It was almost 5 years ago. I was determined to write a report till the first year or two went by. Then
I wavered for the next two, and kind of gave up on it last year, but some part of me still wants to,
so here it is. Hopefully, the intervening 5 years would have dulled my memory enough to introduce
some brevity. My reports are always woefully long.
I wavered for the next two, and kind of gave up on it last year, but some part of me still wants to,
so here it is. Hopefully, the intervening 5 years would have dulled my memory enough to introduce
some brevity. My reports are always woefully long.
2012 had seen us do the Seattle-to-Portland ride in a day, and had really whetted my appetite for
more such endurance events. The same year Naresh, Chakri and Mani had done the Death Ride
and someone sent out the course profile.
more such endurance events. The same year Naresh, Chakri and Mani had done the Death Ride
and someone sent out the course profile.
 |
| Elevation profile |
I took one look, my eyes lit up and I knew I had to do this. Climbing was my favorite part of biking
and this course seemed designed for me. A friend’s daughter called it the up-down-up-down ride!
It was very intimidating though at 129 miles and 15,000 ft. all at altitude, but the challenge made it
all the more exciting. I waited patiently till registration opened in December and signed up. By that
time we had collected enough accomplices, and had a whole bunch of us signed up very soon -
Yogesh, Amey, Kiron, Sunny, Raghu, Arun, Neha, Muthu, Jayant, Jaya, Aniruddha, Kunal, Naresh,
Arunkumar, Amit, Prakash ….. and more I am sure I have forgotten.
I was in India with my father from mid 2012 till mid-March 2013, when I returned to the US with a
heavy heart but maybe some perspective in life. The rest had started training right from the
beginning of the year and were already at training ride #10 or so, and as expected, I was feeling a
bit panicky. I did my own shorter rides for the first few weeks but it didn’t take too long to catch up
with the rest of the folk - maybe 4-5 weeks. Raghu was training for IM Lake Tahoe and was doing
a training schedule of his own that occasionally overlapped with what the rest were doing. For most
of the season I alternated weeks riding with him and riding with the group, but I think I hit all the
major training rides with the group.
heavy heart but maybe some perspective in life. The rest had started training right from the
beginning of the year and were already at training ride #10 or so, and as expected, I was feeling a
bit panicky. I did my own shorter rides for the first few weeks but it didn’t take too long to catch up
with the rest of the folk - maybe 4-5 weeks. Raghu was training for IM Lake Tahoe and was doing
a training schedule of his own that occasionally overlapped with what the rest were doing. For most
of the season I alternated weeks riding with him and riding with the group, but I think I hit all the
major training rides with the group.
Way back in Jan, Stan had sent me a long email about the course, the cutoffs, pacing, nutrition and
things like that. That was almost all I needed. Stan had done it 7 years straight. Yes, 7. Not this year
though. Naresh, on the other hand, gave us simple advice : “make sure your training rides target an
elevation of 100 feet to a mile”... but he did chime in regularly during the course of our training with
tips and encouragement. Mani had only one thing to say : “don’t stop for lunch at the lunch stop -
you will waste too much time”. He says he missed a cutoff in 2011 because of that.
things like that. That was almost all I needed. Stan had done it 7 years straight. Yes, 7. Not this year
though. Naresh, on the other hand, gave us simple advice : “make sure your training rides target an
elevation of 100 feet to a mile”... but he did chime in regularly during the course of our training with
tips and encouragement. Mani had only one thing to say : “don’t stop for lunch at the lunch stop -
you will waste too much time”. He says he missed a cutoff in 2011 because of that.
After you have done a bunch of endurance events, you quickly realise the best part of it all is the
training. The race/ride itself is a great experience but it is really icing on the cake (well, unless you
don’t meet the cutoffs, and then you have this monkey-on-the-back thing, I suppose). There is
nothing quite like having a group of good friends to train with. I looked forward to Saturdays
eagerly as we conquered new terrain every week. During the week we had long email chains
discussing what we wanted to ride, how much elevation, what distance, when to start etc. etc.
Also different people were at different stages of preparedness leading to multiple route options
being planned. But overall, it was very exciting. If memory serves me right, we did a lot of climbing
in the Portola area going up and down different climbs to skyline and back, or going over to the
coast and back. We must have visited the bike hut a few times. We left out the east bay for lack
of sustained climbs, but we did use Mt. Ham. And then we used congress springs once or twice.
training. The race/ride itself is a great experience but it is really icing on the cake (well, unless you
don’t meet the cutoffs, and then you have this monkey-on-the-back thing, I suppose). There is
nothing quite like having a group of good friends to train with. I looked forward to Saturdays
eagerly as we conquered new terrain every week. During the week we had long email chains
discussing what we wanted to ride, how much elevation, what distance, when to start etc. etc.
Also different people were at different stages of preparedness leading to multiple route options
being planned. But overall, it was very exciting. If memory serves me right, we did a lot of climbing
in the Portola area going up and down different climbs to skyline and back, or going over to the
coast and back. We must have visited the bike hut a few times. We left out the east bay for lack
of sustained climbs, but we did use Mt. Ham. And then we used congress springs once or twice.
Some of the best rides still stick out in my memory. One was 3x Diablo, (which we actually did
twice, I believe), for about 80 miles and 11K feet. At first, we thought we would do it once and then
decide. It was the first time up Diablo for all of us, and god, it was tough. The last 200 metres were
just brutal, but we did ride it up. Once down, we felt we really should do it at least once more, and
we pushed up somehow. And then when we were down again, we convinced ourselves we should
get to 10K, and once we were half way up the hill no one really stopped! Whatever, it felt like a
grand achievement.
twice, I believe), for about 80 miles and 11K feet. At first, we thought we would do it once and then
decide. It was the first time up Diablo for all of us, and god, it was tough. The last 200 metres were
just brutal, but we did ride it up. Once down, we felt we really should do it at least once more, and
we pushed up somehow. And then when we were down again, we convinced ourselves we should
get to 10K, and once we were half way up the hill no one really stopped! Whatever, it felt like a
grand achievement.
Another favorite ride was 2x Mt. Ham. for 72 miles and about 8000 ft. Very unfortunately, this was
also the ride that Aniruddha crashed going down the other side and ended up with fractures and
had to be airlifted to hospital. His season came to an abrupt close. Some of the other riders dropped
off as well mid-way during the training season for various reasons; thankfully, no one else due to
injury. Some didn’t even start, like Amit. 9 of us persevered, however, till the end.
also the ride that Aniruddha crashed going down the other side and ended up with fractures and
had to be airlifted to hospital. His season came to an abrupt close. Some of the other riders dropped
off as well mid-way during the training season for various reasons; thankfully, no one else due to
injury. Some didn’t even start, like Amit. 9 of us persevered, however, till the end.
Our biggest ride was a 100 mile 10K day. We started at Alpine Robert’s market, went up Old La
Honda, down the other side, up Alpine, down Page Mill, up Kings, down to bike hut, up Tunitas,
down Kings and up Page mill for a 5th climb to the top and back. That was a 100+ degree day,
and the heat nearly killed us. Going up the final climb on Page Mill, I remember sitting squarely
under the tap outside the Foothills Park and letting the water run. People were just stopping and
lying down wherever they pleased. But we all finally made it up and back.
Honda, down the other side, up Alpine, down Page Mill, up Kings, down to bike hut, up Tunitas,
down Kings and up Page mill for a 5th climb to the top and back. That was a 100+ degree day,
and the heat nearly killed us. Going up the final climb on Page Mill, I remember sitting squarely
under the tap outside the Foothills Park and letting the water run. People were just stopping and
lying down wherever they pleased. But we all finally made it up and back.
Most of the time, our times were borderline and it was unclear if we were doing well enough to
beat the cutoffs. And then, there was the altitude. Of course, there’s nothing like a ride on location
to test that out, so we did that too. Chakri had said that you even feel breathless when drinking
water on climbs …. which had kind of scared me. We booked a couple of rooms on the other side
of Monitor pass off of 395 (Topaz?) and decided to make it as close a replica of the real thing as
possible. The plan was to get up at 4:30, drive back to the markleeville side and park and ride up
Monitor front side and over to 395, then ride the backside of Monitor and then do Ebbetts and if
time permitted, do the back side of Ebbetts too from Hermit Valley. This would cover 4 passes,
leaving just Carson for race day. Our plans rarely work out to time …. everyone else wanted to
sleep longer so just Raghu and I drove to Markleeville at 5 am. I remember absolutely freezing
my ass off getting out of the car and ready to ride. But we did. And as we were climbing Monitor
frontside, it happened. Raghu saw a bear crossing the road! He turned around promptly and sped
back down. Thankfully it didn’t follow us and I caught sight of it in the valley below. We cautiously
climbed back up after making sure there wasn’t a mama around waiting to pounce. By the time we
got to the other side, I couldn’t hold the poop anymore so we went back to the motel for a restroom
and breakfast break and caught the rest getting ready. This was also the ride with the infamous
incident of “Sunny and the insurance papers” :) Anyway, long story short, all we managed was to
get up ebbetts to the lake, caught the others there (who went all the way up), and Raghu and I left
as he had to be back early. But it was satisfying enough. 2.5 passes was not bad, and we had an
idea how it would feel in the morning: bloody freezing. Pleasantly surprised I didn’t feel too breathless
on climbs as Chakri had said. One thing less to worry about! We drove the rest of Ebbetts and the
backside for comfort.
beat the cutoffs. And then, there was the altitude. Of course, there’s nothing like a ride on location
to test that out, so we did that too. Chakri had said that you even feel breathless when drinking
water on climbs …. which had kind of scared me. We booked a couple of rooms on the other side
of Monitor pass off of 395 (Topaz?) and decided to make it as close a replica of the real thing as
possible. The plan was to get up at 4:30, drive back to the markleeville side and park and ride up
Monitor front side and over to 395, then ride the backside of Monitor and then do Ebbetts and if
time permitted, do the back side of Ebbetts too from Hermit Valley. This would cover 4 passes,
leaving just Carson for race day. Our plans rarely work out to time …. everyone else wanted to
sleep longer so just Raghu and I drove to Markleeville at 5 am. I remember absolutely freezing
my ass off getting out of the car and ready to ride. But we did. And as we were climbing Monitor
frontside, it happened. Raghu saw a bear crossing the road! He turned around promptly and sped
back down. Thankfully it didn’t follow us and I caught sight of it in the valley below. We cautiously
climbed back up after making sure there wasn’t a mama around waiting to pounce. By the time we
got to the other side, I couldn’t hold the poop anymore so we went back to the motel for a restroom
and breakfast break and caught the rest getting ready. This was also the ride with the infamous
incident of “Sunny and the insurance papers” :) Anyway, long story short, all we managed was to
get up ebbetts to the lake, caught the others there (who went all the way up), and Raghu and I left
as he had to be back early. But it was satisfying enough. 2.5 passes was not bad, and we had an
idea how it would feel in the morning: bloody freezing. Pleasantly surprised I didn’t feel too breathless
on climbs as Chakri had said. One thing less to worry about! We drove the rest of Ebbetts and the
backside for comfort.
 |
| Lake on Ebbetts |
Some of the others even did 3-4 passes of Alta Alpina a couple of weeks later - a bigger beast of a
ride, that uses all the passes of Death Ride and adds more. In no time, race day was upon us. We
had booked a nice large airbnb for all of us together. It even had a pool table inside. We had too
much fun staying there. We got there on a Thursday evening, and picked up our bibs and took it
easy on Friday. The ride was on Saturday. Friday evening we did a quick bike check, ride up and
down and change gears. And that was when we had our first shock. Raghu’s gears wouldn’t
change! It was already around 5pm and the local bike shop we went to was closed. The only
option was to get to the race expo and hope the guy there was still around and could fix this.
There was no way Raghu could ride as it stood. For reasons unclear to me, he seemed much
less worried about it than me! Anyway, we raced down there like 15 minutes before close. The
guy was there. Very quiet guy. He didn’t say much, except something to the tune of he wasn’t sure
he could fix it, but he did pull out the handle end and show us it was broken/messed up. 20
minutes later, he walked up with the bike, very nonchalant and calm. He had done it!! Talk about
lack of drama. Anyway, the day ended well.
ride, that uses all the passes of Death Ride and adds more. In no time, race day was upon us. We
had booked a nice large airbnb for all of us together. It even had a pool table inside. We had too
much fun staying there. We got there on a Thursday evening, and picked up our bibs and took it
easy on Friday. The ride was on Saturday. Friday evening we did a quick bike check, ride up and
down and change gears. And that was when we had our first shock. Raghu’s gears wouldn’t
change! It was already around 5pm and the local bike shop we went to was closed. The only
option was to get to the race expo and hope the guy there was still around and could fix this.
There was no way Raghu could ride as it stood. For reasons unclear to me, he seemed much
less worried about it than me! Anyway, we raced down there like 15 minutes before close. The
guy was there. Very quiet guy. He didn’t say much, except something to the tune of he wasn’t sure
he could fix it, but he did pull out the handle end and show us it was broken/messed up. 20
minutes later, he walked up with the bike, very nonchalant and calm. He had done it!! Talk about
lack of drama. Anyway, the day ended well.
Ride day was finally here. 9 of us made it to the start line, an achievement in itself - Yogesh,
Amey, Kiron, Sunny, Raghu, Arun, Neha, Muthu and yours truly. I had been dreaming of this
ride for almost a year now, and I was super excited. Everything went more or less to plan in the
morning and we got to the start line by 4:15 am. Oh, I forgot about the plan! Raghu and I had
spent a good bit of time working out where we had to be when. The thing was, there were 7
cutoffs to be met, and we had to factor in where the rest stops were, figure out at what exact
mileages they were - which was not at all clear from their maps, how much time we might spend
in each, see which parts of the course were downhill and which uphill, gauge how hard they
might be and how much time we might take to do them. All in all, pretty complicated I thought,
but we finally did it. Printed in a nice small form factor and laminated to make it immortal. Pretttty
neat, if you ask me. Part of the plan was to have everyone buddy up with someone else,
preferably someone of the same pace. Buddies would wait for each other and make sure they
were okay. Our equivalent of a TA ride where we have captains and a sweeper. Obviously,
Raghu and I were “buddies”.
Amey, Kiron, Sunny, Raghu, Arun, Neha, Muthu and yours truly. I had been dreaming of this
ride for almost a year now, and I was super excited. Everything went more or less to plan in the
morning and we got to the start line by 4:15 am. Oh, I forgot about the plan! Raghu and I had
spent a good bit of time working out where we had to be when. The thing was, there were 7
cutoffs to be met, and we had to factor in where the rest stops were, figure out at what exact
mileages they were - which was not at all clear from their maps, how much time we might spend
in each, see which parts of the course were downhill and which uphill, gauge how hard they
might be and how much time we might take to do them. All in all, pretty complicated I thought,
but we finally did it. Printed in a nice small form factor and laminated to make it immortal. Pretttty
neat, if you ask me. Part of the plan was to have everyone buddy up with someone else,
preferably someone of the same pace. Buddies would wait for each other and make sure they
were okay. Our equivalent of a TA ride where we have captains and a sweeper. Obviously,
Raghu and I were “buddies”.
 |
| Cue sheet and cutoff plan |
My mind froze for a minute and then panic set in. I wanted to cry as I pulled over and tried to
find Raghu. “Raghu? Raghu?”. Thankfully I was a bit ahead and the others heard me and stopped.
I didn’t know what to do. There was no way I could ride without bottles between rest stops.
There was no hope of finding bottles somewhere. Everyone else needed their two bottles. My
mind was racing now to figure out what happened. I knew I had put the bottles in my cages
after we took our bikes out at the start. Then Neha has put her bike alongside mine, and both
had fallen. So the bottles must have come out then, unseen in the dark! This was the only real
possibility. But that was 5.5 miles uphill. A 11 mile round trip! I was aghast at the thought of
going back, alone, now and losing about an hour not to mention being 11 miles more tired.
And everyone else would be climbing up Monitor very soon. The whole fun of the ride was to
do it together, and now I would likely be riding all alone. An hour in a bike ride is eternity. Making
it up would be impossible. I had looked forward to this ride so much with the friends we trained
with, and it felt like it was all falling apart, and I was scared I would not even make the cutoffs
now - while the others would all finish DR. This couldn’t be happening. I wanted to cry again. I
was selfishly hoping Raghu would say he would come with me, but how could he? I was on my
own in this mess now. I knew what had to be done. I said bye to them, wished them well, and
headed back. I kept telling myself not to race - I would only kill my quads and I had another
134 miles to go now, but it was very hard to be patient. I got back to the car as daylight crept in
and was extremely relieved to find my bottles where I had deduced they would be, fluid intact. It
was now about 5:20; I had lost 50 minutes. And so my ride started …. again.
I didn’t know what to do. There was no way I could ride without bottles between rest stops.
There was no hope of finding bottles somewhere. Everyone else needed their two bottles. My
mind was racing now to figure out what happened. I knew I had put the bottles in my cages
after we took our bikes out at the start. Then Neha has put her bike alongside mine, and both
had fallen. So the bottles must have come out then, unseen in the dark! This was the only real
possibility. But that was 5.5 miles uphill. A 11 mile round trip! I was aghast at the thought of
going back, alone, now and losing about an hour not to mention being 11 miles more tired.
And everyone else would be climbing up Monitor very soon. The whole fun of the ride was to
do it together, and now I would likely be riding all alone. An hour in a bike ride is eternity. Making
it up would be impossible. I had looked forward to this ride so much with the friends we trained
with, and it felt like it was all falling apart, and I was scared I would not even make the cutoffs
now - while the others would all finish DR. This couldn’t be happening. I wanted to cry again. I
was selfishly hoping Raghu would say he would come with me, but how could he? I was on my
own in this mess now. I knew what had to be done. I said bye to them, wished them well, and
headed back. I kept telling myself not to race - I would only kill my quads and I had another
134 miles to go now, but it was very hard to be patient. I got back to the car as daylight crept in
and was extremely relieved to find my bottles where I had deduced they would be, fluid intact. It
was now about 5:20; I had lost 50 minutes. And so my ride started …. again.
I didn’t pay much attention to anything anymore. Priorities and expectations had been reset. I was
single minded in wanting to make all the cutoffs. This was the best I could hope for. And yes, I
was racing - I couldn’t help it. I really really didn’t want to see them coming down the front side
of Monitor before I got to the top, That would be too disheartening. Part of me didn’t want to look
at people coming down for fear of spotting them, but I could not keep my eyes off either. It was
killing me, but it easily succeeded in getting me a PR going up, with just a quick stop at the
Heenan Lake rest stop. I have to say the rest stops were beautifully stocked. So many things
to choose from and so many volunteers. The top of Monitor was milling with people. So much
so that I might have missed these guys had they passed me there. My stop was rushed again
and I went racing down the back side. I have never been down a hill that fast, and I was lucky
to make it down in one piece. But I was getting more excited now as I hadn’t spotted anyone yet.
We has estimated the front side climb of Monitor as taking about 1.5 hours and the back side
about 2. The back side was a beast, relentless and 9% for long stretches IIRC. So it was very
unlikely I had missed them at the top. Just not enough time for them to make it back. In retrospect,
I needn’t have worried at all about them coming down as I went up the front side. But clarity of
thought had been shown the door long ago. The sun was coming up as I went down the back
side, making for a terrific view and some welcome warmth. I will say that descents on both sides
of Monitor are two of the best I have ever ridden. Wide roads, well tarred, with few curves making
for great visibility and allowing for great speed and good control. We had budgeted about a third
the climb time going down, but in reality it was more like a quarter or less. I finally passed our
guys going up, less than a couple of miles from the bottom and my mind lifted. I would actually
catch them sometime today, if things went well.
single minded in wanting to make all the cutoffs. This was the best I could hope for. And yes, I
was racing - I couldn’t help it. I really really didn’t want to see them coming down the front side
of Monitor before I got to the top, That would be too disheartening. Part of me didn’t want to look
at people coming down for fear of spotting them, but I could not keep my eyes off either. It was
killing me, but it easily succeeded in getting me a PR going up, with just a quick stop at the
Heenan Lake rest stop. I have to say the rest stops were beautifully stocked. So many things
to choose from and so many volunteers. The top of Monitor was milling with people. So much
so that I might have missed these guys had they passed me there. My stop was rushed again
and I went racing down the back side. I have never been down a hill that fast, and I was lucky
to make it down in one piece. But I was getting more excited now as I hadn’t spotted anyone yet.
We has estimated the front side climb of Monitor as taking about 1.5 hours and the back side
about 2. The back side was a beast, relentless and 9% for long stretches IIRC. So it was very
unlikely I had missed them at the top. Just not enough time for them to make it back. In retrospect,
I needn’t have worried at all about them coming down as I went up the front side. But clarity of
thought had been shown the door long ago. The sun was coming up as I went down the back
side, making for a terrific view and some welcome warmth. I will say that descents on both sides
of Monitor are two of the best I have ever ridden. Wide roads, well tarred, with few curves making
for great visibility and allowing for great speed and good control. We had budgeted about a third
the climb time going down, but in reality it was more like a quarter or less. I finally passed our
guys going up, less than a couple of miles from the bottom and my mind lifted. I would actually
catch them sometime today, if things went well.
After a gorgeous descent, I reached the Topaz rest stop and picked up my first sticker. You got
a sticker per climb, and this way they knew if you had done all 5 climbs or not. Only people who
did all 5 got a finisher pin and were eligible for a 5-pass finisher jersey. The 5 passes were built
around 3 passes in 3 directions from Markleeville at the center. You went up to the Monitor pass
and down the other side to 395 and came back, then you went up to the Ebbetts pass and down
the other side to Hermit’s Valley and back, and then went up to the Carson pass and came back
down to the start.
a sticker per climb, and this way they knew if you had done all 5 climbs or not. Only people who
did all 5 got a finisher pin and were eligible for a 5-pass finisher jersey. The 5 passes were built
around 3 passes in 3 directions from Markleeville at the center. You went up to the Monitor pass
and down the other side to 395 and came back, then you went up to the Ebbetts pass and down
the other side to Hermit’s Valley and back, and then went up to the Carson pass and came back
down to the start.
 |
| Course map |
For Monitor pass, you only got your first sticker when you hit Topaz at the bottom on the other
side. You got your second sticker at the top of the pass on the return if you had your first sticker.
This was their way of making sure you did the whole of the back side climb and didn’t turn
around in the middle. Clever, eh? I found it very smart. You guarded your stickers carefully -
you couldn’t afford losing any!! They put stickers on your bib. I found somewhere during the day
that when I keep pouring water on my head to cool down, the stickers start peeling off! So I
moved them all to the back of my phone for safekeeping :)
Anyway, I reached Topaz, and what do you know - Arun, Neha and Muthu were just heading out!
I was now super excited. I hadn’t imagined I would catch up with anyone (though technically I
still needed to eat, drink and make merry, er… pee) this soon. I did all that at a much more
relaxed pace with the weight lifted off my mind. This was one of the few spots that cheerers
could get to. The road was closed south of the start for the entire first 4 passes. As such we
had the full personal SAG team of Puja, Prakash, Asha, Venkat/Gauri and Neha’s parents. I
started back soon and within a 100 mts I felt the dreaded pangs. Both legs were cramping
everywhere. I had to get off hurriedly and rest a bit. I wasn’t short of fluids. I had just been killing
it ever since the bottle debacle and I was paying the price now. After a few minutes I started
again gingerly and went my normal pace. The climb took forever, but on the way I overtook
Arun and the girls, and just as I pulled in at the top, I saw Sunny, Amey and Kiron leaving. Wow,
I was almost there! This time I took more time to enjoy the spread and use the restroom at
leisure! I started noticing other people now, and it was beautiful. Everyone was laughing and
talking and really enjoying themselves. It was really exciting now. I got back on the saddle and
headed down - another lovely fast descent, past the junction and left towards Wolfcreek and
Scossas. A little ways down, I finally caught up with Amey and Kiron, and smiled broadly inside.
It was all fine now. Things were going to plan :) As we continued we soon caught Sunny as
well and we made our way up the dreaded Ebbetts climb. By now it was getting really hot and
the relentless climb was taking it out of us. Going up Ebbetts is tricky in that it is narrow and
very curvy and there will be people racing down it - all these fast crazies. I got yelled at while
passing someone. The crowd was reasonably thin going up so it wasn’t too bad - one of the
few benefits of being amongst the slowest riders. Half way up was an unlistedbut very welcome
water/restroom stop, and we pulled over, thankful for the break.
I was now super excited. I hadn’t imagined I would catch up with anyone (though technically I
still needed to eat, drink and make merry, er… pee) this soon. I did all that at a much more
relaxed pace with the weight lifted off my mind. This was one of the few spots that cheerers
could get to. The road was closed south of the start for the entire first 4 passes. As such we
had the full personal SAG team of Puja, Prakash, Asha, Venkat/Gauri and Neha’s parents. I
started back soon and within a 100 mts I felt the dreaded pangs. Both legs were cramping
everywhere. I had to get off hurriedly and rest a bit. I wasn’t short of fluids. I had just been killing
it ever since the bottle debacle and I was paying the price now. After a few minutes I started
again gingerly and went my normal pace. The climb took forever, but on the way I overtook
Arun and the girls, and just as I pulled in at the top, I saw Sunny, Amey and Kiron leaving. Wow,
I was almost there! This time I took more time to enjoy the spread and use the restroom at
leisure! I started noticing other people now, and it was beautiful. Everyone was laughing and
talking and really enjoying themselves. It was really exciting now. I got back on the saddle and
headed down - another lovely fast descent, past the junction and left towards Wolfcreek and
Scossas. A little ways down, I finally caught up with Amey and Kiron, and smiled broadly inside.
It was all fine now. Things were going to plan :) As we continued we soon caught Sunny as
well and we made our way up the dreaded Ebbetts climb. By now it was getting really hot and
the relentless climb was taking it out of us. Going up Ebbetts is tricky in that it is narrow and
very curvy and there will be people racing down it - all these fast crazies. I got yelled at while
passing someone. The crowd was reasonably thin going up so it wasn’t too bad - one of the
few benefits of being amongst the slowest riders. Half way up was an unlistedbut very welcome
water/restroom stop, and we pulled over, thankful for the break.
Who should we bump into there but Raghu! It appeared he had been going a bit slower in the
hopes that I would eventually catch up - after all he was responsible for me as my “ride buddy”! :)
We took our time cooling down and using the restrooms before getting back to the grind. The
road wound up slowly, hairpin bend by hairpin bend, hot and dreary, with little shade. We made
it to the lake and paused. At this time of year though, there are abundant mosquitoes near the
lake, as we had found out on our trial run, and took only a quick break. Besides, I was finally
starting to keep an eye on the time and our plan. So far we were doing great. After what seemed
a never-ending climb we finally hit Ebbetts’ pass at around 11:30, about half an hour ahead of
schedule. I was also keeping a close watch on my cramping. Thank goodness it hadn’t showed
up again, and would not for the rest of the day. We bumped into Yogesh at the top, coming back
after finishing the 4th pass!! Boy, was he fast. There were huge crowds at the rest stop, taking
shelter from the heat in the shade. I had been beginning to feel a slight headache coming on from
3/4ths of the way up Ebbetts itself. I wasn’t sure if it was the altitude or the heat or something like
dehydration / lack of salt. I had kept up my electrolyte and salt intake very consistent. I wondered
if I should take an ibuprofen, and winced at the thought - but we still had more than half the ride to
go, so I did anyway. Ebbetts pass was the highest point of the Death RIde course.
hopes that I would eventually catch up - after all he was responsible for me as my “ride buddy”! :)
We took our time cooling down and using the restrooms before getting back to the grind. The
road wound up slowly, hairpin bend by hairpin bend, hot and dreary, with little shade. We made
it to the lake and paused. At this time of year though, there are abundant mosquitoes near the
lake, as we had found out on our trial run, and took only a quick break. Besides, I was finally
starting to keep an eye on the time and our plan. So far we were doing great. After what seemed
a never-ending climb we finally hit Ebbetts’ pass at around 11:30, about half an hour ahead of
schedule. I was also keeping a close watch on my cramping. Thank goodness it hadn’t showed
up again, and would not for the rest of the day. We bumped into Yogesh at the top, coming back
after finishing the 4th pass!! Boy, was he fast. There were huge crowds at the rest stop, taking
shelter from the heat in the shade. I had been beginning to feel a slight headache coming on from
3/4ths of the way up Ebbetts itself. I wasn’t sure if it was the altitude or the heat or something like
dehydration / lack of salt. I had kept up my electrolyte and salt intake very consistent. I wondered
if I should take an ibuprofen, and winced at the thought - but we still had more than half the ride to
go, so I did anyway. Ebbetts pass was the highest point of the Death RIde course.
 |
| Top of Ebbetts |
The road down to Hermit’s Valley wasn’t the smoothest and was the least interesting of the downhill
segments IMO. It was also the shortest at about 6-7 miles. Another rest stop there and a third sticker,
and we were soon headed back to the top. This was the easiest climb, short and not even so steep.
The heat made it tougher than it should have been though and the legs were beginning to get weary.
We decided not to stop at the top, save to get our 4th sticker,, and Raghu continued back down.
The 3 of us waited for Kiron to catch up and proceeded down the front side of Ebbetts. This was
easily the hardest downhill section - very winding and quite narrow at times and quite steep too.
Mentally quite exhausting by the time we were down. The rest stop near Wolfcreek was the
anointed lunch stop but heeding Mani’s advice we sailed right by. We had stashed away some
food in our car at Markleeville and that would be our lunch stop.
Most people underestimate how tough the ride is from Wolfcreek to Woodfords. It is rolling at best
and flat a good bit of the time, except the 5 miles before Markleeville, which is a bit of a climb.
What made it so hard was the crazy headwinds. As a passing rider commented, this seemed
harder than some of the climbs. Headwinds are deceptive in that you think you should be going
faster since the road looks flat, and you burn your quads out pushing too hard. Luckily, we were
4 and pacelined all the way back. Raghu was less lucky in having to navigate this section alone.
FInally back at the car, we dived right in to lunch. Nothing like curd rice on a hot day. Tasted like
heaven. I believe we had lemon rice too among other things. Well stuffed and rested, we were
ready for the final and longest climb of the day. Monitor passes were about 8 and 9 miles each.
Front side of Ebbetts was about 13 miles, give or take. Carson was a full 18 miles. But much of
it was actually a very low gradient as we found out soon enough. The first part from Woodfords
to Pickett Junction was significant, and the last couple of miles were quite steep at around 7-8%
if memory serves me right, but the rest in the middle were easier than Alpine on a bad day.
Unfortunately, Kiron was not feeling very well - stomach upset - and he had been feeling a bit
feverish as well right from the third climb. Very unfortunate to be so close and have to call it off,
but maybe the smart thing to do. I don’t think I would have that much sense/courage/self control
in his place. He still had time if he felt better but we didn’t want to risk it ourselves, so we left.
From our analysis, the Woodfords cutoff was the most constraining. We realized that if we met
that and worked it backwards, we would beat the rest of the earlier cutoffs easily. And we had.
There was just one more after Woodfords - Pickett Jn. but we would make that if we did this. It’s
downhill from Markleeville to Woodfords and it was an easy ride. We made the cutoff by about
30 mins, and got a great welcome from the volunteers there, including a spray down hose - a
very welcome sight. Now was the time of day, it was getting hard to eat just about anything.
Few things felt appetizing at all. Each ride is different. I have had rides where I could put down
potatoes very easily, others where I loved the sandwiches, others where I loved anything sweet.
This time it was the fruits, especially the oranges. I went crazy over them - I ate a full orange at
every rest stop, if not more. And then there were watermelons at PIckett’s Jn. The sweetest stuff
I had ever had. And the volunteers were plentiful and really really nice. Plus a spray mist setup!
The climb from Woodfords to Pickett Jn was really slow and uneventful. The roads were not
even closed so we had to be mindful of staying in the shoulder. Just as we got there, Yogesh
flew by on his way to the finish line. We still had probably a couple of hours of riding left if not
more. But we had hit our final cutoff and all that remained was to hit the summit. Or so we
thought, until we were rudely awakened to the fact that there was an 8th cutoff - 7:00pm at the
top of Carson, or you didn’t get your sticker! It was about 5:00 when we finally left Pickett’s Jn.
We were past 100 miles now and everything was hurting. The last 10 miles or so to the top of
Carson’s took us about 1.5 hours. The last few miles were really challenging at this point and
we took a couple of breaks. A bunch of ellipticals passed us on one of the breaks. Imagine
doing this whole thing on an elliptical bike! Wasn’t that almost like running it all? Then there
was this guy we heard about who started at midnight the previous night and did the whole
thing twice! Left me quite speechless. Years later, I heard about this guy who rode from San
Francisco to Markleeville, did the 5 passes and rode back to SF. A complete other level of crazy!
I guess it goes to show what people can do when they put their mind to it.
and flat a good bit of the time, except the 5 miles before Markleeville, which is a bit of a climb.
What made it so hard was the crazy headwinds. As a passing rider commented, this seemed
harder than some of the climbs. Headwinds are deceptive in that you think you should be going
faster since the road looks flat, and you burn your quads out pushing too hard. Luckily, we were
4 and pacelined all the way back. Raghu was less lucky in having to navigate this section alone.
FInally back at the car, we dived right in to lunch. Nothing like curd rice on a hot day. Tasted like
heaven. I believe we had lemon rice too among other things. Well stuffed and rested, we were
ready for the final and longest climb of the day. Monitor passes were about 8 and 9 miles each.
Front side of Ebbetts was about 13 miles, give or take. Carson was a full 18 miles. But much of
it was actually a very low gradient as we found out soon enough. The first part from Woodfords
to Pickett Junction was significant, and the last couple of miles were quite steep at around 7-8%
if memory serves me right, but the rest in the middle were easier than Alpine on a bad day.
Unfortunately, Kiron was not feeling very well - stomach upset - and he had been feeling a bit
feverish as well right from the third climb. Very unfortunate to be so close and have to call it off,
but maybe the smart thing to do. I don’t think I would have that much sense/courage/self control
in his place. He still had time if he felt better but we didn’t want to risk it ourselves, so we left.
From our analysis, the Woodfords cutoff was the most constraining. We realized that if we met
that and worked it backwards, we would beat the rest of the earlier cutoffs easily. And we had.
There was just one more after Woodfords - Pickett Jn. but we would make that if we did this. It’s
downhill from Markleeville to Woodfords and it was an easy ride. We made the cutoff by about
30 mins, and got a great welcome from the volunteers there, including a spray down hose - a
very welcome sight. Now was the time of day, it was getting hard to eat just about anything.
Few things felt appetizing at all. Each ride is different. I have had rides where I could put down
potatoes very easily, others where I loved the sandwiches, others where I loved anything sweet.
This time it was the fruits, especially the oranges. I went crazy over them - I ate a full orange at
every rest stop, if not more. And then there were watermelons at PIckett’s Jn. The sweetest stuff
I had ever had. And the volunteers were plentiful and really really nice. Plus a spray mist setup!
The climb from Woodfords to Pickett Jn was really slow and uneventful. The roads were not
even closed so we had to be mindful of staying in the shoulder. Just as we got there, Yogesh
flew by on his way to the finish line. We still had probably a couple of hours of riding left if not
more. But we had hit our final cutoff and all that remained was to hit the summit. Or so we
thought, until we were rudely awakened to the fact that there was an 8th cutoff - 7:00pm at the
top of Carson, or you didn’t get your sticker! It was about 5:00 when we finally left Pickett’s Jn.
We were past 100 miles now and everything was hurting. The last 10 miles or so to the top of
Carson’s took us about 1.5 hours. The last few miles were really challenging at this point and
we took a couple of breaks. A bunch of ellipticals passed us on one of the breaks. Imagine
doing this whole thing on an elliptical bike! Wasn’t that almost like running it all? Then there
was this guy we heard about who started at midnight the previous night and did the whole
thing twice! Left me quite speechless. Years later, I heard about this guy who rode from San
Francisco to Markleeville, did the 5 passes and rode back to SF. A complete other level of crazy!
I guess it goes to show what people can do when they put their mind to it.
We were finally in the home stretch. As we hit the final 2 miles, we could see a beautiful lake
behind and below us. An incredibly beautiful view. Small things to take your mind off the pain
at this point. In the end, we got there at around 6:30 pm, IIRC, pulled in, all smiles, to a roaring
crowd including our lovely cheering squad. We got our 5th and final sticker, and the 5 pass pin.
Sweeeeeet. Hugs, pictures and the much deserved ice cream. Yes, they hadn’t run out yet. We
spent a good 30 minutes at least before contemplating heading back. You didn’t really need to -
you already had your 5 stickers, and most riders just got picked up there by their families/friends.
Not me, though. Somehow the ride was just not done without riding back to the finish. Yeah, I
have OCD that way. Raghu happily opted out and Amey mysteriously suddenly developed some
bike issue (hmmm….). I think Sunny would have really liked to stay back as well, but he
probably agreed to ride just to give me company, and I loved him for that. I also relished the
idea of an 18 mile downhill that was straight as an arrow for the most part and very gentle. All
that hard work - we had earned it! The best kind of downhill IMO. It still took us a full hour to
get back. Not forgetting the last 4 miles are uphill. Surprisingly we went up those last 4 miles
pretty fast and in very good shape. People at the top had said they would take us off the course
if we weren’t done before 8, and we did just that, finishing with about 5 mins to spare.
behind and below us. An incredibly beautiful view. Small things to take your mind off the pain
at this point. In the end, we got there at around 6:30 pm, IIRC, pulled in, all smiles, to a roaring
crowd including our lovely cheering squad. We got our 5th and final sticker, and the 5 pass pin.
Sweeeeeet. Hugs, pictures and the much deserved ice cream. Yes, they hadn’t run out yet. We
spent a good 30 minutes at least before contemplating heading back. You didn’t really need to -
you already had your 5 stickers, and most riders just got picked up there by their families/friends.
Not me, though. Somehow the ride was just not done without riding back to the finish. Yeah, I
have OCD that way. Raghu happily opted out and Amey mysteriously suddenly developed some
bike issue (hmmm….). I think Sunny would have really liked to stay back as well, but he
probably agreed to ride just to give me company, and I loved him for that. I also relished the
idea of an 18 mile downhill that was straight as an arrow for the most part and very gentle. All
that hard work - we had earned it! The best kind of downhill IMO. It still took us a full hour to
get back. Not forgetting the last 4 miles are uphill. Surprisingly we went up those last 4 miles
pretty fast and in very good shape. People at the top had said they would take us off the course
if we weren’t done before 8, and we did just that, finishing with about 5 mins to spare.
As for the others, Yogesh obviously finished 2-3 hours before us. Amey, Raghu, Sunny and I
finished together. Arun had to stop after two passes due to back pain. Neha and Muthu went
to the top of Ebbetts for 3 passes, but decided to call it after that. And Kiron decided not to ride
anymore after he stopped at 4 passes.
It was one heck of a ride. It was the best thing I had done till then, and easily the hardest endurance event I had done. Barring the scare in the morning, I had immense fun, and let’s face it - scares like that make the ride and finish all the more sweet …. If you still finish in time. Maybe I got a bit lucky there. So I ended up doing 140 miles and 15K feet. It was an incredible experience and everything I had looked forward to. The training had been even more enjoyable, and my immense thanks to everyone for making it a season to remember. Onward and upward!finished together. Arun had to stop after two passes due to back pain. Neha and Muthu went
to the top of Ebbetts for 3 passes, but decided to call it after that. And Kiron decided not to ride
anymore after he stopped at 4 passes.
 |
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