As many know I am an avid cyclist, both on and off road. Over the past few years my riding has migrated from weekend warrior to more endurance oriented. I enjoy really long days on the bike (sometimes 14 hours at a time) with lots of elevation gain. Since childhood I have also been an avid backpacker; starting in the Boy Scouts and continuing today with mountaineering trips in the Sierra with friends.
For years I have been interested in the idea of combining these two passions by doing a fully self supported bicycle tour. I have read Barbara Savage's Miles from Nowhere: A Round the World Bicycle Adventure and Colin Angus's Beyond the Horizon: The First Human-Powered Expedition to Circle the Globe. These books laid the foundation for this interest. This summer all the stars fell into alignment. A long time group of riding buddies were all interested in doing a tour this summer and my personal schedule freed up for one week in August. The group includes Nick Fizette, Mike Miller, Scott Miller (no relationship), and Mat Birnbaum.
We contemplated a few different routes: San Francisco to Los Angeles, Portland to Crescent City, and Crescent City to San Francisco. The Portland to Crescent City was the preferred route but the logistics and costs eliminated this route. The San Francisco to LA route was the cheapest and easiest to plan but the route was not as interesting and was more crowded. We landed on the Crescent City (CA/OR border basically) to San Francisco route.
Our route will basically follow a combination of the Adventure Cycling Association Pacific Coast Route Section 3 and Bicycling The Pacific Coast . I mapped out the routes on RideWithGPS a while back, see link for routes. The routes have changes a bit but might still be interesting to look at.
We will depart Pasadena on Friday, August 6, 2010 and drive to Crescent City in my vehicle with all our gear and four bikes on a four bike Sportworks hitch rack. Mat will be meeting us in Crescent City. We begin our approximately 460 mile, 9 day tour on Saturday, August 7 and arrive in San Francisco on Sunday, August 15. My awesome parents are turning the trip into a little vacation for themselves by shuttling my vehicle from Crescent City to San Francisco over the following week. All the stars have aligned for this trip.
The non-biker readers might want to stop reading here.
The Bike and Gear:
For this trip I will be using my everyday, do everything, bike. I ride a custom, steel, DeSalvo, which was handmade in Ashland, OR in 2008 by Mike DeSalvo. The bike has brazons for front and rear racks. Unfortunately I did not have the bike built around long reach or canti brakes and did not have fender brazons added. Foolish on my part but I am working round it. The bike was designed to be comfortable for all day rides and as a "sport tourer."
The drivetrain is all Shimano Ultegra with a compact crank and the new SRAM Apex 11x32 cassette. I use (and love) a Selle An-Atomica leather saddle, which was handmade in Wisconsin. I installed an aero bar for the trip, not for the aero advantages necessarily but more for the additional riding position. I will not be using my Garmin Edge GPS unit on the trip, which usually accompanies me on every bike ride. The battery life is about 6-7 hours these days and I just do not want to deal with charging the thing every day.
I will be using my normal Look Keo pedals and riding shoes rather than switching to a mountain pedal and shoe. My bike fit is very sensitive to change and I do not want to do a ride of this length and have bio-mechanical issues. This will make walking a bit more difficult but it will be worth the trade off. I will keep a pair of sandals handy if we need to walk more than a few minutes.
The bike is normally set up with a lightweight wheelset suited to my normal riding style. I use a Reynolds Alta Race wheelset with a 38mm deep rim with 20 radial spokes in front and 24 radial non-driveside and two cross driveside spokes. These wheels have been great but are way to delicate for the trip. I purchased a very budget conscious Shimano 105 based wheelset with a 38mm deep rim with 32 straight gauge spokes and brass nipples. The wheels are heavier for sure but will provide an extra level of security while on the trip. Lastly I will be rolling with 25mm Continental Grand Prix 4000 tires.
For racks I will be using a Tubus Tara front rack and a Bagman rear rack. The Bagman attaches to my saddle rails and supports a bag that attaches to my saddle. For panniers I will be using a pair of Ortlieb Front Roller Classics, in front obviously. I will also be using a Carradace Nelson Longflap saddlebag. This is a ducted cotton bag handmade in England. Finally I will be using an Acron Boxy Rando Bag attached to the bike with a Velo Orange Decaleur. The Acorn bag is handmade in Gardena, CA by a husband and wife company.
In the front panniers I will carry small volume/high weight items: pot, stove, fuel, clothes, food, water purification, and various other items. In the saddlebag I will carry large volume/low weight items: sleeping bag, sleeping pad, extra silnylon tarp. Attached to the outside of the saddlebag is my tent. For most a tent is not a lightweight item, for me it is a 23 oz silnylon Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo with carbon fiber pole (handmade in Beaverton, OR). See full pack list for more details (Opens a PDF) Total weight of bike and gear is approximately 45-50 pounds.
For riding entertainment I have my helmet wired with headphones and an iPod Shuffle 4th Gen. I use a product called Slipstream, which position the headphones in the direction of my ears so I can hear the music without the headphones in my ears. I am a big fan of audiobooks while riding. I have lined up a nice collection of four audiobooks for the trip:
Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life by Robert ReichFactory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie Chang
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan (back up book in case I don't enjoy one of the earlier books)
I will be updating my blog with my Motorola Cliq phone with Android OS by sending emails to my Vox account. My hope is this will minimize my need for long amounts of time on the internet with the phone.
For photography I will be taking my DSLR Cannon 40D with Tamron 17x55 lens. I would prefer to take my much smaller and lighter Cannon S90 but my wife needs the camera while I am away. The three pound camera will ride in my Arcon handlebar bag for easy access.
My buddy Krisztian (Bergsteiger) and I have been driving 395 together for years; heading to Mammoth, climbing peaks, etc. In recent years we have been eyeing the road to Horseshoe Meadows and Whitney Portal for a bike ride. We have both driven these roads several times on trips to climb Mt Langley, Mt. Whitney, and just a month ago to climb Mt Russell. This time we wanted to bike the to hellaciously long and steep roads.
First the stats:
Horseshoe Meadows: 20 miles - 6,200 feet of gain
Mt Whitney Portal: 11 miles - 4,300 feet of gain
We planned to camp out the night before at Tuttle Creek BLM Campground. (This is a great little campground just outside Lone Pine off Horseshoe Meadows Rd with a creek 10 feet outside camp.) Nick (Good ol' Slappy) joined us for this adventure. On the drive up Krisztian got a PM from Sol (SDstumpy). We re-PMed him and invited him on the trip - time 10:30 PM. Sol packed up his stuff and took off to Lone Pine. He arrived at 3:30 AM.
The Marmot Hotel
The Mohican Villa
The cowboy
We started at the intersection of Whitney Portal Rd and Horseshoes
Meadows Rd. at about 8:00 AM. The beginning of the ride is a mellow
grade for about 4 miles then starts to tilt upward like an exponential
growth curve. The first switchback is 3 miles long!
Let's git er done!
There is no getting around the fact that this is a long steep climb
with only short sections of rest (read 6% grades); the rest of the time
the grades are between 8%-12%.
Punishing. That is the road lower down in the background.
First switchback
Nick and Sol making their way up. I am still lagging behind.
We stashed a gallon of water at Morton's Rock the night before. When looking up at Horseshoe Meadows Rd from the 395 Morton's Rock is right were the road disappears. Unfortunately the road does not stop here. It is another 3 miles until the end of the road. Luckily there is a 1 mile downhill.
Krisztian posing at Morton's Rock with Owens Valley some 9,500 feet below!
Horseshoe Meadows is the end of the road at 9,900 feet. The weather was perfect with a nice little chill in the air. Remnants of snow could be seen on the peaks from last weeks early season storm. The parking lots were nearly empty. I think we saw less than 10 cars the whole climb.
A much deserved break
1 down 1 to go
The descent started out very cold but the one mile up hill warmed us up
before the forever long downhill back to the vehicles. Speeds were
fast. It was hard to keep things in the 30s. Nearly 50 minutes after we
left Horseshoe Meadows we finally reached the vehicles. We stocked up
on water and food before the climb up to Whitney Portal.
At this point I felt pretty good. The climb to Horseshoes Meadows was difficult but not deadly. I was in for a rude awakening on the Portal climb.
The climb started out with a moderate 5% grade, which was surprisingly difficult. After a bit of this the legs started to weaken as the road went on forever. Looming were the two big switchbacks up to the Portal.
Before we even reached the first switchback Nick, Sol, and I were paperboying it back and forth across the road. I got into a rhythm of 50 pedal strokes then 6 switchbacks. This got me to the base of the first switchback.
There were more vehicles on this road but still not that many. Everyone gave us plenty of room, passing in the other lane. Most waved.
The two switchbacks were terribly punishing for me. My knees were killing me. I zig zagged, I stood, I found shade when I could, all in an effort to keep moving. The grade eased up quite a bit after the end of the second switchback until just past Whitney Portal Campground. One more steep switchback and then it was the home stretch. As soon as I reached the overflow parking lot I knew I was there. I was the last one to roll into the Portal.
Victorious!
We got cheeseburgers, fries, and Sierra Nevada beer from the Portal Store! Really good burgers and fries.
We eat our food in the sun by the little fishing pond.
The descent was even faster than Horseshoe Meadows. After the last switchback the road is almost straight for miles with grades between 8% - 5%. I reached my highest speed to date of 52.5 MPH, Nick reached 55 something. At that speed I started to notice some serious speed wobbles starting so I backed off. It took a surprisingly long time to get back down to the low 40s. Supper fun fast descent!
This was a really difficult ride for me. The mileage is not super long at 60ish but with over 10,000 feet of gain it is potent. This has been a dream of mine for about 4 years. I'm glad I finally did it!
Enjoy the ride belo
Route information here:
http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=29240
Due to some last minute changes my plans for the weekend of July 11-12 changed at the last minute. On Wednesday my buddy and I decided to do the Markleeville Tour of the California Alps - Death Ride. The ride is 129 miles with 15,000+ feet of elevation gain over 5 passes.
The registration process for this is event is very difficult I understand. Most people feel honored just getting a pass. So for us to decide to do the ride just three days before the event is a bit unusual. Both of us ride regularly so the fact that we did not train specifically for this event was not our main concern, getting passes was. Krisztian has been riding regularly, far more regularly that me. I on the other hand have not been riding that much over the last month or so. Nevertheless we decided to give it a go.
We found two tickets on Thursday via the ride web site discussion board. Krisztian departed Aliso Viejo and picked me up in Pasadena about 11:30. We picked up our first pass in Sylmar from a guy who could no longer do the event. The drive up 395 is always nice and gets nicer the further north one drives. Departing the 395 towards Monitor Pass was amazing. Neither of us had driven that section of road and boy was it amazing. Registration closed at 7:00 PM, we rolled in around 7:15 PM. This put us in the "problem child" line with about a hundred other riders looking to register. We were also supposed to meet up with someone else to purchase another pass. He was no where to be found. After a few stressful moments we found someone in line we could purchase a pass from.
With two complete rider packets in hand we set off to get some dinner and get ready for the big ride the next day. We elected to camp in Krisztian's truck rather than the camping grounds with some fellow co-workers. It was late and dark at this point and setting up a tent in the dark sounded like a huge hassle at that point. Big mistake. I tried to get to sleep in the back of the truck but to no avail. Finally I crawled into the cab to see if I could sleep. I think I got somewhere between 3-4 hours sleep. I was awoken by the sound of drums at 4:00 AM from a marching band making its way through the parking lot/camp.
We started our ride at 5:30 AM. We started out with Brad, Theresa, John, and one of John's riding buddies (sorry I can't recall his name). Brad had provided some very important advice - keep your heart rate below 80% for the first 3 passes. He had echoed this point to me many times and I'm glad he did. Our group split up quickly into teams of two as we departed the starting line never to reform.
The climb up Ebbits was long, just like all of the climbs. Without
looking at the number that cloesly my guess would be it was a 2+ hour
climb.
Lunch was a welcome nice break. We didn't allow ourselves too long of a break as it is just that much harder to get going again. The road out of the stop was a nice little descent back into Markleeville. There were lots of cheering fans on the ride in and back out of town. This was a nice little pick-me-up and made me feel like a Tour de France rider if only for a few minutes. The route takes us through town to the base of the last climb of the day - Carson Pass.
The climb started at mile 90 and ended at mile 110. These number were
very demoralizing at this point in the day. You are sitting there
riding thinking there is no way I can climb 20 miles at this point in
the day. Then the head winds kick in and you're climbing going 5 MPH
and thinking no way can I climb for 4 hours. Thankfully the winds died
down a bit and after about 5 miles the grade changes from 6% to 2% for
several miles of rolling hills. Yet just as the grade changed for the
best the weather changed for the worst. Dark clouds set in and it
started raining. Not just a little drizzle but full on rain. So here I
am dressed in basically my underwear riding my bike in the rain at
6,000+ feet. Good times! The ride has now turned into an epic. This
actually picked up my spirits as I always love an epic. I figure if I
don't die or loose any fingers or toes from hypothermia it will make a
great story.
The weather had cleared at this point but I was cold and wet and the
pass was windy. I found a box of plastic bags at the rest stop. I
pocked a hole in the bottom of the bag for my head and two on the sides
for my arms. This makeshift wind vest was a life saver on the descent.
After some food and a short break it was time for the last big descent
to the finish line.
I managed to finish the ride in a total time of 13 hours and 49 minutes. This is the longest ride I have done to date by 20 minutes (Solvang Double Century was 13 hours and 30ish minutes). Much like any ride like this there is no way I want to do it again that day or the day after, however I am already starting to think about doing it next year. Next year is the 30th anniversary of the ride and there is talk of adding a 6th pass adding another 24 miles to the ride. WOW!!!
After the ride we were treated to some of the worst food ever. The
folks that put on the Death Ride do put on a great event, but the food
leaves something to be desired. I was hungry, I mean really hungry, and
I could hardly eat that food. After dinner I got a nice shower in the
port-a-shower thingy and got a much deserved 30 minute massage. I
highly recommend getting a massage after big events like this. It makes
the next day so much easier. This time I set up a tent next to the
truck and slept much better.
There is a new lust in my life. The 2010 Specialized Epic 29. I caught my first gimps of it on MTBR last week. This appears to be an aluminum, race oriented, short travel, 29er. There seem to be several new offering in this arena, e.g. Rocky Mountain and Fisher both have similar rigs coming out. I understand the Fisher will be carbon, which is a show stopper for me.
Now I love my steel HT Niner. When riding trails like Upper Winter Creek I have often thought how just a few inches of travel would go a long way. My feeling is the little bit of suspension would actually be better for climbing more than descending in terms of speed. Sure a few inches of travel would make descents a bit more comfortable but it's not like the Niner is a slow descender (on all but really aggressive trails).
Early thinking is it will only be sold as a full bike. I really only want a frame. I have my industry insider looking into bike versus frame and cost issues at the upcoming Specialized industry demo event in mid-July. Team VeloSport/Sho-Air hands out pro forms for Specialized around the begining of the year I believe. Better start saving my pennies.
Set up thoughts
Fork: I would hope to get one of the second gen 29er RS Pikes or maybe a Fox and would love to get a 20mm or new Shimano/Fox 15mm axel. I'm pretty much done with 9mm if I can help it.
Wheels: I will port over my existing wheels (hopefull with a new Hope hub to work with different axel sizes), regardless if I have to get a full bike. Parting out the OEM wheels should be easy.
Cranks: 94 BCD cranks will be a must. Options include my existing NOS Race Face cranks, NOS Race Face Next LP, or Middleburn cranks. Surly makes a crank with 94 BCD but I think it's a tank.
Brakes: I could run my Hope Mini/M4 set up but the M4 is a bit portly. Replacing the M4 with a Mini is another option. This is by far a cheaper route. A set of Formula One brakes would be sweet but more in the money-no-object category.
Saddle: This one is a no brainer. Brooks B-17, black, chopped. I will hang on to my already broken in antique brown Brooks to be recommissioned at a future date.
January is a long time away and these things have a way of changing. Time will tell what ends up unfolding. Stay tuned.
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