Week 13

Date
March 29th, 2012


Distance
141 miles

Time
10:08:02

Route Map/Profile

4 laps of this route

Weather

Picture

The descent on 341

Ride Report
This is my second week of training for the Mulholland Double. I got in 141 miles with about 13,500 feet of climbing. The wind wasn't as bad as last week, but it picked up towards the end when I was already tired and added in that extra degree of difficulty.

Week 12

Date
March 23rd, 2012


Distance
122 miles

Time
08:47:19

Route Map/Profile

I did two laps of this route...

...and one lap of this route.

Weather

It was windy all day long.

Picture

6 Mile Canyon

Ride Report
I plan on doing the Mulholland Double on April 14th as part of the California Triple Crown stage race. I did the stage race last year and had a lot of fun, so I'm back for more in 2012. This was my first serious training ride for the double: 122 miles and about 11,500 feet. I'll do 140 next week and then 160 the week after that. It may be overkill, but that's what I've done in the past and it has worked for me.

There is road work on Geiger Grade (my favorite training climb) and the weather isn't great around Tahoe yet, so I did laps of a loop from Dayton to Virginia City. Laps aren't my favorite thing in the world, but hopefully it all pays of in the end and I'll feel good at the Mulholland Double.

Week 11

Date
March 16th, 2012


Distance
100 miles

Time
06:45:24

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

100 feet below sea level

Ride Report
I took a trip to Death Valley and got in a couple good days of riding. I've been to Death Valley a few times, but never with my bike. As you can imagine, I've wanted to do some riding in the park ever since the first time I visited.

I camped at the Emigrant Campground, which is a free tent campground in between Panamint Springs and Stovepipe Wells. My century route took me down Emigrant Road towards the Wildrose Campground and the Charcoal Kilns. Emigrant Road was a nice road with some decent climbing and not much traffic. The road becomes a dirt road a few miles before the Charcoal Kilns, but I've seen them before so I just turned around and headed back towards camp. After a long descent, I made it to Stovepipe wells and continued on past Mesquite Dunes. In this area the elevation is sea level or lower, so it's nice and warm. As an added bonus, the Mesquite trees were flowering with bright yellow flowers.

I made a left turn on Scotty's Castle Road and then a quick right towards Hells Gate for another climb. The thing about some of these Death Valley climbs is that there aren't many twists and turns in the road like I'm used to. It might sound crazy, but this makes the climbs seem longer. The road doesn't look as steep as it really is and it seems to just go on and on forever. Once I finally made it to Hells Gate I took the Beatty Cutoff towards Furnace Creek and then turned around and headed back to camp, where I was greeted by another one of those long, straight climbs.

Week 10

Date
March 8th, 2012

Distance
104 miles

Time
06:29:14
Route Map/Profile

Reno to Carson City to Kingsbury Grade and back

Weather

Picture

Kingsbury Grade

Ride Report
I rode Kingsbury Grade for the first time this year. Kingsbury grade is one of my favorite climbs. It's about 8 miles with 2,550 feet of elevation gain. The grade is nice and steady and there is a nice, wide shoulder on the way up. Once you make it to the summit you're just a short descent away from Lake Tahoe- a ride that I'll put off until the weather gets a little warmer. There aren't any tight turns, so the descent is nice and easy and there is minimal braking. (I tend to be a wimpy descender, so I'm sure some of you could ride it without braking at all.) If you're ever in the Lake Tahoe area, this is a climb you don't want to miss.

Week 9

Date
March 4th, 2012

Distance
149 miles

Time
09:06:12
Route Map/Profile

Reno to Pyramid Lake to Fernley to Reno via 6 Mile Canyon

Weather

The weather was beautiful with a high of 67.

Picture

Ride Report
I took advantage of the warm weather and got in a nice 9-hour ride. That's the longest of the year so far and certainly the most painful. 6 Mile Canyon is a tough climb even on fresh legs, but after 120 miles my legs were already dead and that last steep section at the end was a slow grind to the top. I didn't have much of anything left in the tank for the last 15-20 miles of the ride.

I plan on doing my first double of the year in mid-April, so this ride was a nice wakeup call. I'm in terrible shape at the moment and have a long way to go if I want to be as strong as I was last year. Hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate and I'll ramp up on the mileage and the climbing.