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

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!