2009 Hell's Gate Hundred Results, April 18, 2009

We had a truly memorable and adventurous weekend in Mother Nature's Greatest Sports Arena with the newest AdventureCORPS event, Hell's Gate Hundred, held in Death Valley National Park on April 18, 2009.

We designed the Hell's Gate Hundred route to include locations and sights that are not visited in any other one-day cycling event in Death Valley National Park, including Artist Drive, Hell's Gate, Daylight Pass, and the ghost town of Rhyolite. The full 100.7 mile route features 8600 feet of cumulative elevation gain.

Eight-two riders participated in the event, with over half the field completing the full 100 miles, while many others were challenged mightily by the metric century route of 65 miles.

Attesting to the wide-ranging enthusiasm for riding in Death Valley, we had registered riders aged 25 top 73 from nine American States: AZ, CA, CO, IL, MO, NM, NV, OR, and TN! (We also had nine riders attend CORPSyoga on Friday and also nine joined the unofficial hike through Golden Canyon and Gower Gulch on Sunday!) See a video slideshow of this incredible hike.

New for this event was “The Stick” at each checkpoint and at the finish line. It’s a great tool for self-massage which really helps to quickly rejuvenate sore muscles. We like it so much, we bought ten for everyone to use out there! Riders really like having The Stick on hand to massage their tired and cramping legs. Look for The Stick at all our future events!

Also new were locally grown dates from the China Ranch Date Farm in nearby Tecopa, NV served at each checkpoint! Dates are a delicious source of energy for athletes which have been eaten and enjoyed in desert regions for millennia! Hell's Gate riders ate them at each checkpoint and discovered why! Plus, we are excited to support a local business, a fellow member of the Death Valley Chamber of Commerce!

Certainly everybody had an adventure and it was a pleasure to spend a fantastic day "out there" with you! Thanks for riding and thanks for joining the first ever edition of this exciting new event!

Thanks to the wonderful volunteers who made it all happen!

Check-In: Wayne and Shelby Kostman, Elizabeth Jefferson, and Chris Kostman

Start Line: Steve and Karen Gray, and Chris Kostman

Artist Palette: Karen Gray and Elizabeth Jefferson

Beatty Cut-Off Road Water Stop: Steve Giant Water Bug Gray

Hell's Gate: Esther Merki and Randy Klassen

Daylight Pass Water Stop: Robin Stevens

Rhyolite: Wayne and Shelby Kostman, Mike Angelfish Angelos

Furnace Creek Finish Line: Karen Gray and Elizabeth Jefferson

CORPSyoga on Friday: Elizabeth Jefferson | More Info

Roving SAG: Mike Angelfish Angelos, Chris Kostman, Steve Giant Waterbug Gray

Photography: Chris Kostman, Wayne Kostman, Elizabeth Jefferson, Badwater Mayor Ben Jones

Special thanks are also extended to the wonderful people at the Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort, Joe's Sanitation of Pahrump, Liberty Ambulance of Ridgecrest, the National Park Service, and Cal Trans in Bishop.

Images from the Ride

	Show 1: By Chris Kostman: Friday Yoga (4/17), Furnace Creek Start Line, and the ascent of Artist's Drive to Artist's Palette 4/18/09 This image gallery contains photos from the Friday afternoon CORPSyoga class, the start line on Saturday morning, then the first "wake-up" climb of the day with dramatic views of Death Valley and Telescope Peak behind.entire Hell's Gate Hundred route, plus
	Show 2: By Chris Kostman: Artist's Palette to Hell's Gate, 4/18/09 This image gallery contains photos from after the first checkpoint at Artist's Palette, down the rest of Artist's Drive, then the long ascent up the Beatty Cut-Off to Hell's Gate.
	Show 3: By Chris Kostman: Hell's Gate to Daylight Pass to Rhyolite to Furnace Creek, 4/18/09 This image gallery contains photos from the ascent of Daylight Pass (beyond Hell's Gate), the ghost town of Rhyolite, plus the Furnace Creek finish line.
	Show 4: By Wayne Kostman Kostman: Mostly Rhyolite plus Flora and Fauna, 4/18/09 Wayne has a keen eye for flowers and birds and other interesting smaller details which most people don't even notice. Simply put, he's a world-class photographer. He and Shelby Kostman also ran the checkpoint at the ghost town of Rhyolite during the event as well.
	Show 5: By Chris Kostman: Visit to China Ranch Date Farm on 4/15/09, Staff Ride on 4/16/09, then post-event Hike on 4/19/09 We stopped to visit the China Ranch Date Farm on our way to Death Valley on April 15, because we want to support the local economy even more, plus we want serve a fun, unusual, and excellent source of energy at the checkpoints during our events. So the 2009 Hell's Gate Hundred is our first to feature dates from China Ranch Date Farm, located just south of Death Valley in Tecopa, NV. Be sure to stop in for a visit. They're just 9 miles off the 178, but in an otherworldly location with great hiking trails, a neat gift shop, and all manner of cacti and date palms for sale. On Saturday, April 16, we rode the whole HGH route unsupported. What an awesome day on the bike in our favorite place in the world, Death Valley National Park! Finally, HGH featured a post-event hike on Sunday morning in Golden Canyon and Gower Gulch, so this gallery contains those photos, too.
	Show 6: By Chris Kostman: Hiking to and beyond Natural Bridge, 4/17/09 We spent a very enjoyable morning hiking to and beyond Natural Bridge in Death Valley National Park on the day prior to hosting our Hell's Gate Hundred cycling event! It was a wonderful hike and the trailhead is located just 12 miles from Furnace Creek, along the Badwater Road! Her outfit: Beckons and his outfit: Patagonia
	Bonus Show 7: By Badwater Ben Jones: Mostly near Artist's Palette, 4/18/09 The images were mostly taken near Artist’s Palette on Artist’s Drive about 12 miles from Furnace Creek Ranch, which is where the event started and finished.

Awesome, Unsolicited, Totally Appreciated Feedback!

The Hell's Gate 100 was terrific. The support and the route were wonderful. I enjoyed each of the check points. The checkpoints were all fully stocked with everything one could need and staffed by terrific volunteers. I personally used a fair amount of the extras that you provided at the checkpoints that are often not available including the sunscreen and the baby wipes. There's nothing like a clean face when times are tough. I greatly appreciated the ready availability of ice and the additional water stops on Daylight pass. I used the two additional stops and wish I had made better use of the ice.

Regarding the route, I loved it. I expected a hard day and was not disappointed. Yes, there were times on Daylight Pass when I was less than thrilled but the ride was billed as a challenge and I was happy to undertake it. The route provided terrific and memorable payoffs after each difficult section in terms of scenery that made each hard effort well worth it.

In sum, thanks for sharing such a wonderful route and for putting on a terrific event. - Thanks, Mike Beauregard, Addax 2x

Just wanted to say -again: Thank you very much for creating=making this happen. It was truly one of the hardest/longest 100 miles that I can recall in my life, ... but as you suggested, one felt worthy of accomplishment at the day's end. So, good day, long day, tough ride - but thanks to you and your team of support staff, you all made the rest and recovery stops very rejuvenating [I was especially impressed, and personally enjoyed the regular-no+frills ice-cold COKE at Ryolite, back to the basics - excellent !!]. Take good care, perhaps our paths may cross again on some future road. "Cheers" - Brendan & Denise Lee

This is by far the most interesting of the Centuries you've staged in Death Valley. The aid was good, the people friendly and helpful. The abundant ice was invaluable, especially for slugs out in the heat of the day. The pizza looked great, but I couldn't eat anything until my stomach settled down. The climb is exactly what I wanted to use to kick off a training season culminating in the Death Ride. I'll definitely be back, with my wife Pam and perhaps others. - Thanks, Ross Zimmerman (Tucson Trail Run Series)

Just wanted to say thanks to you and your staff for putting on an enjoyable ride. Your support stops were well stocked and the folk there were friendly and helpful. Good route selection! The climbing was more sustained than I expected, but it was well worth the effort. The ride took us through a variety of amazing geologic and flora displays - what an amazing place Death Valley is. The historic town or Rhyolite was a nice turn-around point, although I wish there were more time to look around the town (there were few other riders around at that point so I felt pressured to get moving; that little valley was a pleasure to ride though). The lack of traffic on most of the route was a real treat. It was one of the factors that initially drew my interest to this ride. Anyhow, great route. Anyhow, great ride! Thanks to you for making it happen for all of us who took part. I look forward to next year. And I'm considering the Shasta event this summer. - John Monroe

Loved Hell's Gate! Living in Denver, our cycling season is just starting and the first century of the season is always the toughest. We chose to make Hell's Gate our first of the season and it did not disappoint. Loved the route. I'll be 40 this year and for the first 39 years of my life I'd never been to Death Valley, but because of Adventurecorps I've now been twice in the last 6 months. Keep up the great work. - Doug Gray

Thanks for organizing a great event. You selected a phenomenal course with spectacular scenery - truly a unique experience. This was a very hard day in the saddle that came with great satisfaction in reaching the goal. - Sam Pfaff

Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus loving HG century. I really enjoyed the early climb to Artist's Palette, almost missed the turn to the rest stop, loved the supplies at the rest stops ESPECIALLY the dates, the friendliness of the riders and volunteers (as opposed to some other southern California centuries) and the extraordinary support that allowed me to finish the ride on fresh tires. It was tough--the 100+ degree temps at the end--but satisfying. - Thanks again, Aaron Lipstadt (who needed, and received, both front and rear tyres for his bike during the event)

Official Results