bigbossman 

I finally got home last night from Death Valley, and all during the 10 hour road trip I was mulling over exactly how to write up the experience I had riding there.

Death Valley is one of my favorite spots on earth, and I'm no stranger to its' environs. I'm familiar the geologic and human history of the place, and have spent countless days and hours, both on foot and in a 4x4, exploring the park and surrounding area. It is a geologic wonder, and the historic accounts of personal adventure and suffering are at once astounding and fascinating.

Ever since re-discovering cycling in 2005 I've been wanting to go for a bike ride in Death Valley, and I finally got my chance this past weekend. Now, while I greatly admire those of you that can do a double century, I am smart enough to realize that doing so is not in the cards for me. So, I signed up for just the century. I mean - I've done lots and lots of centuries, and this one was mostly contained in a relatively flat valley after all...... how hard could it be? Turns out, pretty damn difficult - at least for me.

Ok - let's start from the beginning. As I mentioned earlier, it is a 10 hour drive from my house to Death Valley, some 500 or so miles distant. So, I was desirous of company. To that end, I decided to take a few days off, bring the family, and make a vacation out of it. We took off Friday morning, and pulled into Furnace Creek before sundown. Registration was disorganized and took way longer than it should have and the only restaurant was jammed, but we managed to get our room, get me registered, and get everyone fed eventually. Picked up a pretty cool looking jersey, too.

The next morning dawned clear and sort of cool, with just a light rustling breeze. Temperatures were predicted to be in the 90's, which isn't too hot for Death Valley. The only caveat is that the air is so dry there that you lose a lot of water just breathing. No matter - I had two full water bottles, and this was a supported ride so I wasn't concerned. It turns out, carrying and drinking enough water was an on-going concern for me, and most likely contributed significantly to the difficultly of the ride.

If you've never been to Death Valley, the scale of the landscape is hard to imagine. But the one thing that I quickly found out was that it was not flat. Ever. On either side of the valley, there are large, steep mountain ranges - The Amargosa Range and Funeral Mountains on the east side, and the Panamints on the west side. Because of this, both sides of the valley have gigantic alluvial fans created by eons of extreme weather erosion. They are debris fields that are literally thousands of feet thick, spilling out of every canyon. All of this matters because, as I rode from south to north along the east side of the valley, the route was continually traversing one gigantic pile of rubble or another. In addition, the valley is tilted down north to south, so that as I rode north I was more or less constantly climbing as I went. As the route started at -200' and climbed up to 3,000' before returning, it was effectively 50 or so miles of climbing large, inclined rollers. Sweet.

The first rest stop was 18 miles from the start. The route up to this point was relatively flat but still inclined, and by the time I arrived at the stop my bottles were almost empty. No problem - a refill and a handful of calories, and I was off again. After a while, it seemed I was struggling to keep my speed up for no apparent reason, and the sun was getting ever stronger. As I pressed on, my struggling seemed to intensify, and it was here that I discovered two facts - 1) the incline was much steeper than it appeared to the eye, and 2) my back wheel was out of true and rubbing hard on the left brake pad. The vastness of the landscape had served to hide rather well the tilt of the route, and the rear wheel had conspired with it to wear me down. By about the 32 mile mark, I was pretty fatigued, down one bottle of water, and the rear wheel had become unridable. Fortunately, a SAG vehicle overtook me at this juncture, and exchanged my bad wheel for a spare he was carrying. As he advised me that the next water stop was "just ahead", I pressed on.

"Just ahead" turned out to be misleading - the next rest stop wasn't until the 40 mile mark, and by then the sun had come out in full force and I was completely out of water as I climbed the last couple of miles. I was really behind the eight ball by this time, and I seriously considered turning back. I have no real problem SAG'ing on an organized ride, but I do not like to quit, either. Especially so on a ride I have never done, and one that I'll likely not attempt again for a long time. So, I pressed on. The turn around point, Scotty's Castle, was only 14 miles ahead, and lunch sounded good. Besides, I was told by a volunteer that the next water stop was at the Grapevine Ranger Station, only 10 miles ahead.

By the time I reached the ranger station, I was down to the last few mouthfuls of water and, what was worse, there was no water to be had at the ranger station. No ride personnel, no rangers, no nothing. All buttoned down and no one in sight - except the group of riders taking refuge from the sun under the overhang. At this point I was getting aggravated about the constant lack of water on the ride, but I only had three miles to go to get to lunch. Midway up the 3 mile climb, I came across a SAG wagon parked on the shoulder, idling. He seemed surprised when I asked for water, but he did have some so shortly thereafter I did, too. I finally heaved myself into the rest stop and onto the grass, and took a break. Now, after 54 miles, I was totally shot. As I rested in the shade, I saw many people loading up into the SAG wagons and leaving the course.

I ate a bit, drank a lot, and lay still for 30 minutes or so. Feeling somewhat refreshed, I decided to make the run back. After all, it was all downhill, right? Well - yes....... and no. In aggregate it was all downhill, but there were those big rollers to contend with. Normally no big deal, but in my diminished state they were formidable obstacles. Nevertheless, off I went. It was during the return trip that I learned another fact about riding in the desert - nothing ever seems to get closer, and the vista goes on forever. The return trip was almost like riding on a conveyor belt for 3-4 hours. I could see sand dunes shimmering and dancing 40 miles distant that never seemed to draw near, until eventually I was passing to their left. At mile 93 I suffered a front flat, but that was a welcome relief as it meant I could stop riding for a little bit.

All told, I was on the road sun up to sun down, with about 8:30 of saddle time. 108 miles in the bag, and just over 4,000' of climbing. I was one whipped puppy at the end of it, but at least I earned my jersey.

Sunday I took the family on some back country road trips, and Monday we came home.

Random pics taken during the ride (except the first one!):

Cody experiences the desert for the first time. He does not wander too far:


Morning:


The road:


More road - some rollers:


It never ends. See it, to the left?:


Hey - what's that behind me? Oh, yeah. The road:


Big desert sky - see the road way off in the distance, in front of the two tiny peaks?:


Sand dunes, way in the distance:


Headed for home:


Sunset, as I finish:

kjfitz

Great write-up. And congrats on finishing. Good job.

By the way, the water at the Grapevine Ranger Station was a stand alone faucet five feet from the west side of the rode along side the ticket booth. I made the same mistake last year and dried out badly in both directions. This year I asked one of the people seeking shade under the information center and they pointed it out. (Google Street View: That little waist high stump next to the sidewalk is the faucet.)

I put my double write-up here if you're interested.

Come on out and do the Spring version. Lots more rollers, a bigger climb and even lower below sea level.

Biker395 

What? No mention of how your pal crapped out at the last minute and left you to ride that by your lonesome? I expected at least a good natured jab.

Welcome to riding in the desert ... particularly Death Valley.

Dry: You can become dehydrated just sitting there, breathing.

Alluvial fans: Fun, huh? You're pedaling hard, thinking ... WTF ... why is this so hard? Then you look at your inclinometer and note that it's a 5% grade.

Distances: Best not to look at distant objects. I don't think you've done the southern route, but it's more of the same. Long vistas, and for all the world, it looks like your pedaling on a conveyor belt, going no where.

At least the winds were calm.

Nice pix.

gpelpel

Thanks for the report BBM and congrats on completing the whole century. I agree with you the place is fascinating, it looks rather small when looking at it on a map but always surprises by its vastness once on site. I have made many photo trips to the valley and was always amazed at the number of miles added to the odometer once back home. The road from Stovepipe Wells to Scotty's Castle never seems to end, I can imagine how demoralizing it must be on a bike especially with a constant drag brake.

DiabloScott

I did the spring century a few years ago - windiest century I've every done... I was COOKED in Furnace Creek. We didn't get to go to Scotty's Castle... went south for fifty miles, turned around and came back.

Also it felt like someone poured dessicant into my eyes and nasal membranes. I'm not a desert guy.

Red Rider

We've driven through it numerous times but not on a bike. The pics are just as I recall (we drove through it late Dec. '97). Sorry it wasn't better SAG'ed and glad you survived to tell the tale.

How did it compare to our ride in July?

Midland

Thanks for the report and pictures John. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger, huh. Congrats on finishing, never tried a solo Century...sounds daunting, way to pull thru.
I also have wanted to ride in DeathValley, looks so other worldly and surreal.

cantdrv55

Congrats John! Looks like you were riding on the moon but with tumbleweeds.

Lanceoldstrong

Who knew you were such a good writer? Great report, great grinding, gut testing ride.

It sounds like you had the complete desert experience save for the oddly disturbing David Lynch characters and hallucinations. Unless you had some of each and just forgot to post them, or discretion prevented it.

Here then is my imagining of some of the more surreal moments you may or may not have had.

Ygduf

Good report.

So happy I skipped this double!

bigbossman 

It wasn't that hot - only low 90's. I suffered more on your ride.

LouD-Reno

This was my 3rd time.... did the double last fall..... tough ride.... started cramping on the way up to Scotty's ~ Mile 70...... Finished WAAAYYY after dark...... did the spring 100 on the triplet.... and now the fall 100 on the tandem..... 9 year old stoking on the way up to Scotty's... 6 year old stoking on the way back down......

This go round I really upped my intake of enduralytes..... 6-8 at a pop...... helped enormously..... but I did almost bonk..... (if the thunder don't get ya.... the lightnin' will.....) luckily I was able to forage some carbs....

That's Grapevine in the background......


My smile is fake.....



But Lou Gianni's is real !!!!

jonathanb715

Hey, John, it was good seeing you there! I attempted my first double, but knew I was unlikely to finish before I started - I'd hardly ridden at all in September or October. Still, I'd paid and never seen Death Valley.....

The double route is similar to the century route, except you get to do several short and one long out and backs to get you up to close to 200 miles. It seems like an ideal first double route - most of the climbing is front loaded, so if you can survive the first 100 miles, you have a fighting chance. As BBM described, the first 50 miles or so are fairly flat. I hooked up with a friend, and then we tucked behind a 19 mph paceline that basically pulled us into Stovepipe Wells (the first of those pesky out and backs). I was feeling good, my heart rate was mostly in zone 2 - I was beginning to think I might be able to finish this ride. We then worked our way back to the first rest stop for the century, made sure our water bottles and stuff were full (we had a bit more than 30 miles at this point) and headed on to Scotty's Castle.

At around mile 50 the consistent climbing started. Nothing serious - mostly like Collier Canyon, for those who ride around North Livermore. But it goes on for 25 miles, with the rest stop at Scotty's breaking it up around mile 70. At first I was fine. My friend Fredsky was struggling a bit, but my heart rate was still where I wanted it and I was feeling strong. There was a water stop at mile 60, after a brief steeper section. I thought I was feeling good - but when I unclipped, I was hit with cramps in both quads. WTF?!! I was able to work them out fairly quickly, so I swallowed a few endurolytes to go with the water and orange slices. I was sticking with drinking every 10 minutes, and had already gone through 3 24 oz. water bottles and 2 24 oz. bottles of Cliff Electrolyte drink, so I'm still not sure what was happening. At this point, I started playing leapfrog with LouD-Reno's tandem (I was the one in the TnT Death Ride jersey) - if my legs were cooperating I'd climb a bit faster, but I was stopping frequently and really struggling.

After that stop, I never did get my legs back. The last 3 miles up to Scotty's (after the Ubehebe Crater turnoff) were torture - steeper stair steps of up to 10 % grades, but if I tried to get out of the saddle my legs would cramp up to a point where my knees would lock up. It took me an hour to do those last 3 miles, which really shouldn't have been that hard.

At Scotty's, they had just sent the last of the double riders out towards the Nevada border - a 25 mile out and back that included the rest of that 25 mile long climb. Chris (the ride organizer) basically told me that even if I managed to recover quickly, there was already no way for me to make it out to the turnaround point before they closed it up. The prospect of no water (I was carrying 3 24 oz bottles with me, which may have been enough but....) along with the sorry state of my legs was enough to convince me to camp in the shade for a while. After about an hour, the fastest of the double riders started coming back through after their trip to Nevada. Time to get back on the bike!

I muddled through and rode the rest of the route, except I bypassed the last 6 mile climb. Ubehebe Crater is pretty incredible, but the 5 mile out and back to get out there covers the worst roads of the entire ride - frost heaves that would make Michigan proud. As I rode along, I recovered better than I thought I would and still did 140 miles. I rolled backing into Furnace Creek at 8:10, or about 13 hours after I'd started. Even with all the time spent off the bike (my riding time was 10 hours and change) I wasn't all that far off the average pace I would have needed to maintain to finish the double within the 17 hour limit. Given the lack of fitness, not finishing was not completely unexpected, so now I have some new targets for next year!

JB

bikingshearer 

You ought to shoot the SOB who built it.

rumbutter

Great stories people. It takes me right back to last year. Its definitely not an event you want to do if you are not on good form. I suffered really badly last year.

I still enjoyed myself in Death Valley but not riding was a bit of a downer. Non cycling related pictures below.

https://www.zensurweb.com/automobile/DeathValley09.htm

bigbossman 

Unlike you, I made it all the way to the Devil's Racetrack and back in my Chevy Tahoe. The road was so bad it cracked my tailpipe where it comes out of the rear of the muffler, and both my front struts are shot. Oh - and I lost the lenses to both front foglights. They just vibrated off, I guess.

There are some awesome places you can get to with a 4WD or high clearance vehicle. Next time, try the road to the Inyo Mine, Chloride Cliff, The Lippencot Lead Mine, and the Ubehebe Mine. And you really should suffer the beating and see the Racetrack - it's pretty cool:

jonathanb715

ok, a few pics from my abbreviated attempt:

3rd wave getting ready to go (faster riders went off first) - the lady in the Mission Cycles kit in the 3rd row basically pulled us along at 19mph the whole way to Stovepipe Wells (you can also see BigBossMan in the 2nd row, all the way to the left, if you look carefully - he snuck in with the last wave of double riders to get a few extra minutes out on the course):


Early morning, flat miles:


My buddy Fredsky has done a few doubles, but didn't have such a great day either:


The beginning of that long gradual climb that eventually did me in:


Scotty's Castle - architectural monstrosity in the middle of nowhere:


Part of the climb to Scotty's - I'm starting to struggle:


Sun getting low in the sky, shadows getting kind of long, but still a long way to go:


First signs of the desert sunset:


JB

gpelpel

Nice pictures BBM.

The Racetrack is one of my favorite places in the valley. Although I made it within a problem several times, always alone, the last two visits ended up with some adventure.

On the first of the two I was with a friend shooting at sundown at the top of the White Mountains at the Bristlecone Pine forest. Once we were done we decided to use the dirt road from Big Pine to Ubehebe crater and then hit the dirt road to the Racetrack instead on driving around on the regular roads. It was late, I was having too much fun driving fast on the washboards. When we arrived at the Racetrack around 2am to spend the rest of the night the Tahoe was like a boat on a rough sea; blown shocks. We made some good shots in the morning though but the drive back to the Bay Area was kind of interesting.

On my last visit in July 2006 I was with my 13 year old Son. We arrived late in the afternoon for a sunset shoot. We had a great time on the playa. Back at the car the Grand Cherokee battery was dead. Ooops! In July there's not many people there. Luckily a couple of Japanese visitors were doing some 4x4 driving in the area. I instructed them to alert the rangers once they hit a road and find a phone. We planted the tent next to the playa and spent a very windy night, a bit nervous too. We had sufficient water for the next day and an eventual hike back to Ubehebe in case nobody came to rescue us (26 miles, would have been a long one). The morning was long, very long. Finally a bit after 10am we saw sunlight reflected off a car coming down to the track so we started hiking toward the north parking in case the occupants decided to turn around there. It was a ranger coming for us. My Son enjoyed the short ride in the ranger's truck, big gun, radio... A jumper cable helped restart the Jeep and we were on our way back with a nice story to tell.

Anyway I now really recommend you check tires, brakes, coolant level, and battery before going to this place. Better yet is going with two vehicles. If we had to have the Jeep towed it would have cost us $1800. That can make for an expensive weekend.

Red Rider

Oh, okay. I want our rides to be more sufferfesty than those that you pay for.

t4mv

Oh, don't worry, your rides are plenty sufferfesty, regardless of cost!


Thanks for the great pics, guys. I've done the *drive* from FC to Scotty's at speed, and thought that was an excruciatingly long drive, I'd be one of those skeletons in the desert if I rode it... DVNP has got to be one of the largest parks in the country.

Beaker

Great write ups, guys. John - your pictures are, as always, superb.

BlastRadius

Thanks for the great writeup and pictures. BBM, I didn't know you only re-discovered cycling so recently. Good job!

cccorlew

This has been a fun read, thanks!

MarkoPolo

Echoing the others... great write-up as always BBM. I had visions of the Borax 20-Mule Team being drafted into service to retrieve your bones out in the desert.

Has anyone else noticed just how much satisfaction we get out of hearing about your pain?

Biker395