Julian Death March I’m not one for writing ride reports… I usually prefer to read what the experts have to say, and then go explore on my own. Sorry if this is too long… There would be pictures to go with it, but Gremlins broke into my room and left my GoPro on all night. Three years ago, I couldn’t ride 5 miles on flat ground without a lot of breaks and oxygen… I’ve done Rwanda for the last two years, and wanted to try something harder. I thought about the Counting Coup or Vision Quest, but was unable to get in. Maybe next year, with a little luck and a fast internet connection! I booked a room at the Julian Gold Rush Hotel, so I wouldn’t have to drive down the day of the race. There isn’t much happening in Julian at 5:30 AM, but I was able to get some coffee from the thermos that the hotel staff leaves out for the early-birds. I took a wake-up walk down main street, and watched the ladies at "Mom’s Pies" making the pies for the day. The large street front window seemed pretty old fashioned… Not exacty the same feeling as a Starbucks in south OC. My room was only 1/4 mile or so from the starting line, and Granny’s Kitchen Restaurant was a couple hundred yards in the opposite direction. I’m pretty sure that everything in Julian is “a couple hundred yards” from everything else. It’s definitely a small town. I was able to sign-in at the race, and then go to Granny’s for some pre-race oatmeal. That kept me fueled for the first couple hours. There were probably 50 or so riders at the starting line, including David Taylor (sp?), and several teenagers from the Julian school mountain biking club, along with their coach. Coach and I would end up spending quite a bit of time at the back of the pack today, especially after my detour. After some encouraging words from Rich, we rolled out at 8:00 on the dot. The weather was a little chilly at the start and there was a heavy fog, but neither lasted long. The weather was in the upper 60s and low 70s for the entire day. Absolutely perfect. The first 13 miles or so is mostly downhill… A few miles on pavement, and then the rest on dirt roads which were covered in small gravel. I heard the local mountain bike coach tell his kids that it was like riding on ball bearings. That was pretty accurate. I saw one guy take a spill… Nothing too serious, but it had to sting a little bit. I’m a chicken on loose rock, and just hung near the back of the pack, and took my time. After the initial downhill, we settled in for a series of climbs that lasted for the next 15 miles or so. We bottomed out in the first stage at around 1500 feet. This stage brought us back to around 4700 feet. Some of this section was on fire roads… Think Main Divide but a lot rockier in spots. And some spots were on pavement. The first aid station was at mile 23, and was placed at a transition from dirt fire road to pavement. The aid station workers were absolutely great, and had everything in abundance. I stuffed my face with PB&J sandwiches and bananas before heading out to Engineers Road. Engineers road was more than I expected. It winds upwards for 4 miles past some incredible homes with great views. I was in the granny gear for almost the entire length. After reaching the top, it’s a nice downhill to route 79, and the Cuyamaca section… A nice mix of single track, rocky fire roads, and rocky climbs, all through great desert scenery. My Garmin froze on the route 79 section, and I missed the Stonewall Mine turnoff. This added on several miles and quite a bit of climbing, until I figured out where I was, and where I needed to be. My detour put my mileage total close to 56 with over 9,000 feet of gain for the day, according to the Garmin. The last major section of the ride is from the town of Banner back to Julian on the “Banner Toll Road”. This is a combination of single track and rocky fire road that climbs pretty steadily for a little over 4 miles. It was originally a “road” connecting the two towns in the 1800s. This was the only point in the ride that I actually felt like getting off and walking… This was also the point that the rear cassette decided to start spinning freely at times, which made for interesting restarts on the loose rock. Add in quite a few locals out shooting for target practice, and this was a really interesting section. Because of the detour and the lost time, I opted for the 50 and not the 64 mile version. I actually felt good when I crossed the finish line… Good enough to eat an entire pie at the shop down the street. I would definitely give this another try...
Congratulations, 3 years ago I was a in a similar mess. JDM was one the events I aspired to do and used it as motivation to get up every morning and keep going when I decided to finally change my lifestyle. I did the 50 that year and the 64 the following, absolutely love this event!
Joe was an animal before he caught the bug, now he is a crazy animal... I did the death march last fall and while I enjoyed it once was enough for me as I want to do events with more ST.
