Bostic

I've spent the better part of the evening recalling my thoughts of my first Death Ride. It is rather lengthy but it's accurate of what my brain was going through. I never blog or keep journals so here is one big essay to make up for that.
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Friday
I started my trip in the morning from Silicon Valley via Highway 50 (first time driving on that highway). It's a nice scenic drive without the big rigs of 80. Once farther up though it becomes one lane in each direction which led to impatient drivers trying to pass at non-safe speeds. Check in was fairly quick and I had no issues with using a transferred registration. There were several tents set up selling stuff like mugs, beer glasses, PI clothes. I only stopped by the main merch tent to buy a short sleeved jersey, socks and a 'technical' t-shirt. I'm going to assume technical means moisture wicking since it's not a cotton shirt. There was also a booth with mechanics to do last minute adjustments. I thought how funny would it be to walk up with a box marked Bikes Direct. "Can you assemble my Motobecane for so I can ride it tomorrow?" After getting my merch I walked back to the car parked down the hill and drove the 20 something miles to South Lake Taho to check into Motel 6. If I wanted wifi it had to be a smoking room. Oh well, I can deal with smoke smell for a bit. I had not had much to eat all day so a quick stop by Subway and Starbucks and then back to the room to get to bed early. Lights out at 10 but it was at least after 11 until I zonked out.

Wake up wake up
Cell phone alarm set to 3:30, 3:45, 4:00am. 3:30 comes sooner than I wanted but I was amped and eager to get over to the start of the ride. car loaded up with anything and everything I might possibly need (thanks Jonathan for that list of all lists). Except milk for the cereal so I had to back track and hit up the 7-11, about the only thing open at that hour. Apple Jacks and Cheerios, yum. So apparently people are in mad rushes to get to the start because several cars made very unsafe lane changes on HW89 Luther Pass Road to get ahead of the line of cars. We were already doing well over the speed limit but I guess every second counts for some... Once at Turtle Rock Park it's a madhouse. Hundreds of bikes out in full force making their way around cars. I had to park quite a bit down the hill casually thinking the last climb to the park would be fun at mile 120 something. It was 5am at this point and I was still in civillian clothes so I hung up some blankets and changed in the car. The couple in the car over from me were also getting ready and the lady kept mentioning over and over again how cold it was (she had no knee/leg warmers). The guy replied if she could deal with the cold until the bottom of the hill it would get warmer on the first climb. I played it safe and brought the knee and arm warmers and glove liners to wear under the fingerless padded gloves. I also had on the PI windbreaker, toe covers and the feet warmers that you adehere to socks (which would have come in handy later). Jersey pockets stuffed with rasberry hammer gel flask, cliff bar mint chocolate chip, sunblock, Off! single use, 2 single paks of chamois cream, cliff shot margarita mix. At this point it was 5:30 and I was ready to start my adventure. Only I couldn't as a line of cyclists resembled army ants descending a hill.

It begins
After some impatient minutes of waiting for cars to park in front of me and the mass of riders I could finally weezle my way in and start the descent to Markleeville. The ride was on! It was darn cold on the downhill and I was glad to have the kneewarmers. Bikes of all makes and cost levels surrounded me as I coasted down to the sound of rear wheels buzzing. I wasn't paying too much attention to the surroundings so I don't remember how far it was until we started climbing. I kept thinking how nice it would be to have two mountain passes free of cars. I follow the endless procession of bicycles to a left turn and downshift.

Monitor
I wasn't sure how my body would react to the higher altitude so I kept what I thought was a medium Ramon pace. That quickly elevated the heart rate to the upper reaches of zone 4, not good. I tried to settle into a rhythm, passing slower riders on the right but allowing room on the left for the faster ones. The HR dipped back down to zone 3 and my mind eased a bit. There was no way I was going to toss all my cookies on the first friggin' climb. Everyones legs were fresh this early so the pack was really congested even on the steeper sections of the climb. I took the occasional glance at the scenery but focused the bulk of my thoughts on the road and riders around me. Eric passed by on his Cervelo R3 and said hello, I would see him later again on Monitor but that's it. He had suggested earlier in the week that I should go for it and do the ride so thanks Eric! Further up the climb I grumbled about the gearing that would bug me the better part of the ride. 34x26 was too much spinning and 34x23 was just a bit too hard to grind. A 24 or 25 would have been ideal. The elevation probably was bugging me because the top was a welcome site. First sticker yay! I filled up the water bottles and ate some bagel and cookies. I'm not much of a fan of Cytomax which is the supplied energy drink. In my jersey pocket was the full tube of Nuun tablets I would use throughout each rest stop. Plop plop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is.

I had mentioned before how I always wanted to descend 101 from Rainbow tunnel down to Sausalito. Descending Monitor was like that and more. Long sweeping turns with nothing very technical to worry about. It didn't take long until the high gear 50x12 was not of use and I got into an aero tuck and let destiny take me away. There was a continual line of cyclists making their way up so I did pay attention to the line on the road and never crossed it while passing slower riders on my right. Wow first time for that, I'm not the slowest on a down hill. I didn't glance at the scenery or the computer, only enjoyed the moment of flying down a hill while keeping my eyes focused on the task at hand. Eventually it had to come to an end and I grabbed the brakes to make a safe, controlled stop. By now the temp was a lot higher and I stripped away the warmers to bag up, slap the sticker with my bib number on and claim at the end of the ride. If only I knew what was in store at the top of Carson... A refill of water, more bagel and Taffee cookies and it was time to show the back side of Monitor who was boss. Without the extra clothing I felt livlier while climbing. Still, I would pay attention to the Heart Rate and not get too enthusiastic about droping a hamer. I had on an orange REI jersey to go with the SF Giants cycling cap under the helmet. I passed another rider with the same jersey and his friend calls out "hey it's team REI." I replied back saying I was hoping for some good luck with the Giants (they lost on Saturday) and continued on. A lot of faster riders passing me so it was three lanes on one lane with myself in the middle. I was going through liquids a lot faster on the second climb so the assembly line of teens yelling was a welcome site. "ALLRIGHT 617 GO GO GO!" as he handed me back my bottle freshly filled. Awesome support on this ride. After a few switchbacks I noticed Reid and called out. We spoke for a bit, I mentioned how my hip flexors were not totally cooperating. The grade eased a bit and I upshifted to the 23 or 21 and felt better to grind a lower gear. With more room around me I noticed how wonderful the scenery was from this high up. I am spoiled to live in California and never take that for granted. As I continued along I noticed a certain bling bike that really stands out in a crowd. George on his beautiful Time! I spoke with him briefly, happy to see a familiar face in a huge sea of strangers. Further along the grade lessened more to flat or false flat and I had to slug it out while rider after rider blew by to the left in their 53x11 or something close. Back at the rest stop again after what seemed like an awful long time on the saddle I tore into more PB & Jelly half bagels. Two climbs down but it was still early and not really hot yet. I thought about the "Experience" link on the Death Ride website. The lady with her own supporters cheering her along at each pass. There would be none of that for me, just keep the legs moving knowing a long descent would give me the motivation to get to the next climb. While walking back to the road I saw a Pedal Force RS bike like mine back home. Even though there are no logos on the frame other than the head tube, something about the naked 3k carbon weave makes it shine like neon yellow to me.

Descending the front side of Monitor was fast but not quite as furious as the previous. More turns, more riders in bunches so I was careful and stuck to the right. Reid flew by and disappeared from view. For whatever reason I was not enjoying this descent as much as the first. After that climb though I was content to do nothing but coast down at a nice speed and give the legs a break. At the bottom plenty of Orange shirt volunteers make sure we make the left turn to HW 4 and Ebbets Pass.

Ebbetts
The river keeps me company on the right as I make my way along the flattish section leading up to the next rest stop. I grumbled about having to expend more energy than I wanted to on that section as I chowed down on my mint chip Cliff Bar and watched the Nuun tablet fizz away in the bottle. Someone is playing the bagpipes and its LOUD. Not the kind of soothing music I was expecting to hear at a rest stop. The climb begins and there are ladies in outlandish outfits on the right making a whole lotta noise in support. I throw them the horns and continue on thinking about how bad are the inclines in my near future. Glenn had mentioned Ebbetts has some nasty sections but how nasty? Yeah right Mr. Pamphlet and map maker... 10% grade. I climb up Moody road almost every day so I know what 10% looks and feels like. This is 14-16% stuff when I can barely spin the 34x29 lowest gear. The steeper sections on this climb really blew open the field and I noticed more and more off the bike walking under a hot sun. Many times on the climb I had to quickly spin around a group of riders to get ahead of the pack while being careful to not get creamed by a rider descending. Sure would be nice to be that descender right about now.. The gearing gaps again haunted me. The 29 was easier than I wanted but the 26 was too hard to spin. Someone really needs to invent a cog that can mutate sizes on the fly. I reached into the jersey pocket to down more gel and take a peek at the map. 12% near the top, lovely. 12 probably means 16. The legs were not feeling good so I stood for a long stretch until I noticed the Heart Rate up too high. Back seated I gave up on trying to spin and resorted to pulling on the pedals for the rest of the climb. Pulling for the duration of HW 9 is one thing but on this stupid mountain after two significant climbs had my hip flexors destroyed and it was not even anywhere near lunch time. A strong lady who I would see several times over the rest of the ride rode by and that gave me the carrot to follow. TRIATHELETE was in bold letters on her back so she was easy to keep in site as I focused on not losing distance. I tuned out the scenery and heavy breathing all around me and only focused on my cadence and personal style of Darth Vader breathing. At last the next rest stop is in site and I get the sticker applied to the number on my back. It was very crowded so I didn't bother to wait in line for the john or water/food. I trudged over to the hill above the road and sat down in the shade on soft pine cones and needles. Pine cones, sea urchins, whatever, as long as I could stretch and get some relief from the sun. More sun block applied but I didn't have to use the Off! Someone had mentioned bugs and I figured might as well be prepared for the worst.

The descent down to Hermit Valley was the least enjoyable. I was really beat up from the climb and was in no mood to do a long downhill. My hands felt heavy on the brake levers and my neck and trapezious muscles were making themselves known all too well. There was a bit of a breeze so the air felt good on the opened jersey. On the way down I saw the Alto Velo rider on his Red/Black Giant I had tagged along with for the bulk of the Mt. Charlie climb on the Sequoia century. Again I thought sure wish I was that rider. At the rest stop I was craving bread but alas, more bagels. I spent a bit more time at this rest stop than the previous, talking to Reid and refilling supplies.

This is the shortest climb on the ride so piece of cake right! FAIL. 34x29 to the max. I couldn't pull I had to spin somehow. In front of me one rider says "HR is 127" so I look at mine reading 123. A minute later it's already 140 and increasing so I focused on the great scenery for a while. That didn't last long as I heard someone with a really ugly sounding cough. The hack up a long type of cough and it was persistant. I felt bad for him, it was followed up with wheezy gaspy breathes for air. Triathelete lady past by again but the string on the carrot was snapped. I continued my slow pace until a section let up where I could upshift and stand for a while. My toes were hurting in addition to the hip flexors. At one point a rider I see fairly often in the Los Altos Hills blazes down and is YELLING to stay out of the way. The thing was no one was really in the way or close to the center to be of danger. Maybe it was farther up and out of my view. All I know is it was a bit disruptive and freaked out a couple of riders in front of me. Ok, yelling done and I can go back to my misery of wondering why this uphill is taking so long when it looks like a frickin' speedbump on the course map. Some snap returns to the legs and again I'm spinning and making better progress. The rest stop comes into view and I burn another match hightailing for it. It's still jam packed so I only dismount to stretch and gather my thoughts for the long descent ahead. I clip back in and hear "on your left on your left on your left" as a lady goes by starting her descent.

I'm pissed at the suffering Ebbetts invoked on me and I'm going to take it out by bombing this joint. I quickly make time down the "12%" drops and pass many riders. A lady passes me and we become a duo of doom in tandem carving the turns. The duo almost became dust as a squirrel darts into the road and darts back barely missing her front wheel. We both would have gone down for sure so I apply a wee bit of brake to increase the distance between tires. My mind drifted a bit and hey this is fun after all, not like that last descent. I look over at the riders that are climbing up this beast. I DON'T want to be one of those riders. The grade eases up finally and I have to start pedaling again to get to the lunch stop. The bottom of this descent arrived way too quickly. Maybe I'll climb up again so I can get another go. PSYCHE!

Lunch
I'm not really all that hungry having pounded PB & J bagels at the rest stops. I also didn't really want to stand in the long line under the blazing sun before entering the sanctuary of the food tent. Four passes and who knows how many thousands of feet of elevation in the books. However with the longest still ahead my brain strongly urged I should get some more grub and sit for 1/2 hour to recover and regroup. Turkey & cheese, Ham & Cheese, Roast Beef & Cheese. All in individually wrapped saran wrap. I settled on the roast beef and an ice cold sprite, my first soda of the day. There was soup too but that didn't sound appealing. I sat down and struck up a conversation with a couple other riders. Well actually just one, the other guy took a couple bites of his sandwich and more or less just sat there. The first rider and I traded stories about other rides and how silly we were to reg for this ride one week before. He was funny and had me laughing which helped my mood. 15 or 20 minutes later I exited the table and went over to the line for the restrooms so I could put those two packages of chamois creme to good use. The sitbones were at that 80 mile mark of fatigue and I needed any bit of comfort I could get.

Back to Markleeville
This section demanded a paceline so I scoped out ahead in search of wheels to latch on to. Nothing in site of any use. All the riders fragmented or at easy spirit pace. Fortunately for me a rather tall lady on a blue steel bike blurs by in a 53xsomething. I've grown accustomed to seeing triples and compacts all day so a standard 53x39 stood out. She has a couple of other friends as well so I dial it up to whatever to catch up and blend in. We pass another group but they had no intention of joining the fun. We begin the climb up and the local residents are really cheering all the riders on. That really struck me how supportive they are of this event. We continue to make great time up the hill and I'm thinking I have it made. Alas the strong lady and her friends detour at Turtle Rock Park. Were they only doing four passes or were they sick of me tagging along? I continue by myself along HW 89 down to Woodfords for the left turn to HW 88. The whole trip down the hill I see a steady stream of riders coming back. How early did they start or how slow am I going that they are nearly finishing??

Woodfords arrives and this was the rest stop where you can get hosed off if desired. The water felt great on my head but stung my back from it's cold temperature. It was here where I saw Jonathan and spoke with him for a bit. Another fill up of Alka Seltzer and a few cookies. I hear a loud pop up by the porta poties. It's Triathelete lady with a flat tire. "I'm glad I'm not that rider." The cleat covers, now caked in mud come off the shoes and back into my pockets as the next climb awaits.

Carson
I look again at the fold-a-map to see what the distance is on Carson Pass. Hmm, not good. I can shove two of the other passes into it and it still probably takes up more space. Oh well, it's the last pass and there is no turning back now. Says the imaginary team of supporters. Wait, they are there, they are just yelling GO TEAM. The road is not really steep but damn I'm stuck in this inner ring and not really getting anywhere fast. BOOM. Oh JOY. Thunder. Could be worse..could be raining! I grew up in San Francisco, and there is little to no lighting or thunderstorms there. The last thing I want is to be a localized lighting rod on my steel bike. Maybe I should have brought that Pedal Force Carbon RS. Back to the task at hand of climbing. I'm actually feeling pretty darn good other than the sit bones so it's a comfortable pace up the hill leading to the rest station. A few bikes ahead I see a familiar nude with 3k weave. It's the Pedal Force RS! I don't know why I am excited but I am. I strike up a conversation with the rider and we chat for a few minutes about the bike and how it was to buy a frame sight unseen. Actually I had seen Norman's before I bought mine but it's not like you can walk into any local shop and try one. After a few minutes a friend of his shows up so I go back to concentrating on climbing while they chit chat. The final rest stop comes up sooner than I expected. At this point I see the cans of V8 sitting in ice and figure why the hell not. I hated that stuff since as long as I can remember. I snap the lid expecting the worst and DAMN if this is not the best thing I've tasted all day. They are small tins so I quickly pound a second can. They must have changed the formula, that's it. I head over to the grub table and chomp a few more cookies and soggy watermelon before heading back for yet another can of V8. 3 tins. Is my skin turning red like some sort of wacky Willie Wonka by product?

Follow the Orbea brick road
I'm back on the bike climbing making good time passing others. More claps of thunder up ahead. A young woman streaks by on an Orbea carbon bike. A new carrot to pace myself up this last mountain pass. I quickly latch on and her pace is quite close to mine. I wasn't sure if she was cool with it or not but she didn't try to drop me. A new duo of doom laying waste to anything in the path. I figured most of the strong riders must be either done or well ahead. I look to the left to view the descent I would be enjoying in the future. A whole fleet of Alto Velo riders smoke by. The V8 must have helped a lot because I'm not wishing I was one of those riders. The two of us continue to hammer up the hill and then the flat section. The rain begins to fall and I see a few riders stopped to put on their wind breakers. My PI jacket is stuffed in my rear center jersey pocket but I didn't want to stop since we were riding in such a great rhythm. I mention to her great pace and she replies back that I'm going to pull all the way back to the start. We keep climbing and I look ahead to see what's left. There are not a lot of turns on Carson so you can see well ahead. Depressing, it looks like it gets steeper. She starts to fade a bit and I lead the charge up the road. Unfortunately she faded a bit more than I wanted to slow down so I was on my own again. I left it in the 34x26 and pulled and pulled. The toes were on fire again but I wasn't breathing hard and the heart rate was quite low. More thunder and I get pelted by something. Could be worse, could be hailing! With about 1/2 mile to go the hail dropped in a fury. I was too pissed at this point and upshifted a few more cogs and hammered to the top. At the summit it's a short descent to the final rest stop. It's wet and I'm wondering if the brakes will work. They don't but I manage to stop somehow and turn right to get in line with the other cyclists for a pin and the 5 pass thumbs up. The poor woman writing down numbers on paper. She was shivering and someone brought a big firemans jacket to shelter her. I look around at dozens and dozens of cyclists huddled under the food tents. The V8 has caught up to me and I'm waiting by myself at the porta potties for a vacant one. No one is exiting and are selfishly using them for shelter from the hail. I was about to start knocking on them randomly when a dude opened the door to look up. Hey buddy get out, I need the facilities. I exit and see they are handing out plastic bags to cover up with. My windbreaker is already on and sopping wet. The shoes were drenched too and it wouldn't make much sense to try and cover the already wet socks up with plastic on the inside. Some fig newtons downed before I started the descent from this hail infested summit.

Get me to my car
At this point I simply wanted the heat of my car to dry my wet feet. I had mild frostbite earlier in the year from an evening winter expedition up Page Mill and this would have been a kicker to have it happen again. 50x12 and pedal as fast as possible. I knew it was a very long descent with not a lot of turns so it was complete hammer mode. It was a bit of a blur, this section of the ride. I was fully conscious of what was going on around me. Oncoming cars, other cyclists to my right, the wind blasting my ears. However I was in pure survivor mode bombing the hill. The rest stop to the left was more or less empty when I whizzed by. I noticed other cyclists who still had to get to the summit grimmacing in the rain. I was a bit reckless past the 88 89 intersection. I passed a few cars on the right side by the shoulder but I had to, there would have been no way to stop in time behind them under the wet conditions. The weather warmed up slightly at Woodfords but it was still much cooler than when I was there before getting hosed off. Right turn on to 89 and the home stretch to the end. On the side of the road more people cheering, alright! I looked in the distance and thought of Glenn mentioning "Don't forget that last climb back to the car." It was tough but not as bad as I feared and more people making noise provided support to get me over the last climb. I saw the entrance to Turtle Rock Park and let out a big yell myself. The car was not too far down the hill where I could change and finally get out of wet socks & shoes.

Final thoughts
The heater blasting on high at the floor vents warmed my chilled toes. I thought about the ride and what had taken place today. Last year I remember a post I did about seeing a rider with death ride socks on every weekend and telling myself I ought to do that. I ride a lot of hills because it's fun for me. Same reason why I ride a bicycle, because it's fun. Pretty simple really. Last week all the Death Ride talk really had me thinking if I could manage all five passes without a structured traning regiment over the past few months. Would it be fun? Would I be ready to sit on a bicycle for well over eight hours with more climbing than I had ever done in a single day? I had completed the double metric wine century with the rest of the gang as well as the Sequoia and Giro de Peninsula. Nothing however like what I read about two and three trips up Diablo doing repeats in addition to longer rides to prep. There were several points on this ride where it certainly was not fun but I am glad that I stuck it out and finished it. Cheers to the Norcal folk who completed this years Death Ride.

Quick Crazy List
Someone on a fixed gear. I should have asked the gear inch.
The person dragging the trailer and skeleton around.
Whoever has the 90's Blue Cannondale with 53/42 and a corncob on the back. 42x19 or 42x21 up Ebbetts??
The recumbant with zipp wheels who climbed and descended wicked fast.

jonathanb715

Hey, Ramon,

Nice report. My long version is on my blog (see sig below).

I heard a wacky rumor that the state troopers were kind of fed up with the chaos on Carson during the storm, and next year's ride might only be a 4 pass ride. We might end up being the last of the 5 pass riders!

JB

taxi777

Awsome Ramon, got as far as Ebbits and saving it for breakfast! great report, now I know just what to expect for next year.
Good work Dude!

spingineer

Ramon, Jonathan, I think Pete is rubbing off on you guys. Great account of an entirely epic ride. Way better person than me ... makes my triple crown seem like child's play.

alainp

Great reports Jon and Ramon. Made me feel like I was doing the ride too... minus the pain, suffering, and exhilaration!

powpow

Great reports guys. Good job!

1jacktripper

great report. total gumption to do this ride at such a late notice and without structured training regiment leading up to it.

BlastRadius

Great report Ramon. I can't believe you suffered and was slow and being passed. I wonder how much of it was the altitude. Anyhow, good job on completing the five passes.

rumbutter

Great report and what a great ride. I wonder if the recumbent you saw was my mate on the Carbent. He is very Quick and strong.

https://picasaweb.google.com/nitekate...63629566163250

reidconti

Jonathan,

Yeah, I threw my headlamp (duh) and taillamp (saving weight!) into the plastic bag with my arm and leg warmers. When I was standing under the tent, shivering, avoiding the hail, I was wondering 2 things: Will it stop before the 5:15 cutoff, and if we do continue, are the Staties gonna kick us off the road for having no lights in the rain/hail/dark?

bendor

Congrats to all who finished the death ride! And even a larger round of applause for those who tried but were beat by the altitude, climbing, heat and hail. I learned something new on the death ride, that no matter how challenging and difficult the ride was for me, it was still harder for those who wouldn't make it that day. Those folks who did NOT reach the summit of Carson's are my heroes, now that's enduring some serious pain and suffering! It's easy to get self-absorbed, HR fixated, and dazed in suffering, but there was a lot of awesome support and riders that I met that day.

Lots of memorable moments on my ride, the coffin being towed up with the skeleton, the death ride pageant ladies, and of course the hail. I was finishing off my ice cream when it started, and it was quite a sight to see a hundred or more people shivering, under the canopies, with trash bags covering their bodies. When the hail let up for a moment, I headed down the mountain with a guy I met while climbing up Carson's. About 1/4 way down his rear derailer exploded and locked up his wheel. It's hard to fathom how he stayed upright and stopped safely on that hill, in the rain, with the derailer in his spokes. We twisty tied it together so he could coast, then I went on ahead to ask for SAG support at the next rest stop. I hope he got help quickly and made it back safe.

Anyhow, I had a wonderful time on my first attempt, and everyone should experience this at least once. Phil Ligget always says how quickly we forget the pain and hop on our bikes to do it all over again. That's certainly true here, I can only remember the good times now.

gpelpel

Another nice report with pictures from another forum.

https://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...d.php?t=138446

zorrov999

Great Report Ramon, congratulations !

ericm979

Nice writeup and good work! Finishing an event this tough with no structured training (obsessing for three months) is quite an accomplishment.

I passed you twice because I had to stop to pee at the bottom of Monitor. You'd think I'd be smart enough to take care of that before the ride starts, but no.

Beaker

Ditto for me -- save I'll finish this tonight. Great report, nice to see you holding off on droping a hamer

gwsmith

> Quick Crazy List
> Someone on a fixed gear. I should have asked the gear inch.
> The person dragging the trailer and skeleton around.

Both of these are part of the "Rolling Bones", a group of about 70 HP/Agilent riders. The guy riding the fixie (actually SS this year) was Steve Smead riding 68 gear inches (45x18). He is the same one who set the Terrible Two fixed gear record last month (https://srcc.memberlodge.com/Default.aspx?pageId=158529) using the same gearing.

gpelpel

45x18

How depressing for us, mere mortals, who had a hard time with compacts or triples.
Anyway, kudos to Steve Smead!
I understand the skeleton is an HP tradition for the DR, I remember seeing picture of it on a tandem. It's a fun addition to the ride.

reidconti

He blew by me on Monitor. Barely pedaling, going twice my speed, looked like he was about to explode from effort. Did he really do all 5 passes??

sweetnsourbkr

You death riders have a lot to say, don'tcha? Good work buddy!

sweetnsourbkr

We'll wait and see what he says after his knees are blown.

GB Cycle

I was part of the Rolling Bones group this year. Yes, Steve did make all 5 passes. We were up at the top of Carson when the hail starting dumping on us.

Miss Bones made it up 3 passes this year with her beer.

Ritterview

Geez, it was sunny for me at Carson Pass, and as I was approaching my car I felt a few rain drops. I guess the hail came later.

That dang recumbent came whizzing by me down from Carson Pass. There was no hope of giving chase.

reidconti

From the West World Images page where the Death Ride 2008 pictures will soon be up:

gpelpel

That's a great photo.

reidconti

+1.

I was fortunate to have an 'easy' Death Ride, despite the 45 minutes spent waiting the hail out, and a bit of time riding uphill in some gentler rain and hail. That part wasn't hard, I just wondered how I was going to get back down without freezing, if it kept hailing.

I was lucky to have no flats (though my rear tire is now corded ), and basically zero hydration, food, mechanical, any problems to speak of. I did have a bit of cramping going up Ebbetts but was able to massage it out and manage it for that climb, and it didn't bug me again at all.

I was really feeling the fatigue doing the 4th pass, and while I never really thought of quitting after 4, once I started my descent into the lunch stop and saw people massively struggling up the first side of Ebbetts, my resolve was strengthened. So many of them were obviously hurting, and as I bombed downhill, I kept seeing people who I now wasn't sure would even be able to finish 3. Sure, I owed it to myself to do what I came here to do, but I REALLY owed it to everyone climbing #3 Ebbetts at 2pm. Some of them, no doubt, didn't plan to do 5 passes. But I know many of them did, and were struggling with mechanical, mental, and physical problems. It was easy for a guy on a downhill towards his 5th pass to press on. But it made me wonder if I had the mental toughness to overcome the problems many others overcame earlier during the day. If I was starting from the bottom of Ebbetts well into the afternoon, would I have been able to push myself up that hellish hill, even knowing I'd never make Carson before the cutoff?

to everyone who really pushed themselves and learned something new about themselves that day. Oh, and Death Ride