Mulholland Challenge Roll Call 4/10/10 (merged threads)

Discussion in 'The Roadie Hangout' started by dirtmistress, Dec 8, 2009.

  1. ptfmb71

    ptfmb71 New Member

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    did OK thanks for asking....first time riding in an organized road event so I had no idea where i was going or doing, but it was a long day. as a MTB rider I was more comfortable on all the climbs....it's the rollers that i am not used to. Riding alone one really understand how much harder it is than riding in a group. got a groin a cramp after the "rock face" climb (I think that's the name) so I just kept standing for a few min until it went away and they never came back. Man those descents down are long and Deer Creek is crazy. Decker was not as bad as advertised but there was no breeze so it felt hot. Broke two spokes on the descents so it slowed me down the last 1/3 of the course.
    It was a long day but I would have to say it's not as intense or hard as the VQ (at least my opinion for what it's worth). Overall it's a great event and the organizers do a great job and it was well supported at the SAG stops.
     
  2. Sweetpea

    Sweetpea Member

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    I finished. 12 hours. That was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. The end.
     
  3. GeorgiaOfTheJungle

    GeorgiaOfTheJungle THE Penultimate Mtb'er

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    GREAT JOB! Congrats for completing something that some of us only have nightmares about :beer:
     
  4. Mdm. Dabalot

    Mdm. Dabalot New Member

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    You go, girl!

    :bang:Sweatpea, you get extra credit for sticking it out! That is a major accomplishment!
     
  5. norfolk

    norfolk New Member

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    I too finished 8hr 38 ish On my Air 9 The bike was great on the steeper hills But sucked on the rollers and PCH. Had to work too hard to keep up with the road bikes. A good day had its hard moments, but riding on the road does not beat you up like the dirt.
     
  6. mauric6943

    mauric6943 Member

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    Big props to SweetPea and LivePe for an outstanding job yesterday. The Pack of Ladies is still riding strong :clap::clap::clap:
     
  7. Sweetpea

    Sweetpea Member

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    Yes, and next year we will be back where we belong. Rwanda!
     
  8. ptfmb71

    ptfmb71 New Member

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    anyone see or hear about the crash? Someone at the SAG station said there was a crash on PCH.
     
  9. MnMDan

    MnMDan Member

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    Didn't hear about a crash yesterday, but had to pack up pretty quick to make the "mandatory" rider briefing on how dangerous Westlake Blvd. descent is for the Amgen Challenge....Deer Creek IMHO was more dangerous...longer, worse pavement throughout, and just as steep in most places...+ ez to get distracted trying to take in the view.

    1st time riding in that area (I don't count the Grand Tour...kind of skirts the Coastal Mtns. through Portrero and Lake Sherwood). Road surfaces were pretty decent overall but not a whole lot of (if any) bike lanes or paved shoulders that could be ridden. Lots of Bicycle traffic from those not in the event, lots of Priuses (or would that be Priui?) that you can't hear when they come up behind you either on the up or down, and what seemed like an Audi-hole convention tearing around Mulholland and Encinal. Makes me embarrased to own one when even the beater Audi has an aftermarket muffler and vanity plates.

    Aside from a puncture early on in the ride from a roofing staple turning onto Topanga from PCH...about what I expected...the only flats were along the coast and everything else was some variety of up and down. Decker was tough, but you could grind it out once you got past the first mile. Stunt Road near the end (because it was the last really big climb) seemed to go on forever.

    Overall, finished in 8:24 ET (7:40 Riding Time...Puncture repair and helping fix a front derailleur to get it to shift into the front chainring at that park after the first sticker stop).

    Rode Amgen today, 4-lapper and finished those 106 miles in 6:43 ET (6:24 Riding Time)...nice and breezy today made the flats riding east and south suck big time. Apparently, Ned Overend was there and dropped the world going up Rock Creek on lap 1...I hung onto that lead group for about 100 yards then realized I had another 70 miles of this stuff...didn't want to blow up early. Overall, a good first event for them, but I prefer Planet Ultra's setup and the roaming through the mountains to laps on a road circuit (Although the sheriff and highway patrol stopping traffic and signaling us to roll through for the first few hours was cool, as was being led out by a RadioShack Team car)
     
  10. Livepe

    Livepe New Member

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    Lois, I am with you 100%. I am so happy I finished the ride, but I cannot see myself doing it again. So happy I switched out my rear cassette. Having the extra gears saved me going up Decker and Stunt. Neither were as bad as I thought they would be.

    Breathless, here we come!!!
     
  11. aosty

    aosty New Member

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    Nope... but... while descending Deer Creek, shortly after I rolled pass one of the SAG vehicles, I pulled to the side and slowed for a bit to wait for my friend and heard someone shouting from the bushes (on the left side, up above). It was a paraglider who was having a bad day. He asked for help and there was obvious way to climb up to him. I asked if he was okay and he was not... hurt his back. Nobody in the vicinity had reception on their phones... I climbed back up to the SAG car to let them know and to call for help.
     
  12. SDstumpy

    SDstumpy New Member

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    I thought it was a great event. Plenty of SAG stops with a variety of food. They had a lot of HEED which I wasn't used to. (Too sweet!). Decker was a biatch...never ending. I finished in 8.5 hrs ride time and 9.5 hrs total time. Anyone know when they will post official results? The descent with the crappy pavement (Deer Creek?) was brutal. Just as bad as any of the climbs. There were cracks that were 3 inches wide across and parallel to the road. Very sketchy! All in all a great accomplishment to all that finished! I wish I could do the KOM, but I'm on vacation for the Heartbreak :(.
     
  13. dirtmistress

    dirtmistress AKA Roadiemistress

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    Congratulations to all of you!! :) That ride is so hard!
    If I hadn't been having so much fun at Hurkey I may have given you a thought. But I didn't! :wave: :lol:
    I'm in for Breathless. Race ya to the top!!
     
  14. Red Hawk

    Red Hawk New Member

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    What a ride this was. I did okay overall. I finished about 9 hours 30 minutes, I think I saw you come in Sweetpea, I was siting near the finishline watching the rest of the riders come in down the the last one at exactly 630. As for the ride itself, It was an interesting day. I didn't blow up but I ate or had gotten something at one of the rest stops that messed me up. I had to pull way back for the last 3 hours of the ride cause I felt like crap. So much that when I finished my friends wife said I looked pale. I felt like I was suffering from hyperthermia and I tried to eat the post meal which I barely did. I ended up having to pull off the freeway so I can puke in a bush, but hey I felt much better. With that said, can't wait until Breathless. Going to stick to packaged food. I was told the post meal sandwiches could have messed me up, since they were sitting out on the table at the end for us to grab. Did anyone else feel weired after eatting them?

    PS, congrads to all those that finished.
     
  15. Sweetpea

    Sweetpea Member

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    I felt like puking for the last half of the ride. I had to force myself to eat. The only thing they offered that looked and felt good was the V8 at the top of Stunt. I was blaming all of that fake food and supplements. I wasted so much time trying to get myself to eat something.

    At the end I couldn't even look at food until my friend walked in with a bag of Cheetos, the bright red kind. I ate every one of those things and they completely cured me. Cheetos...the miracle food.
     
  16. MTBMaven

    MTBMaven This is Shangri La

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    Nice! Finally we will get to ride on the road together. Hope to see you out there. I will get an early start so I don't hold you up.
     
  17. Red Hawk

    Red Hawk New Member

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  18. ptfmb71

    ptfmb71 New Member

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    S...it sounds more like dehydration than something bad you ate at the rest stop (because others would have gotten the same thing). were you hydrated well? I have had that happen to me several years ago.
    BA will be fun given it's a steady climb to the top we can hammer up.
     
  19. MTBMaven

    MTBMaven This is Shangri La

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    My time was 9:29. Looks like my riding partners forgot to check out. Strange because we left at the exact same time. Whatever.

    Anyone know what the 15 minute penalty is for?
     
  20. ptfmb71

    ptfmb71 New Member

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    S...it sounds more like dehydration than something bad you ate at the rest stop (because others would have gotten the same thing). were you hydrated well? I have had that happen to me several years ago.
    BA will be fun given it's a steady climb to the top we can hammer up.
     

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