Tahoe, Tahoe, It's Off From Work I Go...
July 7-11, 2004
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We left Camarillo on Wednesday, July 7, and headed for Lake Tahoe. I rode with Dan (the one with the pony tail), his wife Dorothy and their son Edison. Mark (the one without the pony tail), his wife Kelli, and their daughter Marisa followed. We were going up there because Dan and I were signed up for The Death Ride (www.deathride.com) on Saturday, July 10.
We took the scenic route up state highway 14 and US 395. It goes through Owens Valley, which lies between Death Valley to the east and the Sierras with Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks to the west. I snapped some pictures from the truck along the way. The first few are in Red Rocks State Park, then looking at the Sierras including a couple of glimpses of Mt. Whitney (the flatter and jagged looking triple peak near the center), and finally Mono Lake.
From US 395 we turned and headed up Monitor Pass on route 89. This pass would be on the bike ride Dan and I were signed up to do on Saturday, so we were getting a preview. There were some spectacular views of the valley below as we climbed from just over 5000 ft to an elevation of 8340 at the top. Unfortunately the views at the actual pass were not all that great, but we got out and let the kids stretch their legs and I snapped a couple of pictures, and then one of the road ahead as we started down.
We checked in and picked up the keys to the house that we rented near South Lake Tahoe and then went out to dinner. We could not decide on any particular kind of food so we went over to the buffet at the Horizon casino just across the border in Nevada. That was about the only bad thing that we did on the trip, as their buffet was the worst I have ever seen.
Thursday morning Dan, Mark, and I went bike riding to get acclimated to the altitude. From the house (at about 6100' elevation) we road up and over Luther Pass (7700) on route 89 and then turned and went up Carson Pass (8573) on route 88. It was a beautiful ride. I took my cell phone along and we got the next two pictures with it.
The pavement fairly nice and smooth and there were no sharp curves and few cars on the way down, so we were able to let loose and we hit 53 MPH on the way down. In all we did about 46 miles and 3800 feet of climbing. Mark complained some about the altitude but I only really seemed to notice it when I really tried to exert myself all out. I just did not have as high of a peak performance as at sea level.
Later Thursday afternoon we all headed for the beach.
Here is Mark making sure none of the little fish nibbled away his equipment...
Duck. Duck. Goose... (beware of the geese)...
We were thinking of having goose for dinner but Kelli (with help from Dorothy) fixed us a really nice pasta dinner.
Friday we took the gondola to the top of the Heavenly ski area. We did a little hiking and took in some nice views. Marisa had been afraid of the water the day before but she did not mind the heights. The temperature was over 70 at the top (around 9400 ft. elevation), which was surprising since there were many patches of snow on the 9 to 10,000 ft peaks to the west.
Late Friday afternoon Dan and I drove back to Markleeville to register for the Death Ride. From their we drove up Ebbett's Pass, the highest on the ride (8730), to get a look at it. We now had seen all three of the passes and 4 of the 5 climbs. Here are some pictures from the truck as we drove back down Ebbett's.
Friday night it was Dorothy who made the pasta dinner, with help from Kelli. My thanks to both of them for some really good food to get us fueled up with carbs.
Saturday morning Mark (who did not get into the ride) dropped Dan and I off at the start. We began riding at 5:40 AM. It was a little chilly as the first 5 miles were downhill, but we warmed up quick as we started the climb up the front side of Monitor. A few miles into the climb I decided that I should save my legs for the long day ahead and I shifted down from the middle to the small ring on the front. Unfortunately, the chain caught and I came to an abrupt halt and could not unclip from my pedals and I fell over. I tore a patch of skin off of my right knee. It looked a lot worse than it felt, as I ended up with a trail of blood going all the way down my shin and into my sock.
I pulled a little ahead but Dan caught up to me at the water stop half way up and then at the rest stop at the top of Monitor. We had a good descent down the backside (maintaining 40-44 MPH the whole way) took a quick break at the bottom, and then started the long climb back up (a gain of 3200 feet over 10 miles). This was on the desert side, and the sun started to get hot. I had already shed my outer jersey at the rest stop but Dan still had leg and arm warmers on and he stopped to take them off. I kept going, and that would be the last I saw of Dan for a while.
I did good up the back side of Monitor, but by the time I got to the top my stomach was not feeling the greatest. I think I ate too much at the earlier stops, and by now I did not feel like eating any more. I just stopped long enough to refill my water bottles and to get my picture taken.
I had a great descent down the front side of Monitor, reaching 47 MPH and passing at least a dozen other riders without getting passed myself. The first 1/3 of the ride was over, but it was already 10:30. From there was a flatter but steady uphill section before the steeper climb up the front of Ebbett's. This was the steepest section of the ride. I wish I had taken a picture of the sign at the bottom warning trucks about the hill ahead. It said 24% on it! Well, there were a couple of switchbacks that might have maxed out at 24% right on the inside of the corner, but they really were not that bad. Still, there were a couple of longer sections where the grade did average 10-12%, and with the midday sun poking through the trees, it was a long and grueling ascent, and I drank my last drop of water just before reaching the rest stop at the summit.
I wasted little time refilling the water bottles and continuing down the back side of Ebbett's. This was unfamiliar territory, as it was the one section of the route that we had not already driven or ridden. That almost got me in trouble as there were some big bumps in the pavement that I took a little faster than I would have liked to on the way down. This was the shortest of the five passes, as we only dropped about 1800 feet into Hermit's Valley. I had hardly drank any water on the way down, so I just turned right around at the bottom and headed back up the other side of Ebbett's.
On the way back up Dan went by and gave me a shout. I thought he might only be about 15 minutes behind me, and I was glad that he was so close, but later on when we talked he said I was about half way back up Ebbett's at that point, which was more like 30 minutes ahead of him.
I took about a 20 minute break at the top of Ebbett's to see if Dan might catch up. I still could only manage to choke down one Clif bar, though. But by now we had to worry about the time cutoffs. Dan was one of the last riders to come down the back side of Ebbett's, as the cutoff to do that was 1:30 PM. I waited until 2:15 and decided I better get a move on.
I rode rather upright and took it easier down the front of Ebbett's, as it was a lot more twisty and by now my neck and shoulders were aching from crouching so much. The lunch stop was at the bottom, and I finally had an appetite. I wolfed down a turkey sandwich and a bunch of grapes, and thought about getting in line to get another one, but time was of the essence.
The next 10 miles or so was up and down, but I my legs were feeling good and my stomach was feeling better and I was able to maintain 20-25 MPH on the flatter sections and not drop off much on the short uphill sections. It was a good thing, as I was thinking that the next cutoff (at the 93 mile mark) was 4:30 PM but it turned out to be 4! I only made it with 10 minutes to spare. I was afraid at this point that Dan would not make the cutoff, and as I learned later, Dan knew he could not make it and decided to stop after 90 miles (where the course went back past the start point).
My legs still felt OK at that point. It was my neck and shoulders that were stiff, and even though the weather was about the best that we could have hoped for, the 80 degree temperatures were starting to feel hot. So I stuck my head under the hose to cool off, and it must have done the trick. From that stop I did the 6 mile, 1600 foot climb that followed in only 50 minutes, passing many riders along the way. I made the next cutoff/rest stop with 35 minutes to spare (the cutoff was 5:15, I was there at 4:40). That is when Mark found me. He did not get into the ride so he was serving as a volunteer, driving Dan's truck as a SAG wagon. I stuck my head under the hose again, used Mark's words of encouragement for making it that far to motivate me, and I continued the climb up Carson pass (the same part that we had done on Thursday).
They closed that rest stop down promptly at 5:15, and Mark drove passed me and shouted some more encouragement on the way up. If only he would have tossed me a Clif bar, too! I was still doing better than most, though, as I passed a lot of riders who had pulled off to rest some more or were even starting to walk their bikes. I just kept pedaling, and made it to the summit around 6:15. This meant I had done it. From here it was 20 miles to the finish, with 16 of that downhill and an easy climb over the last 4. Mark congratulated me and we chatted as I took a rest.
The sun was starting to go behind the mountains, though, and the shade was getting cool, so I started back down promptly at 6:30. I did not quite go as fast as on Thursday, but I did hit 51 MPH and blew by many other riders and pulled into the finish at 7:20 PM. In all, I would say I took 40 minutes worth of breaks, so that was right around 13 hours in the saddle.
So I did 129 miles and 5 passes (16000 feet of climbing). Dan did 90 miles and 4 passes (12-13k ft). That is definitely nothing to be ashamed of, but Dan wants to go back and do the whole thing. I am not sure if we will try again in 2005 or wait a year.
The women and kids went and enjoyed part of the day at Emerald Bay while the boys were having their fun. Thanks to Kelli and Dorothy for doing the cooking Saturday night we relaxed our sore muscles in the hot tub. Sunday morning we packed up and checked out and headed home.
We went the US50/I-5 route down the central valley, so I did not take any more pictures. There were some photos taken during the ride and Dorothy and Kelli took quite a few, too, so I may add some more later, but that is all for now...