Originally Posted by
Eric F
I did the Death Valley - Mt. Whitney Road Race three times. Day 1 is Stovepipe Wells to Lone Pine. You start at 0' elevation and immediately start climbing to 5000', followed by a wide open descent to Panamint Springs (where I hit my fastest-ever speed of 60mph). Then another climb and rollers to Lone Pine - 80 mi / 9000+'. Day 2 is Lone Pine to Whitney Portal via some loops through the Alabama Hills - 20mi, 5000+'. I thought Day 2 was harder. Been there. Done that. No more, thank you.
This is from somewhere up there looking back toward Lone Pine. The Alluvial Fan, or Plain, is ridiculous. I just remember grinding for long time without feeling like I was getting closer to the mountain.If you turn around and look back you can see it. It's a relief when you finally get to the canyon.
The only other time I had that feeling quite that bad was in the Tejon Pass when 2 of us were riding from hwy 138 to Gorman into a strong headwind. It just didn't seem to be getting any closer for a long time.