Death Ride!!

[gnat23]

WAHOO!! You worked for it, you gave it everything (even when you didn't want to), and by golly you EARNED it hardcore! Hopefully you've rested up by now and can look back on it with a sense of more happiness.

SUPERCONGRATS!!

-- gnat!

[jobob]

That was fabulous.

[maillotpois]

fantastic report! so well done - you should be very proud.

it was a pleasure riding with you and dachsund, this season (and jo who found the worst way not to have to get up at 2 am....)

[Bike Goddess]

I agree with MP. Great job. Loved your report, Melissm. To hear about the Death Ride from my club, you'd think it was a piece of cake. I never hear about how tough it is or what the "head conversation" might be. Thanks for sharing all of that as I'm sure you have a lot of company in that regard.

Kudows to MP for not letting your mind run the show. She knew better. After 5x on this ride I'll bet she's seen it all! (now 6?)

What a neat thing that Jobob and Leebob came up just to encourage everyone on the TNT team.

Wanna harder ride? The Alpine Club (original DR sponsors, now gone) has one a few weeks prior to the DR. Even the best of the riders I know had a tough time on that one. They have some of the same passes and a few more just to add to the pain with a total of 200 miles if you complete all of the passes on the route.

[jobob]

Wanna harder ride? The Alpine Club (original DR sponsors, now gone) has one a few weeks prior to the DR. Even the best of the riders I know had a tough time on that one. They have some of the same passes and a few more just to add to the pain with a total of 200 miles if you complete all of the passes on the route.

You must mean the Alta Alpina club's Wild Sierra challenge.

Lee & I stayed with Twain (one of Alta Alpina's stalwarts) on DR weekend, and we met one of their past presidents who stopped by the night before the DR. Her BF was one of the Wild Sierra organizers this year.

The TNT gang had their Altitude Camp the same weekend as the Wild Sierra challenge.

Lee and I drove over one of the passes that the Wild Sierra uses, Kingsbury Grade. That was a lovely road and I hope to bike up it eventually if not sooner.

[Bike Goddess]

Yep, the Alta Alpina ride is the one! I"ll bet Twain had a few stories about that one too! I understand that it was pretty cold.

I'd like to drive the Kingsbury grade too sometime. If you say it's doable, maybe I would be able to do it too. I've heard stories about that grade as well.

[maillotpois]

kingsbury is nice - a lot like the backside of monitor but with a huge shoulder which is good because theres more car traffic than monitor.

[jobob]

fantastic report! so well done - you should be very proud.

it was a pleasure riding with you and dachsund, this season (and jo who found the worst way not to have to get up at 2 am....)

Heh, it was very nice to be able to sleep in that morning, have a tasty breakfast, hang out in Markleeville, have an ice cream cone, and occasionally shout out to my buddies riding by. Oh yeah, and have a beer at the team tent later that afternoon.

And that, my friends, is my Death Ride report for 2009.