Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Total Passes
Don Axtell 32 70 55 60 51 0 0 0 268 5
Lou Mason 0 70 31 43 51 0 0 40 235
Mark Rethman 9 55 60 51 0 25 0 200 5
Dennis Uyeno 60 51 56 25 0 192 5
Jim Seyfert 54 50 0 51 0 155 5
Pamela Downs 64 70 0 20 0 0 0 154 5
Colleen Fishback 54 30 0 51 0 135 3
Christine Kennedy 32 70 0 25 0 127 5
Ray Lowe 60 51 111
LeRoy Rodriguez 56 0 0 56
Bill Keckler 51 0 51
Patti Hartinian 15 0 0 15 5
Jenn Corliss 10 0 0 10
Diana Axtell 0 0 0
Kim Carr 0 0 0 0 5
Theo Haugen 0 0 0 0
Margaret Preslik 0 0 0 0 5
Pat Carr 0 0 0
Deborah Lefferts 0 0 0 5
David Hoag 0 0 0 5
Jennie Phillips 0 0 0 5
Karl Schilling 0 0 0 5
Guy Neenan 0 0 0 4
Total Rider Miles = 1709
After putting up the big tent for Diana and I, plus another tent to hold the second site, we drove back up to go to the store. At this time, a red light decided to come on in the car, signalling that the battery was no longer charging. Bummer, now I'll need to get a new alternator. That will mean both time and money.
Back in camp again, it started sprinkling, so we moved inside the tent. Two games of Yahtzee later and we called it a night.
Luckily, I knew where the nearest hospital was, so we went there first. It was the Carson Valley Medical Center in Minden. I dropped Diana off there and then drove up Hwy 395 looking for a place that could fix my car. Again lucky for me, after just 2 miles I found a Shell Station with an Auto Service Center and a knowledgeable mechanic. He took a quick look at my car and told me I needed a new alternator. It was now 8:00 AM and he told me he could be done by 10:00 AM. He told me the bill would be $243 for everything. I agreed.
Instead of just leaving the car, I first drove back to the hospital to tell Diana that the car could be ready by 10:00. Diana was now dressed in a hospital gown, so it looked like she wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere either. I drove back to the Shell Station and left them the car. While I waited I took a long walk, first in one direction and then in the other. The car was finally ready to go by 11:00 AM, so I hurried back to find Diana waiting. She had only been ready for about 15 minutes, so the timing wasn't too bad. Both Diana and the car were now fixed up.
We got back to camp at 12:30, just in time to meet Christine all ready to go off on a bike ride. Christine had been patiently waiting in camp for the past 4 hours. Good thing too, since one of the double-pad campsites opened up and so Christine was able to grab it up for me.
Diana and Christine got along good together. They were busy chit-chatting while I got ready to ride. Then Diana went for a nap while Christine and I drove over to Markleeville to do a quick ride out to Monitor Pass and back. The original plan for today was to ride both sides of Monitor, but doing just the front side would be ok too.
Climbing the upper portion of Monitor, it sarted to sprinkle, but not too bad. Neither Christine nor I had brought along anything warm to wear, so we were glad that it didn't get any worse. At the summit it looked like it might be raining over by Ebbetts Pass, but it was only a light sprinkle here. We decided not to hang out too long but instead started back down the hill towards Markleeville.
Back in camp again, we found that alot of the new campers had arrived. Jim and Colleen moved onto the 2nd pad of Christine's campsite. Lou Mason found his own site over in the other portion of the campground, which I wasn't too happy about. I told Lou, in not too friendly terms, that having a site over there was not part of my campout, and I would not be any part of it. It would split the group, etc. Next I found that some of the mountain bikers had also obtained a site over in the other part of the campground. This campsite business was very bothersome to me. Since things should clear up when people moved out the next day, I finally agreed to let everyone stay where they were for tonight.
Diana decided that evening that she wanted to go over to the casinos in Carson City, so off she went. She finally returned at 11:30 PM, claiming to be about $500 richer.
After french toast for breakfast, the 3 of us got started. We rode our bikes from camp, climbing the big hill. Christine and I dropped Lou easily, but then I would stop and adjust my bike and Lou would catch back up. We turned left in Woodfords and started the long climb up Woodfords Canyon into Hope Valley. At the turn to Luthor Pass, I talked Christine into hopping into the Carson River while we waited for Lou. I was all the way in, while Christine just put her feet in. It was a start.
We stayed at the river while Lou got a headstart up Luthor Pass. After we finally got going again, we hurried along and were able to just catch back up by the time we got to the summit. The 3 of us then dropped down towards Tahoe together and then stayed together along Pioneer Trail and over to Marie Calendar's for lunch. We had stopped at Marie Calendars last year for lunch, so this was now a tradition. This was also the first anniversary of Christine's starting to go on my bike rides, so this was a special day.
After lunch, we stopped in at the only bike shop in South Lake Tahoe that might have a roadbike tire, and they did. The shop is called "Sports Ltd." and is located next to Raley's Market at Stateline and Hwy 50. All of the other bike shops cater only to mountain bikes and don't carry anything for road bikes.
Climbing up Kingsbury Grade from the Tahoe side wasn't too bad. The road had been fixed up about 2 years ago, so it now had more shoulder than before. Still lots of traffic, though. Together again at the Dagget Pass summit, we all started down, on one of the nicest downhills around. 8 miles long with broad sweeping turns and a wide shoulder with smooth pavement. Nice views too.
Going south on Foothill Road and then Friedricksburg Road, Christine and I got ahead of Lou again. We figured that Lou would know which road to take and so we continued on to the Carson River bridge on Diamond Valley Road, very near the Hwy 88 crossing. I again talked Christine into going into the water, as the air was now plenty warm. I was again quickly in all the way, enjoying the water. Christine went in a bit further this time, getting almost completely wet. The training was starting to work.
After a good time in the water, Christine and I got going again. We headed up Carson River Road, expecting to catch up with Lou somewhere around Woodfords. At Woodfords we stopped for some water. We never saw Lou, but figured that he must still be ahead of us, and so we headed on, going all the way back into camp.
No Lou, but he arrived about a half hour later. Lou ended up climbing Emigrant Trail instead of Carson River Road, so that's why we didn't see him.
Diana was back in camp before we got there, and she was able to secure two more campsites, including the other double-pad site. So we were now all set for campsites. I got busy setting up my other tent in my preferred pad on my preferred campsite, and then started moving things over. Diana's plan was to go home this evening with Christine, so it also made sense for me to switch over to my smaller size tent.
Mark, from Minnesota, had come into camp today and Diana had him set his tent up in the other site. Lou moved his stuff over into the site that I had just vacated, and I also moved Christine's now-empty tent over onto the same pad as my newly put up tent. Jim described it as "musical campsites". I offered to let them move over onto the 2nd pad at my campsite, but they were happy to stay where they were. I now had 5 campsites occupied, and had space for the mountain bikers, who said they would move over tomorrow.
Diana and Christine stayed for an early dinner and then headed out. Christine had no vacation time to use, and Diana was eager to get home, so it was good that they could ride off together.
When we arrived in Minden, Lou realized that he did not have his helmet or his camelback, so he took my car and drove back to camp. His plan was now to ride in the other direction and meet us at the top of Monitor Pass.
Pam, Mark, and I headed over to Hwy 395 and started south. Unlike last year, it appeared that we were experiencing a good tailwind. Nobody was complaining. It was the easiest that we ever rode to get to Topaz Lake. Along the way, Pam was able to fill Mark in on all of the Bull Lady stories. At Topaz Lake, it was almost too early to eat, but we decided that we should eat something anyway, so we did.
Starting out again, Pam was surprised and happy to get the California state line sprint, which she claimed that she forgot was there. Like always, I let her win, but I did make her work for it.
We started looking for things to use for fixing up the Bull Lady memorial, located 2 miles up Monitor from Hwy 395. There had been recent construction on Hwy 395, so we were considering taking one of the orange construction cones, but finally decided that it would be too obvious and didn't want to be caught with one. We also found out that the base was pretty heavy, too. Instead, we found lots of orange ribbon along the way, so we used that instead.
Last year, we also fixed up the memorial, only to later find that it was very hard to see during the Death Ride because it was in the shade of a small tree earlier in the morning. So this year, we decided to move the memorial away from the tree and build it a new base. The 3 of us quickly got the rocks moved into place and then added the orange ribbons.
On up the hill, we told Mark to stop at the stream, as it was tradition to stop and get wet there. Being new to the group, he believed us and so we all stopped. This is a very small stream, so all we did here was to take my hat and then take turns filling it with water and putting it over our heads. Very cold and refreshing, good because it was now very warm climbing the hill.
Climbing again, we soon warmed up and got hot. Then we were able to cool off again with the help on an approaching thunder cloud. Looked like rain over by Ebbetts Pass again, but nothing but shade for us here on Monitor. We found Lou waiting for us at the top, so the 4 of us now descended towards Markleeville. Once down off the mountain we got a good fast paceline going, with Pam and I taking turns at the front. We both knew about the Markleeville city limit sign, so I wasn't going to make it easy for her. Pam again got the sprint, but not without almost busting a lung. It was a good ride.
We had been making good time on the ride today, so we all stopped off for ice cream at the General Store. At the top of the hill near Turtle Rock Park, Pam kept going, while Mark and I split off to go get showered up in camp. Pam was going to continue on to Minden.
Dennis was in camp when we got there. Lou drove us all back over to Minden for the BBQ at Phil and Dawn's house. On the ride over, it was now very, very windy, but lucky for Pam it was all tailwind. It looked like a storm wanted to come in. It ended up raining in camp but not in Minden. After an hour or two the wind died just as quickly and so we were able to have the BBQ outside after all.
This BBQ was now a campout tradition, since we had started it last year. The first thing that Phil said to me when I got there was "Where are all of your women?" My only answer was a very sad "They didn't come." Last year I think we had 6 women for the campout, but this year it was just Pam. Bummer.
After much eating and a few games of pool, people started dozing off, so we decided that it was time to get on back to camp.
Today was Mark's chance to see some real hills, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise, so we just cruised along. We stopped to regroup at the 7000 feet campground, which was the last chance for water. While waiting for Lou I managed to eat one PBJ sandwich plus drink two waterbottles of water. Still no Lou so we continued on, figuring that we'll find him on the return trip.
We regrouped again at Kenney Lake and then again at Ebbetts Pass. Since we were no longer waiting for Lou, these regroups were a bit faster. We then dropped down to Hermit Valley and then continued on up Pacific Grade to finish at Mosquito Lake. The water looked so good that I decided to jump in and swim around a little while we waited for the others. Mosquito Lake turned out to be very nice, much warmer than the streams.
Together again, I told the group that we first had to continue on to Bill Merrin's memorial, only 2 more miles down the road. Bill died from a heart attack here in 1995, so each year we go out to check on the condition of the memorial. This year I met the cross-piece slipped down, and so I used a few small sticks to prop it up again. Then it was back to Mosquito Lake and Hermet Valley and Ebbetts Pass.
The climb back up to Ebbetts Pass went pretty easily for me. Dennis had a head start down the hill, so I never got him in sight, but I might have been gaining. At the summit, I took a short nap while I worked on my belly tan. Finally Mark and Ray arrived, so we got going again.
Halfway down the hill, Ray got a flat. Instead of helping, I decided to check out the stream, and found a nice little swimming hole, so I went for a quick swim. I made a mental note of where we were so that I could stop here again during the Death Ride.
We made it all the way back to Markleeville without seeing any sign of Lou. His car was gone when we got there. We later heard that Lou went as far as about halfway down the back of Ebbetts before turning around.
When asked about tomorrow's planned ride in Virginia City, I couldn't say for sure that it was still on. I was starting to feel bummed out over the lack of women on the campout, and so I knew that Kim might possibly come into camp this evening. Whatever Kim planned to do tomorrow, that's what I would do also. That was all that I knew.
During dinner, Colleen and Jim told me that they were finally going to join us on tomorrow's ride, since Virginia City sounded like a good place. Having Colleen join us for a ride was good enough for me, so I finally settled into agreeing to lead the Virginia City ride the next day.
After dinner, I suggested that it would be good to go on a hike up the trail. This after-dinner hike had been a tradition in past years, but this would be the only day that we hiked this year. We went up to the register box, then sat around and checked out the view for awhile. On the way back down, I stayed at the back and straightened up the loose rocks along the trail. One rock that I picked up seemed to be an exact shape of Africa, so I kept it to bring back home. I already had an Africa-shaped rock at home that I had found while in the Peace Corps, but this rock seemed to be an even better shape.
That evening I ended up working on my jigsaw puzzle until about 11:30 PM, just on the hope that Kim might still show up. No Kim, so I finally went off to bed.
We would do the loop clockwise this year. Since there was no July 4th parade to get to, we didn't have any time constraints, so clockwise would work okay.
At the top of Hwy 395, Lou missed the exit for East Lake Blvd, so we all stood and watched him go by, not hearing our calls. Finally Dennis had to take off and go chase Lou down. Soon they came back. Lou could have made it if he just stayed on Hwy 395, but then he would have missed about ten miles of back road around Washoe Lake.
After the ten miles on East Lake Blvd, we still had to get back on Hwy 395 for another 6 miles. These were mostly downhill, so they went pretty quickly, however most of this section is carved with rumble strips, which are impossible to avoid without riding out in the roadway. So we all got a good full-body massage along this section.
Starting up Gieger Grade towards Virginia City, we went about 2 miles and then stopped at a 7-11 store for a reststop. This was the last chance for food and water before the climb. We then regrouped at the scenic overlook halfway up the hill, and then again at the summit. Gieger Grade makes a good uphill. Two years ago they went through and installed a guardrail all of the way up the hill. They also extended the pavement out to the guardrail, so now there is a 3 foot wide shoulder to use as a bike lane for most of the way up the hill.
During the climb, we saw Pam and Mike drive by us. Pam was supposed to drop Mike off at the Reno airport, but that wasn't until this afternoon. When we arrived in Virginia City we found Pam and Mike waiting for us. They had already cruised the one side of Main Street, so together we cruised the other.
Dennis had mentioned that a very long time ago he had gotten married here in Virginia City, and the only person more drunk than he was the justice of the peace. It was at a place called the Silver Queen, with a large picture of a lady wearing a silver-dollar dress. Just across the street, we saw a big sign that said "Queen" along with a gap where another sign should have been. On closer inspection, we found another sign that said "Silver Queen", so we went inside. It was just like Dennis had described it. On one wall, a very large portrait, maybe 12 feet tall, of a lady standing in a full-length dress. The dress was made up of real silver dollars inlaid into the wall. Just next to the portrait was a small door that said "Wedding Chapel". We took a picture of Dennis standing in front of the silver-dollar lady.
After we finished cruising the town, we went back to the store next to where we parked our bikes. This was a restaurant which had a dining area on the back balcony, with great views to the east, south, and west. The food was good too. As usual I had a hamburger.
As we were leaving Virginia City we noticed a good thunder storm occurring just to the south and east of us. It wasn't going where we were so we didn't mind it too much, but found it fasinating to look at. There was no boring weather here. By the time that we got back to Carson City it appeared that the storm might have moved on into Virginia City, so we might have gotten wet if we had stayed around.
We checked out 2 bike shops on the way back to camp, but didn't buy anything. I was looking for some new handlebar tape for Pam's bike. I gave her some Skull tape last year, but she could use some new tape now.
Pam was already in camp by the time that we got there. LeRoy was also in camp along with his two dogs Lady and Cora. Jenn, however, had driven back to Jackson, since she was pretty sure that she had forgotten her purse there at the gas station. It's about 2 1/2 hours each way. LeRoy set up camp in the spare pad next to Jim and Colleen. That evening, Jenn finally returned. It wasn't easy, but her story did have a happy ending. Jenn got her purse back and everything in it.
This evening we finally had a good campfire. We had campfires on 2 of the other evenings also, but today's campfire was actually attended by all the people. It was a good time. Other days people had just gone off to bed early.
Traditionally, today is the hike to the waterfalls behind the Grover Hot Springs. Mark and Lou decided to join Pam and me. At the swimming hole, the water was only knee deep instead of the usual chest deep, as all of the streams in the area were way low this year. But the water was cold and refreshing as usual. We stayed quite awhile, first in the water and then laying out in the sun. Finally, we headed back to the cars and then went over into the Hot Springs. Now this water was too hot and took some getting used to. I like the cold water better.
After the Hot Springs it was still early, so Pam and I decided to drive back over to see Bill Merrin's memorial and to take a few pictures. In Markleeville we stopped and bought a small flag and some glue. At the memorial, we took the cross completely apart and tried to get the super glue to work. It only partially did, but I wouldn't guarantee it. After the glue set up a bit, we put all of the other parts back together to help hold it, then put it back in the rocks and added the flag. We took a few pictures this time.
On the way back, Pam agreed to stop in for a swim at Mosquito Lake. I was in floating around, but Pam was just hanging out at the edge. It turns out that Pam can't swim and so won't go into the deep water. I don't really swim either, but I do manage to float quite well, so I don't mind hanging out in water that is over my head.
Back in camp, Pam and I got busy working on the jigsaw puzzle, and decided to wait and see what people would be planning to cook for dinner. We finally got tired of waiting and decided to heat up the leftover oasta from yesterday. But then people started bringing their fixings over and we ended up having a regular meal after all.
Patti and Theo were in camp when we got back. We set them up in Jim and Colleens' pad, since they had moved out that morning. A few hours later and Patti's friend Margaret arrived. I put her on the same pad as Patti. I told Margaret about my often swimming in our lake early in the morning. She said that she wanted to swim also, so we set it up for 6:00 AM tomorrow.
In the late afternoon, Kim finally showed up. It wasn't Tuesday evening anymore, so I had assumed that I wouldn't see her until Friday. But here she was a day early, so I was very glad to see her. I helped Kim set up her tent, sharing a pad with Dennis, in the same campsite that I was in. Now with both Kim and Pam in camp, this was starting to be a good campout. Kim's brother Pat also came down from Tahoe City to join us for a few days, bringing along his dog Mardi.
Kim brought along the last of her supply of firewood. Again, we had a good campfire. Kim and I both stayed up very late, waiting to see if Christine would be able to make it in to camp this night. We finally gave up at 11:15 PM. Soon after I went to bed, I heard a car arrive. It was Christine, in at 11:45 PM. She was still wearing her work clothes and shoes. I just led her over to where her tent was now located and told her goodnight. Since Christine's tent and sleeping bag were left from before, it was pretty quick for her to get to bed this night.
It was then close to 6:00 AM, so I swung over to Margaret's tent and found her just getting out. Good, it looked like our swim was still on. We went down to the lake and she checked out the water. It wasn't too cold for her, and so we both had a good swim.
Pam was cooking "pamcakes" for everyone this morning. We also had sausages and lots of fruit, so it was a good meal. Pam later left to travel to Jackson to go see Deborah's new cabin, and to spend the day there with her.
Christine had finally picked up her new bicycle and so she needed to get a good test ride in to make sure that it was working ok and that everything was adjusted. Dennis was planning to ride from camp out to the Monitor/Ebbetts junction for 25 miles round trip, so Christine decided to join him.
Patti, Theo, Margaret, and Lou, all called themselves "the birders" and went off on a short hike to look at birds with their binoculars. They came and went during the morning.
Both Kim and I, and her brother Pat, decided to just hang out in camp. Or really, we just couldn't decide to get up the energy to get out of camp. First, we got hooked on doing a jigsaw puzzle. Later we all decided to go for a swim in the lake. That was #2 for me today but that was fine. Mardi also came in with us, as she loves the water, too. Finally, it was time, and we got up the energy, and we drove up to registration at Turtle Rock. Christine was back from her ride by this time so she joined us.
I found some Death Ride handlebar tape so I bought some for both Pam's and my bike. Christine also picked some up. Back in camp I got busy changing handlebar tape. Good thing that it isn't that complicated. I soon had all 3 bikes switched over. I also removed the rack from my bike, oiled the chain, and attached my number.
Jennie and Karl showed up during the morning, so they set up camp in Mark's campsite. Guy arrived later that evening and he moved onto the pad with Lou. Ford arrived and I put him over in the campsite that I had saved for David and Deborah. Pam returned and Deborah and David arrived shortly thereafter.
We had an earlier campfire this evening, as people wanted to get to bed earlier this evening. The campout was now finally complete. We were all now finally ready for the Death Ride.
Other people were getting up as early as 4:00 AM or so. Everyone was planning on a 5:30 AM start from Turtle Rock. I, as usual, was planning to start from camp at 5:30. I awoke by 4:45 and decided to start getting up. I lit a lantern and got out the food boxes, and had some cold cereal. By 5:15, the others had already started out, so I went to get my final and usual morning swim. I wanted this to be just another day and not to worry that this was now finally the Death Ride.
Because of the swim, I didn't get out of camp until 5:38, 8 minutes behind my schedule. But that's ok. I'm glad that I went swimming.
I was too anxious climbing up the first hill, but by the time that I got to the top I was pretty well settled in and more steady. I skipped any stop at Turtle Rock, but just passed through. By the time I got to the Monitor/Ebbetts junction I was back on my schedule. I climbed Monitor right on my scheduled time of 58 minutes.
Half way up Monitor I caught up to Deborah. I pushed her along for awhile so that we could chat. While I was pushing, another rider came up beside me and started pushing me up the hill also. He said that he was just helping the pusher. I pointed out that Deborah was just off of a broken hand. He was impressed.
Next, I passed up Art Cruz and Ken Koach. At the top of Monitor, I skipped on by the reststop and went on to the Monitor Pass marker, where I stopped to eat my 2nd sandwich. I was just about finished when Christine came along, so I sent her on down the hill ahead of me. Just as I was ready, Deborah and David came by, so I got on right behind them.
Deb is a good downhiller, so I was impressed with myself that I was able to stay behind her for so long of a time. My speed was as high as 46 mph on this downhill. Towards the bottom, though, I started to get nervous on the turns and so slowed down and lost contact with Deb. I saw Pam coming up at the 6000 foot sign. I then saw Kim and Dennis about a half mile later. I saw Patti and Diane Rust just starting up as I reached the bottom.
I never noticed Christine on the way down, but Deborah said that she had passed her. I looked all around for Christine at the reststop but never did find her. I finally assumed that she must be started up the hill, so I started up also, riding alone. I passed Art and Ken again but they didn't see Christine. Then I caught up with Diane and she said that Christine was up ahead. I caught Ford and he told me the same thing.
After 74 minutes, I was again at the top of Monitor. I skipped the reststop and stopped at the brake-check area to eat my 3rd sandwich. I kept an eye out for Christine, but didn't see her. I finally figured that she must still be ahead of me.
Climbing Ebbetts, I stopped in at the halfway-up reststop to get some water. I met Diane there, but she still hadn't seen Christine either. I then decided to stop looking for Christine, and I didn't want to just ride alone, so I figured that I would ride with Diane for awhile. Then at the start of the steep stuff I drifted off ahead and rode on up to the top of Ebbetts on my own. I was up in 84 minutes, not counting the 8 minutes that I spent at the halfway reststop. I was only there for a few minutes when who should I see but Christine. She had just arrived, and so had been behind me the whole time. She said that I probably passed her while she was at the Monitor Pass portapotties.
Now that I had Christine along to be my riding buddy, this Death Ride was looking much better. I didn't care too much for all of the riding alone that I had been doing. Now I would make sure that I didn't lose sight of Christine, and I'm happy to say that Christine also wanted to keep from losing me too. Together we started off down the back of Ebbetts.
Just 2 miles from the top we passed Dennis coming back up. Not too far behind him was Kim and Pam. This meant that they were probably about 45 minutes ahead of us at this time. At the bottom, Christine and I just turned around and headed back up. We would stop again at the top of Ebbetts. Towards the top I saw Patti and her tandem up ahead, so I went on ahead and reeled them in. At the top I waited for Christine, and then we found Art and Ken at the reststop. We were one pass ahead of them now. We also found Alfred Gong who decided to skip the backside.
Going back down the front of Ebbetts, I still wanted to stop off for a quick swim at the stream. I let Christine go on down to the lunch stop and I'd meet her there. I then spent about 10 minutes floating around in the water, but it wasn't all wasted time, as I was eatting my 4th sandwich at this same time. I then went and found Christine and Patti at the lunch stop.
Now that I was riding with Christine, I forgot to write down my times at many of the checkpoints, so I don't really know how we were doing according to my schedule. I did know that we were still both feeling good and that we had lots of time to spare. We weren't in any real hurry but were content to just cruise along. We still were passing many more people than were passing us, so that was good.
At Turtle Rock, we stopped off at Pam's car so that Christine could drop off her extra stuff. Since she had her camelback, she wasn't even using her 2 waterbottles, so she dropped them off. At Woodfords Canyon, we found that we had a strong headwind to contend with. I didn't mind the wind, because I knew that it was helping to cool me off, and I knew how hot this section could be otherwise. Christine tucked in behind me and together we climbed the hill. We had just been through this section last week and so Christine remembered that it was really 3 shorter hills and not one long hill, so we just took them one hill at a time.
We saw Jennie and Karl coming down. It looked like they might have a 3:30 finish. At the Hope Valley reststop, we found Diane again, so we hung out together for awhile. Climbing up Woodfords Canyon we did half of the climbing for Carson Pass, so we just had the other half to go.
The first few miles towards Carson Pass went pretty easily. The headwind seemed to have lessened and it was pretty flat going. We saw Pam and Kim coming back down. We were amazed that they were down so quickly, but also a bit disappointed that they weren't going to be waiting for us when we got up to the top of Carson. But they were over an hour ahead by this time, so we couldn't expect them to wait for that long for us.
We both had enough energy left to keep the pedals moving, so we kept cruising along and so we finally got to the top at 4:45 PM. Pam later told me that they were up at 3:25 PM. We found Ford at the summit and waited for Diane to reach the top. Patti was just leaving when we got there.
On the way back down, we saw Art coming up, but did not see Ken. It turned out that Ken was there, as well as David and Deborah. It was just that there were so many people coming along that it was hard to pick everybody out. Christine had agreed to jump in the stream with me for one more time, so we stopped in on the way to Woodfords. It was a nice refreshing stop. We were now finally ready to finish this ride.
I got up to 50 mph on the last downhill into Woodfords, and Christine got to 45 mph, her all-time highest speed so far. Climbing that last little hill before Turtle Rock, Christine was showing that she still had some energy left and I couldn't hang with her. We got to the finish at 6:10 PM and picked up our 5 pass pins. We were number 660 for the 5 pass finishers. They say that 1400 people ended up doing all 5 passes.
We saw Guy at the finish. He missed the cutoff by 15 minutes down in Woodfords, so decided to go over to the Hot Springs instead. He was just getting back. Dinner was "make your own burritos", so I ended up over-packing mine. It was much too big to fold up, so I had to eat the insides out with my fork. It was still good food.
Christine gave me a ride back into camp. Kim was cooking hamburgers so I ended up having a hamburger also. I was starting to get totally stuffed. At the campfire, they were all making smores, but I was feeling much too full to join in. Jennie was glad that this was the last campfire, as that meant that she could burn up all of the extra wood.
There were alot of first-time Death Riders from our club this year. And they all did 5 passes. They were: Kim Carr, Deborah Lefferts, David Hoag, Christine Kennedy, Diane Rust, Patti Hartinian, Ken Koach, and Ford Young.
Christine wanted to stop in at the Hot Springs before leaving, so I said that I'd join her. They opened at 9:00 AM, and we were all packed up from camp by soon after 8:30 and at the Hot Springs at 9:01. Not crowded at all today. It was good to shower and get all of the remaining camping grime off my skin and then to soak in the hot Springs pool. Then, in the cold pool, Christine was able to show me how she could swim. Yes, there is hope for her yet.
By 10:30 I was finally on the road towards home. I was able to make it as far as Stockton before I stopped off to eat. I went into the Burger King. While I was ordering my hamburger, I noticed a crumpled up bill on the floor. I stooped down and nonchalantly picked it up and put it into my pocket, noting that it was a $10 bill. Cool.
Another half hour down the road and I started to feel sleepy, so I took an exit and parked under the freeway near where Hwy 205 joins Hwy 580. I found my pillow and took a good nap. When I awoke, I first had to remember why I was parked under the freeway, but then I was fine. I was then able to stay alert for the rest of the trip home.
Diana wasn't home when I arrived, so I kept myself busy unloading the car and putting everything away. Later on, Diana returned and I remembered the money that I'd found. I pulled out the $10 bill and flattened it out. Much to my amazement, there were actually two zeros after the one. I had found a $100 bill. Very cool. Diana thought that I should give it to her, so I did. Diana also liked the rock shaped like Africa. I got out a map of Africa and compared them, and the rock was an almost perfect match.