
GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA-MONO-GREATER RENO-CARSON CITY-MINDEN AREA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...PORTOLA...SUSANVILLE...WESTWOOD...
SIERRAVILLE...SOUTH LAKE TAHOE...TAHOE CITY...TRUCKEE...
MARKLEEVILLE...BRIDGEPORT...COLEVILLE...LEE VINING...
MAMMOTH LAKES...GLENBROOK...INCLINE VILLAGE...SPARKS...VERDI...
GARDNERVILLE
212 AM PDT THU JUL 10 2008
...AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON FRIDAY FOR
MUCH OF THE SIERRA NEVADA AND FAR WESTERN NEVADA...

AN AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON FRIDAY.

SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED SMOKE OUTPUT FROM FIRES OVER NORTHERN AND
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COMBINED WITH LIGHT WESTERLY WIND FLOW WILL
KEEP DENSE SMOKE IN THE SIERRA NEVADA AND FAR WESTERN NEVADA
THROUGH FRIDAY.

THE TAHOE BASIN AND LASSEN COUNTY WILL EXPERIENCE DENSE SMOKE AND
PERIODS OF FALLING ASH...ESPECIALLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING HOURS. VISIBILITIES WILL DROP TO BELOW A MILE IN THE
SIERRA AT TIMES AND BELOW THREE MILES IN THE WESTERN VALLEYS.
LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE LAKE TAHOE...TRUCKEE...SUSANVILLE...
RENO...PYRAMID LAKE... CARSON CITY...BRIDGEPORT...AND MAMMOTH
LAKES.

IF SMOKE AND POLLUTION CONDITIONS BECOME SEVERE ENOUGH...THE
WASHOE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT WILL ISSUE AIR QUALITY ALERTS FOR
THE RENO-SPARKS AREA.

AN AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY INDICATES THAT DUE TO LIMITED MIXING
OF AIR ACROSS THE ADVISORY AREA...POLLUTION AND SMOKE MAY
INCREASE TO DANGEROUS LEVELS. PERSONS WITH RESPIRATORY ILLNESS
SHOULD FOLLOW THEIR PHYSICIANS ADVICE FOR DEALING WITH HIGH
LEVELS OF AIR POLLUTION.

CHECK OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/RENO OR LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO FOR UPDATES ON THIS SITUATION.

reidconti

Nice list! I'm having a hard time organizing mine, because there's the stuff that goes into my duffel bag that will go in the car with me, and then of course a smaller bag of stuff to cram into my jersey and wear while I ride. And all of THAT stuff needs to get into my car tomorrow AM before I head up the hill. Then there are subgroups of tasks of things I need to do in town (get ice, fill cooler, prepare drinks, etc).

Trying to make sure that Saturday AM is as foolproof as possible, so I'll have everything done the night before and just be ready to hop in the car in the AM. Trying to figure out when I'll be where, too. I'm thinking maybe 3.5 hours to summit Monitor the second time, and another 3-3.5 to summit Ebbetts the second time, which would put me at around 1pm at my descent to lunch if I start at 5. But it's damn near impossible to figure out when I should be where or what my pace will be. I'm thinking 12h sounds like a good goal for the whole ride for me. Need to make sure I stay hydrated but don't spend too much time stopped.

ericm979

Reid, check out Arnie Baker's "Just Made It" schedule.
https://www.arniebakercycling.com/han...st_made_it.htm

Bring warm clothes for the morning (before riding). It can get cold.
Folding chairs are nice if you are camping. Extra TP in case the portapotties run out and a flashlight so you can see to use it.


There are showers at TRP. Cold.

GB Cycle

Good packing list and great addition by benriding for the water. My riding partner brings a camping shower water bag. One year, he threw it on his car roof and the water was scalding at the end of the day1

One suggestion on the pack list. If you are worried about your fingers being cold the in the early am, use latex gloves under your half gloves instead of carrying two sets of gloves. I used the latex liners and jacket as my only extra layers last year and they both came off halfway up Monitor.

I really would like to skip the jacket this year, but my riding partner (13 yrs of 5 passes) is strongly recommending that I keep it with me in case a thunderstorm pops up.

reidconti

Eric,

Thanks so much for this, I'm printing it now. It is a very big help. It'll either give me great confidence, or tell me to slow down and enjoy the ride.

What is this "before riding" time? It does look like it gets quite cold. Fortunately I'm staying in a friend's place in Stateline with a lake view and a hot tub, so the shower will run hot and the margaritas will run cold My light will be a headlamp; it's comfortable enough for a few hours and should help when unloading the car in the AM at TRP. I just bought a cateye taillight rather than using the crappy freebie one I got somewhere.

Bostic

Looking over the climb charts can I go on the thinking that the last section of climbing from Woodfords to Carson Summit is comparable to a weekend Mt. Ham from Alum Rock 130 to Observatory?

GB Cycle

I haven't ridden out at Mt Ham, but here's the data from my polar from last year for Woodfords to the Summit:

Grade: 3.4%
Ascent: 2660
Miles: 14.2
Temp (mid way up) 94 F

The first 5 miles are a 4.3% grade, then you get a break, until the last 3 miles which are a little over 6% grade.