Southern Inyo Double Century 2020, Spring edition.

This is one of my favorite places to ride. In the high desert, at the foot of the Southern Sierra Mountain Range.

The event is put on by Inyo Ultra and there are a number of different courses associated with The Southern Inyo Double.

This year for the spring event, it was offered once again as a Double-Double. This means that you can either do the main double century which is on Saturday or do the double-double which encompasses doing both events during the weekend.

They also have a moonlight double century during the summer which is run at night.

This springs event course started in Ridgecrest, Ca. right next to the sprawling,  China Lake Naval Air Station.
This is right near the epicenter of the 7+ magnitude earthquake in the area recently. I didn't see any sign of the damage there at all while there.

The first half was a ride out to Randsburg and Johannesburg before heading back to Ridgecrest via Trono Road and Hwy 178.
The second half took us north and up Hwy 395 to Olancha and back.

The second day, for the people doing the Double-Double, went up Hwy 395 to Hwy 190 in Olancha. Then they rode out to the Death Valley National  Park entrance sign before turning back. They then rode back to Hwy 395 via a loop around Owens Lake to Lone Pine before heading back to Ridgecrest. The second-day course is the same as the Southern Inyo by Moonlight Double Century.

I came into town on Friday morning and did a short 30-mile spin on some of the route prior to helping out with check-in Friday evening. I did the event on Saturday and I then got up early Sunday morning after day one to check-out the day two riders. It was really great to see everyone.

The base entrance across the street from the start hotel.

With my two good friends Tony and Kevin. Tony and Kevin were doing the Double-Double.
Tony on his fixed gear bike.
Tony did the 2018 Race across the West on his fixed gear.
He was the first-ever 60+ rider to complete that race on a fixed gear.
Kevin is an 11 time 508 Hall of Famer.

2017 RAAM women's winner and 2016 RAW overall winner Sarah Cooper, came all the way from Iowa to do the event.

I saw many friends at check-in and during the ride. It was a great time the night before.
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Start to mile 27.8

I started the day with a bunch of friends, as usual. We all rolled out at around 5am. It was still pretty dark out.

There were some groups who started as early as 4am.

I don't know what it is, but through all my training I have a nice even heart rate and I am able to really pace myself just right, to stay in a good steady rhythm with a good average pace over a long ride. 

Maybe my HR is elevated due to all the extra weight I am carrying in the pack on my back plus on the bike for long events. 

But as I have gotten older, on event days, I seem to start off with a much higher heart rate and it takes me quite some time to get my second wind before it settles into a good rhythm.

The same thing happened on this event again. I thought I was pacing myself well but then everyone started picking up the pace. My average HR was too high so I just backed off and let them go so I could maintain my normal pace. I still felt a bit off so I just cruised. (Over the whole day, I got stronger and stronger as the day went on. I could have easily done the second day judging by how I felt on Sunday after the first day.)

In Ridgecrest the day before the event, the temperature and wind conditions were just perfect. Not too cool with very little wind. On this day though, it was a different story. There was a storm moving in on the west coast and the winds were forecast to be 15-25 mph with gusts to 45. It was supposed to be much cooler too with cloud cover in the morning. 

The first section had a lot of climbing into a light crossing headwind for 8 miles to our turn on Brown Road in Inyokern. 

The Brown Road section was really nice. No cars, smooth road and a gradual climb to Hwy 395 on the way to the first checkpoint at just under 28 miles. The whole section was into a gradually increasing headwind though it wasn't too bad yet.
The roads were amazingly nice with hardly any traffic!!

I was starting to feel better although my HR was still higher than I would have liked it. I just rode steady and started passing a number of people, some that had started early and some that started at the same time as me but none of my group yet.

I got on Hwy 395 for a nice gradual climb to a summit into the wind before I hit the descent to the first checkpoint.
At this point, I decided to just keep going without stopping. I had plenty of food and it was so cold that I had not taken in that much of my fluid yet. I had plenty for the next section.

Heading toward Randsburg at sunrise

Heading toward Randsburg which is in those mountains in the distance.

Mile 27.8 to checkpoint 2, mile 63

I didn't see any of my friends at the checkpoint so they apparently didn't stop either.

This was the section that I really wanted to do. It has the Randburg Climb and Trona Road from the original Furnace Creek 508 bike race.

I crewed a few times at that race but never got to ride those areas and I was anxious to do it. 

There was a really nice descent to get down to the Randsburg climb but unfortunately, the wind was really getting strong now. It turned out to be a headwind the whole way down so it was impossible to get up any good speed or to relax and recover from the climbing prior to the rest stop.

I made the best of it and met a couple of guys from up north, one of whom was doing his first double century. 

I made the turn for Randsburg and took a break to strip off my jacket for the climb. 

The climb up to Randsburg is a long agonizing climb when it's hot but on this day I had a strong cold tailwind and the sun was just rising. It was a beautiful climb. I loved it. 

Randsburg mining town

I made it up to the town of Randsburg pretty fast and it seemed much easier than I anticipated. Even though my heart rate was somewhat high, I had no trouble breathing and had good power. I opted though, to just take it easy and go at a steady pace.

Randsburg is a neat old mining town with quite a history.  

I rolled through the old town but didn't take my usual pictures as it was so windy I didn't take my hands off the bars for fear I might lose control.

The next town we went through was Johannesburg on Hwy 395 before making the turn on Trona Road. 

Highway 395 rolling through Johannesburg. Next turn.....Trona Road.

Trona Road was my favorite road of the whole ride. This road has some amazing views and some epic hills. On the event this year, we now had a blazing tailwind of 25-30 mph. Wow....did that feel good. It made the climbs feel easy and made for great recovery on the descents. I really started to feel strong at this point in the ride once I got a little recovery from fighting climbs and wind together. 

Heading down Trona Road with an amazing tailwind.

My friends Steve, Gloria, and Ray on Trona Road. The views were just amazing.

I did stop at checkpoint 2 to fill my bottles and grab some food. The wind was really howling up there and I really have to hand it to the crew who were manning that stop. It felt brutally cold in that wind and I was exercising. I would have been freezing out there just standing around. For that reason, I made it a quick stop. 

Mile 63 to lunch. Mile 81

Less than 20 miles to lunch. I was happy because it had been tough on me to this point. I was feeling strong but still not myself. 

One little climb and then I had an unbelievable descent down to Hwy 178. The tailwind was so strong at this point that I could hardly slow the bike down. I was feathering the brakes much of the time worried about crosswinds and still was descending near or slightly above 50 mph.

After the turn on to Hwy 178, it really got tough. 

We now had a 25 mph crossing headwind, gusting to about 35 mph. I felt like I was riding my bike at a 45-degree angle leaning into that wind. A few of my friends actually got blown off the road into the dirt.

This is where I really started to get my second wind. (no pun intended). 

I put it in a bigger gear and just stayed at a steady pace, getting out of the saddle and grinding into it. It was also a gradual climb too so it was pretty tough.

I saw my friend Daniel in the distance so I used him as a carrot and just kept it steady until I caught up. He was suffering badly. The road was too narrow in the wind so it was too dangerous to ride alongside and talk. I just told him I would see him at lunch and forged ahead. 

 Once I got to the summit of that highway and could see Ridgecrest in the distance, it got a little easier. still windy but there was a slight descent so I could keep up a little bit of speed to get into town. 

Dropping back down heading west toward Ridgecrest and lunch. The Southern Sierra in the distance and the sprawling naval base to the right.

I made it to lunch way earlier than I anticipated so I felt good. When I got there between 10:30 and 11, I saw all my usual friends eating. They had not been there too long.

The lunch was amazing. It was supplied by my club, Adobo Velo. We had some amazing soup and pork bun as well as all the other usual stuff you have at a good lunch.

Lunch to Coso Junction. Mile 81 to 119

We rolled out of lunch with most of our morning group together.

Some who started with us in the morning did not stop for lunch or made a very short, stop.

We cruised west on Hwy 178 toward Inyokern once again into a crossing headwind but now it was much stronger than in the morning before sunrise.

My good friend Margaret.
She was riding really strong. Her coach has just done an amazing job with her training in the past few years. She has become an amazingly strong rider.

We pushed pretty well into it at a steady pace allowing our food to digest a bit before making our turn north at 8 miles from Ridgecrest.

Now we had a great reward.  TAILWINDS!!!

We made a quick stop to strip off some clothes because now we would not have the wind chill. It was still cool and in the '50s but much nicer with a tailwind.

Flying up Brown Road

We were looking for Gilligan and the castaways but couldn't find them.

Dee and Shelby flying up Brown road with the Sierra up ahead.

We flew up Brown Road to Hwy 395 at easily over a 20mph average speed.

Daniel turning on to Hwy 395 from Brown Road

Once we headed north, we started the climb to the high point on the ride. The elevation max was just above 4,000 feet elevation at the summit on 395 just north of Coso Junction our next stop. 

Even though most of this next section was uphill, we still moved at an incredible clip with the tailwind we had. It still doesn't mean it was much easier because you are tempted to still push hard even though you have a little help.

It was such a beautiful day now with some really beautiful cloud formations coming off the Southern Sierra mountains. This section was really nice but we were all cringing at the thought of the turn around in Olancha. I was praying that the strength of the southerly winds would die down some. We all didn't want to ride the final 50 or so miles into a 25-30 mph headwind. 

Highway 395 north

Ron, Robert, and Rick

Highway 395 north

We made it to the Coso Junction checkpoint really fast. The wind was really howling when we got there. We sat down, took a little break then headed up the road to the turn-around point in Olancha.

Coso Junction to Olancha. Mile 119 to 135.4

Leaving the checkpoint, we had a nice flat section with the tailwind until we started the climb up to the high point of the ride. It isn't a bad climb because we were already up at about 3,400 feet. 

Once over that little climb, we made it to the turn-around really fast and took a long break. 

Olancha is a neat little place. It is right near the cut-off for Death Valley via Hwy 190 and a great place to ride a bike. There is a great loop you can start either from Olancha or Lone Pine that takes you around Owens Lake past the little town of Keeler. One of my favorite sections of the original Southern Inyo Double course and part of the second-day course. The second-day course if doing the double-double is the same as the "Southern Inyo by Moonlight" double century held in the summer months.

Olancha Check-point. Hiding behind the gas station from the wind.

As I looked to the north from this check-point, I was thinking that it looked like the wind was blowing from another direction up there. It was just the way the dust from the Owens Lake looked. It didn't seem to be coming in a southerly direction. It seemed to be moving to the right while I looked north.

Could it be that we may have a wind switch to help us get back? I wasn't counting on it but who knows. 

Olancha to the final stop at Coso Junction. Mile 135.4 to mile 152

After stuffing our faces with food to try and put in some much needed calories for the fight against the wind, we headed out. 

Just about the whole way to Coso Junction we had a pretty bad head wind. 

We stayed in a pace line and took turns taking a pull at the front to give each of us a rest from the wind. It was a really good strategy.
I couldnt take any pictures during this stretch while in a paceline. Just too windy!!

Up to the point where we reached the high point of 4,000 feet before Coso, all we could maintain in a paceline was between 9-13 mph. The slower sections were where we had a hill on the course (which I think I got most of). We then had that nice descent down to the check-point and guess what.

WHEN WE GOT THERE THE WIND HAD ALMOST STOPPED AND WAS STARTING TO CHANGE TO A WESTERLY INSTEAD OF OUT OF THE SOUTH.

What a difference from when we were there just a few hours earlier.

My friend Quynh was manning the check-point and he had made some amazing soup for all of us. It was so good and it really helped top off our gas tanks.

Eating the amazing soup!!

Thanks, Quynh!!!

The final push. Coso Junction to the finish. Mile 152 to mile 190.

Now all of a sudden we were rolling at 15-17 mph with a crossing tailwind from our right. There were a few sections that has some really nasty crosswinds coming down the mountain passes that almost blew us down but all in all it was so much better than earlier in the day and a great way to finish the ride. 

I was actually starting now to finally get my rhythm going and I felt better than I had all day. I was getting cold though as the sun started to set behind the Sierra Range. 

Down we went, passing the town of Pearsonville. We have used this place as a starting point for our epic events up to Sherman Pass above Nine Mile Canyon and Kennedy Meadows.

We made the turn back on to Brown Road with a great tailwind now making it back to the turn in Inyokern pretty quickly, not really that much slower than we had on the way out with the really strong tailwind.

A little photo art.
Rick, rolling down Brown Road with China Lake in the distance.

My friend Rick ended up getting a flat tire not long after our turn on Brown Road. While waiting, I took a few pictures and then my friend Margaret and I started getting the chills and shakes from the cold so we started riding to warm up. 

Ron checking out the amazing sunset over the Sierra.

Such a beautiful afternoon.

Margaret and I ended up finishing together at around 6:30 PM with the rest of our little group pulling in not long after. 

It turned out to be a great ride but I could not imagine going back out and doing it again the next day unless the conditions were better. 

It turned out that the winds were not quite as bad on day two of the Double-Double but it was bone-chilling cold. They had temperatures below 32 degrees for about 4 hours in the morning with wind on top of that and an average temperature in the mid 30's for just about the whole morning. 

Yikes .....those are some tough people that finished the Double-Double.

A big thanks go out to Hugh Murphy and the crew at Inyo Ultra for another epic event.

 Hugh used to live for these types of rides and I guess he just wants to toughen all of us up. 

Thanks to George Chung and the whole Adobo Velo gang for the amazing lunch and post-ride dinner.

A big thanks go out to my posse who let this older guy hang with them. I hope I didn't slow you all down too much. LOL!!


Here is the link to ALL the pictures I took:   https://link.shutterfly.com/PW4ojFIZ54

6-12-24 Hour World Time Trial Championships 2019

The 6-12-24 Hour World Time Trial Championships put on by the Race Across America (RAAM) organization is one of the best-run events in the world. Great people, great venue location and perfect course for a long time trial.

Borrego Springs California is the location.

Borrego is an amazing place to visit any time but it’s especially nice in October/November when the event is held.

I did the 24-hour event in 2016 and then again in 2018. Last year I did the 24-hour solo division where I won my age group even after some pretty bad problems with my feet and my back. This was not my goal. It just happened.

2016 was on my tandem bike with my friend Teresa. We didn’t get quite as many miles done as we had planned due to physical problems but we still had a blast. Teresa did the 12-hour event in 2018 on the tandem event with our friend Richard. They set a course record in their division. 

This year I signed up to do the 2-person, mixed, 60+, 24-hour race with Teresa on our single bikes.

The event is 3 different races within one event.

The 24 hour time trial starts on a Friday evening at 5pm and then finishes on Saturday afternoon 24 hours later. The 12 hour time trial starts at 5am the next morning, 12 hours after the 24 hour and the 6 hour then starts 18 hours after the long race at 11am. All races ride the same course and finish at the same time.

The course is an 18-mile circuit with a pit area for support. The pit area is at the start/finish where the tracking device/lap counter is. 
For the 24 hour race, the idea is to get as many laps in as you can in 24 hours. At about 1.5 hours from the 5 pm finish, they put you on a short 4+ mile loop till finish time. That way racers will be able to be closer to the lap counter and get as many miles as possible and not be stranded out on the long loop, not making it to the finish in time. All racers must be done and through the Shute by 5pm.

Thursday

As I did last year, I left home early in the morning so I could get to Borrego pretty early in case I needed to pick up anything.

This year, again, Ultra-cyclist Marko Baloh was holding a meet and greet friendship ride on Thursday afternoon. I really wanted to make that again.

We all had a great time. Quite a few more people showed up this time. Some really fast people. 

I again saw my friends from Norway who I had met last year the day before the race, Monica and her husband who I will call Duke (I gave him that name because he owns Duke Sport bicycles in Norway. I had a hard time remembering his name so I asked if I could call him Duke. )

Below are a few pictures of the friendship ride.

RAAM veteran Marko Baloh

Rolling through the flats at a leisure 20mph

I was feeling pretty good on the friendship ride. 

That night at the hotel, I started to develop a toothache and it became severe overnight. Plus I started to get a fever because I had the chills so I was thinking I had an infection too. My team-mate Teresa was en route from home.

 I was seriously thinking of calling her and calling off the race. It was that bad. I took some pain killers along with a sleeping pill she gave me when she arrived and I think I slept some. It was so bad that I went to bed at 8pm. All I remember was pain all night. I was not sure if I slept some or not.

Friday

I felt a little better in the morning after we all went out to breakfast. 

At 11am I moved the van into the pit area to set up our pit for the race. While I did this, Teresa went out for a short spin around the course to check it out. She arrived in the pits when we started getting the bike inspections done.

The pit is set up

We got checked-in, inspected and then we were ready to race. I set the van up with a small shade cover behind it for the time we had to wait before starting at 5pm. It was pretty warm but not as bad as last year.

Our friend Ron and his brother Howard, a two-man team, pitted next to us.

Our friend Ellen was a race official. Here she is inspecting Tigers bike.

4pm came around and it was time for the race meeting near the start. We were all ready to go so we just relaxed for a bit after the meeting.

We decided to switch-off every lap and I would go first at 5pm.  

The race is started in a number of "Waves", to keep things spread out. It is a "Non-drafting" race, so racers cannot follow in the rear of another rider unless they are passing.

We named our team, "TigerOwl" since that was our team name in 2016 when we did it on the tandem.

We started in the 3rd wave and I was on my way.

We did not miss a relay at the race and only lost 65 seconds doing the exchanges between riders. That means I only saw my team-mate for about a minute in the whole 24-hour race. We learned when we did RAAM,  from our crew-chief William,  just how much time you can lose during transitions from racer to racer so we really tried to keep it tight.

Teresa's boyfriend Chris was our crew. He did an amazing job taking care of us. He also helped others who were racing out there too when he had the chance. 

We started out the race, self-crewing ourselves for a couple hours while Chris drove out from work. He was following our progress on a phone app the whole time on his way out. He arrived at around 7pm.

As soon as the sun went down, I could tell we were going to be in for a cold night. It was really strange compared to the other 2 years we had done the event. 

In 2018 and 2016, I was able to get by with just a vest and knee warmers through the night. I never really got all that cold. This year was completely different. It seemed like there was a damp cold which is usually not the case in the desert. The prior 2 years it was in the low-50's or high-40's during the night and early morning. This year we had damp temps and in the mid-'30s. 

It was brutal and it really affected the times of most racers. Some actually called it quits due to the cold.

Then there was my infected tooth.

Throughout the night I fought that really bad toothache that was on and off. I also got extra cold and could feel that I had a fever because I just couldn't warm up, even sitting in the van with the heater on. I had the chills. 
I tried not to let on how bad I was feeling. I didn't want to bring everyone else down but I was not a happy camper. I kept telling myself that this 200 miles with a break every hour were going to be so much easier than when I did all my really long solo events. 
It was not. The conditions just made it feel harder.

Teresa on the other hand never said a negative thing the whole time, (although I only saw her for about a minute during the race. ) Every time I changed with her, she was upbeat!!

Our first couple of laps were pretty fast. My first was at about 20 mph. It went downhill for me as the night went on as far as my power and speed. The cold really affected me more and my lap times plummeted down to 3 laps that were in the low 16 mph range just before sunrise. I usually embrace the cold but not this time......argghhh!! 

Sunrise near Yaqui Pass Road. The temperature out on the cold part of the course was 35 degrees at this time.
Photo: Vic Armijo Photography

After the sun came up, we both started feeling much better. 
In fact, my lap times started to improve as the race went on during the day. 

Doing one of our transitions just after sunrise. It was still pretty cold.

Some fun in the pits. Our crew chief Chris

The temperature only reached the mid 80's which was perfect for the desert. In prior years we raced in temps that reached the low 100's during the day. 
If only I was feeling better through the night, we may have been able to win our division.

With about 4 hours to go, we had raised our average speed up to very close to our goal of 400 miles for 24 hours. Chris had been keeping good track of our progress and this really perked us up. 

Rolling late in the day on one of the final long laps.
Photo: Jen Magnuson Photography

We put the hammer down during this last part of the race. Many of my final laps were close to 18 mph which was getting us above the 16.6 mph average we would need to reach our goal.
Teresa was doing the same and cranking the final laps. 

When 3:30 came around, it was time for the short laps to come into play. 

Chris calculated that I would finish my final 18-mile circuit near 3:30. We discussed before I went out on the final long lap, that we would then have Teresa do 3 of the short laps to give me some recovery time from pushing really hard on the last long lap.

I kept a nice steady pace and was feeling much better on this final lap. I just didn't get it!!

Here it was, almost 24 hours in and the race almost over, and I was feeling so good. I surprisingly had my second fastest lap of the whole race on this final long circuit. Go figure.

I got back to the finish shute at right around 3:30 for the transition with Tiger.
 She hammered the next 3 short 4.7 mile laps averaging around 18.5 mph. She came on really strong at the end too.

I then went out to do as many laps as I could do before 5:03 pm which is 24 hours exactly from when our wave started. 

Making the turn on one of the final short laps.
 Photo: Vic Armijo Photography.

I got 2 great laps in and averaged about 19.2 mph. I rolled into the finish at just about 5 pm with not enough time for one more lap so we were done.

Wooooohooooo!! 

We were done and we got our goal. 402 miles for the 24 hours.

Thanks so much to Teresa and our awesome crew Chris Bergstrom. Chris did an outstanding job during the race, not only keeping us going but helping others wherever he could. Thanks so much, buddy!! Teresa was a rock star for the entire race.

Teresa (Tiger) Beck and I just as we finished the race. 

Left to right: Dee and husband Rob raced fixed gear, Rick raced fixed gear, Teresa and I, Ron and his brother Howard.

Thanks to everyone who came out to route us on.

A big shout out to Rick, Fred, Jeff, the crew at the RAAM organization and all the volunteers, for again putting on a stellar time trial event.

I know I have said it many times, but I really could not do this sort of thing without the support of my wife Ginny and my family. Thank you all for all your support and for putting up with my long training hours.

Link to all the pictures taken at the event: https://link.shutterfly.com/kO3CQN2Kc5

  

2019 Silver State 508

I really wanted to do "The 508" this year but circumstances at home made it virtually impossible for me to even think about it. I was invited to join a team during this tough time but had to turn it down.

I had signed up for "The Hoodoo 500" very early on and even was toying with the idea of canceling that ride. I was, although able to get Hoodoo in and had a great time.

The Silver State 508 is about 2 weeks after Hoodoo and I was getting excited about following my many friends who were doing the race. Things were a little better at home and I was sad that I could not be there this year having passed up the opportunity to be on a team earlier.  (my goal has been to try and get into the 508 hall of fame by the time I reached 70. I am 67 years old now so I don't have much time to make that goal a reality.)

With just a week or so to the race, I got a call from my friend Peg, who had asked me before, if I again would like to join her team. My friend Teresa had dropped out of the team for work reasons. This time, I told her yes. I was excited. I still had to pass it by my family first but I knew my awesome wife would not want me to pass up this amazing opportunity. 

I was all excited, ready and packed for the race and then, just one day from when I was to leave, my father in law passed away. This was expected but sad and tough to deal with all the same. He had been failing rapidly. I discussed it with my wife and my in-laws and they all wanted me to do the race.

This has been a really tough year of loss for me, my family and many of my friends. I especially wanted to do all my events this year in honor of the ones we had lost in the past year. It was with a heavy heart that I left for Reno. 

My wife, my kids, my wife's family, my sisters and John Clare's wife and family were all on my mind the entire weekend. The saving grace was having all my friends there to talk to.

The organizers of the 508 this year pretty much dedicated the race to my good friend John Clare who we lost tragically early in the year. John was such an amazing mentor to so many and brought so many into the sport of ultra-cycling.

John and I on his tandem back in 2014

If you have not read the 508 race magazine, do so. There is a great write-up about John and his dad who were both in the 508 Hall of Fame. 

The magazine also really gives you a great break-down of the race and its history.

The Silver State 508 2019 Race Magazine

• THE RACE

At this event, you are not given a race number. It is a tradition at this race to give totem names. The totems are usually some sort of animal name. My totem at my two previous races was "White Owl". My first race was on a four-person team put together by my friend John Clare. My next race in 2016 I rode solo division as the White Owl.

This year I was joining "60+ mixed, Team Chuckasourus". 

The four of us leaving for the race

We rode in the new open relay division. You can relay to your team-mate anywhere as long as there is a pullout for the support vehicle.

In previous years of the race, team members had to ride from time station to time station and only transition to a team-mate at the time station. This meant each team member had some long stretches to do before getting a break.

The new division is great and is the same as all the other ultra-races so I think it is going to bring in a lot more riders to the event. People still have the option of doing the standard team division too if they want.

Our team leader.....our totem.... was Chuck Schroyer. Chuck is the Chuckasourus and has a reputation of being one tough dude! Chuck was also inducted into the Hall of Fame at this race at the pre-race meeting. Congrats Chuck!

Our mugshot. Team Chuckasourus at check-in                                                              Photo: Robert Panzera

Stage one: Reno to Silver Springs

48.8 miles

Elevation gain: 2,996’

Maximum elevation: 6,710’

We started racing at 7am on Friday morning. 

Ready to start the race.

I started the race and rode for the first 30 miles or so to the first location where racers could meet their team and crew.  This location was at the bottom of the hill below Virginia City. 

This meant I got to do the climb up Geiger Grade to Virginia City. This is an epic climb of about 8 miles and approx. 2,800 feet of elevation gain. The gradient is about 5-8% but I saw a couple of kicker spots of around 10%. 

It was a nice cool morning in the low 50's.

 I do much better in cool weather at my age. Up the hill, I went and then down the very steep 6-mile canyon. 

After doing 30,000+ feet of climbing at high altitude on the Hoodoo 500 just a couple weeks before, my legs just felt awesome. My breathing was effortless. My heart rate did very well also for my age.  I was able to maintain 150-160+ HR all the way up the climb and still keep up a conversation with a guy on another team much of the way up.

I was ready for this race, but oh to be 20 years younger like many who I was racing against!

Slowing down to hand off to Chuck at the bottom of Six Mile Canyon

Chuck getting ready to roll

Next up in the rotation was Chuck.....the Chuckasourus.

 Chuck was going to ride his time trial bike on the next section for as long and hard as he could.

He crushed this flat to rolly section to the first time station in Silver Springs averaging somewhere around 24 mph.
We rolled into time station one at about 9:40 am.

Stage two: Silver Springs to Fallon

31.35 miles.

Total miles: 80.12

Elevation gain: 266 feet

Maximum elevation: 4,462’

As soon as Chuck got to Silver Springs he handed off to Grace Ragland our Bama girl.

Grace is an amazing rider and human being. She is an ultra-marathon mountain bike racer who just a year ago did the "Tour Divide". This race is an insane, 2,700 mile+, self-supported, mountain bike race along the Rockies from Canada to Southern New Mexico. She also has done many Leadville races and is a veteran of the Breck Epic mountain bike stage race in the Breckenridge area of Colorado.

She was diagnosed with MS at the early age of 18 and she was diagnosed with stage 4, non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, just after the Tour Divide race. She was doing this race with us not long after her treatment for cancer and getting a clean bill of health. 

Grace just published her book, Divide By one. about the Tour Divide. Please support Grace by purchasing her book!!

We were about to see Grace ride for the first time. Grace was riding a bike that fit her very well. It was a bike that belonged to a close friend of Peg's, Jeff Gustafson, her long-time friend from "Team in Training", who had passed away from cancer.
This would be Grace's first road race of any kind. She has pretty much been a mountain bike racer her whole life.
She was doing it on a borrowed bike!

 She headed up the road as we chatted for a little bit with everyone at the time station. We then rolled to start leap-frog support for Grace. Right after Silver Springs, there is a nice climb as you head toward Fallon. As we approached the climb we got an idea of how Grace was doing. She was hammering up that climb and passing people. She was almost to the summit as we reached her!

Grace raced to the beginning of Fallon where Peg came into the rotation.
 Now Peg would take it through town before I would take over.
 Peg rode around 10 miles until the outskirts of town where I would jump on. She did great through town and rode strong through the least fun part of the course.

We passed time station 2 at 11:25 am.

Stage three: Fallon to Austin.

106.4 miles

Total miles: 186.7

Elevation gain: 5,049’

Maximum altitude: 7,245’

I took it from Peg as a little bit of a headwind came up. Now I had a flat to, slightly uphill section, before handing off to Chuck and his time trial bike again.

 I put the pedal to the metal and left everything on the table on this stretch. About 17 miles at an average HR of 160 BPM. Not fun. I barely looked up the whole time. Chuck did the same as he took it from me to Sand Springs Pass where Grace took over for the climb up the pass. She again amazed us with the ease at which she climbed.

Chuck handing off to Grace at the foot of Sand Springs Pass

Grace at the summit of Sand Springs Pass

Looking down off Drum Summit just north of Sand Springs Pass.

Grace rolling in to had off to Peg.

It was then to Peg who took it to Middlegate where I was to take over again. And around and around and around we went like this until we finished in Reno.

Peg did great on this section of Highway 50. Some climbs and rollers and we were at Middlegate.

There goes Peg Miller

Peg making it look easy down in her aero bars

 We were now coming up to my favorite section of the race. The course between Middlegate and Eureka and back is the best part of the course in my opinion. You are really out in the middle of no-where with very little traffic other than other racers and their crew. A really beautiful section of the race.

Not long after I took over for Peg, I came to the turn off Hwy 50 and on to Hwy 722. Next up was the long climb to the top of Carroll Summit. Located at the turn was an RV. This was the stop for the self-supported, "Randonneur", solo racers.
These riders needed a place to stop and take a break out here in the middle of the desert. They used to have it at Middlegate but now it is at the Hwy 722 junction.
I waved to a friend of mine who was doing the self-supported race and then headed up the road.

I took the lower part of the climb and again just hammered it as hard as I could. I then handed off to Chuck who got on his regular bike.

Chuck also pushed to the max and really crushed his section of the climb.

Chuck climbing Carroll Grade

Chuck climbing Carroll Grade

Chuck climbing Carroll Grade. He did a great job. The temps seemed to start cooling a bit as we got higher in elevation. We had just the perfect cool breeze.

We then handed off to our super-climber, Grace for the steeper part to the summit.

Grace was impressive on this climb. I think she passed about 4 solo riders and 4 other teams that we were racing against, on the way to the summit. She was flying up the hill and made it look effortless.

Grace making it look easy

Grace making it look easy

Go Grace!!

After leapfrogging, talking to some of the other team and solo crews, we waited at the top for Grace.

Peg is ready

Here comes Grace

Grace at the Carroll Summit

Now again it was Pegs turn. Peg wanted the descent off Carroll Summit and it worked out in the rotation that she got it.

It took us quite a while to catch up with Peg as we went down off the summit. It was not until we were down in the valley that we finally caught up to her.
We then waited at the farmhouse where the road turns toward Railroad Summit. I was next again and would take it to Railroad Summit. I love that little climb but the road getting there is the roughest on the racecourse.

Chuck,  giving me the GPS tracker

Off I went to Railroad summit. The road was just how I remembered it from 2016 when I raced solo. It seemed like it had been patched or coated some but was still pretty rough. It didn't seem to be quite as bad on the outbound leg this year though.

Rolling over the ruts heading to Railroad Summit

Railroad Summit is in those mountains in the distance.

The rollers and the climb to Railroad Summit seemed effortless to me this year. It was really fun this time. Not like in 2016 where I had many more miles in my legs and really was suffering.

Our two lovely team players!

I was feeling so good that when I saw Chuck up ahead before the summit and ready to go, I yelled out that I wanted to take it to the summit. I just flew by hoping that they could make it to the summit before I did. If not, I would just keep going down the hill until they found a place to pull off and exchange.

They beat me to the top though so we did the hand-off.

Peg getting ready to grab my tracker and put it in Chucks pocket.

We now made the decision to have Chuck take the race to the turn, onto Hwy 50, before the next time station in Austin.
We thought Grace (our new-found super climber), would love to do the climb to Austin Summit above the time station. Then Peg would get in the rotation for the descent.

We may have left Chuck out there a little too long because he was really spent from just hammering to the max on this stretch. We kept asking him how he was doing and we thought he was saying he was good but in reality, he was saying something like "I'm dying out here, get me off the bike". Sorry Chuck but all said and done, he crushed that section!!

Chuck flying toward Austin

Chuck looked really spent when we handed off to Grace. Off she went to Austin.

We drove up for gas at the time station and then hung out there waiting for Grace. It is a pretty good little climb just getting to Austin itself and then you have the real climb.

We saw lots of friends at the time station. Many friends were coming up the hill too.

The Austin Tim Station.
Race Director Robert Panzera with the camera and RAAM legend Cindi Steiger.

Waiting for Gracie to come up the hill.                                                              Photo credit: Robert Panzera

Grace looking good on the loneliest Hwy in America as she passes the time station and starts the steep part of Austin Grade

 We passed the time station at 5:44 pm

Stage 4: Austin to Eureka

70.15 miles

Total miles: 256.4

Elevation gain: 2,799’

Max altitude: 7,470’

We gave Grace a little head start and then headed for the summit which is at 7,484 ft. This is one of the hardest climbs on the race and Grace again made it look easy. It is about a 1,000-foot climb in close to 3 miles.
She seemed to climb so effortlessly. At least she made it look effortless. We would find out in a little bit that it really did burn her out quite a bit and she would need a good rest as we went into the night.

We all got our cold-weather gear out at the summit and put it on. We knew that we would not be able to stop much after it got dark plus the temperatures in the low spots heading to Eureka can really drop drastically just putting a chill on you.

Austin Summit. Peg is ready to go.

Almost immediately after descending Austin Summit, it flattens a little, and then there is a small climb to Bob Scott Summit. Then there is a really great and long descent down into another valley before Hickison summit. Bob Scott summit on the return trip is the hardest climb getting to the Austin Summit. After the false summit at the top of Bob Scott, the rest of the climb to Austin Summit is not as bad as on the way east-bound.

Peg at Bob Scott Summit

There she goes for the nice descent

Down Peg went and into the high desert plain. It was still light out for quite some time. It got dark just a little bit before I took over.

At the time we started with Peg, we decided that we would ride this next stretch and through the night, as long as we were feeling good, then hand-off. This way everyone could try and get some sort of sleep break.

The long road ahead. Just before I took over from Peg. It was to be a long 30+ mile slog but I felt great.
Hickison Summit is above and all the way to the left.
The last picture of day one.

I had my knee warmers, a thin wool base layer, and a vest on but I did not put full finger gloves on yet which would turn out to be a mistake.

I was once again feeling great like I was on my last pull up to Railroad Summit. I went as hard as I could and then climbed Hickison Summit, a climb of just under 500 feet of gain to 6,550 feet.

I ended up riding just under 40 miles in this section. I was feeling great but started to get cold due to the dropping temps. It was not really super cold but without long gloves and a really good head cover, I got cold and needed to stop.

I may have not been eating enough because I started shivering when I got in the car and it did not stop until I ate a bunch of fatty food.

Chuck took the next pull the rest of the way to Eureka. He again did great!!

When we pulled into the time station, the temperature on the car said it was around 51 degrees but it felt much colder and I think on the bike, next to the road it was colder.
We made it to the time station a little before 10 pm, checked in, and handed again to Peg.

Halfway done, now comes the tough part, riding back to Reno.

Stage 5: Eureka to Austin

 70.10 miles

Total miles: 326.4

Elevation gain: 2,753’

Max altitude: 7,556’

We did not stay long in the support vehicle in Eureka.

Peg was on the road immediately when we got there so we had to get to her right away since we were supposed to "Direct follow" now. 

This time is usually pretty trying on the crew. Someone needs to get some sleep but you still need to directly follow the rider. It can be pretty dangerous for the rider with a sleepy crew. 

Peg rode for quite a while as the temperatures continued to drop.

 I heard horror stories about years past where the temps would be so low on this stretch before sunrise that riders water bottles were freezing solid on the bike. There were reports in the past of the temp dropping to 17 degrees on this night-time stretch!!!

This year, it was cold but not abnormally cold like that. 

It was a beautiful night as the full moon lit the area. All the mountains and plains were glowing in the light of the moon. It was one of those magical times on the bike that we talk about. The reason we do this type of thing. Not one person can experience this unless they have been out there doing it. Just an amazing night of memories engrained in the psyche. 

I took over for Peg....somewhere out there, then I handed over to Grace who rode strong into the night, up, and then down, the east side of Hickson Summit before handing off to Chuckasourus. 

All the while for much of this west-bound stretch from Eureka, we saw solo riders and teams still heading east-bound to the turn-around.

It made us feel good that as Peg called, "the AARP Medicare Card-carrying", team was ahead of so many younger ones still. Oh did she have fun calling us all sorts of things relating to our age!

Chuck did the climb to Bob Scott Summit now as I handed off the driving duties to our amazing crew driver Colonel Deb. 

Deb and Peg are both retired Colonels in the USAF although I think Deb out-ranks Peg. She was an awesome crew person. Very calm and collected through all the trying situations that can occur on a race like this with so many people and personalities in one vehicle.

Chuck paced himself well up this tough climb, but we could all tell that this grunt of a hill was taking its toll. 

At the summit, Chuck was happy to hand off to Peg for the final section to Austin Summit. 

Peg took the descent with ease trying not to break the 25 mph speed limit we were warned about. The last 2 years that I did the race they warned us to watch out speed heading down the descent and through the town. No one wanted a ticket on their bike!!

The time was now 3:20 am as Peg pulled very quickly over to the time station and checked us in.

Stage 6:  Austin to Fallon

 112.5 miles

Total miles: 438.87

Elevation gain: 2,730’

Max altitude: 7,446’

 As we followed her, she then bombed down the hill to the turn off of Hwy 50 on to Hwy 722.
Don't miss this turn or you will end up in Reno the wrong way. Many have done this before they or their crew realized the mistake!

Now it was really getting cold as she drops into the Reese River Valley All the cold air from the mountains just sinks down at night into the high desert valleys until it really gets cold just before sunrise.

Peg did really well in the cold and was a real trooper on this section. 

Now it was again my turn.

 I, as I had been since it got dark, was wearing only my thin wool base layer, a vest and knee warmers on my legs. I did since leaving Eureka, put on my thin full finger gloves that are usually pretty good to temps in the mid 30's. The car thermometer was reading the mid 30's at this point but it seemed a little colder. 

I was fine with what I was wearing as long as I made sure I was fully fueled up. The worst thing for an ultra-marathon cyclist is when you get tired and you have not been eating enough. You need much, much more fuel when it is cold and the way it presents is you get cold very easily, even when it is not all that cold out! I have got the chills when it was in the '60s and not fueled properly. 

All that food I pounded down in the car after I got cold the first time, really did the trick because I was not super cold. Don't get me wrong.....it was really cold.....but I, personally, was not to the point where I was shivering!

Once I took the tracker from Peg, I started to very gradually climb toward Railroad Summit. On the return trip, it is a much harder climb to get to this summit. It starts gradually for a long time then starts to kick up to the summit.

 I just felt great again on this grade, climbing in the cold, the absolute best conditions to climb.

Over the top I went and then it got really cold on the descent over the other side. It was still dark but I knew that it would be getting light by the time we got to Carroll Grade.

I had to stop a few times while heading toward the turn at the farmhouse. Something was rattling on the van and Chuck was worried something was coming loose. 

Turns out it was just the bad ruts in the road that was causing something in the back inside of the van to rattle against the floor. This section of the road is bad on the way out but the westbound side seemed much worse as far as the ruts were concerned. 

I went a little farther then I had to come in due to the cold. 

Now it was Chuck's turn to hit the cold. 

Chuck got on the bike, was riding really slow, and then he just stopped. He was still damp from his last outing climbing above Austin and froze instantly when he started moving. 

We got him in the van, he stripped off the layer that was damp against his skin then put a different dry layer against the skin, then put all the other cold gear back on. That did it and he was able to continue. 

Chuck rolled strong to the base of Carroll Grade then we handed off to Peg for some of the climb. 

It was just starting to get light out and no wonder it felt cold!! The car read about 30 degrees on the thermometer but I think that it was not accurate because we were driving so slow. The device was reading some of the heat off of the car. 

Chuck got somewhere in the low 20's on his Garmin mounted on the bike. Yikes that pretty cold.

This time of the morning was so so beautiful! I say again......this is why we do this crazy stuff....for experiences like this. 

People just have no idea unless they experience it for themselves!! I must say though, there are not many people that would even think of doing this sort of thing. We are a rare breed of an athlete!

The bottom of this grade on the east side is where I encountered a gigantic bull standing in the middle of the road that caused a number of us to stop in 2016. It wasn't until a crew car went up and nudged it while blowing the horn and move slowly that it moved off the road.

Peg was riding really strong on the climb. She immediately passed a rider who had passed us when we were stopped for a bit. She ended up leapfrogging him and several riders on the way up. Great job Peg!!

Peg coming up for the hand-off

I took over about 2/3 of the way up.

 It was now light enough that we were able to leave Peg and set up a way up ahead so I was ready for her. She came up with a group of 3 riders. One was the lead self-supported,  "Randonneur" rider, Kevin Bilbee, who was just crushing the course.

Sunrise on the east side of Carroll Grade

They all kept going to the summit while I switched with Peg. 

Now I got to do the amazing descent down off Carroll Grade to Hwy 50.

On my solo race in 2016, I was so excited about finally getting over this summit. When I came to the summit that year, the temp on the road was already in the 90's and I was just hoping for some relief and a nice recovery roll down the hill. That did not happen. As soon as I reached the summit, I had a strong head-wind that felt like a blow dryer in my face. This would last all the way to the turn at 6 Mile Canyon Road which was not that far from the finish. The whole long stretch to Fallon took everything out of me. I think I must have stopped 10 times along that stretch just to get my feet and body iced down.

This year was a whole different story. 

I had just a slight headwind going down and the temps had warmed up just enough that I was not cold at all. I still had my cool gear on and would remove it before my next pull.

This 17+ mile section was so nice. Our team was able to pass a few other teams and some solo riders on the way down. I hit a max speed of over 40 mph on the descent but then had to slow down drastically when I came across a heard of cattle on the side of the road next to the lane. No telling when one could dart in front of me!

I made it out into the flats and rolly section past the little ranch before we changed a gave Grace the tracker.

We asked Grace if she wanted this next section now to Drum Summit and Sand Springs Pass. She was all-in!

A little stop at Middlegate. The van was a mess!

We let her go while we drove to Middlegate Junction to clean out the van and get more ice for the coolers. We spent about 20 minutes there, had some great conversations with some locals and then hit the road to catch Gracie.







Grace was flying.
She looked so efficient on the bike as she flew over Drum Summit. 

We asked her how she was doing and she said good but would need a water hand off soon. 

Grace was riding really strong

Grace starting Sand Springs Pass

Watering Grace up

We did a few leap-frog stops on the way We stopped at a turn-out before the road started to kick up toward Sand Springs and waited for her. We did not do a rolling hand-off since she needed to take a thin jacket off. 

She made a very quick stop and then kept rolling up the hill. up then headed to the summit where Chuck got ready with his time trial bike. He was going to hammer this descent and headwind section until he gave us the signal to switch to Peg. 

Grace at the summit of Sand Springs Pass

Chuck did just that. He hammered the flat headwind section on his TT bike to just outside Fallon where we handed off to Peg.

Chuck on his TT bike on what I consider the toughest flat section of the race.
When riding solo, it seems to take forever to get to Fallon. You can see it way off in the distance but never seem to get there!

Peg made one request. "Get me 2 cheeseburgers and a shake in Fallon". This was going to be her reward for her last part of the race. Peg was going to take it until the turn toward Silver Springs.

Peg made it to the outskirts of town at about 10:20 and we checked her in at the time station at around 10:40. I still can't believe we made it to Fallon in the morning.

Stage 7:  Fallon to Silver Springs

 22.5 miles

Total miles: 464.32

Elevation gain: 499’

Max altitude: 4,560’

We stopped at Micky D's, got the food, (we all wanted some sort of real food), and headed down the road to spot the turn for Peg so she would not miss it.

She rode a couple more miles and then I took over. The plan was for me to ride about 5 miles past the time station and then pass it off to Chuck once again.

I went by the time station in Silver Springs at 12:14 pm after climbing slightly into a good headwind for most of the way until I hit the descent going into town. It was then a nice smooth road all the way until I passed off to Chuck for one last time. 

Stage 7: Silver Springs to Reno

 44.35 miles

Total miles: 508.67

Elevation gain: 2,844’

Max altitude: 6,779’

Chuck just hammered like crazy into the headwind on a nice new smooth road to Six Mile Canyon. I think he averaged over 20 mph into the headwind on that TT bike.

Next up was Gracie.

We had been talking about this climb for the whole race and how tough it was on the return trip especially for solo riders. I asked Grace if she wanted this climb and she did not hesitate. We were all hoping that she would just take it easy and pace herself having never done it before. 
She hammered the climb!! Very impressive climbing skills once again. We did some leapfrog support on the way up to where we could stop but mainly just took pictures. She did not need anything the entire climb. 
This climb has about 1,840 feet of elevation gain in that short 6 miles and most of it is in the middle to top section. The top had two kick-up sections that are over 20%. When Grace reached the top she had to tack from side to side but she did not walk. 
She was pretty spent at the top.

There goes, Gracie!!

Below is a short video of Grace climbing the middle section of the climb. 
It doesn't look steep but it is!

She did the climb in just under an hour averaging about 7 mph. 

I was all ready to go at the top. I took the tracker from Grace and was on my way.
I now had about a 6-mile climb with about 800 feet of gain, from Virginia City to the summit of  Gaiger Grade.
The first thing that happened on this section was a strong crossing head-wind. It seemed to take me forever to get up there. I was so hoping for that long descent into Reno. When I did it on my solo race in 2016 it was during the night and I had no wind at all. I just flew down that grade even though I was really tired from climbing up that darn canyon.

I got to the summit. I am a really good and fast descender but this one really scared the heck out of me.

I picked up good speed going over the top dropping really smooth but then it happened, a nasty cross-wind that almost blew me off the road. I then got hit the other way and it blew me into traffic. I was also having trouble slowing the bike down. I do not have disk brakes and the carbon wheels I was running have worked awesome through all my training and events thus far but on this descent, the carbon braking surface did not seem to be grabbing well. I got the bike slowed down to a stop but it took quite a bit of effort. I felt the wheels. They were not hot or overheated at all. I think it may have had something to do with the extremely dry air.  I had done some much more technical descents on the Hoodoo 500 just two weeks prior with no problem.

The rest of the way down I was buffeted so bad that I had to break the whole time. There was a lot of traffic and I kept getting blown into the traffic lane. It really sucked.

Halfway down I got a call from my crew. They were wondering where I was. They know how I can descend, and they were at the bottom right away probably worried that I would catch them on the way down and pass them. I was not sure where the turn was and they were going to mark it and wait there.

I think they first did not think about the 6-mile climb leaving Virginia City. That took me a little while.

But what really happened is they saw someone that looked like me coming down and make the turn. They then went after him, caught up with him and then panicked when they saw it was not me. Peg called me in a panic. Luckily I was able to stop and call her back. I told her the situation and they waited for me at the turn. They then leapfrogged the rest of the way to the finish.

Below is a hilarious exert from Peg's ride report on the situation as it unfolded. Its really got me laughing!!

"We parked at the first turn after the descent, here came Stevie Wonder, and here we go, hauling @$$ to the finish, the California Baby Boomers would not be denied! Well at least we thought it was Stevie Wonder. We were making our final turns, Curti Ranch, Veterans Parkway and left on to S Meadows Pkway but wait, Stevie turned right and waved! What the frig? No time for fun and games, No Stevie, NO, turn around! Dam it. As the trash-filled van got closer and my cataract ridden eyes focused on our Stevie I realized THAT IS NOT Stevie Wonder. What the hell? Wholly Crap, OMG where is White Owl? May Day May Day, AMBER ALERT for fast white male on a bike, no license plate. I am speed dialing Wonderman. Over and over and I tell anybody with a charged phone to text him. I was sooo happy his phone wasn’t ringing in the velovan. Panic and pandemonium filled the car. My phone rang and it was Stevie Wonder! His descent was slowed by the dangerous and nasty wind on Geiger Grade. Thank goodness he was OK as the crosswinds were blowing him toward the middle of the lane and beyond. I was so thankful he was safe and we had his 10-20. (Cop talk for location). We parked at the first corner after the descent and waited. Now we saw the original Stevie Wonder, WOOT! Crisis resolved! AMBER ALERT canceled."

About 1/10 of a mile from the finish I stopped so the whole team could get on their bikes and we could ride over the finish line together.

We did just that and over the line, we went at 3:33 pm.

508 miles
Time: 32:33:10 overall time.

We did it!!

Our whole team with our finishers medals and jerseys. 

•  Congratulations to all my team-mates. You all did an awesome job.

• A huge thank you to Col Deb Esque retired.

 We could not have done this race without you Deb. Your calm nature and driving skills were fantastic. I hope we see you out there on these events again in the future.

• Thank you to the staff and all the volunteers at The 508 for making this such a memorable experience.

• A big thanks go out to all my friends and family who have supported my races this year. It would have been almost impossible for me to get through everything necessary to do 3 of these events this year without your help. It means the world to me.

• Thank you to the Adobo Velo family. This club is just amazing with the most wonderful people. Congratulations to all my club-mates who participated in the race this year. You are all amazing.
•   Thanks to all for all your support and for cheering me on in all my endeavors.

• Thanks as usual to my family who have supported me on this crazy stuff for a long long time. 

• I again was doing this event in memory of those who have passed away recently. Rest in peace, my friends and family! They were all with us all the way down the loneliest Hwy in America!

• Of course, I need to thank my wife Ginny for putting up with my long hours of training, my endurance events and these long weekend trips for the ultra-races. I am blessed to have you as my soulmate and you are in my thoughts all the time when I am out on the bike. 

• Thank you to ICAN Wheels. The "fast and light 55 wheels" were amazing and fast wheels. I love racing on them. Stiff on the climbs and aerodynamic on the flats!!

Last but not least, below is the link to all the pictures we took at the event:

https://link.shutterfly.com/lxSxiMRI3Z

Chuckasourus