MARKLEEVILLE DEATH RIDE 1998 July 11, 1998 SATURDAY MORNING: 3:30 AM The alarm goes off at 3:30 and I stumble out of bed. I'm 30 minutes away from the start of the ride and I need to get there by 4:30 to get a good parking space--where a good parking space is defined as being within a half-mile or so of the start. I stagger around for a few minutes but finally manage to put on my shorts and pack my bag. After getting all my stuff packed in the car, I headed up to the kitchen for a slice of bread and some hot chocolate. Not the world's most nutritious breakfast, but I like to eat light before events. I made it out the door by 4:10, so not too bad. I was staying in South Lake Tahoe, near Heavenly, so the drive to the start at Turtle Rock meant driving down Kingsbury Grade, (Daggett Pass) which was my downfall on last year's Death Ride. Fortunately, driving down (even in the dark) is a lot easier than riding up in the hot sun, so the trip to Turtle Rock was uneventful. Most noticeably, with every turn I made, I seemed to be in front of or behind someone with a bicycle on their car. By the time I got to the park, we must have had a little caravan of between 5 or 10 cars, all going to the Death Ride. Even though I actually arrived at 4:45 rather than 4:30, I was easily able to park near the Park entrance. I did so and started making final preparations to go. To get the right idea here, you have to understand how the Death Ride works. It's not a race, you just show up at the start and go (not that anyone even checks that you start at the start.) Officially, you're forbidden to start before 5:30, but lots of people do, and the rules tacitly acknowledge this by saying that you may be cited for riding before 5:30 without lights. So, while I'm getting ready, people are riding by me already. I make all the usual bike preparations and then some, pump up the tires, Gu taped to the top tube, more Gu and PowerBars in my jersey pockets, salt tablets taped to the stem, MET-Rx ORS in the drinking system and one bottle concentrated ORS in the other bottle, rainjacket in my jersey pocket. It's warmer than last year but still not warm, so I'm wearing arm-warmers, leg-warmers, gloves and a vest. And since I know it will warm up later, I'm also wearing sunscreen. Finally, I can't stall any longer, so I hit the Porta-John back at the park (hint: The Porta-Johns near the tennis court don't have a line like the front ones do). It's 6 AM and I'm on my bike. Normally I'm sleeping at 6 AM. COURSE OVERVIEW This year, the Death Ride returned to it's original course, which is basically a Y. All the passes are out and back, in the order Monitor (front side), Monitor (back side), Ebbets (front side), Ebbets (back side) , Carson. Carson (8573) --------------------\ Woodsfords \ \ \ Start \ \ \----------------------- \ ^ \ Ebbets( XXXXX) \ \ \ <- Monitor ( 8314) \ \ \ \ PREAMBLE The initial 3 miles or so is a fast descent of 500 feet or so. It was a bit chilly this year, but since I was wearing both arm and leg-warmers as well as a vest and gloves, it wasn't that bad. Everyone takes this descent pretty fast, but I have aero bars, so I tend to take it faster, which led to me passing a lot of people. Unfortunately, people are pretty badly bunched up, so I spend a lot of time yelling "on your left" and getting pretty close to the double yellow. One guy swerves left right as I pass him, and I'm forced over the double yellow. "Hold your line" I yell and he gives me that dumbfounded look. "What the hell do you think 'on your left' means?" I call back over my shoulder. I'm sure I'm overreacting here because of triathlon anti-blocking rules, but I still think people should have the basic courtesy to stay far enough right to let others pass without crossing the double yellow, (The Death Ride Rules actually say single file, but noone does that) or at least to hold their line. Finally the hill bottoms out and we start the gradual climb to the intersection of 4 and 89 that marks the start of Monitor. This is relatively uneventful and I'm doing it on the aero bars because it's comfortable and shallow. I'm starting to warm up now, but I'm not about to take any clothes off yet. MONITOR I: 10 miles/2800 ft I've done Monitor I and II before, so I'm not surprised that it's long, but I'm still stunned by HOW long it is. The longest hill I usually do is Page Mill, which is only 8 miles long and much less consistent in grade. Monitor is fairly easy the whole way, which tempts you to push the pace, but it's so long that that's really not a very good idea. This is made especially difficult since this first hill is the sorting out period, where people's approximate positions in the miles long Death Ride Peleton get established, and my urge is always to stick with people who pass me just going a little faster than me. Even though I'm passing lots of people too, and I know the Death Ride isn't a race, I still don't like being passed. The other thing about Monitor I is that it's got a lot of false summits. Three or four times I said to myself (and occasionally the others around me) "There's not much mountain left, we must be nearing the top" only to round the next turn and see that there's a lot more left. Really, I'm more bored than tired, but I still don't like it. about XXX minutes into the ride, I finally clear the last summit. I get my one pass sticker, stop at the rest stop for a few minutes to use the PortaJohn and snack on a Powerbar and then it's down the back side. The back side is mainly fast sweeepers, and I spend a fair amount of it on the aero bars. Unfortunately, I can't really enjoy myself because every time I think about going all-out, I remember the woman who hit the bull last year and I sit up and back off. It's also fairly cold and I'm glad I'm still wearing arm and leg warmers. I don't bother to rest at the bottom, but just pick up my 2 pass sticker and head back up. The idea here is to get 4 hills done before lunch. MONITOR II: 13 miles/3310 ft