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

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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