# Alta Alpina Challenge: Riding the Wild Sierra



## Sagebum

Registration is now open for the 2011 Alta Alpina Challenge: Riding the Wild Sierra presented by the Alta Alpina Cycling Club .

Date: June 11 Start Location: Turtle Rock Park, Markleeville CA










The Alta Alpina Wild Sierra is actually 4 events on one day in Alpine County California and Carson Valley Nevada.

The Wild Sierra Metric  is 64 miles and 5000 feet of relatively moderate climbing including Luther Pass and Blue Lakes Summit.

The Wild Sierra Century includes Daggett Pass, Ebbetts Pass East, and Monitor Pass West for 110 miles and 11,000 ft of climbing in the heart of the Tahoe Sierra.

The 5 Pass Challenge is the reverse of Alpine County's most famous ride plus Diamond Valley for 135 miles and 16,000 feet.

The 8 Pass Challenge is a California Triple Crown ride and just may be the "Worlds Toughest Double Century" at 198 miles and 20,300 ft of climbing including the famous summits such as Kingsbury (Daggett), Carson, Luther, Blue Lakes, Monitor and Ebbetts. 

Four fully supported and challenging rides in the Wild Sierra


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## ratpick

Excellent.. planning to attempt the 8-pass double in 2011. Anyone know if registration fills up early like the Death Ride?


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## ukbloke

ratpick said:


> Excellent.. planning to attempt the 8-pass double in 2011. Anyone know if registration fills up early like the Death Ride?


Dude, talk about raising the bar!

Registration will be the least of your concerns for this undertaking.


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## ratpick

ukbloke said:


> Dude, talk about raising the bar!
> 
> Registration will be the least of your concerns for this undertaking.


Aiming high for 2011


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## Sagebum

On the one hand it is a fairly new event, 2011 being the 3rd year so it doesn't fill like the Death Ride. On the other it is limited to 500 rders not 3500. 

It is another great event in Alpine County and Carson Valley but the 8 Pass is just one part of it.

Blue Lakes Summit on the 8 Pass and Metric Routes


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## TahoeBC

ratpick said:


> Aiming high for 2011


Dude if I can do it, you can do it twice


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## ratpick

TahoeBC said:


> Dude if I can do it, you can do it twice


That's exactly what I thought! Ha! Nah, if I can convince Dirk to pace me I'll be good


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## Sagebum

The way this winter is going, snow might be the biggest concern.


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## Elhombre

ratpick said:


> That's exactly what I thought! Ha! Nah, if I can convince Dirk to pace me I'll be good


I felt summoned so I'm making my appearance here from the depths of mtbr to chime in: I know I said nunca mas but now I think you could (talk me into it again). I doubt you'll need any pacing, just don't forget a pair of knee or leg warmers. You'll certainly enjoy the no-brakes-needed descents of Kingsbury, Luther and the Blue Lakes road (if it opens), in addition to all the goodies you already know...


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## ratpick

Elhombre said:


> I felt summoned so I'm making my appearance here from the depths of mtbr to chime in: I know I said nunca mas but now I think you could (talk me into it again). I doubt you'll need any pacing, just don't forget a pair of knee or leg warmers. You'll certainly enjoy the no-brakes-needed descents of Kingsbury, Luther and the Blue Lakes road (if it opens), in addition to all the goodies you already know...


Oh, now you'll be sorry that you've opened the door


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## poff

I'll be there for 5 passes.


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## alamere

In the past, Alta Alpina has offered a "Make your own Challenge" option for those who wanted to do a different subset of the 8 pass ride. But I don't see it on the website. Is it still available?


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## Sagebum

*Build Your Own*

Rider feedback suggested that most found the Build Your Own confusing so we simplified by offering 4 options, again based on what riders wanted.

However, the Build Your Own is still available. Best thing to do is put together the route you want to do and email: [email protected] with it and you'll get the info on how to register for your route. It is on the registration page but not obvious. 

The BYO was a good idea but got really complicated when we tried to use Active for registration. Still working on Active or another online registration process.

Hope that helps. Let me know if not and I will make a few calls.

Our January thaw is in high gear....nice riding right now up here but it won't last. Lucky you guys down in SoCal.


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## shibaman

Going to sign up today. Got a couple of buds to suffer on the ride with.:thumbsup: I think that this will be the most challenging ride this year. So far i have signed up for Death Valley, Devil Mt.


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## Sagebum

Way cool Shiba. It will be fun to here how the three rides compare in the end. Let me guess, epic, epic and epic. Please say hi at the top of Ebbetts...we'll be up there with the goods and plenty of cowbell. :thumbsup: 

Red Lake and Hawkins Peak from Carson Pass


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## shibaman

Nice photo from Carson! I earned a 5 pass jersey last year on the Death ride. Really want that 8 pass, and triple crown one. I am lucky to have a couple of buddies that love to suffer in the hills. We are doing this tomorrow as a training ride.
http://www.hammerinwheels.com/calen...ventId=15983261&action=detail&rv=cr1c&rv=cr1c

An easy ride on a geared bike, but we are going to hammer it on single speeds with a 42x16 gear. just right for those hills, and rollers. It is all about effort! The legs will be good an tired at the end of the day. 

The support of the Alpine Chamber, and the locals was great on the DR. Had a real good time, and felt very welcome. Looking forward to the ride. The views, and buds will get me through it.


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## Sagebum

Thanks for the link....nice club. I recognize a couple names there. That Pardee + route is excellent. I love all the climbing there but am a mere mortal.......34/29 Campy Compact for sure.

Just for fun, here is a link to another new century series we started last year. Great turnouts from folks as far away as the Bay Area. The Finisher's Jersey is near completion.

https://altaalpinacyclingclub.com/hillacious/HillaciousSeriesIntro.htm











Hope to have the 2011 Series posted soon.


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## TahoeBC

Sagebum said:


> https://altaalpinacyclingclub.com/hillacious/HillaciousSeriesIntro.htm
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> 
> Hope to have the 2011 Series posted soon.


Kinda figured you might have given up on the Jersey, might have to join the club so I can get mine for last year!

Look forward to doing more of the series this year, definitely a good time and within my budget


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## Sagebum

Hi TBC

How is the BC skiing right now? We need a refresher for sure.

Well, you earned the jersey big time. The jersey process has been painful but it will happen. I am hoping to update the WHCS pages soon. I have 4 of the 5 months filled with a route and leader. Only July remains. Got a favorite you want to do? Thenthere will be the "Bonus" rides too. :thumbsup: 

Twain


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## TahoeBC

It's been an incredible year up until recently, unfortunately it's turned me into a snow snob which in turn has gotten me back on the bike, looks like a full weekend of Bay area riding coming up.

Definitely would like to do the Pack Saddle again. I seem to recall another one you talked about that included a bunch of back roads and looking at the official rides last year I'm not sure if it was one of those or not.


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## Sagebum

It is the Wild Hillacious Mormon Emigrant. 

We did it as one of the bonus rides. 104/10,800 actual. Easy by your standards!

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/135824


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## TahoeBC

Yea that's the one, is it on the official list for this year, or is it just gonna be a bonus day?


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## Sagebum

Well, I am working on the Wild Hillacious pages now TBC. 

Here is the lineupfor 2011.

Memorial Day Weekend Spring Century.......Monitor, Kingsbury, Luther Figure 8 about 112/10,000

June 11........Alta Alpina Challenge/Wild Sierra 8 Pass = 2 wild Hillcious centuries, 5 Pass and Wild Sierra = 1 century

July ........Hells Kitchen Century

August.....Tahoe Hillacious Century

Sep......Sonora Century

Dates to be determined.

So we will certainly do the Emigrant as a Bonus Ride and at least one more.

Any particular time/month that you would like?

Hard to think of cycling with a whiteout going on right now.

Twain


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## legsoledd

Sagebum's scenic pictures have convinced me to sign up for the 8 pass route. :idea: 

Of course normal people see nice pictures and go for a 6 hour scenic drive, so there must be another reason I'm attempting this ride. I have never been to Markleeville or Tahoe and I needed something almost impossibly difficult to motivate myself for this spring.


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## poff

Just registered for 5 passes. See you there.


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## Sagebum

Trying to delete this...sorry....can't see how.


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## Sagebum

Yep, if you want normal...go for a drive.  Looking forward to meeting you all up on Ebbetts. No promises but many of us in the club would like to see a 5 Pass Finishers jersey in the future that would be available to past 5 Pass Challenge Finishers too. After all, it is 1000 more feet and more miles than the other big ride here in Alpine County ride.

Time for a new pic....4 1/2 passes for me in 2009 but I have done 5. No double century rider here!










Hey TahoeBC...if you are looking in, maybe you could put up a pic of your 8 Pass finish bib from last year.


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## TahoeBC

Sure, been busy skiing & not thinking about road rides  , BTW not sure of the normal route, but last years ride which had a makeup leg for the portion of Blue Lakes road that was not melted out yet came out to over 21K of vert (also verified by my Buddy's GPS, the link also includes a good write up.
http://www.mtbguru.com/trip/show_static/14224-2010-alta-alpina-challenge




















Definitely the hardest thing I've EVER done, triple ouch!!!


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## Sagebum

Been working through all the registrations......hope we have gotten to all who have talked about it here and looking forward!

TaHoeBC.........please email or private message me thru RBR here. News about the Wild Hillacious jersey.










For anyone interested, the Alta Alpina Challenge/Wild Sierra is the June ride for this series. 3 centuries are needed. The 8 Pass is worth 2, the 5 Pass and Wild Sierra Century are worth 1. Still working on getting the 2011 series pages done.


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## Sagebum

Despite a good snow yesterday, the melt is coming along nicely. Monitor is good and they are working on Ebbetts for Memorial Day. Hope to see some RBR folks in South Tahoe for the Legends ride and for th start of Amgen.


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## Sagebum

Well, it was just a matter of time.......for as long as I can remember we have enjoyed riding the local passes such as Ebbetts and Monitor before they open to motor vehicles. 

CHP and the Alpine County sheriffs have made it publically clear that when a road is closed, it is close to all users. Cyclists who ride past closure gates will be cited. 

There has been an Alpine Co Sheriff at the Wolf Creek gate for the last couple days.

Ebbetts from last year.


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## TahoeBC

Sagebum said:


> Well, it was just a matter of time.......for as long as I can remember we have enjoyed riding the local passes such as Ebbetts and Monitor before they open to motor vehicles.
> 
> CHP and the Alpine County sheriffs have made it publically clear that when a road is closed, it is close to all users. Cyclists who ride past closure gates will be cited.
> 
> There has been an Alpine Co Sheriff at the Wolf Creek gate for the last couple days.
> 
> Ebbetts from last year.



Wow that really sucks, I wonder what prompted that


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## Sagebum

Hi TBC

According to the Alpine Co. sheriffs, there has been several near misses with cyclists. There was no sheriff there Saturday and there was a boat load of cyclists up there.

I have seen this sign up on Blue Lakes before but not in the last two years.


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## Sagebum

Thanks to Ridgetop for an excellent post and pics of Ebbetts Pass. 

https://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=250439 

Despite today's bit of bluster we have had some great riding weather in the Tahoe Sierra.

.....Old Luther Pass Road on the south side.


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## Sagebum

Did some good riding and great spring skiing this week around Mammoth. With Sonora and Ebbets open about the only thing left is Minarets road up to Devils Postpile...still a mess as they just started on it.










Tioga is open to the top from the east side only.

Just two weeks to the Wild Sierra.


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## poff

Can't wait!


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## Sagebum

Along with Ebbetts and Sonora, Tioga is open to bikes for a short time without cars,,,,don't wait!

http://www.examiner.com/travel-in-fresno/tioga-road-yosemite-national-park-is-now-opened-to-bicyclists


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## Sagebum

The forecast for this weekend and several days before and after looks to be perfect! 70's, little wind, and mostly sunny....no rain or snow......Wow!

We have a had a last minute rush of registrations with this forecast and it looks to be our best turnout for this young event. We may still have some walk-in registrations on Friday. We will have some ggreat snow walls on Ebbetts and all the great views on Monitor, Kingsbury, Luther, and Carson.

The Wild Sierra Century is my choice....hope to see you up here.


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## TahoeBC

Good Luck Ratpick & Poff, looks like the weather pattern is finally changing and should be great for this ride.  The hills are gorgeous right now with a record snowpack for this time of year, Enjoy!


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## ratpick

TahoeBC said:


> Good Luck Ratpick & Poff, looks like the weather pattern is finally changing and should be great for this ride. The hills are gorgeous right now with a record snowpack for this time of year, Enjoy!


Sadly my plans changed this year but am planning on Alta Alpina for next. I believe poff is still in - have a great ride! Going to be awesome with the snow walls!


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## Sagebum

Snow walls? Yep still.

East Ebbetts yesterday.










Even down in Hermit Valley at 7000 ft.










Great views of Highland Peaks










Down below at 6000 ft on the east side it is warm and the Carson River is thundering.










On line registration ends today at noon. We have had our best sign ups to date but will have some walk in spots at the Friday check in at Turtle Rock Park. The best weather ever too....finally!


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## Ridgetop

Hey Sagebum, did you Alta Alpina ride? We didn't (wasn't sure I would be here) but rode from Centerville to Bear Valley Ski Resort and back. Awesome snow and waterfalls. I'll post later this week on the ride. One thing I realized. . .I'm in far worst shape than I was last year at this time. Only 7500 feet of climbing and I almost died I think. The last mile coming out of Hermits Valley was like a slow torture event. Ugh. But, boy am I glad I did it.

Too bad on riding past the closed gates. Grrrr.


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## poff

Well, I only managed Carson, Ebbets, and WS Monitor. About 11K and 100+ miles. With my son sick I did not sleep the night before the ride and was riding on fumes. Very well organized ride!


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## legsoledd

I came down from Seattle just for this ride. I had never been above 8000 ft and the highest pass we have here that isn't still snowed in is 4600 ft. My longest training day was 160 miles and I haven't climbed 15k+ in one day since doing the Mt Shasta Summit Century in 2006. I spent two days in Reno plus drove up Mt Rose Highway to LT, then spent three days in Markleeville. I drove up Ebbetts just to see the climbing after the cattle guard. Yup, it's steep and that ultimately is what did me in on ride day.

Some thoughts from the ride:

-I was supposed to start at 3:30 but didn't hit the road till 3:56. In the end I don't think the extra 25 minutes would have made a difference in the outcome.

-The "smooth roads, no stoplights, low traffic, and great scenery" weren't just marketing. This truly was an amazing course and now I know why the area is so popular. Woodfords/Carson had bad pavement and traffic but that was pretty minor overall.

-I spent too much time taking my jacket off and on. I didn't have any empty pockets so I had to tie it around my seatpost. I don't know how hot it gets in August (if the date gets changed), but in the future I will have to spend less time changing clothes and less time at the rest stops if I want to finish all 198 miles. 

-I was forced to spend alot of time at Hermit Valley RS due to being in so much pain. I had a hard time eating at the high altitude and that cost me. Next time I will find a room at 8000 ft to acclimate. My day was going pretty good until I hit Ebbetts. I'm glad I put super low gears on my bike for this ride.

-The registration, volunteers at the rest stops, the post ride dinner were all EXCELLENT. You guys did a great job! What a friendly group of people. 

-One thing I didn't notice was any bike mechanics at the rest stops or lunch. They might have been there and I just didn't see them. I didn't need any repairs anyway. 

-The rest stops were well stocked and well placed. I used three bottles but really only needed two.

-I left the bottom of Monitor at 6:40pm. I wonder why the cutoff to start climbing Monitor and decend the back side is both 7pm. But I'm not going to grumble too much about the cutoff times because I knew the rules before signing up. Clearly it's a doable event, just not for me this year. I reached the top of Monitor about 45 minutes over the cutoff. Knowing that I wouldn't finish all 198, I spent some extra time there talking with the volunteers. Like all the others, they were a pleasure to talk to.

-I finally made it back to the finish at 9:10. A volunteer handed me a recovery drink and were quick to serve the post ride dinner. The huge amount of food helped with recovery and I felt pretty good the next day.

The most important part: Even though I spent 17+ hours out there I never got bored, never thought about quitting, and was (almost) always having fun.

I thought about doing one of the many other rides in Nor Cal this year, but I'm glad I chose this one and I had a great vacation. Thank You Sagebum!


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## Sagebum

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and stories.....got to meet a lot of great folks. I rode the Wild Sierra Century and like most everyone around here I am 2 months behind most years in terms of miles/feet/fitness/weight. But I got it done...111 miles/11, 020 ft.

For a small club, this is a huge undertaking and we will have things to improve on for sure. I'll ask about the mechanic question. I did see work stands and tools but don't recall the mechanic. I do know that a few club members/volunteers gave up their own wheels, tires and other parts to riders so they could continue. 

The Wild Sierra Century was the most popular route and we had our best overall ridership this year.....and the weather was just about perfect.

Hey, I am in Colorado riding for 4-5 weeks now......nice here too!

Twain


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