Road Ride Report California City to Trona (!?)

Who would ever ride this? It starts with my friend Ruben who wants to solo the Furnace Creek 508. 508 Miles from Santa Clarita through Death Valley to Twentynine Palms.

He has served as a crew member so the next step is to ride in a two-man team. All he needed was a sucker to join his team. Meet the sucker. Quote "You do the even stages. There's fewer miles {oh good}. But the same climbing {WTF?}".

Sunday was our day for previewing Stage 2. It was OK with me because the fires have made the local air rather nasty. Driving past Santa Clarita we could smell the smoke. We started in downtown California City.

Dirty air -




Starting in California City, Ruben and Kim (SAG) -





They had planned well. We had radios for communication - warning of overtaking traffic and need for water or food. Kim had a printed schedule for providing nutrition for Ruben. I would just piggyback. The SAG car is the way to go! Extra safety plus ice cold water or food just an arm's reach away.

Starting out ... the freedom of the open road ... low rolling resistance and ... a dot on the horizon




Later we turn towards Randsburg and see the road going straight up the alluvial fan.





Last part of Randsburg climb.





After a 1.5 mile stretch of 395 (nervous time) we're on Trona Road. Long climbs mix with long descents.







Hmm get aero and pass ....




That was the newer road surface. The old surfaces are so worn and pitted I purposely slowed on the downhill. A fat-tired bike would be much better.

Through the canyon to Trona.




Wait. There's another climb.




It's 106 degrees.
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?




At Trona my ride was over. Stage 2 complete. 70.25 miles, 4214'. The air-conditioned car beckoned. Ruben wanted to go on to the start of Stage 3 climb.

Now I could play like Bruyneel. Sit in the car and give advice. "Watch the speed limit!"





And prepare water bottles and snacks for handing off.




A 7-8% descent into Panamint Valley. Many more turns than you see.




Ruben made the goal. Another 46 miles in the heat. We could tell the heat was grueling. When we asked questions he would shake his head instead of using the radio. We checked the chart and Kim had to tell him to drink now! Drink more! And needle him with his own words, "Keep pedaling".

When I stepped out of the car the heat was unbelievable. I can't put a number on it. I just thought I heard the Discovery Channel say: "the average human will survive 15 minutes in this desert".

 

Thats pretty neat! the support car is a greeeeaaat idea.

 

Quite impressive. I've always thought that descent down into panamint valley would be fun on a bike...though the 2 lane aspect, remoteness, and inattentive drivers would probably spook me.

+1 on the sag car too