wn rider

Going to take a stab at the Death Ride for the first time this year and had a couple of questions that I thought some of the vets could answer.

I talked my wife into going out and doing the ride with me but she is really only interested in doing 1, maybe 2 passes, which is fine with me. I was curious how they route the riders that don’t do the entire ride. I initially thought that for a person doing 1 pass the climb to Monitor and return would be along the same route but the elevation map doesn’t seem show that symmetry. Looks like the return from Monitor would be longer than the outbound leg.

If a person were to only do a portion of the ride, must they do their climbs in the same order that 5 pass riders would do them or could one just start a little later and do Ebbets, for example.

How crazy is parking the morning of the ride? We have 3 in our group that are going to try and do all 5 passes and are planning to get out early, 4:30-5:00ish, but I was curious how difficult it will be to find a place to park the vehicle given the large volume of riders.

Thanks for the information and good luck to those doing the ride this year.

ericm979

If you ride Monitor (or Ebbets) you come back the same way you went out. There is more flat-ish riding between Monitor and Ebbets so that's why the elevation map looks funny.

I'd recommend doing Monitor west and then Ebbets east. Those are the prettiest two climbs. Also if you get tired you can just turn around. Where if she does say Ebbets east and west she'll have to finish Ebbets west to get back. There is a climb from Markleeville to TRP though! And the flat part south of Markleeville along the river is slightly uphill and usually has a headwind.

There is a lot of parking along the road approaching TRP from the north. Most of the shoulder is wide enough for a car. (but there are some places that are soft or have a ditch, so look before you park). If you get there early you won't have too much of a ride to get to TRP.

If you want to leave before 5 you need lights.

gpelpel

+1 on what Eric said, except that I would push further past Monitor Pass summit. The view on the east side is so nice that I would pass the actual summit and ride a couple of miles downhill to take a look at the stunning landscape. I would then retreat down the west side and climb the east side of Ebbetts.

I would follow the same order as the official route. Climbing Monitor at dawn and reaching the top as the sun peaks over the summit is a 'not to be missed' experience. You need to start earlier than the official start for that but many more riders do so, you won't be alone. I would recommend a 4:30 start for first timers.

The advantages of staying on Monitor and Ebbetts is that the roads are closed to car traffic making them the most enjoyable of the whole ride in stark contrast with Carson Pass.

Finding parking along the road close to Turtle Rock is easy if you arrive early around 4 or 4:30.

ericm979

I agree about the view from the top of the east side of Monitor. I'd forgotten about that.

If you're descending west Monitor early be careful about ascending riders crossing the double yellow.

wn rider

Thanks folks for the information, I appreciate it.

I am really looking forward to the DR this year. I did the Triple Bypass in Colorado last summer and had a great time. DR looks like it will be tougher but if I get out early and don't try to push too hard early, I am hopeful of completing it and not suffering too much. We are turning the trip into a little vacation time in the west with the wife's family and I will be going up to Seattle on the 25th for RAMROD. Should be another beautiful ride.

Bostic

Bring a sock or stocking in case it's hot so you have something to put ice in and wrap around your neck. I just did the 8 pass Alta Alpina double century and it was 107 going up Ebbetts after lunch, 99 on both sides of Monitor (after 7pm even).

wn rider

Advise worked out very well. My wife finished the Monitor and Ebbetts climbs and you were right, they were very scenic. Another advantage of this 2 pass route is you pass the lunch break twice. That was by far the toughest ride she had done and I was very proud of her. I completed all 5 climbs and had a great day riding. In hindsight, the scariest thing about this ride is the crazies descending at insane speeds in heavy bike traffic. There are some very good cyclists but man it seems like a little common sense might be nice. Never had official confirmation but one of the volunteers said they had at least 3 pretty bad crashes with one of them involving a cyclist that hit a sign and ended up being airlifted out. Not good.

BenRidin

Every year there are one or two accidents. Some worst than others. I would chalk it up to riders riding outside of their abilities. Plus not knowing the road contributes to a lot of the mayhem.

Congrats on your achievements. Good job.

BR

scrubbo

I saw one of the Ebbets crashes. My brother was leading me down East Ebbets (4th descent) and a guy blew past both of us, overcooked the corner, and went over the handlebars when he stuck has front wheel into the sand. He went DOWN a ravine. I stopped just past his crash and ran back to find him climbing back up the mountain. He didn't appear to have broken anything, and was only badly scraped up. Given that there were boulders and a steeper drop off past where he landed he was EXTREMELY lucky.