Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Total
Don Axtell 26 53 78 56 70 50 0 333
Judy Pannunzio 26 53 4 83
Barry Blassenheim 56 47 78 56 237
Lisa Curran 53 78 56 187
Lucie Rufiange 53 4 56 113
David Cederbaum 53 78 131
Lew Lipton 53 78 131
Lou Mason 80 48 128
Jennie Phillips 73 70 50 0 193
Leroy Rodriguez 50 0 50
Frank Harrison 0 0
Mark Johnson 73 0 73
At the campground, I saw the CAMP FULL sign, and saw that lots of people were there because of the 4th of July weekend. I thought wew were out of luck for getting a campsite. We went on in anyway, and I proceeded to show Judy around, showing her all of the good campsites (which were now full). When we got over to campsite #21, we noticed that the tent had an ACTC jersey pinned to it. Nobody was around, but right away we realized that it must be Barry's. Barry came up Friday night, and it was thanks to him that we were able to obtain the best campsite at the Indian Creek Reservoir Campground.
Judy and I set up camp, and soon after we were done, Barry came back. He had done a little 30 mile ride out towards Ebbetts Pass and back. After an hour or so of contentedly sitting around camp, enjoying our view over the lake, we decided that we had time for a bike ride. The three of us did 26 miles, riding from camp to Woodfords, then doing the Diamond Valley Loop.
On the way back to camp, David and Lew passed us in their car. We met them in camp, with their tents already set up. They took Hwy 50 up, making many stops along the way.
Judy, Barry and I had spaghetti for dinner, while David and Lew were going to have steaks. We finished first, so while David and Lew stayed in camp to wait for dinner, the three of us took our after-dinner hike up the hill. There is a trail that climbs the hill behind camp, taking a mile to get 600 ft above the camp. At this viewpoint, you can look down over the lake, and also out across the hills into the Carson Valley, with Carson City in the far distance. There is a register box here, where hikers can sign in, so we all signed in. This is a good spot to sit and watch the sun go down, and the lights start to come on in the far valley. The three of us were sitting there noticing how quiet it was, when we heard some noises coming up from below. We looked at each other for confirmation, then all said at once "It's Lucie!". We could hear Lucie's laugh coming from the campground.
Back down in camp, sure enough, Lucie and Lisa had arrived. They came up on Hwy 4 over Ebbetts Pass. Lot's of snow! We now had seven people in camp. It would be this same group of people for the next three nights.
As we were to do every night, we finished up the day with everyone sitting around the campfire.
For today we would drive to Markleeville and then ride our bikes up over Ebbetts Pass and on to Mosquito Lake at the top of Pacific Grade Summit. Both Kinney Reservoir and Mosquito Lakes were frozen over, and the snow was about 5 ft deep in places. I pulled Lucie up Pacific Grade with my bungee cord. It was steep, but Lucie worked hard, so it wasn't too bad. We got 53 miles with 6000 ft of climbing. Barry skipped Pacific Grade and started back early. He was walking around Markleeville when Anker and Sandy showed up. They were just passing through on their way to Tuscon, and Anker wanted to show Sandy some of the Death Ride territory.
We went up to Grover Hot Springs after the ride, but the place was packed and there was a waiting line, so we decided to skip it. Instead, we went back to camp to shower, then came back to Markleeville for dinner at the Alpine Hotel.
That evening, we did our usual hike up the hill, followed by a campfire.
About 2 miles out of camp, Judy stopped, saying that her knee was hurting. It had begun to hurt yesterday evening, and she was going to see how it felt today. Lucie caught up with us, and right away decided to hang out with Judy for the day. Lucie was very happy for this chance not to ride, while Judy was very disappointed that she could not ride (and on the verge of tears because of the pain in her knee). They got 4 miles with 400 ft of climbing. Judy and Lucie went over to Grover Hot Springs for a few hours, then ended up driving our route, finally catching up with us in the middle of Monitor II. Judy was taking pictures and hopefully she got a good one of me and Lisa, with the big valley and snow-capped hills in the background.
Without Judy and Lucie along, I ended up riding mostly with Lisa today. It was good. Lisa was climbing well, so we were able to leave the others behind at will. Going down Hwy 395, we would stop at the tops of the long rollers and let the others catch up and get ahead. Then we would head out and reel them back in. It was fun. At Topaz Lake, Lisa and I stayed longer, saying that we would give the others a 10 minute lead up Monitor II. We couldn't catch everyone, but we caught some, and had the others working harder to keep ahead of us.
Today's ride was originally planned for tomorrow. Instead we skipped Carson Pass and decided to do Virginia City one day early. Lucie and Lisa drove with me, while Barry was alone in his car. We listened to my Jamaica and African music tapes and had a great time driving up to Carson City.
Going out Hwy 50 and then up to Virginia City we split up according to pace, with me staying with Lisa and Barry with Lucie. We checked out the giant VW-bug spider along Hwy 50. At the base of the steep road to Virginia City, I realized that we could also take the newer RV road. This turned out to be a very good choice, so instead of an average 12%, we had a steady 6% grade to go up. That way Lucie was able to ride up on her own without the help of the bungee cord.
Once we got to Virginia City, we realized that it was the 4th of July, as we saw many people dressed up in costume of the 1800's, and it looked like there might be a parade. We ended up spending over 3 hours here. First, we went on the train ride, which went back down the hill with a good look at the steeper sections of the old road. Then we had lunch on the back deck of a restaurant, with a view over the hills to the south. Finally, we stayed for the parade. The parade lasted for about half an hour, and consisted of such entries as a guy riding a tractor. It was very small-town.
We finished the ride with a ride down Gieger Grade and around Washoe lake and back to Carson City. 56 miles and 3500 ft of climbing. Back in camp, Lisa and Lucie packed up and left for home. This was something that they started to decide on at lunch. Seems they were getting homesick or something. Anyway, the result was that they couldn't wait to get packed up and leave. They left at about 5:30, and I felt pretty bummed at now being all alone. It was a big letdown from the natural high of the previous few days. I had been having too much fun for it to stop just like that.
Jennie Phillips arrived a few hours later. Mark Johnson came and dropped her off, but he had to go back home and work for a few more days. They had ridden their bikes from Bear Valley to Markleeville and back today for 73 miles. I decided to give them campout ride credit for this, as I had known of their plans already, and it was in the same area.
We didn't do an evening hike or a campfire that night, as I still just wasn't in the mood. Instead, I just lit the lantern and we sat around and read. Campfires are much better, and I later decided that we would need one each night no matter what.
Lou Mason came to camp at 9:30 this morning to find that we were all gone. He rode to the end of Blue Lakes Rd and back, by himself, for 47 miles.
At the end of the road is a large meadow in Charity Valley, with an ancient abandoned log cabin sitting in the middle. This is where we stopped for snacks. It was a great view, and we had a fine time, just sitting there eating our lunch. The only problem was that we also had mosquitos join us for a snack.
Just as we were ready to go again, Jennie noticed that her tube was popping out through a hole in the sidewall of her tire. We booted it, and got going again. Good thing she found it before it blew on a fast downhill or something.
Back on Hwy 88, we went up towards Carson Pass. The road here is really beat up, so we'll have to be careful on the downhill. We went on over Carson Pass and down the other side to Caples Lake. It was now free of ice in just those few days; amazing.
We went on down to Kirkwood for lunch, and I decided that I needed a real hot restaurant meal. Just as we were served, the Tour de France came on ESPN on the TV over the bar. They turned up the volume and turned the TV so that it faced us. It was great, what perfect timing!
Coming down from Carson Pass was bumpy, and we had to pay attention. At some places, we had to get out near the yellow line to keep away from the holes. We made it down safely, though, and had a good tailwind all the way back to camp. Totals of 70 miles with 6100 ft of climbing.
We ended the day with the traditional hike and campfire. It turned out to be Jennie's job to push the wood around inside the campfire after it had burned down. The trouble was, she never had a good stick to use, and always found that it was too hot when she used a short stick.
Today's ride was supposed to be Sonora Pass, but we switched to Virginia City, this time done in the clockwise direction with a climb up Gieger Grade. Jennie rode with me and Leroy followed behind. I played my Jamaican and African music for Jennie, and we had a good time. Leroy was jealous, as it looked like we were having too much fun in the car ahead of him.
We parked in Carson City, then headed up Hwy 395 on our bikes. We had the help of a strong tailwind, so we made it all the way to the base of Gieger Grade with an average speed of over 20 mph. The really bumpy section of Hwy 395 turned out to be much better at high speed, so it wasn't a problem at all.
The climb up Gieger Grade was great. It turned out to be a steady 5% for about 2200 ft of climbing, with great views down into the valley. We could see Reno to the north and Mt. Rose to the west. Jennie was faster than what I wanted to do, so I dropped back a bit. I was impressed with Leroy, as he was able to hang with Jennie the whole way up. The Death Ride was going to be Leroy's first, so today's ride would be a good test for him. It looked like he was passing the test.
In Virginia City, we locked our bikes up outside the restaurant, then took a walking tour of the town. We bought some touristy souvenir stuff. I bought a 6" high slot machine for Diana, a wooden train whistle for myself, and found a neat pair of florescent green skeleton earrings to put on my bike for the Death Ride. Leroy found an Elvis Presley coin that he found he had to have.
We again had lunch on the back deck of the restaurant, but this time it was really windy. It looked like it was going to be a headwind all the way back to Carson City. And a headwind it was. During lunch, I happened to mention that quote from the Davis Double about "drafting is for wooses". I was willing to pull, but Jennie wouldn't dare do any wheel-sucking, so instead everyone suffered. On Hwy 50, it was sometimes all we could manage to do 12 mph into that disgusting headwind. I was glad that we had driven all the way into Carson City and then turned east on Hwy 50 before parking. That meant that the cars were closer than they might have been.
We stopped in for ice cream before heading back to camp. Leroy had made reservations for a motel in Minden, but we talked him into coming back to camp with us.
We skipped camp and went directly to Grover Hot Springs. It wasn't crowded today, and we had a good time. I was also able to check out Jennie in her bikini, so I was happy.
Finally, we got back to camp at about 5:00. We found Frank Harrison there, taking a nap where Lisa's tent had previously been set up. I wondered why Frank had taken it down, as I thought the plan was for him to use it. It turned out that the wind was so fierce at camp, that it had caused one of the tent poles to break, poking a big hole in the tent cover. Bummer. Luckily, Frank had also brought his own tent, so we just packed up Lisa's damaged tent. Leroy didn't have a tent, so he used my old blue one that I use to save spots.
A hike and campfire again ended the day.
Finally, we decided that it was about time to break down and clean our bikes. Mine was pretty dirty, and it probably took me a few hours to clean it up. I took off the second set of waterbottles and changed back to my other pedals. Jennie put air in my tires, and I told her to put it up to 115 psi. She was surprised when she found I only had about 75 to 80 psi to start with. I told her that I don't usually put air in my tires, and only check them with my thumb every once in a while. She made me promise not to let any of the air back out, after she found me complaining about how hard my tires were now.
Leroy won the contest for most time spent cleaning his bike. He must have spent close to 5 hours on it, using two toothbrushes, numerous rags, and a tin of Turtle wax. He even waxed his spokes.
When it was time to go check in, I offered to drive everyone up, and got no complaints. It was originally planned for us to ride our bikes up to the start. My excuse was that I also needed to go to the store to buy some candy bars.
We skipped our evening hike, as Jennie and I had taken ours earlier in the day. We walked across the dam and back. On the way back, we collected some wood for our campfire. The wood that I had brought from home was now finished, but we had gotten 5 campfires out of it.
Just before our evening campfire, Mark Johnson arrived. To help celebrate Jennie's birthday today (34 years old), he had brought up her favorite dessert. Strawberries that you dip in cool whip and then dip in brown sugar. There was cool whip left over so I took it and created my own dessert by adding some Rice Crispys. It tasted like Marshmallow Treats.
Like yesterday, the wind had been really windy again today.
Luckily, the sprinkling had stopped when I came out of my tent. I was 12 minutes late leaving camp as I headed up the hill. The sky looked pretty dark over by Woodfords Canyon, but not too bad towards Monitor. I figured that I would just take it one pass at a time and see how it went.
I felt strong, and was cruising right along. On the uphills I would pass lots of people, and then lots would pass me on the downhills. I passed Frank half way up the front of Monitor, then saw Leroy and Jennie as I was going down the back. Unlike other years, I decided that I would not try to eat as I was riding, and so I stopped at the top of Monitor in both directions so that I could eat a PB&J sandwich. Monitor was good, as it was cool, with some cloud cover, and there was not much wind.
After Monitor I & II came Ebbetts. It looked a bit rainy up there, and we could hear thunder in the background. It started a light rain about a third of the way up, and continued till about two-thirds up. Then it let up and wasn't more than a light drizzle for the rest of the way. The road was wet, and thankfully nobody was going too fast on the descent. This would be a good day to take it easy on going downhill.
Before I got to the top, I had decided not to do the back side of Ebbetts, having the good excuse of the bad weather. I wasn't too disappointed. I saw Jennie, Leroy, and Roy all ahead of me, so they were doing a good time. I stopped and had another sandwich at the top, then changed into some warm clothes for the descent.
Going down wasn't too bad. I had thoughts of that downhill on Hwy 9 during our Big Basin In The Snow ride, with my fingers freezing. Luckily, it wasn't too cold and my fingers never tried to freeze up. I stopped in Markleeville and switched over to my tanktop, as the sun was hopefully out to stay for awhile.
At Diamond Valley School, I was feeling good. I only stopped in to eat a candy bar and to see who else I knew at the lunch stop. I finally found Leroy, and he was ready to go, so we did the Diamond Valley Loop together. We enjoyed a good tailwind out, but then turned into a stiff headwind for the trip back to Woodfords. I was thankful for that headwind training a few days ago, so I was unfazed. Leroy however, started to drop behind.
In Woodfords, I let Leroy catch back up, then we started Woodfords Canyon together. I was very soon by myself, as I felt great. I passed up Will Whitworth, then Paul Vlasveld, and then passed Stuart Wallace and Jim Molinari.
About half way up towards Luthor Pass I saw Jennie coming down. I still felt good and had thoughts of catching up with her. I had a short stop at Luthor Pass, then headed down. I was doing good on my way towards Carson Pass. I wasn't passing too many people, but that was because the crowd had thinned out considerably by this time. Finally I thought I could see Jennie far up ahead of me, but it turned out to be just some guy. Then I saw Jennie coming back down. This was about 3:30 and so it looked like she might get a 4 o'clock finish (as I had told her yesterday) so I was happy for her.
At Carson Pass, I stopped and hung out a bit, as I now felt that I needed some more food. For the first time today, I helped myself to some of the food that is provided by the ride. Up till now I had eaten 4 PB&Js and 6 candy bars.
Carson Pass was sunny and the road was dry, so it was a good finish to a good ride. On the way back down, I was glad that there wasn't too much traffic, either bikes or cars. I took my time and made sure I avoided all of the bad places on the road.
I made it back to the finish at Turtle Rock Park at 4:45. I found Jennie, Mark and Frank already there. Frank stopped after 3 passes, due to his lack of conditioning and the fact that it still looked like rain up towards Luthor. Jennie had finished at 4:02, and was the first woman 5-pass finisher. She was very pleased. It was a good effort, a good time, and a good finish.
We had dinner at the After-Ride meal at Turtle Rock. It was delicious.
Back in camp, I was able to get my shower while Jennie and Mark were still packing up. I was able to see them before they left to spend the night at Tahoe. I gave Jennie a Death Ride cycling cap for her birthday, that she had been eyeing, but had not gotten around to buying. We gave each other a couple of big hugs before they left. It was great!
Frank had packed and left while I was still in the shower, as he had to go to work the next morning. Therefore, it was just going to be me in camp for this evening, but this time it didn't bum me out. I was satisfied.
To be sure, though, I decided that I needed to keep to tradition. I therefore headed up the hill for my evening hike. I stopped along the way and gathered some wood for the campfire. I then left the wood there and continued on up to the view point where I sat and watched the evening come over the valley. I was content. On the way back down, I picked up my little wood pile and headed back to camp.
At camp, I noticed that there was a new tent put up. It was Paul, come to spend the last night. Paul had arrived in camp the night before, but it had been very late, so he just slept in his car in the parking lot.
I made the campfire, and had just the right amount of wood, due to my week's experience of building the campfire each evening. Again, I succeeded in lighting the fire with just one match. After the fire went out, we turned in.
I wore my new Death Ride tank top t-shirt, the same one that I wore most of yesterday during the ride. It was a bit dirty, but I couldn't bear to wear something else, so I wore it anyway. I was satisfied. I was happy. I was tired. It would be good to finally get home. I was finally ready to go home.
I got 333 miles during the campout plus another 139 for the Death ride, for a total of 472 miles with 42,600 ft of climbing.
Diana liked the slot machine and the elephant earrings.