Emails from people on our DeathRide email list, written shortly
after the 2002 event. If you're interested in doing the DeathRide, you might join our email list yourself.
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Y2K DeathRide as well.
Unfortunately, as many of you have heard, there was a fatality
during the 2002 event, the details of which can be found in the
right-hand column at the bottom of this page (apparently a newspaper
article that someone emailed me, without mentioning the source).
Hi!
So I did not finish ... but I made it to three passes
:)
Things I learned along the way:
the views make the pain worthwhile, especially the decent on the
back side of monitor pass was spectacular!
breathing at 8000 feet is hard
lugging 40+ extra pounds of flab makes finishing the ride a lot
harder than you would think.
a 12-27 cassette is better than a 12-25, but an XTR would have been
better
stop at all of the rest stops
water, water, water, always drink water.
eat, eat, eat, eat, never forget to eat
if you are going to walk, remember LOOK pedals and WALKING resulting
in destruction of LOOK pedals.
starting before 5:30 is not essential but makes everything easier
(and gives you extra time after monitor or ebbetts to recuperate).
....
There was the one priceless moment at the top of monitor, where this
guy had this pained and terrified expression of the form: Oh, God am
I in trouble.
I asked him: what's the problem? Can I help? and he replied: I am
waiting for someone
10 seconds later, the someone appeared and he said: Sweetie are you
okay? Can I get you anything from the rest stop? Do you want to
stop?
And she said: No I am fine, we can continue.
And he had this expression on his face that said: This will cost me
alot.
He gets my vote for induction into the "I promised my SO to not drop
her on the Death Ride, and then got so caught up in the event, that
I did and am now paying for it!" club.
...
The organization was fantastic. Everyone was very enthusiastic and
helpful. It was really cool to bike through Markleeville and have
the whole town out and cheer us along!
....
The morning was so warm that you did not need pants. This I am told
was abnormally warm.
This was my first time.
This is the toughest ride I have ever done. I did all five and felt
great at the end. Judging by other stories I have heard,
thunder storms and cold can be a regular occurrence. Heat was
the concern this time with record temperatures just days before the
event. No need for arm warmers or jackets at the start.
Sufficient fluid and food intake was crucial. The
temperature did not start to drop until 3:30PM. The only place I
used a nylon shell was on the descent from Carson Summit.
Ebbetts is tough. Don't skip the lunch. Those new potatoes and
sandwiches are terrific and will cure the ill feelings from a GU
stomach.
My advice to those over 50: Start a year before
and make a plan. Get a light bike with a triple. Train with
discipline. Build up to at least 10,000 feet of climbing and 175
miles a week; climbing builds strength and distance builds stamina.
Get a heart monitor and learn how to train with it. Integrate weight
training into your routine at least once a week.
If you're over weight, lose it by eating fewer carbs. Find a sports
drink you like - Revenge, Accelerade, Cytomax and ride with one
bottle of the mix and one bottle of water. Get enough sleep. Combine
some Yoga classes into your training week; your back will
strengthen, your mind will focus better and you'll sleep better.
Arrive for the ride at least a day early to get acclimated. The
morning before go flyfishing. It will get you away from the
nervous incessant chatter surrounding the event and show you some of
the beauty of the area. Lastly have fun! It's a process not a
destination.
Hi Mike,
This is the best supported ride I've ever done. All
of the volunteers deserve a big thanks for doing an excellent,
excellent job.
The route was great and the weather was nice.
There were some dark clouds looming over Carsons Pass, but luckily
we never got rained on.
I did all 5 passes. Of these, I'd say my climb up
Ebbetts (from Wolf Creek) was more grueling. This side of Ebbetts
offered more challenges mentally due to the heat. After that, the
back side of Ebbetts and the climb up Carsons Pass posed no
problems.
A big thumbs up to the event organizers. I also
want to thank you and Chain Reaction Bicycles for keeping me in the
loop with your email updates leading up to the event. Sincerely,
My partner, Greg Condon, and I did the ride on
Saturday. We both did 4 passes last year and completed all 5 this
year, so we were pretty darn pleased with ourselves. The weather on
Saturday was remarkable given what it was like in the area on
Thursday and Friday. Carson City hit record temperatures of
108=B0 on both Thursday and Friday.
Late afternoon on Friday saw major thunderstorms
with microbursts of 30-40 kts bending large trees and sending the
rain horizontal. Lightning from the thunderstorms set a fire close
to the Turtle Rock campground that had to be put out by the local
firefighters. Compared to the previous days, the weather Saturday
was as good as could be hoped for. The temperatures had cooled off
considerably to the extent that light windbreakers were the norm
dropping out of TRP in the early morning. The day stayed reasonably
cool the whole day thanks to considerable high cloud cover. Dropping
into the valley on the back side Monitor was quite hazy due to
active fires to the south. There was a very dark storm buildup just
to the east of Woodford's in the afternoon, which looked like it was
going to make for a wet ride on Carson, but even that ended up
harmlessly moving off and not raining on us.
The ride was extremely well supported - plenty of
food and drink at the rest and water stops - LOTS of friendly,
helpful volunteers. It was pretty congested at the usual places -
395 end of 89 and the stop at the top of Ebbetts Pass. I saw one
helicopter airlift coming up the back side of Monitor (they
apparently stopped riders behind us for the helicopter to land near
the top of the pass on the east side) and heard of one other
airlift. I did not see or hear what happened to the riders. Greg
witnessed a hard crash when a rider failed to negotiate a turn
coming down the east side of Ebbetts in the "S" turns near the top
and slid off the road into a granite wall. Greg stopped to
help and luckily a policeman happened by within about 20 seconds
after the crash.
Best in show goes to the tandem with a third rider
in the back - a full size skeleton. A lot of the action was captured
by the e-Motion folks (including the skeleton) who were taking, and
selling on CD, video of the event.
I got (and greatly appreciate) a tech tip from a
fellow rider. My bike (2001 Klein QR from CR w/ Rolf Vector Pros)
developed a tinkling sound in the rear spokes (like a brake or
derrailleur cable stuck in the spokes). The tip was to put a dab of
lubricant at the spoke junctions into the hub. Luckily I was just
coming in to the stop at the top of Monitor, got the lube from the
kind folks from REI and lost the noise (much to the relief of me and
my fellow riders).
The people and the scenery make the DeathRide a
great experience and a beautiful (if sometimes painful) ride.
Steve Hipskind, Menlo Park (newly of AARP age,
sporting a triple and proud of it)
I didn't get to go. I feel
betrayed after finding out what the promoter's version of a random
drawing is really like. I thought a random drawing of entrants would
be, well, random. It wasn't. It was fixed to favor those who don't
live in the area and are spending money at the local hotels and
restaurants. You want to ride next year? Make a hotel reservation
now and be sure to tell the hoteliers that you are riding the
Deathride so they can submit your name so you get "randomly"
selected. Those of us with friends or family in the area who can
stay and eat for free? We're just shit out of luck, I guess. Perhaps
the promoter will at least be honest about how the limited number of
entrants are selected. They may as well be. Now that everyone knows
how the system works all of the hotels in the area are booked for
next year anyway.
I'm not angry about the way the system worked, I'm angry about being
lied to. I might have played if I'd known the rules.
Brian
Mike: The organizers need
to do something to shorten the lunch line. For many of the 5 pass
riders, the lunch line is simply too long. ---West Clark
Dear Mike:
After all these years, it
never seems to change:
PASS 1 TALKING BIG
TALK, LISTENING TO BIGGER TALK, UNLAYERING
PASS 2 TALKING SMALL
TALK, LISTENING TO SMALL TALK, FURTHER UNLAYERING
PASS 4 NO TALKING, NO
LISTENING, SECRET PRAYERS, SMALL PROMISES
PASS 5 HUGE RELIGIOUS
CONVERSION
I'll be back.
J
Third Death Ride - The
ride was great and, based on prior experience, as hard as I thought
it would be. The weather turned just in time with a little help from
a forest fire to the south the smoke from which helped keep the
temperature down. Late afternoon thunder clouds kept the temperature
down a bit, but it was still very warm on Ebbetts and over to
Pickett Junction. The Agilent rider with the cigar smoking skeleton
riding as stoker on his tandem was priceless.
This was my
first Death Ride. I am a 52 year old female with experience cycle
touring but no experience in endurance events. So my goal was to
finish 4 passes and NOT suffer. I have been training for 7 months.
I arrived in the area 5 days before the Ride and rode sections of
the course in preparation. Doing so was a great confidence builder.
I made a point to eat salty foods Thursday and Friday before the
Ride as well as drink a lot. I saved my favorite salty carbo
(salted bread sticks) for the Ride. However, eating them on the
bike was like munching sand; they were too dry and I ended up
coughing until I washed them down with Fig Newtons at a rest stop
(water had not worked).
I took my time up Ebbetts being fearful of pushing myself beyond my
LT. I was starting to feel weary. I was also taking pictures and
recording observations into a digital voice recorder. As a result,
I missed the cutoff to go down to Hermit Valley by 4 minutes. A
disappointment, but I recovered physically during the descent and
made up the mileage and the elevation gain by adding the climb to
Pickett's Junction. So instead of 4 passes and 88 miles, I did 3
1/2 passes and 93 miles. I did not sleep well the night after the
event, which I attribute to my selection of caffeine-laden Clif Bars
during the event. I was NOT sore the next day as I was bounding up
and down the stairs of the B&B. This I attribute to my staying well
within my physical limits. I will leave the suffering to Lance!
Truly the experience was amazing -- in terms of what the physical
accomplishment and the experience of this beautiful earth.
Very hot this year; I
started too late at 6:30 AM because my front tire was flat on the AM
of the event even though I just put new tubes and tires on the bike!
On the way to the first pass I squashed a little chipmunk with my
bike; Bad Sign! I rode with my 16 yr. old son and we both did 3
passes.
They ran out of water on the top of Ebbets Pass at 1:00 PM! Who
planned that? Not enough seating for riders to rest on at the stops.
Overall the riders seemed very strong this year. Some guys must be
starting at 4 AM!
Rick Parrish
A little follow up on Saturday's day in the
mountains. .
Last year, the first time I tried this, climbing
was painful and descents were terrifying. 25 mph on
those roads and riders passing by like on a freeway were quite
difficult for me. As a result I was washed out at the top of
Ebbitts, pass 3.
This time it was a little different. Using a
heart rate monitor to manage and meter effort, and after
picking up some down hill techniques from a French cyclist that
Michele and I met who used to race in the European Tour, I was
able to complete four passes and still feel pretty good. This
year I reached the top of pass 3 1 hour and 10 min. ahead of
last year's time.
Using the heart rate monitor you can control the
level of effort you're putting out on the steep parts, hills and
flats. For me, keeping it around 80 to 85% of max climbing on
both side of Monitor Pass in the morning, and then trying to
hold it between 75 and 80% on both sides of Ebbitts during the
hotter part of the day really made a difference in avoiding the
exhaustion that comes when you get near the edge of your
limits.
The descents this year seemed like a piece of
cake. Weight back and mostly on the peddles, chest and
shoulders down, to lower the center of gravity and hands down in
the drops with two fingers on each break leaver... relaxed not
gripping too tight, elbows bent, tucked back and not stiff...
knees not gripping the cross bar... the bike wants to run like
a pair of skies down the slope. Slowing before the turns,
shifting weight, feathering the front break if needed, the bike
takes you down the mountain like it knew where it was going and
had done this many times. At the heart of this process is
"relaxing".
Sometimes it seems unnatural and scary as your
170 pounds of flesh and bone atop a 20 pound bike with less than
1 square inch of contact with the road goes hurtling down the
windy mountain pass at 35, 40, 45 mph. Then again, at times
it couldn't feel more natural. Glad I just replaced the break
pads.
Even though I'm feeling good about this, and am
able to stay with the majority of riders and pass a few, the
stronger more experienced ones will fly by you at 55 and 60
depending on the road conditions. I'm too old for that stuff.
As for taking a few days to get over the soreness... it's not
what you normally think. I was sore going into the ride; still
recovering from the 9 hour 18 mile hike from the cabin up to Rim
Trail behind Heavenly Valley and then 5 miles over to Star Lake
at 9,200' and back down to the cabin. In some respects that
was worse than the Death Ride. Hydration was barely adequate
and the snack we packed was just that. Hiking also worked a
number of muscles that biking never stressed, and so we paid the
price for several days.
Both last year and this, the feeling coming off
the Death Ride was nothing more than mild exhaustion. And the
next day...a feeling of freshness and well being; no knots, no
cramps, no stiffness and no soreness. All of that was
left on the hills.
From the moment you wake up until the time you go
to sleep, you're pumping down the water, fruit, carbos, a little
salt, and more water... all day long. And your body is like
an engine that doesn't shut off. At the end of the day you
continue to hydrate and feed it and let it cool off on the
undulating 10 miles or so back to the start. By then the lactic
acids are pretty well flushed, the muscles are loose and body
temp back to normal. If you keep upright and active for a few
hours after, and get a good night's sleep, you wake up feeling
like you've just been to the spa.
It was not 5 passes this time; but it was a very
good day.
Having fun at 60.
ddd, sj, ca.
Hi Mike,
Just wanted to
say Bon Voyage, and I'm jealous!! Have a great time! I'll try and
write a little something about my Death Ride experience. It went as
good as it could....I did 4 passes. Definitely felt the altitude. I
wish i could have felt as good as the day I did Mt. Diablo 4 times.
Oh well....
There was a bad accident that a big group of us had to stop for
while they helicoptered him out. Very sobering. Worst accident in
the history of the ride.
Have a great time in France!! Say hi to Lance for me!!
jamie
the triple bypass (120 mi
from evergreen to avon, co on July 13) went great, up and over
squaw, loveland, and vail passes, each around 11,000-12,000 feet msl...there
was a nice tailwind on the section from idaho springs to the base of
loveland pass, and the weather was great all day, only a couple of
sprinkles a the end. great food and rest stops provided by team
evergreen, the ride sponsors... maybe next year I'll get into the
death ride again but if they only take people on the hotel list like
you guys inferred, why bother even trying???
First, on behalf of all
riders, I wanted to thank all the volunteers for the outstanding
effort and heartfelt support and cheers displayed without exception
that made Saturday's ride a wonderful experience for all survivors
of the 2002 Death Ride.
Second, the weather was typical for this time of the year so can't
really use that as an excuse.
Third, consider yourself lucky. What can I say except I thought the
Death Ride was really, really, really hard. Hats off to all
survivors especially those completing all five passes. I did the
best that I could but unfortunately cannot count myself part of that
awesome group of riders.
I managed to finish the ride on my own
after having given up on Ebbett's half way to the top. Last time I
did it (15 years ago), that preceding sentence would have read "...
cannot (as yet) count myself..." Right now I'm feeling somewhat
ambivalent, leaning towards reluctance as to whether I want to give
it another go. Perhaps it's just as well to quit banging my head
against a brick wall.
Will
My Death Ride
Wednesday now, four days past the Death Ride. I'm bummed and
confused. Thought I did everything right; can't think of anything I
would have done differently but I didn't finish all five passes -
but why not? I was psyched, trained to perfection, and ready,
ready, ready. Armstrong? He had nothing on me. But the Death
Ride? Yeah, that was just really, really, really hard.
60 mph descend straight down the backside of Monitor to 395. It's
10am after crossing Turtle Rock Park an hour and a half past the
start time of 5:30am (I started from Kirkwood). Coming up to me, an
ocean of riders climbing up the road, jagged rock and expansive
valley floor as backdrop. That's my view. What an awesome sight.
Climbing the backside of Monitor, it's near a hundred degrees with a
relentless pitch of 8 to 8.5% ten miles from the base to the top of
the pass. There's no oxygen at 6,000 feet; the pass tops out at
8,300. There, a comment from one of the rest stop volunteers, "I
think you better stay here awhile, you don't look so good." Me,
"What's the cutoff? Thanks, but I've got to go."
Lunch stop two miles into Ebbetts. Have you ever been hungry and
yet couldn't eat a thing? The grade gets to 10% the front side of
Ebbetts Pass. I'm standing on a 39x32, my lowest gear. What else
can one do when one's brain says, "go, go, go" but the legs say,
"no, no, no?" Swear a lot and turn the bike around that's what.
The locals and out-of-towners, everyone's cheering as we ride
through downtown Markleeville. Got to look good, sprint through
town and wave back at the crowd just like the rest of the other
riders. Cute but pathetic, really - right up ahead is a long climb
to Turtle Rock Park.
Are those rain clouds above Carson or smoke from fires set-off by
yesterday's dry lightning storms? Lightning causes fires and you
know what else when it hits you so on the Death Ride I guess you've
also got to have some of those.
Carson Pass. It's starting to cool down but still hot. You're
supposed to wear that helmet on your head instead of your bike (not
me of course) and keep your jersey on but what the hell, it's in the
mid-nineties. Thank god for that ice cream at the rest stop just
over the top of Carson.
I'm done. I'm
cooked. I'm fried. I'm overdone.
Down to Kirkwood for me. My fan club (wife and
son) is waiting for me there. That's where we're staying. Nice
place.
Willy
Hi
Mike-
My
brother and I did the Deathride for the first time. Great ride.
It could have been a lot hotter or a lot wetter than it was. I
threw some picture up on my web page. You're free to link to it
if you want.
http://www.prioleau.com/deathride/drpictures.htm
Thanks for the informative e-mails and web site support. It was
good to read the stories before the ride and relive it after.
Marc
Dr. Scott Alan Lambert,
a Sacramento area oral surgeon and Bay Area native, died July 17
from injuries suffered in a bicycle crash during a race in Alpine
County. He was 50.
Dr. Lambert died after crashing in a July 13 event called the
Death Ride, a 129-mile race in which racers climb over 16,000 feet.
He never regained consciousness and died at Washoe Medical Center in
Reno. A native of Castro Valley, where he played basketball and
tennis, Dr. Lambert later graduated from UC Berkeley and received
his medical degree at UC San Francisco.
After graduation, Dr. Lambert moved to the Sacramento area, where
he set up oral surgery offices in Citrus Heights and Sacramento.
He supported the Sacramento Music Circus and was a big fan UC
Berkeley's sports teams. He also enjoyed scuba diving and
snorkeling.
He is survived by his wife, Amie Yukiko Lambert, son Eric Takashi
Morita- Lambert and daughter Ashley Miyoko Lambert, all of Granite
Bay, northeast of Sacramento; by his father, Morgan Dale Lambert,
and step-mother, Linda Lambert, of Oakland; sisters Laura
Pintane of Salida, Colo., and Ellen Johnson of Mokelumne Hill (Calaveras
County); brother Kent Lambert of Mokelumne Hill; step-sister April
Smock of Danville; and step-brother Tod Green of Oakland.
A private family celebration will be held in Granite Bay. The
family asks that donations be made to the American Cancer Society or
any other organization that helps families in crisis.
saw all the comments on
your site about death ride entries going to those who had
reservations & such...
thought it would only
be fair to mention my neighbor (who bought his first road bike from
THIS spring) and I were picked for entries without any reservations,
and only made reservations a few weeks before the ride... maybe we
were lucky, maybe it really was a ottery, who knows.
the ride went great... the first time for both of
us... we called it a day after four passes, as the front side of
ebbets kicked my butt with a 12-27 and my neighbor was cramping up
pretty fierce (I TOLD him to drink more water!)... leaves us
something to shoot for next year :)
-doug
P.S. It feels really weird getting passed doing 53
mph.
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