2015 Hoodoo 500

A short prelude:

 Here is a little explanation about this event from the event race directors.

“The most epic and challenging ultra-cycling race, the Hoodoo 500 route passes through or around three National Parks, three National Monuments and several Utah State Parks. The scenery varies from majestic cliffs and striking red rock hoodoos to aspen and pine forests and high mountain meadows. All the best of Utah’s Color Country!

Geologically speaking, hoodoos are tall, skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and sedimentary rock.

Mystically speaking, hoodoo means a magical spell; which is what the Hoodoo 500 experience will cast upon you.”

I totally agree with what it says above about this experience casting a spell on you.

After doing the event for the first time last year as a 60+ division solo racer with a crew I just had to do it again and I made the decision when I finished the race.

It was one tough race to do solo at my age but the “Magical spell” was cast upon me.

I don’t know what came over me at the beginning of 2015 but something in my head said I should attempt to do it in the Voyager Division this time. I ALWAYS train on my longer training rides carrying a camel-bac hydration system and two bottles along with everything I need to stop as little as possible.

I was thinking “this is how I train all the time anyway”, so why not try an ultra event in the same fashion. Little did I know what I was getting myself into at my age?

After almost a full year of doing ultra events and training for this, the day was upon me.

Again this year I was riding to bring awareness to The House Clinic in Los Angeles and Neural Tumor Research. The doctors and staff at The House Clinic saved my life and I will be always indebted to them.

All my friends told me I was going to do great and I felt great physically. The only thing I prayed about a lot was a mechanical problem. My bike is pretty old and I am not much of a mechanic so I figured since I have to be fully self-supported, if something was to happen other that minor adjustments, I might have a problem finishing.

I arrived in the start city of Saint George, Utah on the Thursday prior to the race and helped with rider check-in for the Hoodoo Stage Race which was to start on Friday morning. I had some friends doing that division too so I had a great time taking their pictures when they checked-in.

The course:

Full elevation profile

A little note about the Voyager division from Planet Ultra:

“As a Voyager Racer you’re required to be completely self-sufficient, fending for yourself along the way, and carrying much of what you need for the duration of the race. The Voyager division is not intended to be, nor is it, simply racing without a crew. This is an extreme race and a test of far more than cycling ability. While perhaps not as difficult as Hoodoo, the inspiration for the Voyager division is races such as the Iditarod and Trans Rockies. You’ll be testing yourself against the elements, the road, and all the circumstances that may arise during this long and challenging race. The Voyager Division is intended to be somewhat like an unsupported brevet, but even tougher. There is absolutely no support provided other than the drop bags and water at manned checkpoints. While there are many places along the route to obtain food, water and lodging if need be, there are also long, difficult climbs and descents without any services and the potential for extreme weather.”

“We can’t emphasize enough the need for carrying an insulating layer in addition to your jacket, especially over Boulder Mountain and Cedar Breaks. The #1 reason Voyagers DNF (Do not finish) is lack of adequate clothing during the night over Boulder Mountain. The weather can change quickly, and racers have even had to abandon because of becoming too cold on the way to Escalante. Successful racers typically have either a Polar Tec or wool layer under their jackets for the descents. The temperature swing during this race can be over 70 degrees Fahrenheit; and is typically between 50 and 60 degrees.”

The Event

My mug shot

The voyager group 

The Voyager division starts at 5 am with the solos rolling at 7 am and then the teams a while after them. Solos and teams have a 48 hour time limit. We got a couple extra hours to complete the course due to the extreme nature of doing it self-supported. All racers must be finished by 7 am on Monday morning.

We rolled out of the gate on time. I had two friends with me in the Voyager division. Rick Jacobson is a legend in this division having done it many times. Brook Henderson is a young kid who did the 500 mile solo division last year and the 300 mile “Nomad” division (same as voyager but different distance), a couple year ago. He is a fast beast!

The first part was a neutral section till we got out of town and the traffic lights. We just cruised at an easy pace until we reached the point where the actual race starts, Washington Dam Road.

Part one:   Saint George to Kanab                                                  0-86.6 mile

Elevation profile for part one

Voyagers on the line and ready to go

 

Heading out of town

I was following Rick and not paying enough attention to my route when I missed the first turn and ended up on a gravel road in the dark. It did say on the route slip that it was easy to miss……my Garmin yelped at me because it saw I was off course. We went back and found the turn. Really easy to miss in the dark!

We rolled through the town of Hurricane as it was starting to get light before turning on Hwy 59 at mile marker 26. Now we had the long climb out of the dam area. I just rode at my own pace and let Rick go after we caught up with everyone else except Brook and one other. That other guy came all the way from Connecticut. His name was John Nobile and he ended up winning the Voyager division. Amazing. 

I now had 54 miles before the next turn in Fredonia Arizona. The climb up out of the basin was beautiful as the sun came up. Once I got at the top it was one of those long open roads all the way to the next turn. I just got in the aero bars and cruised at a very easy pace although my heart-rate was a little high. (I think it might have been the double shot coffee I had before starting!!)

 

Climbing out of the dam basin

Sunrise on the road to Fredonia

I could see Rick up ahead the whole time in the distance and then I lost him just before Fredonia. I guessed because he had made the turn.

 

The long road ahead

I just cruised in my aero bars whenever I could and spun the pedals. I was not riding this like a race. I was just out training. (that's what I was thinking in my head of course)
This section was probably the longest straight road of the race. It was such a beautiful section. I knew it was only going to get nicer as we moved back into Utah.

Hello Arizona

Leaving Arizona

I rolled into Time Station One about 10:46 am and Rick was not there. He got there a few minutes later and said he had stopped for water. Another voyager, Roger from Tucson came in a little after us.

The two Jennifers manning Time Station one

Rick and Roger

I went into the store and grabbed a Pepsi and took a break.  It was so refreshing.

Part 2: Kanab to Bryce                                                        86.6 – 158 miles

Elevation profile for part 2. 

It was already getting quite hot.

I rolled out of the check point feeling really good. As I rode into the town of Kanab I came across a western wagon train heading into town on the road. I had time warped back into the old west!! They were getting ready for a big parade in town when I rolled through. It was great!

It was kind of funny because there was a big bus behind the wagon and I couldn't help but think that these were two bus's, one from old and one from the new age. (at least I thought it was funny.)

Old tour bus....new tour bus

This next section encompasses some good climbing up to a summit near the entrance to Zion National Park. The area is called Mount Carmel Junction.

Its getting hot..about 98 degrees on the road

 The field was already stretching out in the heat and wind in this section. I went through over 150 oz. of water getting to that summit. I was glad I came across the vehicle rest stop about half way so I could fill up with water. I saw my friend and race staffer Tony on the road in this section. He was on his way to man the Loa Utah checkpoint. I hoped to be there in the wee hours of the morning.

Cruising up Hwy 89                                                                                                                 Photo by Tony Musorafite

What a beautiful place!

During this climb, the first of the solo riders caught up with us. One guy looked like a pro as he passed me like I was standing still. I found out that he DNF'd at the second time station due to stomach problems. The second guy, Mark Scarpohl, I knew. He is from Minnesota. He also looked like a pro. He gave me a holler as he passed. Really nice guy. He ended up winning the entire race and setting the 50+ solo record!!

Mark Scarpohl

Rick is a very good climber and caught up to me. He passed saying he would stop at the store on the summit. I rolled in right behind him with an upset stomach and I was getting worried.

I was prepared for the stomach problem. I dropped two alka-seltzers in my water bottle and started sipping it while resting there with Rick and Roger. It did the trick and I felt like a new man!!

While resting at the store we saw 6 time Race across America winner Seana Hogan go by. She was attempting to break her own course record. An amazing cyclist. She ended up getting second overall and breaking her own 50+ record. Amazing!!

On all the climbs thus far, I felt like I was riding my tandem bike. I could really feel the extra weight I was carrying for this division. I knew I had to just stay steady and I would be OK.

Onward I went for a nice descent and rolling section to my turn on Hwy 12. The scenery was getting better and better.

Almost to the turn

After flying through this section, I turned on Hwy 12.

Hwy 12 is considered one of the most beautiful thoroughfares in the world. It is spectacular to say the least. It will take us all the way through Bryce, Escalante-Grand Staircase, Boulder and over Boulder Mountain to Torrey Utah before we turn.

Approaching Red Canyon

Up I went on Hwy 12 for a couple miles until I entered “Red Canyon”. Wow what a beautiful place. Pictures just don’t do it justice. Through this section for about 7 miles we are required to ride on the Red Canyon bike path. It is illegal for bikes to ride on this section of the hwy. The path was spectacular.

Heading up the bike trail

RAAM veteran Dave Elsberry 

I had a number of solo racers and teams pass me along this section. This is where I had anticipated that this would happen based on last year’s solo effort when I was catching the Voyager riders while riding solo.

Maria Parker approaching on her recumbent bike

 

Maria Parker

 I was feeling really good at the pace I was going. Just steady Steve……I kept saying to myself. I wasn’t pushing myself like I was racing, I was cruising like I was training and thus-far it seemed to be paying off. I felt mentally and physically great as I rolled into Time Station two in Bryce and 158 miles!

Part 3: Bryce to Escalante                                                    158 – 207.4 miles

Part 3 elevation profile......(look at that descent would ya!!)

Now came….for me…the most spectacular part, the ride into Escalante. Leaving Red Canyon and now into something completely different. Majestic cliffs, spires and canyons.

Leaving Bryce we started with an amazing, almost, nine mile descent into the town of Tropic.

Finally……a descent with some substance to give me a break carrying all this extra weight.

It was relatively flat rolling through Tropic before I started to climb again toward Escalante. I got plenty of pictures in this section of the course. It was beautiful but kept slowly kicking up in elevation gain until the final kicker before a long descent into the town of Escalante.

WOW....I would love to live here!

A beautiful section of the course                             Photo by John Clare

Playing with the camera a bit

                                         I just cant say enough how beautiful this area was.

I approached the final kicker to the summit and saw my friend Jon Shellenbarger's crew stopped up ahead again. I stopped for a second to take a short break so I took a picture of the climb.

One beast of a little 12% kicker climb. Jon's crew up ahead

This is one tough puppy but luckily fairly short. It has a gradient that slowly increases to about 12-13% at the top. For the first time on the event I used my really low gears and just spun the climb up. It actually seemed easier than last year…..go figure….and I was carrying everything but the kitchen sink!

Curtis and Ed cheering me on at the summit

I rolled over the summit and started the amazing and beautiful descent to Escalante at sunset. It’s a long and cold descent and I started to get a chill. I saw Jon and his crew up ahead so I stopped just ahead of them. Jon was putting on his cold gear.

I asked Ed if I could lean my bike against his truck. I am still laughing at his comment and I quote.  “I will have to report it as offering assistance to a Voyager racer”. My fellow Adobo Velo club brother and endurance director of the club was joking of course. A voyager can get a time penalty if he accepts assistance of any kind during the race.

Beautiful sunset descending into Escalante and into the first night of the race

I put on my wind breaker and bombed down into Escalante and time station 3.

Part 4: Escalante to Loa, Utah                                                         207.4 – 288.7 miles

Elevation profile. Boulder Mountain

They say the race does not start until Escalante and they are right. From here on in, this is where it all can hit the fan.

Race director Brian Bowling in Escalante

I put on my knee warmers and my “Showers Pass” wool base layer. I packed my heavier rain jacket….also “Showers Pass”. These are arguably the best inclement weather gear made in the US. The company is in the north-west where it rains and snows a lot. I also packed my heavier gloves just in case.

I rolled out of town a little after 9pm with a giant “super moon” right in my face. It was spectacular.

I slowly cruised up over a couple of rollers. I had a couple more fast 4 person teams pass me in this section as well as my friend Judy Brusslan who was being supported by her daughter and husband. Judy is a strong climber and can drop most anybody on a climb. She was doing the solo 500 race.

Last year we did not have a moon at all and it was pitch black on both nights of the event. This year we had a super moon occurring. You could see everything like it was dim daylight!! Just amazing!!

I dropped steeply into a deep canyon which I didn’t even see last year.

Reaching the bottom there was a river rushing and it was really loud. The canyon around me was glowing orange and was so spectacular that I was tempted to get off the bike and just take in the splendor.

This year I could see that I was in a very deep hole with cliffs surrounding me.

This area of the “Grand Staircase” is just amazing.

The Grand Staircase refers to an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch south from Bryce Canyon National Park through ZionNational Park and into the Grand Canyon.
Its just amazing.

Now came one tough climb! I had to climb out of this canyon up onto the infamous “Hogs back”.  The hogs back is a road with sheer cliff drop offs on both sides.

The climb out of the canyon has grades of 14% and zig-zags up the canyon sides.

As I looked up I could see other racers and there follow crew vehicles slowly crawling up the climb. It was a majestic sight, seeing the canyon and the flashing amber and red lights way up the cliff wall very slowly climbing. ( I just wish I could have caught that on video)

I slowly made my way up to the ridge and looked down on both sides. It was again amazing in the moonlight.

I now descended into the town of Boulder where I stopped at a closed gas station. I got a Pepsi out of a coke machine. I wolfed down some food for the climb to come…..a very long and possibly frigid one.

Now for the next challenge……Boulder mountain….9,600 feet in elevation…..a steady…long….unforgiving climb with no level breaks to speak of before the summit.

The climb is about 16 or so miles long with 3,200 feet of gain and with about 236 miles in your legs and almost 14,000 feet of elevation gain in the legs, it’s a tough one.

I took it easy and kept my training pace up the climb using my low gears. I saw lights coming up behind me very slowly. I thought it might be fellow voyager Rick. It turned out it was my friend Jon. He slowly came up behind me and we rode for a little while before I let him go ahead. He was having bad stomach problems and not feeling well at all. I would see him one more time as I passed he and his crew at the side of the road. This would be the last time I would see Jon.

I passed all types of wildlife on the way up. Deer, fox, owls and many cows grazing on the mountain standing right in the road.

Boulder Mountain Summit.....wooohooo!!!

I rolled over in the moonlight and started the very long descent to Torrey.

When I got to Torrey I saw my friend Dave Elsberry’s crew van parked in a parking lot. I figured he was taking a sleep break.

I now had, what seemed like forever, 17 miles to the next check point in Loa….and I had a cold head-wind!! It seemed to take forever but I made it in not long after the time I did last year. A little after 4am.

I checked in with my friend Tony who was manning the checkpoint with his friend Ellen.

He said there were still 20 solo riders behind me which was quite a bit of the field. He said that Rick was still up on Boulder Mountain somewhere and that Judy had stopped to sleep on the mountain somewhere. Dave was, as I thought, sleeping in Torrey.

Part 4: Loa to Panguitch, Utah                                                        288.7 – 379 miles

Elevation profile

It was cold leaving Loa like last year. Right out of town I started an endless “stair-step” climb with many many false summits to the real summit at about 8,300 feet. You can see them on the profile!

Elevation gain from Loa about 1,300 feet in about 14 miles or so.

The sunrise was spectacular as I summit-ed out of Loa. I had the super moon in front of me and the sun just getting ready to rise behind me.

Almost to the summit above Loa at sunrise

Riding at sunrise into a setting super moon toward Koosharem, Utah

Rolling over the top

 Over the summit I went for a blazing fast descent down to the town of Koosharem.

There I connected with Utah Hwy 62 and started heading South-bound.

This leg is traditionally known for head winds. I was fairly lucky last year with mild headwinds. I had good conditions thus far on the 62 as I rolled along on which would become the very toughest leg of the course for everyone. I stopped for a little breakfast break along the way before my next turn.

Koosharem, Utah

Just me and my bike. Time for breakfast!

I made the right turn toward the west and Panguitch on Hwy 62 west. Now the winds slowly started as I rolled through the beautiful hills.

Heading down 62 West toward Panguitch. The winds begin!

I reached the little town of Circleville where I had a flat last year.

Now the winds started violently as I rolled uphill and out of town into a small canyon.

The winds increased exponentially as I moved toward Panguitch to a point where I could only make 8-10 mph on a flat road. I almost got blown off the road a few times but I did not want to stop. (you just have to keep moving forward they say and you will get there…right? )

It took me over an hour to make the final 10 miles to Time Station 5 and I was spent.

I took about a 30 minute break in Panguitch but couldn’t sleep. Fellow voyager Karen Dee Williams from Salt Lake was in the voyager room resting when I arrived. We both talked a little. I had met Karen at rider check-in. A really nice young lady and very strong cyclist.

Karen rolled out not long after I got there and I rested a little bit longer.

Part 5:  Panguitch, over Cedar Breaks, to Cedar City, Utah       379 – 437.4 miles

This is the longest climb of the event.  From Panguitch you climb to Cedar Breaks at 10,600 feet. The climb is 31.7 miles or so with 4,000 feet of elevation gain.

 This is a deceiving and mind altering climb though. The road kicks up right out of town for a little bit then mellows for a while until you reach Panguitch Lake. From then on it seems never ending with less and less oxygen. A 3% grade literally feels like a 15% grade when you get above the 9,000 foot level with 400+ miles in your legs and carrying all the extra weight.

I was feeling terrible when I left the time station so I stopped at the store across the street and grabbed a Cherry Coke. Wow that was good!!

For the first time during the race I started questioning my sanity and why I was doing this. I felt totally waisted and was worried about finishing.

I finished my coke and started the climb out of town. About halfway up I started feeling better. The clouds had come in and I was climbing into a nice cool headwind with thunder in the distance.  A few drops of cool rain was cooling me off after those dry parching head winds. I started feeling much better and again got into my rhythm.
(Its amazing what a little perseverance and mental toughness will do. I believe that so many younger riders DNF on these types of events mainly because they have not been through as many tough life lessons that have built up this mental attitude)

Climbing out of Panguitch. Nice and cool but I was a little concerned about getting hailed on.

Summiting those kickers out of town, I was joined by solo recumbent female racer Maria Parker. She must have stopped for a sleep break somewhere because she had passed me at Red Canyon. 
Maria is a stud. On The Race across America a few years ago, her support vehicle was rear ended in the Navajo Nation crushing all but the bike she was riding, destroying her vehicle and injuring her crew. She quit the race but a day later, re-evaluated the race and called race headquarters to see if she could re-join the race. She got back on course and finished the race. It was called the greatest comeback in RAAM history. Maria rides for Brain Cancer Research and is an amazing person.

Here is the whole story: http://www.ultraracenews.com/2013/09/04/raam-2013-maria-parkers-amazing-comeback-victory/

Maria Parker climbing to Cedar Breaks

I traded places with Maria for a while until she decided to take a break.

From this point on I would not see another person until finishing in Saint George. I was wondering what happened to my friends Rick, Dave, Judy and Jon. I had not seen any of the other Voyagers other than Karen. The other really fast younger people including my friend Brook were up ahead.

Panguitch Lake

It was again a spectacular and difficult climb. This time made more interesting with the extra weight. I do not lie when I say it felt like I was riding my tandem fully loaded up this climb. With 100 oz. in my Camel-Bac, two full bottles, one with Scratch electrolyte drink in it and all my extra bad weather gear, I felt like a truck climbing a steady steep grade on a hwy.

The roll over the top seemed endless and I kept questioning my Garmin because it said the grade was only 3-4%. Like I said before it felt like 15%.

Here are a few pictures of my roll to the summit:

About 10,000 feet elevation and not far from the summit of Cedar Breaks. Magical!!

I finally made it over the summit sometime around 7pm with plenty of light to make it down to Cedar City. I made the left turn and cursed the 3 little climbs that take you past Cedar Breaks Monument before the long descent down to Hwy 14 to Cedar City.

I got chilled on the way down but stuck with it without putting on my jacket because I knew it was going to warm up drastically.

A bug flew in my glasses and got in my eye while I was dropping at about 40mph but I didn’t stop. When I reached the check-point in Cedar City my eyes were in bad shape and I again was worrying about finishing.

I put eye drops in, went to the bathroom, ate a chicken burger from the store. I talked to the store clerk for a while and he couldn't believe what we were all doing. Nice kid. He let me park my bike inside while I went to the bathroom.

Part 6: Cedar City to Snow Canyon                                                   437.4 – 507 miles

Wooohooo…….only 84 miles to go!!!

The traffic leaving town was pretty bad on a Sunday evening. I rolled up the climb on Hwy SR-56 toward Newcastle feeling much better than last year. In 2014 I had such bad foot nerve problems that I could not even climb this easily in my granny gear due to the pain. This year I flew up in my middle chain ring and it seemed effortless and really fast. That was my perception anyway. The super moon was rising again, this time behind me, as I descended into Newcastle. It was so bright I thought it was a car.

I continued feeling great physically but the mental thing was getting a little rough being all by myself for so long.

The supplements I was taking by Hammer Nutrition were working great and I was mentally sharp as far as keeping on track, I was just getting lonely out there.

At this point I said more prayers for help to get me through the last section of climbs. It was really easy on paper but with hundreds of miles and almost 30,000 feet of elevation gain in your legs, a little climb seems like a mountain.

I flew up the climb out of Enterprise,Utah on Hwy 18 compared to last year when I was limping due to my feet. I got to the summit feeling great in the cool air and praising God for that super moon right in front of me rising over the mountains. ( I wish I could have caught a photo of that)

This is where I actually slowed down from last year.

Last year while riding solo division I had my crew following me on these descents with the bright lights behind me. I could see all the deer quite clearly on the way down and I still almost hit one in the road as it ran in front of me.

This year I slowed down and braked all the way down all the descents and I could see the eyes of the deer all over the place by the side of the road. I almost slammed into two deer this time…one after another…in this same area as they ran right in front of me. If I wasn’t going slow I would have been a goner.
Too close to the finish to risk that. I calculated I had less than 30 miles to the next time station and even if I went real slowly I would make the cut off by hours. I didn’t risk anything so it took me a very long time to get to Snow Canyon compared to last year with a crew. I was getting very sleepy so I took a caffeine pill which helped.
  I think I stopped about 10 times on this section and at one point I almost laid down in the grass with my grazing deer friends to take a nap.

For the first time I started to notice the lack of my left balance nerve. I really had a hard time keeping the bike straight and I was thankful that there were not any cars out in the middle of the night. The rumble strips were making me crazy as I hit them a few times.

It seemed to take forever to get to Snow Canyon but I made it. I was cold on the way down. The temps were in the low 50’s.
 When I reached the Check-Point above Saint George it was really warm and dry. I checked in and dropped into the canyon for the finish.

Part 7: Snow Canyon to Saint George                                    507.2 – 521.6 miles

Here is a picture of what Snow Canyon looks like in the daylight.

Snow Canyon in daylight

Down.. Down.. down I went toward town. This time the problem was the dry heat. I was parched. The canyon was beautiful this year under the full moon and it took my mind off it. With under 20 miles till the finish I was getting excited.

I rolled into the finish a little after 3am in the morning about 4 hours under the cut-off time.
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I would like to thank Deb and Brian of Planet Ultra again for a wonderful event. I highly recommend this event to anyone who really wants an ultimate challenge. Anyone with good cycling fitness can handle the challenge in a team division. You couldn't have a more beautiful place or better roads for a race.

I would like to thank all my friends who supported me and everyone who contributed to help me do this race and bring awareness to my cause, The House Clinic and Neural Tumor Research.

Thanks to all my training partners and friends including my good friend Teresa for all the great training on the tandem. I really think that the training and climbing on the tandem was the perfect thing to prepare for riding a single bike with extra weight.

Really missed having Victor, Cherisse and Nicole out there making me laugh and supporting me like last year.

 I would like to once again thank my wonderful family for all the support you have given me. 

Thanks to my beautiful wife Ginny for putting up with my long hours in training and on events.  I really wish you could have made the trip to Saint George with me this year!! 

Click here to view all the pictures:

Click here for the final time splits from Planet Ultra:

Here is my Garmin Data:

Summary

Distance:	521.6 mi
Time:	46:11
Avg Speed:	11.4 mph
Elevation Gain:	31,725 ft
Calories:	18,608 C
Avg Temperature:	70.8 °F

Details

Timing

Moving Time:	40:06:07
Elapsed Time:	46:11:16

Avg Speed:	11.4 mph
Avg Moving Speed:	12.9 mph
Max Speed:	46.2 mph

Elevation

Elevation Gain:	31,725 ft
Min Elevation: Max Elevation:	2,552 ft   10,604 ft
Temperature Data Avg Temperature: 70.8 °F Min Temperature: 44.6 °F Max Temperature: 102.2 °F

Summer Training

After doing some spectacular altitude training in early May in the Big Bear Lakes area and the most spectacular double century of the season, The Eastern Sierra Double, at the end of May, I figured it was time to start ramping up the training a bit for the challenges at hand at the end of the summer.

Again this year I am going to take on the Hoodoo 500 Ultra Marathon race in Southern Utah. I was also asked by my friend John to join a 4-man team for the Silver State 508 in Nevada.

I am really excited about both. I have never done “The 508” and I have wanted to do it solo for many years.

This year on the Hoodoo 500 I will be doing it in the “Voyager Division”.

Last year I had a support crew for the standard division of the race. I had my crew chief Victor Cooper who had experience crewing and also had experience having done the course in the event. I had my youngest daughter Nicole taking care of my nutrition and hydration and my oldest daughter Cherisse who is a certified Athletic Trainer, taking care of me physically. I did much better on my first attempt than I anticipated ,(thanks to all of them), finishing in just under 43 hours despite a bad foot nerve problem that developed which caused me to lose considerable time on the climbs.

Voyager division requires you to race the course “self-supported”.  It’s up to the rider to calculate and take care of nutrition, hydration and navigation himself with no help other than drop bags with supplies which are dropped off by the ride organizers at designated locations along the course.

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Following the Eastern Sierra double I took a few days off the bike. Next up in a week was The Tour of Two Forests Double Century.

TOTF as it’s called is one of my favorites! The ride starts in Santa Clarita, Ca. not too far from Newhall Pass along Interstate 5.

I again, as I did a few years ago, did the ride from home and carried all my gear and food with me. I figured it would be great training for the Voyager division race since this is basically what I will have to contend with.

I left home early enough to meet everyone for the start of the ride. I had a great ride with friends. We had perfect weather conditions with not too much heat. We had monsoon thunderstorms form on the mountains and give us a nice shower at one point with hail.

It was just great, but tough as usual, with great friends. The climb out of Ojai on Hwy 33 is spectacular and one of my favorites. It’s very long though and would be categorized very high in a pro cycling race I guess.

Tour of Two Forests course

 

Looking down Wheeler Grade toward Ojai and Ventura

Heading up Lockwood Valley Road toward Heartbreak Hill grade

Here is a little video of the event: 

The following week I took it easy leading up to another tough ride that would take about as long as a flat double century.

My friend Ken organized an event to climb to the summit of Sherman Pass in the Southern Sierras from Hwy 395 close to the Ridgecrest/China Lake area. This is a tough climb of about 57 miles and is part of the old Sherman Pass Challenge and The Inyo Ultra Sherman Pass Super Century.

Sherman Pass is about 9,300 feet in elevation and would be great altitude training once again.

We started the ride around 4am from along the 395 for the very long climb up 9 mile canyon. It was very warm even at that early hour. It would get cooler and cooler as we ascended into the Sierras and Kennedy Meadows where the morning temp was in the mid 40’s as the sun came up.

There was not a cloud in the sky in the morning after some nasty thunder storms in the past few days in the area.

As we slowly climbed to the summit, the clouds began to build into spectacular formations. I sensed we would not be able to linger too long at the summit.

It was spectacular up there and you could see the back side of Olancha Peak and Mount Whitney from there.

As soon as we started the descent, the thunder, lightning and rain started leaving us with a beautiful but challenging ride back to the start. The wind blowing out of the mountains from the storms was really nasty as we started our descent down 9 mile canyon to the finish.

All in all it again was a spectacular ride with wonderful friends again.

Climbing 9 mile canyon looking east

Kennedy Meadows

Here are a couple video compilations of the ride. The first one is of the climb up and the second of part of the descent:

The next couple of weeks I spent just doing maintenance miles and at the end of June I staffed the Potrero Rest stop on The LA Wheelmen Grand Tour. It was great fun giving back to the sport as usual.

The crew at the Portrero check point

The beginning of July brought some more Voyager training. Due to family commitments I would not be able to do the Grand Tour Staff Ride on the 11^th so I opted to do it myself on the 4^th of July weekend.

My plan was to again do the Quad Century like last year.

 This time I was going to do it self-supported from home and ride home afterwards. It would be about 436 miles unsupported and carrying everything I needed along for the ride.

I had the bike all set up in the configuration that I wanted for Hoodoo Voyager.

Ready to roll.....12am.

I left at 12am from my place in the valley with a larger pack on the back of the bike, a spare tire, pump, tubes and all the gear I may need. I carried a 100 oz camel-back pack on my back with all the layers of clothes I might need in that back pack.

I rode over Topanga Canyon with very little traffic to PCH to the ride start location in Malibu. It was then up the coast for the Lowland Course to Port Hueneme, Moopark, Ventura, Ojai and then back down to the coast before cruising up through Santa Barbara to Gaviota before turning around for Malibu.

I was spinning a much lower gear to see if that would improve the foot nerve problem I had been having and it did seem to help because it was manageable.

It was very foggy going up the coast from Malibu but not too cold.....just very damp. I had to take my glasses off because everything was dripping.

I cruised through the first check point in Port Hueneme very early and made my way up Pleasant Valley Road through Camarillo and into Moorpark on Santa Rosa Road.

It was just getting light when I went past check point 2 in Moorpark before heading down Hwy 118 to Somis.

From Somis I headed over to Las Posas Road and Crestview in Camarillo once again before heading to Ventura.

The traffic was not bad at all on this Friday before Independence Day.

Still foggy in Ventura, I turned up the hill toward Ojai. It started to clear up and was really nice up there. They were preparing for the big Independence Day parade and everyone had their spots all staked out along the main street. I stopped for a little while and ate some food before heading out and back to Ventura.

From Ventura I had a little head wind all the way up the coast to Santa Barbara and Gaviota. The weather cleared up by the time I reach Carpentaria.

 I reached Gaviota along the bluffs of Hwy 101 a little bit before 2pm. I sat down for about 20 minutes again and ate.

Now it was a long slog back to Malibu along the coast. I had a fair tail wind now and made it quite quickly to Santa Barbara. The traffic was starting to get kind of bad and I was glad to get through there quickly!! It seemed that all of So Cal was heading to Santa Barbara from the South. The freeway and the surface roads were gridlocked heading north from Ventura. I was thinking that this would be a good time to take Amtrak there.

I hit the fog again when I hit Ventura and the temp dropped to the low 60’s. I was so drenched with sweat in this humid weather that I was getting cold. I put my light rain jacket on which helped. Everyone along the beach had shorts and t-shirts on, or less, and they didn't look cold in that wind. Maybe I was not eating enough and my energy was low. I felt good though.

There was very little traffic in Ventura for a Friday evening. ( I think everyone was in Santa Barbara)

I decided to stop and get a burger in Port Hueneme.

 I wasn’t hungry but I new I needed some fat because I was getting cold. I wolfed down a burger, fries and a shake and I was not even full after. As soon as I was done and I moved, I got the chills and started shaking. (I have had that happen before even when it is not too cold but just a little chilly and with my body wet and sweaty. I think it has something to do with all the blood going to digest the food while the engine is not running. As soon I start riding again it goes away and I am hot.)

Now I had a fantastic tail wind heading back to Point Mugu on PCH. The sun was now down and it was again foggy and cool. I kept thinking that when I reached Malibu, I would be turning around for one more 100 mile loop to Ventura and back to complete the Quad. The traffic along PCH with everyone getting off for the holiday was getting nuts also. I decided when I reached the outskirts of Malibu that I would just ride home and be safe. It was getting too crazy out there. I didn’t want to fight the wind and the crazy drunk people.

I was rolling up the hill out of Zuma Beach with only a few miles to go to Malibu when the wind stopped and the traffic started getting much better. I guess everyone had left town by then.

I started toying with the idea of again going out and finishing the Quad when “CLANG”....I broke a rear spoke. I guess that made the decision for me. I tied off the spoke. The wheel stayed true and did not rub on the brakes at all when I opened them up a little. I would just head home.

I got to Pepperdine University and headed up the hill on Malibu Canyon Road back toward my turn on Mulholland Hwy. The traffic was not bad. I turned on Mulholland and had a gorgeous full moon spin with not traffic. It was about 10:30 pm and I was about 12 miles from home when I hit a rock on a climb. It was so humid out that my glasses started fogging up and I did not even see it. I was going about 8 mph.

I didn't even think anything of it but when I reached the summit I noticed the tell-tale feeling of a rear flat time........CRAP!! Not what I really wanted to do at mile 325 into a ride in the middle of the night but that is what I have to be prepared for on the race.......Right?

I fixed it and rolled home a little before midnight feeling pretty good.

My main goal was to self support myself and to work on the sleep deprivation part of this type event.

I was successful with both. I took a small nap on Thursday afternoon and that was it!!

I started my ride Friday morning at 12am and 24hrs later I was still feeling mentally fantastic. I never got mentally tired or sleepy on the ride. I think I have the Hammer Nutrition “Anti Fatigue Caps” and “Endurance Amino Caps” to thank for this. I had no caffeine the entire ride other that a cup of coffee before I left on Friday morning.

As an after thought, I think that it was better to make the ride shorter. I did not really need those extra miles and would need a while to recover from this anyway. I accomplished everything I set out to do.

Now I started to dial back my training and just keep up the maintenance miles.

I did a couple more climb-fests on Angeles Crest highway.

On July 18th I rode from home to Angeles Crest for a ride to Dawson Saddle and back. Nature had a different plan. Due to El Nino, we had the remnants of a tropical storm come in. It was beautiful and humid on my way to the start but it started raining and thundering before we got to our first rest stop.
A few of us continued up to the foot of Mount Wilson before we decided to return. On the way down there was a all our thunder/lightning deluge that flooded the descent with hail and torrential rain.
I ended up with a 100 mile ride with not too much climbing instead of a 160 mile ride.

A couple weeks later they did a re-do of the ride and we had perfect conditions.

My friend and ultra tandem stoker Teresa and I decided to do it from my place on the tandem. Perfect training for Hoodoo. Teresa was training for the Silver State 508 in September so we both would be getting some great training.


We left around 5am for the ride to La Canada and Hwy 2, Angeles Crest Hwy. We rode to Islip Saddle and back to my place. A ride of 154 miles with about 13,000 feet of elevation gain.

Here is a little video compilation of that ride:

Time to really start taking it more easy and tapering for the race in about 3 weeks as I finish this blog report.

Wish me luck!!

2015 Eastern Sierra Double Century

Looking back at Round Valley from Old Sherwin Grade

June Lake

All I can say about this event is that it is, by far, the most spectacular as far as scenery is concerned. Riding in the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains near the White Mountains to the east just “takes the cake”.

This event is no stranger to me. I first did the event back in 1996, the first year it was added to the Triple Crown Schedule. I did it on my tandem with my brother in law Vince that year and a few other times. For the first few years our family came along to do SAG support and man a rest stop. It was my wife and two girls and Vince’s wife Mardjie.

I still remember those early years when my kids were playing together and flying kites at the rest stops with Chuck Bramwell’s kids. Everyone had a great time. Those were the days. Those days really made an impression on my girls I think as they both ride bikes today. My oldest daughter did the Grand Tour on my tandem with me in 1998 while she was in high school and my youngest rides also. She is racing endurance mountain bike races now! Still haven’t talked her into doing a double century yet though.

This year I was doing the event on the tandem once again but with a new double century stoker for this event, Teresa (Tiger) Beck.

I car pooled up with Teresa and our friend Rob Kelly who is new to the double century circuit. He has done some really tough ones with us this year though and is a very strong rider and stage racer. We stayed up in Mammoth Lakes at our friend Victor’s condo. (Altitude about 8,000 feet).

After eating a huge meal with our friends in Bishop, the altitude really affected my sleep. I didn’t sleep a wink!! That really sucked!!

Part one:   Bishop to Round Valley Check Point.                                 Mile 30

We decided to start at 6 am instead of the early start time to get a little more sleep. We figured we could catch up with some of our friends later in the ride.
  I noticed the lack of sleep immediately as I was in oxygen debt right away trying to stay with the fast guys without any warm up.

Rolling eastbound out of town

Craig and Lori flying    (I had a little fun with the photoshop program on this one)

 Since I have gotten a little older, it takes me longer to warm up so at the first little hill while riding out of Bishop, we got dropped by the group. I was really feeling bad right out of the start on this one. (Something was off!).

Now I was really wondering if we would catch up with some of the 5am starters.

I began feeling a little better as we rolled into the first check point. We made a bathroom stop and topped off with water and were on out way.

Rolling through Round Valley.  ( Teresa handed my camera our friend David)

Part Two: Round Valley....up Old Sherwin Grade to Lake Crowley area.       Mile 51

Now came what I feel is one of the most spectacular parts of the event; the climb up Old Sherwin Grade.
 Sherwin Grade is the long climb that you make on Hwy 395 when you climb from Bishop up to the Lake Crowley and Mammoth Lakes area. The old grade is just to the west of the hwy and winds up through the town of Paradise with a spectacular view of the granite peaks of the Sierras and of the Round Valley in the Bishop area down below. Its amazing!!

About 1/3 of the way up.......looking down at Round Valley

From the bottom it’s about 11 miles to our turn on to Hwy 395. It tops out at about 7,000 feet at the summit. There is a little descent into a river canyon about 2/3 of the way up but then you have to climb out of that canyon to the summit. Elevation gain on this segment is about 2,500 feet.

It was a grunt going up this climb and the sun was baking us since it was rising to our right. The view made it all worth it.

I was really feeling the lack of sleep and really struggling on this first climb. I was in a mental fog. I just took it easy.

Despite this, we started to make up the time on the 5am starters at this point by starting to pass a few of them. We also saw the remnants of the Paradise fire which happened in the winter when power lines blew down in ferocious winds. Nothing could stop it as it hopped through the area.

Round Valley below

Ron climbing Sherwin Grade

The White Mountains to the east of us. Can you believe the amount of snow for the end of May?

The descent into the canyon came just at the right time and it was very welcome.

The climb out was not too bad as we made the left turn on Hwy 395 and rolled into the Lake Crowley area.
We stopped for water and ice at Toms Place store since Teresa wanted ice and she thought they would be out of it at the check point since we were running behind.

We rolled passed the check point and waved at our friend Tony as he took a picture of us.

 

Rolling past check point two.  Photo by Tony Musorafite

Part 3: Lake Crowley....through Mammoth Lakes...and to the 395 rest stop. Mile 74

We paralleled Hwy 395 for a few miles then got onto it. We rolled past the famous green church and Mammoth Airport before making the turn to Mammoth Lakes. This section was really nice with a tail wind and we were again starting to make up time on the 5am’ers.

Mammoth Mountain and the Minarets in the distance

Now came the toughest part for me on the ride, the long slog through Mammoth and the Mammoth scenic loop.
The way I was feeling......the long gradual climb just seemed endless. I was in the doldrums early and didn’t get it. Teresa was doing great all this time and got me through it!!!  I also started to get hot foot again at this point which made matters worse. I was not my usual happy self at this point and Teresa probably wanted to whack me on the head due to the way I was acting!! It was totally out of character for me.

We reached the summit on the scenic loop and then got a great reward and the worst of the climbing on the ride was over. Only one more major climb left and that would be after lunch.

We flew back down to the 395, made a left turn and, in no time were at check point 3 at the rest stop.

  It seemed like it took forever to go 74 miles. Its really slow climbing at altitude on a tandem.

Part 4: Rest stop 3.....Over Dead Man Summit....June Lake Loop....then lunch in LeeVining.   Mile 102.8.

Over Dead Man Summit we went. I was really familiar with this climb. I climbed it 4 times as part of the Inyo Ultra 466 in 2013. Not a bad climb and not steep. It’s always just the altitude that makes it harder.

We stopped at the turn on Hwy 158 at the June Lake store. Teresa went in and got us a couple of Cokes. I gulped down the soda and......PING......I snapped out of my doldrums and started feeling better. I don’t know if it was the caffeine or just the jolt of sugar that turned me around but I was feeling 100% better once I got on the bike again.

We rolled over the hill to June Lake. 

The June Lake Loop is one of the most spectacular places to ride a bike in the summer. Its just beautiful. (Click on the hyperlink above to see some amazing pics of this area)

Here is a compilation video of the loop. It really doesn't do it justice though. You had to be there!!

We really started to pic up some time now as we rolled around the loop. It has a good deal of descending and then a gradual climb past two other lakes. Then there is a blazing fast descent back down to Hwy 395 near Mono Lake.

We flew through this section and made it quite fast past the other lakes which were very low due to the drought.

We made it down to the bottom very quickly and made our turn on 395.

We just flew north on the 5.5 mile section of the 395 into Lee Vining and lunch making it in 15 minutes. We arrived at the park and saw most of our friends there relaxing and having lunch. We had finally caught up to them.

We sat down and had a sandwich. We took about a 30 minute break before heading back south-bound.

Part 5: Lee Vining to Sagehen Summit.

We rolled out of the lunch stop feeling really stiff and now we had a stiff head wind heading to our next turn on Hwy 120. We slowly caught up to the group and could see they were in an echelon formation with the wind coming from the front and to the right.

We pulled up behind them for a second and then took the lead to help out. A tandem bike is much heavier and with two people, can push into the wind much easier. (Not to say its easy though!)

Molly, Willy, Nicolette, Vic and Curtis cutting the wind as we catch up. (I was having fun with the photo program again)

Margaret, with Curtis, Vic, Nicolette and Molly in our draft. Dave Slaton was there somewhere too.

We made the left turn on Hwy 120 toward Benton with one big mama hill coming up.  We lost a few people in the wind so we hung back on the tandem until they caught up. We had a small rise to climb before a great descent. I took it easy up the small climb after pushing pretty hard to get there with a tail wind. Once we reached the top we had an incredible view of Mono Lake. We were on the south side of the lake.

Here is the little video from Hwy 395 and Hwy 120  leading into the start of the Sagehen climb.

We didn’t have much time to enjoy the view as we started the descent to the foot of the Sagehen Climb. We dropped super fast at about 58 mph and caught up with everyone, then we passed them. They had gone up ahead as we slowed down and waited for a few people then took it easy on that climb. We made it up very fast though.

Nicolette with Willy and Molly behind near Mono Lake

Mono Lake

Now we started the tough one. Sagehen has about 15 different “stair-steps” on it and they each get progressively worse. I know this because I counted them on The Inyo 466 since I did this climb four times. (I wish I hadn’t counted them though)

The foot of the Sagehen climb with David, Margaret, Willy and Victor

The foot of the Sagehen climb

We just took our time and put it in the low gear. Our friends all passed us again and we just took it easy until we reached the summit.

The summit of this climb is the highest on the course at 8,139 feet.

We saw our friends Julie and Steve Tiede at this stop. They were manning the first stop and this one.

Thanks for your support Julie and Steve!!

Part 6: Sagehen to Benton                              Mile 154

Our fun group on Sagehen Summit with the Sierras in the background

Now we had a real e-ticket ride.

The descent off of Sagehen is just epic if there is not too much wind. We had a little wind but we were up to speed very quickly and made short order of the drop. We passed a bunch of people on the first section and then dropped through the lower canyon before hitting just under 60 mph.
  (You can see some of this amazing descent in the compilation video at the end of my story)

The next part is always tough; flat for miles with about 4 kicker hills of about 14%. They are short but they kill you!!

Owweeee!!!!

We fought a little head wind through this but made it to Benton Crossing just fine; one more substantial hill before dropping into the check point in Benton.

Cresting Benton Crossing Road. A really fast descent from here. (I only wish my video camera was working at this point)

Down.....down we went into Benton. I think that was the fastest I had done that descent. We made it to the check point with my feet killing me for a quick soda before heading out.

Teresa always smiling.  (You can see the foot agony in my face).   Photo my Tony Musorafite

David and Margaret with our good friend Tony Musorafite in Benton

Part 7:  Benton to Bishop

There was hardly any wind when we started the final 36 miles to Bishop. This section of the course is notorious for having nasty headwinds coming up the Owens Valley from the south.

We left with our friends David and Margaret in tow.

 Margaret is winding down her training for this years RAW (Race Across the West). 860 miles from Oceanside to Durango Colorado. She is doing it on a four person team like I did last year.

Tony was our crew chief last year and Margaret was our awesome navigator. Click here for my blog post on the event last year.  We are all life long friends after that epic ordeal!!!

It was just a nice easy stroll in the park as we went over the first little rise leaving Benton.

Margaret and David before the wind got bad.........you can tell because they are both smiling!!

We had a nice gradual descent now with a mild head wind which wasn’t too bad.

My feet were really killing me so I just took it easy and mainly coasted on this section. As we got to the flatter section we could see the second little rise way off in the distance. The wind really started to kick up now and our speed went down from about 25mph to 17mph. I was just spinning a lower gear due to my feet and was able to easily maintain this speed until we reached the rise.

The wind kept getting stronger and stronger. I had seen much worse on this stretch in the past but this time it was tough due to my feet. I just couldn’t push a big gear and had to keep taking my feet out of the pedals to shake them out.

We stopped and took one break about half way back and then continued.

Now we started reeling people in that were stuck in that wind. One by one we passed. We slowed down and asked them if they wanted to join us but most did not have the energy to stay with the three of us in our draft.

We were about 10 miles out of Bishop when we came up on a group that did stay with us to the finish and we caught another group just before the finish.

We rolled into Bishop still with a little daylight left and I was toast; mainly due to the pain in my feet.
I sat on the wall......a spent man. After eating a snack at the finish I started feeling better.

Here is the compilation video I made of the whole ride. Its a little long but well worth it. 

We got a nice surprise because somehow we were the first place tandem out of 4 that started.

The ride was a little under 190 miles due to some road construction on the course but it was close enough for me and I was just glad to be done.

Thanks to Deb and Brian of Planet Ultra for another great event.

Thanks Victor Cooper for putting all of us up at your condo in Mammoth Lakes and the amazing recovery ride/tour of the area Sunday morning. Your the greatest!!! Recovery ride pics here.

Thanks to Teresa (Tiger) Beck for getting me through those doldrums climbing through Mammoth. I know I wasn't an easy person to be with at that point.

Link to my The Eastern Sierra Double pics here.

Here are the stats:

Distance:	187.80 mi
Time:	12:30:31
Avg Speed:	15.0 mph
Elevation Gain:	10,686 ft
Calories:	7,062 C
Avg Temperature:	79.4 °F