Long Distance Girls....

[Brandy]

I wish that I could, but considering that I'm abandoning...err...leaving my kids for 8-13 days (depending on whether I fly back from Atlantic City) in June to crew RAAM, it's going to have to be one or the other. I'm leaning toward Eastern Sierra. I was worried about doing 10,000 feet of climbing, but I recently did a 112 mile 10,500 ft ride (Encinitas to Palomar Mountain observatory and back) and felt really strong most of the day. I'm thinking that if I can handle the 8500 feet of climbing on the Butterfield DC, that ES shouldn't be too bad.

[maillotpois]

I didn't think the climbing at ESDC was too bad. The only climb that was noticeably "tough" on ESDC was after lunch. To get to lunch, you descend down, down, down to Mono lake. You keep going down, all the while knowing that you have to climb out of the lunch stop. So that blew. And the climb after lunch was a lot longer than the descent, because you took a jog left and did a pretty long climb on a different road.

But aside from that extended climb and the moderately long climb out of Bishop in the morning, there wasn't really a lot of climbing that sticks in my mind. There weren't really many roller-y climbs either. And the whole last part is downhill - how can you beat that??

The only real bummer about ESDC and reason I might not do it again was the expansion joints in the road for the last 60 miles. You could get a lot of good speed up, but you'd hit these nasty breaks in the pavement - rattle your fillings out. I actually had to stop at one point to make sure my bike was intact. But it is so pretty. If we didn't have a Death Ride training ride that day, I'd consider doing it again.

[Brandy]

The only real bummer about ESDC and reason I might not do it again was the expansion joints in the road for the last 60 miles. You could get a lot of good speed up, but you'd hit these nasty breaks in the pavement - rattle your fillings out. I actually had to stop at one point to make sure my bike was intact.

Is that THIS ride? I remember reading your ride report last year.

ETA: I just went back and re-read your report. The views are so amazing, I'm going to block out the mental image of those expansion joints...lol!

[maillotpois]

I hope you don't hit a swarm of bees either....

[Brandy]

I hope you don't hit a swarm of bees either....

Hey...I was selectively ignoring that part! I just booked a room at the cheap motel next door to the host hotel...I couldn't help it, it was half the price! As soon as I have Butterfield under my belt, I'll register for ESDC.

[maillotpois]

OMG, you reminded me of the hotel fiasco....

I made my reservation for the hotel 8 months before the event. In the host hotel. Get there the night before the ride, pick up my resigtratoin for the ride - and the host hotel is undergoing renovation, was sold some months ago, and no longer has my reservation. I even had a confirmation number!!! So I had to stay at the twice as expensive place across the street.

[Brandy]

Okay, that would make me so mad! Not sure what this Town House Motel where I booked is like, but at $55/night and as tired as I'll be after the 5+ hour drive...I don't think I'll really care!