The Mount Laguna Bicycle Classic, a new ride offered by AdventureCorps, is coming to the tranquil little town of Pine Valley. On April 17, 2010 AdventureCorps will provide a new cycling challenge for 300 riders. The stats for the ride are 103 miles and 10,000 feet of elevation gain. Registration opened earlier this week but you need to hurry 300 spots will go fast.
I will be doing a pre-ride of the course next Saturday November 14th. I will have a full report upon completion of the ride. I'm really looking forward to climbing Pine Creek Road. I've climbed Mount Laguna and many of the roads in the surrounding area many times but somehow I haven't climbed Pine Creek Rd.
If you are up to the challenge sign up for the Mount Laguna Bicycle Classic registration has been open since Novemeber 2nd.
Where have I been for the last couple of years? Have I been living under a rock? Why didn't I know what Sharrows were until just yesterday? I've seen the chevron looking markings on the road in one section of my commute but until yesterday I had no idea what they meant. I'm a dunce! In my defense, the markings I have seen in Oceanside haven't been there for two years but at least 6 months!
So what are Sharrows? Below is an image of one. What are they used for? Here are some examples.
The stated purposes of the shared-lane markings used in California were to:
Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in a shared lane with on-street parallel parking in order to reduce the chance of a bicyclist’s impacting the open door of a parked vehicle;
Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in lanes that are too narrow for a motor vehicle and a bicycle to travel side by side within the same traffic lane;
Alert road users of the lateral location bicyclists are likely to occupy within the traveled way;
Encourage safe passing of bicyclists by motorists; and
So this morning "On my Commute" I decided to pay more attention to them as to where exactly they were located, and record a little video. Interesting commute-- It appears I'm not alone at not knowing what the chevron markings mean. Cars honked and made nasty gestures as they passed me. All the while I was just below the posted speed limit of 25mph going about 23mph. Two miles/hr would be imperceptible to a motorist driving behind me at above the speed limit.
Look at this short video where I am traveling 25 mph in a 25 mph zone and the car behind me is going 34 mph (notice the flashing speed limit sign). He then passes me and makes angry gestures pointing to the yeild to him and to get over to the right of the lane. Oh by the way, I was loving my Fixed Gear bike this morning until this butthead.
(cue Mission Impossible theme) Your mission, shall you choose to accept it is to tell just one motorist (coworker, friend, relative) what Sharrow markings mean. Do it as an "Oh by the way, did you know...?" Don't bother doing it on the road -- you'll never get through to them! I have completed my Mission -- you do the same.
After my 25 mile recovery ride on my Fixed Gear I went for a run. 1.5 hours nice easy pace. It turned out to be 9 miles. I'll need to adjust my heart rate in the "sport specific zones". As I view this graph it shows I was in "hard intensity" zone. I didn't feel that at all. I don't have much faith in Heart Rate training anyway since I use a power meter on the bike. I will adjust my max Heart Rate so that my perceived effort coincides with what the software thinks is a hard effort.
Brandy and I went out early this morning with the intentions of riding a century (100miles or 160km). The plan was to leave in the wee morning hours and have our century done by 11am. All went to plan except the route was a little short ...by six miles. Well we both thought the extra six miles wouldn't add any real benefit to our fitness so we called it at 94 miles. By the way, this was the longest ride for Brandy since April. I'm proud of her for getting it done. She didn't look too bad when it was over either.
The Detour bag was packed to the hilt once the weather warmed up a little. These bags are awesome. If you are a brevet rider or on a credit card tour you NEED to pick up a Detour bag. The bag below is the Hightail ULP.
Here's a short video (90 secs) you must watch until the end.
The weather this morning was just perfect. I wore my Skins compression long sleeve garment, a short sleeve jersey, arm warmers and knee warmers. I believe it was in the low 50's. It felt brisk at first but about 10 minutes later I thought it was perfect. The route was coastal without any significant climbs. We rode at endurance pace and restrained from chasing rabbits.
On this 6 hour ride I rode a new pair of shoes. Bont A-One Cycling Shoes. They are fantastic! I mean it. They are the stiffest shoes I have ever owned. And I'm not just talking about the soles everybody is doing that. No! They are stiff all the way up the front, sides and the heel cup. Even with all that stiffness the shoe is remarkably comfortable. And my lord are they light!
The toe box is plenty roomy for my feet. But I think they would accomodate a slightly wider foot without having to buy a "wide" model. They are heat molded custom shoes and you can mold them yourself at home. Unlike the Shimano R310 that require all the Shimano doodads (oven, toe caps, bags and suction hoses etc) at an authorized dealer to get the shoe molded to your foot.
I would strongly recommend the Bont A-One cycling shoe to someone looking for a very stiff shoe.
Sorry for the delay but it takes a long time to cull the over 800 pictures, and video footage, reducing down to just 10 minutes. I would make a terrible editor in Hollywood. Getting a movie under two hours would be quite a chore for me. There were so many great shots with lots of deep meaning for me. Thanks to my crew who took the time and effort to take such great shots and STILL found time to take care of me. Without their care I would not have finished.
Thank you crew, Brandy, Colin and Julie -- you guys got me through the 2009 Furnace Creek 508!!!
Baker Time Station #5 to Kelso Time Station #6 (382.6 to 417.6)
Coming out of Baker a 21 mile climb that drags on and on. I had a slight tailwind and starting motoring up the climb. Along the way David Goggins came up alongside and we chatted briefly. I felt fine on this climb but slowed down as I neared the top. I remember it was cooler than previous years and that's fine by me. This is notoriously the hottest section of the course for me. I wouldn't want to make a habit of having 70 mph headwinds through Death Valley just to get better weather but it sure was nice for it to be cooler on the Kelbaker climb.
Kelso Time Station #6 to Almost Amboy #7 (417.6 to 451.3)
I don't remember much of this stage. But the long descent into Almost Amboy is so long it almost hurts to be in a crouch that long.
Almost Amboy Time Station #7 to Twentynine Palms-- Finish Line (451.3- 509.6)
This last section just wears on me. I think what makes the 508 so hard for me is going without sleep for that long. I almost always have good legs towards the end of the event. In a multi-day ultra like Race Across America (RAAM) you can nap a couple of hours in a 24 hour period. But at the 508 you ride straight through. I started this stage after being on the bike 37 hours. I was done last year in 37 hours 34 minutes. It was a little daunting when I realized that I still had about 5 hours to ride before finishing.
On the Sheephole Summit climb I just couldn't stay awake. My crew was worried that I would ride off into a ditch. Maybe because I did -- once. They gave me several things to try and stimulate me but nothing worked-- long term anyway. I would have these bursts of energy and work hard to maintain that motivation but would falter a few minutes later. I tried sprinting up the climb and that worked for a little bit. I eventually crested the climb and began a much needed descent. The cold air woke me up.
After the Sheephole climb, next up was the 25 mile slog to the finish. It is a slow grind up a gradual incline all the way to the finish along with a little headwind -- you know just for fun. All I could do was count down the miles. Both my palms were killing me. Today is 10/22/09 and my right palm is still in pain. I commuted this morning and every pothole hurt my right hand palm.
Shoshone Time Station #4 to Baker Time Station #5 (Mile 326.4 - Mile 382.6)
I felt a huge relief as I rolled through the Shoshone Time Station. I felt as if the worst was over...and it was. Even though there were more winds in the latter stages, nothing was as bad as Death Valley. This next section looks so easy on the profile but yet every year it takes more effort than it looks.
My crew vehicle needed a new tire since the space saver spare was limited to 50 mph. That would make for a very long drive home from Twentynine Palms. Not to mention that we would be getting in to the finish in the wee hours of Monday morning. In other words, nothing would be open at 1am to get a new tire when we arrived.
The decision was made by Brandy, my crew chief, to roll on ahead and leave me unsupported. I like the comfort and security of having the support vehicle directly behind me through this section because the big rigs and pick-up trucks towing their "toy haulers" buzz me way too close. My crew chief stocked me with food, No-Doz and flat repair and went on to Baker. Good thing they left when they did since the tire shop was closing when they arrived. The proprietor was gracious enough to stay open after hours and sell my crew a new tire.
I was falling asleep on this section. We were about 28-30 hours into the race and only 350 miles. I was just slogging along. I know I lost a lot of time. I even got off the bike because I was swerving so badly. The winds impeded my progress even though they were probably only in the teens as far as wind speed. I took three No- Doz in the 30ish mile section to Baker. I made it in to the time station just as my crew was arriving from gassing up and buying cold medicine.
I forgot to mention that one of the side effects of the windstorm was my sinuses were so clogged I couldn't breathe. I got some relief from a crew on this stretch I can't remember that crew name. I think they were a 4X team. Brandy bought nasal spray and that me cleared me up.
UPDATE 10/21/09 : THE 4X TEAM NAME WAS TEAM CLOWNFISH. Thank you very much for the looking after on the road.
Tom Parkes and Pitsnake
I arrived at the Baker Time Station #5 15:13 or 3:13pm Sunday or 32 hours and 13 minutes elapsed time. I always feel relieved getting into Baker. I feel I have the race in the bag. It's only another 125 miles to the finish.
Furnace Creek Time Station #3 to Shoshone Time Station #4 (Mile 252.8- Mile 326.4)
What more can be said about this stage that hasn't been posted on blogs, race reports and weather reports? How about that I survived it? How about that I had many moments of "WTF?!?!?" Or how about that I just couldn't believe I was riding in it?
"I was only averaging around 11 mph. Sand, dust, and rocks sprayed in the air. I tried to yell to my crew as they pulled alongside, probably about how ridiculous the conditions were, but realized neither of us would ever be able to hear each other. I shook a bottle, and got back a full bottle of Perp. We'd have to use gestures."
"...the 50 miles between Furnace Creek and Ashford Mills was much worse this year than in 2004."
I left the Furnace Creek Time Station knowing that I would face headwinds as I went south through Death Valley but I had no idea how ridiculous they would be. The winds were blowing a steady 25-35 mph and gusting up to 70 mph. I can't express to you how humiliating it felt to be riding at 7-8 mph into those headwinds. I pushed the pedals hard and got nowhere. I eased up on the pedals and felt like I was going backwards. I couldn't get in my aero bars because I was being tossed around like laundry on a clothesline.
I would ride for 30 to 40 minutes and then pull over exhausted -- physically AND mentally. When the road would turn slightly and the headwinds became crosswinds it was extremely difficult to keep the bike upright. I would lean into the wind and when the wind would shift and I would go wildly across the road. I felt like I was in the start house of a Time Trial and balancing myself with the spotters' help and then they would let go of me as a sick joke.
This mental and physical torture went on for hours. It took me six hours to ride 30ish miles. Eventually, at 5:07 am, Brandy, my crew chief, pulled me off the bike and suggested that I take some time off the bike. The "plan" was to wait until daybreak to see if the weather would improve. Meanwhile, I would have time off the bike, rest my body and recharge my mental energy. Remember, being in Death Valley our cell phones are more akin to paper weights than communication devices. We had no way of reaching out to the "outsied world", the internet, to find out what the weather forecast might be for the next few hours. Many riders took naps of at least a couple of hours. I have trouble falling asleep when I first get off the bike. By the time I get comfy so much time has gone by I can't take a nap then. My crews, bless their hearts, have always found a way to fall asleep almost instantly when I've gotten off the bike.
Daybreak did bring slightly better conditions but only slightly. Or was it that I was refreshed from the hour off the bike? One thing I'd like to mention is the tenacity and will power Isabelle Drake, who was part of a 2X Sandhill Cranes, displayed while on the Furnace Creek to Shoshone leg. She battled through the night in short spurts like I did. We would leap-frog each other and give each other motivation to continue. One time when I pulled over exhausted she even said "Don't you stop (or quit) and leave me out here!" Isabelle you're an inspiration. I'm proud of you and glad to have witnessed your ride!
Based on my personal experience, the winds this year were the worst I have ever ridden in my four Furnace Creek 508s and at least five other Death Valley Double Centuries. I fought the winds as the sun came up and my only goal was getting to the base of the two exit climbs out of Death Valley, Jubilee Pass and Salsberry Pass. The first climb starts at mile 300 and climbs about 1000 feet in five miles to Jubilee (El 1285’). A one-mile descent leads to the next climb, about 2300 feet in 9.5 miles to Salsberry (El 3315’). Source
If you can believe it I was so happy to be climbing again. Well actually, I love to climb more than anything else. The climbs were uneventful just climb and climb some more. The best part of these two climbs was I was no longer riding into a headwind! LOL!
I rolled into Shoshone at 10:18 am Sunday morning. I'm almost embarrass to say that it took me 10 hours and 41 minutes for cover 75 miles but I'm proud to say that I continued on from Shoshone.By my count (17) SOLO riders, (4) 2x teams and (1) 4x team DNF'd before reaching Shoshone. But I was still standing and that has always been a great motivator to me.
I found this video on the Fluid page of Facebook. I thought it made an important point. Making exercise fun gets more people moving their bodies. Obesity is a major medical problem in America. Enjoy this video
I am an Ultra Cyclist and father who completed 2- Person Race Across America (RAAM) in 2007. I have finished Furnace Creek 508 SOLO FOUR consecutive years in 2006, 2007 (Fixed Gear)2008, and 2009. I am a Trans Iowa finisher and a Super Randonneur. I am a cycling coach with clients ranging from endurance cyclists, to triathletes, to beginners just entering the sport of cycling.
Email: vireo508@gmail.com
Website: www.epictrain.com
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