Quote Originally Posted by maillotpois View Post
Endurance pace is key, FWIW. You're not going to "win" the ride on Monitor, but you sure can lose it there.
This is so true!!!

Lovely ride.

One of the training ride is to check into a motel in Lee Vining. Next morning climb Tioga pass into Yosemite. Unless you are a worldclass rider, you can't sprint up the pass. It's just way tooooo llloooonnnnggg. And the summit is near 10,000 feet. It's a breathless ride. And oh, if you ride north of Lee Vining, there is another great long climb up from Mono Lake. A fun ride.

Do several hill repeats on Tioga Pass and you'll be good to go with DR. It's a bear of a climb. Before the DR, you should ride a 100miler with 10,000 feet of climb. Supported of course.

DR has become too civilized None of the rude 5:00AM wake up call anymore with Jimmy Hendrix music etc. Pitch tent anywhere in the camp ground... I understand you now wake up to some classical music. Last time I did was like over 20 years ago...