Furnace Creek 508 Race Report Part Deux (Stages 5-8)

At the close of part 1 of the this post we left with Gil rolling out from TS #4 as I got my bike back on the van and the team was off chasing Gil as we reverted to leap-frogging our rider. Confident with this being his last stage, Gil was prepared for an initial 750 ft climb (mountain section 7) that should have been followed by a nice descent and then a relatively flat ride into Baker which would be the start of Stage 6 with Jim on deck to roll for his last stage of the FC508. But sometimes what you assume to be a slam dunk ends up being full of surprises as was the case for Gil. With a great pace for the first 20+ miles Gil would soon be met with a serious headwind as temperatures started to rise and some serious heat coming off of the pavement only added to the challenge and slowed all of the teams down. As temperatures continued to rise nearing 100 degrees with absolutely no shade and relentless headwinds, Gil's pace was slowed a bit but he soldered on occasionally taking a quick stop for an ice water drenching and then with about 5 miles to go till Baker, the team rolled forward to get Jim ready for Stage 6 which would be his last stage.

11:53 AM and the team has been racing now for 26:53:00 and the first five stages are behind us (382.6 miles ridden) as Jim takes to the course to ride Stage 6. With the weather continuing to heat up, the wind is still blowing but seems to have subsided a little from what it was during the stretch between Shoshone and Baker. Stage 6 has a relentless climb of 2500 ft over the next 20 miles (mountain section 8). Initially we loaded Jim up with three bottles of water as we rolled back into Baker to fuel up and pick up additional ice and water as this would be the last stop for provisions (and civilization...if you could call it that) before we hit 29 Palms. After fueling up and getting out of the gas station before being delaying by what appeared to be the start of a possible fight between some bikers (and not the type in the race wearing lycra) and a guy in a Prius who apparently got to the pump first, we were back on the road chasing Jim who by this time had made good progress on the course. We leap-frogged Jim throughout the climb with water, enduralytes and the occasional spritz of the garden sprayer as Jim rocked Stage 6. As we neared the top, we handed a spare tube and CO2 to Jim and we headed into Kelso to get Jason ready for Stage 7.


02:46 PM and Jim arrives in Kelso after an expected rough descent from the top of mountain section 9 and Jason rolls for Amboy. Jason's Stage 7 will be roughly 35 miles with 2,000 ft of climbing in just 12 miles to the top of the Granite Mountains (El 4,000 ft). Generally the top of this climb is met with a nice fast descent down into the outskirts of Amboy but with the winds that are on the menu today, Jason later shares that he did almost as much pedaling on the descent as he did on the climb. After leap-frogging Jason a good portion of the way up the climb, the rest of the team rolls in the van down to TS #7 which will be the start of Stage 8 and not only my stage but the last stage of this race.


05:05 PM and I am ready to start Stage 8 and Jason arrives and we pass the totem and I am on the course. Roughly 7 miles in having enjoyed a nice tailwind since I left TS #7 it's a quick left and into a crosswind that will very soon turn into a headwind and for the next 22 miles that includes a nice 1,500 ft climb over a 10 mile stretch thrown in as I'll make my way to the top of Sheephole Summit (mountain section 10). At about 5:30 PM I am starting to get a little nervous as I don't see the team behind me yet and while I still have plenty of water I am not carrying a spare tube or CO2 and at 6:00 PM sharp they must be trailing me with the lights and signage on or we could be DQ'd which would not be a good thing at this late stage of the race. Within the next couple of minutes I spot the team van and am relieved to know that they too have not mistakenly taken a wrong turn a couple of miles back that would have taken them off course.

As we catch up to another team I am looking to overtake their rider but with the wind, it's just a battle to stay in front and I decide to not waste the energy and let them set the pace. However, after awhile I feel like I just need to pull ahead and drop the hammer and put some distance between us and the other team. Feeling good, I just start spinning and am not looking back as we are now climbing toward Sheephole Summit and as we near the summit it's turning from dusk to dark but since I have never ridden this section and only reviewed the stage via the profile chart, I am thinking I still have a significant bit of climbing left.


I wave the team car up to me and ask how much more climbing and they tell me we are at the top (end of mountain section 10) with a nice descent ahead. As I arrive at the top it's those same winds and it's just hard to get the tires moving until we get a little more of a grade. After roughly a 5 mile descent I've got what is advertised as a "rolling slight uphill" (according to the Garmin, roughly 1,000 ft of elevation gain over the next 23 miles) but again with roads that resemble what you'd expect to see in a war zone, it's really tough to get the bike moving...and being up now for almost 40 hrs without any real sleep is probably not helping. A combination of having never ridden this stage, lack of sleep, darkness and misinterpreting the profile leads me to think that it is flat to a minor descent when it is really just the opposite. After waiving the team forward for a couple of sodas and a Red Bull, I'm pushing it but the bikes just not moving more than 12-14 mph. Up ahead I hear some dogs barking and then all of a sudden it's sounding like one is on his way out and this is really the last thing that I am prepared to deal with tonight. Further up the road I pull off for a second to grab another soda and the team pulls in behind me an comments on the sudden sprint I made with the dogs a couple of miles back.

As we're pulled over I see team Blue Whale coming up and passing us and I am on the bike and chasing them. My plan is to pace them and then attack if I have the opportunity and while I catch them I am still not interested in doing the pace setting and decide to fade back so as not to be DQ'd for drafting their car. After a few more turns we head into town and at the light the team rolls up and informs me that the van has a flat. With the finish literally in sight and I am ready to finish this race, I look over at the tire and tell them it looks like we have plenty of air to make it in (keep in mind if we would have had to stop, I would have had to wait with the vehicle due to race rules for vehicles and racers after 6 PM). We take the green light and while I thought we were there it's another climb and while this is maybe a 100 - 150 ft climb (really nothing) it's feeling like I am ready to climb Everest at this point. As I solder on and then enjoy a nice descent with a very short climb into the finish we have arrived and Team Magical Liopleurodon is 1 min 34 seconds behind Team Blue Whale with a total time of 36 hrs, 27 mins, and 9 seconds!

After receiving finisher medals and jerseys and the team finisher photo shoot I called my family to tell them that we finished safely and they share that they had been watching the live web cast and knew where we were as they were tracking us live via the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger .

The Furnace Creek 508 was the perfect event to "officially" close out (I actually did one more ride that we added the following weekend with my son Nicholas and his best friend Spencer) the onetoughride 2010 season. We had the best team and crew captain and I was very impressed with everyones riding and the great support that our crew captain Cheryl provided. The Furnace Creek 508 was an experience that was all of the things it was presented to be and to me, really demonstrated a sense of camaraderie amongst all of the teams with a real spirit see everyone finish this race. Chris Kostman puts on a great event with support and volunteers that are fantastic and I appreciated the efforts of every staff member that was there to check us in, out on the course, at the time stations, and ultimately at the finish line. This is a challenging event in an environment with some of the harshest conditions in some of the most desolate of areas in N. America and Chris runs this race seamlessly.

I will definitely do this race again and thanks so much Cheryl, Gil, Jason, and Jim for sharing this experience with me!

Enjoy the ride...

Steve

onetoughride 2010 season recap video!

Furnace Creek 508 Race Report Part 1 (Stages 1-4)

Adventure Corps describes it as "The Toughest 48 Hours in Sport" with references on their web site that include: "A Spiritual Odyssey, An Unparalleled Personal Achievement and A Premiere Ultramarathon Bicycle Race" and I can say that Furnace Creek 508 (FC508) lives up to all of this and more.

The FC508 was the last of the series of scheduled events for the onetoughride season and this event truly represented the spirit of the project and the pinnacle of my cycling experience to date. This event was also very different from the others on this seasons schedule as I would ride with four other friends (three riders and a crew captain) as a part of a 4-man relay team over a 509.54 mile course with 35,000 ft of climbing which we would have to complete in 46 hours or less.

We departed N.CA on Thursday, September 30th and arrived at the start city of Santa Clarita, CA that evening to be ready for the vehicle and bike inspection and team check-in on Friday. After completing the inspection and check-in we had some time to run some last minute errands and then it was off to the mandatory pre-race meeting. It was during this meeting that it would really sink in that this race would start in just a little more than 15 hours. As the Race Director shared parting words that a lot of things can and will happen out there and that we all needed to do whatever it took to make it to 29 Palms before 9AM on Monday...I admit, I was a little nervous. Following the meeting, we headed off to dinner and then back to the hotel to call it an evening as Team Magical Liopleurodon had a race that next morning.

Saturday, October 2 at 3:30AM and we are awakened to the sounds of thunder, lightning and rain. We turn on the TV to check the weather only to find out the S. CA is being blanketed by a tropical storm that is not expected to pass until Saturday evening...I think, wow this should add an element to an already extremely difficult race. Gil and I head out to the van to check the damage to the signs that have been printed with an inkjet printer and while they are wet, only one is destroyed which is good as we'll be DQ'd without these and will not be able to start the race which is now only hours away. After removing the signs we bring them back to the room to dry them with a hair dryer and then apply clear packaging tape to seal them for what we anticipate to be a wet race.

About 5:30AM and the team is up and some are off getting breakfast while others are getting ready. Another hour later and we are loading up the car and the weather is improving and I am just hoping that this storm is faster than we are and that somehow we'll get a break and make it to 29 Palms by Sunday night. 8:00AM and the van is packed with everything we brought (the race ends in another city so we will not be back to Santa Clarita and must carry "everything") and Gil is ready to start as our lead man out and the rest of the team must get in the van and meet him at mile 24 which is before the end of the first mountain section of Stage 1. From there, we would leap frog (supporting them with liquids and fuel) our rider throughout the daylight hours of 7 AM to 6 PM when you are then required to trail your racer with the appropriate signage and lighting.

As I was able to work with a company called SPOT who generously provided us with a SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger (which would be worn by each racer during his respective stages) we were able to track Gil's progress by going to a pre-defined web page (on my iPhone) that had been set up so friends, fans, and donors of the onetoughride project could track the team by simply going to the web site.

At roughly 10:45AM Gil rolled past us as team mates Jason and Jim were ready to complete bottle and food hand-offs while I shot photos and our crew captain Cheryl (Gil's wife) readied the team car for departure and the start of the chase of our first team mate on Stage 1. As Gil passed and took fresh bottles and fuel he was nearing a long descent and then a relatively flat section for the next 23 miles till he'd start the next big climb. Gil was tearing it up over the flats and was making great time!

We leapfrogged Gil for roughly the next 29 miles and then waited for him in the middle of one of the climbs. After waiting for some time we were getting concerned as Gil had a great pace the last time we saw him but it was heating up and we were now about 53 miles in. Another racer would pass and told us he saw Gil on the climb and he'd arrive shortly thereafter. A little bit beat up from the heat, he took on some water and fuel and continued the climb finishing up the the second mountain section of Stage 1. At this point he had a nice descent and then a fairly flat run into time station (TS) #1 where Jim would roll for Stage 2.

After leapfrogging Gil for the next few miles we headed for the TS #1 to get Jim ready to roll for Stage 2 as Gil rolled the last 8 miles without us.

2:49PM Gil is in to TS#1 and Jimmy off and out on the course and the weather continues to heat up. Jim's got about 23 miles of rollers and flats before he starts mountain section 3. He's ripping up the course and taking taking positions from the other teams as he's now starting the mountain section and this guy is on a mission and not slowing down for anything! As Jim makes a short descent down to HWY 395 and then a right it looks like he may be cramping and we hand off more Enduralyte's and he's got another rider ahead...and that means another one to pass!

With a chance to refuel before heading into the evening hours (officially by race rules this is 6PM to 7AM) we leave Jim on the course in pursuit of a couple of other teams and the rest of the crew pulls over for water and gas. Jimmy's got a quick left in less than a mile and he'll begin some more rolling climbs. After refueling we're back on the course and chasing Jim but he's nowhere to be found and then we see him further up the course and he has now passed at least another 4 riders since we left left him before the gas station.

Jim is now heading for a 3 mile descent but we'll have to stop him right in the middle as it is a couple of minutes before 6PM and we have to start trailing our race with the appropriate lights and signage or face the possibility of being caught and receiving a time penalty or DQ. After stopping and readying the van for night riding we are back out on the course and heading for TS #2 and ready to get Jason on the bike for Stage 3 which will be our first stage that we'll complete in the dark. As dusk turns to dark Jim passes another rider who cannot keep the pace but struggles to get back in front of Jim. The Course Marshall sees this and waives the other rider and his crew to the side of the road...not sure if they got a penalty or a warning. Since we are now riding under night rules we cannot leave our rider and must pace Jim all the way in and only then get Jason ready and on the bike but he'll have to wait till we have Jim's bike back on the roof before he can start his stage.

TS #2 and it's 6:47 PM and Jason is ready to roll as he starts Stage 3 with 153 miles behind us and 355.8 miles to the end of the race. Jason's ride will include the well known Townes Pass which is a 13 mile 3,800 ft climb.  With grades of 10-13%, this is going to be one night of climbing. In addition, this is the longest of the first four stages at roughly 95 miles! Jason is riding like a machine as he pounds out mile after mile which includes a fueling regimen of Hammer products plus Skittles, Coke, and Red Bull. After nailing Townes Pass and the climbs that preceded it, it's a long descent and we cannot keep up with him as he passes other riders on this steep and sweeping descent!

Wrapping up Stage 3 Jason rolls into TS #3 at 1:47AM on Sunday morning and I am up next. While it is late and I have been up for almost 23 hours the adrenalin is flowing and I am ready to get out there and pound out some miles! It's now 2:15AM and after some logistics at TS #3 I am on the course for Stage 4. With 252.89 miles behind us we are roughly at the halfway point and I've got some Rush R30 on the iPod and it's just an awesome night to be riding with the stars out in the middle of the desert. About 1.34 miles up the road it's a right turn and I am heading for Badwater which also happens to be the lowest elevation in N. America at 282 ft "below sea level". I am feeling great and passing a few teams as I am able to wind it up when I am not out in the wind. After about 45 miles of rollers (and being a bit concerned as I see lightning in the distance) I am at the start of mountain section 6 and overtake another team as I start the climb up Jubilee Pass. Once at the top, I've got a 1 mile descent before hitting Salsberry Pass which will I will soon find out is a 9 mile grind that will take me an hour and 26 minutes (according to my Garmin) to finish. The sun is now coming up and I am ready to get off this bike as I have now seen the sun rise 2x without any sleep. At 7AM I am a mile or two from the summit and I waive the team forward to head for the next time station (it's 7AM so we can start leapfrogging again) so Gil can get his bike off the van and be ready to roll when I get in. 7:51AM and I am into Shoshone and TS #4 and Gil rolls out on Stage 5.

There's more to come but you'll have to wait for my next post!

It has been an awesome cycling season but this year the onetoughride project is my reason for riding. I'll be fund-raising through the end of October and while we are close, we are still about $425 short of the $10,000 goal that I have set (which will be matched by the Jeffrey Modell Foundation). If you have not donated yet, my family and the families and friends of the 10,000,000 children and adults around the world living with Primary Immunodeficiency diseases would greatly appreciate your support. For those that have made a donation (and in some cases multiple donations), thank you for your support!

Enjoy the ride...
Steve

Furnace Creek 508 recap video!

2010 Furnace Creek 508: Recap Video from Rachel Schmitt on Vimeo.

Furnace Creek 508 - Team Magical Liopleurodon | Our SPOT Adventure!

Furnace Creek 508

Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures

Furnace Creek 508 | Team Magical Liopleurodon

The team rocked the race with a total time of 36 hrs, 27 mins, and 9 seconds! I'll publish a full report with pics later this week. Thanks so much to all of you that have supported the onetoughride project. If you'd like to make a donation, please visit the following link onetoughride

Enjoy the ride...
Steve

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Furnace Creek 508 - Team Magical Liopleurodon will be on the SPOT

With the last major event of the One Tough Ride project just ahead of us on Saturday, October 2nd, I am happy to announce that we have now raised $9,434.00 that will be matched by the Jeffrey Modell Foundation and directed to the Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic and Research Center at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. As I write this post on the eve of my son's 10th birthday, I am so grateful to all of you who have supported this project.

Team Magical Liopleurodon will depart for Santa Clarita, CA on Thursday for race check-in and vehicle inspection on Friday with race start time for all relay teams at 9AM on Saturday. I am excited to share that friends, family, and fans of the One Tough Ride project will be able to watch the Team Magical Liopleuridon's progress over the course through a live GPS feed (web page will be activated prior to the start of the race) as we compete in what is referred to as "The Toughest 48 Hours in Sport" against a field of more than 200 racers from six countries. Each member of the team will carry the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger in his jersey pocket for their stages of this 509+ mile non-stop race that starts in Santa Clarita, CA and ends in 29 Palms, CA. I want to thank our friends at SPOT for supporting the One Tough Ride project and we look forward to sharing our progress during the race and also our story after the race on SPOT Adventures.

Team Magical Liopleurodon is:
James Batson - Stages 2 and 6
Steve Bursley - Stages 4 and 8
Cheryl Hopkins - Crew
Gil Hopkins - Stages 1 and 5
Jason Pierce - Stages 3 and 7

I'll be tweeting and providing updates (from our departure on Thursday through the race and our return to Northern CA on Monday) to the one.tough.ride Facebook Fan Page and you'll also be able to get updates by using the links on the right side of the onetoughride.blogspot.com site - see links underTeam Magical Liopleurodon | Furnace Creek 508

Thanks again to all of you that have supported this project and if you haven't ,there is still time to make a donation to this worthy cause and of course one that is very personal to me. I will try to issue one more post prior to the race and will also provide a complete race report with photos and video next week.
Enjoy the ride...
Steve

Furnace Creek 508 Press Release...race start is 3 weeks from tomorrow

For those that may not be familiar with the event, check out the Press Release that was posted today for the 508! http://www.the508.com/2010web/2010pr.html

Furnace Creek 508, it's just around the corner...and the number 10

With the Furnace Creek 508 just over a month away the team is making the final preparations for travel, vehicle, signage, etc. This race will be like no other that I have participated in this year and while the mileage will be less than the Death Ride, the conditions and fact that we will spend up to 40+ hours in the car or on the bike will provide both physical and mental challenges for each of the riders.

With a total of 508 miles to race through some of the toughest weather conditions, each of the team members will be put to one of the ultimate endurance cycling tests. In preparation for the 508, I have now completed 5 of the toughest Double Centuries on the California Triple Crown Schedule with 4 of those 5 being in the top 4 of the 10 most difficult events of the 2010 season schedule. Additionally, I completed the Death Ride and have ridden a total of more than 3,600 miles and climbed more than 260,000 feet on the bike (the equivalent of ~9x the elevation of Mt Everest) since January 1st.

So, am I ready? I think so but I'll continue to train up till about 4 days prior to the event and then I'll rest. Right now the race schedule is as follows -

Racer / Stage
Gil Hopkins / 1, 5
Steve Bursley / 2, 6
Jason Pierce / 3, 7
Jim Batson / 4, 8

We have a strong team of seasoned riders but the competition will be tough with a total of 217 riders from 7 countries that includes 117 veteran racers of this event. With the cycling season nearing conclusion with the Furnace Creek 508, I'll wrap up this fund-raising effort at the end of October. With thousands of miles ridden, hundreds of thousands of feet climbed, countless hours of blogging, posting on Facebook and Twitter, Photoshop , Illustrator work, PowerPoint pitches and meetings, and relentless requests of donations, this project truly lived up to its name.

As I prepare for this last race of the 2010 season I have designed and ordered a special jersey that I will wear during my last stage that I will ride (front and back graphics are included above). The design of the jersey acknowledges those that have supported this project through the generous donations that I have received but also includes a design element that I hope creates awareness of Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases (PID) as well as continued donations. This is the number 10. For those of you that watched the last stage of the Tour this year, you obviously took note of a statement that Team Shack made with a kit change (with the emblazened #28) that almost got them thrown out of the race but was also very effective at drawing attention to the more than 28 million people around the world that continue their battle with Cancer. And while many of you might be surprised to hear it, more than 10 million people around the world today live with PID.

I have and will continue to ride and race to raise awareness of PID in honor of my son Nicholas and all of the children and adults around the world that continue their battle with this disease. Through the tireless efforts of Vicki and Fred Modell (founders of the Jeffrey Modell Foundation) and the many doctors and researchers around the world, there are better treatments for those that battle this disease as well as better tests to detect the disease. And while treatment and detection has improved, we still do not have a cure...yet!

With more than $8,500 raised from this project so far, I am hoping that we can raise another $1,500 or more over the next two months to close this project out with a total of $10,000 or more in donations. With the Jeffrey Modell Foundation committed to matching these donations, this would equal a $20,000 that would go to the Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic and Research Center at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. To donate, you can use the button in the top right hand corner of my blog, click on this link, or contact me to send a check.

I will post a couple of more times prior to the 508 and then Tweet on the way to the event and on the course (based on cell availability). To close the onetoughride project out, I will include one whopper of a post ride report with plenty of photos and video from the team car.

PLEASE SUPPORT ME AND CLICK THE BUTTON OR LINK NOW!
Enjoy the ride...
Steve

Double #5...Mt Tam Double Century Recap

The Mt Tam Double was my 5th Double Century of the season and the 6th of the onetoughride series that included the top 4 of the toughest of the Double Century calendar and completing my CTC (for a second consecutive year), CTC Stage Race Series, and the Gold Thousand Mile Club. With the completion of the Death Ride, the total course miles ridden over these 6 events (in the past four months) was 1,133 miles with and just under 85,000 feet of climbing.

I arrived at the start of the Mt Tam Double about 3:30 AM and planned to start with my friends Jason and Mike. We were planning on an early start (mass start is was scheduled for 5 AM) but as it turned out we ended up being a part of an official 4 AM mass start with 32 riders. As we rolled from the start the pack thinned out as we headed for the first of many climbs up Lucas Valley Road. I set the tempo for the first climb but was overtaken by one of the riders about a half a mile from the top. As we descended the other side, most of the pack re-grouped and then split up again over the next 10 miles on Nicasio Valley Road.

As we rolled into Fairfax I missed the first right turn but then saw the group reassembling and was back on course. The pack again split up as we climbed Bolinas Fairfax Road toward the first rest stop at Pine Mountain (mile 24.5). After checking in I headed for the top of the first real climb which was Mt Tam. As I ascended Bolinas Fairfax Road toward Ridgecrest the pack had thinned to a point where I had only seen one other rider. As I crested the top of Tam at mile 38 I was told that I was the 4th one check in. Descending Tam and heading for Santos Meadows I saw Jason heading for the top of Tam. The descent down Pan Toll Road and then out to Muir Woods would be a combination of dense fog, extreme dew (resembling rain), and strong winds. As I rolled into Santos Meadows check point (mile 50) here comes Jason who must have been descending like a rocket.

After a quick refuel Jason and I were back on the road and heading for a ride up the coast. Clearing the next few rest stops and rolling into the Valley Ford Rest Stop at lunch (mile 124) we had a great pace but many of the fastest riders that left at 5 AM had now caught and passed us. After a quick lunch it was off for the infamous Coleman Valley Road climb. If you have ridden it you know, but if you haven't this is one of the toughest 1.4 miles of climbing of the entire course.

After getting dropped by Jason between leaving the lunch stop and the Bay Hill Road climb I caught up with him as I arrived at the Coleman check point (mile 136). Jason had been there for a bit so he rolled and I left shortly thereafter (downing Red Bull #2) and caught up with him as we rolled down Joy Road. As we rolled back into the Valley Ford Rest stop we refueled (Red Bull #3) and caught up with a few friends and were off again with 153 miles behind us and a few climbs to go.

As we got out to the coast it was a constant battle of head winds as we made our way down HWY 1 pacelining to try to pick up some time or at least save some energy for Marshall Wall. At mile 160 it was a quick left for another climb up Marshall. It was clear that the climb with 160 miles on our legs was wearing the group down but after reaching the Walker Creek Rest Stop and a short break we initiated a good pace and picked up few riders that we would ultimately find to be wheel suckers that wanted a free ride.

After a good pace considering the winds that we continued to encounter we had a decent climb and nice fast descent before turning left onto Nicasio Valley Road. As we caught up with another rider we again pacelined out to the final rest stop at Nicasio Valley School and grabbed a quick drink (no, it was not a Red Bull this time) before our final climb up Lucas Valley Road and then heading for the finish. As was the case throughout the day, Jason dropped me on the descent but I was able to catch up with him on the last few miles and we had a great 22 mph+ paceline as we rolled to Las Gallinas for the last 1.5 miles into the finish.

The Marin Cyclists put together one of the best supported rides hands down and this year also met with the same high expectations that I have seen in the past. It was great to ride with Jason (a.k.a. rocket of the descents) who is also my team mate for the FC 508 this year and it was again amazing to see Mike Melville add yet another of the toughest rides to his fixie resume...yes, that is correct he rode this ride on a fixie! And last but not least, I was very cool to see Peg Miller nail this years event well within the cut-offs (after being so close in 2009) and getting her CTC for 2010!

As I near the close of the onetoughride project with one last BIG event to go (the Furnace Creek 508) I am excited to report that we have raised a total of $8,500 and I am confident that we can get that to $10,000...or more by the end of October when I will be wrapping up this project. This project was a complete grass roots effort from the concept to pitching the idea to a number of organizations to marketing the project, fund-raising, and setting up all of the infrastructure to support the project....not to mention the training and completing the events. Because of the 32 individuals, one corporate donor, one foundation and the matching funding of the Jeffrey Modell Foundation WE will make a difference in the research for better treatments and ultimately a cure for the millions of people living with Primary Immunodeficiency diseases like my son.

If you haven't donated please consider doing so right now and remember that every dollar donated is matched which means that right now the $8,500 is $17,000. Being an overachiever, I threw in an extra Double Century and I'd also love to break that goal of $10,000 and hope I can have your support in doing so. Last, the final jersey artwork (all donor names will be on it) will be submitted this weekend to Voler to ensure that I have the jersey for my final stage of the Furnace Creek 508 as well as the photo op at the finish. If your company (or you know of someone else) is interested in making a donation of $300 or more, I will add your company logo to the jersey.
Until next time...Enjoy the ride!
Steve

PS: I shaved 35 mins off of last years time coming in at 15:36 vs. 16:11.

Death Ride 2010 | onetough ride series - almost 1,000 miles and 100,000 feet of climbing

The 2010 Death Ride was the 5th of the onetoughride Series which is my personal fund-raising effort to raise funds in the fight against Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases. With the end of the Death Ride the tally of miles and elevation over this series of five of the toughest ultra endurance cycling rolls up as follows:

April
- Mulholland Double Century (Stage 1 of the CTC Stage Race Series): 211.68 mi / 17,568 ft
- Devil Mountain Double (Stage 2 of the CTC Stage Race Series): 206 mi / 20,000 ft

May
- Tour de Starbucks (guest rider with Nicholas): 6.88 mi / 75 ft

June
- Alta Alpina Challenge: 200 mi / 21,000 ft
- Terrible Two (Stage 3 of the CTC Stage Race Series): 200.97 mi / 18,470 ft

July
- Death Ride: 124.01 mi / 15,386 ft

Total (for the season to date): 949.54 mi / 92,499 ft

We arrived in Kirkwood (approx 20 mins from the start of the Death Ride) on Wednesday and planned to do some activities with the family on Thursday and Friday preceding the event. The weather outlook seemed to change day by day as it often does in the mountains but the day of the actual event would once again be clear, warm, and without the threats of the isolated thunder storms that were in the forecast.

I decided to take a later start this year rolling at exactly 5:30 AM (DR 2010 stats) and my pace from out to the bottom of the first pass (Monitor) was better than last year (DR 2009 stats) rolling into check point 2 at just under 1:47 (just under 25 mi.). Deciding to skip the rest stop with enough water to refuel back at the top of Monitor I started the climb. Back at the top of Monitor the clock reads just under 3:09 and it's a quick stop and a refill of the water bottles before descending the front side of Monitor to head for the 3rd of the 5 passes. At 3:28 on the clock I am at the bottom of Monitor and heading for Ebbetts Pass and the one part of the course that I consider the toughest of the event.

At just under 5 hrs on the clock and 55 miles behind me (check point 3) I am at the top of Ebbetts with 3 passes down and 2 to go. The back side or West side of Ebbetts is my favorite descent with great pavement and gentle turns for the most part. It's a great descent until the last mile or two when I am stuck behind a couple of riders that just won't allow me to pass and with the number of riders ascending it's just not safe to get around these guys. I hit the bottom of the back side of Ebbetts and there's another 12 mins on the clock with about 61 miles down. It's now getting warm and I decide to refill the bottles and grab a Pepsi and a handful of orange slices with the hope that I can keep rolling and grab a sandwich during the last climb up Carson around mile 90 where Paula, Rachel, Nicholas, and Bruno will be waiting with sandwiches and a serving of inspiration. At the top of the climb of the back side of Ebbetts with roughly 66 miles down there are 6:05 on the clock and after another topping off of the bottles it's a fast descent down the front side of Ebbetts and then a fairly flat ride into Markleeville with a climb past Turtle Rock Park and then a nice descent into Woodfords before starting the last climb up Carson.

Sticking to the original plan of reducing stops the plan is to grab lunch during the Carson climb. As I head into Markleeville I spot my friend Amy and make a quick stop to say hi and I am also able to shed my jacket and arm warmers that won't be needed for the rest of the day. As I roll out about 12:45 I have a good pace on the climb past Turtle Rock park rolling into Woodford's just after 1:00 PM. There's now about 6.5 hrs on the clock and a sub-10hr DR is still a possibility. As I leave Woodford's I soon realize that delaying my lunch stop is going to cost me and as I climb Carson to meet Paula and the kids at the junction of Luther Pass I am not feeling well. After sitting down and parking the bike, I down two more bottles of water and a half a peanut butter sandwich and put the other half in my jersey pocket.

It's just before 3PM with 91 miles down and Paula snaps a couple of photos of the kids with me and I am off. Paula would prefer that I abandon the event but I am going to finish this thing off. After reaching the summit of Carson and checking in, I put down 3 juice bars and congratulate friends and take advantage of another photo op with the kids. It's now time to descend and head for the finish and as I make the second wide sweeping right turn there's a rider down in the middle of the lane with the medics attending to him. All traffic is at a stop and the local authorities are directing the riders around the accident.

After descending Carson it's a hard right onto HWY 4/89 and a climb back into Turtle Rock Park. I rolled in 15 mins ahead of my 2009 time at 11:51:57 as my total time. My actual riding time was less than a min from my time in 2009 at 10:09:20.

We have now raised over $8,000 with the onetoughride project and as promised I have added a 7th ride to the series with another of the toughest double centuries on the circuit this season, the Mt Tam Double Century. I want to thank all of you that have made a donation and ask that those that haven't to consider making one right now using the Donate Now button on my blog or by using this link onetoughride - donate now . With the Mt Tam Double and the Furnace Creek 508 still ahead of me, my new goal is to raise a total of $10,000 or more. With the Jeffrey Modell Foundation committing to matching all donations this would be a total of $20,000 or more going to this very important cause.
Best,
Steve

Wednesday night...quick training ride

Quick ride out to Sunol and up Kilkare Rd. by sbursley at Garmin Connect - Details

Terrible Two replay...I am pretty sure this ride earned it's name based on the road conditions

Saturday morning, June 19th and it's 3:45 AM and after another short night it would be a long day in the saddle as I'd be on the road in less than two hours on the Terrible Two. Coming off of the AAC 8-Pass Challenge the previous weekend wasn't going to make this ride any easier as my goal was to complete the last of the Stage Race Series and my fourth double century of the season in less than two months.

I arrived at the start of the race about 4:30 AM and while it was still dark signs of daylight were not far off as this was expected to be one of the longest days of the year and little did I know, but the road conditions we'd been warned of would make it seem like that as well. Just after 5:00 AM and all the usual suspects of the Stage Race Series and other Double Centuries start gathering for the mass start that would be led for the first 13 miles out of the city limits by the pace car.

After a relatively short speech by the ride director of the Santa Rosa Cycling Club the start was announced and 250+ riders rolled for the city limits. I was up in the second or third row at the start as we rolled at an average of 20-22 mph. Nearly seeing a couple of crashes in this tightly woven peloton within the first couple of miles, I decided to fade back a bit so as not to become a casualty before even getting out of the city limits. Further back in the pack I met up with another friend Mark Horminghaus whom I would later find out crashed further into the race. Mark's a super strong rider and genuinely nice guy so it was great to catch up with him until he'd inevitably drop me.

As we hit the first relatively small climb the pack started to thin out and coming down the first descent we'd find a rider stopped in the middle of road and the descend. To this day I can only assume that he either had a death wish or was just inexperienced but I'll assume that it was the later. After a few relatively easy climbs we hit the first of the big ones called the Geysers. The Geysers was no only the highest climb of the day but as we'd find with other climbs in this event it had a double summit which is always fun (in some sort of sadistic way I am sure) when you have never done the climb. After reaching the top of the second summit I refueled at the rest stop and then headed for the descent which should have been a reward for the climb but I'd find out quickly that the roads resembled something more of a city that had been bombed vs. the quick beautiful descent that I was expecting.

Further up the road as we climbed out of the canyon large sections of paved road would be missing and replaced with gravel. This went on for a series of miles and when there was road the surface was similar to a back job of applying a chip seal surface which made this section extremely slow. About 112 miles in I hit the lunch stop and while my original plan was to blow through all stops only getting off the bike for re-fuels and mandatory breaks, lunch seemed like a good idea and I also thought I'd call into the team manager (a.k.a. Paula). After what seemed to be a relatively short lunch stop officials noted that anyone not leaving within the next 5 mins would be required to abandon the race and take the shorter route back to the finish. Good enough for me, I slammed the rest of my drink down and took one last bit of that sandwich and it was back on the bike.

It's now 1:45PM and it's warming up and in my opinion we are heading for the toughest climbs on the ride heading for the coast. After 2 hours of climbing over the past 15 miles there's another climb coming just beyond a nice recovery over the descent ahead. Just before the climb I see a series of riders abandoning the race and taking the SAG wagon back. As I make this last climb before a series of rollers to the coast, I am definitely feeling not only the effects of 143 miles I have ridden today but also the 200+ miles and 21,000 feet of climbing from the past weekend on the AAC. As I summit I see that the rest stop is ahead on the right. After a dozen orange slices, a Pepsi, and refilling the water bottles I am off for the coast.

Descending it is now getting cooler and I decide to put the arm wamers back on and zip up the vest for a cool ride down the coast to the last climb which will be Fort Ross. As I am pretty much ready to be done with this ride I am thinking about this climb which I am told is brutal especially considering it's at the end of the event. I make it down the coast at a fairly descent pace with the exception of a couple of stops to make sure that I have not missed the left turn for Fort Ross. Once there I check in with my buddy Jason (who decided to ride the first 150 miles that day to break in a new bike and then volunteer at the Fort Ross check point) and there's no time for stopping as it's after 6 and my goal is to be in before dark.

As I get to the foot of the climb I am ready to nail this last one and stop to get rid of the arm warmers and unzip the vest and jersey. As shot of Hammer Raspberry Gel and gulp of Perpetum and I am ready...let's do it! The climb is at a steady pace and while I wouldn't say that it's easy it is definitely not the most difficult climb of the day. As I reach the top it's now a quick descent down with some rollers and gradual climbs to the next rest stop.

While rolling toward the next rest stop I meet up with one of the riders that I had met at the rest stop just before the coast and we decide to roll the rest of the way in together. After another Pepsi at this last rest stop and refill of the bottles we are headed for Occidental up the Bohemian Highway. As we make the next left into a canopied climb it is dark and I hit the lights even though we have plenty of daylight once we crest this climb.

As we hit a fork in the road ahead it's a quick stop and backtrack to make sure we did not miss an unmarked turn. During this time we pick up another rider who'll ride the remaining few miles with us as his light is out. Rolling in the timer reads 09:30 and we are done. A final check of the Gamin notes just under 201 miles and more than 18,400 feet of climbing as opposed to the 16,000 feet of climbing that is noted for this ride. With a goal of completing the ride in 16:00 my official time is 16:08. With a rolling time of just over 14:56 I was off the bike a total of just under 01:12 - Garmin stats.

After checking in and receiving my official "I did it" t-shirt (given only to finishers that arrive before 10:00 PM) I called Paula and got some fantastic news that we had received a significant donation from a foundation that now put us well over our $5,000 fund-raising goal for the end of June. This was fantastic news and with total donations at more than $7,500 I am confident that we can make the personal goal that I have set of $10,000 for the One Tough Ride Project.

Meeting this goal for June also meant that I needed to make good on the challenge that I set against that $5,000 mark so I have added a 7th event to the One Tough Ride project and entered the Mt Tam Double. This 200 mile event with more than 17,000 feet of climbing will be yet another tough day but I am hoping this will inspire more of you to support this project and make that donation today. With the Death Ride in July, Mt Tam Double in August, and the Furnace Creek 508 in October I would love to not only hit that goal of $10,000 but exceed it. With the Jeffrey Modell Foundation matching all donations raised "WE" can make a real difference in the lives of those with Primary Immunodeficiency diseases with this money going directly to the Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic and Research Center at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.

The Death Ride is just a couple of weeks away and I am excited to have Paula, Rachel and Nicholas (the One Tough Ride Team) there with me in Markleeville as I ride for all of the children and adults that live with Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases. This will be my 3rd Death Ride in a row and I look forward to seeing a lot of you there as well.
Enjoy the ride...
Steve

Alta Alpina Challenge 8-Pass Ride Report

The Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge was clearly the most challenging ride of the season so far and at roughly 75 miles in and three of the seven passes completed, I was thinking that this could very possibly be a repeat DNF of last year but more on that later. I arrived at Turtle Rock Park at about 4:15 PM on Friday for check-in but found out they would not open until 6:00 PM so I headed over to Grover Hot Springs Campground to check in with the TNT Death Ride 2010 squad as I have some friends that are coaching and supporting the team this year. After a short visit I headed back to check in and then headed out to dinner with my friend Mick.

After a nice Italian Dinner (and maybe hoping that a combination of my Italian heritage, new Campy wheelset, and the meal might have me riding like Ivan Basso in this years Giro) we headed back to our hotels for an early morning departure. With the best of intentions of a lights out by 9:30, I ended up "trying" to get to sleep at about 10:30 PM after getting everything ready for the morning which would be a 2:00 AM wake up call...yikes!

1:30 AM after a restless nights "semi sleep" and I am awake and it's not even worth trying to fall back to sleep for another 30 mins so I am up and in the shower and then having breakfast. 2:30 AM I am in the car leaving Minden, NV heading for the start at Turtle Rock Park in Markleeville, CA. Having arrived a bit early, I head into registration to say hi to my friend Susie and then Mick arrives and we're ready to roll.

3:22 AM and we're rolling heading out toward the first climb up Kingsbury Grade. We've got a great pace over the first 20 miles at close to 20 mph which is not bad considering it’s pitch dark. As we start the climb we meet up with a crazy pack of riders that seem to be doing the same set of the toughest Doubles on the schedule for the season. I reach the top of Kingsbury and then head for the descent and am at 28 miles and 2:10 of riding and now off to Luther Pass. It's a chilly descent but the sun is coming up so it should be warming up a bit but it sure doesn't feel like it. As I descend Kingsbury, Mick passes me but shortly thereafter we'd roll for a bit as we'd head for Luther Pass.

I hit the top of Luther Pass and check in and re-fill one of the bottles but also realize I should be drinking a lot more than the two bottles of Perpetum that I have consumed over just under 60 miles so far. It's a quick stop and then I am back out heading for Carson Pass which I know is going to be windy and find out later that the forecast was for gusts of up to 50 mph at the top of the pass. I summit Carson Pass and the wind is so strong that its literally blowing back off the side of the mountain and having the effect of a tail wind for the last bit of the climb over the summit. As I see Mick pass me descending it is clear that it will be a very dangerous descent and probably my slowest ever down Carson Pass. After a short stop, I am turned around and ready to descent and it's not even 11:00 AM but as I round the turn the crosswind hits me and nearly moves me across into the lane of traffic. As I descend Carson I am thinking that the wind is only likely to pick up as we get into the afternoon and it's one of those moments where you are seriously thinking about abandoning the event.

Roughly 86 miles in I am at the end of the road on the Blue Lakes climb as snow (yes it is June in CA) has limited this leg to the 3rd gate which is roughly 7 miles in but the event organizers have added a few miles just before the lunch stop at Turtle Rock Park. After descending the rest of Carson I make a right on 89 and am heading for another 800 ft climb that they have added and then it a quick stop for lunch and a chance to double check the bike as I am hearing a strange noise. As I roll into Turtle Rock Park I now have roughly 112 miles behind me and it's 12:30 PM so I have been out on the road for roughly 9 hours and while I have more than half the miles behind me, I have only tackled half of the climbing. I set a goal that I am eating, refueling, checking the bike, and back out on the road in no more than 20 mins which I am thinking at the time will leave me with 9 hours to get this one done.

12:50 PM and I am off and heading for Ebbetts Pass and wondering what the wind will be like but thinking that most of the front side should be somewhat protected. I decide that if it's too dangerous I'll go as far as I feel is safe and then bail and head back to the start. It’s a pretty good stretch from Turtle Rock out to the start of the climb and often windy along the river but I have a great pace and am passing others along the way. I hit Ebbetts and start the climb and quickly remember why I find this one of the toughest climbs on the Death Ride. I also realize though that I should be able to get some relief on the climb up the backside...relatively speaking that is.

It’s now about 3:30 PM and I have climbed the front of Ebbetts and descended the backside (probably my favorite descent in the area). My goal is now to summit Ebbetts by 4:15 and be climbing Monitor no later than 5:00 PM. 4:57 PM and I am at the bottom of Monitor and refill the bottles for the climb. No Perpetum so I top off the bottles with water and start the climb.

Climbing Monitor it is hot with the sun on my back and what is generally a moderate climb for me is a pure struggle with 156+ miles behind me. I can generally climb the front side of Monitor with a fresh set of legs in about 45 minutes but at this point I am questioning whether I’ll make the 7:00 PM cut-off. 6:30 PM and I am at the summit checkpoint and while I should have plenty of time I am whipped and thinking about descending Monitor in the dark which is not going to be fun. I am ready to abandon the event and ask the rest stop crew what the cut-off time is at the finish and am told that it’s 11:00 PM. I have come this far and reflect on how tough it is for those who I am riding for are and I know I can’t quit now.

6:44 PM and I am out of there and heading for the descent down the backside of Monitor. The sun is setting on the eastern side of Monitor and it is starting to get cold. About ¾ of the way down the descent I decide to pull off and take a pair of the latex gloves out of my tool bag and use them as liners for my gloves. I get to the bottom and sticker number 8 is added to my bib and I am out of there for the last climb and this is gonna hurt. I summit just as it is going from dusk to dark and pull over to suit up for the cold and dark descent. As I was just about at the Monitor Monument I see two of the riders that arrived at the bottom just after me being SAG’d up to the top of Monitor (bikes on the back of the SAG vehicle). Now I knew these two were taking a break at the bottom and as I looked behind me on the climb they were nowhere to be found and now they’d be SAG’d to the top and ultimately claim that they completed the entire event.

After suiting up I cross the plateau of Monitor and start the descent. It is dark and as I descend I see a deer cross right in front of me and then other animals that I cannot necessarily make out but certainly ones that would do some serious damage if I were to run into them (not that I would want to by the way). With the brakes on all the way down Monitor it’s not fun and taking forever and it’s extremely cold...I am ready for this day to be over.

As I roll through Markleeville and then finally into Turtle Rock Park it just seems like everything is moving in slow motion. I roll in and park the bike on the rack and check in and 10:34 PM is the finish time. I have been out on the course for 19:07 and I am cooked. This was one tough ride and it’s not just the mileage and climbing but also the altitude and unpredictability of the weather with snow last year on Ebbetts and heavy winds this year. I am glad that I finished and this event in particular truly represented the theme of the onetoughride project and all of those that I am riding and fund raising for this season.

I want to thank all of you who have contributed and encourage those of you who have not to DONATE NOW! Every dollar helps and is doubled as the Jeffrey Modell Foundation is matching all contributions. This weekend I will be riding the last of the CTC Stage Race Series and completing my 4^th Double Century of the season (yes I got my Triple Crown for this year this past weekend). Currently in 38^th place I am hoping to move up in the rankings and looking to move up to finish in the top 35.

I’ll post an update from the Terrible Two next week as I complete the second of a back-to-back series of two of the toughest double century rides on this season’s calendar.

Enjoy the ride…

Steve

The first of the Double Double...and I am not talking about In-N-Out Burger

After another busy week I did manage to sneak in a couple of training rides on Friday evening and Saturday morning to wrap up the week with about 74 miles and just over 4,000 feet of climbing. I am happy to report that the onetoughride project is off to a great start as far as fund raising but I am hoping that we can really drive some donations over the next couple of weeks as I shoot to complete my 3rd Double Century of the season this weekend. On Saturday, I ride the Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge and will follow this up the next weekend (6/19) with the last of the CTC Stage Race Series, the Terrible Two! Thanks so much to all of you that have made a donation and to those who haven't yet, I wanted to remind everyone that all donations are being matched by the Jeffrey Modell Foundation!

Just to keep things interesting, "if" we can raise a total of $5,000 or more for the onetoughride project by the end of June I will add a "5th" Double Century to the schedule with the Mt Tam Double . If the registration is closed and I cannot get a ticket ,I'll commit to an alternate Double Century or a significant epic ride of 200 miles in one day (with an open invitation to anyone that would like to join me..Mike, Jason, Jim, Alan, and Dave I know you are all in). Go ahead and put another one on the calendar, I challenge you...

The profile on the top right (of this post) is the beast to tame for this Saturday. I also hope to catch up with my friends on the TNT Death Ride '10 Team that will be tackling the same climbs at Altitude Camp this weekend. Enjoy the weekend, ride safe, and look for a ride update on next weeks post.
Enjoy the ride...
Steve

PS: For full details on the onetoughride project, please check out the latest slide deck with all of the details!

A busy week...

It was a busy week with meetings or planning sessions every night which unfortunately meant zero training during the week. However, there is lots of news to report with the first being that we have been officially accepted for the Furnace Creek 508 and the check went out in the mail to cover entry fees on Thursday.

On Saturday I had the pleasure of riding with Nicholas and his best friend Spencer and we rode a new variation of the Iron Horse Trail leaving Pleasanton for San Ramon and then back. The boys both did great and logged just over 11 miles! I am still looking for an event that I can ride with them this summer (prefer less than 20 miles and mainly bike paths or low traffic routes), let me know if you have any ideas.

Sunday morning I headed out with the Cherry City Cyclists to ride Mines Road and climb Mt. Hamilton. The day was perfect and Cheryl Hopkins (the queen of SAG) did a fantastic job supporting a crew of hungry cyclists. Total miles covered on Sunday was about 96 (I turned the Garmin on late so it only showed 90) and about 7,600 ft of climbing. I had a great day on the bike and for those of you that are familiar with Hamilton, I covered the main climb (just past the bridge) in just over 48 mins for an AVG speed of 6 mph (in the Garmin link below it's Split 2). All the stats can be found here: Mt Hamilton

With the nice 3-day weekend I was able to wrap up some chores around the house on Monday and we took our lab Bruno for his first swim at Shadow Cliffs reservoir. With only two weeks till the Alta Alpina, I am anxiously awaiting to see how the weather fares as last year this same event had a fairly decent storm roll through that same weekend in June.
Enjoy the ride,
Steve

One Tough Ride 2010 v4 0

Updated ontoughride slide deck, check it out!
Enjoy the ride,
Steve

One Tough Ride 2010 v4 0

View more presentations from Steve Bursley.

Training and got to see the pros this week...

No official events this week but I did get some miles in as well as a bit of cross training on the mountain bike on Friday night and last, we got some great news this week that I'll share later in this post. I started out the week with what I first thought to be a strong dose of allergies following some serious gardening on Sunday but later appeared to be a cold. Despite feeling bad on Monday and Tuesday I had planned to take Wednesday off and ride out to the Junction and catch Stage 4 of the Tour of California.

I woke up on Wednesday morning and the weather looked perfect in spite of the fact that the forecast was for a 20% chance of showers in the afternoon. Even though I initially suited up with arm and leg warmers as well as a vest, as I popped the garage door to head out I contemplated leaving the vest, arm, and leg warmers at home but in the end just shed the leg warmers.

Without a cloud in the sky and not even the slightest breeze, I headed out to Livermore to meet some friends on Mines Road with the plan to roll from the intersection at Del Valle well ahead of the ToC that would come through a couple of hours later. As I arrived I'd find that my friend Jonathan was there but would not be able to ride with us as he had some back issues that had gotten worse the night before. Although it was definitely a disappointment that Jon could not join us, Roger (another friend from one of my cycling clubs, Central Valley Wheelers) and I headed off at a fairly leisurely pace. Arriving around noon we were well ahead of the race and I grabbed a chicken sandwich and a water before we'd head another couple of miles up the road to watch the pros come by as they headed through Del Puerto Canyon and out toward Modesto.

As we waited for the race to come through, the weather was definitely starting to change and was starting to look more like winter than the summer day we started with. And and the peloton was only minutes away we started feeling the raindrops falling although clearly nothing serious at this point. Around 2:14 the chase group off the front of the peloton came through. With the peloton right behind we'd see one of the members of the Columbia HCL squad right behind with Garmin and Radio Shack quads following at the front of the peloton. I managed to catch shots of Lance and Andy Schleck among others .

As the boys literally blasted past in what seemed like (and probably was) just seconds it was now time to head back and the rain appeared to be picking up now. As we rolled back to Mines and then back into Livermore it really never appeared to amount to much and I was dry by the time I got back home (and logged a total of 85 miles that day). While it was great to actually ride ahead of the race, should I have the chance to do this again next year I'll probably try to drive out to various parts of the course and then also catch the pros at the start and finish of the stage.

As I wrapped up my week "at the office" I had the chance to do some mountain biking with friends from the office on Friday afternoon on Pleasanton Ridge. It was great to get a couple of hours in "off the road" and about 1400 ft of climbing over our 10 mile ride. I concluded my training this week by participating in a 24hr spin-a-thon benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. This was a personal fund-raising event being led by one of the Central Valley Wheelers Cycling Club members. When I arrived to participate in the 10-11PM session (at the In Shape Health Club in Tracy, CA) I found that a number of the participants had been on the bike for ten hours already and had 200 to 250 miles logged since they started...VERY IMPRESSIVE! After a spinning for an hour and 15 mins or so I headed back home. This was a great event for a great cause and one that is personal to Russ who had coordinated it as his daughter lives with diabetes every day.

Last, we got some great news this week as we received notification that we have been "officially accepted" to participate as a 4-man relay team in the Furnace Creek 508. While this has ALWAYS been a prestigious race, this year there will be even more exposure as the Furnace Creek 508 has been reinstated as a RAAM qualifier. I will share more on this last event of the onetoughride project in the weeks ahead as well as promotional opportunities for companies that may wish to make a significant tax deductible donation to this onetoughride project. If you are the owner of such a company or know someone that might be interested, please have them contact me directly.

It was a busy week and Memorial Day weekend is just a few days away, it is only a matter of weeks before the double century double header (Alta Alpina and Terrible Two) is upon me. This is going to be two tough weeks with two of the toughest double centuries on the calendar back to back over two successive weekends. Till next time, enjoy the ride and please consider donating to the cause by using the Donate Now buttons on my blog or on my Facebook fan page.
Best,
Steve