2012 Furnace Creek 508 recap post still coming but here's a little bit of what it was like out there in October!

It's "almost" time to ride!

2010 Furnace Creek 508 Finish

I want to thank all of our friends and family and our corporate donors and sponsors that have supported the one tough ride 2011 project. We have now raised just over $4,200 and I am hoping that others will join the team and consider making a donation to the cause (just click the JustGive badge on the right side of this page) as Mike and I race this weekend as Team Wild Hare at the 2011 Furnace Creek 508. I also want to thank our AWESOME CREW Amy Bode and Peg Miller who will support Mike and I as we race this weekend!

The 2011 Furnace Creek 508 will also be unique in that the founding fathers of ultra cycling will not only be in attendance but also competing. Race Director Chris Kostman shares his story while taking you back to the beginning at http://www.the508.com/2011web/fullcircle.html

For those of you that want to track our progress, you can check this blog or find us on the one.tough.ride Facebook Fan Page. You'll be able to track our location in near real time using the link on the right side of the page as we'll carry the SPOT GPS Messenger throughout the race and post Time Station check-ins to this blog and on the FB Fan Page. If you know me you probably are aware that I am a gadget guy and as such will try to share our whereabouts and happenings throughout the weekend with USTREAM, SPOT, Twitter, and FB updates.

Last, thanks to my wife Paula, and my children Rachel and Nicholas for supporting me and all of your inspiration as I could not do this without you! I will provide a post-race post and share photos from the event when we are back but in the meantime, enjoy the race. Check out the AdventureCorps official Furnace Creek 508 webcast page at http://the508.com/2011web/index.html for updates and photos as well as live webcasts at the finish.

Racing for 10 Million!

Steve

Find us and watch us during the Furnace Creek 508 at:
Twitter: twitter.com/onetoughride
blog: onetoughride.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/onetoughride/110681012284550
SPOT Page (live GPS tracking during the race): bitly.com/trackthehares
USTREAM: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/one-tough-ride-2011

Just three weeks till I'll line up at the starting line in Santa Clarita

Team T-Shirt (back)

Wow, as I start to write this post from 30,000 ft (yes I am in a plane) there's only 3 weeks till we'll line up at the starting line in Santa Clarita, CA for the Furnace Creek 508. This race is unlike any other ultra-cycling event in that there is so much planning and preparation that has to be done with vehicle preparation, race nutrition planning, crew, accommodations, night lighting (vehicle and bikes) race provisions, etc. That said, I am sure it will all come together and one again be an awesome journey for the team and for me even more meaningful for the cause I am racing for.

Right now we are at close to $4K and we'll fund-raise up to and right through the race but if you make a donation prior by Monday I'll also make sure that your name is recognized on the back of the team t-shirts (like those on the left side under the "Thank You") that we'll wear at race check-in and during the pre-race meeting. I know it's a tough economy but any donation helps and is appreciated as "all" donations will be matched by the Jeffrey Modell Foundation. Donations can me made electronically by clicking on the "Just Give" badge on the upper right hand side of the blog. If you prefer to send cash, check, or a money order, please send those directly to the address noted below.

"Racing for 10 Million" bracelet

Jeffrey Modell Foundation
780 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Attn: one tough ride project

All donors will also receive a one tough ride silicon bracelet with "Racing For 10 Million" on one side and our blog URL on the other. We will take the remainder of the bracelets that are not given to donors and pass these out during the race to raise awareness for the cause and also hopefully capture additional donations.

I have been traveling on business this week but plan on more training this weekend with a double assault on Mt Diablo and a training ride with Nicholas on the tandem which will definitely be the best ride of the week!

Enjoy the ride...

Steve

Just five weeks till the Furnace Creek 508!

2011 Furnace Creek 508 Team Race Jersey

With just five weeks till I'll be a the starting line of the Furnace Creek 508 (I'll be riding the odd stages 1, 3, 5, and 7 for a total of roughly 277 miles) I have been working on trying to get some longer training rides in. Since my last post, I have completed the Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge, numerous training rides, and also spent a fantastic week in Maui with my family where we enjoyed some down time exploring the island as a well as riding a Zip Line, enjoying the beach, attending a luau, swimming and watching some awesome sunsets! During that week I even managed to get a ride in attempting to summit Haleakala which rises from sea level to more than 10,000 ft. With an inversion layer at about 5,000 ft I climbed to an elevation of ~6,000 ft over 24 miles and then decided to turn around as I had forgotten to bring both a base layer and wind vest. I do plan on returning one day to summit and check this one off the list. At the end of the ride I had logged about 48 miles with an elevation gain of more than 7,000 ft.

My fund-raising for the one tough ride project will continue through the end of October and if you have not made a donation yet, we could really use your support. Please consider using the Donate Now button at the top right side of the page. Every dollar donated s actually doubled with the commitment from the Jeffrey Modell Foundation to match the total donations raised from this project.

Our race jersey designs have been completed and sent off to production (design above). This year I was fortunate to find a great company to work with here in Pleasanton (Jakroo) that does short run production (order min 1) for full custom designs. We'll also be making a version of the team jersey available for purchase with details to come.

I will provide more frequent posts as we get closer to the race and we are also trying to work with SPOT to allow one tough ride fans to be able to track the team with live web race location updates posted the web approximately every 10 minutes.

Enjoy the ride...

Steve

One Tough Ride 2011 Season | Project Pitch Deck

One Tough Ride 2011 Season

View more presentations from Steve Bursley

Thursday night training...to the top of the Devil non-stop!

L'Etape du California...one tough ride!

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

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.

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

Tour de Starbucks ride report - AN AWESOME DAY ON THE BIKE!

After a later than expected arrival in Brentwood, Nicholas and I rolled from the start of the Tour de Starbucks riding the "Tall" course for his first official organized cycling event. Weather conditions were great as we rolled out of the start at 10:54 AM with just 6 minutes before the cutoff window closed. Riding "unofficially" as "team Mellow Johnny's" we were looking sharp in our matching jerseys but we'd have to make up some serious time to catch the Peloton.

While we'd be the last to sign in and roll, another group had delayed their start and was right behind us at the first traffic light. Nicholas dropped the hammer as the light turned green and he headed for the first climb. With dad trying to keep up (also doubling as the team photographer) we were making great time and Nick keep telling me that we had to make sure that the group that we had dropped didn't catch us.

As we rolled toward mile 4 we were looking forward to rest stop 1 (and the only one on the course) but as we got closer, we found out that the course had been changed and that there would be no rest stop today. About mile 5.5 I suggested that we make a quick stop for Nick to have some water since there would be no stops until the finish at about 8 miles.

As we rolled I noticed that Nick's front tire was completely flat. With the team car nowhere to be found (Lance, we rode for free and you couldn't even send the team car?) it looked like dad was also going to be filling in as the team mechanic. After a quick inspection of the tire I noticed that it was one of those notorious Goat Head thorns that was the culprit. Ready to remove the wheel the next thing I realized was that I had forgotten a wrench as Nick's bike didn't have quick releases. OK I thought, not a problem as I know where the hole is I'll leave the wheel on and just pop the bead on one side. Next, I applied the patch and "thought" we'd air it up with C02 and be on our way. Oops, next I realized that the C02 head only had a Presta Valve fitting.

With another couple of miles left on the course it looked like it was going to be a DNF on Nick's first ride. Disappointed but appreciating the great time that we had shared so far we started the walk back. In less than 60 seconds we'd find another group coming up and they had a pump...awesome, we are back in the race. After pumping the tire we were back on the course and heading for the finish.

As we crossed into the finish, we had covered just under 7 miles and Nicholas did a great job. This was a great day and I was so proud of Nicholas wanting to do his best right from the start with the same spirit he showed all the way back into the finish.

After putting the bikes back in the car and a quick change, we enjoyed a pizza for lunch and then closed out the day with a trip back over to Starbucks for a hot chocolate and a coffee for dad. What a perfect end to a great day and we're already planning to do at least one more event before the end of the season together.
Enjoy the ride...
-Steve

GPS and ride stats
Additional ride photos

Video of Nicholas from the course!

New ride added to the onetoughride project...Tour de Starbucks with a guest rider appearance!

I am excited to share that Nicholas and I will ride the Tour de Starbucks ride together on Saturday, May 15th. Photos and updates will be posted from the event!
Enjoy the ride...
Steve

Devil Mountain Double...CTC Stage Race, Stage II

4:55 AM and Team Ultra (Dave, David, Mike, Jim, Steve, Gil, and I) are amongst more than 100 other riders for the 5 AM mass start of the 15th Annual Devil Mountain Double Century. At 206 miles with more than 20,000 ft of climbing in a single day, this is going to be one tough ride.

As we leave the start at the San Ramon Marriott the Ultra squad is up toward the front of the pack and after a couple of stop lights at roughly 8.7 miles in we turn right to head for the first big climb which will be Mt Diablo . With the summit rising to just under 4,000 ft, we have the first of the series of the days climbs in front of us. Passing the gate we have roughly 30 mins on the clock and the pack has now split up. Continuing the climb, Steve and Dave pull ahead and I have lost sight of Mike, Jim, Gil, and David. Today, we also have our paparazzi crew following us as Eldrid and Jerr are shooting photos for Jim's company. After a 1:19 min climb I am at the summit and reach the first checkpoint. Holding true to my plan, I top off my water bottles and am descending. The descent is extremely cold and and almost to the point that I want to stop and warm my hands but this is a timed event and the Stage Race and my personal goal today is to shave 2-3 hours off of last years time.

With roughly 2:20 riding time in I make a right onto Ygnacio Valley Rd. and it's a short climb on the shoulder (always full of debris) on a fairly busy road as the head of the pack heads out to Clayton and then to the second climb of the day which will be Morgan Territory. The winds have now kicked up a bit and after rolling a few miles Dave catches me (and passes me) and that will be the last of him that I will see on this day. As we roll through Clayton and up Marsh Creek Rd. the lead pack is starting to break up and another rider pulls up and suggests that we work our way through the wind and pace line to catch the group that is just ahead of us. With roughly 40 miles behind us, I am now looking forward to a short break as we have a descent into Morgan Territory Rd. At about 47 miles in the next big climb is now upon us for 5 miles to the top. As I start the climb Steve catches me and then less than a mile from the top I am greeted by another friend Mark who is an extremely strong rider and I am wondering why it took him 51 miles to catch up but find out later that he rolled from the start 2 mins late.

I have been rolling now for roughly 4 hours and am at the summit of Morgan Territory and have about 53 miles behind me. I check in, refuel, and take a quick break and am back on the road heading for a nice long descent down "The Plunge" with roughly a 1,500 ft descent into Livermore and then out to where it is going to really get windy on Patterson Pass. As I roll through Livermore and out onto Northfront Rd. I have about 63 miles behind me with a fairly nice pace of 20+ mph out to the descent down the Altamont Pass Rd. Realizing I passed a number of riders that were following a tandem (with a couple that is super human as I also saw them in SoCal on the Mulholland Double) I am just waiting for them to blow by me on the descent as it is impossible for a standard road bike to keep up with a tandem on the flats or even worse on the downhill. Somewhere around mile 69 here they come and they are moving in excess of 42 mph as that is where they dropped me! We make a left at the stop sign and then roll about a half a mile before making a right onto Midway.

Turning right onto Patterson Pass Rd. at about mile 76 we are in for one slow climb as this is probably the windiest day I have every climbed this beast. A mile or so into the climb I quickly realize that setting the cadence alarm on the Garmin at 60 rpm was a real bad idea considering I would test that limit continuously with the climbing we'd be doing. Fighting the winds and listening to that alarm go off like a clock where you just can't hit the snooze button fast enough, I realize that I am either going to pull over and change the setting or rip it off the bike stem and throw it across the road. Knowing that I did not want to buy another, I chose the later. Rolling into the next checkpoint I have about 80 miles behind me and I have been riding for about 5:45 and the onetoughride fan club (Paula, Rachel, Nicholas, and Bruno our lab) is there to greet me. This is a great motivator but I know I still have the toughest portion of Patterson to finish and then what will be a 10 mile semi-flat cruise out to the next rest stop before climbing Mines Rd. so it's a very short visit.

It's mile 90 and I have been riding for about 6:15 and I top off the water bottles with fuel and start out on what will be the "Mines Grind" today. People tend to underestimate this road but it rises almost 3,000 ft. out to the foot of Mt Hamilton which is a 35 to 40 mile stretch. The other issue is that there is little shade over this portion of the course and I am hitting it in the middle of the day. Having taken a beating on the climb up Patterson with the straight on head winds, I am now feeling it and looking forward to hitting the checkpoint/mini stop that my friends Cheryl and Rick will be working. As I roll in, it is truly like an Oasis in the Desert and Cheryl (also our esteemed FC 508 Crew Manager) has a Coke for me. While there, I am disappointed to find out that my friend Gil (Cheryl's husband and an extremely strong and fast rider) has dropped out of the event as he had problems with the bike that he borrowed. I power down that Coke and take a couple of vitamin "I" (a.k.a. Ibuprofen) and I am off for the Junction Cafe which is at roughly 116 miles.

I roll into lunch and see a number of friends there as I inhale a chicken sandwich. After a quick chat and a refill of the bottles I am just about ready to roll and Mike (this guy is a machine and the one that did the Death Ride on a fixie ...crazy) rolls in. Mike tells me that he's skipping lunch and wants to roll together to climb Hamilton which is the second to the last "major climb" of the day. I mention to Mike that Jon said that some of the TNT team was at the bottom of the driveway into the Junction and I'd like to swing out that way to say hi.

Next we are off to Hamilton and it's time to climb. Now if you've climbed this before you need no explanation, but if you haven't it is a beast. While officially the climb may be recognized as a 12 to 14 mile ascent it's really that last 6 miles that I consider to be the climb. After a shot of Hammer Gel and a swig of Perpetuem at the bottom we start the climbing and it is warm out with the heat right on our backs.

As we continue the climb and are about 3 miles from the top a SAG van has pulled off to the right and two Sheriff's squad cars are blocking the right lane of this very narrow two lane mountain road and something has happened to one of the riders in the race that will soon change the tenor of this beautiful day. As we continue to get closer to the scene, it is obvious that something has gone terribly wrong. We are shepherded past the scene by emergency personnel and we see a rider down with emergency personnel administering CPR tirelessly to the rider lying there but there is no movement at all. I push ahead with the other riders feeling like this is a bad dream but knowing that it is not and there is nothing that any of us can do to help.

Pushing toward the top it is almost as if everything is moving in slow motion and we cannot believe what we have just seen. As I turn the next corner another rider whom has been keeping a similar pace with me throughout the day turns and says "that could have been any one of us and he probably has a wife and children at home"...and he is right. It is a somber and silent next mile till we reach the last water stop that is 1 mile before the summit. I pull in and Mike is there talking to our friend Becky. I also meet up with Steve whom I met the evening before. Everyone is in disbelief with what we just witnessed and I overhear one of the staff mentioning that "Tom was a friend of his" and it was obvious that he did not make it.

Arriving a the top, Fire Trucks and other rescue vehicles were ready to descend down the mountain but we knew it was too late. I later learned that an life flight helicopter out of Stanford was dispatched with a crew of nurses and a defibrillator but it was too late.

Having lost Mike at the last stop as I needed something to drink, I made a fairly fast descent alone and as I pulled into checkpoint 5, I met up with Mike and we were ready to head for that last big climb of the day called Sierra. Being concerned about Paula hearing the news of the rider and thinking it could have been me, I called and left a message that we had descended Hamilton and were heading for Sierra. We topped off our bottles and headed out when I realized that I had not checked in. So, I turned around and headed back adding maybe another quarter mile (with a short climb) which we really did not need with 151 miles now behind us. After giving then my name they asked who my friend was and found out that Mike had not been recorded so it was to both our benefit that I went back as suffering a DQ at mile 151 would not have been a good thing.

Arriving at Sierra with 156 miles behind us this was the last big ugly climb that we would have today and while we still had about 3 to 4,000 ft to climb after this it was nothing compared to this. Climbing almost 3,000 feet in just under 4 miles this was not going to be fun and I can tell you it wasn't. Arriving at the top of Sierra we regrouped with some of our friends that we saw on Hamilton. Rolling out just minutes before 7 PM we were in great shape to make it to Sunol (about 22 miles) before dark. As we turned the next corner there was the onetoughride fan club again and it was great to see them. However, are we were now racing daylight it was literally a 2 minute stop and photo-op (shot above) and then we were off. As we descended down to Calaveras and made a right to climb the wall we were making great time.

Mike pulled us down Paloma and we arrived in Sunol a bit after 8 PM. Rolling in to Sunol I saw Paula, Rachel, Nicholas, and Bruno there again to cheer me on which was great. With only 25 miles left, this one was almost in the bag but we had two climbs left (relatively easy based on what we had already been through) but we also had to go down HWY 84 at dusk to make that next climb up Palomares and then through Castro Valley and last up Norris and then down to the finish.

The climb up Palomares was much better this year with a light that worked (surprise, surprise) but it did get dark and the descent down the other side was going to be slower than in daylight. We had a great pace as it flattened out as we headed through Castro Valley and then made that last climb up Norris Canyon.

After a nice descent into San Ramon and then crossing 680 we turned right to the finish at the Marriott. I have not seen the "official posted time" on the web site (yet) but Mike mentioned the recorded time was 17 hours and 19 minutes. This would mean that I would shave 2 hours and 23 minutes off of my prior years time which was right within my personal goal of 2 to 3 hours.

While I met my personal goals in this event it is still hard to erase the vision of the cyclist that lost his life on the back side of Mt Hamilton on Saturday and I wish his family and friends peace during this very difficult time.

I want to recognize the sacrifice and support that my family has and will continue to give while I am out on the road and training and riding in these events in 2010 to raise money for the diseases of Primary Immunodeficiency. I'd also like to thank those of you that have contributed and ask those that have not yet done so to consider making a donation. As you may have already read, the Jeffrey Modell Foundation has agreed to match all donations made through this project. These funds will go directly to the Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic and Research Center at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford which is under the leadership of Dr. David Lewis, a world renown pediatric immunologist.

Be safe and enjoy the ride...
-Steve

PS: My full stats on this ride can be viewed using the following link Devil Mountain Double

Furnace Creek 508 Application Filed

The application for the Furnace Creek 508 has officially been filed. Team magical liopleurodon will be Jason Pierce, Gil Hopkins, Jim Batson, Steve Bursley and Crew Manager Cheryl Hopkins. This will be the Grand Finale of the onetoughride Series of some of the toughest Ultra Endurance Cycling events in the 2010 season!
-Steve

PS: The Devil Mountain Double ride report will be posted tomorrow evening!