Gear Shakeout Ride

I needed to start getting serious about doing the Divide and one remaining thing is to checkout all of the gear that I will be taking.  I have bought several bags and lots of miscellaneous items to take with me and decided that this weekend would be a good chance to put it all on the bike and go for a long ride and see how it played out.

My buddy Gene E and I decided we would head for Wilcox AZ mostly on dirt roads, stay overnight there and then ride back to Tucson.  We met at 6 am and rolled across Tucson to eat at Viv's on the east side before we headed up Reddington Pass.  Reddington is a nice dirt climb with some great views.  The pass splits the Catalina mountains and the Rincon mountains,  and you climb about 2000 feet in seven or so miles.  Once on top its a set of rollers until you get to a long descent down to the San Pedro river valley.

Looking back at Tucson from half way up Reddington Pass

Gene climbing

 The climb isn't too bad, pretty good surface and the 4 wheeler types were pretty well behaved and didn't dust us all up.

Mile 18 about 6 or 7 more to go to Cascabel Road

It's a good long ride across the Pass, but eventually you do get to the other side.  We cross the San Pedro river, which is quite dry at this time of the year, and connect up with Cascabel road.  The sign below welcomes you, showing 18 miles to the north to San Manuel ( which has a Circle K and nothing else ) and 40 miles to Benson.  Our plan is to ride to Wilcox and we would make a turn to the east on a road called 3 Links Road.

Intersection of Cascabel Road and Redfeld Road ( dirt in both directions )

 So at this point, we have climbed a few thousand feet, ridden 30 miles on dirt roads since our water refill at Viv's and we are Ok but will need more to make our goal.

Mesquite thickets 

 The road winds along and has a surprising amount of climbing involved.  I drove this a few years ago and didn't remember any of the little climbs.  Oh well.  Our water plan was to resupply in the little community of Cascabel.  But you know plans are only as good as first contact, and Cascabel just isn't that obvious of a place, so apparently I and then Gene rode right past it.  There weren't any signs telling you that you were there, just two or three houses close to the road.  When I passed the Oasis Bird Sanctuary, I knew I had overshot and missed that water resupply.  Nuts !

Cliffs along the San Pedro

 These cliffs on the other side of the San Pedro would be interesting to explore.  There is a pretty good sized geological fault line running along here.  The Rincons seem to have lifted like a trapdoor with the high side to the east.

Shortly after we passed this point, I was quite a bit ahead of Gene and got the the intersection of 3 Links and sat down in the shade of a road sign.  It was getting to be about 92 or so and a little windy and I didn't have that much water left.  After a bit, Gene rolled up and he was out of water.  We looked at 3 Links road and it ran along the southern end of the Winchester Mtns and that looked a bit harder than going the next 10 or 12 miles to Benson, so we headed for Benson and water resupply.  The distance to Wilcox or Benson was about the same.

Gene recognized the name of a farm that provides produce at some of the farmers markets here, and he made a turn into Sleeping Frog Farm.  The folks there were great, and let us both into their kitchen and we refilled our bottles and petted their doggies and were on our way.  They also told us that 3 Links Road was really very  rough, and figured we had made a good choice going on to Benson.

Benson is an Amtrak Station

 After a couple more hours we finally got to Benson, rode under I-10 and up the main street and I went straight for milkshakes.  I got a large one and a large Coke and both were delicious.  Yeah, we got a little dehydrated out there, but had 99 miles on us and about 6200 feet of climbing with our fully loaded bikes, so not too bad.  After ice creaming it up, we rode up the street to Reb's Cafe and had dinner.  Then rode on some backstreets to stay off I-10 and got to a Motel 6 for the night, so ended up with about 110 miles for the day.

Rincon Mtns behind me

 The next morning we rolled out, breakfast at McDonald's and we were westbound on I-10 with the trucks.  Had to stay on it for a while until we got to Marsh Station Road and then took it and got away from the freeway.  The rest of the ride home was pretty nice on a lot of roads that we've done road bikes rides on.  We had a strong headwind and later in the day you could not see the mountains for all of the dust in the air.  The dustiness started after taking these pictures.

Bridge over Cienega Creek

 Crossed Cienega Creek and took a few pictures.  Cienega Creek is a little wetland that still stays damp in the heat of the summer.  It was pretty dry down there today, hope we get some rain soon.

Gene

Me

And with that, Gene and I navigated the next 20 miles or so across the city area to the west side of Tucson, had lunch at the Mercado and were home.  It was a good 2 hardish days out on the bike and I think our gear worked out pretty good, nothing fell off and I just need a few little tweaks.  Have to do another couple of rides like this before the Divide.  It's 30 days now till Antelope Wells.

Chino Valley Gravel Grinder

Well, one week after freezing in Prescott doing the Whiskey, I am back up there doing the first Chino Valley Gravel Grinder held on May 3.

This is a 106 mile long ride, with about 8500 feet of climbing on 60 miles of dirt and 40 miles of pavement.  You get to ride from a little baseball field in Chino Valley out into some really empty country and up to a ski area in the city limits of Williams.

There were about 120 riders, some pro mtb riders and pro cycle cross riders, ASU cycling team members, and some pretty good riders who did this ride, along with guys like me.  We all lined up at 7:30 with a cloudless fairly warm morning and started out.   At the very first turn I look ahead and there is a mountain bike peleton going like crazy up this paved road that we had just turned onto ( that's the last we saw of those guys ).  Me and the rest of the tail end charlies proceeded mostly singly the next mile or so until we ran out of pavement.  We would be on dirt for 30 miles as we climbed just slightly and then took a long descent to the Verde River.  Once at the Verde, we crossed a one lane metal bridge, and then up a pretty steep climb.  Finally we get to Hwy 73 and we are back on pavement again.

The next 20 miles were a bit weird.  We were climbing the whole way, and you could feel the climbing in how much effort you were putting in.  But we were in small oaks and then into pines and you did not see an appreciation of just what you were doing.  When I do Mt Lemmon, it's easy to look out and see the progress that you are making, this road looked flat but certainly was not !

Finally we get to Williams, and make a turn to the ski area, up a couple of miles of slippery loose red dirt and get to our turnaround point.  They had BACON !  and Cokes !  It was most excellent.  Felt pretty rejuvenated after that rest, got back on the bike, negotiated that loose slippery stuff ( same crap I fell on when I did the Whiskey pre-ride, still very nervous about that ) and got back on the highway.

So now the fun is supposed to start, we have a downhill of close to 20 miles, and it went by pretty quickly.  Finally did the turn back onto dirt and it's beginning to get warm out there.  Still was descending a bit until we get to the Verde.  Another section of thick loose dirt, and we're trying to not loose the bike ( I kinda scooted all the way to the other side of the road in one place almost into a stupid ditch  LOL ! ).   Then back to the SAG/aid station at the Verde.

Felt pretty good, a little group of about 5 of us would leapfrog one another, as we started up the climb out away from the Verde.  But it got hotter, and the 90 something miles we had done started to take it's toll on me, so I was moving pretty slow at the end.  The wind had started gusting pretty strong ( someone said 18-20 ) and it's hotter, I'am putting water on my hat under my helmet, getting passed by the SAG truck with people in it who had been picked up asking me if I needed anything ( there's like no way in hell that I am quitting now, even if I have to walk back ).

So I cross that last little hill that we sailed across earlier in the morning, wait for some cows to cross the road, get passed by a bunch of OHV's doing 30 plus miles per hour raising a cloud of dust that you couldn't see through ( or breathe, but who needs air ?? ).  Finally get back to pavement, know that I got this thing and I finished it.

Something like 9.5 hours was my time.  No major issues, my Pivot bike was great, my tires were good, ( lots of flats out there with other riders ), and I didn't fall apart, so it was a good experience.  I didn't hang around the finish very long and headed to a McDonalds for a Coke and fries.  Got back to the hotel and one of the motorcycle riders standing in front of the hotel goes "this guys got a number on his bike" and asked about it all.

Unless I think of something in the next 7 weeks, that's the last "event" before lining up at Antelope Wells on June 13.  I got a chance to ride with Steve A who is also doing TD.  A great fellow, it will be fun to meet him someplace in Colorado or Wyoming this summer as north bound and south bound TD riders run into each other.

I took some pictures, but I seem to have misplaced my little Sony camera ( it may be on the ground at the ball field in Chino Valley ).   The countryside out there is absolutely beautiful.  It is the open West, with unspoiled scenic vistas in all directions, starting with grassland, going into oaks, and then pine forests and not all that much traffic.  The red rocks of Sedona are visible ( from the west side ), and it's just a stunning set of vistas.  Worth a drive and doable in pretty much any good vehicle.

Close to finishing

Done

Whiskey Off-Road 50

Up to Prescott, AZ for the 11th Whiskey Off-Road.  This time I decided to go for it and do the 50 mile ride "50 Proof".  So signed up, trained for it with rides on the backside of Mt Lemmon and felt pretty good.  Two weeks ago, I went up to do a pre-ride.  Someplace out on Skull Valley Road, I managed to crash my bike on a flat dirt road surface, getting into a bunch of loose stuff and applying too much front brake and having the front wheel wash out.  That caused a nice gash in my arm, a banged up rib and a little loss of confidence.  Crap !

Back to Prescott on Friday the 25th, with a forecast of rain and snow showers for Saturday morning.  I am sitting at a restaurant on Whiskey Row, watching the folks that are doing the 15 mile ride, which happens on Friday afternoon, and thinking maybe I screwed up signing up for this.  Well, never mind, back to the hotel, early to bed and up at 6 am to lots of rain.

Went to Starbucks and fiddled around until about 7:20 ( its still raining, and raining pretty nicely and there are flakes of snow ), and then went over to line up for a 7:30 start and to see if there were any race changes. Nothing announced, and we roll out at 7:30 and up Copper Basin Road.  I climb pretty well and think I was maybe close to the middle of the pack, when we got onto the single track.  When you get on it, you can't really pass other riders and people stop and start and get hung up on all sorts of things, and it went that way until we crossed Copper Basin Road again.  Several folks were stopped and I went around and on up.  The rain had turned into snow and the snow was accumulating.  The wind was blowing very strongly and we heard at least two trees blow down way back up in the woods.  There was enough snow that it was hard to read the number plates on other riders bikes.

Snowy Single Track ( photo via Facebook from Steve Lumar )

Snow at trail intersection with Copper Basin Road ( it got MUCH heavier )

We started seeing riders going backwards down the trail.  The number of riders going up started diminishing and these people coming down said "there's two to four inches of snow on top".  I remember thinking "lets go see that, if it gets scrubbed at least let it be for something good", and just kinda ignored them and went ahead.

When I got up to Trail 48, I put the bike down and had a short break.  The riders coming up ( and there weren't very many ) were hard to see, there was enough snow and wind driven snow that it was hard to figure out if it was a guy or gal and what they were wearing and what kind of bike they had.  I have never been in a white-out, but I "think" this was beginning to get close to one ( at least for a desert guy ).  Hands were freezing, the rest of me was pretty good.  Thought about quitting, but I hate quitting, that SAG ride last year in Death Valley was a lesson I don't want to repeat.

When I stopped and put a foot down, the mud and snow would accumulate on my shoes and I found that my pedals were completely iced up.  Could not clip in, and trying to ride unclipped was a mess as my feet would slide off the pedals.  Saw one guy with some boots on go by me, thinking that I need a pair of those.  Didn't take any pictures as my fingers could barely operate my shifters let along poke on iPhone screens.  This is on a piece of trail with water bars, and way too much time was spend screwing around with trying to clip and and ride something that is hard for me to ride on a sunny clear day.

So I begin to ride down 260 trail and NO ONE is passing me ( unknown to me the whole 50 mile race was stopped someplace before Trail 48 ).  I am out there above the freaking clouds watching the grapple come down, being stung in the face, and having a pretty good time, just slowly picking my way ( I am not a great descender ), down 260 trail.  When I get to the bottom, there is a bonfire.  I get warmed up for a few minutes, and that was the last of the snow for the day.  From there, we went up FR 51, then made the turn onto Skull Valley Rd, and I saw the lead riders coming back up ( Nuts, these guys are like 16 miles ahead of me !! ).  Strong gusty wind in the face descent to Skull Valley, I climbed well coming back up all the way to Sierra Prieta overlook and then rode the single track sections back to the road leading back to Prescott.   At one place a lady volunteer says "hey there 50 rider, show these 15 milers what a dirty bike looks like".  My bike was muddy, I was muddy, and there was a line of what turned out to be the 29 mile riders now doing only 15 miles that I was merging into.   These guys are all strong ( and clean !! )  and I am dragging butt, but I passed a whole bunch of them all strung out on a hill they call Cramp Hill, and got some very nice compliments, made me feel pretty good.

Anyways, back to Whiskey Row with a time of about 7:30, showing up at like 3 pm.  I think I was number 350 out of 360, but you know it's all good.  There should have been over 600 people doing the 50 mile ride and those guys and gals all got turned around pretty early in the race, so glad to have finished.  I think I might have actually placed ( really ! ) because I was in a class called "Distinguished Male" and apparently there were 3 of us, with me being number 3.  ( ha ha ha ha )

Next week, Chino Valley Grinder.  Should be more typical of what I will see on the Divide.

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo 2014

Last weekend was our local big mountain bike race, 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. It's put on by Epic Rides and draws about 3000 people to the Willow Springs Ranch off Highway 77 near Oracle, AZ.

I pre-rode the course several times during training, even got my time down to about 1:20 and change, starting from the arch and riding the course by myself, so I thought I was in pretty good shape to go back out there this year and compete.

Went out on Wednesday with one of my teammates ( we had a 5 person Co-Ed Team ), and he setup his popup trailer and I setup my tent, a pile of wood and some water that I dropped off. Back to our campsite on Thursday to occupy the space and stayed until Sunday when the race was over. Campsites are a premium out there, you get real close with your neighbors, and you want to stay out of the dust, be close to the portas but not too close, flat enough for your tent, etc, etc.

The rest of the team ( we had 2 5 person Co-Ed Teams, "Beauty and the Beasts", and "Pass The Wine Buddy" ), showed up on Friday night and Saturday morning.  Cooked up a bunch of eggs and bacon and headed to the team meeting and then really quickly it was race time.  I decided to do the run this year, about a 1/2 mile run to get to your pre-positioned bike and then take off on a 16 mile course. When the gun fired, off we went, and I discovered that my Camelback was flopping around all over the place, so in the picture below, I am holding onto it ( and also am a bit winded ).

Should Have Practiced the Run  ( copyright TucsonVelo.com )

First Lap

The first part was like a road race, just on dirt, until we got to the "bitches".  At the "bitches" lots of people were spinning out in front of me, falling down, total disorder, finally got past that, did a fast run out on the flat space, then into the corral trail through all of the cholla cactus. At this point we had maybe 10 riders in what amounts to a pace line, and it was near impossible to pass, so that group stayed pretty much together until we got to a piece of road again where one could pass.  So it went for the rest of the lap and I finished with a time of 1:25.  I was happy with that time.

Back to camp, cooled down, washed up a bit, got something to eat and was ready for a second lap at sundown. A beautiful sunset as I rode out, should have stopped to take a picture, but decided to hit it hard and got another 1:25 lap.  Got handlebar bumped in the middle of the cholla area, but kept the bike going straight ( hell of a bad place to wipe out if one did ! )  And the full moon rising in the east was pretty impressive !

Night Ride Done !

Now, on to Lap 3, at 3 am.  My teammate in front of me had a tire/tube problem so instead of coming in at 2:30 am, he came in at 3am, and you spend that time standing around in the big white circus tent called the Exchange Tent.  When he came in, I went out to find my bike and start.  Wow, I was SLOW.  I could not believe how SLOW I was, it was like I could barely ride the bike.  Got past the cattle guard and got things spinning a little bit, but was getting passed by everyone on the "bitches.  It was starting to get depressing, with me wondering why I was even out here. But I got past the "bitches" and a rider passed me quickly and then I sped up, got on his tail, and the pedals started to move. On the flat spot the dust was thick, from the rider in front, and that left over from all of the others before him.  I ended up with a time of 1:36 for the lap, better than it looked at the beginning of the lap.

By the time all of our Team got to ride, we ended up with 14 laps and our last rider finished a bit after 12 noon.  We did 3 laps more than last year, and no one fell down or got injured, so we went home after having given it a good try.   I wasn't the only one REALLY tired on Sunday at noon, I think we all were whipped.  Extremely happy to have done the race, but tired.  It's  a fun event, and not to be missed !  Have to figure out next year how to rest better between laps, I think that's the thing that fried us all ( perhaps we need to rent one of those hi-tech super RV's with the big screen TV's that were out there ).

Next big event is the Whiskey Off-Road. I signed up for the 50 mile ride, and then for a gravel grinder type of ride the following week called the Chino Valley Grinder. Lots of work still ahead.

The Divide

A few weeks ago, I posted this on bikepacking.net

"Old and slow may I be, but I plan to be at the starting line in Antelope Wells as a NorthBounder next June 13.  WooHoo !!

Can't wait !!"

Training - Some Dirt Road Backstreets

So with that, my hat is officially into the ring to ride my bike in TourDivide 2014, from the New Mexico/Mexican border all the way up the Cordillera, the great spine of North America, to Banff, Alberta.   I think it's about 2700 miles and something crazy like 198,000 feet of climbing.   The plan is to finish in about 26 days.  The course is mostly dirt road, some of it good, and some of it abysmal, a couple hundred miles of single track and a couple hundred miles of paved road.  There are places where I will fly down the road on my bike and other places where I expect to scrape mud off as I push the bike along, lifting it over fallen trees and wondering what is wrong with my mental state to have even contemplated such a quest in the first place !

So there you have it.   My training has started.   Coach Jen has her hands full trying to come up with a training plan for an old man who wants to do something as crazy as this.   I expect there will be some pain involved in just getting to the starting line in June !

I am still figuring out gear choices.  Much of it has been bought, but I am still debating if I will take my BMC full suspension mountain bike, or opt for something a couple of pounds lighter, like a hard tail design.  The full suspension will be easier on my butt on some of those roads, but lighter is always good !  I've been studying the Adventure Cycling Association maps, trying to get that mental picture into my head as to where I am going and where I will rest and provision.

5 months to go ....  There is much work to be done.  Two bike races ( 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo and the Whiskey Off-Road 50 ) between now and June, and just training, training, training to get ready to do this.  

I'll finish this post with a couple of quotes:

Training - I expect to see a bit of this "Up North"

"Life is too short not to take these adventures like this.

You have to take the time

You have to make these types of experiences a priority,

because if you don't you'll live your life and never be changed

in the ways that the Divide can change you"  -- Matthew Lee from "Ride the Divide"

"A venturesome minority will always be eager to set off on their own, and no obstacles should be placed in their path; let them take risks, for godsake, let them get lost, sunburnt, stranded, drowned, eaten by bears, buried alive under avalanches - that is the right and privilege of any free American" -- Ed Abbey from "Desert Solitaire"

Death Valley Fall Double Century

You're going to go where, and do what ??

Uphill from Furnace Creek at Elevation 0

Yeah, something like that, is the response when I have told people about these great bike rides that are held in Death Valley, CA.  The events are put on by the same group, Chris Kostman of Adventure Corps, that does the Badwater UltraMarathon.   So needing a challenge earlier this year, I signed up for the Spring DV Double Century.   I didn't do so great on that one, got about 130 miles into it, failed to feed/water myself right and had the longest 3 miles of my life getting back to Badwater where I SAG'ed out.  I knew I needed to go back and "redeem" myself, so I got Coach Jen at Desert Endurance to help me with a training plan, and started putting in some serious ride time for the last three months to get ready for the Fall Death Valley Double Century.

FC is 178 feet below Sea Level    The ride starts and ends here.

Fast forward to Friday evening before the ride on Saturday morning, and my stomach is upset.  Not sick, but not right either.   Couldn't figure out what the problem was, and knew I needed to eat to survive trying to ride 196 miles on Saturday.    Had a smallish supper and killed a bit of time sitting around the gas fire pit in front of the Furnace Creek resort with some of the other cyclists who were doing the ride the next morning.  Most of them seemed to be doing the 108 mile ride ( maybe they know something ? )

Up and back to the buffet for some breakfast at 6 am when it opened.  Nibbled on a bit of french toast, some eggs, some bacon.  Usually I am a serious breakfast person and would go back for seconds, but I just pushed most of this around on my plate.  Now I am worried, I may not have enough calories on board to even get to the first CP at Stovepipe Wells, about 30 miles downroad !   Back to the room, drank a chocolate milk, got my stuff on, and rode the bike up to the starting line.  Watched the fast people leave at 7:00 and it didn't bother me at all, to wait until 7:20 for my start and let a couple of more eager people go at 7:10.

Rolling towards Stovepipe Wells we had a nice long pace line behind a couple of tandems.  But we just weren't going that fast, and my legs started working and the stomach issue evaporated, so I moved up front and tried to lead about 12 people and the two tandems.    I didn't think I was going that hard and could see shadows of at least a couple of bikes behind me, but when I looked around, it was me and two other guys, we had dropped the tandems.  ( They were the slowest of the tandems it turned out ! )

I rode with the Adobe Velo team into Stovepipe.  They're a big Southern California Filipino-American cycling club, just a nice bunch of folks who show up at the Adventure Corps and other California rides.  We moved along pretty good, and I got a good short SAG including bathroom stop at SW, and then headed for Mud Canyon and Scotty's Castle.  I would see the Adobe Velo guys all day long.

The climb to Scotty's is about a 3 % grade, less than Mt Lemmon and just goes on and on.   On the right/east are these huge alluvial fans from the mountains that almost balance the sinking of the entire floor of the valley due to crustal thinning.  I climbed strongly, shared some pacing with two or three other fellows until it got steeper and was passing a lot of century riders.  It was getting warm, we had a water stop about halfway up the climb that had lots of ice to ice your water bottles with ( SWEET ), and after a while I was at Scotty's Castle.

Scotty's was the turnaround for the century riders, and I found a Coke and some chips, and re-iced my water bottles, got a GU, and started for Nevada.  More climbing through Grapevine Canyon on a quiet road until we got to Nevada.  Then we exited the mountains and were on a large plain ( the Bonnie Claire flat ) that has just a tint of downhill going east towards US 95, our turnaround point.   The road surface was a little rough and we had a bit of an east wind.   A few miles into Nevada, we see the first of the early and fast riders who have already been to US95 and are now on their way back.

US 95 checkpoint with an old railroad building in the background - pretty flat out there !

At US95 we were 94 miles into this thing and now get to go back to Scotty's.  And guess what, now we have a westerly wind, so it was still mostly in front of us !   It was so nice to get back to the canyon and catch a 5 mile downhill from the Nevada state line to Scotty's and then to get there and see green grass.   The shadows are getting pretty long for us now, and we pick up our lights and get ready for night riding and then after a bite or two of a Subway, a juice box and a couple of V8's, it's time to head to Ubehebe Crater.

There were a couple of short steep sections getting to Ubehebe, but the crater is pretty awesome.  It was late in the day and the sun is setting over the Panamints and the shadows are contrasting with the black volcanic soil.  Could have spent a lot of time just looking around but it was time to roll.   We finally got away from the crater and back to the Grapevine Ranger Station and now were in for a nice treat of having about a 20 mile downhill.

Some wind and sun, in front of Ubehebe Crater

Long deep shadows at Ubehebe Crater

There are no lights in most of Death Valley.  Period.  None.  We were on a nicely surfaced road, going downhill, tired, just a slight wind and watching the darkness set in.  It was magnificent.  The stars started coming out and we are still riding and as it got darker and pitch black we could see the lights of other cyclists way out in the distance over the hills that we had climbed up and over that morning ( those alluvial fans ).   Over my shoulder I could see the Milky Way and zillions of stars.  It was spectacular.

Finally back to Mud Canyon.    They had Cokes and hot "cup-a-soup" ready to go.   I worked on a chicken noodle soup drinking all of the broth, the Coke and a juice box.   Started feeling human again and now it was time for HellsGate.   The first three miles seemed to go by pretty quickly ( probably at 4 mph now, but it's dark and I can't see my Garmin and I'am not passing anyone and those guys aren't passing me ... it's just a big long chain of flashing bike lights every 100 or 200 yards off into the darkness ).  I catch a glimpse of a sign that says 5 miles.   That means we only have 1.8 miles to go in this climb.   Yeah, "I think I can, I think I can".  And soon, the bike lights stop and we are at HellsGate.  I take on another Coke and am ready for the last 21 miles back to Furnace Creek.    Stopped once to put my wind jacket on, a quick light adjustment and am off and I pedaled pretty strongly for a tired old guy and got back to FC at about 10:31.

So that was roughly 15 hours and 10 minutes to go 196 miles and climb about 9300 feet with some reasonable wind and low 90 temperatures.  Not as quick as I had hoped, but considering how crappy my stomach was on Friday night and Saturday morning, I am super, super happy.

Distance and Total Ascent 

Checkpoints

So my next thing ?     I plan to finish up this season's Team-in-Training and get El Tour de Tucson behind us and then start working to have some good lap times for  24 Hours in the Old Pueblo in Feburary, and to do the 50 mile ride at the Whiskey Off-Road in Prescott.    And on June 13, I plan to line up at Antelope Wells, NM for the Grand Depart of Tour Divide.    Hopefully to get to Banff, Alberta in 26 or 27 days on back roads on my mountain bike !

Cochise Classic

I have been working hard on my training for the Death Valley Double Century.  I have never ridden anything past 130 miles at a time on my bike, and that was last March when I tried Death Valley and got myself a DNF.   So am training hard to make it happen this time.   We have a local event called the Cochise County Cycling Classic ( CCCC ), held in Cochise County, AZ, and Coach Jen at Desert Endurance thought I should do this, so got all signed up and ready to go.

The ride starts in Douglas, goes to Bisbee, then Tombstone, then Benson, up I-10 to Dragoon, then Elfrida and McNeil and back to Douglas, for about 164 miles, and 4600 feet of climbing.  

You have to have your own SAG support and John Mertes agreed to help me out, so the two of us headed to Douglas on Friday, got my signs for the car and we were ready to go.

John, my Crew !

Stayed at the Gadsen Hotel, build in about 1907 or so, old fashioned rooms, big sweeping marble staircase, real gold leaf on the columns, beautiful stained glass, all in the middle of sleepy little Douglas. And Pancho Villa rode his horse on the staircase.

Villa's horse did go up the stairs of the Gadsen

Out the door at 5:30 for a race start at 6:20 right after sunup.   A chilly and very fast start, working much harder than I should have, had to dial it back a bit.   The 92 mile lead group started 10 minutes later and they are really fast, passed me out on AZ 80 near Cochise College.  I was stuck on the wrong side of the rumble strips when they passed.  Once they got by, I tried to get over and onto their tail, but they were smoking it, and I dropped off the end.  Then connected with a couple of other very small groups, but everyone was broken up by the time we started climbing into Bisbee and that was the last of group riding.

Fast climb up Mule Mountain in Bisbee, and at the top, John tells me I am in the middle of the 20 some riders doing the 165.   Then a very fast descent and another climb to Tombstone.   Pretty cool to ride past Boot Hill with "The Magnificent Seven" playing on your ipod.   Waved through the Border Patrol checkpoint, and pretty soon am in Benson with John telling me I am about 11 or 12 out of 23...  Cool !

Now I get to ride with the trucks on I-10, dodging the tire litter and uphill to Texas Canyon, to Dragoon.   I passed a little ranch near Dragoon with a sign that said "Rattlesnake Ranch - All Snakes Protected".   Should have gotten a picture, but was concentrating on where the cattle guards were.   At this point I am showing about 100 miles on my Garmin, and there are a lot of miles left.  Make a right onto AZ 191 headed south, with a sign showing Douglas 57 miles.  Yeah, that's what I signed up for, but really I have to do another 57 miles !

Lots of wind out there.  The first part of the ride was mostly through hills with lots of limestone outcroppings to look at.   This next part is a big flat piece of farmland, looking a little bit like South Dakota or similar, except for the mountains on either side of the valley.   The wind picked up, slowed me down to 11 or so for a while, finally turned into a west crosswind, and John is SAG'ing all the way down the road for me with fresh cold water, and treats from my cooler.   I would gulp down a San Pelligrino, eat a Snickers bar and get back on down the road.

Finally it is right at sundown, and I can see the fairgrounds buildings in the distance.   Mount up a light on my handlebars and ride in the last 5 miles.   I think my time is about 11:10 give or take a couple of minutes and I had hoped for less than 12 hours, so I am happy and think I placed 9th out of about 20 ??

Happy

Rolling up to the Finish at CCCC

Next stop Death Valley.  Just have to see if we get to ride in DV National Park, or if we are forced to ride over in the Amaragosa Valley because of the government shutdown.   Either way, it will be quite a challenge, a longer distance and more climbing.