Furnace Creek 508

[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!

[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.

[jobob]

Well done, Brandy & George!

[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!


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