# Death Ride Roll Call



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

So who is heading up to the mountains for the 2009 Death Ride this weekend? The weather forecast is looking pretty good to me. I'm going to have a huge amount of Tour De France coverage to catch up with on Sunday!


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## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

Have a great one, be safe - I needed to bail due to work commitments.


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## fishtaco (Mar 28, 2007)

I am in and the weather forecasts look great.


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## nor_cal_rider (Dec 18, 2006)

I'm leaving for Markleeville in a couple of hours. Hope to roll out around 4-4:30 at the latest. See ya there - I'll be on my black/white Trek in the yellow jacket in the am and red/purple Chico Wildflower jersey once it warms up.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

nor_cal_rider said:


> I'm leaving for Markleeville in a couple of hours. Hope to roll out around 4-4:30 at the latest. See ya there (I'll be in the yellow jacket inthe am and red/purple Chico Wildflower jersey once it warms up).


Wow, that's an early start! We're aiming for more like 6am to give the day a chance to warm up. I'm riding incognito with a plain yellow jersey. I've decided that wearing the full Saxo Bank team kit is rather pretentious on a big organized ride! I wish now that I'd bought some of the RBR logo gear.


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## nor_cal_rider (Dec 18, 2006)

ukbloke said:


> Wow, that's an early start! We're aiming for more like 6am to give the day a chance to warm up. I'm riding incognito with a plain yellow jersey. I've decided that wearing the full Saxo Bank team kit is rather pretentious on a big organized ride! I wish now that I'd bought some of the RBR logo gear.


I KNOW I'm not fast rider - based on last year at Mt. Shasta (similar distance and climbing) DR should take me around 11 hrs of ride time (around 12-13 hrs total with stopping for water/food/pictures). That and the fact that 3-4 pm seems to be the most likely time for storms to pop up on Carson, I'll plan to start early. Then again, I tried that last year for Mt. Shasta and ended up rolling out at 6 am. At least I'm prepared...have my Night Rider headlamp and superflash tail light ready to go.

See ya there.


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## boysa (Apr 8, 2007)

First one for me... my buddy and I will be starting around 6. Really looking forward to it. Weather looks so good it's scary!


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## ratpick (Jul 31, 2008)

ukbloke said:


> Wow, that's an early start! We're aiming for more like 6am to give the day a chance to warm up. I'm riding incognito with a plain yellow jersey. I've decided that wearing the full Saxo Bank team kit is rather pretentious on a big organized ride! I wish now that I'd bought some of the RBR logo gear.


Heh.. a plain yellow jersey is incognito? In July?  I wish I had an all green jersey! I've got the 2009 Death Ride jersey but I think I'll probably wear my Australia jersey.

I'm pumped for this weekend!


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

*weather*

Even if it seems nice out, afternoon thunderstorms form quickly. If you're a slower rider (11+ hour pace), take at least a windbreaker with you on the Carson climb. Many were caught unprepared last year. 

I didn't get in this year, and I'm not motivated enough to seek an entry. 

Have fun and ride safely.


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## alamere (Jun 23, 2008)

Well, I am in, first time. Will probably wear my Alta Alpina jersey. Starting to get nervous! Wish I had a Mere Mortals road bike jersey ("My fast is everyone else's slow") to properly position myself in the company of all these cyclists.


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## 39n 121w (Jan 26, 2008)

*See you on Saturday*

I'll be out there. Looking foward to it as I had to skip last year. Will be wearing a Victory Velo jersey. Starting at 5:30. Death Ride number eleven for me. 

First time with a compact crankset though. My gears keep getting lower each year. Here are my Death Ride low gears through the years - 

First couple of years 39 x 23 
Moved to a 39 x 25 for a few years after that
Have ridden a 39 x 27 for the last 5 years
This year a 34 x 27

Gotta love getting old


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

39n said:


> This year a 34 x 27
> Gotta love getting old


First Death Ride for me, and I'm starting out with the 34x27 combination! I think that I don't really need that 27 (but I will use it if it is there), and I know I'm going to regret not having the 11 tooth cog for the descents. Perhaps I should seek out an 11-25 cassette at some point.

But looking forward to getting older, I guess there's always the triple option in my future!

Here's an idea to help us recognize each other - write your RBR handle on the white rider number on the back of your jersey with a sharpie?


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

This will be my seventh death ride. I'll be the tall thin Webcor rider. Rider number 1950.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Fifth Deathride for us. I'll be in my RBR Lounge Kit. Hard to miss .

Leaving at 4:00AM. Slight chance of T-Storms being predicted in the Tahoe Area. That usually means Carson Pass is going to get it. 

For those of you that haven't done it before, unless you're a fast rider you want to be out no later than 5:30 or you'll miss the cut offs if anything whatsoever slows you down (and seems like something always does on this ride).

Also, leaving at 6:00AM puts you crawling up east Monitor in much warmer temps. Leave at 5:00am because you don't want it to warm up at all before you leave. Cooler is better for Monitor.


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## poff (Jul 21, 2007)

Opted out, doing Sonora and Tioga instead. Have a great DR.


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## ratpick (Jul 31, 2008)

ericm979 said:


> This will be my seventh death ride. I'll be the tall thin Webcor rider. Rider number 1950.


Heh.. so if I see a short fat (slow) Webcor rider, that won't be you..


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## fishtaco (Mar 28, 2007)

Where did you see the t-storm forecasts? Markleeville forecasts look clear, not to hot with some afternoon wind on Saturday.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Reno's Channel 2 KTVN morning forecast. But he stressed slight chance. Other two channels said some clouds possible was all.


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Jul 15, 2005)

Ridgetop said:


> I'll be in my RBR Lounge Kit.


So, you’ll be the one with all the punctured tubes, and the failed rear derailleur?


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## gakster (Aug 2, 2002)

robwh9 said:


> .... take at least a windbreaker with you on the Carson climb. Many were caught unprepared last year.


Prophetic ..  Wish I read this before I left.

In any case .. I DID IT !!! My 1st DR and I did 5. 

Note to others : windbreaker and chamois butter are must haves.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Well, the lounge kit had its side affects. Got a puncture on the way up Monitor. 3 pieces of brown glass all made it through the tread. Ugh. Other than that just got smacked by a thunderstorm going up Carson Pass. It wasn't too bad but got wet. Also pulled a groin muscle somehow that has actually swollen up pretty good. Not sure what that's about and didn't notice it until the next day. Overall it was a good ride but we rode with a friend who hadn't trained and wanted to take 1/2 hour stops on all the passes. Ended up being a 15 hour day, but after doing this four times already I really didn't care and just ate a godaweful amount of food.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

*See, told you so*



fishtaco said:


> Where did you see the t-storm forecasts? Markleeville forecasts look clear, not to hot with some afternoon wind on Saturday.



At least for those people who hit Carson Pass late they got a fair amount of rain over about a 15 minute period. Not too bad though. We got wet but had our ponchos so were good to go.


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## ratpick (Jul 31, 2008)

Ridgetop said:


> At least for those people who hit Carson Pass late they got a fair amount of rain over about a 15 minute period. Not too bad though. We got wet but had our ponchos so were good to go.


I should have listened! As we rode past ukbloke's car, we decided to not stop and get our cold/wet weather gear as the sky looked clear. ukbloke timed it much better than I and got down before the storm really hit but I arrived at the summit just as the skies opened. 

And I *had* to have an ice-cream, since that's what climbing Carson is all about, right! Half-way through it I got the shivers and couldn't stop. I was so glad when the rain stopped 10 mins later and the sun was back out not long after that! I had a shivering descent for the first couple of miles until I finally warmed up.

Not sure I'll do another Death Ride (only because there are so many other events on July 11 I want to do) but I'd highly recommend to future death riders to take wet weather gear up Carson no matter what the sky looks like from Markleeville!


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## nor_cal_rider (Dec 18, 2006)

I was wondering where you were later in the day, Ridgetop. I was on Carson a bit before 3pm, and saw the clouds building. As I was finishing my ice cream, I felt the wind cool off and you could smell the rain coming. Got my jacket on and felt the first light drops, threw my leg over my bike and hauled a$$ back down the hill. Managed to avoid the rain, except for the light showers down at Turtle Rock.

Glad I followed your advice about start times....I was off the road by 4:30.

I'll be back next year, barring other conflicts.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

It was a long day for us. Too long for me. Pulled something in my groin area that's causing "issues" so to speak. Not sure what's going on but have to see a doc when I get back from travelling. I really had to reign in the speed I was moving at for our friends to keep up. It hurt.


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