Miles Death Ride Report 7-9-11

Miles Keep Death Ride Report 7/9/11
Wanted to add a few things from my point of view...

This was my first Death Ride, I've only been riding for about a year, so I didn't know what to expect, and that made me nervous.
I knew I could do it, (I do enjoy the climb) although I've never ridden that far before and for me it would come down to nutrition. The longest I've gone was 110 miles.

I had brought two friends along, Ben (who has ridden some weekend group rides with us before) and his cousin Morgan, who drove down from Oregon to join us. Morgan had never done this ride before, but Ben had done it at least 6 times over the years.
Between Ben, Laura and Dave, I felt a little comfort with their experience.

The first/second pass (Monitor) was amazing. Being above 8000ft at sunrise was so cool. As Laura mentioned, the road was sweet, and the descent was fun even for me. That was the fastest I've gone on a bike.

The third/forth pass (Ebbetts) was the hardest I thought. It went on for ever. Ben and Morgan both had power meters and we kept a good average of 230-250w for what seemed like hours. The descent was fairly technical with a few really tight sections near the lake. The highlight for me at that point was when I caught a buddy I knew on the climb, he had started 2 hours before us.
When we rolled in for lunch I was ready to eat. Being a skinny guy with a crazy fast metabolism I needed to refuel. This is were
I made my mistake. I rushed lunch and didn't take in enough calories.

On the way to the Woodfords stop we went through Markleeville. That was fun, the street was lined with screaming people and it gave me a bit of a boost to get to Woodfords. I felt really good at that point and gave the grim reaper a high five as I rolled through the stop and decided to skip any rest and move on to Picketts Junction. The grim reaper should of been a sign, as I began to unroll on the way up the first section of Carson. My legs felt fine, but my overall energy was slipping away and the dreaded bonk was fast approaching. As I arrived at Picketts Juction with tunnel vision and a bit of delirium, I decided it was a good idea to take a break and re group.
I sucked down a bottle of some energy drink and tried to ingest as much salt laden foods as I could. After about 20 mins I came to and decided I'd better go for it. I knew the finish was only 8-9 miles away, although straight up...As I made it up towards the top of Carson I had my second wind and hammered the last 2-3 miles to the top. I got my ice cream! It was a great feeling to have done it and I hung out for a while at the top just enjoying the moment. I made of point of signing the poster and placed my sig on the pelvis in honor of team mate Gregg.

Morgan had made it up there a bit before me but Ben had broke his rear derailleur cable and had to turn around a few miles from the top and limp home stuck on his 11 tooth gear in the rear.

I have to say that I was impressed by all the support they had in place. It also seemed like there were people of all ages cheering you on even in the most remote places. Good stuff.

My plan to have fun and just finish had been accomplished and I was a happy camper ascending the long downhill to the car at Turtle Rock.

-Miles