Add a blog post about the death ride
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layout: post
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title: "The Death Ride"
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tags:
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- cycling
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---
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Endurance athletes have a misconfiguration in their brain, one that compels them
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to pursue increasingly foolish goals, for me the [Death
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Ride](https://deathride.com/) was as foolish as it was ambitious. The
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[course](https://www.strava.com/segments/25280359) is 103mi, starting at ~5k
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feet elevation, with a total of about 14k feet of elevation gain. It is not a
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_race_ per se, though I'm sure somebody is "first" back to the finish line.
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What is celebrated are _completions_. If you can survive all six passes, you're
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a winner! The mountains are steep, the road largely exposed, and the heat is
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oppressive, but hey! Good luck! Have a great ride!
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I managed to [complete all six passes](https://www.strava.com/activities/7481018521) in 7:58:50.
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Enough time has passed for me to reflect on the event, almost a month now, and
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both my brain and legs have forgotten enough that doing it again doesn't seem
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so ridiculous.
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---
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Around 5am I rolled up in my car to the starting point outside of
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Markleeville. A CHP officer was directing cars to park on the side of the road.
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Cyclists were already passing by, having ridden from their nearby campgrounds.
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Aside from [ALC](https://aidslifecycle.org) I had never seen this many cyclists
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in one spot. "If these old geezers can do this, so can I!" ran through my head
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as I put my shoes on, topped up my tires, and ate the last of my food in the
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car.
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The Death Ride is very well supported, there are aid and water stations along
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the way but with a new event I trend towards more self-sufficiency; better to
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have too much food instead of too little.
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Picking up my number the dawn's light is starting to creep over the mountains.
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The air is cool and the feeling is electric. I am **excited**! What an
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adventure! Look at all these old geezers, I'll be fine!
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The first mile is a coasting downhill through the town of Markleeville. The
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makeup of the course means that the _last_ mile will then be an uphill slog to
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the finish line. Something to worry about later!
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## Monitor Pass
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As I turn to start the ascent of Monitor Pass I find myself passing cyclists
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and have to intentionally slow myself down. I know that my adrenaline is making
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me all antsy in my pantsy. I don't want to use up my legs on the first climb.
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At this stage of the ride the mental effort expended is about **discipline**.
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Don't be stupid, pace.
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The sun streaks over the mountains as I grind up to Monitor Pass and some of
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the views are simply spectacular! Despite wildfire which had recently burned
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through the area, the landscape is still something to behold.
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As I crest the climb I see the first aid station and remember: "oh right, I
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have to go down the other side and _then_ back up this bastard!" I pass by the
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aid station, I'll hit it on the way back, I will need it then.
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Coming down the southeast side of Monitor Pass is genuinely **awesome**, the
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view opens up in a _big_ way and the massive valley is on full display in the
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morning sun. There is precious little time to enjoy the view because I am
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_accelerating_ and the descent is fucking insane. 40+ mph rocketing down a
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mountain with certain death should you be stupid or unlucky and go off the
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side. I have to remind myself a couple times to relax my grip on the
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handlebars. At one point I exceeded 49mph, which was _not_ the fastest I would
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go during the ride.
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Approaching the Topaz Lake rest stop the descent slows through a rock walled
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canyon, which gives me the opportunity to see the slog being endured by
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cyclists heading _back up_ to Monitor Pass.
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![Descending towards Topaz](/images/post-images/deathride-2022/monitor-descent.png)
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I don't take much nutrition in at Topaz because I intended to stop at the rest
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stop back up topside. I drop some gear in a drop bag and start my ascent.
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Falling in with a couple of doctors I intentionally chat them up a bit. If I'm
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talking, I won't be tempted to pass people on the climb as much. Eventually
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they fall back because my pace is too aggressive for them. Climbing solo my
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pace picks up as I constantly find new people to chase. My legs feel good, it's
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not too hot, the view is gorgeous, what a wonderful ride!
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Stopping topside at the Monitor Pass rest stop again I stuff myself full of
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food. It's basically all downhill from here until the lunch stop. My neighbor
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gave me the advice to not fill up at lunch since that's at the base of the
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Ebbett's Pass climb. As I finish chewing and drinking a pepsi (sugar water!) and prepare to leave the rest stop, somebody knocks over a rack of bikes. Oops!
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The descent down from Monitor Pass to the fork was **fucking fast**. I chase a
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couple people down the hill, hug my top tube, and enjoy the big straightaways
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and gradual sweeping turns. My top speed for this segment is the fastest I will
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go all day: 55.4mph. According to Strava, the [fastest person on this
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segment](https://www.strava.com/activities/7565854108#2989258323047473166)
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topped out at 70.4mph which is absolutely insane.
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At lunch somebody who was descending with me mentions that they saw me narrowly
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miss a rock on the road and were anxious that I wasn't going to see it in time.
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Fortunately I did see the rock coming, which could have been disastrous, but at
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high speeds it's important not to make sudden corrections!
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I nibble a bit and pack a sandwich in my back pocket from lunch for later. Time
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for Ebbett's Pass, the biggest bastard climb of them all.
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## Ebbett's Pass
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The top of Ebbett's Pass is at 8,703ft and has a variable gradient from around
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6-7% at the outset and then it gets steeper between 10-15% towards the summit.
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To be honest I don't remember much of this part of the ride. It was simply a
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slog, but if these geezers can do it, so can I! Honestly, much of the ride is
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really just a mental test of how much you can grind it out. All said and done,
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it was about an hour of sitting in and mashing pedals.
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The rest stop is perched right at the top and a welcome reprieve. They were
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serving instant ramen, sprite, pepsis, and all manner of snacks with salt and
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sugar in them to replenish the tired muscles. As I sat in one of the graciously
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provided camp chairs eating my ramen I overheard a couple other cyclists
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talking about how many passes they were going to do. One geezer said "nope,
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this was it, I'm just doing this one."
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I vaguely recalled registration where you selected the number of passes. I was
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signing up for the Death Ride, so I said "six". I'm going to do them all
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damnit! The nuance of that registration form was lost on me. A _lot_ of
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cyclists do shortened versions of the ride, picking and choosing which passes
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they're going to do, enjoying their ride, and going home! A lot of these
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geezers were going to do six passes, but not all of them. I had to re-orient my
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motivational tactic slightly 😄
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![Ebbett's Pass](/images/post-images/deathride-2022/ebbetts.jpg)
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Either way, I had summitted Ebbett's Pass, that was the "hard one" in my head.
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Three of six passes completed. "I'm practically done!"
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## Pacific Grade
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Cycling is a constant lesson in humility. The distance between the Ebbett's
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Pass rest stop and the turnaround point was only 14 miles, but four of those
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miles were painfully steep. After 50 miles of work already, the steep climbs up Pacific Grade were brutal, for the first time of the day I started to see cyclists stopped taking a breather.
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One of the punchier sections of the climb is a brief stint at 32%.
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My bottles were full as was my stomach so I passed some water stops and decided
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to keep my momentum pressing onwards to the turnaround at 69 miles.
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Upon arrival I found some shade where other cyclists were sitting on rocks
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hiding from the sun. I took my spot and started eating my warm sandwich.
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Despite those climbs there was a *lot* of downhill that was about to turn into
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uphill on the return.
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The sun was in full effect, it was only going to get hotter. I filled my
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bottles, saddled up, and started to climb back up the backside of Pacific
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Grade.
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## Long road home
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Ebbett's Pass is a mother fucker.
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The rapid descent from Pacific Grade is followed by 5-6 miles of 8-10%
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gradient, exposed in the full afternoon sun, with little wind, and nothing to
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do but look at the road in front of your handlebars. Letting your eyes drift
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any further ahead and you'll be reminded of just how hopeless it all is.
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I slowly crank by cyclist after cyclist hiding from the sun under the few trees
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providing some shade near the narrow mountain road. The previous climbs had
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conversation and sometimes even laughter. The climb back up to Ebbett's Pass is
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silent. Nobody is talking, nobody is following, nobody is happy, we're all just
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surviving. I have difficulty deciding whether it's better to drink or douse myself with
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hot water in my bottles.
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Thinking about the geezers doesn't help.
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My legs feel fried, it's hot as shit, the view doesn't matter, what a miserable
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ride.
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Getting closer to the top I hear echoes of what I think are cowbell and
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shouting, the rest stop must be just up ahead! I fooled myself more times than
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I can remember with that mirage. By the time I finally arrived at the rest stop
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I was almost surprised it actually existed this time.
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Give me water, give me electrolytes, give me a couple of these sprites, I'll
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take some of that watermelon too. I need to sit in one of those alluring camp
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chairs and reconsider the erroneous decisions which led me here.
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As I sit and contemplate whether I'm hot enough for cartoon steam to shoot from
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my ears, I see people finishing the _first_ ascent of Ebbett's. Those poor
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souls, it's just going to get hotter, the climb back up from the turnaround is
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a already a bastard.
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Once my core temperature lowers a bit, I pull myself up and back into the
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saddle for the "easy" descent to the finish line. My plans change slightly, I'm
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confident I will finish, I now want to get off this route as quickly as
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possible.
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The descent off Ebbett's back towards the fork has some hairpin turns which
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slow me down quite a bit. I've come too far to eat shit on some mountain road
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just before the finish line. But as the road straightens out, I speed up,
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pushing my top speed for this segment of 44.9mph. I also fall in with a couple
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other guys and we start a paceline towards the finish. Teamwork always makes
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for fun cycling and high speeds, both of which I'm glad to have at this point
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in the afternoon.
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Climbing into Markleeville I somehow fumble my water bottle when trying to
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return it to its cage. While I'm fatigued, I'm not about to leave my water
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bottle! We've come so far together! Of course, the problem with a cylindrical
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bottle on a _hill_ is that as I dismount it starts to roll away from me. Water
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bottle no! Come back!
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Clickety-clack go the bike cleats as I jog downhill 15 yards to capture the
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bottle. I cannot help but laugh at how ridiculous the scene must have been as I
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sprint back to try to catch my group.
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The last three miles are uphill. Only a 5% grade, but fully exposed with a
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headwind, and after 100mi of absolutely mind-warping riding. I don't think I
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have ever hated a stretch of road like I hated that one.
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## Completion
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The relief of crossing the finish line was delayed. My core temperature was
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high, my heart rate was high, i felt dehydrated. There was live music, beer,
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ice cream, and food. That would all have to wait. I sat on a bench shirtless
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for probably 30 minutes slowly taking in water and electrolytes before I
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started to become functional again.
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![Finished](/images/post-images/deathride-2022/finish.png)
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At a rational level I understand that the Death Ride was a brutal slog which
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was more of mental challenge than a physical one. Did I enjoy it? I think so.
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The brain of an endurance athlete seems to have a misconfiguration, one which makes
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it difficult to distinguish between a challenge, punishment, and fun. The Death
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Ride was all three, so who knows, maybe I will be back next year.
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---
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layout: tag_page
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title: "Tag: alc2022"
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tag: alc2022
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robots: noindex
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---
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---
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layout: tag_page
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title: "Tag: dataeng"
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tag: dataeng
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robots: noindex
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layout: tag_page
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title: "Tag: software development"
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tag: software development
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robots: noindex
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---
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