nomadicbynature’s Neighborhood

My buddy Krisztian (Bergsteiger) and I have been driving 395 together for years; heading to Mammoth, climbing peaks, etc. In recent years we have been eyeing the road to Horseshoe Meadows and Whitney Portal for a bike ride. We have both driven these roads several times on trips to climb Mt Langley, Mt. Whitney, and just a month ago to climb Mt Russell. This time we wanted to bike the to hellaciously long and steep roads.

First the stats:
Horseshoe Meadows: 20 miles - 6,200 feet of gain
Mt Whitney Portal: 11 miles - 4,300 feet of gain

We planned to camp out the night before at Tuttle Creek BLM Campground. (This is a great little campground just outside Lone Pine off Horseshoe Meadows Rd with a creek 10 feet outside camp.) Nick (Good ol' Slappy) joined us for this adventure. On the drive up Krisztian got a PM from Sol (SDstumpy). We re-PMed him and invited him on the trip - time 10:30 PM. Sol packed up his stuff and took off to Lone Pine. He arrived at 3:30 AM.

The Marmot Hotel

The Mohican Villa


The cowboy

We started at the intersection of Whitney Portal Rd and Horseshoes Meadows Rd. at about 8:00 AM. The beginning of the ride is a mellow grade for about 4 miles then starts to tilt upward like an exponential growth curve. The first switchback is 3 miles long!

Let's git er done!
There is no getting around the fact that this is a long steep climb with only short sections of rest (read 6% grades); the rest of the time the grades are between 8%-12%.

Punishing. That is the road lower down in the background.

First switchback

Nick and Sol making their way up. I am still lagging behind.

We stashed a gallon of water at Morton's Rock the night before. When looking up at Horseshoe Meadows Rd from the 395 Morton's Rock is right were the road disappears. Unfortunately the road does not stop here. It is another 3 miles until the end of the road. Luckily there is a 1 mile downhill.

Krisztian posing at Morton's Rock with Owens Valley some 9,500 feet below!

Horseshoe Meadows is the end of the road at 9,900 feet. The weather was perfect with a nice little chill in the air. Remnants of snow could be seen on the peaks from last weeks early season storm. The parking lots were nearly empty. I think we saw less than 10 cars the whole climb.

A much deserved break

1 down 1 to go

The descent started out very cold but the one mile up hill warmed us up before the forever long downhill back to the vehicles. Speeds were fast. It was hard to keep things in the 30s. Nearly 50 minutes after we left Horseshoe Meadows we finally reached the vehicles. We stocked up on water and food before the climb up to Whitney Portal.

At this point I felt pretty good. The climb to Horseshoes Meadows was difficult but not deadly. I was in for a rude awakening on the Portal climb.

The climb started out with a moderate 5% grade, which was surprisingly difficult. After a bit of this the legs started to weaken as the road went on forever. Looming were the two big switchbacks up to the Portal.

Before we even reached the first switchback Nick, Sol, and I were paperboying it back and forth across the road. I got into a rhythm of 50 pedal strokes then 6 switchbacks. This got me to the base of the first switchback.

There were more vehicles on this road but still not that many. Everyone gave us plenty of room, passing in the other lane. Most waved.

The two switchbacks were terribly punishing for me. My knees were killing me. I zig zagged, I stood, I found shade when I could, all in an effort to keep moving. The grade eased up quite a bit after the end of the second switchback until just past Whitney Portal Campground. One more steep switchback and then it was the home stretch. As soon as I reached the overflow parking lot I knew I was there. I was the last one to roll into the Portal.

Victorious!

We got cheeseburgers, fries, and Sierra Nevada beer from the Portal Store! Really good burgers and fries.

We eat our food in the sun by the little fishing pond.

The descent was even faster than Horseshoe Meadows. After the last switchback the road is almost straight for miles with grades between 8% - 5%. I reached my highest speed to date of 52.5 MPH, Nick reached 55 something. At that speed I started to notice some serious speed wobbles starting so I backed off. It took a surprisingly long time to get back down to the low 40s. Supper fun fast descent!

This was a really difficult ride for me. The mileage is not super long at 60ish but with over 10,000 feet of gain it is potent. This has been a dream of mine for about 4 years. I'm glad I finally did it!

Enjoy the ride belo Route information here:
http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=29240

Due to some last minute changes my plans for the weekend of July 11-12 changed at the last minute. On Wednesday my buddy and I decided to do the Markleeville Tour of the California Alps - Death Ride. The ride is 129 miles with 15,000+ feet of elevation gain over 5 passes.

The registration process for this is event is very difficult I understand. Most people feel honored just getting a pass. So for us to decide to do the ride just three days before the event is a bit unusual. Both of us ride regularly so the fact that we did not train specifically for this event was not our main concern, getting passes was. Krisztian has been riding regularly, far more regularly that me. I on the other hand have not been riding that much over the last month or so. Nevertheless we decided to give it a go.

We found two tickets on Thursday via the ride web site discussion board. Krisztian departed Aliso Viejo and picked me up in Pasadena about 11:30. We picked up our first pass in Sylmar from a guy who could no longer do the event. The drive up 395 is always nice and gets nicer the further north one drives. Departing the 395 towards Monitor Pass was amazing. Neither of us had driven that section of road and boy was it amazing. Registration closed at 7:00 PM, we rolled in around 7:15 PM. This put us in the "problem child" line with about a hundred other riders looking to register. We were also supposed to meet up with someone else to purchase another pass. He was no where to be found. After a few stressful moments we found someone in line we could purchase a pass from.

With two complete rider packets in hand we set off to get some dinner and get ready for the big ride the next day. We elected to camp in Krisztian's truck rather than the camping grounds with some fellow co-workers. It was late and dark at this point and setting up a tent in the dark sounded like a huge hassle at that point. Big mistake. I tried to get to sleep in the back of the truck but to no avail. Finally I crawled into the cab to see if I could sleep. I think I got somewhere between 3-4 hours sleep. I was awoken by the sound of drums at 4:00 AM from a marching band making its way through the parking lot/camp.

We started our ride at 5:30 AM. We started out with Brad, Theresa, John, and one of John's riding buddies (sorry I can't recall his name). Brad had provided some very important advice - keep your heart rate below 80% for the first 3 passes. He had echoed this point to me many times and I'm glad he did. Our group split up quickly into teams of two as we departed the starting line never to reform. 

The ride out of Markleeville is a fast descent out of town on its way to the Monitor Pass climb. The weather was surpringly warm and no extra clothing was needed. The Monitor Pass climb was a long, long, long slog up a 6% - 9% grade that seemed to go on forever. The views were beautiful. Brad's recommendations rang in my ears as my mind wanted to keep up with the masses. Luckily I left my ego at home and held to my guns keeping my heart rate in the 150 range. The ride rules called for no headphones. I have read this on many rides but it is rarely inforced. Luckily I had about 3/4 of The Long Tail on my iPod Shuffle, which helped take my mind off the endless climbing.   Just below the top of the pass were magnificent stands of Alder trees.

The descent down from the top of Monitor Pass marked the end of the first of 5 climbs for the day. We were rewarded with a long fast descent down to the 395. The rest stop at the bottom was the best of the day in my opinion because the had boilded and salted potatoes. Mmmm the BEST food to eat on a long ride like this. The stop was chaos however with what felt like all of the 2,0000+ riders all there at the same time.
Krisztian and I still smiling.
The climb out of the stop back up to Monitor Pass was a difficult one for me. It almost felt like the most difficult climb of the day. The temps had warmed up considerably on this side of the hill and there was no shade cover at all. Knowing I had a long day ahead of me I just buckled down and kept pedaling. 

After another very fast and long descent down Monitor Pass we start the rolling climb to the base of Ebbits Pass, the highest pass of the day. At this point both Krisztian and I seemed to stop taking as many photos. I also noticed that my normal nutrition plan had fallen apart yet I was still riding strong. I wasn't consuming as much Perpetuem or Sustained Energy as I normally do on rides like this but was consuming far more Cytomax. I think it just goes to show how important electrolytes are on rides.

The climb up Ebbits was long, just like all of the climbs. Without looking at the number that cloesly my guess would be it was a 2+ hour climb.

After the summit is yet another descent. This time however we didn't descend as much as we climbed, which meant the climb back up to Ebbits would not be as long as the first time. In the end the climb was still long and seemingly never ending. The beauty of completing the second climb on Ebbits is that it's the forth of five climbs of the day and there is lunch at the bottom. The descent was as expected, long and fast. Sadly we saw a rider layed out on the way down. He was on a board with a brace around his neck. Hopefully he is ok.

Lunch was a welcome nice break. We didn't allow ourselves too long of a break as it is just that much harder to get going again. The road out of the stop was a nice little descent back into Markleeville. There were lots of cheering fans on the ride in and back out of town. This was a nice little pick-me-up and made me feel like a Tour de France rider if only for a few minutes. The route takes us through town to the base of the last climb of the day - Carson Pass.

The climb started at mile 90 and ended at mile 110. These number were very demoralizing at this point in the day. You are sitting there riding thinking there is no way I can climb 20 miles at this point in the day. Then the head winds kick in and you're climbing going 5 MPH and thinking no way can I climb for 4 hours. Thankfully the winds died down a bit and after about 5 miles the grade changes from 6% to 2% for several miles of rolling hills. Yet just as the grade changed for the best the weather changed for the worst. Dark clouds set in and it started raining. Not just a little drizzle but full on rain. So here I am dressed in basically my underwear riding my bike in the rain at 6,000+ feet. Good times! The ride has now turned into an epic. This actually picked up my spirits as I always love an epic. I figure if I don't die or loose any fingers or toes from hypothermia it will make a great story. 

Krisztian took a great short video, which helps illustrate the conditions.
Somewhere near what I thought was my breaking point on the climb I thought I was coming up on the end of the climb. It seemed as if the trees were clearing and maybe, just maybe, the end was near. Much to my dismay as I reached the edge of the clearing I saw the road continue on a seemingly endless traverse followed by a left hand turn to another long traverse up the mountain. At this point I took my first of two standing breaks on a climb. I didn't want to unclip or get off my bike so I held onto a street sign and hung my head in desperation. The lack of sleep and 12,000+ feet of climbing was taking its toll. I dug down deep and set mini goals in an effort break up the climb ahead of me. This helped tremendously and I slogged my way to the top of the pass and into the last stop of the day.

The weather had cleared at this point but I was cold and wet and the pass was windy. I found a box of plastic bags at the rest stop. I pocked a hole in the bottom of the bag for my head and two on the sides for my arms. This makeshift wind vest was a life saver on the descent. After some food and a short break it was time for the last big descent to the finish line.

Right as the road headed down there was the most amazing rainbow I think I have ever seen. It was a full arch with perfect color separation. Truly spectacular!
The descent was a bit sketchy at first with the wet roads but after a while the roads were dryer and I was able to pick up my speeds. Unfortunately the ride is not over at the bottom of the descent. There is a punishing set of shot 0.5 - 0.75 mile 6% climbs before the finish line.

I managed to finish the ride in a total time of 13 hours and 49 minutes. This is the longest ride I have done to date by 20 minutes (Solvang Double Century was 13 hours and 30ish minutes). Much like any ride like this there is no way I want to do it again that day or the day after, however I am already starting to think about doing it next year. Next year is the 30th anniversary of the ride and there is talk of adding a 6th pass adding another 24 miles to the ride. WOW!!!

After the ride we were treated to some of the worst food ever. The folks that put on the Death Ride do put on a great event, but the food leaves something to be desired. I was hungry, I mean really hungry, and I could hardly eat that food. After dinner I got a nice shower in the port-a-shower thingy and got a much deserved 30 minute massage. I highly recommend getting a massage after big events like this. It makes the next day so much easier. This time I set up a tent next to the truck and slept much better.

So while the Tour de France was riding in the Pyrenees we were riding in the California Alps. We basically rode what amounts to one of the harder stages of the TdF. The pro of the TdF would complete the Death Ride is some where around 6 hours it took me 13:49, however it is cool to know that I could complete a hard stage of the TdF. What I couldn't do is go out again and do it the next day like they do.

The Tour de France started today.  This is the first time I have been able to watch every stage in the comfort of my home.  AND I can use the DVR to record it in HD!!!  Good times!  Needless to say I am excited.

There is a new lust in my life.  The 2010 Specialized Epic 29.  I caught my first gimps of it on MTBR last week.  This appears to be an aluminum, race oriented, short travel, 29er.  There seem to be several new offering in this arena, e.g. Rocky Mountain and Fisher both have similar rigs coming out.  I understand the Fisher will be carbon, which is a show stopper for me. 

Now I love my steel HT Niner.  When riding trails like Upper Winter Creek I have often thought how just a few inches of travel would go a long way.  My feeling is the little bit of suspension would actually be better for climbing more than descending in terms of speed.  Sure a few inches of travel would make descents a bit more comfortable but it's not like the Niner is a slow descender (on all but really aggressive trails).

Early thinking is it will only be sold as a full bike.  I really only want a frame.  I have my industry insider looking into bike versus frame and cost issues at the upcoming Specialized industry demo event in mid-July.  Team VeloSport/Sho-Air hands out pro forms for Specialized around the begining of the year I believe.  Better start saving my pennies. 

Set up thoughts

Fork: I would hope to get one of the second gen 29er RS Pikes or maybe a Fox and would love to get a 20mm or new Shimano/Fox 15mm axel.  I'm pretty much done with 9mm if I can help it. 

Wheels: I will port over my existing wheels (hopefull with a new Hope hub to work with different axel sizes), regardless if I have to get a full bike.  Parting out the OEM wheels should be easy.

Cranks: 94 BCD cranks will be a must.  Options include my existing NOS Race Face cranks, NOS Race Face Next LP, or Middleburn cranks.  Surly makes a crank with 94 BCD but I think it's a tank. 

Brakes: I could run my Hope Mini/M4 set up but the M4 is a bit portly.  Replacing the M4 with a Mini is another option.  This is by far a cheaper route.  A set of Formula One brakes would be sweet but more in the money-no-object category.

Saddle: This one is a no brainer.  Brooks B-17, black, chopped.  I will hang on to my already broken in antique brown Brooks to be recommissioned at a future date.

January is a long time away and these things have a way of changing.  Time will tell what ends up unfolding.  Stay tuned.