Adventures on a Bike

Went on a great loop with Mike today.

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I’m headed to the Eastern Sierra in June with 9 other cycling fanatics for:

“Three days of road bike monster climbs along Highway 395 of the south-eastern Sierras between Lone Pine and Big Pine (not really any pines there). The trip is designed for over-the-hill polka dot wanna-bees looking for good company, no cars, and upward tilting pavement. 22,000’ of “scheduled” climbing on 4 goliaths in 140 miles (round trips) jammed into 3 days.”

Sweet. Check out the descriptions and elevation profiles for the climbs:

Day 1 - Onion Valley

Onion Valley (13 miles, climbing 5300’), our first climb out of Independence starts with a 6 mile straight road on the alluvial fan. We will drive up half of the alluvial fan, because we can. After the first few miles this mountain has 18 hairpin turns on great pavement, considered one of the best descents anywhere.

Day 2 - Horseshoe Meadows and Mt. Whitney Portal

Horseshoe Meadows (22.5 miles, climbing 6300’ tops out at 10,070) starts with a tour of Alabama Hills, rugged cowboy movie set country. Then, after an monstrous alluvial fan, it ribbons up a mountain face that has no business sporting a road. Nearly parallel switchbacks take us up to forest country. May have to filter water from natural sources along the road. Otherwise, two full bottles AND a camel pack are necessary.

Whitney Portal Road (9 miles climbing 3800 ft, up to 8,450’) is famous because it ends at the base camp of the trail up Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous U.S. Though the alluvial fan is oppressive, the view of the mountain upon approach keeps the climb interesting. There are a couple of long switch backs after the alluvial fan that hosts 15% sections, just to finish your legs off for the day. Pretty good food sold at the top.

Day 3 - Bristlecone

Bristlestone, our highest hill rivals the biggest in Europe (20 mile, climbing 6,600’ to 10,100’). It is on the eastern side of 395 outside of Big Pine, so there is no alluvial fan, and has lots of changing grades and turns. Some very steep sections.

The Alpine Challenge is aptly named. Set in the mountains around Alpine, CA, the 72-mile Pine Valley course includes oodles of beautiful mountain roads and the famed Dehesa Grade ascent. By the time I crossed the finish line, I had cycled 72.28 miles and gained/lost 7,684 feet of elevation.

Alpine Challenge elevation profile

There must have been 200 riders queuing up for the 7am start at the Alpine Community Center. This would be the start for both the 72-mile Pine Valley ride and the slightly shorter (but still brutal) 62-mile Descanso ride. Mark and I lined up near the front with the half-dozen Descenders participating that morning. Mike and Dave V. we’re looking very sporty prior to the start and I knew they were both looking for a good performance.

I really didn’t know what to expect. Mark and I had ridden very well the week before at the Tour de Cure, but this was a different kind of event. There were a lot of “real” cyclists here, some traveling a long ways to test themselves on the difficult course. There were also quite a few pro and semi-pro riders in the peloton that morning. Our plan was to stay as close to the front as possible without blowing up by going out too hard too early.

The race started with the lead riders going way too fast for me. I’ve figured out that this is just standard operating procedure for competitive rides so I hung on the back of the lead group, gritted my teeth and waited for them to slow down a little. It’s quite a rude shock to the system to launch yourself cold into climbing 5-8% grade as fast as you can. Notice from the elevation profile that there is no warm-up area, it’s basically “go!” and then start climbing. The peloton quickly strung itself out from the early accelerations and Mark and I were probably 6-8 riders from the front when we decided to ease up a little, let the leaders go and save ourselves for the much bigger climb that was coming - Dehesa Grade. We picked a steady tempo and were passed by just a handful of other riders.

After screaming down the 10-mile long Harbison Canyon descent, we turned left onto Dehesa Rd. and began a 23-mile climb through Alpine, Descanso, Guatay, and finally to Pine Valley. Consider for a moment what it must be like to spend almost 2 hours climbing a 3,200 foot hill on your bike. Well, I actually had a pretty good time. Initially, it hurt a lot to match Mark’s uphill tempo, but as what usually happens to me, the more time I spent in the saddle, the better I felt. About 2/3’s the way up the hill, I was feeling really good. We were also slowly bringing back some riders in the breakaway who had bonked on the climb. We stopped for water just short of the top and the guy at the rest stop said there were really only a half-dozen or so riders in front of us. That’s all I needed to hear, for me it was now “Go Time!”.

Mark and I flew up the last bit of climbing, descended into Pine Valley and I went to the front to put on a steady tempo. As long as we didn’t crack on the remaining climbs, we had a shot at a top 10 finish. I couldn’t believe it - I honestly hadn’t expected to be doing so well. With these thoughts in my head and a breakaway rider just up the road, I picked up the pace a little more. Mark started having some difficulty staying on and he released me of my team duties saying, “you’ve got the legs, go get them.” I took off.

I caught the guy in front of me (”Google-jersey-guy”) and dropped him climbing out of Pine Valley. I stopped for Gatorade at the SAG stop at the top and he caught me again. It was a frantic moment watching him pass me as I tried to get Gatorade into my bottle. I soon caught him again passing Viejas and tried to work together a little. His advice was to take it easy so as not to bonk on the final 1,000 ft climb back into Alpine. No thanks, I dropped him on the descent and didn’t see him until the finish.

What goes up must come down and so I was on a 17-mile descent back the way I had come up. I caught up with a SDBC rider who was on the 62-mile course - he was positively flying. I tried to hang on with him to make some more time on any would-be chasers and to possibly catch another breakaway rider, but he was just too fast for me. Before I knew it, I was climbing again back into Alpine.

The last 1,000 ft climb into Alpine is where a lot of riders are destroyed. By the time you get there, it’s warmed up (it was 85+F), your legs have way too much climbing in them already and you’re already imagining the post-ride beer. I double-GU’d, drank most of a bottle of Gatorade and set a fast tempo. Since the 62 and 72 mile courses share much of the same roads, I passed dozens and dozens of riders. I had no way of knowing whether any of them were actually from the 72-mile breakaway group so I just kept hammering. By the time the course finally tipped downhill for the last couple of miles through Alpine, I was toasted. My legs hurt so bad that I actually GU’d with 1 mile to go - I was afraid of bonking on the last mile!

I rolled back into the community center with a ride time of 4:13:50. Mark came in about 4-5 minutes later. After conferring with some other riders about who was where, it was determined that I probably finished in 9th or 10th place among the 72-mile riders. To me, this was a FANTASTIC result. It validated my result at the Tour de Cure and proved to me that I’m on the best form of my (rather short) cycling career.

Next stop - Monster Climbs Trip in June. More on that later.

You can read all about the fun I had at this year’s Alpine Challenge here. I wanted to take a moment to say what a wonderful event it is. Aside from the course being fantastic and every bit as challenging as it is advertised, the event itself in wonderfully organized and supported.

The start/finish area in the Alpine Community Center has everything a rider needs. With your registration you get a free t-shirt, a swag-bag and most importantly, a free beer in the beer garden. It was really cool hanging in the beer garden with Mark, enjoying our “recovery beverages” and getting to know some of the other riders. We just wished that the line for the free massages was not so long.

The road support is also top-notch. The course is very clearly marked, usually with an actual person pointing the way with a big sign. Each SAG stop is amply stocked with bars, gels, water, gatorade, fruit - anything you need. The all-volunteer staff was super helpful - you’d be surprised how hard it is to get Gatorade into a water bottle when your heart rate has been 165 for the last 3 hours

Oh, and did I mention that they got Andy Hamptsen to ride with us? Yes, the winner of the legendary 1988 Giro d’ Italia rode with us and signed autographs, etc.

I’ve been to a few cycling events now and I can say that the Alpine Challenge is one of the best events I’ve participated in. Ride it next year.

Yes, “it’s a ride, not a race”, but the riders at the front of the century group are always competitive. And, no there didn’t seem to be a large field of classified racers, but most of the century group was dropped on the first hill.

Mark and I were the first to finish this year’s Tour de Cure after 105 hard miles. I have our ride time at 5:36:40 with an average speed of 18.5 mph.

Oh, yeah - Andy, Mark and I also managed to raise over $1,200 for diabetes! Team Climb On! rocks…

Standing in Black Mountain Cyclery today looking at cold-weather gear. It’s supposed to be in the 50’s tomorrow with a chance of rain for the 100+ mile Tour de Cure. Leg warmers, full-fingered gloves, full jackets, that head warmer thingy, shoe covers.

Outside it was 81F and perfectly sunny. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

This weekend, I’m going to be cycling in the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure fund-raising event. I’ll be cycling over 100 miles in support of the American Diabetes Association’s commitment to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

There are over 20 million children and adults in the US with diabetes. This includes my mom, my old neighbor and one of my great friends. I can tell you from firsthand experience about the impact diabetes can have on people’s lives.

Please help me raise money to support the American Diabetes Association by sponsoring me to ride the Tour de Cure this weekend.
http://main.diabetes.org/goto/arlynasch

Mike and I enjoyed beautiful weather on a toodle to the Mission Cafe in downtown San Diego. It was pretty cool riding around downtown and I got a real sense for how interesting San Diego is. From La Jolla village, to the boardwalk in PB, the Embarcadero and finally downtown, San Diego is a really diverse collection of great neighborhoods.

Mark, Andy and I were hankering for some apple pie so we set off early headed for Julian. The weather gods had other ideas. We encountered 20-30 mph headwinds that got worse the farther east we went. The winds were relentless! My bike was buffeted left and right, standing in the saddle was out of the question and I had to pedal when going downhill to keep from stopping.

Mark was feeling good that morning and he put himself on the front, got low and powered through. He was out of sight while climbing out of Ramona but by the time we crested Old Julian Highway I found him waiting for us on the other side of the road - signaling his intention to give it up and turn around. We were all happy to stop battling the winds and we reversed course.

Now the fierce headwinds became tailwinds. I was soon traveling 20 mph without pedaling. It was a downhill course back to Ramona and we reached speed in the 40’s without too much trouble. We got back to Ramona in about 10% of the time it took to get out there - amazing.

We took Highland Valley on the way home, I was feeling sporty so I attacked a weary Mark at the top and used all of Mike’s tricks to gain about a minute on him by the time I reached the bottom. I have a feeling it’s going to be different next time though

Missed the apple pie - next time.

I rode Palomar Mountain today with the Descenders. We went all the way to the observatory and I would have enjoyed myself a lot more if I was warm.

It was warm at the bottom, I was sweating in my undershirt and long sleeve jersey. By the time we reached Mother’s, I had my vest on and was very chilly. On the way to the observatory, we descended a little and I froze. Froze like Mr. Freeze. Even climbing the 3 miles up to the observatory couldn’t warm me. On the way back, it was just funny how cold we were. At Mother’s again, I stuffed real estate notices (cause they’re free) under my jersey to block the wind in the descent. Descending 14 miles of twisty 7-8% grade was horrendous. I shivered so bad I had to slow down cause I was afraid of losing control! My hands were so cold, I felt like I was wearing wool mittens.

Ok, enough pity. You know why I was so cold? I don’t own that much cold-weather gear. No shoe covers, full-fingered gloves, full-length jacket, headband thingy, etc, etc. How do you buy cold weather gear in April in San Diego? It’s always about 75F when I’m at the bike store and it feels plain retarded to shell out $100 for cold weather gear on a sunny day.

Not that it’s super smart to freeze all winter saying, “But it’s April, it’ll warm up soon!”

And by the way, I felt great today. I did the 14 miles of climbing (from cafe to cafe) in 1:27:48 which I am proud of. I set the pace with Voris the entire climb and really enjoyed myself. It’s nice to feel my form coming together a little.