2006 Fall Death Valley Double Century

Ride Report by Bill Nicolai

Click here for Fall 2006 Results and Slideshows

 
I flew down to Death Valley on Friday with my personal consultant, Eric Sanford, AKA Dr Phun.

With two bikes and camping gear in the plane we arrived at the Death Valley strip as the sun set. Eric found us transport to the campground and we set up our tents in the same spot where Jane and I had camped seven months ago. Once again, the weather in Death Valley was superb with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s with little wind and the mornings in the 50s.

I began with the first wave at exactly 7 AM. They release the riders in groups of 50. As my group of riders charged ahead on the course, I just sat back and gradually let my legs and heart find the pace and within five miles I was riding alone. Most riders make this extremely challenging ride the focus of their Fall training and carefully taper. The 196 mile course with 10,000 feet of climbing certainly demands respect. The weather in Death Valley can be harsh: one year when I rode the spring double on the southern route we had 25 mile per hour winds in 40 degree temperatures and only half of the riders finished. Another year only saw seven finishers, but on this day the weather was perfect and I expect there were few DNFs.

As the sun finally rose I found myself in a swift pace line from the second wave, led by two tandems up the long gradual climb toward Scotty's castle. The fact that I was already at least 10 minutes behind the leaders after a couple of hours bothered me not the slightest. I have learned, from my recorded sports hypnotherapy sessions with Dr Rick Collingwood, to not concern myself with others and just to concentrate on my own pace and to ride at my ability level; how well this would work on this ride.

Nearing the half way mark out of the Valley in Nevada, I narrowly missed a coiled rattlesnake basking in the road which fortunately barely had time to raise its rattle as I whizzed by at 20 MPH. Counting riders approaching from the turn I found myself 44th of about 150 riders. Since this was a training ride to get some aerobic endurance in my legs, prior to the Silverman Triathlon in two weeks time, I really was not concerned with my placing, but was pleased to find that everything was so comfortable after the first century.

The spectacular scenery at Ubehebe Crater was a fine reward for the bumpy side road that the route takes at mile 125 on a 10 mile side loop. I now encountered Gerald Goode, a 67 year old rider who I met on the Ridge of the Rockies a couple years ago. Gerald is one of the finest endurance riders of his age in the country, and we two geezers rode on a bit and discussed how fortunate we felt to be out enjoying such endeavors. Heading on the gradual rolling descent I was caught by a very large and powerful rider who had a draft like a semi truck so I tucked in for some free speed. Still keeping my heart rate low, we were passing occasional lone riders. Many of them were sporting the salt crusted shorts and the dried spittle stained faces typical of those who have been pushing the pace a bit too hard for 10 hours and a hundred fifty miles. My Mack truck slowed when we reached to flats and now, I formed up a pace line with a man and woman couple sporting California Triple Crown Jerseys (awarded for finishing three double centuries in a year) and the three of us swept up the slower riders who could hang.

After nightfall the final 2000 foot climb led to Hells Gate and then back down to Furnace Creek. I got to the finish after 13 and a half hours and Eric was there to greet me and tell me that he thought I was maybe among the first 30 riders. Eric had ridden on his own down to Badwater and then up Artists Loop where he had opportunity to consider the folly of not bringing enough low gears to Death Valley. Though the valley floor is flat, many of the rides are not.

I have never felt so rested after an ultra event, so we hung out a bit in the warm evening air and watched other finishers and had a fine supper before retiring to our tents. The next morning Eric and I took a nice ride up to Zabriskie Point to enjoy the view and then we packed the plane and flew home. On the way we circled low over the site of Burning Man on the Black Rock Desert. Stopping at Bend to refuel we flew above a cloud deck across the Cascades in 70 MPH headwinds to Portland, and along the Columbia arriving at dark to the welcome of a delicious pot of beef stew cooked by Jane.

From this result, it looks like I'm going to be ready for the very challenging iron distance Silverman Triathlon on November 11 which features 10,000 feet of climbing on the bike and 2000 on the run. My last seven day training total is 7000 meters of swimming, 360 miles of cycling and 31 miles of running. Now, following Steve Born's advice, I'm going to dial the distance down a bit and let the energy build for the race. This morning's resting heart rate of 46 is a good sign.

For those who would like to do the Death Valley Double next March 3, registration opens next month at www.adventurecorps.com. If you like knock-your-eyeballs-out scenery and are willing to take what the weather gods dish out, this is certainly one of the most beautiful places to ride in the country. The event is limited to three hundred riders and sells out quickly. Today I ran 14 miles on my taper program and will tone it down to a couple hundred total on the bike this week. Wish me luck at Silverman.