Whitney Classic 2014 Ride Report
"On the Edge of Epic"
September 27, 2014
Pre-ride
Each
year there is the internal debate; should this be the year the 16 year
streak ends? With many nights and weekends spent at the office over the
past year, if there was a year to take a pass, this was it. But alas, an
email from a long time supporter Mary Gibbons, wondering when this
year's appeal letter was coming, and Debby's encouragement to ride the
Whitney again, found me on the website registering for the the 33rd
Annual Whitney Classic.
The National Park Service is
not issuing permits for events in the park this year, so the organizers
changed up the course, 20 fewer miles, but 4,500 feet of additional
climbing. Two laps up to Horseshoe Meadows, a couple of loops along
Turtle Creek and the classic slog up Whitney Portal road to the
trailhead. Three HC climbs makes for 20,000 feet of climbing over 115
miles. Not wanting to share that fun with a team, the solo box was
checked on the registration form and it was planning time.
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| The 34T cog for the Triple setup |
Who
might want to share the fun? Carlton van Leuven also was thinking
about the ride, and with the new route was also interested in riding
solo. The plan was set, we would drive out to Lone Pine together after
work Thursday night, work remotely on Friday from Lone Pine, ride the
route Audax style (ride together with minimal support at checkpoints
only) Saturday, and return Sunday. Carlton's wife Ruthann joined the fun
to provide another driver and drop bag support at the main checkpoint.
A
late start and rush hour traffic in Phoenix slowed our start on
Thursday. We arrived at the Dow Villa Hotel a little after 2 am on
Friday morning. With the lap top and cell phone set up in the lobby at
0800 Friday morning, it was six hours of nearly non-stop conference
calls!
With the work box finally checked, it was time to
start the weekend! We mounted the steeds and pre-rode the Turtle Creek
and Granite View portions of the new route.
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| Great sign! |
Leaving
town, the route passes the BLM campground and heads into the Alabama
Hills. These hills provided the backdrop of many western movies, old and
new. From John Wayne classics to django Unchained, these rocks have
provided specular movie settings.
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| "This road is awesome!" |
In
all the years of the Whitney Classics and climbing Mt. Whitney, this
was the first time to roll along this very scenic road. Steep climbs,
new road surface, and different views around each corner, made the
shakedown ride very enjoyable indeed.
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| Could be Joshua Tree National Park |
We
rolled past the intersection of Lubken Canyon and Horseshoe Meadows
road (the main event checkpoint #'s 2, 5, 6, 10, and 11) and headed up
the short rough steep climb up Granite View road. The organizers added
this climb to the two Turtle Creek loops to 'round up' the total
climbing to 20,000 feet. The grade was steady, but the road was rough,
and very annoying, especially on the descent.
Rolling back
into town, it was time to complete the rider check-in. Mike, Kathy, and
Little Mike Rollinson had just arrived at the Dow as we arrived. We
exchanged greetings and made plans for a pasta dinner at the Pizza
Factory after the check-in. Service was slow, but the company was
awesome for the traditional pasta fest.
One of the best
parts of the Whitney Classic is the Friday night worship service.
Seeing old friends, and meeting new ones as Summit Staff, riders,
volunteers take over the band stand in the Lone Pine park. Tremendous
musicians led the group in song and praise, and Executive Director Tom
Smith shared inspiring scripture and provided information about the
ride.
Whitney Time!
Since the route starts
in Lone Pine, and there was no need to drive 100 miles to the
traditional start in Death Valley, so the start time was moved up to 0900.
We were up early making last minute preparations, getting a light
breakfast, and heading to the VFW Lodge for the pre-ride briefing.
Jair
Drooger outlined the rules of the ride and answered questions. Your
humble corespondent provided pointers for SAG (support and gear)
drivers, some tips from previous rides, and advice handed down from
former Summit Executive Director, Dave Kelly: "Start slow, and back it
off from there!" With all the climbing, this year is more like; 'Start
slow and go backwards from there!"
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| Jair providing the pre-ride brief |
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| We don't allow their Kind in here! |
The
final instructions were provided at 0845 at the corner of Brewery
Street and Whitney Portal road, start photos, taken, and finally its
Whitney Time.
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| Here we go! |
.jpg) |
| Rolly leads us in prayer before the start |
The
winds were strong out of the north, providing a stout cross as the
route heads west, up the portal road, but after a few miles the course
turns south on Horseshoe Meadows road for the first climb and the
tailwind was perfect!
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| The 100 meter flat section is at the start! |
We
fell into the lead group, but since most of them were riding as a team,
by the time we rolled through the first checkpoint they were out in
front. It was enjoyable to have the teams cheering us along as they
re-racked their bikes and raced on ahead in their SAG vehicles to
prepare for the next exchange.
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| The route follows those switchbacks to the top! |
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| This Madman (Jair Drooger) designed the course! |
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| All smiles on the first lap up to Horseshoe Meadows! |
It
is about 23 miles and 6,500 feet of climbing from the start in Lone
Pine to the top of the first climb at Horseshoe Meadows. Jair added a
checkpoint about 15 miles into the climb at a pull out just above the
switchbacks. This was a great place to reload water bottles and take a
short break. It also enabled us to ride without carrying an extra water
bottle. We reloaded and warned the volunteers at the checkpoint that we
would be rolling through on the way down and
not stopping.
The
food/fuel/ride plan estimated it would take 3 hours to reach the
checkpoint at Horseshoe Meadows, we rolled in a few minutes after noon, right on time.
With bottles refilled, we pointed our steeds downhill and prepared for
an E ticket ride back to the Lubken checkpoint.
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| Lubken Canyon Checkpoint |
3 hours to go up, only 30 minutes to go down, with a top speed of 44 mph! Not bad with the switchbacks and headwind from the north.
Ruthann
met us at Lubken for our first resupply. We reloaded the bottles and
headed out for the loop up and down Granite View road and back to Lone
Pine for the tour de Turtle Creek and back to Lubken.
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| On Granite View Road |
As
we headed up Granite View, storm clouds started to pour over the mountain tops. It was sunny and warm in the Alabama Hills, but looked
nasty up in the mountains, where the ride took us next!
The
loop took about 1.5 hours and Ruthann was still at the Lubken
checkpoint when we came through again. With the clouds continuing to
pour over the ridge, it was time to gear up. With a polypro base layer
and arm and knee warmers on board, we set up for the climb #2 to
Horseshoe Meadows.
We caught 'Team Lactic Acid
Trip' on the climb and enjoyed their company until one of their strong
climbers took a pull and left us in the dust, and building drizzle!
We
cleared the switchbacks checkpoint and as the false summit came into
view, so did the snow! It was time to pull off and gear up. Sitting on
the ground gearing up, Tom Smith and his team and SAG rolled by on their
descent. At first they thought your correspondent had crashed, but with
a thumbs up and a shout out of; "This is awesome!" they figured I was
out of my mind, but otherwise in good shape.
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| Early accumulation on the bike |
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| Its all fun and games, and then it starts snowing! |
Geared
up, and with Carlton riding off toward the checkpoint, it was back on
the bike, wondering why my rain pants, shoe covers, and wool socks were
back in Arizona, only a little out of reach!
Nearing
the summit, the snow was coming down wet and heavy, it was in the
mid-thirties, so thankfully there was only an accumulation of slush on
the road, but the landscape was spectacular!
Team
Rollinson rolled by and offered additional gear as the checkpoint came
into view. Warm from the climbing I declined and rolled into the
checkpoint. Carlton was there waiting and shivering from the cold. There
was no need to wait, so he took a hot chocolate and rolled out. I
quickly added arm warmers and kicked the accumulated snow from my legs
and shoes. The Good Sam volunteers whipped up several cups of hot
chocolate. With a water bottle full of hot chocolate, and soaked from
the waist down, it was time to descend!
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| Kathy Rollinson sampling the 'Manna from Heaven' |
The
road was wet, but the real problem was wind chill. While the
temperatures were in the mid-thirties, anytime the speed reached over 25
mph, the wind chill put the temperature in the low 20's! To prevent
uncontrolled shivering, it was time to grab a big gear and pedal
downhill against the brakes. As added benefit, the rims and brakes
stayed dry and effective, especially helpful on the 180 degree
switchbacks.
At this point in the ride, we were on the
'Edge of Epic.' Exposed, wet, and descending in a snow storm, this ride
was headed toward Epic proportions. About halfway down the descent, the
snow was replaced with drizzle, and then hitting the valley floor, the
rain stopped and temperature warmed. Ruthann was at the Lubken
checkpoint with the van warmed up. Rolling in and diving into the van,
the wet kit came off, dry kit and the winter jersey stopped the
shivering. Another hot chocolate and we were back on the road for the
second lap of Granite View and Turtle Creek.
The
climb up Granite View was a welcome opportunity to warm up. Had the rain
continued, this Whitney may have become an Epic event (as defined by
Lonnie Epic Wolff), however with the sun setting and temperatures
holding, it was just going to be another brutal Whitney!
The
descent down Granite view caused my headlight to vibrate loose, slowing
to fix it, Carlton nearly crashed into me! Recovered, and with a nice
backlight from Carlton, we quickly descended this annoying stretch for
the last time.
Rolling through Turtle Creek at night was
tremendous and soon we were back at the Lubken checkpoint. One last
reload, and a switch of bikes (the old Trek 5500 has a triple and
mountian bike gearing) and we were off.
Riding
past Granite
view and turning left on Whitney Portal road for the last section, we
were accompanied by Ruthann and Team Rollinson all the way up the Portal
road.
Its a steep slog to the finish; 9 miles at an
average grade
of 8.6% with grades reaching 14%+ near the finish, each rider finds
their own pace. Soon all I could see of Carlton was his tail light!
With
encouragement from Ruthann and Mike Rollinson, I settled into a steady
pace, often wondering, why such a great event has to end with this
exclamation point/uphill finish. Soon the lights of the finish line were
in sight and 13 hours and 51 minutes after the start, it was finished!
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| At the Finish! |
Hugs,
cheers, and relief! Rolling in about 20 minutes after Carlton, the
volunteers told us we were the last riders on the course. All the others
had either finished or abandoned, leaving your humble corespondent the
honors of the Lantern Rouge!
Thank You!
At this writing, you, my support team have contributed over $10,000 to Summit Adventure. I cannot thank you enough!
Click here if you would like to donate (there is still time) to Summit!
Click here for the gory GPS ride details.
All the best,
Steve Atkins
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)
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| Lantern Rouge! |
