scarry

The Markleeville Death Ride was last saturday July 9. 15,000 ft of climbing in 129 miles over 5-8,000 ft mountain passes. 2700 riders.https://www.deathride.com/

I rode my Ti-Aero for the third time, before that I had rode it 4 times on my Vision R45. This year was my 11th completion out of 15 attempts. Previous not completes were because of bad weather.

I saw 3 other recumbent this year.
A fellow on a P38 who's Aero had been stolen the previous week. He did 4 passes.
A guy on a composite Lightning who completed the ride just behind me.
Another guy who finished 10 min behind me on a Rans.


Where are all you folks, it's a great ride. They close 60 miles and 4 passes to cars.

James H Haury

Did anyone actually Die?I think it should be called , the unbelievably difficult ride if no one did.Ater all people did actually die on the Bataan death march,so it deserves the name.

scarry

Look at the link. This year was the 25th year for the ride.
But, yes, one guy did die in 02.https://www.deathride.com/info/memorial.php

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&r...h+ride&spell=1

bentcruiser

True. People do die occasionally on the Hotter 'n Hell 100.

jeff-o

By the descriptions (heat and incessant wind), a 'bent would be right at home there. Perhaps... one with a sunshade?

James H Haury

I repent, it deserves the Moniker.

scarry

With proper training and fitness, it is a wonderfull ride. The beauty of the High Sierra mountains is outstanding. You ride from sage scrub into high alpine aspin groves. Along the rushing east fork of the Carson River. Over Ebbitts Pass into the backcountry of Hermit Valley with wilderness vistas. On Carson Pass you roll through stunning glacier carved Hope Valley mountain meadows. Past old historic mining town sites. The decents are long, sweeping, and breathtaking. You can easily cut off and limit your ride to 1, 2, 3, 4 or the full 5 passes by coasting back down to the start.
The first 4 passes are completely closed to motor traffic.

Don't be fooled by the name. The ride is so popular that entry is through a lottory.

jeff-o

Ah, but he died because he crashed, not because of exertion. It still sucks that he died though.

scarry

He died because he crashed on a DF and landed directly on his face and head, passing away becuse of massive head trauma. If he had been on a bent he would of landed on his butt. I saw the aftermath and the place where he fell was a relativly flat area with perfect pavement. Maybe he blacked out for a moment, no one knows.

Anyway, enough of that, this thread is about bents doing the Death Ride, not people who died on the Death Ride.

Does anyone actually want to discusse the excellent and challanging aspects of the tour?
How the ride differs when doing it on a bent?
What tactics to use on a bent?

Every year I see several bents but no more.

ronsmithjunior

Alright, I think I saw the P38 and the Rans. I definitely did not see you on the Ti-Aero. What time did you leave Turtle Rock Park at the start? I left around 5:30. The first recumbent I saw was after I left Topaz and was heading up the backside of Monitor. By that time altitude sickness had a firm grip on me. I got a closer look at them as they caught up to me before I got to the top of Monitor. By that time I had to stop a lot. My day was only two passes.

The descents were great on my DF bike. They would have been better on my recumbent. It sucks that I only got to 44 mph on the top end. What kind of speeds did you reach on either side of Monitor?

The two recumbent riders I saw close up looked quite comfortable on the climbs.

Ron

scarry

I was ahead of you on Monitor, having left my camp in Markleeville, (Markleeville Creek) at 4:30am.
I turned around at 395 for the second climb up Monitor at 6:30 arriving back at the top at 8:50.
Maybe you passed me while I was at the rest stop.

Sorry to hear about the altitude sickness, better luck next time. I take the preceeding week off for vacation and spend the week camping in Markleeville. I've done the ride like this for the past 8 years, this helps with acclimatization.
To prepare for the ride, I train apprx. 1,800 miles and 100,000 ft of climbing in the 3 months before the ride. I do the Chico Wildflower in April, at least 1 century in May, the Sierra Century in June.

ronsmithjunior

Ah yes, starting at 4:30. Seeing how this was my first DR, I thought most people would start at the actual start time of 5:30. It wasn't until I got to the top of the first pass, and really not until heading down the backside of Monitor to Topaz, did I realize that most people started early. Although it didn't effect my ride any, having a notice on the DR website about this would have been nice. They only mention needing lights "if" you start before daylight.

You must have been at the rest stop on top of Monitor. I did not stop there either time. The first time I did not need to, and the second time I really needed to get off of the mountain.

Going up a week early is a big time investment. But it does make sense.

Have you done any California doubles? I saw a mess of recumbents on the Davis Double, including a few Bachetta high wheelers.

Ron

scarry

I think they are trying not to encourage people to start before daylight. They mention the lights requirment just because of vehicle code.
The best thing about starting early, besides having enough time to complete the ride, is having virgin porta-potties at the top of Monitor.

Spending a week in Markleeville is a nice vacation, there is the Groover Hot Springs, Lake Tahoe nearby, and a nice river to sit besides in a lawn chair in the shade and drink beer. There are cabins at East Fork Resort a few miles from the bottom of Monitor on 89. Rooms in Markleeville. Sorensens Resort in Hope Valley. Other day trips for driving are to visit the ghost town of Bodie State Park, and Mono Lake. It's the week after the 4th of July so all the crowds have left. Bring a mountain bike and you can ride the Flume Trail by Spooner Summit. Squaw Valley and Heavenly have cable car rides in the summer. There is abundent fishing around.

I don't do the double centuries, the Death Ride is enough for me. I know one the the guys on the Bacchetta Aero who did the Davis Double in little over 10 hours. That's flyin.
I'm doing the Marin Century in two weeks.
Cheers.

ronsmithjunior

As it turns out, I know the guy on the Lightning. He is a very strong and accomplished recumbent rider. I saw him on a ride this past Saturday and he was wearing Death Ride garb.

Apparently I was really out of it crossing Monitor because I didn't see him either.

Ron

scarry

I got the impression that he was an accomplished rider, he was wearing a triple crown jersey. Something musta been wrong with his bike, it was making some klicking noises as I went by him. It seemed to be slowing him down.
Better luck next year.