# Markleeville Death Ride: 7/14/07



## Huckwheat (May 17, 2007)

The 2007 Death Ride has come and gone again, and it never fails to impress (read "PUNISH" into that  ). It was a hot one this Saturday, making for good challenge, which took down some strong riders.

The stats on the ride are: approx 130 miles and 16,000 feet of climbing (made up of 5 big climbs: West Monitor, East Monitor, East Ebbetts, West Ebbetts, and Carson Pass. 3000 bicyclist rode it. Took me 10:40 ride time (about 13 car to car).



















5:20AM - leaving Markleeville









W. Monitor









East side of Monitor

































E. Ebbetts









































Through Markleeville before the last 40 miles up Carson.









Up, up, up

















5! Now the 20 miles back to the finish!









7:00 PM in Markleeville......THE END!


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## nonsleepingjon (Oct 18, 2002)

Nice report. I like the arrows showing the route.


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## RedRex (Oct 24, 2004)

Great day out there, perfect conditions. I enjoyed everything except for the crowds of folks riding two or three across, both up and down, far too dangerous for my taste.

We finished at 4:45 very happy to pop open some cold Sierra Nevada. 

Glad to get that pin, but I think it's back to the doubles for me. Too crowded.


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## Huckwheat (May 17, 2007)

RedRex said:


> Glad to get that pin, but I think it's back to the doubles for me. Too crowded.


Huh, that is an interesting perspective. I am pretty in experienced with organized rides, but the crowds didnt bother me. I thought riding on closed roads with 3000 bikers was actually really cool. Granted I was pretty much middle of the pack, so was with the flow.

Regarding doing doubles? How long does a double take, relative to the DR? I was talking with the guy I was riding with Sat, and we both though a double sounded mentally challenging. I like how the DR has 5 distinct challenges.......a double just sounds LONG. Granted I have only done one century and two DRs, so, I am a roadie newbie.


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## RedRex (Oct 24, 2004)

" but the crowds didnt bother me."

Scenes such as this one were a common subject during the post ride dinner. Check the double yellow line. It made for nervous descents for sure....


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## Huckwheat (May 17, 2007)

RedRex said:


> " but the crowds didnt bother me."
> 
> Scenes such as this one were a common subject during the post ride dinner. Check the double yellow line. It made for nervous descents for sure....


That was at pre 6 AM.......but I get your point. I was taking my time on the decents.....the people doing 50 were the one's making me nervous (any word on that nasty wreck on Ebbetts? Hope the guy lived).


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## RedRex (Oct 24, 2004)

I haven't heard about the rider's status.

I wasn't letting myself go above 40mph, the crowds were just too thick on the downhills.  Very cautious.

It was nice to finally do it. Great organization. Awesome course.


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## Huckwheat (May 17, 2007)

Well, sounds like you were one of the smart one's......some dude's were scaring me (and I was making a point of keeping it far to the right.....so I wasnt the problem  ).

How about the time difference between a double and the DR??


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## fasteddy07 (Jun 4, 2007)

*Thanks*

Thanks for taking us along,

Great shots, great story.

And congrats on a great ride !


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## RedRex (Oct 24, 2004)

"How about the time difference between a double and the DR??"


Depends on the double. I did the DR in 11 hours, Terrible Two in 16.5 hours, Davis Double in 11 hours, Devil Mountain Double in 17 hours. It just depends on the double.


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## imjps (Feb 15, 2005)

Huckwheat said:


> That was at pre 6 AM.......but I get your point. I was taking my time on the decents.....the people doing 50 were the one's making me nervous (any word on that nasty wreck on Ebbetts? Hope the guy lived).


The riders name was Dave. An E/R Doctor was the first on the scene, followed by two Stockton Firemen. The guy must have had some good karma going his way to score that kind of luck. He was found unconscious, but came to and then fell back into unconsciousness.

He had a collapsed lung, broken ribs. There was no apparent head injury, but who knows.

All three insisted on the ambulance driver to call the med flight, which he did and they hoped he was alright.

The two firemen were in our group of riders.

jps


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

RedRex said:


> "How about the time difference between a double and the DR??"
> 
> 
> Depends on the double. I did the DR in 11 hours, Terrible Two in 16.5 hours, Davis Double in 11 hours, Devil Mountain Double in 17 hours. It just depends on the double.


Exactly. Of the Northern California doubles I've done, Terrible Two and Devil Mountain are tougher than the DR, whereas Davis, Solvang, Eastern Sierra, and Death Valley are easier.

Doubles are fun. Try one.

Speaking of doubles, has anyone done the Mt. Tam double? The course description looks interesting. It's in a few weeks.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

*Good Report Huckwheat!*

Glad to see you accomplished it also. I left at about 4:00AM or thereabouts and it was a LOT less riders. I was number 135 over the 2nd pass but wasn't sure from that point on. I managed to avoid the majority of the crowds. Makes the rest stops a lot better also. I came up on that crash also. It was nasty and we were pretty worried about the guy. Hope he's doing all right. I posted my pics at http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?p=1130780#post1130780.


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