I had never been to Death Valley. But I had heard stories. I heard it had the lowest elevation in North America. I heard it was one of the driest places on Earth. I also heard it had some of the strangest terrain on the planet. So I was really looking forward to doing this ride.
On Saturday morning, the alarm went off in my Death Valley motel room at 4am. However, I was so excited I was actually awake before then. Everything was ready from the night before, so all I had to do was eat and go. I put on my "butt butter", got dressed and ate an extremely junky breakfast of a gas-station danish, overpriced pop-tarts from the resort general store, a banana and Muscle Milk (total calories approximately 1,000). For some reason time got away from me, and I realized it was already quarter after 5am, I had a 30 minute drive to the starting point, and the ride started at 6am. So I threw everything I needed into the truck and drove a little faster than I should have through the early morning darkness of Death Valley over to Furnace Creek. Fortunately, I arrived just in time to leave in the second wave at 6:10am.
As I started the ride, I looked at the route sheet and noticed that the first checkpoint closure was in one hour and ten minutes, and yet it was 17 miles away. Shit! Beginning of the ride, and already I had to rush. And if you missed a checkpoint, you were disqualified. I pushed hard to make it to the first rest stop, and made it with just 15 minutes to spare. Fortunately, the first 17 miles were small rolling hills with calm winds. I only had time to use the bathroom and then head on out. Thank God I had Pop Tarts for breakfast.
The next checkpoint closed around 10am, and it was 30 miles away. So again, I had to keep moving to make it. Fortunately, once again it was small rolling hills and calm winds. The only real climbing was right before the checkpoint. But I made it with 40 minutes to spare. This time, I had time to grab something to eat, refill my Camelbak, take a couple of photos and find a friendly bush. And then I headed out . . . to take on the hell that awaited me.
This ride had only 9,500 feet of climbing. But most of it was at the middle of the ride, where we had a climb up to 3,350 feet. And the climb was non-stop, with no levelling out. It was awful.
I eventually made it to the top (Salsbury Pass), but time was running out. The checkpoint in Shoshone closed at noon, and it was already after 11 and I had 12 miles to go. It was mostly downhill, but I really had to rush to make sure I got there in time. And there was no margin for error (such as flat tires). I got to Shoshone with 20 minutes to spare. It was mile 74 and I was getting pretty tired already. Fortunately, the next checkpoint closed at 3pm, so I (finally) had some time. Unfortunately, I had to go back the way we came, which meant climbing that mountain again.
I took my time, knowing I was low on energy, to climb the backside of Salsbury Pass. But I had to stop several times, and I started to get grumpy and whiny. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally got to the top. I was then rewarded with a 3,000 ft, (pretty much) non-stop descent. Unfortunately, my butt and lower back were too sore for me to stay in the "tucked-in" position on my bike, so I had to grip higher on the bars and accept some wind resistance.
At the bottom of the mountain, I turned north to arrive at the next checkpoint. And I was struck by strong headwinds. Great, I was looking forward to an easy ride after all that climbing, and now this! After the checkpoint, I had to continue north, right into the headwind, for 27 miles. It really sucked!
As I was riding through the windtunnel, a paceline passed me. The lead rider told me I could join the end if I wanted to. Yeah, right! They were going 5mph faster than me. No way I could keep up with that.
I actually kind-of had my own mini paceline going. A rider came up behind me and decided to draft off of me. And that was fine, since we were all suffering together, and if I could help a fellow rider . . . hey, why not? But when we finally reached the lunch stop, the drafting rider just left me without saying a word. I mean, a, "thank you for letting me ride/draft with you," would have been nice! It's just like when riders pass without calling out. You know, it's okay for us to talk to each other. After all, misery likes company.
The lunch stop (mile 130) had Subway sandwiches. I love Subway! And apparently, Subway is a standard on a lot of doubles.
But what was really great about the Lunch stop was it's location. It was at Badwater, which is the lowest land elevation in North America. In fact, way, way far up on the cliffs behind Badwater was a sign showing where Sea Level was. It was pretty profound, especially considering we had to bike back up to that level!
At this point, the winds had died down, and I was feeling strong (thank you, Subway!). So I took on the next 17 miles strong and revitalized. But then I could feel some raindrops coming down. I don't mind so much riding in the rain, but I do mind it when I just spent $70 to have my drivetrain cleaned! Fortunately, it was just a drizzle, and it didn't last very long. And I soon arrived at the checkpoint at mile 150.
Many riders had finished the ride already, and it was only 6pm! (How can I get to be as fast as them?) I still had 50 more miles to go, and night had fallen. And there were a couple of nasty climbs ahead (but not nearly as bad as the mountains I climbed earlier in the ride). So with my lights on, I headed on out into the darkness. And I mean, this is Death Valley. There are no streetlights. In fact, no lights whatsoever. So my only illumination was my headlamp and whatever cars would come by. Fortunately, I had a good headlamp, and I could see the road ahead just fine.
I started out my last 50 all alone. It was pretty freaky riding alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere. But after I climbed the first hill, I was at a 10-mile level geography. And before me, miles away, I could see little tiny white lights and little tiny red lights. My fellow cyclists! I knew I was not alone; and I felt more comfortable. In fact, it was pretty neat to see their lights off in the distance for the next 10 miles, because it traced the path I was about to take . . . and even let me know when I was about to hit the nasty hill.
We also got some rain. Fortunately, it was only drizzle, so nothing really got too wet. No squeaky chain! And, being this was Death Valley, as soon as the rain stopped everything was dry two minutes later (not that it got that wet in the first place).
After almost 25 miles, I arrived at Stovepipe Wells, which was the far north point of the ride. The rest stop workers were very friendly and welcoming (they always are on these rides, which is why I love them). I relaxed for a bit and had me a Red Bull, some raisins, chips and the standard Faire of double centuries, Cup-o-Noodles. (It's the warmth and the sodium.) After a nice stop there, I only had 1/8th of the ride left, and that was simply to head back the way I came. So feeling strong and confident (and a little sore and cold), I started my final leg.
I had a couple of wardrobe malfunctions on my way back. My sunglasses (which were hanging from the neckline of my jersey) fell off. So I had to stop and retrieve them. Then my jacket (which was tied around my waist because it wasn't cold enough to wear) started to slip down, so I had to fix that. But once I got past all that, I descended down towards the finish. I caught up to a group of four riders and decided to pace off of them into the finish. And then, finally, I could see lights ahead. Furnace Creek. The finish! I descended the last hill with the "gang of four", and arrived safely at the finish with almost 1.5 hours left before the route closure. I did it! Another successful double century.
This ride was harder than I thought it was going to be. Death Valley isn't just a valley. It's also got mountains. Tall mountains. And the wind is very fickle there. One mile, it's tailwind. The next mile, it's headwind. And the air is very dry there, so you really have to hydrate a lot. But the worst part was the narrow checkpoint deadlines. I had very little time to stop at rest stops, and I had no margin for error on this ride. If I had gotten a flat, I probably would not have been able to finish (officially). Fortunately, I got ahead of time, and rode every mile of the ride. And it just shows that I need to keep training and try to get even faster. But I think I did really well.
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