We headed down to Clovis Friday afternoon after thankfully watching the temperature drop a few degrees every day through out the week. We arrived to a scorching 98 degrees with a slight breeze. I said to Judy "We're looking at another Davis Double 1997! - Hot!" We checked into the hotel, milled around for a while and went over to Letterman Park to register. We received our information packets with all the goodies. Talked with some folks we knew from rides earlier this year. They too where going to ride their tandem. Another couple standing there stated "us too, cool "! So that meant at least three tandems, so I didn't think we were totally off our rocker. Turned out to be seven tandems altogether.
Clovis is a happening town on Friday night! We walked up and down Main St, checking out the Farmer's Market. I wished we could have gotten some of the fruits and veggies home without them rotting. They were farm fresh gorgeous! It was about 8:30 pm when we got back to the hotel, and it was still pretty warm out.
We are going to get a Police escorted 5:30 am mass start! These are really pretty fun. You get to see everyone who is doing the ride, you feel the excitement and anticipation in the air. We chatted with Power Paul Vlasveld a bit. He said, "you're gonna have fun today!" Bill (I've done this ride ten times) Bliss was there too. The club was represented by a small but mighty crowd.
We tried to relax as the minutes ticked by. They made their last minute announcements and we were off! We usually like to start near the back, away from everyone trying to go ballistic in the first 2 miles. Today was no different. Those of us at the back seemed in no real hurry to start up hill. Don't get me wrong - we were moving, just not at 35mph!
The route sheet showed the first 20 miles to be flat, the next 60 uphill. The warmup spin was pleasant. We arrived at the moment of truth - the beginning of the climbing! Up we went on a nice 3.5 mile climb to the first rest stop. Not too bad so far, but this is just the beginning. You have to check in at every stop so they can keep track of who's where on the course.
A quick stop and we were moving again. A few more bumps and moderate climbs brought us to reststop #2 at 37 miles. The Tollhouse stop! Home of the ride-famous Tollhouse cookies! Valet parking and everything here. We stoked up on some food, water and cookies and listened to the talk around us about the next climb ahead. The Tollhouse Grade! 3500 foot gain in 7 miles, with the last mile insulting you at 13%! Oh Boy, I can't wait! We mounted up and motored onward. It was still relatively cool so the climb wasn't too bad.
What wasn't so cool was the route - made it look like there was a little break between the next climb - NOT! So we get a bonus climb of 3 miles tacked onto the end of the Tollhouse Grade. This climb deposited us at reststop #3 at 49 miles. Another very nice stop, valet parking and sandwiches made to order. Very nice people. We spoke with people who had done the ride, asking for information about what was to come next. One guy said "It's the Mother of all Climbs, thats whats next". I said you must surely mean The Big Creek Climb? He said "you got it, buddy, and is it steep!" Paul told us this too. He said it would be steep and hot. A couple of years ago a fire burned all the trees so there is no shade. I asked if he would please describe it. He said it's like Quimby and Bohlman with on Orbit all wrapped into one! Man, oh man, I'm thinking "what have we gotten ourselves into?"
We depart the Lowlands for parts unknown. We see a guy that was on The Eastern Sierra Double a few weeks ago and ride with him for awhile. He said he has done this ride 3 times and hasn't learned his lesson yet. He gives us lots of useful details on what to expect. He said it was going to be steep and hard, and just when you think it can't get any steeper, it does! Then when you're out of gears and don't think you can go anymore, it turns into "the gift that just keeps on giving" for another 2.5 miles! Well, John Robins, you were correct with all your information! The climb was steep, open ,not real hot, but hot enough.
We're grinding along and I start to hear this music. Now I'm thinking, we're at the top already? We can't be. We creep around this switchback and there is this waterstop van with the tunes blasting! We don't stop, and boy did the grade go NASA on us. This must be the gift that keeps on giving, because we're giving it everything we've got and we're going 3.7 miles per hour! This hill is going to make us do a track stand, it's so steep.
We're grunting and groaning, sniveling ,whining, groveling,and generally having a great time. Just kidding! Gotta stop for a minute, my back is tweaking. We're stopped and one of our tandem team buddies crawls by. They cheer us on, and say take it easy. We somehow manage to get rolling again and after what seems like forever the grade lets up slightly. We're slow-pokin' it up and it's beginning to look like we're running out of uphilliness. Thankfully we do, but it is not flat either. The lunch stop is at Hunnington Lake at 70 miles, and not a mile too soon either.
The lunch stop was almost too nice! Cool, shady, peaceful, no uphill! Again they were making sandwiches to order. What service. We saw our buddy John and he said, "Congratulations, you conquered the beast." I said I don't know about conquering it but we more or less made it to the top. He reassured us that there was nothing as steep as that left, lots of uphill but nothing that steep. He also stated that 2.5 mile section was between 13-16% !!!!!! Definately the Mother of all climbs! That statement alone made all the difference in the world. I was thinking if it gets worse than what we just did how are we ever going to finish? After a much needed rest and recharge we bid our farewells to the wonderful staff and hit the road once again.
The Climb to Kaiser Pass is on this next section. It began pleasant enough. A cool breeze, in and out of the shade. We saw a few people descending on this part since it was an out and back loop. They warned us at lunch that the last 2 miles to the pass would be on a one-lane road. We came to a gate that I'm sure is used to close the road in winter. Prepare for blast off! Once again steep uphill ahead. Actually, compared to what we had already done, this wasn't too bad until the very top. About the last 3/4 mile it went into switchback mode and put you through the test cycle. We're creeping along and Judy says "let me know if you see anything that looks like the top." A little bit farther up I said "well what do you know?". She asked "What, What?". I said "it's a lady with a pad in her hand and it looks like the top!" With much relief a nice man greeted us with "Welcome to Kaiser Pass". We made it, yeah! I asked if he knew how much climbing we had done up to this point, he said 11800 feet. We were at mile 80 and had climbed all that elevation in 60 miles! No wonder I was wasted! Thats 197 foot gain per mile! We're talking off the Axtell meter! This also meant we had 1800 feet to go, leaving us to wonder what little surprises were left.
It was pleasantly cool at the top of Kaiser Pass. Thankfully preventing us from staying too long. We go to descend right back down what we just came up. It was steeper than it looked on the way up, making it a handful going down on the tandem. As always we had the drumbrake working hard. After we descended past the gated section to where the road opened up and smoothed out, the descent was a blast. Enough gradient to let you go fast but not so fast you had to be braking all the way down. Nice sweeping turns all the way to the bottom. It seemed the fun was over before it really started. A left turn at the bottom and we were going uphill again.
The route sheet said 4 climbs 1-2 miles each. The scenery was nice, the climbs weren't too painful, but the last one did seem to be about 12 miles long. We summitted the last climb on Tamarack Ridge and it was downhill again. 9 miles of wonderful pedal free downhill! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! So we did. More cruising tandem friendly downhill. Mega-fun stuff! Two miles of not so friendly rollers and we were at reststop #6, which was also reststop #3 on the way out, only this time we had 106 miles. Rested and fueled we departed toward the inferno we knew was waiting for us.
A fair amount of traffic made this section annoying and not much fun. A few miles later we turned off Hwy 168 for what was marked as a 12 mile descent! It took a few little climbs to get there but when we did it was the E-ticket ride down! A couple of well marked slow hairpins broke up the total enjoyment, but we were sure glad to not be going uphill. The farther down we went the hotter it got. Kind of like riding into a pizza oven and you're the pizza. Hot, hot, hot, down, down, down. It sure seemed as though we had missed a turn somewhere but a quick question to a local resident confirmed we were going the right way. We saw our other tandem buddies, Anney and Dennis, off the side of the road with flat #2. They look quite peeved. The sag wagon was just pulling up to offer assistance so we continued onward to reststop #7. Reststop #7 had a wading pool to cool off hot feet. We didn't use it but it was there. Popsicles and cold water was the order for this reststop. Our flattened tandem arrived and departed after about a 2 minute stay.
The last 14 miles are supposed to be flat. Flat and hot. Might as well get it done so off we go for the last time. We get about 3-4 miles down the road and here are our tandem buddies, flat again and looking totally disgusted. We do stop this time. Nothing in the tire, rim strip looks okay. So I suggest that we replace them both. Dennis said "where are we going to get that stuff out here, there is no sag, no bike shop." I said "relax we have both and would be glad to help you guys finish this puppy off." I go over to the trusty Air Force One towing bag and pull out the necessary equipment. We all chip in, all four of us that is, to get them going again. After a 15 minute mechanical delay we're rolling again. I let the other guys go off first, figuring if they have any problems we don't want to be real close. Everything holds together fine and we all finish without any further delays.
Glad to be done and having completed our most difficult ride to date, we sit kind of dazed at the finish. This ride was hard beyond what can be described here. It was both mentally and physically draining. The heat at the end added another element to the overall delight. Am I sorry we did it? No way. It was a great challenge, and I'm real glad that we did it on the tandem. This fact too will make finishing a truly great memory.
The Fresno Cycling Club that puts this on are great. They said that 80-90% of the reststop staff had ridden the ride at one time or another. A helpful, friendly, encouraging staff made all the difference in the world. So, if you dare to do The Climb To Kaiser, be sure and thank them at every opportunity, bring real low gears, train for pain, and beware of the Mother of All Hills.
Special thanks to Judy for another great ride. This one was a toughy. I could not, and would not, have done it without you.