I just returned from the 2011 edition of the Hell’s Gate Hundred and for the second year it did not disappoint. What an incredible event. There is something about Death Valley that never fails to deliver. Last year this ride really tore me up. It was partially due to bad nutrition but also a matter of bad training. This year I had a very keen understanding of what it took to ride this event, both with nutrition and with training. I am 6’3 and 210 pounds, not exactly a natural climber. That meant that I needed to focus a lot of my training on the hills. I knew going in to the event that my strategy was going to be …
Event
Ride Report – LA River Ride Century
Sometimes rides go horribly bad and sometimes rides go amazingly perfect. Yesterday fits into the latter category. I set out to achieve a specific result, and damned if I didn’t achieve it exactly. The LA River Ride century was the very first century I ever rode, and it was exactly a year ago. Last year I had a less than stellar performance, and I was hell bent on redeeming my performance this year. When I rode the event in 2009, I finished it in 7 hours flat. This year I wanted to shave a full hour off of my time. I had a whole year’s worth of experience and riding to help me. Just like with the last ride report …
I Was There
The Amgen Tour of California just finished on Sunday in Westlake Village, after 8 crushing stages down the state of California. Michael Rogers (an aussie) was the winner, edging out Californian’s Dave Zabriskie and Levi Leipheimer (the 3 time champ). I was on hand for the stage 6 finish in Big Bear, and for the stage 8, 4 lap circuit in Thousand Oaks. I can tell you nothing that you can’t read online. There wasn’t anything I saw that you didn’t have a better angle of watching the tour on Versus. However, what I did get was some pictures from my static position during the race. I thought it might be nice to share those images with people. Some of …
Big Bear 200k Brevet – Ride Report
The serious Randonneur (why so serious?) I read a lot of ride reports, and I love them. People note helpful details and make you feel as though you are there. I myself have written reports of that tune, but this time I want to tell the story of the things that I thought were important, the memories I will take with me from this ride and leave the little details out. If you do want to read a complete narrative of this ride, my friends Errin and Ryan both wrote reports about it, and they can be read here and here. I would love feedback on this report style, love it or hate it, your thoughts are appreciated. That said, …
Prepping for a birthday 200k
On Saturday, May 22nd I am going to be riding the PCH Randonneurs 200k (126 miles) brevet from Big Bear City out to Newport Beach. The plan is, head up on Friday morning to Big Bear City with Errin and a couple other folks, and watch the finish of the queen stage of the Tour of California, which finishes where we start the following day. Then we go to sleep, then we ride. My birthday is on May 23rd, so in a way, this is a pre-birthday celebration for me. Time with friends a long stretch of road is a hell of way to celebrate 28 years on the planet. Sadly I will have to spend the day away from …
Hell’s Gate Hundred Roundup
“Yeah, yeah Marcus, we know, we know, you rode the Hell’s Gate Hundred!” But wait! There are more people than just me talking about the wonderful experience they had at the event. I thought it would be helpful to collect all of the ride reports, photo sets and other assorted comments about the ride in a single place so that people who might be interested to learn more can come to a single place. So, here goes… This is a link to the 2010 ride results page on the AdventureCorps site: http://adventurecorps.com/hgh/2010/2010results.html The AdventureCorps folks also go to great lengths to take lots of pictures of their events. You can find all of their photos of the 2010 HGH here: …
Things I Learned at the Hell’s Gate Hundred
I have heard / read many greater athletes and intellectuals than me say something to the extent of “Some of the greatest lessons we learn are those we experience during times of great suffering”. I know this was certainly the case for me last Saturday. As I stated in my ride report, I crossed a boundary into another world of self-discovery…and I liked it…a lot. However, not all the lessons that we learn are high, flighty self-aggrandizing ones, some of them are very practical and will hopefully limit the suffering next time. I will start with those lessons: 1. Bike fit, as I have always heard, is one of the most important things in cycling. For those of you who …
2010 Hell’s Gate Hundred – Ride Report
It all started so innocently. I made a new cycling friend who informed me that he and a buddy of his would be riding the Hell’s Gate Hundred. I took a look at the profile and thought “Oh yeah, I will just take it easy and have a fun day riding my bike in Death Valley”. Oh, Marcus, naive little Marcus. See his jubilant little mug on the drive to Death Valley: Here I was, on my way to a fun adventure with new friends in a newish place. I was going to camp in my car, eat food cooked on an open fire, forge new friendships, and ride a fun little century. I arrived at Furnace Creek, set up …
Old Salty Face Survived
I am back from the Hell’s Gate Hundred. I survived…literally just barely. I am currently drafting a full ride report, but I wanted to post a little preview. When I started this blog, I told myself that I would be as candid and honest as possible about my riding and how I was progressing. That said, this picture pretty much sums up how I felt after the ride: I absolutely turned myself inside out to finish this ride. It was the most challenging thing I have done in my life (to date). I left every ounce of grit, soul and guts out on the roads of Death Valley. My finishing time left a lot to be desired, but I am …
2 Days and Counting…
It is 2 days until the Hell’s Gate Hundred and I am strangely calm about it. It will be the most amount of elevation gain I have experienced in a single day, but I feel prepared for it. As is my normal habit, I have been studying the elevation profile and route and getting my head around what is ahead of me. The route, as I see it, is comprised of two notable climbs (1 hard and 1 significantly harder), some rollers and a couple slight uphills that get pitchy at the end. The first climb “Artist Drive” starts at mile 10 and climbs roughly 1000ft in 2 miles, followed by a downhill and another climb of about 400ft. We …