Stovepipe Wells Plus

Well today was proof that the wind does not really leave Death Valley.  Pam has always described the wind here but I always thought it just was a one day here or there.  Today it was back again but not as wicked as it was on Sunday.  You could notice how the wind is a factor in riding when we compared our time riding out on Sunday and riding today.  We were much faster today.

Today was a great ride since a good part of it was flat and the grades never got above 4%.  So riding out to Stovepipe Wells was a nice ride despite the wind.  A good part of the road was newly paved which is always what cyclists dream of riding on.  Plus even if we were riding up, we knew we were going to get a good reward on the way back.

Our turnaround just ahead

I was considering the ride up the Wildrose since it would only take me out a little further.  I asked Steve about this and he said it was only around 4%.  But obviously I asked the wrong person since it was only 4% for a quarter of a mile.  It was actually 6% to 8% the whole way up for 8 miles  I am just not used to riding grades like this for very long.  I gave it my best shot but after 6 miles I had enough and I still had to make my way back.  Thankfully it was all downhill from there and by the end I had my 62 miles for the day.

The hill up to Wildrose

More of the Wildrose hill

One thing I will mention is that I seem to have a poor perception regarding distances here.   Since there are such wide open spaces that you can view, it is easy to think a distance may be only about a few miles away.  However because the roads wind a bit it isn't easy for me to tell how far I am away from something.  I have my Garmin to tell me how much I rode and how much is left but sometimes it doesn't seem to match what I am seeing.  Maybe it has something to do with mirages in the desert.

I mentioned earlier that there are such interesting people here.  One of the people I have met through Pam and Dave is Steve Barnes who helps do SAG for the riders.  This guy has some amazing stories and is a great story teller.  Last night we sat around for what seemed like hours as he told us his story about doing the Furnace 508 in 2009.  For many who don't know about this race, it is a race of 508 miles on a bike but it must be done within 48 hours.  It is held in October and only 240 participants do it as either a two man or 4 man relay team where their time on the bike is split between 8 segments.  Anyone who does this is a really amazing cyclist especially when they have to do this through the night.

Steve who has done it many times told us such a great story about how the 2009 race had such high winds that gusted up to 50 mph I believe and how he persevered even when other riders took shelter in their crew vans.  The other amazing thing was that he did this race on an old bike with 6 speeds.  Just shows you how strong of a rider he really is.  But he told us such an incredible story that you wanted to know more.  Hopefully he will continue to tell us more of his stories.

Tomorrow should be interesting since we are riding out to Zabriske Point.  We are meeting for a group photo and then we all have to decide on whether we go on to the Death Valley Junction which means climbing to 3000 feet.  I hope I will have my legs back for tomorrow for I surely want to make it.  Should be another fun day of riding.