Furnace Creek 508

[Brandy]

It's that time of year again. The time of year when I sit in the back of the van and support my love, George "Red Eyed Vireo" Vargas, in his third consecutive Furnace Creek 508 race! :)

If you're interested in following along, the fun starts with the webcast tomorrow at noon. They should be updating the 508 webcast starting then.

http://the508.com/2008web/index.html

We will be pretty remote, so no real access to updating the blogs, unfortunately, but we should have details upon our return on Monday.

Wish us luck!

[Fredwina]

Bonne Chance! Bonne Route!

[melissam]

Good luck, Brandy, George, and crew!

I can't wait to hear all about your adventures on the 508!!

- Melissa

[jobob]

Especially since Ms. Mel has ulterior motives. :cool:

(Good luck Brandy & George!)

[crazycanuck]

Oi oi oi...

Good luck!!! I'm sure it will be a successful adventure!!

[Brandy]

Especially since Ms. Mel has ulterior motives. :cool:

(Good luck Brandy & George!)

Huh? Wha...??? Ulterior motives? Hmmmm...do tell...:p

[melissam]

Huh? Wha...??? Ulterior motives? Hmmmm...do tell...:p

Ulterior motives? Me? :o

Actually, here's what I'm thinking. 508 miles solo over 48 hours seems a little crazy (no offense to George). But 508 miles as a 4 person relay team seems doable. Not only that, but there's no finishing time for a 4 woman relay team in the 40+ age group since they've changed to a fixed relay format. So...all you have to do is finish and you get to set a record!

There's some part of me that says this is an absolutely crazy idea. The more I hear about the ride, the better I can determine if this is crazy or if I should get serious about drafting a team and participating in the 2009 race.

Ulterior motives or not, I wish George, you & the rest of the crew good luck on your adventure!

- Melissa

[Red Rock]

Just wanted to wish you all well and safe travels as you all do the 508. May he eat and drink a lot to keep him going.

Red Rock

[jobob]

Anything is possible, Mel. And I'd love to crew y'all. :) (Ed to add) : whomever you sucker into this...

In the meantime, good luck to all involved.

And congrats to Bernie Barge (http://www.the508.com/hof/bargebernie.html) ("Homey" on bikejournal) who is being inducted tonight into this years hall of fame. I've had the pleasure of riding with him, he is a wonderful guy and a fabulous role model for long distance cyclists. And cyclists in general.

[dachshund]

Actually, here's what I'm thinking. 508 miles solo over 48 hours seems a little crazy (no offense to George). But 508 miles as a 4 person relay team seems doable. Not only that, but there's no finishing time for a 4 woman relay team in the 40+ age group since they've changed to a fixed relay format. So...all you have to do is finish and you get to set a record!


See... this is just how it starts (shaking head). Somewhere between "all you have to do" and "set a record" is where the hard stuff is. :eek: But I digress.

I hope you both have a great time! I want to hear all about it, too.

[jobob]

Catharina Berge won the women's solo division with a time of 29:43:01.

Not only was she more than three hours ahead of the second place finisher, her time would have put her in third place in the men's solo division.

Way to go Cat! :cool:

[Bike Goddess]

Cat Barge is an inspiration to me as well. She finished RAAM solo a few years ago and was welcomed by a great TE sign at the end. She raised money on that ride to benefit cancer as a friend of hers died from cancer.

Homey really is a neat guy. I notice that he finished on the tantem with his lady partner in fine style. :)

Melissm- I've actually thought that a 4 person team would be feasible. I crewed for Robert Baldino and another guy a few years back (he finished again this year with a different teammate- team Mahi Mahi)

I rode the Death Valley century ride (March 2006)which follows the same course as the 508-except it is just an out and back from Furnace Creek to the 1st pass. However, since the road was bad from Furnace Creek to Badwater we started at Badwater and went to Shoshone and back to Badwater. (That route is part of the Death Valley double) I would suggest that you do that ride next spring (you have to register early as it fills up fast). It will give you an idea of what the roads are like and what the weather is like,etc. Also if you go through the Naval weapons area you will be following the 508 route. We did that on the way to the century ride so I got to see the road from a cyclist' point of view as well as Townes Pass which is considered one of the tougher climbs.

That said, I'm looking forward to reports on the race!!!!!

[Brandy]

Race report and crew perspective to come...hopefully this week! Thanks to all that tuned into the webcast. :) George had a great race. This is his third consecutive SOLO 508, and his best time so far at 37:34. We had a great crew that laughed and had fun while still getting the job done. :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3289/2921386380_5cd4040d80.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/2921387582_dca0ea3c28.jpg?v=0

[jobob]

Well done, Brandy & George! :cool:

[melissam]

Wow -- 508 miles in 37:34, and you ALL look fresh as a daisy!!

Fantastic job!!

[Brandy]

He definitely looked better this year than he did at the finish last year, when he did it on a fixed gear! :p


He's actually starting to do some blogging about the race right now, I think he's posted a couple of things this afternoon.

www.epictrain.blogspot.com

[Brandy]

Ulterior motives? Me? :o

Actually, here's what I'm thinking. 508 miles solo over 48 hours seems a little crazy (no offense to George). But 508 miles as a 4 person relay team seems doable. Not only that, but there's no finishing time for a 4 woman relay team in the 40+ age group since they've changed to a fixed relay format. So...all you have to do is finish and you get to set a record!

There's some part of me that says this is an absolutely crazy idea. The more I hear about the ride, the better I can determine if this is crazy or if I should get serious about drafting a team and participating in the 2009 race.

Ulterior motives or not, I wish George, you & the rest of the crew good luck on your adventure!

- Melissa

Melissa...508 on a team is totally do-able for most people. In fact, if you look at the DNF rate for solo's vs. teams, there is a huge difference. http://www.the508.com/results.html Last year they had a 100% finish rate for teams and this year, just one team DNF'ed. The solo finish rate has never been higher than 75% and that was 2005 when there were massive tailwinds and the course solo record was set.

Anyway...George mentioned about a month ago that we should do 508 as a team next year. Mixed fixed gear. By default, unless someone else did it, we would set the record since it hasn't been done. I thought about it and as we approached 508, I realized that I just wouldn't want to do this race as a team effort. More power to the people that do, but seeing George take this on twice now, I personally wouldn't be proud wearing the same Furnace Creek 508 jersey that he wears if I didn't earn it by going the whole distance. There are plenty of other shorter distance races out there that I can take on if I want to, but there is something about Furnace Creek 508 that has touched me and I have a great respect for everyone who has taken this challenge on. You won't see my name on the roster until I am ready to compete solo.

Funny...I know him so very well. Yesterday as we were talking about this and I told him that I just wouldn't feel right doing it as a team, I told him that I knew why he mentioned that option in the first place. He was feeling like he hadn't prepared enough for 508 this year and he knew there would be great suffering involved. His goal is to get into the Hall of Fame, which you attain after five finishes and in his state of mind, he thought he'd get off easy next year by doing it on a team...lol. I know him though, and he'd never be satisfied by that. His tune changed within hours of finishing this year. :p

So...that's my longwinded tale of why I would only do 508 solo. I know people will disagree with me, but I can't help how I feel.